Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Sweet Science Loses Emanuel

I've been a fan of boxing longer than I can remember. There just isn't a memory of mine not linked to appreciating the Sweet Science, but my recollection of bottle feedings are admittedly dim so who knows. Back in the late 50's/early 60's, my friend John and I would sneak into the old armory and watch club fights. Chance would have it that one of the ushers was a parishioner of our elementary school/church, and whenever the front rows would thin out he'd let us move down to ringside. He even taught us the old trick of bringing along the biggest paper bags we could find, then cutting eye holes before draping them over our heads. It was messy, very, very messy that close to the action, and going home with blood spattered shirts, hair and faces would mean the end of life as we knew it a nanosecond after our moms saw the carnage.

Emanuel Steward died last Thursday, October 25th to be precise, and I'll miss his contributions to HBO boxing.

Not the swiftest of repartee swappers, I often felt like he was a man not accustomed to split second chatter, and this, in my mind, led to his seeming to be, at times, clueless about the goings on right before his very eyes.

But he wasn't dumb, or slow. Just thoughtful, and thoughtful doesn't mesh all that well with television.

“One day I may be doing a broadcast and living in big hotels in New York and Las Vegas, and the limousine is picking me up, and I get involved in so many multi-million dollar situations. And then, when I get back to the gym the next day and take off those tuxedos, it keeps me connected with reality, that everybody isn’t living the big life. And when I go down to that little basement at Kronk, that’s where I’m the happiest, because I see all the little kids and the people who are older in life who have fallen through the cracks and are less fortunate and they’re there and they’re just happy to see me.”

–Emanuel Steward (July 7, 1944 – October 25, 2012)

Friday, October 19, 2012

Belated 100th Birthday Greetings To...

...Stainless Steel. Patented October 17 1912 by Messrs Benno Strauss and Eduard Maurer of Germany. A boon to all mankind. Until Frost Cutlery came along and convinced the Chinese to crank out Stainless look-likes that rust if you merely look at them with a tear in your eye.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Dead Men Flying

A “very, very disappointed” Gen. Patrick Brady has slammed the U.S. Army for forgetting the lessons of the legendary “Dust Off” helicopter ambulance program from the Vietnam War.
It was in an interview on “Talk Back with Chuck Wilder,” that Brady, a recipient of the Medal of Honor, explained that bureaucratic changes within the Army are endangering wounded soldiers.
He’s also the author of “Dead Men Flying: Victory in Vietnam.”

Here's the scoop in a tough nutshell:  The Army sends in its dustoff choppers replete with the ridiculous red cross symbol that serves as a SHOOT ME HERE advertizement. The helicopters are also weaponless, because the brass feel that arming a medical transport is contrary to the Geneva and Hague accords, which of courses is blatant nonsense as we are not fighting an enemy army that is signatory to either convention. Marines, on the other hand, dispatch armed to the teeth medevacs that can fight their way in and out of the mission, because the lives of Marines come before the Commander-In-Thief's demands that no Afghan citizen be denied the right to kill American servicemen. And instead of the pilots determining the go or no go, the brass furiously debate the politics of launching.
And, since it is that season once more, military transports are being diverted to ferrying Obama's election campaign which of course employs far more assets than ever. This doesn't effect the medevacs, mind you, just the arrival and departure of troops and supplies from theater in favor of debate and campaign venues.

Priorities.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Sound Familiar?

WASHINGTON -- America's top military officer is opposing the demotion of a four-star general who is accused of spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on lavish travel and other expenses in a case that has been sitting on Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's desk for weeks, U.S. officials said Thursday.
Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is among those who believe that Gen. William Ward, the former head of U.S. Africa Command, should be allowed to retire at his full four-star general rank, the officials said.
A Defense Department inspector general's report released in mid-August concluded that Ward "engaged in multiple forms of misconduct related to official and unofficial travel." It said Ward "conducted official travel for primarily personal reasons," misused military aircraft and received reimbursement for travel expenses that far exceeded the approved daily military rate without authorization.

Seems like this Obama appointee emulated his commander in thief by spending taxpayer monies like it grew on trees.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Let The Stoning Begin

Kidney stoning, that is. Health issues rearing their dreary head again. Be back soon.