Here is a little bit of what I woke up to this morning.  *sigh*

And here's what our street looked like this evening.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Democrat, Republican, or Southerner?

Are you a Democrat, Republican, or Southern?  Here is a little test that will help you decide.  The answer can be found by posing the following question.

You're walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children.  Suddenly, an Islamic Terrorist with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, praises Allah, raises the knife, and charges at you.  You are carrying a Glock cal .40, and you are an expert shot.  You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family.  What do you do?

Democrat's Answer:

Well, that's not enough information to answer the question!  Does the man look poor or oppressed?  Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire him to attack?  Could we run away?  What does my wife think?  What about the kids?  Could I possibly swing the gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand?  What does the law say about this situation?  Does the Glock have appropriate safety built into it?  Why am I carrying a loaded gun anyway, and what kind of message does this send to society and to my children?  Is it possible he'd be happy with just killing me?  Does he definitely want to kill me, or would he be content just to wound me?  If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my family get away while he was stabbing me?  Should I call 9-1-1?  Why is this street so deserted?  We need to raise taxes, have paint and weed day, and make this a happier, healthier street that would discourage such behavior.  This is all so confusing!  I need to debate this with some friends for a few days and try to come to a consensus.

Republican's Answer:

BANG!

Southerner's Answer:

BANG!  BANG!  BANG!  BANG!  BANG!  BANG!  BANG!  BANG!  BANG!  Click... (Sounds of reloading)  BANG!  BANG!  BANG!  BANG!  BANG!  BANG!  BANG!  BANG!  BANG!  (Click)  Daughter:  "Nice grouping, Daddy!  Were those the Winchester Silver Tips or Hollow Points?"  Son:  "Can I shoot the next one?"  Wife:  "You ain't taking that to the taxidermist!"

"A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it.  That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your unit."
             - Army's magazine of preventive maintenance.
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"Aim towards the Enemy."
             -  Instruction printed on US Rocket Launcher
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"When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend.
             - U.S. Marine Corps
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"Cluster bombing from B-52s are very, very accurate.  The bombs are guaranteed to always hit the ground."
             - USAF Ammo Troop
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"If the enemy is in range, so are you."
             - Infantry Journal
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"It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed."
             - U.S. Air Force Manual
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"Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons."
             - General Macarthur
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"Try to look unimportant; they may be low on ammo."
             - Infantry Journal
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"You, you, and you ... Panic.  The rest of you, come with me."
             - U.S. Marine Corp Gunnery Sgt.
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"Tracers work both ways."
            - U.S. Army Ordnance
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"Five second fuses only last three seconds."
             - Infantry Journal
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"Don't ever be the first, don't ever be the last, and don't ever volunteer to do anything."
             - U.S. Navy Swabbie
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"Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid."
             -David Hackworth
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"If your attack is going too well, you're walking into an ambush."
             - Infantry Journal
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"No combat-ready unit has ever passed inspection."
             - Joe Gay
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"Any ship can be a minesweeper ... once."
             - Anonymous
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"Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do."
             - Unknown Marine Recruit
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"Don't draw fire; it irritates the people around you."
             - Your Buddies
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"If you see a bomb technician running, follow him."
             - USAF Ammo Troop
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"Though I Fly Through the Valleyof Death. I Shall Fear No Evil.  For I am at 80,000 Feet and Climbing."
             - At the entrance to the old SR-71 operating base Kadena, Japan
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"You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3."
             - Paul F. Crickmore (test pilot)
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"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire."
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"Blue water Navy truism:  There are more planes in the ocean than submarines in the sky."
             - From an old carrier sailor
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"If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage, it's probably a helicopter -- and therefore, unsafe."
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"When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash."
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"Without ammunition, the USAF would be just another expensive flying club."
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"What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots?
If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; If ATC screws up, .... the pilot dies."
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"Never trade luck for skill."
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"Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers."
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Airspeed, altitude and brains.  Two are always needed to successfully complete the flight."
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"A smooth landing is mostly luck; two in a row is all luck; three in a row is prevarication."
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"Mankind has a perfect record in aviation; we never left one up there!"
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"Flashlights are tubular metal containers kept in a flight bag for the purpose of storing dead batteries."
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"Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about it."
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"When a flight is proceeding incredibly well, something was forgotten."
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"Just remember, if you crash because of weather, your funeral will be held on a sunny day."
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Advice given to RAF pilots during WWII:  "When a prang (crash) seems inevitable, endeavor to strike the softest, cheapest object in the vicinity as slow and gently as possible."
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"The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill you."
             - Attributed to Max Stanley (Northrop test pilot)
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"A pilot who doesn't have any fear probably isn't flying his plane to its maximum."
             - Jon McBride, astronaut
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"If you're faced with a forced landing, fly the thing as far into the crash as possible."
             - Bob Hoover (renowned aerobatic and test pilot)
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"Never fly in the same cockpit with someone braver than you."
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"There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime."
             - Sign over squadron ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, 1970
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"If something hasn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to."
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Basic Flying Rules:  "Try to stay in the middle of the air.  Do not go near the edges of it.  The edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance of ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space.  It is much more difficult to fly there."
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"You know that your landing gear is up and locked when it takes full power to taxi to the terminal."
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As the test pilot climbs out of the experimental aircraft, having torn off the wings and tail in the crash landing, the crash truck arrives, the rescuer sees a bloodied pilot and asks "What happened?".
The pilot's reply: "I don't know, I just got here myself!"
             - Attributed to Ray Crandell (Lockheed test pilot )

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Another Good Quote

"People do not like to think.  If one thinks, one must reach conclusions.  Conclusions are not always pleasant."
~ Helen Keller

Just as a heads up, make sure you're stocked up on food, candles, wood, gas, etc.  We're supposed to be hit by a trio of new storms this week.  The first is suppose to hit tonight around midnight with gusts up to 50mph.  The second is predicted to come on Saturday, and the third on Christmas eve or Christmas day.  lol.  Just something to look forward to. 

3 hours, 28 minutes later, I am now minus 8,418 e-mails, with only ten unread e-mails out of 152 left in my inbox, with 92 marked for follow up.  *sigh of relief*   

I also discovered that I have received 1721 spam e-mails since November 1st, 134 since last Sunday, and 21 so far today.  *Grrr*    Oh well, such is life I suppose.  I hope everyone's having a good evening. 

I suppose I should take advantage of this break from school and start weeding through, sorting, and deleting my nearly 8,000 (7,965) unread e-mails, not to mention all those that I have read but haven't deleted yet, making a total of close to ten thousand (9,694) e-mails in Outlook.    Oh my!

Wish me luck.