The Obama Administration And "Green Investment"; A Track Record Of Ineptitude

I’m not one given to ad hominem attack. In my opinion, all that matters are the facts. If a person cannot argue based on facts and resorts to getting personal or going after the credibility of the source it’s likely because they’ve run out of intelligent things to say.

In that vein, I think it’s important, as we approach a Presidential election to focus squarely on facts. To make the argument for or against candidate “X” or “Y” solely based on performance and policy. One of the issues that I care about most is the historically irresponsible spending that has taken place since our current President took office specifically where “green energy” spending is concerned. I’ve written about the topic in the past with respect to Solyndra here:  The Folly of "Green Jobs" Spending

Men & Machines #2

Vimeo's content is really getting fantastic. With increasing frequency I am finding great short films documenting the work and the motivations that drive genuine craftsmen. This sadly declining group amongst us who combines the creative and the industrious and melds the two into something beautiful and functional if not iconic as well.

I've a great appreciation for the man who can formulate a vision and articulate it in metal. Men who's art not only pleases the aesthetic but the visceral without losing grasp of the function.

Dustin Kott - Cafe Bike Builder


Cafe cowboy from benedict campbell on Vimeo.

A film by Benedict Campbell.

A New Family Member

As previously noted Kathy and I have been assisting with the rescue of 27 Bullmastiffs that were in a horrifically neglectful situation in Las Vegas. The dogs began to be moved from Vegas to a temporary shelter in Phoenix begining two weeks before Christmas. The following weekend Kathy and I flew to Phoenix to meet the dogs and decide if one of them was right for us.

What a decision!?!? All of them were sweet and happy to receive positive attention. But each of them have a share of problems due to their previous situation. Most with entropian, many with other physical maladies, few spayed or neutered and all of them un-vaccinated. The one we kept coming back to was "Snort". Terrible name for a dog, but rather descriptive as he does snort when sniffing and when he's happy from getting affection.

Man Can Cook #16: Cassoulet...it's French, but it's still manly!

I don’t do a great deal of traditional French cooking. Not for any real good reason other than a preference for the flavor profiles of Italian & Spanish fare of a rustic variety. If you thumb through Julia Child’s “Mastering” books you find that they are dominated by the “cuisine bourgeoisie” or the slightly higher-end of the French cookery landscape. There are exceptions to this of course, and Cassoulet is one of them.

Cassoulet is an old-world French peasants dish named for the vessel in which it is traditionally cooked, a “cassole” which is usually a deep, rather than wide, glazed stoneware baking dish. There are a number of variations according to region. The most common is the Toulouse variety which is dominated by Goose Confit as a protein with a bit of mutton. Not surprising as Toulouse is the heart of the Foie Gras production region. You gotta do something with all those geese once their ambrosial livers have been harvested. Other variations are the Cassoulet de Castelnaudary which features mainly pork and the Cassoulet de Carcassonne which often features Partridge.

Bullmastiff Rescue Crisis Update

Please follow the below link for an update on the dogs rescued from their horribly neglected situation in Las Vegas.

Bullmastiff Rescue Crisis Update 01/03/12

Bullmastiff Recue Crisis

The American Bullmastiff Association Rescue Service's  (ABARS) mission is to find homes for unwanted Bullmastiffs that come from shelters or are owner surrenders from people whose lifestyle or financial situation has changed.   Occasionally ABARS will get Bullmastiffs that have been abandoned at a local veterinarian's office or from a good citizen that has found the dog and exhausted all means to locate the dog's owner. 

Redmon

My Bullmastiff, Roxy, who passed away earlier this year was adopted from ABARS, ( Click here to read about Roxy ) ABARS typically handles about 70 rescues per year across the National network of Voulenteer Rescue Coordinators and Volunteer Foster Homes. The last few years though have been especially taxing for the organization. Economic conditions have caused an increase in owner surrenders and abandonment and the organization has been pushed to it's limit. The organization historically maintained an operating budget, amassed through donations that has been completely depleted by virtue of a near doubling of the number of dogs in the system. The organization was struggling but is now in serious crisis. 

Narcissistic Philanthropy…Or “For The Troops” when someone is looking.

I’ve resisted the urge to write about this for well over a year but I was encouraged to do so by a couple of friends so here goes.

My wife's father spent the last 5 years of his life at the Palo Alto VA hospital. The malady isn't important, but what is important is the "Armchair Patriots" in his life that abandoned him and his family in his dying years. Because of that, my wife, her circle of friends and myself like to put on a Christmas party for some of the patients at the Palo Alto Veterans Hospital. Nothing big, we aren't changing the world up there by any means but it means a lot to the guys who are up there who don't have support systems. 

Palo Alto Veterans Hospital

We put on a Christmas party each year for the 4 different mental health wards. These guys are truly "the forgotten". When Channel 7 News wants to do a Veterans Day story on combat Veterans they go to the prosthetic labs where they can get great images of some poor kid with a limb or two that has been blown off. Makes for better television than a guy who watched a buddy get something blown off and now, due to PTSD can't cope with society. Or a guy who's brain is no longer functioning normally due to exposure to chemical-warfare agents, least of all, the guys with chemical dependence problems due to being addicted to pain medications, or other "self-medicating" agents when their pain meds were denied.