Mike Vanderboegh, the blogger who, along with David Codrea, pushed Operation Fast and Furious out of the shadows, is in the hospital. The War on Guns has details on how to send a get well message to the Vanderboeghs directly, but a thought or a prayer to $DEITY couldn’t hurt.
All posts in category Uncategorized
Prayers Needed
Posted by daddybear71 on October 13, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/10/13/prayers-needed-3/
What’s the Difference?
I know, as a parent, that I’m not supposed to compare my children. But something just happened that is absolutely remarkable, so I’m going to bend that rule just a tad.
Girlie Bear just came home with her first official progress report from her freshman year of high school. She got 4 A’s, 1 A-, and 2 B’s, and all of her classes except for JROTC and Choir are in the “Advanced” college prep track. She called me when she got home and was ecstatic about the grades, and actually had reasons for why the B’s weren’t A’s. I, of course, reassured her that a B was entirely acceptable, but if she wanted to work to an A, I wouldn’t complain.
In comparison, at this point in his freshman year, Junior, who went to the same school and took the same classes from a lot of the same teachers, had one A (Band), 1 C, four D’s, and a couple of U’s, which is modern educational jargon for what we used to call an “F”. The rational discussion I tried to start over what went wrong and what he was going to do to rectify the situation pretty much degenerated into one of those arguments that’s spoken of in hushed tones at family reunions after everyone has had a decade or so to cool off.
Junior is very bright, as is his sister. Girlie Bear has grown up here in Kentucky surrounded by college educated people who thought that getting a good education was the most important thing a young person can do. Junior spent his educational years, up until his freshman year of high school, going to excellent schools in California with his mom and step-dad, both of whom are college educated and also value learning. When he moved here to live with us and go to high school, he was in the same situation that Girlie Bear and Little Bear had grown up in.
So what is the difference?
Junior was identified early in his life as one of the smart ones, but never seemed to polish talent with hard work. He was one of those who didn’t do homework or participate in class, but could do OK to well on tests. His teachers in California did him no favors by putting up with this, because when he reached middle and high school, the habit of hard work just wasn’t there. When being smart wasn’t enough, and he was expected to also put in the hours and show product, he failed. To a large part, I blame myself, if for no other reason than the fact that I, as his father, should have been more forceful in his younger years to get him held back until he matured enough to handle both being intelligent and doing the work.
Girlie Bear, on the other hand, has never had anyone tell her that she’s the smartest girl in the room. Of course, I praise her when she does well, and I reward success as much as I try to motivate after failure, but we never blew sunshine up her skirt and as far as I know, neither did her teachers. She learned early that if she wanted to succeed, she had to work hard at it, and the habits stuck. It took one summer of giving up two days a week to go to math tutoring to convince her that it was easier to learn the first time.
The two have a much different attitude toward life. If anything, Girlie Bear is too hard on herself. If she comes home with a C on an assignment or test, we have to talk to her about how much she worked on it, and convince her that if she put forward her best effort, we were satisfied with the grade. She still looks at each A she gets as manna from heaven, even if she busted her tail to get it. Junior, on the other hand, looked at top marks as his birthright, and lower grades were blown off as “not his fault” or were because he “wasn’t interested” in the subject.
Now, will the grades on a six week report card when they were 14 mean much in the long run? Honestly no. Unless Girlie Bear becomes a mathematician, she won’t use a lot of what she learns in Geometry. The same goes for her other subjects. But the habit of working hard and wanting to earn each and every thing she has will help her in life. Junior is still struggling to learn that lesson, but he will eventually come around to it. It’s just easier to do when you’re still sheltered by your parents and school. Doing it when you and you alone are on the hook for food and shelter is much harder.
Posted by daddybear71 on October 12, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/10/12/whats-the-difference/
30 Days of Obama – Day 9
I opposed DOMA in 1996. It should be repealed and I will vote for its repeal on the Senate floor. I will also oppose any proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gays and lesbians from marrying. … I know how important the issue of equal rights is to the LGBT community. I share your sense of urgency. If I am elected U.S. Senator, you can be confident that my colleagues in the Senate and the President will know my position. — 2004
My Take – Like I said in an earlier post, I don’t care if gay people want to get married. I’m not exactly an expert in keeping a marriage together. If I’m free to screw up a marriage, then why not anyone else? President Obama promised for a long time to get the federal government out of the way for people who want to marry people of the same gender, and that was one of the few times I agreed with him.
Problem is, once he was in the White House, he didn’t do much for a very long time. I haven’t seen a motion to repeal DOMA, even when he had majorities in both houses of the Congress. He took several years to find a way to get rid of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which I would have thought would have been at the top of his to-do list in January 2009. He’s considered the military as a perfect laboratory for every other social experiment, why not that one?
Posted by daddybear71 on October 11, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/10/11/30-days-of-obama-day-9/
Explorers
Leif Erickson sailed across the sub-Arctic seas in a small open-top boat with a bunch of cantankerous Scandinavians and landed and settled on one of the garden spots of northern Newfoundland 500 years before Columbus.
Gee, must be rough landing on a tropical paradise after sailing across the ocean in a boat with a roof.
Posted by daddybear71 on October 9, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/10/09/explorers/
A Request
Dear Alarm Companies,
Please stop using the same tone and cadence for your door alarms as the military uses for chemical weapons detectors.
I may have a bruise on my thigh from reaching for a pro mask that isn’t there. Yes, Pavlov was right, and good training lasts a lifetime.
Posted by daddybear71 on October 8, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/10/08/a-request/
Blogs Roundup
- Matthew has an excellent discussion of the use of a small .22 pistol for emergency defense. I also think a .22 in a bug out bag is a great idea. Something that is either small and accurate, like a Ruger Mark III or something that will break down to a small package and still be accurate, like the new 10/22 breakdown model would be perfect for putting a squirrel or woodchuck in the stew pot in the event of bad things happening when I’m away from home.
- The Miller has a collection of some of the best common sense I’ve read in a long time.
- Ambulance Driver seems to be going above and beyond when it comes to paying his self-imposed debt for the results in Kilted to Kick Cancer. AD, you’re more dedicated than I am, and yes, alcohol and hot wax don’t mix.
- Og has the quote of the night: You should always try never to touch your skull.
Posted by daddybear71 on October 8, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/10/08/blogs-roundup-19/
Our Afternoon Visitors
Having hot air balloons buzz the back yard is one of the benefits of where we live.
Posted by daddybear71 on September 29, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/29/our-afternoon-visitors/
Crunchtime
If you’ve been around the blogs at all in the last month, you’ll have heard about Kilted to Kick Cancer. This worthy effort to draw attention and funds to research on cancers that strike men is one of those that should ring true to everyone. Either you’re a man who is at risk for prostate and testicular cancer, or you’re a woman with a husband, father, brother, or friend who is. The 2012 campaign is ticking towards its end, and the time to donate is now.
Lots of great people have links up on their blogs that give you an opportunity to either donate to the LiveStrong organization or the Prostate Cancer Society. If you’re of a mind to do so, and you have a few extra bucks to donate toward a worthy cause, please consider hitting one of them to make a donation.
And hey, in addition to the warm and fuzzy you’ll get for putting your filthy lucre toward something other than strong drink and things that go bang, several of them are running drawings for donors. In exchange for doing something good, you get the chance to win stuff. There also seems to be a….. healthy* competition going on. If I read this right, if Stingray wins, he will get his nether regions waxed. Jay pledges to shave his mustache, while AD promises to shave half of his. Evyl Robot promises to go to the range in drag and take video, while his lovely wife Jennifer seems to have a catsuit of some kind that will be donned if he wins. OldNFO is also in on the campaign, but I see that he has the good sense to not try to compete with the craziness I mentioned. There are a lot of others who are joining in, so check the main page of your favorite blogs. If you’re one of the bloggers with a banner up for KTKC and I haven’t mentioned you, please feel free to post in comments.
So, pick your poison and give toward a cause that touches all of us.
*If we define “healthy” as a series of escalating and insane “Oh yeah? Well I can go a couple of steps further!” back and forths.
Posted by daddybear71 on September 28, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/28/crunchtime/
Hmmmm
Break your probation for a non-violent financial crime and no-one does anything but fill out paperwork.
Break your probation for a non-violent financial crime, have no-one do anything for a while, and then do something that is used as an excuse for people to riot and murder, thereby making the administration look like a bunch of fools? Well, then your probation officer and the local police are going to haul you in for a hearing and put your butt behind bars again.
The guy’s not as pure as the driven snow by any means. He’s a convicted felon who by all accounts was indeed violating his probation rules. But the fact that no-one did anything about it until his actions brought embarrassment on the Obama administration is troubling.
Let’s say you have a C&R FFL, which means that you have to keep a bound book. Or maybe you live in a state that requires a license to own a firearm, such as Massachusetts. Then you do something that makes the president look bad, and all of a sudden the ATF or local sheriff is on your front door wanting to see your documents and guns, and they proceed to go through your life with a flashlight and a pair of tweezers. Is that just?
When the power of the government is used to silence a citizen or punish him for making waves, that is tyranny.
Posted by daddybear71 on September 27, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/27/hmmmm-3/
A Proposal
To the gentleman who cooked our food at Humping Pandas Chinese restaurant tonight:
Sir, you, among all of the people who have cooked Sechuan for us over the years, are the only one who knew what “extra spicy” means. Our dinner tonight got me sweating, and left a wonderful burn afterward.
In recognition of your skill, I propose that we merge our families. I offer a blonde, blue-eyed boy in exchange for the hand of your adorable daughter. He shall bring height and strength. She can contribute her beauty and any culinary skills you choose to pass on.
Think of the big; strapping, well-fed grandchildren this pairing would bring us.
I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Daddy J. Bear
Glutton
Posted by daddybear71 on September 26, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/26/a-proposal/
DaddyBear
DaddyBear’s Den 