More Bowing?

The Bow

I'm not sure what the customs or protocol of other countries would have their leaders do when meeting a head of state.
Historically, the United States does not bow to anyone. Our protocol would deem that the same as a general saluting a private first. It's just not done.

Cheney didn't do it:


I don't know what Moroccans do...
but I guess they don't bow to the emperor of Japan:


Not sure about India, either...
but I guess they don't bow to Japan as well:


I totally thought Koreans bowed...
I guess not. At least not to Japan's emperor:


Now a lot of people are saying that our Fearless Reader bowed
to the emperor of Japan in an apologetic display of submission and deference.

Not so.
I have it on good source that...

He just needed a light;

Veteran's Day

Find a Vet and thank them.

Some Day, Someone Is Going To Bite It.

Some foggy, rainy, snowy, or otherwise low visibility day...or an icy slick day...
Some new driver or out-of-towner is really going to bite it if the other traffic thinks everyone sees all the stop signs at one particular 4-way stop.
There's a big tree just literally feet from a sign. You don't see it until you're right up on it. You have to know it's there to start slowing down, and it's at the bottom of a sloped street.
Here's what I mean (and sorry for the crappy camera pics - I pretty much wasn't aiming, just click, click, clicked...and hoped the sign/tree were in frame).
Here it is one street away:

Half way there, you don't see it at all:

If you know it's there, you can see the edge of the sign behind the tree
(Click on the pic to make it bigger...you'll see what I mean):

When you reach the corner property, you finally see it...but if you haven't already slowed down for it...

...then you're right on top of it.

Lt. Col Ralph Peters

Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' 'bout!!

That famous "Shout out"

This turned up in a forum discussion about Obama's reaction in the video posted previously. I thought it warranted some blog real estate so I hope the author doesn't mind:

"I think too much is being made of this one point. The guy he recognized was a Congressional Medal of Honor winner... as I understand it, the CMH isn't handed out to just anybody -- it's not the Nobel Peace Prize."

"Update: Out of curiosity, I went to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society's website, and looked for "Dr. Joe Medicine Crow", but couldn't find him. So I found him on Wikipedia, and it turns out that President Obama misidentified the honor bestowed upon him -- he won the Congressional Gold Medal, not the Congressional Medal of Honor. And it turns out the CGM probably is handed out to just about anybody. So perhaps it's right to be irritated with Obama... he basically just insulted all of the CMH winners by not knowing the difference."

From Malkin re: Obama's Reaction to Fort Hood

Nobody said it better...and I sure can't.

On Thursday, 11 soldiers and civilian police at Fort Hood were slaughtered execution-style at close range and over 30 others wounded, allegedly by a U.S. Army Major Malik Nadal Hasan. The President immediately addressed the nation concerning this horrific event.
However, his expression of grief was very odd. He spent the first two minutes of the four-and-a-half minute address in a light-hearted discussion of his earlier “Tribal Nations Conference” on Native American rights, including a “shout out” recognition of a conference attendee.
When he finally got around to the purpose for his public appearance, he gave an uninspired and rambling dissertation on the tragedy. Even then, he could not keep the topic focused on sympathy for the pain of others:

"I want all of you to know that as Commander in Chief, that there’s no greater honor, but no greater responsibility for me (emphasis his) than to make sure that the extraordinary men and women in uniform are properly cared for…"

Poor soul, it’s so saddening to know how this tragedy affects him. Listening to this address provides some insight into Obama’s character and how he ranks his priorities.

EDITED to Add the UNsanitized for news version(where they cut out the first few minutes). Thanks for the prompting, Road Warrior!

Because I'm Just. That. Cool.

So I was forking over some lunch bucks to the MiniMe today and she said, "Oh! I forgot to tell you about the coolest thing a kid had yesterday..." and she proceeded to tell me about a dollar bill that was folded to look like a shirt.
She went on and on about it...
So I took one of the bills I'd just given her and whipped it into shape.

When I handed it to her, I said, "You're welcome".
I. Am. Teh Awesome.