tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154611292012-02-16T00:47:13.619-07:00For those about to Blog...we salute you.UncleFirenoreply@blogger.comBlogger371100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-17048667678491080832007-03-09T11:48:00.000-07:002007-03-12T10:23:10.877-07:00

Well, are our leaders finally waking up to some realities? Gen. David Petraeus said military action was necessary to improve security in Iraq but "not sufficient" to end violence altogether.Well, no shit sherlock. In the typical fasion, the administration has taken a won sided, "we'll put a boot in your ass" approach to the war. All the while, those who actually live there are just fighting back.

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-39291408525093028232007-03-09T11:29:00.000-07:002007-03-12T10:23:56.968-07:00

Seems to me, Eddie ought to be playing "Somebody get me a doctor". Eddie Van Halen is apparently going into Rehab again. It is no wonder they cancelled their "reunion" tour.As eddie said in a statement: "That's why I have decided to enter a rehabilitation facility to work on myself, so that in the future I can deliver the 110 percent that I feel I owe you and want to give you". Seems to me, the

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1154126224485929132006-07-28T15:20:00.000-07:002006-07-28T15:38:33.233-07:00

Well, by now if you're not aware of myspace, you must have been living in space. Some of the numbers are mind-boggling:95 Million users10's of Billions of page hits a month500,000 new users each week.It has truely become a pop-culture phenomenon. And with that some creepy folks, scams and some new celebs. Many of which have gained fame, magazine covers and more.Two in particilar have on the order

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1146267194069576892006-04-28T16:19:00.000-07:002006-04-28T16:45:22.356-07:00

This whole set of events around illegal immigration is ridiculous. I am absolutely livid over this.I am an immigrant. My parents are immigrants. I have family and friends which are immigrants. We all came here legally. We played by the rules. We learned English and became part of American melting pot. At the same time, we did not lose our ethnic heritage, traditions or languages. What’s the

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1145404354334015092006-04-18T16:33:00.000-07:002006-04-18T16:52:34.346-07:00

It is really amazing how a seemingly small initiative can blow up and get so much attention. If you haven't seen the furor over One Red Paperclip over the past few days, here it is in a nutshell. Kyle MacDonald is trying to parlay One Red Paperclip (hence the name) into a house. He is doing this by bartering his way up with better stuff each trade. It's really an interesting story. Where does

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1144109484152612892006-04-03T16:53:00.000-07:002006-04-03T17:14:04.380-07:00

I thought it was just me. But I have a similar opinion as this guy. That is, alot of blogs (and media folks) on the right wing, continually regurgitate the same mantra as the administration and party line. Heck, its not even limited to blogs-- just look at letters to editors in many papers and you hear the same rhetoric from average "Joe". Lefties can be guilty of this too but it doesn't seem as

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1142017889424429222006-03-10T12:06:00.000-07:002006-03-10T12:11:29.436-07:00

Well, the folks in congress finally have “grown a pair” and essentially forced DPW’s hand in backing away from the Ports deal. That’s great but certainly there may be some fall-out from this. At the end of the day though, this is the right decision. DPW has indicated that they will transfer the US ports management to a “US entity”. Will be interesting to see what that really means.As I indicated

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1140565748845589722006-02-21T16:13:00.000-07:002006-02-21T18:03:35.256-07:00

A subsidiary of maritime management firm Dubai Ports World is seeking to run ports in several major US cities. Namely, New York and New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; Miami, Florida; and New Orleans, Louisiana. This is raising quite a few eye-brows across the country and it seems that even congressional Republicans are "growing a pair" in standing up to this

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1139961226190036642006-02-14T16:44:00.000-07:002006-02-14T16:53:46.203-07:00

Well, the administration has reloaded comedians and the newsies with more ammo to further distract us from truly important issues in this country (puns fully intended). All kinds of jokes and news stories are out on the accidental weekend shooting by VP Dick Cheney. So of course the press briefings with the White House focus more on when and what disclosed rather than the incident and other

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1139606238372219092006-02-10T13:55:00.000-07:002006-02-10T14:29:44.500-07:00

In an op-ed piece on washingtonpost.com today, Eugene Robinson comments on the fact that Kanye West did not win Album of the year. He begins with:"Was his insolent claim that "George Bush doesn't care about black people" the reason Kanye West didn't win the prestigious album of the year and record of the year awards he deserved at the Grammys the other night?"Deserved? Who determines that? That

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1138211882123512162006-01-25T10:36:00.000-07:002006-01-25T10:58:02.163-07:00

How can an administration be so incompetent? A CNN article today reports on a study that the Army is being stretched too thin given our efforts in Iraq in Afghanistan. It is absolutely rediculous that this administration led us to war on two fronts (at least) with so little forsight, strategy and planning. One can be against the war in Iraq on many levels. But one would think that a group

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1138035432819896302006-01-23T09:34:00.000-07:002006-01-23T09:57:12.840-07:00

Wow, I haven't posted in a while. So its about time.Found this interesting site that has a whole bunch of commentary on politics, presidents and various topics. Of course, as with anything one must take this info with a grain of salt and corraborate with other sources etc. What lead me there was the discussion on the National Debt which is simply scary and a number that is hard to imagine. See

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1133209003782130402005-11-28T13:14:00.000-07:002005-11-28T13:16:43.800-07:00

How clueless can one be? Even after the Katrina disaster (the Hurricane and the governments’ response), Michael Brown “thinks” he can consult to businesses on Disaster preparedness. How can he possibly think anybody would want to hire him after such a horrible job of leadership. He has no real experience in disaster recovery planning much less the ability to lead through a crisis.Hence my

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1132771561273202902005-11-23T11:38:00.000-07:002005-11-23T11:46:01.286-07:00

Well, it appears that the XBOX 360 is this year’s must-have at any price toy. Amid short supply of the game consoles, prices on eBay are at ludicrous levels. A premium package went for $10,600 on eBay and many are selling for $1000’s. The fever pitch on this is absolutely insane. There's at least one report of sombody being muched for his new XBOX. Ok, I would pay a small premium if I really

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1131748437663863832005-11-11T15:25:00.000-07:002005-11-11T15:33:57.676-07:00

No, not the folks in Pennsylvania. Pat Robinson needs a plague sent his way. This “man of God” has once again opened his mouth and spewed more unchristian filth from his mouth. Some Pennsylvania school board members were ousted by the voters for trying to inject Intelligent Design into the public school curriculum. (Thank God they were ousted - pun intended) To that, ole Pat responds with: “I’d

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1130543168897339422005-10-28T16:33:00.000-07:002005-10-28T16:46:08.906-07:00

Well, here we go again. The moral "high-grounders" are once again being exposed for what they are. I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Chenney's Chief of Staff was indicted today.It will be interesting to see where this goes next given the prosecutor has indicated this is not over yet.By the way, what kind of grown man goes by the nickname of Scooter?Libby said in a written statement he is

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1130536548873527242005-10-28T14:47:00.000-07:002005-10-28T16:31:16.746-07:00

George Takei of Star Trek fame has come out of the closet. A CNN Article released today indicated that he decided to come out of the closet based on his work in the play Equus.It wouldn't surprise me if he purposely "outed" himself to get some additional publicity for the play. Like they say, there's not such thing as bad publicity (or something like that).Frankly, based on a few of his

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1128113065465108502005-09-30T13:40:00.000-07:002005-09-30T13:51:28.256-07:00

Well, here we go again. A prominent figure from the right has once again shown his hypocrisy and given a glimpse of how they really think. On Bill Bennett's Morning in America, Mr. Bill got into some mental gymnastics that he was really wasn’t geared up for. He showed his true colors (no pun intended) by stating that if one’s goal was to solely reduce the crime rate, that aborting black babies

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1128106445288336582005-09-30T11:52:00.000-07:002005-09-30T11:54:05.296-07:00

One of the top items on technorati today seems to be the question of the rich-heiress-tramp’s pregnancy status. Who cares! Well, obviously way too many people care about what she does or doesn’t do. But the point of this blog entry is not that as that would mean I’m just one more sheeple devoting brain power to the antics of a spoiled, self-absorbed cretin celebrity. No, the point here is that

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1126307510152424852005-09-09T16:05:00.000-07:002005-09-09T16:11:50.160-07:00

According to a New York Times article there were several issues in dealing with who does what, how and what order in a crisis situation. This is yet another example of the incompetence we have seen from the administration (and yes, down to the local level). At the end of the day though—the issues arose out of the national disaster response plans—a federal level plan from this administration, who

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1126223463789941272005-09-08T16:41:00.000-07:002005-09-08T16:51:03.796-07:00

Its a yes or no answer but apparently not to Scott McClellan. Reading through the White House Press Briefings is actually quite entertaining and amusing even though the topics are quite serious. In one corner we have Scott McClellan with a big fat bulls-eye on his chest. In the other corner we have the Press (a ravenous wolf pack with M16's). In recent briefings McClellan is getting pelted

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1126199190472304342005-09-08T10:04:00.000-07:002005-09-08T11:36:23.543-07:00

While I grew up in the USA, I am an immigrant just like millions of others. My parents learned to speak English and had pretty thick Italian accents, yet we always tried to fit in with the culture where we lived while still celebrating our Italian heritage. The two are not at odds with each other, nor for many ethnic groups. However, some immigrant ethnic groups think their “host” country needs

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1126139316191476612005-09-07T17:18:00.000-07:002005-09-07T17:28:36.206-07:00

According to the Army Corp of Engineers website, the de-watering of New Orleans is progressing. While they state that 60% of the city is still under water, the truly amazing aspect of this is just how much water they are moving through the pumps they have going. As of this morning, they have three pumps at 17th St. Canal at around 2250 cubic feed per second (CFS). Pump station 19 at the

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1126121026459538262005-09-07T12:15:00.000-07:002005-09-07T14:41:18.373-07:00

The handling of Hurricane Katrina, before and after the event, is an embarrassment to this country. While the efforts seem like they may be moving now, the initial tragic and substandard results from our leaders stem primarily from a failure in their leadership at the Federal level all the way down to the local level. We see politicos, the mainstream media and bloggers flinging blame at local,

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1126042247917982042005-09-06T14:26:00.000-07:002005-09-06T14:30:47.926-07:00

Strange how life can imitate art sometimes. In the movie “Forrest Gump”, Forrest starts the Bubba-Gump “scrimp” company to honor his pledge to a fallen comrade (Bubba) in Vietnam. While he and Lt. Dan (his commanding officer in 'Nam) are out on the sea catching essentially nothing, a huge storm hits the gulf coast and decimates the Shrimp business.Looks like Katrina did the same thing. Sad

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1126040582160451212005-09-06T13:58:00.000-07:002005-09-06T14:03:02.166-07:00

I am practically speechless over Bab's comments. Just when you think the you have seen or heard the dumbest thing from the Bush clan (and the administration), another one comes out. While touring the Astrodome with others, Barbara Bush said: "Almost everyone I’ve talked to says we're going to move toHouston." Then added: "What I’m hearing which is sort of scary is they all want to stay in Texas

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1125620523867968192005-09-01T17:12:00.000-07:002005-09-01T17:26:07.200-07:00

I'm behind on this but noticed blog-a-thon on Instapundit.I'm going to contribute to the American Red Cross.Others I'd recommend:Salvation ArmyCatholic CharitiesEvery bit counts and no amount is too small. I noticed a blurb ealier today recounting how a group of Special Ed kids, wanting to help out, were willing to give up their Soda money. Basically, all they could give. Donors, if you work in a

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1125457328070858012005-08-30T19:55:00.000-07:002005-08-30T20:02:08.070-07:00

Tulips on....If you know the joke, you know the punch line. If you don't, leave me a comment and I'll send you the rest of the joke (PG-13+).This pic was an experiment with some Tulips we had in the house. My wife thought I was nuts as I set this picture up in my dining room. Thought they looked pretty cool once I finished taking pictures of them.Keywords: Photo

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1125190526669315982005-08-27T17:46:00.000-07:002005-08-27T17:55:26.673-07:00

Ah, yes. Sunset and time to "veg" on the beach in Kauai.Keywords: Travel, Hawaii, Photo

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1124996658971453922005-08-25T11:36:00.000-07:002005-08-25T12:09:17.046-07:00

In yet another example of how people are losing their minds over the war in Iraq, the Legionnaires have effectively said we are not entitled to right to free speech. The American Legion, at their National Convention in Honolulu, released a statement that condemns public anti-war protests. Rather, we should simply speak to our leaders in congress. They should follow their own suggestions.They have

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1124821677756015162005-08-23T00:06:00.000-07:002005-08-23T13:52:19.273-07:00

pat robertson thomas olmsteadThere is an interesting trend lately of the “righteous” continually exhibiting their hypocrisy. They preach culture of life yet are more than willing to bomb people as a means to their end. They are willing to send our men and women to prosecute an unjust war in the name of a noble cause. They will defend to the life of the unborn yet once they’re born could not care

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1124496125330512542005-08-22T12:00:00.000-07:002005-08-23T13:56:35.753-07:00

The problem is they are likely to only contribute more greenhouse gases by their latest moves. Apparently, the Senate Energy Committe will hold meetings to determine the high cost of gasoline. Duh! Do we really need to expend energy (pun intended) on this? How can the energy committe (of all groups) be that out of touch with reality. Ok guys, read carefully -- High Global Demand, Challenges in

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1124390433371119212005-08-18T11:22:00.000-07:002005-08-18T11:40:33.376-07:00

It is a bit disheartening to see the conflict going on between Iraelis in Gaza -- especially in a Synagogue. But I figure it IS time for Israel to get out of "occupied" lands and give the Palestinians a chance at their own homeland. Plus, it really would start to eliminate the militant "excuses" for fighting with the Israeli's. Once the Palestinians get their "nation", there should be no excuses

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1124383884519527592005-08-18T09:34:00.000-07:002005-08-18T10:53:20.730-07:00

Seems to me that the President missed an opportunity with Cindy Sheehan down in Texas. So what else is new? The furor seem to be building in Crawford and my take is it could have been somewhat averted had the president taken advantage of a "marketing" opportunity. He could have met with her for a few minutes and I'm sure they could come up with some "noble" cause for being in Iraq. Given the

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1124330141018537172005-08-17T18:48:00.001-07:002008-05-29T10:48:40.010-07:00

Well, I wish I was (still) there. Took this one on the beach in Princeville, Kauai (Hawaii).

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1124328584605048412005-08-17T18:22:00.001-07:002008-05-29T10:47:47.325-07:00

Found this Praying Mantis under the overhang in front of the house. I carefully got him down and put him near a bush. Notice he's on a fly swatter. Since he was giving me attitude, I figured it was a good chance to get an interesting photo of him. Looks way better blown up to 8x10.

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15461129.post-1124156973383223202005-08-15T18:45:00.000-07:002005-08-17T18:48:11.353-07:00

Hello and welcome to my blog. This is obviously my first entry so I hope you "appreciate" my blog entries even if you don't agree or "like" them. Please come by often if you enjoy my content. Leave comments if you care to.Why Uncle Fire? Well, its a bit of a story so I'll try to keep it short and sweet. When my niece was learning to talk, the Chryler Hemi commercial was popular. You know,

UncleFirenoreply@blogger.com0