1,000

In celebration of the 1,000th post here on Sempringham, which this is, I'll share something I found in the back of a closet today: an old family photo.



It's about 34 years old, in fact. That's me and my bride. The Union Army did not issue Adidas sneakers as part of their standard uniform.

If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you'll notice our wedding rings are on our right hands and the U.S. on the belt buckle is backward. That's because images taken using this process (coated glass plate producing a positive image, with no intervening negative) produced reverse images. I could flip it, I guess, but why?

I'm getting a little tired of liberals trashing Obama. They're not paying attention. Rachel Maddow gets on to that (via Andrew Tobias):

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

That's not too bad for a year and a half in office, with the world's economy falling down around us.

It's Better Than Crying, I Guess

From my brother, Mike, on the left coast:

BP Spills Coffee. It's a very small spill on a very large table.

McChrystal

When the Obama Administration was young, the book to read was Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals, about the Lincoln cabinet.

As I write this, Gen. Stanley McChrystal has had a 20-minute meeting with the President, and did not stick around for a meeting on progress in Afghanistan. Smells like toast from here.

Good thing.
A far better book to be reading right now is Lincoln and His Generals, by T. Harry Williams. McChrystal is Obama's McClellan.

There's more than one general in this Army. I'm sure one can be found who knows what loyalty and chain of command mean.

A Man of Honor

Ran across this little tidbit a week or so ago, while doing research in 19th century newspapers:

William A Smith, who died a few days ago in Richmond, Va., enjoyed a unique distinction. He resigned a seat in Congress because he did not think he had sense enough to properly represent his constituents.

The guy deserves a statue.

Energy Dependency

Two Teds recommended this to me. For good reason.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
An Energy-Independent Future
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Kicking Some Ass

I've always liked Fareed Zakaria, and I think he pretty much nails it here, even though I don't think there's nothing that the federal government can do about the oil spill.



There is so much going on right now. The Euro is in danger of meltdown. The North Koreans could nuke the South Koreans any day. The Turks and Brazil are siding with Iran. And I think there's a war or something going on in Afghanistan.

And meanwhile the bobblehead dolls that read the news want Obama to waste time on being mad for public consumption.

Come back, Walter Cronkite. Your country needs you.

GOP Follies

This guy is in a run-off election for the Republican nomination for a Congressional seat in Alabama.



It's looking more and more like the GOP will not be fielding many sane candidates in this year's off-election. Sharron Angle, who will be Harry Reid's opponent in Nevada, apparently not only wants to phase out Social Security and Medicare (a position she describes as "non-negotiable"), but reinstate prohibition. It remains to be seen how popular that position will be in Nevada.

South Carolina

It's my home state. Gail Collins merrily sums up what's happening there, politically.

Department of Useless Information

Yesterday, Andrew Tobias kindly linked to a post I did last year. You remember it: it was that hilarious "commercial" for Somalia: Libertarian Paradise.

Since then, little ole Sempringham has gotten 500+ hits.

Not a single one left a comment.

No reason they should; it's just almost interesting.