Rest In Peace Major Winters

Major Richard "Dick" Winters, a World War II hero who was featured in Stephen Ambrose's great book, Band of Brothers, and the HBO miniseries based on that book, died on January 2, near his "quiet piece of land" in Hershey, Pennsylvania.  (Link here.)

May he rest in peace.  And may his family and friends be comforted by the grace of Jesus Christ.

For any of you who have not see the miniseries, do not hesitate, watch it as soon as possible.  It is the best production that I have ever seen on television.  Kudos to Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg for that.

For any of you who have not read the book, do not hesitate.  It is even better than the miniseries.

Kudos to D.C. . . . deja vu edition . . . sort of

It appears that the GOP victories in November have given Barack Obama a new perspective.  Tonight, an agreement has been reached to extend the Bush tax cuts.  (Link to story here.)  This was, by far, the most important thing on the agenda for the lame duck Congress.  I suppose, technically, it is still on their agenda but I can't really see the Congressional Dems blocking their president's compromise.  Failure to extend the tax cuts (a.k.a. a massive tax increase) would be a massive blow to the American economy.  Washington, on this one, isn't failing.  Thankfully.

Surprisingly, Obama's also seen the wisdom of cutting taxes.  Apparently included in the deal is a cut of 2% from the Social Security payroll tax . . . from 6.2% to 4.2%.  Wow.  FICA's going to be taking less of our money.  I can get behind that idea.

Now, the deal far from perfect.  The Bush tax cuts are only being extended 2 years - so we'll have this fight again in the lame duck session of the 2012 Congress.  And, the payroll tax cut is temporary too.

There are extensions of some tax credit programs too.  I don't know enough about the specifics of those to comment (sorry, I just don't have the time).

But long-term unemployment benefits were extended for an additional 13 months as well.  How working American taxpayers can continue to pay Americans who are not working for 99 weeks?  That's just four weeks short of TWO YEARS folks . . . TWO YEARS!  There's no money - but we're paying people to sit at home and watch Oprah or Days of Our Lives.

Enough, eventually, has to be enough.

But allow the criticism to wait for a little while.  Take the deal and smile.  Enjoy the boost in your paycheck.  Spend it.  And let's create an actual recovery.

Drawing the line on Political Correctness

There's a big day coming up on December 25.  Americans are in a festive mood.  Some cities, even, are celebrating with parades - tradition, you see.  But tradition is under attack by the forces of political correctness.  See, for example, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Apparently, Tulsa, for years, has hosted the "Christmas Parade of Lights."  But not anymore.  Instead, they are holding the "Holiday Parade of Lights."  (Just what holiday could that be?  I wonder.)

Enough already.  If a city wants to throw a Hanukkah Parade, be my guest.  If a city wants to throw a Kwanzaa Parade, have at it.  What the heck - if a city wants to throw a Festivus for the Rest of Us , go for it.

But by the same token, if the folks in Tulsa want to have a Christmas Parade, the easily offended and their "do-gooder" sympathizers should get out of the way.

Oklahoma Republican Senator Jim Inhofe, the former mayor of Tulsa who participated in the parade for years, has drawn a line.  He refused to participate last year and won't again this year, or ever, until Christ is again recognized as the reason for the celebration.  (Link to story here.)

Well done Senator Inhofe.  Keep up the fight.

Guilty Pleasures, Part 1

SLC is a recovering television addict.  (The first step is admitting that you have a problem.)  But I haven't kicked the habit cold turkey.

On a business trip this summer, I stumbled across Pawn Stars on the History Channel.  It is a reality show set in a Las Vegas pawn shop, a family business where the "stars" buy and sell junk and treasure.  Think Antiques Roadshow meets reality.  And this is my confession . . . I can't get enough.

New episodes start on Monday.

(By the way, yes, I know that this has nothing to do with politics or conservatism but, you know what, it's my blog.)