Steve Gilliard, 1966-2007

Damn, he's gone. I think I've read Steve every single day for the past four or five years. No one could rant like he could rant—blunt but eloquent, and always straight to the heart of the thing. We loved his style and we will miss him.

Friday Malamute Blogging

There's an 80 lb animal who lives in our house. He must be fed, watered, and exercised regularly or he'll destroy his surroundings. I wonder if this qualifies our house as a "ranch."

Hmmm...gotta go feed the livestock.

Remember

Quirino Chavez, 180th Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, killed in action November 9th, 1943, probably in a battle to take Venafro, Italy. He was buried December 9, 1948, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It took five years to bring his remains back stateside for burial.

Update: A million thanks to K. Martin for getting a photo of my Uncle Quirino's grave in Santa Fe as soon as I requested it.

What the hell are they up to now?

On May 9th Bush signed NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/NSPD 51

(1) This directive establishes a comprehensive national policy on the continuity of Federal Government structures and operations and a single National Continuity Coordinator responsible for coordinating the development and implementation of Federal continuity policies. This policy establishes "National Essential Functions," prescribes continuity requirements for all executive departments and agencies, and provides guidance for State, local, territorial, and tribal governments, and private sector organizations in order to ensure a comprehensive and integrated national continuity program that will enhance the credibility of our national security posture and enable a more rapid and effective response to and recovery from a national emergency.

Recovery from a national emergency?!? Should we be expecting one of those? Is there an uptick in chatter coming over the wires? Is Richard Clark's hair on fire?

(b) "Catastrophic Emergency" means any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions;

So, didn't we already have rules in place for national emergencies? This has all the markings of a "dead-of-night" pull-the-wool-over-their-eyes Karl Rove super-secret plan to take over the world.

I'm definitely getting a "chickenheart-at-my-front-door" feeling.