“I don’t want to obviously desecrate or disrespect memory of anyone that’s fallen, he said, “and obviously there are individual circumstances in which there is genuine, tremendous heroism — hail of gunfire, rescuing fellow soldiers and things like that. But it seems to me that we marshal this word in a way that is problematic.”

I’m tempted to call him an ignorant slut but I’d hate to have my advertisers boycotted.

Mary Chapin Carpenter                            Stones in the Road

Joni Mitchell                                                 Blue

Iguanas                                                           Super Ball

Sub Dudes                                                      Primitive Streak

John Prine                                                     In Spite of Ourselves

Graham Parsons                                         Grievous Angle

Traffic                                                              Traffic

Jimmy Buffet                                                Fruitcakes

10 Years After                                             Undead

Paul Simon                                                     Graceland

Rolling Stones                                              Beggar’s Banquet

Beatles                                                            Sargeant Pepper

Neal Young                                                  After the Gold Rush

President Obama has made much of his commitment to green energy as he launches his re-election bid, but the nascent industry has produced far fewer jobs than the president promised, despite massive, repeated infusions of taxpayer dollars.

Since taking office more than three years ago, Obama has routinely promoted wind, solar and other green energy efforts, touring factories — often the beneficiaries of federal grants — and touting the manufacturers as cutting-edge job producers who are leading America’s transition to energy independence. He had promised in 2008 to help those companies create millions of jobs.

“We can invest $15 billion a year in renewable sources of energy … to create 5 million new jobs, new energy jobs, all across [the] country, jobs that pay well, jobs that can’t be outsourced,” Obama, the candidate, told an Ohio crowd.

But the president has fallen far short of his own mark.

The wind industry has actually lost about 10,000 jobs since 2009, even though it doubled its domestic production, the American Wind Energy Association reports. And Republicans were quick to point out that as Obama blocks the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Texas, the oil and gas industry has added 75,000 jobs since the start of his term.

Obama spent $90 billion of his stimulus package on green energy projects, including weatherization of buildings and development of electric vehicles. Yet, by the end of last year, just 16,100 people landed new jobs in the so-called green industry, Labor Department statistics show, far short of the 200,000 jobs the White House projected it would help create each year.

The lack of progress has some Democrats bemoaning the current state of green energy, particularly when compared with the vision laid out by Obama.

“To me, the most glaring failure of the Obama administration has been a total inability to deliver on green jobs,” said one top Democratic strategist not associated with the president’s re-election campaign. “Even worse, it’s not even part of the national dialogue — you’d think it would be a bigger part of his platform with all the focus on gas prices, but sadly, it just the occasional stump speech.”

This cranky baby will have a 7-Up, thank you, and Mother can keep the vodka for herself

Heard a reference to 7-Up just now and, curious whether it’s still manufactured, I looked it up. It still is (Snapple here in the US, Pepsi’s got it around the rest of the world, but here’s something that surprised me: it contained lithium salts from its first date of manufacture in 1929 until some spoil sport, probably the same guy who took the coke out of coca cola, changed the formula in 1950. Now those were truly the good old days.

That would be an interesting experience for the kids, far more useful than another five-hour course on diversity and the civil rights of transgender lesbians, say,  and might open their eyes to the feel-good hogwash being foisted on them by otherwise well-meaning adults. Hell it might even turn them into cynics and boost their immunity to the mind-shaping propaganda they’re being smothered in, every day.

Army bans use of non-issue ammo clips.

The Army has ordered that soldiers may use only government-issued magazines with their M4 carbines, a move that effectively bans one of the most dependable and widely used commercial-made magazines on today’s battlefield.

The past decade of war has spawned a wave of innovation in the commercial soldier weapons and equipment market. As a result, trigger-pullers in the Army, Marines and various service special operations communities now go to war armed with commercially designed kit that’s been tested under the most extreme combat conditions.

Near the top of such advancements is the PMAG polymer M4 magazine, introduced by Magpul Industries Corp. in 2007. Its rugged design has made it as one of the top performers in the small-arms accessory arena, according to combat veterans who credit the PMAG with drastically improving the reliability of the M4.

>>>>

TACOM’s message authorizes soldiers to use the Army’s improved magazine, which PEO Soldier developed after the M4 finished last against three other carbines in a 2007 reliability test. The “dust test” revealed that 27 percent of the M4’s stoppages were magazine related.

The improved magazine uses a redesigned “follower,” the part that sits on the magazine’s internal spring and feeds the rounds into the M4’s upper receiver. The new tan-colored follower features an extended rear leg and modified bullet protrusion for improved round stacking and orientation. The self-leveling/anti-tilt follower reduces the risk of magazine-related stoppages by more than 50 percent compared to the older magazine variants, PEO Soldier officials maintain. Soldiers are also authorized to use Army magazines with the older, green follower until they are all replaced, the message states.

Military.com asked the Army if the improved magazine can outperform the PMAG, but a response wasn’t received by press time.

The same infantryman serving in Southwest Afghanistan had this to say about the new and improved magazine:

“Like any magazine, they work great when they are brand new and haven’t been drug through the dirt and mud. I haven’t noticed much of a difference between these tan followers and the older green ones. After some time training up for the ‘Stan, the same issues started to occur: double feeds, rounds not feeding correctly so on and so on. While it seems to occur about half as often, it’s still not a great solution.

“The magazines still get bent at the opening and are still prone to getting crushed in the middle. I haven’t seen any issues like this with the PMAG due to the polymer casing. I have seen an empty PMAG get run over by a MaxPro [vehicle] and operated flawlessly later that week when we tested it at the range. Last time I saw this happen to a standard issue magazine, it was scrap metal after that.”

So no trees at all have been cut. We have two tree crews of four men each on the town payroll. Assuming there was once a cost saving associated with having unionized workers on the payroll (and I use the term “workers” advisedly, having seen these crews around town doing what union types do so well – three watchers, one toiler), those savings have long passed. Next budget, let’s get rid of the tree crews.

Anyway, here’s a sale of some interest, 603 Steamboat Road. I don’t usually track condominium sales but this one sold today for $1.250 million on an assessment (town’s estimate of 70% of its market value) of $1.355 and after starting out life on the market in 2010 at $2.295 million. I don’t know the circumstances of this sale but it’s a good bet that when something takes two years to sell and does so only after slashing its price 48%, it was pretty badly priced to begin with. Agent’s fault, seller’s or both?

The only new listing (to me) is one at 59 Bedford Road, 2006 construction priced at $3.595 million. No pictures posted yet and open house will probably be next Tuesday so I’ll hold off judgement. Brother Gideon sold this as an overgrown lot with a teardown for $1.100 in 2003 when it was being foreclosed on – those happened even back then, but in those days a sale could usually yield enough to prevent finalization of the foreclosure action. If I recall, the land looked pretty decent even through its four acres of wild shrubbery and 59 isn’t way up Bedford, so this might work. Bedford’s not been fetching high prices since the crash but maybe this one will prove an exception; I’m curious to see it.

49 Pecksland

49 Pecksland Road cuts its price again and it’s now asking $1.995 million, down from the $3.850 it first sought in February 2008, after the crash but before its owner had put down his bong. It’s got a “challenging” yard – swamp, to the less environmentally conscious, but there’s some dry land in front and to the side and there’s a lot of house here hidden behind its 1960′s builder’s special exterior.

The current owners paid $1.650 for it in 2004 and then completely renovated it, from the studs out, I believe. Layout was changed, rooms added, basement finished, new mechanicals; the whole shebang. So what’s it worth? Damned if I know but at some price, there’s value here.

What else is going on this grey day? Nothing. Five accepted offers, four for houses under $1 million, one asking $1.950 and that’s it. No price reductions in the $5 million+ class again – there are 160 would-be-sellers out there who are determined to stay put both on their price and, obviously, in their house. Well, they’ll save on moving expenses.