RED vs BLUE - An Observation

If politics is the life blood of this country (okay, so it really isn’t) then consider this:

We have Red States and Blue States. The Red States are the ones that tend to vote mostly for the Republican and the Blue States tend to vote mostly for the Democrat.

Now, in our bodies we have our life blood – our blood. If you remember from your biology class you will remember that when blood receives oxygen (becomes oxygenated) it turns Red.

Also remember that when blood has no oxygen it is Blue.

What this means is that we need to get some oxygen to the Blue States – fast!

A-6Dude

Red State Martini
Four fresh cherries
1 ½ parts Vodka
½ part Pomegranate juice
1 part Fresh sour mix

Muddle cherries into a shaker, then combine the remaining ingredients with ice and shake vigorously until very cold. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with one skewered cherry.

Blue State Martini
Eight fresh blueberries
1 ½ parts Vodka
½ part Blue Curacao
½ part Fresh sour mix

Muddle blueberries into a shaker, then combine the remaining ingredients with ice and shake vigorously until very cold. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with three skewered blueberries.

How Do You Boil A Frog

Great Britain has caved in. UK Is Now UIK (United Islamic Kingdom).

Islamic law has been officially adopted in Britain, with sharia courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases. Thus, the government has quietly sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence.

This is not stepping on a slippery slope, this is getting on it and purposely sliding down.

And, if Britain does this, I am convinced other spineless EU countries will follow. I would not have thought that Britain would do this. At least, not be the first to do so.

Imagine if the Catholic Church, or any other religion, tried to be able to make binding legal judgments against people and usurp our justice system. We would be outraged!

This ruling in Britain is the epitome of liberalism running amok. They are afraid of offending the Muslims so now they will have a parallel legal system within their country. And, where will the checks and balances be? I think you know the answer to that question!

A country of laws must maintain those laws as absolute and must not bow to pressure from any group to allow a legal system to operate within a legal system.

How long will it be before a Muslim wants to bring a non-Muslim into a sharia court for some offense (perceived or real) against Islam?

I feel like a frog and the water temperature is slowly being turned up.

A-6Dude

Patriot Martini

3 parts Vodka
1 dash vermouth
1 part olive juice
2 drops hot sauce
1 cajun olive

Add liquid ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake until COLD. Strain into a chilled martini glass and add Cajun olive.

The World Wants Obama - Do We Really Care Who The Rest Of The World Wants As President?

A BBC poll states that the world wants Obama. My guess is that this really means that the other socialist countries want another socialist and the trouble makers want a weakling in office.

What are your thoughts?

A-6Dude

Metropolitan Martini

1.5 parts brandy
1 part sweet vermouth
1/2 tsp sugar syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Mix ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until COLD. Strain into a coctail glass and be metropolitan.

Madonna "Got Stupid"

In past posts I have talked about many of the entertainment stars that show their buffoonery when they think that they have the answers to our problems just because they are “stars”. Don’t get me wrong, they have the right to voice their opinions. But for some reason they think that their opinions are more valid then anyone else’s because of their stardom.

Madonna is the latest loser to join the ranks of those that should just “shut up and sing”. (obtw, I don’t want to hear the conservatives come out either. I want entertainers to entertain).

In her latest world tour that just kicked off, “Sticky and Sweet”, she sings her song “Get Stupid” and flashes images of McCain with destruction, global warming, Adolph Hitler and Robert Mugabe.

This is insulting and offensive! To include any U.S. politician in that same group of people is outrageous and utterly reprehensible.

I hope Americans will see this and respond by not buying her tickets. But, I fear that there are many other of her ilk that loathe the very country that gives them the freedoms and opportunities that they enjoy.

Then, at the end of the song she includes Obama, John Lennon, Ghandi and Al Gore in the same grouping. YGBSM!!

Ghandi is the only one of that four that has really done anything for the world! Lennon was a great entertainer and Gore was VP. Obama has done nothing! Give me a break!

Madonna has always been known for trying to go for the “shock and awe” approach in her career but now she has lost it. First of all, A 50 year old woman using the tour title of “Sticky and Sweet” is ludicrous.

Madonna, I hope you stay in England for the rest of your life. The last thing we need in this country is another “America-hating” has-been that thinks she represents what America thinks.

A-6Dude

And Madonna deserves no martini.

I Have Started Another Blog Site Dedicated to All Things Martini

Check out my other site dedicated to nothing political...just martinis.

http://martinioclock.blogspot.com/

A-6Dude

You'll see the recipe there.

HOW WE GOT THE WORD "AVIATOR"

This explains it all.

As an aviator, I come from a long lineage rooted in a secret society, formed around one thousand years ago. I now know that I am a warrior and here is the proof!

A little known fact is the origin of the word, "Aviator." In the immortal words of Johnny Carson: "I didn't know that."

Phu Khen (pronounced Foo Ken, 1169-?) is considered by some tobe the most under-recognized military officer in history. Many have never heard of his contributions to modern military warfare. The mission of this secret society is to bring honor to the name of Phu Khen.

A 'Khen' was a subordinate to a 'Khan' (pronounced 'konn') in the military structure of the Mongol hordes. Khan is Turkish for leader. Most know of the great Genghis Khan, but little has been written of his chain of command.

Khen is also of Turkish origin. There is not a word in English that adequately conveys the meaning. Roughly translated, it means, "One who will do the impossible, while appearing unprepared and complaining constantly."

Phu Khen was one of ten Khens that headed the divisions, or groups of hordes, as they were known, of the Mongol Army serving under Genghis Khan. His abilities came to light during the Mongols' raids on the Turkistan city of Bohicaroo. Bohicans were fierce warriors and the city was well fortified. The entire city was protected by hugewalls, and the hordes were at a standoff with the Bohicans. Bohicaroo was well stocked and it would be difficult to wait them out.

Genghis Khan assembled his Khens and ordered each of them to develop a plan for penetrating the defenses of Bohicaroo. Operation Achieve Victory (AV) was born. All 10 divisions of Khens submitted their plan. After reviewing AV plans 1 thru 7and finding them all unworkable or ridiculous, Genghis Khan was understandably upset.

It was with much perspiration that Phu Khen submitted his idea,which came to be known as AV 8. Upon seeing AV 8, Genghis Khan was convinced this was the perfect plan and gave his immediate approval.

The plan was beautifully simple. Phu Khen would arm his hordes to the teeth, load them into catapults, and hurl them over the wall. The losses were expected to be high, but hey, hordes were cheap! Those that survived the flight would engage the enemy in combat. And, those that did not? Well, surely their flailing bodies would cause some damage.

The plan worked and the Bohicans were defeated. From that day on, whenever the Mongol Army encountered an insurmountable enemy, Genghis Khan would give the order, "Send some of Phu Khen's AV 8-ers."

This is believed, though not by anyone outside our secret society, to be the true origin of the word Aviator (AV 8-er). Phu Khen's AV 8-ers were understandably an unruly mob, not likely to be socially acceptable. Many were heavy drinkers and insomniacs. But when nothing else would do, you could always count on an AV 8-er. A Phu Khen Aviator.

Denied, perhaps rightfully so, his place in history, Phu Khen has been, nonetheless, immortalized in prose. As the great poet Norman Lear never once said:

"There once was a man named Phu Khen,

Whose breakfast was whiskey and gin.

When e'er he'd fly,

He'd give a mighty war cry:

"Bend over, here it comes again."

It is an honor to be a Phu Khen Aviator. I wear the mantle proudly, but speak of it cautiously. It is not always popular to be one of us. You hear mystical references, often-hushed whispers, to "those Phu Khen Aviators."

I do not let these things bother me. As with any secret society, we go largely misunderstood, prohibited by our apathy from explaining ourselves. We are expected to always live down to the reputation of the Phu Khen Aviator...a reputation cultivated for centuries, undaunted by scorn or ridicule, unhindered by progress.

We drink, we're crude, we sleep late, urinate in public, and we get the job done.

And, when others are offended, I can revel in the knowledge that...

I am a PHU KHEN AVIATOR!

A-6Dude

Jet Fuel Martini

1 part Cinnamon Schnapps

1 part Peppermint Schnapps

Shake over ice until VERY cold. Strain into a chilled martini glass.

A Dutch Perspective On Our Political Process

From an email I received…

“We in Denmark can not figure out why you are even bothering to hold an election.

On one side, you have a bi*ch who is a lawyer, married to a lawyer . . . and a lawyer who is married to a bi*ch who is a lawyer.

On the other side, you have a war hero married to a good looking woman with big biznoobies who owns a beer distributorship.

Is there a contest here?”

They have a point!

A-6Dude

Abra Cadabra Martini
2 part Van Gogh Vodka
1/2 part peach schnapps
1/2 part apricot brandy
1 part pineapple juice

Pour ingredients into shaker and with ice and shake. Strain into a COLD martini glass.

What If on Global Warming

This is a short post. My question to all of the believers of the man-made global warming hoax is simple:

Let’s just for a minute accept the premise that you are right. Let’s also say that tomorrow we adopted all of the measures you think we should take. Let’s say that it works and we achieve the 0.7 degree reduction in temperature in the next 50 years that Kyoto promises.

What do we do when the next ice age occurs?

So we reduced emissions to get us cooler, what do we do to get us warmer?

A-6Dude

Russian Martini Recipe
4 parts vodka

4 parts gin

1 part white chocolate liqueur

Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake till very cold. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Global Warming - The Real Worst Case Scenario

I am now convinced that this man-made global warming alarmism is real. And here is the worst case scenario.

Climate change may hamper production of the grains and barley required to make alcohol and beer.

Out of New Zealand is a story that says just that. Global warming could cause a shortage of these grains and thus cause prices for beer and vodka to rise. This story was only referring to NZ and Australia but since we are told that this global warming stuff is the worst thing to hit our planet, it must be affecting grain production every where.

This would be catastrophic, to say the least. While I like beer, it is not my drink of choice. But this warming adversely affects malted barley production it would stand to reason that all grain production would be affected.

As you can tell, martinis are my drink of choice (followed closely by single malt scotch). And though vodka can be made from almost anything, a lot of distillers make it with grain.

So, the impact on grain production would also drive up prices of vodka. That would be disastrous, as well, for us martini aficionados. And, since scotch is made from malts, those prices will go up, too, as the ability to produce those grains is reduced by the warming caused by our presence here on earth.

Let’s take it to the next logical conclusion… tobacco production will be a casualty of our greenhouse gas production.

Do you know what that would do to my life? Especially on Fridays when we sit around the cul de sac and solve the world’s problems while drinking martinis and smoking cigars?

We have got to take this seriously, folks. This is too important for us to laugh at anymore.

The logic is simple (even if the science is not quite there).Tthe warmer it gets, the more the arctic ice cap melts (for some reason it is growing in the Antarctic region). The more it melts the higher the seas rise and that creates coastal flooding. The less land there is for man to inhabit leads to a higher density of people per square mile (except for those that don’t escape in time). That will encroach on farming land. Combine that with the heat and, vioila!

It’s a vicious cycle! And I have a solution.

Let’s capture all of the melting ice and use the water to make beer and distill vodka and scotch! We would prevent a disastrous sea level rise, and would have cold beer for those unbearably hot, last days on earth before global warming kills us all (according to Al Gore).

I wish that I had come up with that idea of using glacial melt myself. It appears that some folks in Greenland have already thought of this, in part. There’s a story out of Greenland where it is reported that some entrepreneurs have captured the melting ice from global warming and are using it to brew beer.

Outstanding! Even in the face of certain doom, capitalism flourishes!

This is a brilliant way to use that water, which is the key to life!

And, as Noel Coward so brilliantly said, “Water is necessary for life, but the martini is necessary for a life worth living.”

A-6Dude

Midori Martini (hey, it’s Green!)
2 parts vodka
1 part Midori liqueur
Dash of Vermouth (optional)

Shake over ice till VERY cold and strain into chilled martini glass.

Another Victory on the Illegal Immigration Front

Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri signed an executive order that includes a series of steps to combat illegal immigration. He correctly links the presence of illegal aliens to Rhode Island's financial woes. It’s good to see a leader see that can add 2 + 2 and get 4.

He signed the order Thursday and it requires state agencies and companies that do business with the state to verify the legal status of employees. It also directs the Rhode Island State Police and prison and parole officials to more aggressively find and deport illegal aliens.

By the way, did I mention that he was an evil Republican? I really didn’t think I would need to do so since I am talking about someone doing the right thing for our country.

Like all of us, Gov. Carcieri said he understands that illegal aliens face hardships — but he does not want them in Rhode Island, America's smallest state. "If you're here illegally, you shouldn't be here illegally. You shouldn't be here," Carcieri said.

Here comes the violin music….

Illegal alien advocate Juan Garcia fears Gov. Carcieri's proposals will drive a vulnerable community underground. Would that be underground into one of the tunnels going back to Mexico? He said illegal aliens who are victims of crime will fear approaching police, and that children could suffer if parents lose their jobs.

"These people are not criminals," he said. "This is affecting the poor people."

Juan, they are criminals. What part of the word illegal is so hard to understand? They are here illegally. Because they’re poor it’s supposed to be okay? Rhode Island faces an estimated $550 million budget deficit, its worst financial crisis since a series of bank and credit union collapses in the early 1990s.

I wonder how much of that deficit would be gone if RI didn’t have to use the taxes of legal citizens and guests to pay for services for illegal aliens? As a result, Carcieri has had to propose cutting school funding, reducing welfare and health care benefits and even letting prisoners out of jail early. Maybe all of those areas would be getting cuts even if there weren’t illegal aliens in RI. But I bet it would be less. And in all fairness, it isn’t the burden of the illegal aliens alone that have caused this deficit. But it didn’t help either.

The truth is that we need to either enforce our current immigration policy or get a new one. We need to secure the borders first, and then figure out how to handle the supposed 12-20 million illegal aliens in this country.

Carcieri supports increasing the number of legal immigrants and skilled workers allowed into the country. The difference here is the word ‘legal’.

When a reporter asked if his order might embolden xenophobes (that’s liberal code word for anyone that loves this country and wants our immigration laws enforced), Carcieri blamed the media for inflaming the immigration debate. YES!!! As we used to say when our bombs hit the target… “Shack”!! Way to go, Governor!

So, under his order, state police will enter an agreement with federal immigration authorities permitting them access to specialized immigration databases. That information would allow police to identify and detain illegal aliens.

Even better, though, the state police could investigate the legal status of anyone they suspect is an immigration violator, including crime victims, witnesses and people supplying police with confidential tips. Finally, someone is taking the political correctness out of the way of enforcing our laws.

I’m sure this will cost money in the short term but I know it will save money in the long haul.

Perhaps we could send a bill for services to Mexico and other countries that tell their people to come here illegally.

Now I am going to wait to see what the real defenders of freedom, the ACLU, have to say about this.

A-6Dude

The Kiss of the Tigress
2 parts Mandarin Vodka
1 part Cointreau® Orange Liqueur
1 part Orange Juice
1/2 tsp Powdered Sugar
1 Twist Oranges

Moisten glass rim with an orange twist, then dip rim into sugar (for more flavor try Stirrings® Coffee and Cocoa or Espresso rimmer). Pour liquid ingredients into shaker with ice and shake until very cold. Strain into rimmed martini glass. Garnish with twist of orange if desired.

Math Does Not Lie

1. To find a Woman you need Time and Money. Therefore:

Woman = Time x Money

2. “Time is Money” so:

Time = Money

3. Therefore:

Woman = Money x Money

Woman = (Money)2 [Sorry, I can't make it superscript. This is Money squared]

4. “Money is the root of all problems”

Money = √Problems [square root of problems]

5. Therefore

Woman = (√Problems)2 [square root of probems - squared]

Woman = Problems

A-6Dude

Sweet Martini

1.25 parts Gin
1/4 part Sweet Vermouth

Shake over ice till very cold. Strain into martini glass and garnish with maraschino cherry.

Sean Penn – Clairvoyant!

Sean Penn is clairvoyant. Or, so he believes.

He was in San Francisco wrapping up filming on a new movie about Harvey Milk (Penn is shown at left during the filming), the first city supervisor that had openly admitted choosing a homosexual lifestyle. Sean Penn, of course, was playing Milk. But, because he's a "method actor," he wanted to be called Harvey in between shots.

Between scenes a production assistant was following Penn around the front of City Hall with a large umbrella to shield him from the sun. Seeing he had a captive audience, he moved out from under the umbrella to deliver an impromptu speech to the crowd of extras.

"I almost wish Jerry Falwell were alive to see this. Almost," Penn shouted to the crowd. After dropping some names of conservatives who are still with us - "Bill O'Reilly, who is too stupid to talk about," and "Sean Hannity, the butt boy of Rupert Murdoch," Penn said, "We know something more. WE KNOW THEIR END IS NEAR (emphasis mine)."

Sean, stick to acting. I think you are a good actor. But you are not a clairvoyant. Let’s look at the ratings for Monday, March 17, 2008 to see the facts.

CABLE NEWS RACE MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2008 VIEWERS

FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,040,000

FNC HANNITY/COLMES 2,337,000

FNC GRETA 1,862,000

FNC SHEP 1,583,000

FNC HUME 1,508,000

CNN DOBBS 1,227,000

CNN KING 983,000

CNN COOPER 976,000

MSNBC OLBERMANN 962,000

CNN BLITZER 839,000

CNNHN GRACE 663,000

MSNBC HARDBALL 604,000

Sean, one doesn’t have to be good at math to see the facts here. Although you liberals hate FOXNEWS, they are cleaning up in the ratings. You can see from the numbers that Bill O’Reilly has almost 2.5X the viewers of the highest rated CNN show with Lou Dobbs (and some liberals don’t like him either). In fact, the lowest rated FNC show (Brit Hume’s) had almost 25% more viewers than the highest rated CNN or MSNBC show.

Sean, math doesn’t seem to be one of your strong suits so stick to something that you seem to be able to do well – pretending to be someone you’re not! Or, maybe you should stay at a Holiday Inn Express before launching into your liberal mantra.

A-6Dude

Benedict Arnold Martini
1 part Whiskey
1 part Benedictine

Shake over ice until very cold and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a Maraschino cherry and a mint sprig (optional).

Hate Crimes

There are many laws on our books that are a waste of ink. Among them is the idea that we need laws for so-called hate crimes. Let’s take one example. Murder is murder so what makes it any worse if a white person kills a black (or insert minority of choice) person during the commission of a crime or just because the person was black? The net result is the same. Someone was killed and it is a crime.

I think the answer is 'White Guilt'. This is a disease that liberals are trying to infect us with because they feel that white people (and America) are responsible for all of the ills of the world.

So we now have hate crimes legislation that gives harsher sentences for those convicted of killing a person of another race, creed or religion if one of those three issues was the reason for the killing (or any other crime). But my question is, still – isn’t murder bad regardless? Why is that we need to make the punishment tougher on someone just because they killed a black, or a Jew, or a Muslim, or a yellow person, or a brown person, or a red person, or a person that has chosen a homosexual lifestyle, or any of the other categories that qualify? Again, it’s white guilt.

And why is it that if a black person kills a white person for any reason, no one calls it a hate crime? The two young, white coeds from Auburn and U of North Carolina that were killed recently were both killed by blacks (at least that is what we are being told). Why aren’t those being investigated as hate crimes? As far as I know it’s never been mentioned. But remember the Duke rape scandal that never was? It was all a lie and because the girl was black, everyone had a field day with the white college boys. How come Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson haven’t apologized for convicting those boys before any of the evidence was in?

Only whites seem to be able to commit hate crimes. One of the black youths arrested for the murder of the UNC coed is also being accused of killing an Asian Duke grad student. Why isn’t that a hate crime?

The answer is: HYPOCRISY!

A-6Dude

Irish Tiramisu-tini
¼ c espresso
4 oz Bailey’s Irish Cream
1/3 c mascarpone
2 scoops vanilla, chocolate or coffee ice cream
2-4 ice cubes
2 soft ladyfinger cookies sliced lengthwise, or shortbread wafers
Chocolate-hazelnut spread
Chocolate syrup
Blend espresso, Irish Cream, ice cream, mascarpone and ice until smooth. Drizzle chocolate syrup along inside edges of chilled martini glass in a spiral shape (or, just rim the glass with chocolate syrup). Pour mixture from blender into glass. Spread layer of chocolate-hazelnut spread in between ladyfingers or sandwich between shortbread cookies. Dip cookies in cocktail.

The Right Kind of Military Experience – When the Generals Come Calling

Byron York, of the National Review Online, penned a piece on Sunday describing an attack by failed 2004 presidential candidate General Wesley Clark on John McCain. I don’t know Wes Clark but was in the military while he was (that’s kinda like saying I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night, eh?).

There was a recent conference call where some retired military leaders endorsed Hillary Clinton to be the next commander-in-chief. During that call Wes Clark made the following statement saying that McCain did not have the right kind of military experience:

“In the national security business, the question is, do you have — when you have served in uniform, do you really have the relevant experience for making the decisions at the top that have to be made? Everybody admires John McCain's service as a fighter pilot, his courage as a prisoner of war. There's no issue there. He's a great man and an honorable man. But having served as a fighter pilot — and I know my experience as a company commander in Vietnam — that doesn’t prepare you to be commander-in-chief in terms of dealing with the national strategic issues that are involved. It may give you a feeling for what the troops are going through in the process, but it doesn't give you the experience first hand of the national strategic issues.

If you look at what Hillary Clinton has done during her time as the First Lady of the United States, her travel to 80 countries, her representing the U.S. abroad, plus her years in the Senate, I think she's the most experienced and capable person in the race, not only for representing am abroad, but for dealing with the tough issues of national security.”

As I recall, General Clark was fired from his role as the NATO Commander (although in the military it is rarely said that one was fired – they were reassigned). In my career in the military (I just hope it was the right kind of experience to be voicing my opinion here), my observation was always that one has to really screw up to be relieved of a command before the tour was over. That just wasn’t something that was (or is) done lightly. Nonetheless, Wes Clark was fired from NATO.

But worse is why he was relieved a year early. During the 2004 presidential primaries, retired Gen. Hugh Shelton, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was asked if he would support retired Gen. Wesley Clark for president. He quickly took a drink of water. "That question makes me wish it were vodka," Shelton said. "I've known Wes for a long time. I will tell you the reason he came out of Europe early had to do with integrity and character issues, things that are very near and dear to my heart. I'm not going to say whether I'm a Republican or a Democrat. I'll just say Wes won't get my vote."

So, here is a guy relieved for “integrity and character” issues. This is not insignificant. And yet he thinks he knows what the right kind of military experience that is needed to be commander-in-chief.

But let’s look at what he said.

“But [McCain] having served as a fighter pilot — and I know my experience as a company commander in Vietnam — that doesn’t prepare you to be commander-in-chief in terms of dealing with the national strategic issues that are involved.”

First of all, Wes, how does being a company commander on the ground in Vietnam make one a better commander-in-chief than being a fighter pilot (I flew in jets in the Navy too)? Just what experience do you receive in a foxhole that others don’t? I might even say that McCain's experience in direct contact with the enemy on a daily basis makes him more qualified than the average grunt. After all, he was seeing them up close and personal.

But I’m curious as to how a foxhole provides you more “experience first hand of national strategic issues” than any other role in the military? The answer is – it doesn’t. So, tell me, Wes, how does being fired from NATO give you that experience?

Let’s look at past commanders-in-chief and see what in their career made them eligible to be our president and commander-in-chief. I won’t go back too far.

Woodrow Wilson, who led us into WWI, had NO military experience. Yet, he led the country into a war. He had been Governor of New Jersey, though.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (can I use his middle name), who commanded the military during WWII, was the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Wilson. That doesn’t really count for military experience since at that level you are really a politician trying to take care of the Navy. FDR had no time in uniform as far as I can tell.

Harry Truman was an artillery officer during WWI. So, we have the first US President in the 20th century to have both served in the military and to have led the military in a war. But, Truman wasn’t a company commander. Was his military experience the right kind? And we will never know but my guess is that if he hadn’t been FDR’s VP he would never have been president.

Dwight D. Eisenhower was a brilliant general in WWII. He led men in combat on a large scale. Unless you count the fact that he did start sending advisors to Vietnam he never led the military into a war as commander-in-chief. Did he have the right experience?

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (oops, there's that middle name again) was a PT boat skipper in WWII, not in a foxhole. He was courageous in saving his crew when they were sunk by a Japanese ship. Did that give him the right kind of military experience to lead us into Vietnam?

Lyndon Baines Johnson was Kennedy’s VP when he was assassinated. He, too, had been a naval reserve officer in WWII. Was this the right kind of military experience to keep us in Vietnam?

Richard Milhouse Nixon was also a naval reserve officer in the supply corps during WWII. Was that the right kind of military experience to lead us out of Vietnam?

Gerald Ford was another naval officer that served in WWII. Did he have the right kind of military experience? We’ll never know because he never led us in a war.

Jimmy Carter was also a naval officer and served primarily in the submarine service. Was this the right kind of military service to qualify as commander-in-chief? Let’s look at the Iranian hostage crisis to get that answer.

Ronald Reagan served in a motion picture unit during WWII because he was nearsighted and that excluded him from serving overseas. Was this the right kind of military experience?

George H. W. Bush was a navy pilot in WWII and was also shot down. Fortunately, he was rescued. But being a pilot like McCain, was that the right kind of military experience? Was he qualified to lead us to victory in Desert Storm?

William Jefferson Clinton never served in the military. Clark supports him and Hillary so what in their background gives them the right kind of military experience? WJC took us to Kosovo and Somalia. Was he qualified?

George W. Bush was a pilot in the Air National Guard. Was it the right kind of experience to be commander-in-chief?

My point here is that where I believe military experience is a plus for anyone to be our commander-in-chief, it isn’t really required. And if a candidate has military experience it really doesn’t matter what they did in the military. I just showed you a wide variety of military experience in the above past presidents, and some that had zero experience.

Whether or not a presidential candidate ever served in the military in any capacity is not that important to me. What is important is what they stand for and how well they can lead.

So Wes Clark is out to lunch on this. And to say that Hillary’s “ time as the First Lady of the United States, her travel to 80 countries, her representing the U.S. abroad, plus her years in the Senate” make her the most qualified person to be our next commander-in-chief is not only grossly idiotic but it gives credence to Gen. Shelton’s decision to fire him, and it should have been for more than Clark’s integrity and character flaws. After this comment he should add stupidity to the list of reasons.

And, Wes? Since when does military experience equate to right kind of domestic and economic expertise?


A-6Dude

Woman Warrior

4 parts vodka
1 part blue curacao
1 part freshly squeezed lime


Shake with ice until very cold and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime.

On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs

This is a LONG read but well worth it. I received this via email and it was credited to LTC (RET) Dave Grossman, author of "On Killing."

"Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always,even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for?" - William J. Bennett - in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997

One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me:

"Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident."

This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another. Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year.

Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.

Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.

I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the pretty, blue robin's egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful.? For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.

"Then there are the wolves," the old war veteran said, "and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy." Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.

"Then there are sheepdogs," he went on, "and I'm a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf."

If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero's path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.

Let me expand on this old soldier's excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial, that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids' schools.
But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid's school. Our children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep's only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the path of denial.

The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, can not and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheep dog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours.

Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, "Baa."

Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.

The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door.

Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word hero?

Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed right along with the young ones.

Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes." The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, "Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference." When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference.

There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but he does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population. There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory crimes of violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language: slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself.

Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I'm proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs. Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his phone and uttered the words, "Let's roll," which authorities believe was a signal to the other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers.

In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers - athletes, business people and parents. -- from sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground.

There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men. - Edmund Burke

Here is the point I like to emphasize, especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They didn't have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision.

If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love.

But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior's path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.

For example, many officers carry their weapons in church. They are well concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt holsters tucked into the small of their backs. Anytime you go to some form of religious service, there is a very good chance that a police officer in your congregation is carrying. You will never know if there is such an individual in your place of worship, until the wolf appears to massacre you and your loved ones.

I was training a group of police officers in Texas, and during the break, one officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon in church. The other cop replied, "I will never be caught without my gun in church." I asked why he felt so strongly about this, and he told me about a cop he knew who was at a church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1999. In that incident, a mentally deranged individual came into the church and opened fire, gunning down fourteen people. He said that officer believed he could have saved every life that day if he had been carrying his gun. His own son was shot, and all he could do was throw himself on the boy's body and wait to die. That cop looked me in the eye and said, "Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?"

Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and would probably scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for "heads to roll" if they found out that the airbags in their cars were defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids' school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can happen and that there must be safeguards against them.

Their only response to the wolf, though, is denial, and all too often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks himself, "Do you have and idea how hard it would be to live with yourself if your loved ones attacked and killed, and you had to stand there helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?"

It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and horror when the wolf shows up.

Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are not physically prepared: you didn't bring your gun, you didn't train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by your fear helplessness and horror at your moment of truth.
Gavin de Becker puts it like this in Fear Less, his superb post-9/11 book, which should be required reading for anyone trying to come to terms with our current world situation: "...denial can be seductive, but it has an insidious side effect. For all the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying it isn't so, the fall they take when faced with new violence is all the more unsettling."

Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in small print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some level.

And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes. If you are warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that the bad man will not come today. No one can be "on" 24/7, for a lifetime. Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself...

"Baa."

This business of being a sheep or a sheep dog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other. Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that continuum, away from sheephood and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved ones will survive, physically and psychologically at your moment of truth.

A-6Dude


Blue Martini
2 parts of Bombay Blue Sapphire gin or Vodka
1 part of blue curacao
dash of dry vermouth.

Shake over ice till COLD and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with an olive.

A Few Good Men - My Day At Work

Since retiring from the Navy I have found myself in the mysterious world of sales. For the first six years I sold software and for the last four I have been selling services (people). It’s a completely different mentality than flying jets in the Navy.

Out here there are two sides of the equation – those of us that bring in revenue (sales reps and Business Developers) and those that depend upon that revenue (Finance and Accounting – F&A). I'm a Business Developer.

Here is a meeting I had today with them set to the tone of the movie "A Few Good Men".

F&A: “I still need clarification on this expense report.”

Me: "You want answers?"

F&A: "I think we are entitled to them!"

Me: "You want answers?!"

F&A: "I want the truth!"

Me: "You can't handle the truth!!!"

Me (continuing): "Lady, we live in a world that requires revenue. And that revenue must be brought in by people with elite skills. Who's going to find it? You? You, Ms. Finance and Accounting? We have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom.

You scoff at Business Development and you curse our lucrative incentives. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what we know: that while the cost of business results are excessive, it drives in revenue. And my very existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, drives REVENUE!

You don't want to know the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at staff meetings ... you want me on that call. You NEED me on that call!

We use words like Long Term Agreements, Productivity Improvements, discounts, Just In Time, global purchase agreements. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent negotiating something. You use them as a punch line!

I have neither the time nor inclination to explain myself to people who rise and sleep under the very blanket of revenue I provide and then question the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise I suggest you pick up a phone and make some sales calls. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you're entitled to!"

F&A: "Did you expense the lap dances?"

Me: "I did the job I was hired to do."

F&A: "Did you expense the lap dances?"

Me: "You're goddamn right I did!"

A-6Dude


Key Lime Martini Recipe

Graham cracker crumbs, for rimming the glass
2 lime wedges
6 Tbs. vanilla flavored vodka
¼ cup key lime liqueur
2 Tbs. pineapple juice
2 Tbs. heavy whipping cream

Pour the graham cracker crumbs into a shallow dish. Rub a lime wedge around the edge of a martini glass and roll the edge in the graham cracker crumbs. Chill the glass for 30 minutes or until ready to serve.

Combine the vodka, key lime liqueur, pineapple juice and cream in a shaker. Fill the shaker half full with ice and shake until COLD. Pour into prepared martini glass, garnish with a lime wedge and serve immediately.

This was not plagiarized. This was composed using repeatable best practices. They're just words.

Supreme Court Rejects ACLU Challenge to Wiretaps

This is why it is important to have a constructionist majority on the court. Score one for the good guys! Check out the article.

A-6Dude

Vesper:
3 measures of Gordon's Gin
1 measure of vodka
1/2 measure Kina Lillet
lemon peel for garnish

Shake over ice till COLD! Strain into a COLD martini glass and garnish with a lemon peel.

Obama and Che?

A Houston campaign office for Barack Obama displaying the Cuban flag with murderous thug Che Guevara superimposed.

Maybe he didn't know about this but has anyone heard of him telling anyone to take it down? I'll reserve comment until I hear the answer to that.

A-6Dude

The Party’s Over?

I live in Loudoun County, VA. It’s ranked one of the fastest growing and richest (whatever that means) counties in America. I like it here. It is close to DC (45 miles) and yet, far enough from the DC area to be a great place to live.

I also own a house here (well, the bank does for a bit longer). Like every other part of the country we are experiencing the effects of the housing slump. New building permits are down and my house has decreased in assessed value by almost $200,000 in the last 2-3 years.

Granted, the housing boom had the value of my house somewhat inflated but nonetheless that is a significant drop in value. I am not worried. I don’t have plans on moving anywhere in the next 5-10 years so I know that the market will cycle back up again.

Aside from the fact that I cannot make as much profit on my house were I to sell it right now, the County Government can’t make the amount of money off of it either, based on the declining value of the assessment. So, instead of saying that we (the County Government) will have to do with less and figure out where to cut expenses (government giveaways, that is), they just presented a proposed fiscal year 2009 budget that would require a 25.6-cent increase in the real estate tax (up to a bit over $1.26 per $100 of assessed value).



If the board of supervisors approves the budget as it is being recommended it would mean a 13.6 percent increase in the average homeowner's tax bill, an increase of approximately $640 (mine would be higher).



"The party's over," Chairman Scott K. York (I-At large) said. "The party that we've had over the last few years is probably over for a little while." Scott, there has been no party.

But the last election we had in November brought back a Democrat majority to our Board of Supervisors and guess what happens when you let Democrats have power – we get higher taxes and more government spending on things that aren’t necessary or a priority.

Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, 2008-2011

Front Row (l. to r.): Jim Burton, Vice-Chairman Susan Klimek Buckley, Chairman Scott K. York, Sally R. Kurtz;

Back Row (l. to r.): Kelly Burk, Stevens Miller, Eugene Delgaudio, Andrea McGimsey, Lori Waters

Just like in the 2006 elections, in our local elections last November I heard plenty of people say that they wanted to teach the Republicans on the Board a lesson and vote them out of office. These aren’t Democrat friends I am hearing say this, these are so-called Republicans. I guess they haven’t been paying attention to what that philosophy did to us in the state and federal elections in 2006. Perhaps they think that a Democrat controlled government can better decide where my money should be spent that I should.

But, they did it and now they are already complaining. And what happened?

As expected, the Board of Supervisors is proposing a $27 million increase in spending for general government programs and an $81 million increase in school spending. With a few other proposals we get $99.6 million increase in local tax funding which represents an overall 12 percent increase. They called the upcoming budget cycle a "balancing act between affordability and the public need".

I think they are right there. But what they need to do is manage the government the way they would manage their household finances (without the benefit of a credit card or a loan). Our taxes are their salary/income. Just like any family out there with those constraints (no credit cards, etc), they should have to budget and save to do thing they want to do. This will force them to do a much better job prioritizing and allocating where money is spent – just like we have to do at home.

But they don’t. They just say I need a raise (more taxes) and then try to figure out how to spend more so that they can ask for another raise. Even with the large increase in the tax rate, the County says that the proposed budget does reflect an amount of fiscal restraint. They don't define what that amount really is though.

In anticipation of the upcoming budget, county departments found $5 million in cost savings in their current budgets. You can’t tell me that there was only $5 million in cost savings to be found. They knew that assessments were going down. They have for the last three years. Knowing that, why did they keep adding to the expenses they have?

But we’re told that of the $31 million county departments identified in ‘new’ resource needs by county departments, only $4 million are included in proposed budget. I used to be in the government. I know how that game is played. You ask for 4 to 5 times what you really want knowing that you’ll be lucky to get 20% of your request, which is about what you really needed in the first place.

There is an $81 million increase in the school operating funds for fiscal year 2009. This represents a 5 percent increase per student, but school system leaders and members of the school board are still hoping they can get full funding of their proposed budget. Every election we have there is a school referendum for new schools and rehabbing old schools. Every single election!

But what does our County do? They (the Dems) want ‘slow growth’. We can’t grow too fast. And at the same time, they don’t do anything to bring in some industry to broaden the tax base. I am hoping that they are smarter than I am but it seems to me that we should be trying to attract a larger business tax base. I’m not for unfettered growth but we should be looking at what we want his county to look like in 25+ years and follow a plan to get us there.

But the Dems in charge now are going to do little more (at least this is the indication) than go down their ‘slow growth’ road, increasing services and raising our taxes to fund their fiscal irresponsibility.

Try doing that with your home finances – do what you can to prevent your income from increasing and then start spending more. The problem with that analogy is that at home we have credit cards and other ways to do this (however irresponsible those ways are). Even so, we can still get in trouble at home with few ways to get out of it.

The County just increases taxes. I wish I could just go to my boss and demand a pay raise that he couldn’t refuse.

There was some reality/sanity in the discussions, though. Some supervisors indicated they were not convinced that the school is still growing at the projected rate of 3,000 new students annually. Supervisor Jim Burton (I-At large) said he did not understand why the number continued to be high when the number of building permits given in the county has continued to decrease over the past few years. Good point, Jim!

"Appears to me now for many, many years, the number of school children was related to the number of building permits, and now it appears unrelated," he said. "I don't understand that and I would hope that we would get a good explanation for that."

We probably won’t, Jim. It’s not about fiscal responsibility. It’s about growing the services we provide and taxing anything that moves to pay for it.

Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) also said he would like to see an overview of the fiscal year 2008 budget and how the previous board arrived at its decision. He also asked if it was possible for the board to get a listing of how different tax rates could be achieved. "It would help board members and the public to have some of those options for a lower tax rate," he said."We have to recognize the tax rate, the ability to pay is a lot about the affordability, the ability to live in Loudoun County," York said. "We have to be well aware that things are serious. It's going to take some restraint on our part."

Sounds good, York. But you won’t do it. You will do everything to grow the government instead of minimizing it. We all want nice cities and safe environments to raise our families. But we also need to able to afford to live there too.

Perhaps the county entities should be forced to do business the way commercial companies do.

I would rather see the following: put a stop on all non-critical growth funding and identify every organization that receives tax money. For each of them I would develop a return on investment (ROI) metric that they must meet. If they don’t meet it then they lose money. If they continue to fail to meet the metric then they lose all funding. I don’t mean to make this simplistic but the discipline is sound, and sorely needed.

I think it’s time for the state to impose local tax caps. Many other states have these in place. Loudoun is beginning to border on New Jersey and New York property tax burdens at 1.21% In NJ (the highest in the nation the average around 1.5% of market value.) "

So again, to you that elected the new Board of Supervisors with their promise of fiscal responsibility, this is what you got.

The reality is that the party isn’t over, and with the way the new Democrat controlled Board of Supervisors wants to spend, I think their party is just about to begin.

A-6Dude

Fudge Swirl Martini

1 part Chocolate Vodka

1 part White Chocolate Liqueur

1 part Vanilla Vodka

Shaked ingredients with ice until very cold. Strain into chilled martini glass rimmed with cocoa powder.

A Dirty Martini

This site was not started to be only me opining about issues of the day. I want to make sure I balance it a little with other topics about which I am passionate.

So, today, I will talk about martinis (my wife, my kids, cigars and scotch and other passions will come in later posts).

The Dirty Martini is the namesake drink of my blog site. It is my favorite martini.

Martinis were an American invention. There are several theories about the origin of the martini. The most accepted account is that the Martinez (the original name for the drink) was most likely invented in Martinez, California, where a plaque commemorating the birth of the martini can be found on the north-east corner of the intersection of Alhambra Avenue and Masonic Street.

The current day martini is a descendant of the Martinez, an older, sweeter cocktail consisting of two ounces of sweet vermouth, one ounce Old Tom gin (a sweetened variant), two dashes maraschino cherry liquid, and one dash bitters, shaken with ice, strained, and served with a twist of lemon. The earliest known reference to the Martinez is found in The Bon Vivant's Companion: Or How to Mix Drinks (1887 edition), authored by "Professor" Jerry Thomas, the head bartender at many famous watering holes, including the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco.

Thomas had a client who took a ferry from the Occidental Hotel on Montgomery Street to Martinez, then the state capital of California, every morning. Thomas mixed him the Martinez to keep the morning chill off, and named it after his client's destination. Distilled spirits in the 1800s were not regulated as they are today, and were sold at cask strength—upwards of 135 proof. Over time, the strength of the spirits decreased and smaller quantities of mixers were needed to make them palatable. Now it is more common to see a martini made with little or no vermouth.

Today we also see that Vodka has replaced Gin as the predominant ingredient in a martini. Purists, however, still believe that a true martini is made with Gin and not Vodka. Personally, I like them both but I lean toward Vodka as my main ingredient.

Here is the thing about martinis: as with any other drink you make the key to a great cocktail is the use of QUALITY ingredients. Life is too short to drink cheap booze, unless your budget can only afford the call brand varieties.

Using the lesser quality ingredients can be somewhat rectified by the next most important ingredient in making a martini – make it COLD! When I shake my martinis I do so until I can no longer hold the shaker in my hand. I mean that literally.

Next, I like to chill my cocktail (martini) glasses in the freezer. You may also chill one by adding ice and water to a glass but I find the freezer just makes it taste better. There is something about the martini glass fogging up after I remove it from the freezer that makes the anticipation of the martini more heightened.

I have a spread sheet with almost 700 recipes that I have been accumulating since 2000. When I see and interesting recipe I add it to my list. There is no way I will be able to drink all of them (without a liver transplant) but they’re fun to collect.

The last element of a martini is the garnish. In that list of recipes I have garnishes that include lemon twists, orange twists, olives (with a variety of stuffing’s), chocolate syrup, candy canes, various rimming sugars and the list goes on. I also purchased some stainless steel martini olive skewers in the shape of swords. They are cool!

Another thing I have found is a lady named Tracy Lolita Yancey that designs themed, hand painted martini art glasses. On the bottom of the glasses is a recipe to try. These are way cool and make great gifts for the martini lovers in your life.

So, here is the namesake recipe for my blog site:

The Dirty Martini
3 parts Vodka or Gin (make them the best quality you can afford)
½ part dry vermouth (personally, I either use a vermouth spritzer, or swirl the vermouth in glass and drain it, or use no vermouth at all)

Olive brine

Olives (either pimento stuffed or bleu cheese stuffed – and stuff the bleu cheese in yourself. Don’t buy the bleu cheese stuffed olives that are stored in oil)

Add the vodka or gin and your vermouth preference to a shaker filled with ice. Shake it until you cannot hold the shaker in your hand anymore. Strain into your very chilled martini glass. Add 2-3 tsp of olive brine (more or less to taste) and garnish with your olives.

Find a place to sit, relax and enjoy! You earned it.

A-6Dude