The "Hunky" gene

SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 2009

The "Hunky" Gene

When I was a kid in Smock, the "town" kids inUniontownused to call us "Hunkys".Wikipediadefines "hunky" as a derogatory term for immigrants of Hungarian, Slovak, or generally middle-European people. BUT, it also defines the term as "beefcake" or a person who is a "hunk". Nice. And the term is LOCAL. It is used primarily in Western Pennsylvania or Western New York.

So what is the "hunky" culture? It is a way of life developed by our ancestors to express freedom of religion and the regaining of their personal freedoms which were taken away in the "old country". And we could not accurately describe the "hunky" culture without mentioning food. (See "The Food Article" elsewhere in this blog.)

Hunkys settled into mostly industrial areas because they weren't afraid of work. Hard, back breaking work found in places like coal mines and steel mills. And the dedication of those Hunky workers wasphenomenal. I actually know of a coal miner who stood in cold water at work for so long that he had to have both legs amputated below the knees because of the destruction of his blood vessels. He was fitted with two artificial limbs and promptlywent back to work in the mine. That's Hunky style, my friend. A little crazy, but there was no welfare or pity for these men and women.

Sometime in the 1960's, I started to hear the term "Hunky style" used to describe polkas that were....well....hunky style. You'll just have to go to YouTube and find some and take a listen.

Hunky men loved many things. Guns, beer, Hunky food, trucks, deer hunting and Hunky music, just to name a few. The Hunky women loved pretty much the same stuff. And Hunky people in general loved (here, you should fill in the blank) and most everything and everyone.

OK, before some narrow-minded self important outsider starts to slam me for Hunky exploitation, let me continue my comments on this subject.

Hunky people loved God. They were in church every Sunday. And they were generous to a fault. I grew up thinking that it was mandatory to take food to a family who was either poor or recently lost a loved one.

Sure we ate and grew some pretty impressive hunky bodies. But we took those bodies out on the dance floor at every wedding. After all, when a girl from Smock was married, you invited practically the entire town. And if you didn't dance, then shame on you.

We grew "organic" gardens long before the term was invented. We baked pies from wild apples and blackberries and used recipes passed down from grandma. And if you happened to be at a home when dinnertime drew near, you stayed. In fact, you were almost MADE to stay.

There was a bond and a brotherhood in our little Hunky town that could never be broken. Sure, people would talk about their neighbors, but show me a town where that doesn't happen. At least in Smock, the worst person would still be looked after by the rest of the town if they happened to fall on hard times.

I found a great dictionary of our West Pennsylvania "language" calledCoalSpeak. You can find it here..http://www.coalregion.com/Speak/speakA.htm

So to all of those Hunkys out there, may I suggest that after reading this, we take a look at that old lunch bucket that Dad took to the mine every day or go out to the butka and slice off a piece of kolatchiand grab a Rolling Rock and turn on the polkas. After all, that's what we do.

An' I'll see yinz guys later. That comes from one Hunky to another.

Gobble GOBBLE !

Stolen from Fritzer !

Barack Obama blunders again on the world stage

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100190254/barack-obama-blunders-again-on-the-world-stage/

As Obama stood next to the world's most recognized democracy icon, he mispronounced her name repeatedly.

Ever gracious, Suu Kyi did not correct her American guest for calling her Aung YAN Suu Kyi multiple times during his statement to reporters after their meeting.

Proper pronunciation for the Nobel laureate's name is Ahng Sahn Soo Chee.

What a Maroon !  Bet this will not get much coverage in the MSM, but if it had been Bush it would be banner headlines !

Rojo !

Alicia Witt

No Name

Rest in peace old friend :)

U.S. hope to re-open beautiful U-tapao by the sea

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/11/15/Lizards-startle-US-Secret-Service/UPI-75261352995046/


"The United States is interested in establishing a humanitarian and disaster relief force at U-Tapao, a naval and air force complex on the eastern seaboard built by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.

"The return to U-Tapao would be very symbolic for the U.S., sending a message to China that it is returning to mainland South-East Asia," Panitan Wattanayagorn, a military affairs expert at Chulalongkorn University, told the Post.

Such a move would require approval by Thai lawmakers, some of whom are skeptical about the U.S. military being permanently based in Thailand, he said.

U.S. officials have announced plans to focus more on the Asia Pacific region in military, cultural and development areas."

I have semi-fond memories of the place, cheap booze, plate of kao-pad (fried rice) for 5 baht (25 cents), cheap hookers if you were so inclined. 50 cent movies, living in a hooch, and lots of time to fool with RC Airplanes.

My hooch on the left 

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/11/15/Lizards-startle-US-Secret-Service/UPI-75261352995046/#ixzz2CVyPfxcb

China eyes Atlantic base

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/332454/red-flag-over-atlantic-gordon-g-chang

Rocky Mountain High - - -

Colorado and Washington residents !

In a nutshell !

"Demographic voting is the new norm in America. You vote 

based on who you are, not where you live or how well each 

campaign has articulated its case. 93% of blacks, 70% of 

Latinos, 60% of those under 30, and 62% of single people, 

voted for Obama. And white married couples over 30 years 

of age voted for Romney. Not much else matters. A 

president who was elected and re-elected through identity 

politics has brought about a state of affairs where 

demographic voting determines the outcome. Our votes are 

predictable based on our race, ethnicity, age, and marital 

status well before anybody does any campaigning."


From Dick Morris

A "sea change"

All of my life I have been fairly optimistic that things would work out for the best, and that my government would work to protect my interests.

Now it seems that I have to protect myself from my government and take steps to insure my family's welfare that I have never imagined in the past.

I have to pull every penny out of the stock and bond money and convert it to gold and silver.

Tax rates are only going up and I can much better absorb the lower rate taxes of today.

I fully expect the stock and bond market to tank, the value of the dollar to drop, and high unemployment and inflation to haunt us.

I can no longer count on our legislatures to look out for my interests.

It is a sad day in America .

Obama's grand plan to win the election.

Voter turnout was way down this election, Republicans alone were down by three million. Surely moderates were down as well.

Why do you think that is ?

I submit that it was an Obama campaign grand scheme. He could not win on his record, he could not win on the economy, he could not win among thinking people.

So what he did was turn the election from issues to personality with one ugly twist.

First he gave handouts to all the lefty fringe groups to lock them in. Gays in the military and gay marriage to the GLBT community. He worked against immigration reform and stemming the tide of illegal immigration for the Hispanics. He gave free birth control and promised to work for funding free abortion on demand for single women and feminists. He tossed a few crumbs to the black community, but they supported him at 90% + anyway.

Once he locked up his base he decided to turn the election into a smear campaign against Romney, Bain, and Republicans in general.  They trumpeted the phony Republican "War on Women", demonized Wall Street and the wealthy. 

They hammered Romney on his tax returns which were obviously legal or the IRS would have been on his ass. They claimed that he shipped jobs overseas, when many of his companies created thousands of jobs here. They claimed that he had most of his money offshore, but never offered a bit of proof.

Republicans tried in vain to counter some of these false charges, and the result was an election so divisive and so ugly that many moderates, and even many Republicans stayed home.

Obama shored up his base and then worked to turn moderates against the entire election.

Brilliant plan, in an evil manipulative sort of manner, which are the words that come to my mind about Obama.

Want a place to rant about the election ?

Join us at 

http://baybob.proboards.com/

So what should the Republican Party do?

We ran a clean, kind, successful, articulate, all around nice guy and got our asses handed to us.

We spent a couple billion dollars and we are exactly where we started, headed to hell in a hand basket .

The demographics in this country have changed. Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and single women dominate the electorate that we have to draw from, and we are probably never going to get those votes. Not as long as things remain as they are.

As I have done on a couple message boards, maybe it is time the Republicans took a time out. Obama and the Democrats fought a dirty, back stabbing, untruthful campaign and their members just sucked it up. Many moderates bough it too and if Obama and his minions want it, I say let them have it!

What do I mean by this?  Take our ball and go home!  Do not run any candidates for the mid-term election.  Let the Democrats have the House and control the Senate.  When the next Presidential election rolls around, let the Democrats savage each other in the way they have savaged Republicans in the past. Let them have a dose of their own medicine, administered by their own.

We should sit on our hands and our wallets until the people get sick of Democrat dominated politics. They certainly have no answers for fixing the economy, and if we let them have the field for 6 years that fact will become painfully obvious.

When the Democrats had both houses and the Whitehouse the best they could come up with was Obamacare. Let them have if for a good long run without being able to claim it is Bush’s fault or the Republican Congress is obstructive.  It is hard to be obstructive if we are not there .

Many voices in the media, and even the party are saying we need to embrace the Black community, or attract the Hispanic community, even give out free birth control and abortion on demand. What does that do for us, or more succinctly to us?  It makes us Democrat light. How can we win when we are selling the same thing the Democrats are selling and we have the years of demonizing heaped on by the liberal kingmakers to overcome.

And our next biggest enemy is the media, think how they will react to not getting a couple billion dollars in Republican money. And of course if we do not spend billions, neither will the Democrats and perhaps, just perhaps, these hard left Maddows, Colberts, Stewarts, and Matthews will have to look for real jobs.

Old “Tricky Dick” had the right idea when he said “You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference.”

We cannot win against the demographics and the media without losing our core beliefs, so I think we should sit in the bleachers for 6 years and see how well the Democrats do not having us to kick around any more !

Maybe a little Greece will make these moronic Liberals wake up !

Thatcher said it best "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money [to spend]."

When the money runs out perhaps the Republicans can win again.

The first Obama election reward !

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/0....E8A61Z320121107

(Reuters) - Boeing Co said on Wednesday it will restructure its defense, space and security business and cut 30 percent of management jobs from 2010 levels as part of a broad cost-cutting drive.




Thank you Dear Leader

Dear Leader

There is a subtle thing going on here - - -

OR NOT !    It is the apparent different mood between the campaigns. Romney is drawing large hopeful crowds who are happy and in very good spirits. The Obama campaign is much more dark and brooding. This has been observed by several media types traveling with the campaigns. One, Peggy Noonan (IIRC) said that "Its as if the candidates know the outcome and can't hide it " I'll get back to this tomorrow when we know, but feel free to chime in !

Don't be an Obama supporter

You will look silly at best !

"swampthing" asked for an Alaska story - - -

- - - well this ain't Alaska, but it is far north and has ice and stuff ! ! !

"The Devil His-self"

The scene of this story is set up in New England, where the lakes freeze over deep and solid and where spear fishing is both traditional and legal. The location is protected to shield the pride of my friends who were involved.

The preferred method of spearing fish is from a windowless "fish-house". The darkened interior allows the fishermen (?) to see well down into the water against the background illumination of the daylight through the snow covered ice. These houses are typically 8ft square, and made of Celotex, which is a flimsy fiber insulation board coated with a semi-waterproof black coating on the outside. It is used because it is light to handle, provides insulation, and most importantly blocks the light well. It is normally attached to a light wooden frame, and four such frames, one with a crude door, are assembled to make the walls of the house. Sometimes there is a Celotex or light plywood roof, or sometimes a couple of dark tarps. Inside the house a large hole is cut with a chainsaw after drilling a pilot hole with an ice auger. This hole is typically a couple of feet square to allow plenty of room for spearing.

One bright Saturday morning four of my New England buddies found themselves, a couple of cases of beer, a large supply of bratwurst, spearing equipment to include a fish decoy, ensconced in one of their fish houses. This all took place in the middle of the circus that is commonly present on a pleasant day on the ice. It includes tip-up fishermen, jig fishermen, bait fishermen, kids, dogs wives, tailgate cooking and general good spirits.

My buds were huddled in the darkness peering into their large hole in the ice, with the fish decoy in the middle suspended from the roof. The decoy is intended to attract fish to the hole so that they may be speared. Having consumed quite a few brats, and a large quantity of beer they were in great spirits enjoying the fellowship while attempting to spear the occasional fish that wandered into their trap.

Just the day before the fellow that had a neighboring fish-house had moved it to a more promising location, leaving a rather large spearing hole. He had dutifully marked it with a couple of large traffic cones to prevent anyone from wandering into it. The cones and hole had attracted a couple of minnow fishermen and they along with wives, kids, and dog set up to fish the "no drill" bonanza.

During the course of the morning, a yellow perch attracted to the brightly sunlit hole jumped with a resounding splash. The dog, a one hundred pound Black Labrador, followed his nature and attempted to retrieve what he may have mistook for a diving crippled duck. The dog disappeared into the large hole much to the shock of the minnow fishermen. And he did not come up.

 The children cried, the wives screamed, and there was general consternation and dismay among the crowd that had gathered.

Things were just calming down and the fate of dog was being lamented.

 The morning peace was again shattered by a huge disruption at the fish house as several new "doors" were created in its sides.

Out of these doors came terrified men, one followed by a happily shaking Black Lab, with a fish decoy in his mouth!

During the "after action interview" one of the spearers stated "a couple of us had just drifted off to sleep when I saw this huge black beast with large teeth bared (around the decoy apparently) heading up toward us. I thought it might be the devil his-self". " I screamed, everyone woke up just as that thing broke water, and we all just run like hell".

Nothing was hurt except the fish house and some pride! I as a witness and friend was sworn to secrecy, and good friend that I am I will take the names and the location to my grave. :) 

Bond Friday

Berenice Marlohe   SKYFALL !

'NO RED TAPE'? NEW JERSEY TURNS AWAY NON-UNION RELIEF CREWS

How desperate is hurricane-ravaged New Jersey? Not desperate enough to suspend a union monopoly that keeps the state in the bottom ten states for economic competitiveness (and #48 for business friendliness). Relief crews from Alabama who were specifically called to New Jersey found themselves diverted to Long Island, NY after they arrived because they use non-union labor.

http://www.breitbart.com/

Listen up black Christians

The wisdom of the ages

Dear President Obama,

My name is Harold Estes, approaching 95 on December 13 of this year. People meeting me for the first time don't believe my age because I remain wrinkle free and pretty much mentally alert.

I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and served proudly before, during and after WW II retiring as a Master Chief Bos'n Mate. Now I live in a "rest home" located on the western end of Pearl Harbor , allowing me to keep alive the memories of 23 years of service to my country.

One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my mind, blunt and direct even to the head man.

So here goes.

I am amazed, angry and determined not to see my country die before I do, but you seem hell bent not to grant me that wish.

I can't figure out what country you are the president of.

You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like:

" We're no longer a Christian nation"

" America is arrogant" - (Your wife even

announced to the world," America is mean-

spirited. " Please tell her to try preaching

that nonsense to 23 generations of our

war dead buried all over the globe who

died for no other reason than to free a

whole lot of strangers from tyranny and

hopelessness.)

I'd say shame on the both of you, but I don't think you like America, nor do I see an ounce of gratefulness in anything you do, for the obvious gifts this country has given you. To be without shame or gratefulness is a dangerous thing for a man sitting in the White House.

After 9/11 you said," America hasn't lived up to her ideals."

Which ones did you mean? Was it the notion of personal liberty that 11,000 farmers and shopkeepers died for to win independence from the British? Or maybe the ideal that no man should be a slave to another man, that 500,000 men died for in the Civil War? I hope you didn't mean the ideal 470,000 fathers, brothers, husbands, and a lot of fellas I knew personally died for in WWII, because we felt real strongly about not letting any nation push us around, because we stand for freedom.

I don't think you mean the ideal that says equality is better than discrimination. You know the one that a whole lot of white people understood when they helped to get you elected.

Take a little advice from a very old geezer, young man.

Shape up and start acting like an American. If you don't, I'll do what I can to see you get shipped out of that fancy rental on Pennsylvania Avenue . You were elected to lead not to bow, apologize and kiss the hands of murderers and corrupt leaders who still treat their people like slaves.

And just who do you think you are telling the American people not to jump to conclusions and condemn that Muslim major who killed 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounded dozens more. You mean you don't want us to do what you did when that white cop used force to subdue that black college professor in Massachusetts , who was putting up a fight? You don't mind offending the police calling them stupid but you don't want us to offend Muslim fanatics by calling them what they are, terrorists.

One more thing. I realize you never served in the military and never had to defend your country with your life, but you're the Commander-in-Chief now, son. Do your job. 

When your battle-hardened field General asks you for 40,000 more troops to complete the mission, give them to him. But if you're not in this fight to win, then get out. The life of one American soldier is not worth the best political strategy you're thinking of.

You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest challenge ever presented to any president.

You're not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our bloated economy. That's not our greatest threat. Losing the heart and soul of who we are as Americans is our big fight now.

And I sure as hell don't want to think my president is the enemy in this final battle...

Sincerely,

Harold B. Estes

Snopes confirms as true:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/haroldestes.asp