Political Compass

Politics


From The Political Compass:

“There’s abundant evidence for the need of it. The old one-dimensional categories of ‘right’ and ‘left’, established for the seating arrangement of the French National Assembly of 1789, are overly simplistic for today’s complex political landscape. For example, who are the ‘conservatives’ in today’s Russia? Are they the unreconstructed Stalinists, or the reformers who have adopted the right-wing views of conservatives like Margaret Thatcher?

On the standard left-right scale, how do you distinguish leftists like Stalin and Gandhi? It’s not sufficient to say that Stalin was simply more left than Gandhi. There are fundamental political differences between them that the old categories on their own can’t explain. Similarly, we generally describe social reactionaries as ‘right-wingers’, yet that leaves left-wing reactionaries like Robert Mugabe and Pol Pot off the hook.”

Take five minutes and see where you stand on the Political Compass. Click on the image up top to go to the website. On the main page, there is a link at the top left of the page to start your quiz.

It shows that I’m: Economic Left/Right: +4.75
It shows that I’m: Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: +2.97
Meaning: Authoritarian Right (and so are most world leaders, like Thatcher and Hitler!)

OR, take The shortest political quiz (literally 30 seconds) and see where you sit. It shows I’m conservative.

TobyLaura.com

Cool House

Family


This is the model home that my sister and her husband, Katie and Scott, are going to be building! It’s an amazing house and they should be breaking ground soon!

To post comments and more, visit TobyLaura.com

Flying Together

Aviation, Family


With my departure to Cathay Pacific being eminent, Laura and I wanted a chance for me to be the captain of one of her flights here at Chautauqua, where I would fly her as a passenger. Once I go to Cathay, I won’t be a captain again for a long time, so we didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

Laura has flown a lot since she has met me, but never with me being the one flying her. So, I bid to work a Saturday, where she could come along. I got a trip that left Saturday afternoon and simply went from Columbus to Orlando, and then back to Columbus. The flight left about 5:00 p.m. and we got into Orlando around 7:00 p.m. and then back into Columbus around 10:00 p.m. It was a fun little out and back trip that not many people get to experience. It was certainly fun.

As always, there was a little bit of drama. The flight was booked full from Columbus to Orlando and it didn’t look like she, flying standby for free, would have a chance to get on board. I thought, “Great. I’m working Saturday, just for this experience, and now she won’t be able to go!” Well, luckily, one person didn’t show up and she got the last seat! I showed her a little bit around the cockpit, and my copilot was nice enough to take our picture a few times.

She sat in the last row, row 18, and got a window seat. The flights down, and back were both smooth and uneventful. I flew the leg down to Orlando and had a very smooth landing! I was nervous, though, because with the wife in the back, you want to be as impressive as you can, and of all the landings, this was not the one to mess up, or crash it on real rough. We touched down on runway 35 right and it was “buddah” (butter).

She was also able to get a seat on the way back as well. Good thing — I didn’t want her to have to buy a hotel room for the night. The co-pilot flew us back and overall, it was a real fun time. It was really cool to be flying Laura in the back. It really added a new meaning of importance to my flying. It was a special time for us and a neat experience I will remember for a long time.

To see pictures, click here, or the picture of us at the top of the page.

To post comments and more, visit TobyLaura.com

90 and Counting!

Family


Click here or the picture of my grandparents for a photo gallery of pictures from Pawpaw’s 90th birthday bash!

Bill Sweaney served in WWII, has a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star, a Silver Star (an award that is second only to the Congressional Medal of Honor), many memories, a great family, lives in a paid off house that he built in 1950 that sits in a quiet neighborhood, and is now 90 years old! He is living a charmed life; a blessed life. God has been very good to him and I am privileged and honored to be his grandson.

Laura and I were able to fly down to Texas to participate in the celebration, as not many people get to see 90. He is still healthy, for the most part, and we are so proud of him.

My aunt Sharon put together an amazing display of all his WWII memorabilia, including a hand-made knife his father made for Army soldiers, European money, a Nazi flag and uniform, pictures of Pawpaw during the battle of the Bulge, awards, his induction letter telling him he needed to report for duty in the Army, and more.

It was all an amazing time, and it was great to see all the family members for the event. He has lots of friends from over the years, and many people stopped by. It is a true testament to how one has lived their life by how many friends they have — and how many show up for parties and funerals. Bill Sweaney is a generous, loving man that has lots of friends, because he has lived his life as a servant. A person with few friends needs to reevaluate how they live but Bill is not one of those people.

One of these days, Pawpaw will take with him to Heaven many stories and priceless memories from WWII. He will leave behind an amazing record, from owning his own heating and air conditioning business, Air Rite, to the family that he has. But for now, we are so proud of him and glad to celebrate, once again, a huge milestone in his life: 90!

To post comments and more, visit TobyLaura.com

Grandpa Cline

Family


My grandfather on my father’s side has passed away. He was certainly older, at 84, but his passing was a surprise to everyone, including my grandma, Alice.

He had been in the hospital for not feeling well, and was seen and then released. He died in his house, that night. He had fallen over on the way to the bathroom and ended up in heaven. We are certainly sorry to see him go, but we are also glad that he is no longer suffering. He was losing his memory and mind and wasn’t able to enjoy life like he should. When my dad had visited him that day in the hospital, my grandpa didn’t recognize him, which is sad.

My dad has taken it hard, but is so happy that he knows for sure he will see him again in heaven. My dad wrote a great blog entry about my grandpa here.

I was able to have a few days off in my schedule, so it worked out well that I could be down in Texas with my family for the funeral. It was the next day, after the funeral, that I left for Atlanta to meet Laura there for our continued trip to Savannah for vacation. I’ve been behind keeping up this blog, through funerals, vacations, back to Texas for birthday celebrations, and working. So it has been fairly crazy, to say the least.

Funerals are never fun, but when someone knows who God is, and where He fits into our lives, funerals can be as much of a celebration as they are sad. For Christians, they are always bittersweet times. I look forward to seeing my grandpa again someday.

For photos of the funeral, click here, or click grandpa’s picture at the top of the page.

To post comments and more, visit TobyLaura.com

We made it home

Vacation


Sleeping in the Hampton Inn wasn’t so hot because I saved 20 bucks by getting two full beds instead of a king sized bed. Man, we are used to sleeping on a queen, and when we squeeze our way into a full, it doesn’t make for good sleep.

Needless to say, we woke up at 7 a.m. pretty tired. That was also the earliest we’d gotten up all week! We headed to the airport and had no troubles. We got to sit in first class together out of Savannah to Atlanta, and then we got to sit together on my own airline from Atlanta to Columbus. It was good times, good memories, and we can’t wait for the next vacation!

You can see the photos of our vacation on our Tybee page. Check it out and enjoy.

To post comments and more, visit TobyLaura.com