I am!
The favorite Naval consort was someplace where a private conversation could be held, mmmmmmmmmm!
Now I am getting ready to head up to my parents where all the women in my family, mother, sisters, nieces, (although my goddaughter has a dance to go to) and I will play cards and hang out. My father will pretend to object and be put out, but I bet he's been shopping for our favorite snacks.
*************************
OK, change of plans. Grace doesn't feel well and Jen is stuck at work. So I am at work, lol. I called my nieces and told them to email me schedules so we can pick another night.
I'm bummed, however, I still get to call the Gulf at 2130 and give someone a wake up call, so.......it's all good!
Have a great night, I know I will!
Friday, February 29, 2008
The Prince Harry Rollercoaster
Welcome aboard!
Going up the first small hill - Prince Harry is set to deploy to Iraq with his men.
Crest the hill and plummet down - No, the powers that be say no.
Up we go again - Harry made in theater!
Oh, down to the depths - Harry has to be pulled out - thanks to Matt Drudge blowing his cover.
The Armorer is none too pleased.
CDR Salamandar covers it here.
SB Sends
Forward from the favorite Naval Consort
From a Chaplain in Iraq :
I recently attended a showing of ‘Superman 3′ here at LSA Anaconda. We have a large auditorium we use for movies as well as memorial services and other large gatherings. As is the custom back in the States, we stood and snapped to attention when the National Anthem began before the main feature. All was going as planned until, about three-quarters of the way through the National Anthem, the music stopped.
Now, what would happen if this occurred with 1,000 18-22 year-olds back in the States? I imagine there would be hoots, catcalls, laughter, a few rude comments, and everyone would sit down and call for a movie. Of course, that is, if they had stood for the National Anthem in the first place.
Here, the 1,000 Soldiers continued to stand at attention, eyes fixed forward. The music started again. The soldiers continued to quietly stand at attention. And again, at the same point, the music stopped.
What would you expect to happen? Even here I would imagine laughter as everyone sat down and expected the movie to start. Here, you could have heard a pin drop. Every soldier stood at attention.
Suddenly there was a lone voice, then a dozen, and quickly the room was filled with the voices of a thousand Soldiers. ‘And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?’
It was the most inspiring moment I have had here in Iraq. I wanted you to know what kind of soldiers are serving you here.
Written by: Chaplain Jim Higgins on 5/14/07.LSA Anaconda, Iraq
************************
So, as with all forwarded emails, I did a little Googling to make sure it was legit. I found it reprinted over at Sgt. Hook's place and in the comments there was confirmation from my girls "LL" & "SK" who have corresponded with Chaplain Higgins and sent him cigars. So it's a great, true story!
From a Chaplain in Iraq :
I recently attended a showing of ‘Superman 3′ here at LSA Anaconda. We have a large auditorium we use for movies as well as memorial services and other large gatherings. As is the custom back in the States, we stood and snapped to attention when the National Anthem began before the main feature. All was going as planned until, about three-quarters of the way through the National Anthem, the music stopped.
Now, what would happen if this occurred with 1,000 18-22 year-olds back in the States? I imagine there would be hoots, catcalls, laughter, a few rude comments, and everyone would sit down and call for a movie. Of course, that is, if they had stood for the National Anthem in the first place.
Here, the 1,000 Soldiers continued to stand at attention, eyes fixed forward. The music started again. The soldiers continued to quietly stand at attention. And again, at the same point, the music stopped.
What would you expect to happen? Even here I would imagine laughter as everyone sat down and expected the movie to start. Here, you could have heard a pin drop. Every soldier stood at attention.
Suddenly there was a lone voice, then a dozen, and quickly the room was filled with the voices of a thousand Soldiers. ‘And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?’
It was the most inspiring moment I have had here in Iraq. I wanted you to know what kind of soldiers are serving you here.
Written by: Chaplain Jim Higgins on 5/14/07.LSA Anaconda, Iraq
************************
So, as with all forwarded emails, I did a little Googling to make sure it was legit. I found it reprinted over at Sgt. Hook's place and in the comments there was confirmation from my girls "LL" & "SK" who have corresponded with Chaplain Higgins and sent him cigars. So it's a great, true story!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
A gathering of American heroes
***This will stay on top all day, new stuff below****
A gathering of American heroes
By Gordon Edes, Globe Staff March 3, 2005
WASHINGTON -- He had been on a training mission in the California desert on the night the Red Sox won the World Series, leaving his new bride from South Boston, Gina, and their dog, Teddy Ballgame, to watch the game by themselves on the base in Fort Irwin. So eight hours in an operating room yesterday wasn't going to stop a Milton kid, Philip Dow, not when Gina and his best buddy from BC High, Mike Viano, told him that the Sox were coming by the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
So Dow, 25, asked that his bed be wheeled into the room where the Sox had come directly from a ceremony at the White House, even though it was less than an hour after doctors had finished putting a metal plate and eight screws in his fractured left arm, worked on his fractured left leg and torn-up Achilles' tendon, and treated the shrapnel wounds in his right leg.
"I told the nurses, `You gotta hurry up, let's get this show on the road,' " Dow said.
This was the place where Curt Schilling slipped off the World Series ring he'd won in Arizona and placed it on the good hand of a kid who had part of his right arm blown off. Where Tito Francona sat huddled with another kid who'd been victimized by a suicide bomber. Where Theo Epstein held up the World Series trophy for a double amputee. Where PFC Paul Skarinka -- who had been part of the Whitman, Mass., fire rescue team before he got sent to Iraq and was now undergoing therapy to try to regain the feeling he lost in his left hand and foot after being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Sadr City -- sported his Sox cap while talking with Johnny Damon and Billy Mueller and Trot Nixon and the other players who stopped to visit.
"I got beat up real bad," Skarinka said.
Dow, who'd played lacrosse at BC High before becoming a first lieutenant in the 11th Armored Cavalry Second Regiment -- the Black Horse Regiment -- wasn't going to miss this.
"It's such an honor to meet you," catcher Jason Varitek said, leaning over Dow and taking his hand.
"It's an honor to meet you, sir," Dow said.
Larry Lucchino complimented him on his cap. David Ortiz came over and signed a ball. Tim Wakefield was at his side when Dow told his story of what happened that day in Iskandariyah, a town so far from pastoral Milton, a place about 30 miles south of Baghdad.
"I'm a platoon leader," Dow said, "and we were out on patrol. We'd been looking around for a vehicle, and we saw a vehicle parked on the right side of the road.
"The platoon took a short halt, and we all dismounted from our vehicles. As we approached, they blew up their vehicle.
"Fortunately, I was the only one who got hit. I was able to get my guys out of there."
Dow had spotted a man sitting in the passenger seat of the vehicle, and when the man did not respond when they called to him, he sensed danger and told his platoon to scatter.
"Right after the vehicle blew," he said, "we sent in an Air Medivac helicopter, but as it was coming down, we got ambushed. It was like they wanted the helicopter to come down so they could shoot the helicopter.
"My platoon did an excellent job. My guys were all able to get me out of there."
This happened Feb. 17, just two weeks ago. "The first night, when I heard what happened," Gina said, "was the worst."
Three out of his four limbs torn up by a booby-trapped vehicle?
"But at least he still has them all," Gina said. "At least that's something."
Dow said that doctors told him it would take six or seven months for him to recover from his wounds.
"Hopefully," Dow said to the Sox players around his bed, "I'll recover in time to get back with my guys."
Major General Kenneth Farmer, the commanding general of the medical center, shook hands with Dow.
"We're all American heroes," he told the group. "We've just been given different roles in life. You [the Sox] bring joy into their lives. They bring freedom and a whole lot of other things to you."
As the Sox prepared to leave, Wakefield returned to Philip Dow's side.
"If I don't get the chance," he said, "I want to thank you for what you've done for us,"
Wakefield said.
"Thank you," Philip Dow said.
A gathering of American heroes
By Gordon Edes, Globe Staff March 3, 2005
WASHINGTON -- He had been on a training mission in the California desert on the night the Red Sox won the World Series, leaving his new bride from South Boston, Gina, and their dog, Teddy Ballgame, to watch the game by themselves on the base in Fort Irwin. So eight hours in an operating room yesterday wasn't going to stop a Milton kid, Philip Dow, not when Gina and his best buddy from BC High, Mike Viano, told him that the Sox were coming by the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
So Dow, 25, asked that his bed be wheeled into the room where the Sox had come directly from a ceremony at the White House, even though it was less than an hour after doctors had finished putting a metal plate and eight screws in his fractured left arm, worked on his fractured left leg and torn-up Achilles' tendon, and treated the shrapnel wounds in his right leg.
"I told the nurses, `You gotta hurry up, let's get this show on the road,' " Dow said.
This was the place where Curt Schilling slipped off the World Series ring he'd won in Arizona and placed it on the good hand of a kid who had part of his right arm blown off. Where Tito Francona sat huddled with another kid who'd been victimized by a suicide bomber. Where Theo Epstein held up the World Series trophy for a double amputee. Where PFC Paul Skarinka -- who had been part of the Whitman, Mass., fire rescue team before he got sent to Iraq and was now undergoing therapy to try to regain the feeling he lost in his left hand and foot after being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Sadr City -- sported his Sox cap while talking with Johnny Damon and Billy Mueller and Trot Nixon and the other players who stopped to visit.
"I got beat up real bad," Skarinka said.
Dow, who'd played lacrosse at BC High before becoming a first lieutenant in the 11th Armored Cavalry Second Regiment -- the Black Horse Regiment -- wasn't going to miss this.
"It's such an honor to meet you," catcher Jason Varitek said, leaning over Dow and taking his hand.
"It's an honor to meet you, sir," Dow said.
Larry Lucchino complimented him on his cap. David Ortiz came over and signed a ball. Tim Wakefield was at his side when Dow told his story of what happened that day in Iskandariyah, a town so far from pastoral Milton, a place about 30 miles south of Baghdad.
"I'm a platoon leader," Dow said, "and we were out on patrol. We'd been looking around for a vehicle, and we saw a vehicle parked on the right side of the road.
"The platoon took a short halt, and we all dismounted from our vehicles. As we approached, they blew up their vehicle.
"Fortunately, I was the only one who got hit. I was able to get my guys out of there."
Dow had spotted a man sitting in the passenger seat of the vehicle, and when the man did not respond when they called to him, he sensed danger and told his platoon to scatter.
"Right after the vehicle blew," he said, "we sent in an Air Medivac helicopter, but as it was coming down, we got ambushed. It was like they wanted the helicopter to come down so they could shoot the helicopter.
"My platoon did an excellent job. My guys were all able to get me out of there."
This happened Feb. 17, just two weeks ago. "The first night, when I heard what happened," Gina said, "was the worst."
Three out of his four limbs torn up by a booby-trapped vehicle?
"But at least he still has them all," Gina said. "At least that's something."
Dow said that doctors told him it would take six or seven months for him to recover from his wounds.
"Hopefully," Dow said to the Sox players around his bed, "I'll recover in time to get back with my guys."
Major General Kenneth Farmer, the commanding general of the medical center, shook hands with Dow.
"We're all American heroes," he told the group. "We've just been given different roles in life. You [the Sox] bring joy into their lives. They bring freedom and a whole lot of other things to you."
As the Sox prepared to leave, Wakefield returned to Philip Dow's side.
"If I don't get the chance," he said, "I want to thank you for what you've done for us,"
Wakefield said.
"Thank you," Philip Dow said.
Paratroopers Fighting in Afghanistan Need to Hear from You!
The lovely DomestikDiva, Sherri has sent out an email to her buds to repost this everywhere.
Paratroopers Fighting in Afghanistan Need to Hear from You!
Posted By Blackfive
Not too long ago, Blackfive readers, joined by thousands of readers from other blogs, sent over 30,000 emails of support to Marines in Iraq. The Marines had to shut down the email address because you all were causing bandwidth issues with the support we were sending.
Now, as if the Taliban and Al Qaeda, bad weather, and lack of support here at home weren't bad enough, the New York Times has published a one-sided view of the paratroopers tour in Afghanistan.
And so now we have cause to band together again and send massive support down range. Here's why:
(break - go to Blackfive and read the whole thing)
Please send an email of support to skysoldiers173rd@gmail.com
Or you can mail cards to:
Leta CarruthP O Box 100Cordova, TN 38088
Due to security reasons in Afghanistan please do not put addresses or phone numbers on any correspondence. All emails will be printed out here in the US and mailed to Afghanistan as they do not have the resources to receive a large number of emails. All letters and emails will be vetted to make sure there are no negative comments. These are letters of support, so please keep them positive and uplifting.
A Huge THANK YOU to the proponents of (and the leaders of) this effort - Tanker Babe and Mrs. Diva!
Paratroopers Fighting in Afghanistan Need to Hear from You!
Posted By Blackfive
Not too long ago, Blackfive readers, joined by thousands of readers from other blogs, sent over 30,000 emails of support to Marines in Iraq. The Marines had to shut down the email address because you all were causing bandwidth issues with the support we were sending.
Now, as if the Taliban and Al Qaeda, bad weather, and lack of support here at home weren't bad enough, the New York Times has published a one-sided view of the paratroopers tour in Afghanistan.
And so now we have cause to band together again and send massive support down range. Here's why:
(break - go to Blackfive and read the whole thing)
Please send an email of support to skysoldiers173rd@gmail.com
Or you can mail cards to:
Leta CarruthP O Box 100Cordova, TN 38088
Due to security reasons in Afghanistan please do not put addresses or phone numbers on any correspondence. All emails will be printed out here in the US and mailed to Afghanistan as they do not have the resources to receive a large number of emails. All letters and emails will be vetted to make sure there are no negative comments. These are letters of support, so please keep them positive and uplifting.
A Huge THANK YOU to the proponents of (and the leaders of) this effort - Tanker Babe and Mrs. Diva!
OK, Let's Not Get All Gloomy
Lot's of people are popping by thanks to links to the Pat Condell post and video on Islam in England.
As I say in the post, don't give up on Old Blighty!
There are many intelligent people working on a solution to Britain's Clash of Cultures problem, chief among Professor Gwyn Prins.
Professor Prins, who I have met and found incredibly charming and engaging, is working on it. Here is a paper he coauthored for the RUSI.
“Risk Threat and Security: The Case of the United Kingdom"
It's six pages..go read it.
As I say in the post, don't give up on Old Blighty!
There are many intelligent people working on a solution to Britain's Clash of Cultures problem, chief among Professor Gwyn Prins.
Professor Prins, who I have met and found incredibly charming and engaging, is working on it. Here is a paper he coauthored for the RUSI.
“Risk Threat and Security: The Case of the United Kingdom"
It's six pages..go read it.
How Big Is My Head!!!!!!
Sitemeter logged 307 visitors. Holy crap! My average is like, 80. Last time something like this happened was when I was picked up by Stand-To (it was one of my stalk-MG-Rick_Lynch posts, shhhh).
Started the day with a link from the Castle in the H&I Fires for this.
Then it was my pub crawlin' home girl, AWTM for this.
AWTM fired off a link to Matt @ Blackfive who linked with the words "...the most excellent Boston Maggie"!! I love you too, baby!
Then there were some more of AWTM's friends here and here.
Finally Wonkosphere for this post.
I am going to have turn sideways in doorways to fit my swelled head through.
Don't worry, my sister told me in email to unswell my head or she'd do it for me. After all, you people are just my imaginary friends according to both my sisters and my mother.
Started the day with a link from the Castle in the H&I Fires for this.
Then it was my pub crawlin' home girl, AWTM for this.
AWTM fired off a link to Matt @ Blackfive who linked with the words "...the most excellent Boston Maggie"!! I love you too, baby!
Then there were some more of AWTM's friends here and here.
Finally Wonkosphere for this post.
I am going to have turn sideways in doorways to fit my swelled head through.
Don't worry, my sister told me in email to unswell my head or she'd do it for me. After all, you people are just my imaginary friends according to both my sisters and my mother.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
And Justice For John Labanara
And Justice for John Labanara
This is a petition to send a message to Gov. Deval Patrick. The undersigned (I'm #112) are strongly against commuting the sentence of Arnold King.
Arnold King murdered John Labanara in 1971 and received the just sentence of life without parole.
Mr. King and his supporters think John Labanara should get a second chance.
Yeah. Right after John Labanara gets his second chance, jackass.
Go to the petition and sign it.
This is a petition to send a message to Gov. Deval Patrick. The undersigned (I'm #112) are strongly against commuting the sentence of Arnold King.
Arnold King murdered John Labanara in 1971 and received the just sentence of life without parole.
Mr. King and his supporters think John Labanara should get a second chance.
Yeah. Right after John Labanara gets his second chance, jackass.
Go to the petition and sign it.
"W" Meets With The Red Sox
We need a little break from my frustration over Obama. 
Bush honors Red Sox at White House ceremony
WASHINGTON - President Bush has honored the Red Sox for their 2007 World Series victory with a White House ceremony, calling the team "wise enough" to maintain a core group of players who know how to win.
Players, coaches and the team’s owners gathered with Bush today for the second time in the past four years. Members of the 2004 World Series champion team also met with Bush, a former managing partner of the Texas Rangers.
The president referred to Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester’s successful battle against cancer as an inspiration to many people.
Lester began the 2007 season on a rehab minor league assignment, but recovered and won Game 4 of the World Series against the Colorado Rockies.
Red Sox players also will visit patients at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington before returning to spring training.
Bush honors Red Sox at White House ceremonyWASHINGTON - President Bush has honored the Red Sox for their 2007 World Series victory with a White House ceremony, calling the team "wise enough" to maintain a core group of players who know how to win.
Players, coaches and the team’s owners gathered with Bush today for the second time in the past four years. Members of the 2004 World Series champion team also met with Bush, a former managing partner of the Texas Rangers.
The president referred to Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester’s successful battle against cancer as an inspiration to many people.
Lester began the 2007 season on a rehab minor league assignment, but recovered and won Game 4 of the World Series against the Colorado Rockies.
Red Sox players also will visit patients at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington before returning to spring training.
Same Video Cut, Different Point
I discuss a point from this video below. In this same cut there is a discussion of leaving Iraq. Leaving Iraq is their big thing, right? So Russert proposes a scenario where we leave, things go south, whadya do?
RUSSERT: Senator Obama, I want you to respond to not holding oversight for your subcommittee. But also, do you reserve a right as American president to go back into Iraq once you have withdrawn with sizable troops in order to quell any kind of insurrection or civil war?
OBAMA: "....(Obama whining about why it's not his fault that he didn't do anything as the head on the subcommittee) ........Now, I always reserve the right for the president -- as commander-in-chief, I will always reserve the right to make sure that we are looking out for American interests. And if al Qaeda is forming a base in Iraq, then we will have to act in a way that secures the American homeland and our interests abroad. So that is true, I think, not just in Iraq, but that's true in other places. That's part of my argument with respect to Pakistan.
I think we should always cooperate with our allies and sovereign nations in making sure that we are rooting out terrorist organizations. But if they are planning attacks on Americans like what happened on9/11, it is my job, it will be my job as president to make sure that we are hunting them down."
I am baffled. You will pull out. Quickly. Precipitously. You will waive a white flag and run. You will give all the Code Pink people a simultaneous orgasm. Because "W" was wrong, wrong, wrong to go in.
But.
You will re-invade if you, the Obamasiah, decide we need to go back in?
What
The
Fuck
?
Better, more cohesive response to be found at National Review Online.
A Look into Obama World [Charlotte Hays]
I think Obama made a huge boo boo in last night’s debate. When asked what he would do if we pulled out of Iraq and the place turned into an al-Qaeda haven, he said he would re-invade. Smooth as butter, didn't miss a beat. The correct answer is: If I thought that was going to happen, I wouldn’t pull out. Senator Clinton dodged the question by pretending it was a hypothetical. Hypothetical it is not. There are few things a Clinton won’t say to get elected, but I think even Senator Clinton balks at saying, Hey, we'd just re-invade that country. (Maybe I am giving her too much credit.)Obama's answer—he didn't hesitate—was cavalier and shallow and callow. This is something the Republicans ought to be able to work with. What a mess Obama World would be.
Last Night's Debate
So I go to Jen's last night, instead of the gym. Yes, I'm a bad girl. She was making dinner, so I bundled up on her couch with the clicker and put on the debate. I was yelling at the TV, lol, I always particpate.
Jen asked "Do you yell at the TV like this all the time?" "Yes. It unnerves the boys." She looks over her shoulder from the stove, "No wonder no one wants to watch the debates with you!" I told SB on IM today and he said "I'd watch them with you, Maggie." Thanks baby!
So, the debate. They roll around to my top priority, National Security and foreign policy. Clinton hits one outta the park and I am actually cheering (I am not kidding!) for HRC "Good one! That's right!" Jen raises an eyebrow and shakes her head. "No one got that but you."
Not true! Watch this part of the debate and tell me you get it!!!!!
Clinton points out that Obama talks a good game and hasn't done anything when he had the chance.
CLINTON: "..... But I also have heard Senator Obama refer continually to Afghanistan, and he references being on the Foreign Relations Committee.
He chairs the subcommittee on Europe. It has jurisdiction over NATO. NATO is critical to our mission in Afghanistan. He's held not one substantive hearing to do oversight, to figure out what we can do to actually have a stronger presence with NATO in Afghanistan.
You have to look at the entire situation to try to figure out howwe can stabilize Afghanistan and begin to put more in there to try toget some kind of success out of it. And you have to..."
Obama's answer is that it's not his fault. LOL The complete transcript of the debate is here.
It comes at 3:40 of this YouTube clip.
Jen asked "Do you yell at the TV like this all the time?" "Yes. It unnerves the boys." She looks over her shoulder from the stove, "No wonder no one wants to watch the debates with you!" I told SB on IM today and he said "I'd watch them with you, Maggie." Thanks baby!
So, the debate. They roll around to my top priority, National Security and foreign policy. Clinton hits one outta the park and I am actually cheering (I am not kidding!) for HRC "Good one! That's right!" Jen raises an eyebrow and shakes her head. "No one got that but you."
Not true! Watch this part of the debate and tell me you get it!!!!!
Clinton points out that Obama talks a good game and hasn't done anything when he had the chance.
CLINTON: "..... But I also have heard Senator Obama refer continually to Afghanistan, and he references being on the Foreign Relations Committee.
He chairs the subcommittee on Europe. It has jurisdiction over NATO. NATO is critical to our mission in Afghanistan. He's held not one substantive hearing to do oversight, to figure out what we can do to actually have a stronger presence with NATO in Afghanistan.
You have to look at the entire situation to try to figure out howwe can stabilize Afghanistan and begin to put more in there to try toget some kind of success out of it. And you have to..."
Obama's answer is that it's not his fault. LOL The complete transcript of the debate is here.
It comes at 3:40 of this YouTube clip.
William F. Buckley Jr. Is Dead at 82
William F. Buckley Jr. Is Dead at 82
William F. Buckley Jr., who marshaled polysyllabic exuberance, famously arched eyebrows and a refined, perspicacious mind to elevate conservatism to the center of American political discourse, died Wednesday at his home in Stamford, Conn.
Mr Buckley, 82, suffered from diabetes and emphysema, his son Christopher said, although the exact cause of death was not immediately known. He was found at his desk in the study of his home, his son said. “He might have been working on a column,” Mr. Buckley said.
Mr. Buckley’s winningly capricious personality, replete with ten-dollar words and a darting tongue writers loved to compare with an anteater’s, hosted one of television’s longest-running programs, “Firing Line,” and founded and shepherded the influential conservative magazine, National Review.
William F. Buckley Jr., who marshaled polysyllabic exuberance, famously arched eyebrows and a refined, perspicacious mind to elevate conservatism to the center of American political discourse, died Wednesday at his home in Stamford, Conn.
Mr Buckley, 82, suffered from diabetes and emphysema, his son Christopher said, although the exact cause of death was not immediately known. He was found at his desk in the study of his home, his son said. “He might have been working on a column,” Mr. Buckley said.
Mr. Buckley’s winningly capricious personality, replete with ten-dollar words and a darting tongue writers loved to compare with an anteater’s, hosted one of television’s longest-running programs, “Firing Line,” and founded and shepherded the influential conservative magazine, National Review.
Obama's Defense Policy
Bigg Bill sent me this a few days ago and I was floored. Yesterday over at CDR Salamader, LBG said in the comments "I would like to see him brought out in the field of battle and to actually be made to lay out his plans." So I said "Like this?" and put out this video. They are still in the WTF stage.
Then this morning John put it up at The Castle with a whole breakdown for context and including a transcript and point by point analysis. It's really good and you should read. Everyone should read it. Especially everyone who is thinking about voting for Obama.
Then this morning John put it up at The Castle with a whole breakdown for context and including a transcript and point by point analysis. It's really good and you should read. Everyone should read it. Especially everyone who is thinking about voting for Obama.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
February 26, 1993
On this day fifteen years ago, Islamic jihadists set off a bomb in the World Trade Center, killing six people, wounding 1,000, and causing $500 million in damage.
Never Forget.
September 11, 2001 - Terrorists hijack four U.S. commercial airliners taking off from various locations in the United States in a coordinated suicide attack. In separate attacks, two of the airliners crash into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, which catch fire and eventually collapse. A third airliner crashes into the Pentagon in Washington, DC, causing extensive damage. The fourth airliner, also believed to be heading towards Washington, DC, crashes outside Shanksville, PA., killing all 45 people on board. Casualty estimates from New York put the possible death toll close to 5,000, while as many as 200 people may have been lost at the Pentagon crash site.
Oct. 12, 2000 - A terrorist bomb damages the destroyer USS Cole in the port of Aden, Yemen, killing 17 sailors and injuring 39.
Aug. 7, 1998 - Terrorist bombs destroy the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. In Nairobi, 12 Americans are among the 291 killed, and over 5,000 are wounded, including 6 Americans. In Dar es Salaam, one U.S. citizen is wounded among the 10 killed and 77 injured.
June 21, 1998 - Rocket-propelled grenades explode near the U.S. embassy in Beirut.
June 25, 1996 - A bomb aboard a fuel truck explodes outside a U.S. air force installation in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. 19 U.S. military personnel are killed in the Khubar Towers housing facility, and 515 are wounded, including 240 Americans.
Nov. 13, 1995 - A car-bomb in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia kills seven people, five of them American military and civilian advisers for National Guard training. The "Tigers of the Gulf," "Islamist Movement for Change," and "Fighting Advocates of God" claim responsibility.
February 1993 - A bomb in a van explodes in the underground parking garage in New York's World Trade Center, killing six people and wounding 1,042.
Dec. 21, 1988 - A bomb destroys Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. All 259 people aboard the Boeing 747 are killed including 189 Americans, as are 11 people on the ground.
April 1986 - An explosion damages a TWA flight as it prepares to land in Athens, Greece. Four people are killed when they are sucked out of the aircraft.
April 5, 1986 - A bomb destroys the LaBelle discotheque in West Berlin. The disco was known to be frequented by U.S. servicemen. The attack kills one American and one German woman and wounds 150, including 44 Americans
December 1985 - Simultaneous suicide attacks are carried out against U.S. and Israeli check-in desks at Rome and Vienna international airports. 20 people are killed in the two attacks, including four terrorists.
November 1985 - Hijackers aboard an Egyptair flight kill one American. Egyptian commandos later storm the aircraft on the isle of Malta, and 60 people are killed.
October 1985 - Palestinian terrorists hijack the cruise liner Achille Lauro (in response to the Israeli attack on PLO headquarters in Tunisia) Leon Klinghoffer, an elderly, wheelchair-bound American, is killed and thrown overboard.
August 1985 - A car bomb at a U.S. military base in Frankfurt, Germany kills two and injures 20. A U.S. soldier murdered for his identity papers is found a day after the explosion.
June 1985 - A TWA airliner is hijacked over the Mediterranean, the start of a two-week hostage ordeal. The last 39 passengers are eventually released in Damascus after being held in various locations in Beirut.
April 1985 - A bomb explodes in a restaurant near a U.S. air base in Madrid, Spain, killing 18, all Spaniards, and wounding 82, including 15 Americans.
November 1984 - A bomb attack on the U.S. embassy in Bogota, Colombia kills a passer-by. The attack was preceded by death threats against U.S. officials by drug traffickers.
October 1983 - A suicide car bomb attack against the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut kills 241 servicemen. A simultaneous attack on a French base kills 58 paratroopers.
April 1983 - A suicide car bombing against the U.S. embassy in Beirut kills 63, including 17 Americans.
Never Forget.
September 11, 2001 - Terrorists hijack four U.S. commercial airliners taking off from various locations in the United States in a coordinated suicide attack. In separate attacks, two of the airliners crash into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, which catch fire and eventually collapse. A third airliner crashes into the Pentagon in Washington, DC, causing extensive damage. The fourth airliner, also believed to be heading towards Washington, DC, crashes outside Shanksville, PA., killing all 45 people on board. Casualty estimates from New York put the possible death toll close to 5,000, while as many as 200 people may have been lost at the Pentagon crash site.
Oct. 12, 2000 - A terrorist bomb damages the destroyer USS Cole in the port of Aden, Yemen, killing 17 sailors and injuring 39.
Aug. 7, 1998 - Terrorist bombs destroy the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. In Nairobi, 12 Americans are among the 291 killed, and over 5,000 are wounded, including 6 Americans. In Dar es Salaam, one U.S. citizen is wounded among the 10 killed and 77 injured.
June 21, 1998 - Rocket-propelled grenades explode near the U.S. embassy in Beirut.
June 25, 1996 - A bomb aboard a fuel truck explodes outside a U.S. air force installation in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. 19 U.S. military personnel are killed in the Khubar Towers housing facility, and 515 are wounded, including 240 Americans.
Nov. 13, 1995 - A car-bomb in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia kills seven people, five of them American military and civilian advisers for National Guard training. The "Tigers of the Gulf," "Islamist Movement for Change," and "Fighting Advocates of God" claim responsibility.
February 1993 - A bomb in a van explodes in the underground parking garage in New York's World Trade Center, killing six people and wounding 1,042.
Dec. 21, 1988 - A bomb destroys Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. All 259 people aboard the Boeing 747 are killed including 189 Americans, as are 11 people on the ground.
April 1986 - An explosion damages a TWA flight as it prepares to land in Athens, Greece. Four people are killed when they are sucked out of the aircraft.
April 5, 1986 - A bomb destroys the LaBelle discotheque in West Berlin. The disco was known to be frequented by U.S. servicemen. The attack kills one American and one German woman and wounds 150, including 44 Americans
December 1985 - Simultaneous suicide attacks are carried out against U.S. and Israeli check-in desks at Rome and Vienna international airports. 20 people are killed in the two attacks, including four terrorists.
November 1985 - Hijackers aboard an Egyptair flight kill one American. Egyptian commandos later storm the aircraft on the isle of Malta, and 60 people are killed.
October 1985 - Palestinian terrorists hijack the cruise liner Achille Lauro (in response to the Israeli attack on PLO headquarters in Tunisia) Leon Klinghoffer, an elderly, wheelchair-bound American, is killed and thrown overboard.
August 1985 - A car bomb at a U.S. military base in Frankfurt, Germany kills two and injures 20. A U.S. soldier murdered for his identity papers is found a day after the explosion.
June 1985 - A TWA airliner is hijacked over the Mediterranean, the start of a two-week hostage ordeal. The last 39 passengers are eventually released in Damascus after being held in various locations in Beirut.
April 1985 - A bomb explodes in a restaurant near a U.S. air base in Madrid, Spain, killing 18, all Spaniards, and wounding 82, including 15 Americans.
November 1984 - A bomb attack on the U.S. embassy in Bogota, Colombia kills a passer-by. The attack was preceded by death threats against U.S. officials by drug traffickers.
October 1983 - A suicide car bomb attack against the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut kills 241 servicemen. A simultaneous attack on a French base kills 58 paratroopers.
April 1983 - A suicide car bombing against the U.S. embassy in Beirut kills 63, including 17 Americans.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Pat Condell
*****UPDATE*****Welcome to all the readers who have been directed here for this excellent vid. A lot of the comments I am seeing seem to despair for Old Blighty. Don't give up! There are reasonable and highly intelligent people who are working hard on this situation in Britain (yes, the Townie girl can't bring herself to add "Great"). Chief among the is Professor Gwyn Prins (who I have met). This is a link to his recent work with RUSI “Risk Threat and Security: The Case of the United Kingdom"****
Bigg Bill sent me a vid and I followed the links to this guys website. It's funny and true!
Bigg Bill sent me a vid and I followed the links to this guys website. It's funny and true!
Princess Crabby Speaks
Huckabee: NY Times Slam 'Best Thing That Could Happen'
February 25, 2008 4:14 PM
ABC News' Kevin Chupka Reports: During an impromptu press conference in Providence, Rhode Island, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee talked a bit more about last week's New York Times article that suggested rival John McCain had been party to an inappropriate relationship with a Washington lobbyist.
Up until now, Huckabee has said only that McCain is a man of great integrity and refused to comment further on the allegations, despite a chorus of criticism from conservative talk radio and others.
But on Monday, Huckabee was asked if this was McCain's "macaca" moment, referring to the infamous incident in which then-Senator George Allen, R-Va., referred to a Democratic operative in an otherwise supportive crowd by the offensive term."
It's something that could be like that," Huckabee said, "Obviously, that one didn't seem to make a big difference. In fact, if anything it's helped John McCain and I'm kind of hoping the New York Times will take me on and run a nasty front page story -- may be the best thing that could happen to me, certainly was to him."
Huckabee has suggested recently that such a moment could be his ticket to the nomination."
One word can end a guy's political career, one word, and it's over," Huckabee elaborated. "So when people say I can't be the nominee, until we get to the convention in Minneapolis this fall in September, we don't know absolutely, positively who that nominee is."
***************
What. An. Idiot.
I assure Governor Huckabee, while we may not know "absolutely, positively who that nominee is." I know who it will NOT be. It will not be you.
Now It's Ours.
I know! Let's see what Rick is up to. Let's see.......an interview with Tim Cocks (now that's an unfortunate name) of Reuters
Outposts help U.S. troops quell Iraq violence
Tue Feb 19, 2008 7:07am EST
By Tim Cocks
On a patch of Iraqi desert flanked by palm trees, U.S. soldiers erect concrete blast walls and saw wooden planks to make cabins. Out front, a gunner tests his mortar launcher, firing a round into an empty field.
The soldiers are building the latest U.S. combat outpost in Iraq, a tactical shift begun a year ago to move troops off their relatively safe, sprawling bases and into small garrisons in and around the country's dangerous neighbourhoods and towns.
The town of Salman Pak, 45 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, had long been a haven for al Qaeda, whose bombers used it as a springboard to launch car bomb attacks on Baghdad.
But thanks to a combat outpost set up a year ago and then with help from Sunni Arab tribal leaders who turned against the militants, U.S. officers say security in Salman Pak has improved and they want to make sure those gains are not lost.
"Al Qaeda owned this for the past three years. Now it's ours," Major-General Rick Lynch, who commands 20,000 U.S. troops south of Baghdad, told Reuters during a visit to the town.
"The way it's ours is we get this permanent presence here, so they know we're not leaving. We're not going to give this up until Iraqi security forces can ... maintain security."
Read the rest here.
Outposts help U.S. troops quell Iraq violence
Tue Feb 19, 2008 7:07am EST
By Tim Cocks
On a patch of Iraqi desert flanked by palm trees, U.S. soldiers erect concrete blast walls and saw wooden planks to make cabins. Out front, a gunner tests his mortar launcher, firing a round into an empty field.
The soldiers are building the latest U.S. combat outpost in Iraq, a tactical shift begun a year ago to move troops off their relatively safe, sprawling bases and into small garrisons in and around the country's dangerous neighbourhoods and towns.
The town of Salman Pak, 45 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, had long been a haven for al Qaeda, whose bombers used it as a springboard to launch car bomb attacks on Baghdad.
But thanks to a combat outpost set up a year ago and then with help from Sunni Arab tribal leaders who turned against the militants, U.S. officers say security in Salman Pak has improved and they want to make sure those gains are not lost.
"Al Qaeda owned this for the past three years. Now it's ours," Major-General Rick Lynch, who commands 20,000 U.S. troops south of Baghdad, told Reuters during a visit to the town.
"The way it's ours is we get this permanent presence here, so they know we're not leaving. We're not going to give this up until Iraqi security forces can ... maintain security."
Read the rest here.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Can Someone Explain This Jackass To Me?
Mike Suck-A-Bee on SNL being an asshat.
This is supposed to be funny?
Get the FUCK out of the race. You serve no purpose. Get out and GO AWAY. Go back to rehearsing for you community workshop theater performance of "Deliverance".
This is supposed to be funny?
Get the FUCK out of the race. You serve no purpose. Get out and GO AWAY. Go back to rehearsing for you community workshop theater performance of "Deliverance".
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