Veterans Day

When I got a little bit older, I went out and worked on the railroad awhile. I might say, too, that in my early days I got in bad company and I broke off from my mother's and father's advice and got to drinking and gambling and playing up right smart. I read about Frank and Jesse James. I thought if Frank and Jesse could be crack shots I could too. I used to gallop my horse around a tree with a revolver and muss up that tree right smart. And I got tolerably accurate, too.

And one night, after being very drunk and fighting, I got in after midnight, and found my mother sitting up waiting for me, and I asked her, "Why don't you lie down?" And she said, "I can't lie down. I don't know what's going to become of you when you are out drinking, and so I wait until you come in." And then she asked me, "Alvin, when are you going to be a man like your father and your grandfathers?" I promised my mother that night I would never drink again; I would never smoke or chew again; I would never gamble again; I would never cuss or fight again. And I have never drunk any whiskey, I have never touched cards, I have never smoked or chewed, and I have never fought or rough-housed since that night. I was very fond of tobacco, too.

I had already told my mother I would quit the things I had been doing, and at that time I had already quit gambling and drinking and fighting and was ready to begin another life. I joined the church and became an elder. I was teaching singing schools and led all the singing in the church before I went in the army. That is why they used to call me the Singing Elder.

OCTOBER 8th 1918

I don't know whether it was the German major, but one yelled something out in German that we couldn't understand. And then the machine guns on top swung around and opened fire on us. There were about thirty of them. They were commanding us from a hillside less than thirty yards away. They couldn't miss. And they didn't!

They killed all of Savage's squad; they got all of mine but two; they wounded Cutting and killed two of his squad; and Early's squad was well back in the brush on the extreme right and not yet under the direct fire of the machine guns, and so they escaped. All except Early. He went down with three bullets in his body. That left me in command. I was right out there in the open.

And those machine guns were spitting fire and cutting down the undergrowth all around me something awful. And the Germans were yelling orders. You never heard such a 'racket in all of your life. I didn't have time to dodge behind a tree or dive into the brush, I didn't even have time to kneel or lie down.

I don't know what the other boys were doing. They claim They didn't fire a shot. They said afterwards they were on the right, guarding the prisoners. And the prisoners were lying down and the machine guns had to shoot over them to get me. As soon as the machine guns opened fire on me, I began to exchange shots with them.

There were over thirty of them in continuous action, and all I could do was touch the Germans off just as fast as I could. I was sharpshooting. I don't think I missed a shot. It was no time to miss.

In order to sight me or to swing their machine guns on me, the Germans had to show their heads above the trench, and every time I saw a head I just touched it off. All the time I kept yelling at them to come down. I didn't want to kill any more than I had to. But it was they or I. And I was giving them the best I had.

Suddenly a German officer and five men jumped out of the trench and charged me with fixed bayonets. I changed to the old automatic and just touched them off too. I touched off the sixth man first, then the fifth, then the fourth, then the third and so on. I wanted them to keep coming.

I didn't want the rear ones to see me touching off the front ones. I was afraid they would drop down and pump a volley into me.

--and I got hold of the German major, and he told me if I wouldn't kill any more of them he would make them quit firing. So I told him all right, if he would do it now. So he blew a little whistle, and they quit shooting and come down and gave up.

I had killed over twenty before the German major said he would make them give up. I covered him with my automatic and told him if he didn't make them stop firing I would take off his head next. And he knew I meant it. He told me if I didn't kill him, and if I stopped shooting the others in the trench, he would make them surrender.

He blew a little whistle and they came down and began to gather around and throw down their guns and belts. All but one of them came off the hill with their hands up, and just before that one got to me he threw a little hand grenade which burst in the air in front of me.

I had to touch him off. The rest surrendered without any more trouble. There were nearly 100 of them.

Sgt Alvin C. York used to be known to every American. This Veterans Day I would like to honor this forgotten hero. I would also like to honor my Dad who landed on Normandy with the 474th Fighter Group two weeks after D-day when it is was still pretty hot. I have a picture of Bob Hope in a P-38 supposedly wearing my Dad's service cap. Likewise I would like to honor my son who went all over the world in the Army and had to take a medical discharge because his knees gave out after 7 years of service. Had they not he would have gotten his Ranger Tabs. My brother in law who as a Lt. in Nam took a round in the ear and lost a thumb. My two nephews, one a graduate of the Air Force Academy and one currently a cadet.

(Green?) Revolution!

As in most wars the War on Terror is three steps forward, two steps back. At each back step the left cries how the war is lost. Latest back step is Musharrif blatantly showing his military dictator face. While no one considered Pakistan a democracy things seemed to be advancing. However any trappings of a move to democracy are but shadows in Pakistan as in our other WOT allies, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Were Mubarak to fall the result could well be a Muslim Brotherhood run Egypt. This would be as good for Egypt as Hamas was for Gaza. Bet Gaza cast it’s last vote when it voted for terrorists. The problem as Nathan Sharanski illustrates in his new book The Case For Democracy "The election has to be at the end of the process of building free society. If there is no free and democratic society, elections can never be free and democratic." Pakistan is not Egypt. It has a Democratic history and institutions. It had a Judiciary. They are now in jail or on the run. Lawyers demonstrating in support of the Judiciary are being gassed. We prop up an ineffective ally that can’t even control the southern regions of his country at the expense of a newly reawakened Democracy that will be an ally against the extremists as if its life depended on it, which it would. We may be seeing a new revolution as more protestors take to the streets today. We can support this by supporting Pakistan’s Judiciary in this critical time.

A revolution similar to the Orange and Cedar Revolutions would not necessarily mean the end of Musharrif; he still controls the military. But his life also depends on our support so we do have a great bit of leverage. That is if our elected leaders see our support for reforms. The Islamists are not about to take over; this whole power grab is because the Supreme Court was going to rule against Musharrif’s holding both top spots in the Military and the Government. Popular pressure here as well as the pressure of hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis could bring about significant reforms.

Umar Farooq at the Mideast Youth forum has a petition asking support for Musharrif’s martial law to be withheld. He explains why this is so important here. The petition:

We the undersigned, demand the the West, East and our Middle Eastern neighbors stop all material and moral support to General Musharraf and his regime towards its policy of imposing Martial Law on Pakistan.

Under Martial Law, basic civil rights, of Right to Information Access and right of Justice has been suspended. As a result, Judiciary and Media have been the worst hit of the sectors. Judiciary forms the basis of any civilized society and Media represents the freedom given to speech and citizens in that society. When both of these pillars are hit, it greatly damages the institutions of the society.

Musharraf and his regime must be given a strong message from the Middle East that such action will not get international support and he is isolated in his efforts to subjugate the judiciary and media. In recent, judiciary in Pakistan has shown heartening activism and media has become an instrument of public debate and criticism towards the government. Step of imposing Martial Law in Pakistan has incited great resistance from within the country. If his regime is sandwiched between internal resistance and international isolation, it would give a strong signal to Musharraf and will in turn pressurize him to undo this step and get the national elections done at the right time and handover rule to civilian members of the parliament, chosen by the people.

Once this petition has enough signatories, we will send this to the foreign ministries of the countries of the Middle East and request them to put up official statements against the imposition of Martial Law in Pakistan.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said we will review aid to Pakistan. Realists in the administration may push continued support for Musharrif so as to continue the war on the Taliban. Sign the petition, support reforms, because with all this military deployed against the Pakistani people there probably ain’t much minding the store to the South.

Updates: The Dutch are first to cut the purse strings. Will the street rise? This guy says no.

U.S.M.C.

From the halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli,
We fight our countrys battles
In the air, on land, and sea,

First to fight for right and freedom,
And to keep our honor clean,
We are proud to claim the title Of
United States Marines.

Our flags unfurl'd to every breeze
From dawn to setting sun.
We have fought in every clime and place
Where we could take a gun.

In the snow of far-off northern lands
And in sunny tropic scenes,
You will find us always on the job -
The United States Marines.

Here's health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve;
In many a strife we've fought for life
And never lost our nerve.

If the Army and the Navy
Ever gaze on Heaven's scenes,
They will find the streets are guarded By
United States Marines.

Happy Birthday Marines: November 10th, 1775, Tun Tavern.

Why is everybody picking on me?

Can you imagine Margaret Thatcher’s husband having to come to her defense because the old boys were pick’ in on her?

Torture

Water Boarding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

According to the ACLU I have been tortured. According to the Dems my son has been tortured. All this torture going on and we aren’t even terrorist. If we were terrorists we would not be tortured by any of the Dem candidates for President even though we might have knowledge that could save millions of lives. The Dems, (and McCain), will sacrifice a good number of us to keep some vague moral high ground.

Most Americans don’t want Gestapo tactics used on terrorists and certainly not on our own citizens. Yet the things we are discussing, in my case electronic restraints that I had to “experience” as part of my Correctional Officer training and water boarding that my son underwent as part of his S.E.R.E. Training are not torture.

S.E.R.E means Survival, Evasion, Resistance & Escape. Uncle Jimbo at Black Five explains the course here. Long Time Standing, The Cold Cell, and Water Boarding are all used against the trainees. If we can subject our military to such horrors just why in the hell should such techniques not be used against the monsters trying to kill our children? Jimbo sums it up for me;

The human will is strong, but it can be broken without having to break the mind or body, you just confuse and degrade it, and play mind games with it's owner until finally the ability to resist is gone. That is the whole point of coercive interrogation, breaking the human will to resist which is an artificial construct of each individual. Find their weakest area, exploit and overload the brain and body and eventually the brain will overrule the will and survival instinct will cause cooperation to make it stop.

Bottom line is coercive interrogation techniques are proper and should be employed and the line drawn at causing permanent damage to the mind or body. Temporary suffering, degradation, humiliation and even distress are acceptable to me and I believe we should formally state that these are approved for high value prisoners. I also think we should hint that we might even do worse, in a nudge, nudge, wink , wink kinda' way to increase their effectiveness, while stating for the cameras that "The US never sanctions the use of torture".

The fact the Dems will obstruct another Bush nomination, in this case for Attorney General, because he won’t take a position on water boarding reveals two things. One, they will oppose Bush no matter what with every breath they take regardless of the consequences to their party or their nation. Two, if allowed they will get rid of the so called torture, the Patriot Act, the listening in on terrorists conversations, and the many other actions we have taken to prevent another 9/11. As for myself, if I felt it was necessary to get info from any criminal, terrorist or otherwise, that might save my loved ones from a horrible death, give me a pair of pliers, some chicken wire, a candle, and some salt, and I will do what must be done and damn the law.

BTW: A CIA source told The New York Times that water boarding has been used a sum total of three times.

Update: Senator Edward Kennedy lectures Judge Mukasey about water torture. Rush said "What about automobile boarding at Chappaquiddick, Senator? More Americans have died, more people have died at Chappaquiddick than have died from water boarding in American prisons."

Amnesty

Bob Clark is going to discuss Amnesty this morning. As someone whose main concern is knowing who is here and who is coming in I have no problem with amnesty for illegal aliens after the border is closed. We the people don’t trust congress, I remember promises before, give us a tax hike now and well cut spending later, let’s pass a “comprehensive” (read amnesty) immigration bill and we’ll build the fence later. Sure pal.

At issue is the Dream Act, all illegals who go to college or serve in the military get citizenship. Anyone who serves in this country's military for at least four years should get citizenship be they illegal or not. For that matter any non-violent crime, except treason, be they misdemeanor or felony, should be considered erased by serving time in the Marine Corps. Your pay may have deductions to reimburse victims and your required years in service would be dependent on the severity of your crime but this would be a far more productive use of these individuals that truly wish to pay their debt to society, or at least clean up their act, than what the current system provides. The current system means three squares a day, satellite TV, games, recreation, health care, tutoring from other cons, etc. and then early release.

That's about the limit for me when it comes to amnesty until we at least have some handle on border security. You should not get citizenship because you have come to New Mexico to take advantage of instate tuition for illegals.

Fred says no Amnesty:

Amnesty undermines U.S. law and policy, rewards bad behavior, and is unfair to the millions of immigrants who follow the law and are awaiting legal entry into the United States. In some cases, those law-abiding and aspiring immigrants have been waiting for several years.

The debate’s over.

Give me a break! Just watched John Stoffel rip AlGore’s religion of Man Made Gaia Warming of Latter Day Advocates, or more commonly called the Morons. The piece recounted the outright lies of the Award winning and supposedly very long and boring movie An Inconvenient Truth. Haven’t seen it and never will as I consider the entire hoax very damaging and scary. Intimidation by the Morons runs the gamet from discrimination in funding grants all the way to death threats to scientists who dare disagree with Pope AlGore. Now imagine a Moron becoming President and the full force of the government of the United States of America enforcing Moron dogma.

Jen reminds me that we need only look at Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez to see what a Moron in power can mean. He required all city employees to view the movie on city time, some requiring double time, some cops pulled off their beat, and a half hour of Marty politicking is thrown in as he gears up for a run at Pete Dominici’s Senate seat.

Shorting the NYT

Shorting a stock means selling shares in that stock that you don’t own. Later of course you must come up with the shares, hopefully bought at a lower price. You short a stock when you think it will tank. Last night I tried to sell short the New York Times. I received this message:

This stock is either ineligible to be shorted or shares must be borrowed externally. Lenders of hard-to-borrow securities charge a fee in the form of interest. Clients who wish to short a minimum of $100,000 of a hard-to-borrow security and are willing to pay a fee to cover the cost of borrowing those shares, may contact Securities Lending at 1-800-355-2448 to determine the fee amount.

Seems everyone wants to short this stock so you can't find anyone to lend you shares. I was hoping to cash in on the Slime's ride to the bottom.

Update October 20th: Jen thinks this would qualify as speculation. Not even, the Times will continue to fall as long as Pinch is in charge. Since my first attempt to short the stock Morgan Stanley sold all its shares and as of Friday’s close the price is down 10%. I hate the ones that get away, be they fish or opportunities, I should have bought a put.

Iran War

For the first time in a long time I feel real good about the future of Iraq. I always believed that left alone to do their mission the military would prevail. Political success will follow military success. What I was afraid of was Americans turning their backs on our allies and pulling out as we did when we cursed Indo China to the Killing Fields. I now sense a watershed has been reached and America will stay in Iraq till the Iraqis ask us to leave. Keep in mind that we are waiting for Japan, Germany, Bosnia, Kosovo, Georgia, Haiti, South Korea, Colombia, Yemen, Djibouti, Afghanistan, Philippines, and Qatar to ask us to leave. So far I think Saudi Arabia is the only country that has told us we were no longer needed, at least until another army shows up on its border.

What was the turning point? As predicted by Rush many weeks ago key Democrats have admitted that troops may have to stay in Iraq until the region is stable enough for Iraqis to take care of themselves. What Rush said was that no Democrat would saddle his or herself with a disastrous defeat in that region. The last Democrat debate proves him right.

Why the admission? Because Hillary has locked up the Democrat nomination and is now running in the center by playing tough for the national audience. Obama and Edwards followed suit so as not to kill VP possibilities.Patton once said, “America loves a winner, and will not tolerate a loser.” After Petraeus gave his report the people decided they would continue toward victory. General Petraeus is responsible for this watershed in another way, he literaly wrote the book on COIN, Counterinsurgency Warfare. The 242 page manual on how to defeat an insurgency and win hearts and minds of the people, Iraqi and American, is now being implemented full scale in Iraq.

Michael Yon reports on how COIN is being successfully used by Marines like SSGT Lee.

From the counterinsurgency manual that every Marine and Soldier should read:

1-119. The presence of the rule of law is a major factor in assuring voluntary acceptance of a government’s authority and therefore its legitimacy. A government’s respect for preexisting and impersonal legal rules can provide the key to gaining it widespread, enduring societal support. Such government respect for rules—ideally ones recorded in a constitution and in laws adopted through a credible, democratic process—is the essence of the rule of law. As such, it is a powerful potential tool for counterinsurgents.

Three suspects were detained. SSG Lee took two of the prisoners and the Iraqis took the other one elsewhere. The two taken by SSG Lee apparently truly were just shepherds. Their proximity had made them natural suspects,but SSG Lee wasn’t sure if they were involved. Seen here, their hands are not bound. They were blindfolded and told to keep their hands behind their backs. They were given water and treated respectfully.

SSG Lee made sure the Iraqis treated them well during transport, and when we returned to the tiny base, Captain Koury told the Marines not to leave any of the prisoners alone with the Iraqis. The Iraqis can be rough on prisoners—the culture can be rough—but mentoring seems to be working where it occurs. Back at the tiny base, the blindfolds on the shepherds were freaking out a puppy that someone had adopted. The puppy was growling and barking at the shepherds, but nobody paid attention until he got irritating. Then, someone picked him up and petted him and he finally shut up. The shepherds were released soon after.

The statements that SSG Lee had insisted that the police get from villagers led to the detainment of one “Mr. R,” and raids were planned based on information he provided.

Another factor supporting the watershed is that the Sunni tribes are turning from Al Qaeda.

Soon we met up with a group of 1920s men; I counted 19. They were outfitted with AKs and ammo pouches. Most did not want their photos taken, but this man wanted everyone to see, and he threw his arm around one of our soldiers and pointed to my camera. Our guys do not trust the 1920s, but the relationship is working when it comes to killing al Qaeda and reconstruction in Baqubah. Al Qaeda only knows how to kill and intimidate. 1920s are concerned about water projects and so forth, and they help with more than fighting. Their goals include returning Baqubah back into civilization.

A few months ago we called them terrorists. Today we call them Concerned Local Nationals. When we were in a good mood, we used to call them illegal or rogue militias. Now we call them Neighborhood Watches, or in this case, “Baqubah Guardians.” It’s truly working well. They do not have uniforms and most who wish to join have not been hired as policemen yet.

Finally this week Americans had a good look at Akmadinajad. While totally missing the point that the madman has no power he is nevertheless the face of Iran and the media portrayed him unchallenged as an evil enemy. While many of us have been saying for years we are at war with Iran that fact seems to have slowly seeped into the American psyche. It helps that commanders in the field are finally being heard, commanders who have seen first hand Iranian Quds units smuggling in the IED’s that are responsible for 70% of our casualties. It helps that the Bush administration is finally speaking out. The path is slowly being made to actually doing something about Iran. There will be setbacks; we might loose Lebanon to Syria. However our future, at least as it applies to Iran, no longer hangs on next November’s election.

Taserboy

You would think that the citizens of a country that invented free speech would have some understanding of what that means. Basically it means Congress will not pass any law, like McCain Feingold, that infringes on your right to speak or express your opinion, especially about your Government. It doesn’t mean you can hijack an event by making an ass out of yourself. Should I walk into Denny’s and start screaming out posts from my blog the owners have every right to throw my but out and that is in no way an infringement of my First Amendment rights. Nevertheless a lot of Americans think that way, like when John Rocker was chastised by the Braves. Tell your customers at Baskin Robbins how fat they are and see how long you work there. Free speech doesn't work like that.

I feel more sorry for the cops than Taserboy; he set them up following in this UCLA student’s footsteps. This is so easy to do that if I had less scruples I could make a comfortable living for myself. I wouldn’t have had any ethical misgivings setting up O.J., talk about easy! I wonder what Tom Riccio got for the tape? We in corrections try and have a camera going when there is any kind of incident or even when it looks like there might be an incident. That’s because we expect to get set up, expect to get sued, and expect to go to court. A camera can be your best friend and witness. The most vital policy in the prison was the Use of Force policy, we devote an eight-hour course to train all new staff followed up by a two-hour refresher course annually. Knowing policy can save your assets and even keep you out of jail. It can save your life or cost you the life of a fellow officer.

The safety of the officers is the highest priority in a prison. Our Use of Force policy allows the use of chemical agents and electronic shock when anyone’s safety is in jeopardy. Case in point, an inmate who refuses to leave his cell can be mased rather than risk injury to the officers and the inmate. Injury is likely when six officers try to forcibly remove someone from a small concrete cell filled with metal bunks and desks. We also have a device called the Bandit that delivers a taser-like eight-second shock that immobilizes the person it is strapped to. We use this on high-risk inmates that are going to court. Many judges will order you to remove an inmate’s restraints so as not to prejudice a jury. The bandit can be worn under the clothes. Any threatening behavior including standing up and screaming will result in a ride on the Bandit.

Some idiot on Fox is calling it deadly force! Deadly force means death is a likely result, such as with firearms. Tasers are less than lethal, although rare accidents can occur they don't often result in injury. We have to be gassed, maced, and take a ride on the Bandit as part of our training in those devices. I guess I should count myself lucky they don’t require us to be shot as part of our firearms training. The ACLU, and you’ll be hearing them weigh in on Taserboy, considers the Bandit to be a torture device. I actually rode it twice and while it hurts like hell it ain’t that bad. We have elderly female officers that took it stoically while Taserboy screamed like a little girl. Of course he was playing for the camera. As soon as he was warned that he would be tasered if he failed to quit resisting he began to scream “Don’t taser me! Don’t taser me!” He knew he had them.

I don’t presume to know these guys Use of Force policy but I hope they were following it. The guy was obviously resisting arrest but I can’t say if he was a threat to the officers or himself. That is the officer’s call. I do know that they were about to go down some stairs and that can be very dangerous with an unrestrained unwilling prisoner. He was not restrained when tasered, near as I can tell, he would not consent to restraints. Were the officers supposed to roll around on the floor with him until he gave up? We use chemical agents and tasers as tools that gives us an alternative to more dangerous use of force. When we think of five or six officers on a person we assume they should easily get control of that person. Try it sometime. We would do it a lot during drills and it can be really difficult. It’s not like a six on one fight; the officers don’t get to knock the snot out of the person. The mission is to get him restrained without injury to anyone. Even in drills where we were trying to be careful this resulted in a fair share of minor injuries. Getting tased hurts but does not result in injury. Now if he was restrained as I heard one witness say then these officers are in trouble.

A side note, what I find hilarious about this besides the obvious comedic effect of seeing Taserboy get tasered, is it happened to Kerry. The left loves to do disgusting things in the name of free speech, loves civil disobedience, confrontation with cops, screaming, shouting, etc. You don’t see conservatives do this so the left seldom gets a taste of it’s own medicine. But then of course Kerry took Taserboy’s side.

Karl Rove

Karl Rove has some words for Republicans. Some say he knows his stuff so maybe we should listen.

As the latest government-heavy plan announced by Hillary Clinton yesterday once again shows, the answers politicians offer on health care highlight the deep differences between liberals and conservatives. This is a debate Republicans cannot avoid. But it is one we can win--if we offer a bold plan. Conservatives must put forward reforms aimed at putting the patient in charge. Increasing competition will ensure greater access, lower costs and more innovation.

Power to the people? Competition? This man is evil!

Socialized medicine inevitably leads to poor quality, inefficiency, rising taxes and rationing.

What gives him that idea?


Hospital Kitchen, Cuba
Just because you’re on a waiting list for critical surgery doesn’t equate to rationing does it?

Government can help poorer and older Americans get quality health care without sacrificing what everyone wants--the ability to choose their own doctor and health coverage that meets their family's particular needs. What reforms will do that?
• Level the tax playing field. , … every worker should get a deduction for health-insurance premiums.
• Tax-free savings for health costs.
• Portability. People should be able to take their health insurance with them when they change jobs.
• Arming consumers through more competition.
• Pool risk, lower costs..
• Greater transparency.
• Stop junk lawsuits. Emphasis mine-Rancher.
• Build on the progress already made by putting patients in charge and letting competition work.

He expands on those points, I encourage you to read the article. I wonder how the rest of the world feels about this issue, this country is a huge safety net for those abroad who want high quality care NOW. If we go socialist where will they go? Cuba?

Dumb and Dumber

If Michael Vick was stupid what level of dumb is O.J. Simpson? He has a gangster type mentality that when you have something he believes is rightfully his, he and his homies will go get it. Armed. Nevertheless the dumbest gangster knows to keep his mouth shut. Imagine being O.J.’s lawyer. Lawyer: “Was my client properly Mirandized before he admitted being at the alleged crime scene?” Police: “Doesn’t matter, he admitted it on FOX News.” O.J. says, and I think in his mind he really believes this, that he was running a sting operation. That means he feels he is a law unto himself. The poor guys he corralled into helping him realized early on that they really weren’t properly deputized and therefore have decided to sing like canaries. No doubt he was trying to retrieve the memorabilia so he can sell it and give the proceeds to the Golmans.

Everyone deserves a fair trial but I don’t see how O.J. can get one, I’ve yet to meet anyone who thinks he didn’t brutally murder his ex-wife and her boyfriend. But then whose fault is that?

Note to self: Never have cold-blooded murderer as best man, wedding may be wrecked.

And now there is audio.

Iran War

"Tonight the President didn’t give us a plan to end the war or a justification for continuing the war.", so said Edwards in the Democrat rebuttal to a sitting wartime President’s call for unity and fortitude in defending our allies in Iraq. First let me quote someone far wiser than me, Machiavelli:

Wars begin where you will, but they do not end where you please.

Nor when you please. You can certainly pull out of Iraq but the war will continue and because a huge victory will be granted to our enemies it will expand. Maybe to our front door. Machiavelli again:

The Romans never allowed a trouble spot to remain simply to avoid going to war over it, because they knew that wars don't just go away, they are only postponed to someone else's advantage.

In this case ours. Like it or not we are the new Rome and Pax Americana falls on us. There can only be two results from a premature pullout, the country erupts into full scale civil or Iran quickly gains control through Sadr. There will be no civil war because as Steve Schippert explained back in May, the antagonists are Al Qaeda and Sadr, both backed by Iran. Al Qaeda, with full Iranian support, will move the front elsewhere as men and material will no longer be needed in what they themselves admitted was the main theater of operations against America. Iraq may for a time become more peaceful, except for those who trusted and helped us. Another quote you’ve all heard, at least in part, by George Santayana:

Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

Another quote, this time from our Commander in Chief.

In 1972, one anti-war senator put it this way: "What earthly difference does it make to nomadic tribes or uneducated, subsistence farmers in Vietnam or Cambodia or Laos whether they have a military dictator, a royal prince or a socialist commissar in some distant capital that they've never seen and they never heard of?" A columnist for The New York Times wrote in a similar vein in 1975, just as Cambodia and Vietnam were falling to the communists. "It's difficult to imagine," he said, "how their lives could be anything but better with the Americans gone." The headline of that story dated "Phnom Phen," summed up the argument: "Indochina without Americans: For most, a better life." The world would learn just how costly these misimpressions would be.

Steve Schippert also asked back in May in an open letter to Democrats this:

As members of the party that is constantly reminding America of the superiority of its members' compassion, I find it personally curious that none such seems to exist for the Iraqi people. How else can your readiness, nay impatience, for a withdrawal of United States military forces from their country be explained?

Though I was a Marine deployed in the Gulf War, I did not fully understand the 'geopolitics' then. Yet, since 1991, I have quietly borne the internal burden of conscience when our leadership abandon the Shi'a of southern Iraq after inspiring them into a rebellion and guaranteeing their protection. That burden was magnified over a decade later when the mass graves were unearthed after the fall of Saddam. What I knew in my heart was confirmed through my eyes. Driven largely by the weight of that burden of conscience, I understand fully today.

Just as I understand that the pursuit of the 'status quo' was a dishonorable geopolitical aim in 1991, I also understand that abandoning Iraqis with ruthless terrorists in their midst in pursuit of "counterterrorism" is beyond dishonorable. It is, in fact, incredulous.

Please read the whole letter.



One last thing. No one mentions the Kurds. Iranian Kurds can tell you the Persians are not their friends. Atlas Shrugs has some graphic pictures of the atrocities the Mullahs have inflicting on Kurdish children! Neither Sunni nor Shia have been kind to the Kurds either. Should we turn over Iraq to Iran and Sadr what happens to Kurdistan, northern Iraq? There is no civil war there, they love Bush and America, in fact you would be hard put to find a better ally in the whole region. Will we at least stay and protect them or will Kurdistan become the next killing fields?

Victory Gardens

20,000,000 Greatest Generation Americans answered the call to “Plant more in ‘44”. This freed up tons of food, trucking, and gas to put towards defeating America’s enemies. Today it would accomplish the same thing. Any drop in the demand for oil means a drop in the price of oil, which is bad news to Iran, Venezuela, and other oil rich enemies and sponsors of terror. American farm producers would be little hurt because of access to global markets and the new emphasis on using grains as fuel and fuel supplements. American truckers are shorthanded as is despite the incoming Mexican trucks. Those trucks from Mexico can’t do anything other than deliver their Mexican products to their destination and then head home. Our not so good trade imbalance would improve.


There are benefits to the gardener also. Money saved, a better fresher diet, and a little more exercise add to the quality of life. Knowledge gained and food in the pipeline is a safety net should God forbid the trucks stop coming.

Osama

Osama, what’s up! Haven’t heard from you in how long? Beard looks nice. So, Al Gore has a new convert, good to see you're taking up so many of the leftist loons causes. Got to say your talk of tax cuts caught many conservative’s attention but sad to say not enough to embrace a Caliphate. Iraq is becoming a little disenfranchised with its Islamic governance if Mohammed at IRTM is any judge, and I think he is. Iranians will commemorate the 19Th anniversary of the massacre of political prisoners; the Mullacracy may have killed 30,000 men women and children in 1988. Tuff sell, I'm afraid I aint buyin'.

Which brings me to ask, why you talking to us and not your minions? They are the ones dying to hear of Al Qaeda’s victories and are a little pissed that you seem to be ignoring them. Your Jihadis want to know what’s up with Anbar, why the surge is so successful. What the hell happened in Somalia? Where are you at and what are you doing to turn things around? When do they get another 9/11? Instead they get some rambling Marxist tripe that many think was written by the American traitor Gadahn! Osama, I know and you know that your presence is symbolic. No one expects you to traipse around in your depends killing infidels like your glory days against the Soviets. But even if your beard has fallen off your future martyrs deserve a better pep talk than the tired Democrat talking points you trotted out once again.

Fred Thompson

Fred Thompson is now running. The big buzz on when and how and he missed the debate and announced on Leno etc. is now water under the bridge that wont amount to a hill of beans by January. (Mixed metaphors?) Fred was on Hannity just now and when asked about Iran had the following comments that stood out in my mind.

They’re killing our people... We cannot allow this to go on forever... They think they can get away with everything... No options can be taken off the table...

I think he gets it.

USMC

Uncle Sam's Misguided Children.

But not when it comes to war! Hoo-Rah!

and She called…
Blacks, Whites…wait
African Americans and Caucasians, Asians, excuse me.
Vietnamese, Philippines, Koreans and Jamaicans or
Haitians, waitin’ Hispanics y’all.

Please be patient
Mexican, Puerto Ricans, Venezuelan, Cuban, v Dominican, Panamanian Democrats
I beg your pardon, you partied with the late, great Reagan?
Republican, Independent, Christian, Catholic,
Methodist, Baptist, 7th Day Adventist, 5 Percenters,
Hindu, Sunii Muslim, Brothers and Sisters who never seen the New York city
skyline when the twin towers still existed.
But still She called.

From the bowels of Ground Zero she sent this 911 distress signal.
Because She was in desperate need of a hero,
and didn’t have time to decipher what to call ‘em,
so she called ‘em all Her children.
The children of the stars and bars who needed to know nothing more than the fact that she called.
The fact that someone attempted to harm us
this daughter who covered us all with her loving arms.
And now these arms are sprawled across New York City streets.
A smoke filled lung, a silt covered faced,
and a solitary tear poured out of her cheek.
Her singed garments carpets Pennsylvania Avenue and the Pentagon was under her feet.
As she began to talk, she began to cough up small particles of debris
and said, “I am America, and I’m calling on the land of the free.”
So they answered.

All personal differences set to the side
because right now there was no time to decide which state building the Confederate flag should fly over,
and which trimester the embryo is considered alive,
or on our monetary units, and which God we should confide.
You see, someone attempted to choke the voice
of the one who gave us the right for choice,
and now she was callin.
And somebody had to answer.
Who was going to answer?

So they did.
Stern faces and chiseled chins.
Devoted women and disciplined men,
who rose from the ashes like a phoenix
and said “don’t worry, we’ll stand in your defense.”
They tightened up their bootlaces
and said goodbye to loved ones, family and friends.
They tried to bombard them with the “hold on”, “wait-a-minute’s”, and “what-if’s”.
And “Daddy, where you goin?”.
And, “Mommy, why you leavin?”.
And they merely kissed them on their foreheads and said “Don’t worry, I have my reasons.
You see, to this country I pledged my allegiance
to defend it against all enemies foreign and domestic.
So as long as I’m breathin, I’ll run though hell-fire,
meet the enemy on the front lines,
look him directly in his face,
stare directly in his eyes and scream,
“I AM AMERICA! WE WILL NOT BE TERRORIZED!
WE WILL NOT BE TERRORIZED!
I REFUSE TO BE AFRAID!
I’LL FIGHT YOU ANY COUNTRY, ANY CONTINENT, ANY TERRAIN.
I’LL FIGHT TO MY LAST BREATH!”

And if by chance death is my fate,
pin my medals upon my chest,
and throw Old Glory on my grave.
But, don’t y’all cry for me.
You see, my Father’s prepared a place.
I’ll be a part of his Holy army standing a watch at the Pearly Gates.
Because freedom was never free.
POW’s, and fallen soldiers
all paid the ultimate sacrifice
along side veterans who put themselves in harms way.
Risking their lives and limbs just to hold up democracy’s weight,
but still standing on them broken appendages anytime the National Anthem was played.
You see, these were the brave warriors that gave me the right
to say that I’m Black. Or white.

Or

African American or Caucasian,
I’m Asian, excuse me.
I’m Vietnamese, Philippine, Korean, or Jamaican.
I’m Haitian, Hispanic

Y’all, Please be patient.
I’m Mexican, Puerto Rican, Venezuelan, Cuban,
Dominican, Panamanian, Democrat
I beg your pardon, you see I partied with the late, great Reagan.
I’m Republican, Independent, Christian, Catholic,
Methodist, Baptist, 7th Day Adventist, 5 Percenters,
Hindu, Sunii Muslim,

Brothers and Sisters We’re just Americans.
So with that I say
“Thank You” to the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines,
for preserving my rights
to live and die for this life
and paying the ultimate price for me to be…FREE!

Sen. Larry E. Craig

Larry Craig is slime. Because he is a hypocrite? No, many politicians vote the way their constituents wish, holding finger in the air to see which way the wind blows. Atop that one can be gay and still oppose gay marriage or have an opinion on other gay issues that don’t agree with the majority. Because he’s gay? No, it’s natural; among sheep 10% of your rams will be homosexual. When you pull the rams from the ewes 30% more of your rams will consider sex with another ram better than no sex at all, the prison conversion. Maybe he considers it a sin and like an alcoholic fell off the wagon. I don’t know and I don’t care. No this man is slime because he was having extremely unsafe sex and then going home to an unsuspecting spouse. I hope she was aware of what was going on or else she had better get tested for STD’s immediately.

Note to self: Don't listen to ipod in public restrooms; toe tapping may be misconstrued.

Michael Vick

I wonder how many people who are horrified by Michael Vick’s actions concerning his cruel methods of disposing of unviable fighting dogs have no problem with partial birth abortion. Just say’ in, no defense of the gangbanger quarterback. I would say that his apology was well rehearsed but insincere, at least when he said he rejects dog fighting. I doubt he had an epiphany; I condemn speeding every time I’m caught. He says he has found God. I hope so; it’s his only hope. As a correctional officer I have seen many cons find religion as a con. We know who is sincere because we are so into everything each inmate does. The two things that can actually keep an inmate from recidivism are devout religious belief and fear of going back to prison. The latter is not that effective, as a guard I can say I would rather live in an American prison than in many third world countries. Safe running water, free health care, work, three squares a day, satellite TV, wonderful gym facilities, especially weight lifting equipment and access to muscle building supplements and vitamins. (I will never understand why we beef up our criminals!). The only serious drawback to prison is the lack of women and that apparently doesn’t bother 80% of inmates (the recidivism rate)enough to stop offending. So if Michael is really trying to find spirituality I support him fully, but he will have to walk the walk, clean up his act, and abandon his ghetto homies, something the fans in Atlanta have been waiting for since he was drafted BTW.

Hillary

“Hillary is the Democrat’s Bob Dole, the inevitable nominee”, so said Ann Coulter last night. The last “inevitable nominee” Ann declared was Al Gore. That went well and I believe history is being repeated now. This will be as big a boon to us as Dole was to the Dems. Hillary has negatives she just can’t get rid of and I think any of the current Republicans running, and one not yet running, can beat her. She must think she has the nomination in the bag because she is now running to the center. She will not pull out troops from Iraq if doing so would mean a new killing field. I doubt any Dem nominee would if elected President, who wants disastrous defeat as a legacy? BTW where are the “Swift Boat Women”? They were the victims of Bill who were victimized once again after going public, targets of the machine allegedly run by the Hilda Beast to smear anyone who dare complain of Bills amorous advances. Those that didn’t save his DNA anyway. They are out there and may have something to say about a President Hillary.

Update: Hillary got her Paws on some funny money. Chinagate Deux?

Update Deux: Castro endorses a Hillary Obama ticket.

Sanctuary Cities

As criminal illegal aliens continue to do the horrific crimes that Americans wont do Fred Thompson speaks out.

If you listen to folks who oppose immigration and border enforcement, you get the feeling they think we put locks on our doors to keep everybody out. The truth is we have locks so we can choose who comes in.

An example of what happens when we don’t make the choice took place August 4th when three Newark, New Jersey, college students with great promise were executed, gangland style. The killers’ ringleader was apparently an illegal alien indicted twice in 2007 for felonies, including the rape of a kindergarten-aged girl.

Why would such a person be set free instead of being handed over to authorities for deportation? The answer is that Newark is a “sanctuary city” which bans cooperation between local officials and federal immigration officials. More than 60 sanctuary zones, including 30 of America’s largest cities, provide a national networked haven for foreign and organized criminals who recruit and operate outside those areas as well. These sanctuaries include Cambridge, Massachusetts; Los Angeles, California; Detroit, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; Austin and Houston, Texas; Denver, Colorado; and New York City.

The consequences of “sanctuary cities” may be most obvious in the city that became the first in 1979 — Los Angeles. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, a confidential California Department of Justice study from the mid-1990’s showed then that at least 60 percent of the members of L.A.’s most violent gangs, with membership in the tens of thousands, were illegal aliens. Of all outstanding murder warrants in Los Angeles, 95 percent are for illegal aliens. Frustrated police say they are powerless to pick up even well-known, previously deported felons.

The costs of policies that offer shelter to criminals are borne not just by the citizens of Newark, Cambridge, and other sanctuaries though. According to the investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, illegal aliens made up 27 percent of the federal prison population in 2005, totaling 49,000 and costing federal taxpayers $1.2 billion. There were also more than 220,000 illegals in state and local prisons and jails. Now, I am not suggesting that all illegal aliens are violent criminals. They are not. Most are peaceful folks just trying to get by like the rest of us. But we would be far better off if we checked on people as they come into the country rather than find out who the bad ones are after they victimize people here.

We have the right to keep criminal predators out of our home. Those who want to immigrate into America need to knock, identify themselves, and ask permission first. They will not do so though if we can’t even ask who they are, which is prevented in sanctuary cities. Now I am a strong federalist, but immigration is a responsibility of the federal government, and the failures of local officials to enforce our national laws have a direct impact on communities around the country. So federal law must be enforced, or our neighborhoods will continue to be the scene of chilling and lurid crimes committed by those who broke the law in the first place to come to America.

Ann Coulter has put forth the possibility that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and the Bush administration will now put victims on parade.

Mickey Kaus has raised the intriguing possibility that, since Bush's amnesty plan went down to humiliating defeat once Americans got wind of what the elites had planned for us, the Bush administration might respond by intentionally targeting highly sympathetic illegal aliens for deportation "in as clumsy, heartless and lawsuit-inspiring a fashion as possible, in order to create the maximum number of negative headlines."

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described anti-amnesty Americans as being satisfied with nothing less than "the death penalty" for illegal aliens and recently warned of "some unhappy consequences" unless illegal aliens were granted amnesty. Yes, that Michael Chertoff -- the guy in charge of keeping us safe from foreign invasions.

So it was curious when we were treated this week to a weeping Mexican woman on TV, claiming the U.S. government was tearing her from her infant son and saying she knew the American people would be outraged if she were deported. (I note that her message might have been more effective in English.)

Admittedly, I'd just as soon have Homeland Security focusing on illegal immigrants like the one who shot four promising college kids execution style in Newark, killing three of them, possibly after sexually molesting two of them. Heck, I wouldn't have minded if they had deported Jose Carranza even before his girlfriend accused him of raping her 5-year-old daughter.

Or Ruben Hernandez-Juarez, an illegal alien charged with sexually molesting a 6-year-old boy in Martin County, Fla.

Or Alejandro Bautista, an illegal alien in Cook County, Ill., who was convicted for sexually molesting two teenaged boys.

Or Alejandro Xuya-Sian, the illegal alien who hit a pedestrian with his car in New York and dragged him for nearly a mile before dislodging the victim from his car, throwing him aside and driving off again. (Even more disturbing: Xuya-Sian may not have been wearing his seat belt at the time.)

Or illegal alien Alberto Barajas-Enriquez, who is charged with beating his Michigan neighbor to death with a golf club because the neighbor complained about the constant barking of Enriquez's dog. Asked by police how many times he struck his victim with the golf club, Enriquez said, "Let's see ... five, six ... uh, put me down for a seven."

Or Lucio Sanchez-Martinez, the illegal alien in Ohio charged with sexually molesting a sleeping 8-year-old girl.

For simplicity, I have limited my enumeration of illegal aliens I would like deported to those who were charged or convicted of heinous crimes last week. For illegal aliens charged with child molestation, I had to limit it to two days last week.

Read the rest here.

Duh, is it a government-run system?

I wont even comment on this. (Hat Tip Captains Quarters)

When an Iowa resident asked former senator John Edwards Thursday whether the United States should follow the Cuban healthcare model, the 2004 vice presidential contender deflected the question by saying he didn't know enough to answer the question.
"I'm going to be honest with you -- I don't know a lot about Cuba's healthcare system," Edwards, D-N.C., said at an event in Oskaloosa, Iowa. "Is it a government-run system?"

I guess he didn’t see Sicko even though he said he did. The man is priceless, while building a 28,000 square foot house he starts a “Poverty Tour”. He became a hedge fund lawyer serving elite billionaires in order to “learn about the relationships between financial markets and poverty.” This might be how. That hedge fund, in which he has $ 16,000,000 invested, is foreclosing on Katrina victims. Now as an ambulance chaser who helped rid NC of OBYGN’s he must know something about health care but if he needs education on Cuba’s, yes John, government run health care he can go to The Real Cuba.

Health Care for the Elderly
Ambulancia
Prescription Drugs
Hospitals

On May 20, 1989, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro inaugurated the new maternity ward at the Julio Trigo Hospital in Arroyo Naranjo, near Havana. It was a very modern facility with 425 beds. Here is what he said at the time:

"Well, I think we have a magnificent hospital facility. It was finished a few weeks ago and has already started to render services, except the inauguration was delayed a little. That's fine though because we are still on time. I was saying that it is a magnificent hospital facility. I asked the public health investor: How does it compare with other maternity hospitals? He said to me: Undoubtedly, this is the best one in Cuba. This is logical because I think that every new thing we make should be better.... As with every one of these hospitals, there will be something that will be amended, there will be things that are perfected. Even though they are similar projects, there is no doubt that each one will be better than the other. Here, however, we have the best maternity-infant hospital in the country."
That was in 1989. This is now.

What's sad is this might still be the best maternity-infant hospital in Cuba. That is excepting the hospitals that cater to high government officials and tourists of course.

Run for Cover

Jim Villanucci had a wonderful line last night on his radio show. “If you’re going to shoot up a school, sign in first.” I might also add , don’t bring a gun; it’s a gun free zone and even the cops don’t have guns. What sparked the brilliantly sarcastic comment was a caller that had entered a school and wandered all over unchallenged by anyone.

Also yesterday Albuquerque Public Schools' police officers had a case of Blue Flu to protest the rejection of a measure that would arm the APS police force. I can’t fathom why, if it’s a gun free zone then the cops won’t need guns either. Also if anyone wants to shoot up the school the school will be warned because, being law-abiding mass murderers, they will check in and state the purpose of their visit. Like at Virginia Tech.

jennifer asks:

Did anyone fight? Use all the textbooks and toss them to create a diversion? Did anyone try and jump this evil person?

Remember a few years ago, when someone opened fire at the white house? A man who was pushing his baby in a stroller, pushed his kid away and tackled the shooter.

This is the caliber of training I think that our country is lacking. We are now meek, and mild, raising metro sexual men, and the girls seem pleased.

We need a little red neck back to the kids.

Maybe I went off on a tangent, but first we took the guns, then the need to care for our own and look where our college kids are...

Take that back 45 or so years to the shooter at the Texas campus(cant remember where) But students ran to their vehicles and gathered their weapons. The cops worked with these students, and fired at the shooter so others could rescue the injured.

We will always live in a society that has a freak that will murder indiscriminately, but will we continue on the path willingly like sheep to slaughter??

I did not know that aspect of the 1966 University of Texas library tower sniper incident. No surprise, I don’t know how long the MSM has been suppressing gun defense stories but it’s been going on since I can’t remember when and I’m no spring chicken. Also there was no “gun free” nonsense in place at UT then. I wonder if that is the case now. There were heroes at VT that day however.


76 year old Israeli lecturer Liviu Librescuan blocked the doorway to his class long enough to allow his students to escape through the windows. He was fatally shot.

Zach Petkewicz kept his head and an act as simple as barricading a door saved another class.

"They immediately slammed the door shut, told us, everybody kind of went into a frenzy, a panic. I hid behind the podium and then just kind of looked up at the door. Like, there's nothing stopping this guy from just coming in. And so I said, 'We need to barricade this door.' "

Resident Assistant Ryan C. Clark rushed toward the gunfire to protect the students at his residence hall. He and Emily J. Hilscher, the first victim he had gone to rescue were the only deaths at the residence.

No doubt there were others, many we may never hear about. If I ever had any question whether today’s youth had the right stuff it has been answered in Fallujah and countless other battlefields across the world. Nevertheless it is a valid point, while Gen Xers have proven courageous enough they have a lot of leftist conditioning to work through. Witness the youth holding the sign that basically says anyone with a gun is a bad guy. Even campus police. I took a gun to school once. So did a bunch of my buddies. We had a half-day course on hunter safety and wonder of wonders none of those guns were violent that day.

Update: Cincinnati mayor won’t use pistol to kick off race.

I'm Back

Son's gone so I'm blogging again. The Bush administration has designated Iran’s Republican Guards a terrorist organization. No kidding? Ya think? Maybe we are realizing what Michael Ledeen and Victor Davis Hanson have been telling us for years, we are at war with Iran and its proxies Hezbollah and Hamas and we are loosing. We don’t need to be loosing against this fragile paper tiger but as yet we have done nothing to Iran but talk. Hopefully this is changing.

Bush is also cracking down on those who hire illegal aliens. Again good news. Locally however Albuquerque is waking up to the consequences of declaring itself a sanctuary city. As a result of a lawsuit brought against the Albuquerque Police Department by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund APD officers will now be properly cowed when it comes to determining a suspect’s citizen status. This on the heals of illegal immigrant and MS 13 gang-banger Jose Carranza’s rapes and murders. Again if you or your loved ones are ever a victim of an illegal immigrant and your local officials were harboring, shielding, or concealing illegal aliens, (a felony BTW), sue the city. These policies must be changed and liability is one way to pressure these cities to follow the law.

Dittos to Denis Miller on Harry Reid. While Alberto Gonzales should be fired for not pursuing WOT leaks to the MSM that have jeopardized our national security he should not be fired for firing political appointees for political reasons. Especially New Mexico’s U.S. attorney David C. Iglesias.

Iglesia turned down an offer by Senator Pete Domenici of experienced white-collar crime prosecutors then bungled the prosecution of Democrat State Treasurer Robert Vigil on extortion charges. He was slow in handing down corruption charges tied to the Albuquerque Metropolitan Courthouse construction so as to bolster the Dem’s ridiculous claim as the anti-corruption party. He also drug his heels when it came to prosecuting voter fraud, which incidentally helped NM Democrats. How many illegal aliens voted in the last election and who do you think they voted for? 330 noncitizens in Bexar County, TX maybe.

The names of 330 noncitizens on the voter rolls were reported by Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen.

Those named had received jury duty summonses but told the court they weren't eligible to serve because they were not U.S. citizens.

Anyway the Senate will vote on a meaningless resolution of no-confidence and Bush will remain loyal to Gonzales. He decided not to be loyal to General Pace, and that is unfortunate, but the White House decided not to give Harry and his bunch another chance to spout their defeatist rhetoric that Miller so aptly described.

Catching Up

Been busy, son’s visiting and helping for a month so I’m getting as much done as I can before he goes back to school. Also I am taking a couple of summer school classes myself so my blogging has dropped off substantially. So what’s been happening?


Food Shortages in Venezuela reports Junglemom. No surprise there.

I, Infidel reports on how the surge continues to be successful mostly due to more Iraqi tribes flipping against Al Qaeda.

Yes things are looking up in Iraq! Folks, the only reason deaths and causalities are up is because we are on the offensive, gaining new allies from once bitter enemies, and killing al Qaeda types on ground they only wish they ruled.

Michael Yon was there when "General" Hamid was captured.

Left to Right: Lieutenant Colonel Doug Crissman; General Hamid; Sayed the interpreter.

General David Petraeus has laid down the law, abuse of power will not be tolerated. “General” Hamid, while a hero in his killing of Al Qaeda, was also crooked. The Iraqi Government wanted him out and since the whole affair would be so politically charged asked the US to do it. Seconds after this photo, LTC Doug Crissman grabbed General Hamid’s pistol and arrested him. Michael explains this whole affair that spotlights the fact that even in a war zone we and Iraq are nations of law.


Putin doesn’t like Missile Defense. Neither did Gorbachev, and from the Soviet Union’s perspective he was right, SDI was one of the straws that broke the USSR’s back. Neither does China. Well if Russia and China are against this it is surely needed. I agree with Ronald Reagan who said:

... we will put in this defensive thing [SDI] in case some place in the world a madman some day tries to create these weapons again —— nuclear weapons —— because, remember, we all know how to make them now. So, you can't do away with that information, but we would all be safe knowing that if such a madman project is ever attempted there isn't any of us that couldn't defend ourselves against it.

And he didn't even kmow Ahmadinajad.

Big Oil

Got an E-Mail from my nephew urging me to support legislation against price gouging from big oil.

Can you face another summer where a day trip to the lake or the beach costs you an arm and a leg? It's shaping up to be just that if we don't ask Congress to stand up to Big Oil now.

But there is a bill in the House this week that could make gas price gouging a federal crime, so we don't pay more while the oil companies rake in record profits. I signed a petition to urge my representative to pass this bill this week -- can you join me at the link below?

The state of financial and economic education in this country is abysmal, in most high schools it’s not even taught. Instead they have environment classes. So for all those ignorant of basic supply and demand let me explain why such socialist legislation is a big mistake.

The biggest reason gas is so high is that America refineries are going all out, 100%, yet can’t meet demand. We have to import gas from refineries overseas that are not as efficient making the blends that regulations demand be sold in the US. In order for those refineries to be persuaded to make US blends the price has to be bid up. If that is not allowed to happen then, yes the price will stay static but you will also have shortages. This would be similar to what is happening at the grocery stores in Venezuela. Also those refineries are breaking down because they are being run so hard, each time that happens the price will spike up.

It is only going to get worse. We are not increasing refining capacity fast enough to keep up with increasing demand. Each year sees a greater percentage of our fuel coming from foreign sources. Iran and Venezuela are using their petro dollars to fund terrorist organizations and a welfare state respectively. Not only are they not reinvesting to find new sources and increased efficiencies they aren’t even maintaining existing facilities and production is falling. All of the state owned oil companies are way behind our big oil and to make matters worse big oil has a smaller and smaller chunk of the free world in which to drill and explore. That doesn’t even take into consideration the shaky ground Chavez is on in his relation to the oil workers whose strikes have significantly driven up prices in the past. Iran is a powder keg that if blown could mean the closure of the Straits of Hormuz where two-fifths of all world traded oil moves. My advice to everyone is prepare for really high prices because no amount of finger pointing and punishing big oil will help.

The E-Mail was originally from Moveondot.com. My nephew is not dumb; he is a Doctor for crying out loud. We’ll see how he likes Hillary care after a few years. What I can’t understand about the public’s gullibility on the evil big oil issue, economic knowledge aside, is the idea that in a world with Hugo Chavez, Ahmadinejad, Putin, and the House of Saud, high prices are Chevron’s or Exxon’s fault. If the oil companies are making such record profits, which we are always given some figure in the billions but not as a rate of return on your dollar invested, then go buy some damn stock and get rich too. But they won’t do that because then they would also be subjected to the risk of investing. They would rather the government steal that money in the form of a tax or price fixing and pass that on to them in the form of cheap gas. Most people are ok with that, steal from the rich and give to the poor, although only in the industrialized world do the poor have cars. Problem is stockholders today aren’t the big fat capitalist lighting their cigars with hundred dollar bills. Allot of us are pensioners or 401K holders. The left wont let anyone fix Social Security so it won’t be around for me yet they want to steal from my retirement fund.