By Donald Lambro
Jewish World Review
President Bush's acknowledged frustration and his team's reported discouragement over the war in Iraq is testing the White House's resolve as never before.
As the terrorists continue to wreak destruction in Baghdad and throughout Iraq, and U.S. casualties continue to rise, it has become the focus of the midterm elections in many states, dominating the national dialogue and, of course, last week's presidential news conference.
Bush showed no inkling that Iraq's increased sectarian violence and the intermittent raids on Iraqi, U.S. and coalition forces have weakened his resolve to stand by the infant democracy and its struggle to survive. But, for the first time, he admitted that "sometimes I'm frustrated" and acknowledged the war was "straining the psyche of the country."
While he continued to defend the conflict, tying it to the larger war on global terrorism and vowing to stand by the Iraqis until "the job is done," Washington Post reporter Peter Baker noted that this time Bush did not use the word he has used many times before to defend his policies there: Progress.
Read the rest...
August 31, 2006
Sacrificing Truth On the Altar of Diversity
By Jeff Jacoby
Jewish World Review
You're a publisher of children's textbooks, and you have a problem. Your diversity guidelines — quotas in all but name — require you to include pictures of disabled children in your elementary and high school texts, but it isn't easy to find such children who are willing and able to pose for a photographer. Kids confined to wheelchairs often suffer from afflictions that affect their appearance, such as cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy. How can you meet your quota of disability images if you don't have disabled models who are suitably photogenic?
Well, you can always do what Houghton Mifflin does. The well-known textbook publisher keeps a wheelchair on hand as a prop and hires able-bodied children from a modeling agency to pose in it. It keeps colorful pairs of crutches on hand, too — in case a child model turns out to be the wrong size for the wheelchair.
Houghton Mifflin's ploy was recently described by reporter Daniel Golden in a Wall Street Journal story on the lengths to which publishers go to get images of minorities and the disabled into grade-school textbooks. A Houghton Mifflin spokesman claimed that able-bodied models are presented as handicapped only as a last resort. But according to one of the company's regular photographers, the deception is the norm. At least three-fourths of the children portrayed as disabled in Houghton Mifflin textbooks actually aren't, she told Golden. In fact, publishers have to keep track of all the models they use for such pictures, so that a child posing as disabled in one chapter isn't shown running or climbing a tree in another.
Read the rest...
Jewish World Review
You're a publisher of children's textbooks, and you have a problem. Your diversity guidelines — quotas in all but name — require you to include pictures of disabled children in your elementary and high school texts, but it isn't easy to find such children who are willing and able to pose for a photographer. Kids confined to wheelchairs often suffer from afflictions that affect their appearance, such as cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy. How can you meet your quota of disability images if you don't have disabled models who are suitably photogenic?
Well, you can always do what Houghton Mifflin does. The well-known textbook publisher keeps a wheelchair on hand as a prop and hires able-bodied children from a modeling agency to pose in it. It keeps colorful pairs of crutches on hand, too — in case a child model turns out to be the wrong size for the wheelchair.
Houghton Mifflin's ploy was recently described by reporter Daniel Golden in a Wall Street Journal story on the lengths to which publishers go to get images of minorities and the disabled into grade-school textbooks. A Houghton Mifflin spokesman claimed that able-bodied models are presented as handicapped only as a last resort. But according to one of the company's regular photographers, the deception is the norm. At least three-fourths of the children portrayed as disabled in Houghton Mifflin textbooks actually aren't, she told Golden. In fact, publishers have to keep track of all the models they use for such pictures, so that a child posing as disabled in one chapter isn't shown running or climbing a tree in another.
Read the rest...
Classic Jimmy Carter
By Michael Radu
FrontPageMagazine.com
A few weeks ago, Jimmy Carter gave an interview to the German newspaper, Der Spiegel, mostly on the recent Lebanon conflict. It was classic Jimmy Carter -- at once moralizing and morally confused, ill-informed and preachy -- illustrating why the American people voted him out of office after just one term and the politically partisan Swedish Academy awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize.
Take first the former president’s historical illiteracy. "Under all of its [the Bush administration's] predecessors there was a commitment to peace instead of preemptive war," Carter claimed. But is that really so? What about the Spanish-American War of 1898, or Vietnam and Grenada? (I may be missing a few dozen other cases for reason of space.) How do those conflicts square with Carter’s theory that Bush has made "a radical and unpressured departure from the basic policies of all previous administrations including those of both Republican and Democratic presidents"?
Carter proved equally ignorant of current events. To Der Spiegel's question, "But wasn't Israel the first to get attacked?" Carter replied:
Read the rest....
FrontPageMagazine.com
A few weeks ago, Jimmy Carter gave an interview to the German newspaper, Der Spiegel, mostly on the recent Lebanon conflict. It was classic Jimmy Carter -- at once moralizing and morally confused, ill-informed and preachy -- illustrating why the American people voted him out of office after just one term and the politically partisan Swedish Academy awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize.
Take first the former president’s historical illiteracy. "Under all of its [the Bush administration's] predecessors there was a commitment to peace instead of preemptive war," Carter claimed. But is that really so? What about the Spanish-American War of 1898, or Vietnam and Grenada? (I may be missing a few dozen other cases for reason of space.) How do those conflicts square with Carter’s theory that Bush has made "a radical and unpressured departure from the basic policies of all previous administrations including those of both Republican and Democratic presidents"?
Carter proved equally ignorant of current events. To Der Spiegel's question, "But wasn't Israel the first to get attacked?" Carter replied:
Read the rest....
The Terrorist Next Door
By Paul Sperry
FrontPageMagazine.com
The recent terror case of a "gentle" third-grade teacher from the D.C. suburbs shows the danger is at once closer and harder to ID than you think. The enemy is hiding not in the shadows, but in plain sight, and may even wear a smile.
Hundreds of Muslims last week flocked to a federal courtroom to show their support for the affable and soft-spoken Ali Asad Chandia of Maryland as he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for supporting terrorists. Friends say anti-Muslim prosecutors railroaded a "law-abiding" and "peaceful" brother.
"He is a dedicated teacher," said one. "A great family man," said another.
Another told the judge Chandia's so gentle he wouldn't hurt a tree branch in his yard. "I said to Ali that I may need to cut the branch (but) he asked that I not hurt the tree," the friend, a landscaper, said in a letter. "I was touched by Ali's insistence that the tree not be harmed in any way."
But prosecutors tell a different story.
Read the rest...
FrontPageMagazine.com
The recent terror case of a "gentle" third-grade teacher from the D.C. suburbs shows the danger is at once closer and harder to ID than you think. The enemy is hiding not in the shadows, but in plain sight, and may even wear a smile.
Hundreds of Muslims last week flocked to a federal courtroom to show their support for the affable and soft-spoken Ali Asad Chandia of Maryland as he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for supporting terrorists. Friends say anti-Muslim prosecutors railroaded a "law-abiding" and "peaceful" brother.
"He is a dedicated teacher," said one. "A great family man," said another.
Another told the judge Chandia's so gentle he wouldn't hurt a tree branch in his yard. "I said to Ali that I may need to cut the branch (but) he asked that I not hurt the tree," the friend, a landscaper, said in a letter. "I was touched by Ali's insistence that the tree not be harmed in any way."
But prosecutors tell a different story.
Read the rest...
A Triple Volunteer is Laid to Rest
Army Spc. Barbieri, 24, of North Potomac, a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, was killed by small arms enemy fire on Aug. 23 south of Baghdad, according to a statement released by the Army. Today at 1130 hours he was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetary.
A triple volunteer, first as a firefighter, then as a soldier and finally as a paratrooper defined the character of Spc Barbieri. Please stop by and let his family, friends and fellow fire fighters know that you appreciate his decidation to duty.
Rest in peace brother, rest in peace.
A triple volunteer, first as a firefighter, then as a soldier and finally as a paratrooper defined the character of Spc Barbieri. Please stop by and let his family, friends and fellow fire fighters know that you appreciate his decidation to duty.
Rest in peace brother, rest in peace.
Web Reconnaissance for 08/31/2006
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
Kobayashi Maru writes Ohmeed Aziz Popal - Hyper-Distributed Self-Recruiting Terrorism? “You've just left a Jewish Community Center in a heavily Jewish neighborhood in San Francisco when a young Afghani Muslim man drives over you and 13 others with his SUV just "because he just wanted to". He describes himself as a terrorist to arresting officers at the scene. They choose to ignore his stated motivation. Most of you have heard the story by now. Hate crime? Terrorism? A random, mentally ill kook?” (read more)
Allahpundit has Video: Hackett calls Dan Senor ‘Unterfuhrer’ “First, Kasich is mistaken. Hackett doesn’t favor an immediate withdrawal. Second, if you thought he was a nutroots hearthrob before, wait until they get a load of this. Venom — straight, no chaser.” (read more)
Jay Tea of Wizbang writes Money talks, BS prattles on “There's an old variant of The Golden Rule: He with the gold makes the rules. Right now, one of the biggest gold-holders on the Left is billionaire felon and moonbat "financier and philanthropist" is George Soros, who signs the paychecks (indirectly, of course) of some of the Left's most strident voices. And this morning he got the Boston Globe (owned by the New York Times) to publish his vision of just what happened in Lebanon recently -- and how it relates to his own view of the War on Terror.” (read more)
Captain Ed writes Democratic Purity Campaign Hits Black Incumbents As Well “The Washington Times reports that the campaign to unseat the solidly liberal Joe Lieberman from the Senate for his opposition to the war is no isolated incident, nor are representatives of the Democrats' most loyal constituency immune from the purity purge. Black incumbents in the house have also been targeted in primary campaigns for insufficient party loyalty and supposedly conservative sympathies, none of which has to do with the war:” (read more)
Omar of Iraq the Model writes A tale of two tribes, a gang and a militia... “Is it civil war in Iraq or is it not? And if it is, is there a way to stop it and if it's not, is there a way to avert it? Who's to blame for the sectarian violence and who's escalating it? And what role foreign terror groups like al-Qaeda is playing in this regard? Is it possible that foreign terrorists, with their numbers estimated to be between several hundreds to a few thousands, were/are capable of inflicting so much damage and taking the lead in provoking sectarian strife in a country of 28 millions?” (read more)
Jack Army writes FOB Life “Being the senior enlisted Soldier on the FOB means I have lots of responsibility... and lots of decisions to make. Here's where I'm fortunate: 1. I have a boss who gives me plenty of room to make those decisions and trusts me. 2. I have a good bunch of NCO's who can take the initiative and make many decisions on their own, then inform me of what is going on.” (read more)
Michelle Malkin writes Assassination chic “The penultimate chapter of my book Unhinged was titled "Assassination chic." I explored the popular genre of "Kill Bush" literature, talk radio rhetoric, and art on the Left devoted to fantasies about murdering President Bush and Republicans, including: Sarah Vowell's best-selling murder travelogue of assassinated Republican presidents, Assassination Vacation; Nicholson Baker's Checkpoint, a novella conversation between two people about the advisability of assassinating the president; [and] "Art" exhibits like this one: (read more)
Chickenhawk Express writes And They Still Claim the Pics Were Not Staged “If a photo of a terrorist taking a dead child out of a body bag to use as a photo prop at Qana is discovered, would anyone care? If a video is located that shows without any doubt one of the most "famous" scenes from Qana from set up to finished product, would it get noticed? The answer to both questions is a resounding "NO". The media claims it is a "right-wing conspiracy". Even the blogs that went crazy about the Reuters enhanced smoke photos have been silent on both of those issues.” (read more)
Heidi of Euphoric Reality writes A Marine’s Letter To His Father “We’ve spent a lot of time here at ER defending the Innocent 8 - or Pendleton 8, as they’ve also been called. We celebrated a major victory in their Article 32 hearings last night (unfortunately you missed it if you weren’t tuned in to our radio show). The prosecution was spanked - badly - and we’re gloating about that. But even more importantly, we’re thrilled that the death penalty has been taken off the table - since the possibility of killing our Marines for killing the enemy in Iraq was too horrifying to even contemplate.” (read more)
Kobayashi Maru writes Ohmeed Aziz Popal - Hyper-Distributed Self-Recruiting Terrorism? “You've just left a Jewish Community Center in a heavily Jewish neighborhood in San Francisco when a young Afghani Muslim man drives over you and 13 others with his SUV just "because he just wanted to". He describes himself as a terrorist to arresting officers at the scene. They choose to ignore his stated motivation. Most of you have heard the story by now. Hate crime? Terrorism? A random, mentally ill kook?” (read more)
Allahpundit has Video: Hackett calls Dan Senor ‘Unterfuhrer’ “First, Kasich is mistaken. Hackett doesn’t favor an immediate withdrawal. Second, if you thought he was a nutroots hearthrob before, wait until they get a load of this. Venom — straight, no chaser.” (read more)
Jay Tea of Wizbang writes Money talks, BS prattles on “There's an old variant of The Golden Rule: He with the gold makes the rules. Right now, one of the biggest gold-holders on the Left is billionaire felon and moonbat "financier and philanthropist" is George Soros, who signs the paychecks (indirectly, of course) of some of the Left's most strident voices. And this morning he got the Boston Globe (owned by the New York Times) to publish his vision of just what happened in Lebanon recently -- and how it relates to his own view of the War on Terror.” (read more)
Captain Ed writes Democratic Purity Campaign Hits Black Incumbents As Well “The Washington Times reports that the campaign to unseat the solidly liberal Joe Lieberman from the Senate for his opposition to the war is no isolated incident, nor are representatives of the Democrats' most loyal constituency immune from the purity purge. Black incumbents in the house have also been targeted in primary campaigns for insufficient party loyalty and supposedly conservative sympathies, none of which has to do with the war:” (read more)
Omar of Iraq the Model writes A tale of two tribes, a gang and a militia... “Is it civil war in Iraq or is it not? And if it is, is there a way to stop it and if it's not, is there a way to avert it? Who's to blame for the sectarian violence and who's escalating it? And what role foreign terror groups like al-Qaeda is playing in this regard? Is it possible that foreign terrorists, with their numbers estimated to be between several hundreds to a few thousands, were/are capable of inflicting so much damage and taking the lead in provoking sectarian strife in a country of 28 millions?” (read more)
Jack Army writes FOB Life “Being the senior enlisted Soldier on the FOB means I have lots of responsibility... and lots of decisions to make. Here's where I'm fortunate: 1. I have a boss who gives me plenty of room to make those decisions and trusts me. 2. I have a good bunch of NCO's who can take the initiative and make many decisions on their own, then inform me of what is going on.” (read more)
Michelle Malkin writes Assassination chic “The penultimate chapter of my book Unhinged was titled "Assassination chic." I explored the popular genre of "Kill Bush" literature, talk radio rhetoric, and art on the Left devoted to fantasies about murdering President Bush and Republicans, including: Sarah Vowell's best-selling murder travelogue of assassinated Republican presidents, Assassination Vacation; Nicholson Baker's Checkpoint, a novella conversation between two people about the advisability of assassinating the president; [and] "Art" exhibits like this one: (read more)
Chickenhawk Express writes And They Still Claim the Pics Were Not Staged “If a photo of a terrorist taking a dead child out of a body bag to use as a photo prop at Qana is discovered, would anyone care? If a video is located that shows without any doubt one of the most "famous" scenes from Qana from set up to finished product, would it get noticed? The answer to both questions is a resounding "NO". The media claims it is a "right-wing conspiracy". Even the blogs that went crazy about the Reuters enhanced smoke photos have been silent on both of those issues.” (read more)
Heidi of Euphoric Reality writes A Marine’s Letter To His Father “We’ve spent a lot of time here at ER defending the Innocent 8 - or Pendleton 8, as they’ve also been called. We celebrated a major victory in their Article 32 hearings last night (unfortunately you missed it if you weren’t tuned in to our radio show). The prosecution was spanked - badly - and we’re gloating about that. But even more importantly, we’re thrilled that the death penalty has been taken off the table - since the possibility of killing our Marines for killing the enemy in Iraq was too horrifying to even contemplate.” (read more)
To Be or Not to Be
…Profiling that is.
As a general rule I believe that profiling is a great deterrent in preventing crime and catching criminals, looking out for the tell-tell signs of a drug runner up Interstate 95 results in a lot of drugs being taken off the streets, likewise focusing our efforts on Islamic males in the fight against terror is also going to net us a large return but I have to admit neither approach is One Hundred Percent fail safe. Some drug runner/dealers slip through and innocent travelers who made the mistake of looking like a drug dealer get harassed, and yes some Muslim males traveling via air are doing just that traveling. So how do we combat terrorism and catch the terrorists without pulling the 85 year old blue haired lady and strip searching her because she has knitting needles on her person?
Ry a denizen of the Castle Argghhh! writes a compelling post today on this very subject, his solution, refuse to allow any carry-on luggage onto the airplanes:
What indeed have we sacrificed for the war on Islamic Imperialism? For most business men and women traveling about the country they are forced to go through the asinine security procedures imposed by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), that focuses not on the actual components of the threat but rather the semantics of the search. For the TSA who lives so deep in the world of political correctness, children and their parents are more of a threat that single males of Middle Eastern descent. Little Tommy’s stuffed bear is a greater threat as a weapon than a plastic based gun and your Italian Leather shoes represent more of a threat than that single male wearing the leather jacket in the middle of August.
In contrast to Ry’s assertion that we have not sacrificed in this war, I would say we have sacrificed though not in any meaningful way that makes us safer but in a manner that simply inconveniences the millions of valid travelers that pass through our airports on a daily basis.
And I must agree, if our goal is to make the cabin a place that is inhospitable for someone who wishes to do the crew and passengers harm, this is the only way we can effectively put the advantage back on our side. Is it going to be an inconvenience, hell yes, but isn’t that better than becoming the next Flight 93? But is it possible to get the American public to go along with this? If it’s a government imposed rule their isn’t much the public can do about it, the real question is, will the airlines go along with it or will they have to be compelled by some other means. It stands to reason that some of our routine travelers will balk at the idea of losing all that time preparing for the next meeting, and most likely they will choose to begin traveling in other manners or to not travel at all, after all their time is valuable, much too valuable to be inconvenienced by some terrorist that plans on killing them simply for not being a Muslim. However as a security specialist it’s not my job to worry about whether you are inconvenienced my job is to inconvenience the person trying to kill you.
Rys agrees and explains further why we could never effectively profile everyone:
He’s right about that, we could never as a people take profiling to the level it needs to be at to be a truly effective tool in combating terrorism, for the simple reason, terrorism is not a law enforcement matter it is now a military matter and as such simple police tools are no longer going to work. This is a battle against a people that want to kill or convert everyone on the planet, if you don’t believe that just ask Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig. Now having said all of this I can hear the complaints already, “But Dave, if we do that, then the terrorists have won!” I disagree, if we do this the terrorists lose because an effective and deadly battlespace has been removed from their repertoire and we as a people become a little safer, and before you say it, this is not an unconstitutional plan, there is no guaranteed right to convenience and if you insist that there is then you are allowing the terrorists to win because you are so caught up in your own little world that you can no longer distinguish between safety and a loss of civil liberties. I know a lot of major bloggers are big proponents of profiling to combat terrorism, especially since most police agencies both local and federal are so caught up in the world of political correctness that they can even decide when the actions of a terrorist are well, the acts of a terrorist, or even criminal for that matter.
The only other option at this point is to stop the ineffective and almost comical security measures at our airports and replace them with something along the lines of El Al’s methods. I don’t’ think many people are going to like going into that little room to be thoroughly searched. It’s up to you, either find another method of ensuring that the battlespace is safe for you and not the enemy; or you can continue to have that TSA security guard continue to feel that that little old lady sitting next to that middle-eastern male is the terrorist and not the Muslim couple with their baby.
As a general rule I believe that profiling is a great deterrent in preventing crime and catching criminals, looking out for the tell-tell signs of a drug runner up Interstate 95 results in a lot of drugs being taken off the streets, likewise focusing our efforts on Islamic males in the fight against terror is also going to net us a large return but I have to admit neither approach is One Hundred Percent fail safe. Some drug runner/dealers slip through and innocent travelers who made the mistake of looking like a drug dealer get harassed, and yes some Muslim males traveling via air are doing just that traveling. So how do we combat terrorism and catch the terrorists without pulling the 85 year old blue haired lady and strip searching her because she has knitting needles on her person?
Ry a denizen of the Castle Argghhh! writes a compelling post today on this very subject, his solution, refuse to allow any carry-on luggage onto the airplanes:
“I cannot deny the enemy access to the ‘battlespace’ of public transportation as a truly effective screening practice would take over an hour, but I can deny you the means to do something nefarious in that battlespace---hence, no carry on luggage according to Ry. Quick, someone restrain SWWBO before she strangles me. Yeah, I get the cost and the imposition. I’m still for it. We’re in a global war. What have we sacrificed for it?”
What indeed have we sacrificed for the war on Islamic Imperialism? For most business men and women traveling about the country they are forced to go through the asinine security procedures imposed by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), that focuses not on the actual components of the threat but rather the semantics of the search. For the TSA who lives so deep in the world of political correctness, children and their parents are more of a threat that single males of Middle Eastern descent. Little Tommy’s stuffed bear is a greater threat as a weapon than a plastic based gun and your Italian Leather shoes represent more of a threat than that single male wearing the leather jacket in the middle of August.
In contrast to Ry’s assertion that we have not sacrificed in this war, I would say we have sacrificed though not in any meaningful way that makes us safer but in a manner that simply inconveniences the millions of valid travelers that pass through our airports on a daily basis.
“But denying carry on luggage (and I mean all luggage and electronic devices in the cabin)? I’ve now denied you the means to do anything other than be a sardine in your can. I’ve ensured that the air marshal or pilot/driver, or taken a step toward ensuring, is outgunning whatever bad guys get past the veneer only security check points.
It would require a much larger conspiracy and well connected on, with security being inversely proportionate to the number of people in on the secret, to sneak weapons or explosives onto the plane to do the dirty deeds. Of course the exploit exists---as some studies of Portland, OR airport (PDX) have shown--- but as my old basketball coaches taught me: the key to being a good defensive player is laying a trap for an opponent by making him think you're giving him something and then quickly closing what he thought was an opening.
We can control the cabin environment, meaning what is in it, a whole lot easier than we can control who does and does not get to travel. Mr. Bad Guy is going to get on that plane, bus, ship, and train. That’s his main mission. He trains for it intensively. He works a long time on that task alone while we have to toil away in mind numbing tedium hoping to actually spot the needle in the haystack.
So we take away his chance for weaponry instead. That is something we can control.”
And I must agree, if our goal is to make the cabin a place that is inhospitable for someone who wishes to do the crew and passengers harm, this is the only way we can effectively put the advantage back on our side. Is it going to be an inconvenience, hell yes, but isn’t that better than becoming the next Flight 93? But is it possible to get the American public to go along with this? If it’s a government imposed rule their isn’t much the public can do about it, the real question is, will the airlines go along with it or will they have to be compelled by some other means. It stands to reason that some of our routine travelers will balk at the idea of losing all that time preparing for the next meeting, and most likely they will choose to begin traveling in other manners or to not travel at all, after all their time is valuable, much too valuable to be inconvenienced by some terrorist that plans on killing them simply for not being a Muslim. However as a security specialist it’s not my job to worry about whether you are inconvenienced my job is to inconvenience the person trying to kill you.
Rys agrees and explains further why we could never effectively profile everyone:
“There are things that can be done to close the holes that were found at PDX and control the cabin environment on all manner of long range public transit---that’s the offer them an exploit and close it kind of thing, a trap basically, Val Potestas taught me to do to shut down the other teams high scorer. There’s little we, the traveling public, will tolerate to truly enhance security in the cue to make profiling worthwhile, or any other measure for that matter. We’re just too impatient; and to do anything takes time and a diligence our Constitution enshrined civil liberties cannot coexist with. So it is just a non-starter to talk about racial profiling since we aren’t even willing or able to do that ‘right’.”
He’s right about that, we could never as a people take profiling to the level it needs to be at to be a truly effective tool in combating terrorism, for the simple reason, terrorism is not a law enforcement matter it is now a military matter and as such simple police tools are no longer going to work. This is a battle against a people that want to kill or convert everyone on the planet, if you don’t believe that just ask Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig. Now having said all of this I can hear the complaints already, “But Dave, if we do that, then the terrorists have won!” I disagree, if we do this the terrorists lose because an effective and deadly battlespace has been removed from their repertoire and we as a people become a little safer, and before you say it, this is not an unconstitutional plan, there is no guaranteed right to convenience and if you insist that there is then you are allowing the terrorists to win because you are so caught up in your own little world that you can no longer distinguish between safety and a loss of civil liberties. I know a lot of major bloggers are big proponents of profiling to combat terrorism, especially since most police agencies both local and federal are so caught up in the world of political correctness that they can even decide when the actions of a terrorist are well, the acts of a terrorist, or even criminal for that matter.
The only other option at this point is to stop the ineffective and almost comical security measures at our airports and replace them with something along the lines of El Al’s methods. I don’t’ think many people are going to like going into that little room to be thoroughly searched. It’s up to you, either find another method of ensuring that the battlespace is safe for you and not the enemy; or you can continue to have that TSA security guard continue to feel that that little old lady sitting next to that middle-eastern male is the terrorist and not the Muslim couple with their baby.
August 30, 2006
Web Reconnaissance for 08/30/2006
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
Cassandra writes Plaming The President: The Anatomy Of A Lie “It's been a long wait. For a moment there was a sense of unreality. Was I really reading these words in a major American newspaper? Armitage's involvement in the matter does not fit neatly into the assertions of Bush administration critics that Plame's employment was disclosed as part of a White House conspiracy to besmirch Wilson by suggesting his Niger trip stemmed from nepotism at the CIA. Wilson and Plame have sued top administration officials, alleging that the leak was meant as retaliation.” (read more)
Walid Phares of the Counterterrorism Blog writes Fox News team release: What is the message? “The release in Gaza of Fox News journalist Steve Centanni and camera man Olaf Wiig, kidnapped as of August 14 by a group calling itself "Holy Jihad Brigade" raises a number of salient issues related to the kidnapping and release: ‘We were forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint," Centanni told FOX News. "Don't get me wrong here. I have the highest respect for Islam, and I learned a lot of good things about it, but it was something we felt we had to do because they had the guns, and we didn't know what the hell was going on.’ Such a statement raises a number of points.” (read more)
Pam of Iraq War Today writes Milblogs Under Attack “Anti-war but not anti-troop? My a**. Remember, folks, this is the anti-war pattern. I've been getting more of these drive-bys lately, too. Not a surprise, really. In the Vietnam era, the anti-war crowd went from compassionate ‘bring our poor boys home’ demonstrations to violent protests, spitting on returning troops, and calling the families of KIA heroes to tell them how happy the moonbats were that the grieving parents' son was killed by the ‘honorable Viet Cong.’ The anti-war crowd is quick to say that the spitting and the phone calls have never actually been confirmed. Yes, they have. Quite a few times, actually. You can ask my father-in-law. It happened after Vietnam, and recently.” (read more)
Boots in Baghdad writes Staying the Course in Iraq “Since its invasion of Iraq over three years ago, the United States has ridden a public opinion roller coaster. Pundits and armchair generals alike are quick to presume complete failure if even one aspect of an extremely intricate mission seems challenging. However, it is important to acknowledge that the task of altering the course of a nation is an extremely complex and in-depth objective. America has rebuilt Iraq’s schools, hospitals, infrastructure, economy and government in only three years and cannot stop now.” (read more)
Captain B writes RUMSFELD NAILS THE MEDIA “On the 29th Rumsfeld spoke at Fallon Air Station. During a question-and-answer session, Rumsfeld said “the one thing that keeps him up most at night is the manipulation of the media by terrorists”. He says it bothers him how clever the enemy is. You know something? He’s right. You’ve known it for some time, how the media likes to put their spin on things and make the USA look like the bad guy all the time. Its easy for them, they are protected by the rights the warriors deployed are protecting! You say it can be! The media are Americans! You say they always “sell” the truth?? Look below, I beg to differ!” (read more)
Kobayashi Maru writes The Headlong Rush to Declare Defeat and Elevate the Enemy “Virtually every time I decide to venture beyond the movie listings or classified ads in my primary hometown paper (The Boston Globe), I come up disappointed. Frequently, I'm angered. Occasionally, I'm truly sickened. Somtimes - as in this piece from the Sunday edition ("No Win") - I'm disappointed, angered and sickened all at the same time. The editors' willful ignorance and overwhelming, sycophantic bias seem to have no limit.” (read more)
Cassandra writes Plaming The President: The Anatomy Of A Lie “It's been a long wait. For a moment there was a sense of unreality. Was I really reading these words in a major American newspaper? Armitage's involvement in the matter does not fit neatly into the assertions of Bush administration critics that Plame's employment was disclosed as part of a White House conspiracy to besmirch Wilson by suggesting his Niger trip stemmed from nepotism at the CIA. Wilson and Plame have sued top administration officials, alleging that the leak was meant as retaliation.” (read more)
Walid Phares of the Counterterrorism Blog writes Fox News team release: What is the message? “The release in Gaza of Fox News journalist Steve Centanni and camera man Olaf Wiig, kidnapped as of August 14 by a group calling itself "Holy Jihad Brigade" raises a number of salient issues related to the kidnapping and release: ‘We were forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint," Centanni told FOX News. "Don't get me wrong here. I have the highest respect for Islam, and I learned a lot of good things about it, but it was something we felt we had to do because they had the guns, and we didn't know what the hell was going on.’ Such a statement raises a number of points.” (read more)
Pam of Iraq War Today writes Milblogs Under Attack “Anti-war but not anti-troop? My a**. Remember, folks, this is the anti-war pattern. I've been getting more of these drive-bys lately, too. Not a surprise, really. In the Vietnam era, the anti-war crowd went from compassionate ‘bring our poor boys home’ demonstrations to violent protests, spitting on returning troops, and calling the families of KIA heroes to tell them how happy the moonbats were that the grieving parents' son was killed by the ‘honorable Viet Cong.’ The anti-war crowd is quick to say that the spitting and the phone calls have never actually been confirmed. Yes, they have. Quite a few times, actually. You can ask my father-in-law. It happened after Vietnam, and recently.” (read more)
Boots in Baghdad writes Staying the Course in Iraq “Since its invasion of Iraq over three years ago, the United States has ridden a public opinion roller coaster. Pundits and armchair generals alike are quick to presume complete failure if even one aspect of an extremely intricate mission seems challenging. However, it is important to acknowledge that the task of altering the course of a nation is an extremely complex and in-depth objective. America has rebuilt Iraq’s schools, hospitals, infrastructure, economy and government in only three years and cannot stop now.” (read more)
Captain B writes RUMSFELD NAILS THE MEDIA “On the 29th Rumsfeld spoke at Fallon Air Station. During a question-and-answer session, Rumsfeld said “the one thing that keeps him up most at night is the manipulation of the media by terrorists”. He says it bothers him how clever the enemy is. You know something? He’s right. You’ve known it for some time, how the media likes to put their spin on things and make the USA look like the bad guy all the time. Its easy for them, they are protected by the rights the warriors deployed are protecting! You say it can be! The media are Americans! You say they always “sell” the truth?? Look below, I beg to differ!” (read more)
Kobayashi Maru writes The Headlong Rush to Declare Defeat and Elevate the Enemy “Virtually every time I decide to venture beyond the movie listings or classified ads in my primary hometown paper (The Boston Globe), I come up disappointed. Frequently, I'm angered. Occasionally, I'm truly sickened. Somtimes - as in this piece from the Sunday edition ("No Win") - I'm disappointed, angered and sickened all at the same time. The editors' willful ignorance and overwhelming, sycophantic bias seem to have no limit.” (read more)
August 29, 2006
The Trouble with Democrats
By William Rusher
Townhall.com
The bookstores, journals of opinion and newspaper Op Ed pages are chockfull, these days, of books and articles on the subject of "What's Wrong With the Democrats?" It isn't that they are believed to be at death's door. On the contrary, they are widely regarded as likely to wrest control of the House of Representatives from the Republicans this November, and substantially improve their situation in the governorships and state houses.
But, given the problems President Bush is facing in Iraq, the general deterioration of the situation in the Middle East, the threat posed by North Korea, the various incidents of corruption that have been breaking out in the executive branch and (mostly, though not entirely, among Republicans) in Congress, plus the fact that the generally healthy economy is overshadowed in the public's eyes by the continued high price of gasoline, the wonder is that the Democrats aren't widely considered sure to seize control of both houses of Congress in November and throw the Republican rascals out of the White House in 2008.
Just a Reminder of Who We Are and Why We Are Fighting
By Dennis Prager
FrontPageMagazine.com
Last year at UCLA, I debated a professor who argued that Israel and the Palestinians were moral equivalents. He is not alone (especially on college campuses) in his lack of understanding of the immoral nature of the Islamic enemies of America and Israel.
Thus it is important to remind people once again about the moral world inhabited by the people we are fighting, whom President George W. Bush calls the Islamic Fascists.
Societal examples:
- The Islamic Republic of Sudan, in its attempt to force Arab/Muslim rule on the largely non-Arab and non-Muslim population of southern Sudan, has led to the killing of well above one million Christians and animists and black (i.e., non-Arab) Muslims, in addition to the widespread enslavement, rape and torture of those people.
- No major international Arab or Muslim organization has condemned the Sudanese government's mass murders that border on genocide.
- The leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly denied the Holocaust and repeatedly called for the annihilation of Israel. As the six million Jews of Israel do not plan a mass exodus from their ancient and modern homeland, such annihilation would in fact mean another Holocaust.
- The holy center of Islam, the Muslim country where the holiest Muslim sites are situated, is Saudi Arabia. That country bans the practice of any religion other than Islam, amputates hands of thieves, does not allow women to drive a car, mandates what women wear outside of their homes and is the only country in the world to feature a weapon on its national flag. Women were treated considerably better and had more civil rights in ancient Rome, not to mention ancient Israel, than women living in the holiest cities of Islam today.
- Virtually every Islam-based country decrees the death penalty for any Muslim who converts to another religion.
In other words, every country that calls itself "Islamic" is morally inferior to just about every country in North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, almost every Asian country, and many African countries.
DADISM # 40
"We're making good time."
A dad will go to any lengths to make good time. That includes resricting family rest stop breaks to two minutes, exceeding speed limits by upward of twenty miles per hour, and purchasing exorbitantly expensive radar detectors to avoid getting stopped by the highway patrol. (It's not the speeding ticket Dad fears, its the accompanying ten-minute delay.)
{Whenever a dad (or any man, for that matter) climbs behind the wheel, he becomes hopelessly engaged in a game of Beat the Clock. Whether it's a cross-country journey or a hop across town, Dad's immediate and all-consuming goal is to make "good time." "Good time" is a subjective term that usually means "faster than last time."}
A dad will go to any lengths to make good time. That includes resricting family rest stop breaks to two minutes, exceeding speed limits by upward of twenty miles per hour, and purchasing exorbitantly expensive radar detectors to avoid getting stopped by the highway patrol. (It's not the speeding ticket Dad fears, its the accompanying ten-minute delay.)
Web Reconnaissance for 08/29/2006
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
Captain Ed writes Who Won From The Plame Flameout? “It's easy to add up all of the people who lost in the collapse of Valerie Plame leak case after Michael Isikoff and David Corn revealed that Richard Armitage originally gave the information to Robert Novak. Joe Wilson watched his carefully-constructed and mostly false version of events come apart at the seams. Novak lost his job at CNN (later catching on with Fox) and came under tremendous criticism for his refusal to act to free other journalists from legal action. Patrick Fitzgerald put a lot of tarnish on his previously sterling reputation for extending a criminal investigation for years after the culprit confessed five days into the Department of Justice probe. Judith Miller lost the respect of her peers because of a belief that she protected Bush administration officials and acted as a mouthpiece for them, an assessment that none of her colleagues bothered to revisit after the Isikoff/Corn story came out on Sunday.” (read more)
Mohammed of Iraq the Model writes If I had known… “Says Hassan Nesrallah giving us in the Middle East a topic for a new debate. Reactions and evaluations to this statement and its timing vary a lot; supporters of Nesrallah consider it a move of courage to admit one's mistake and this is another "virtue" to add to the qualities of the Sayyed's persona as if he isn't yet satisfied with the number of titles he already "won" during the latest war and earlier wars. On the other hand those who disagree with Nesrallah and his party consider the statement an admission of defeat and an evidence of the confused policy of Hizbollah and an opening for future defeats.” (read more)
Michael J. Totten writes Eyeless in Gaza “SOUTHERN ISRAEL, NEAR GAZA – All eyes turned from Gaza to Lebanon as Israel fought a hot war with Hezbollah across its northern border. Before the Lebanon war broke out, the fighting in and around Gaza was the big story in Israel. But once the media coverage ended it stayed ended, even after foreign correspondents were free to pick up where they left off. Perhaps the kidnapping of two Fox News journalists by the latest in a long line of Palestinian terrorist groups -- the Holy Jihad Brigades -- all but guaranteed reporters wouldn’t go back. Even though I’ve been in Israel for a couple of weeks, I still didn’t know any more about what’s going on down there than people who have never been here before. News from Israel’s other rocket war barely trickles up to Tel Aviv. So I hopped in my rental car and drove down to Mishav Klahim, just east of Netivot and 20 kilometers from Gaza, to meet Shika Frista who promised to show me what’s going on.” (read more)
Robin at Chickenhawk Express writes The Smoking Gun From Qana (CAUTION GRAPHIC PICS) “I am jumping ahead of myself in the Qana analysis report but this is REALLY big and I believe it is the smoking gun for the staged photos. Bear with me while I explain this information...Soon after the Qana incident, I posted about the cleaned up faces and migrating blood spots on the little girl in the print pajama pants that was essentially Mr. Green Helmet's photo prop. This whole incident at Qana has just bugged me to no end. I have read, read and read reports, stories, articles etc. I have watched endless videos from the scene and looked at so many pictures that I feel like I was there. I was bound and determine to sort through everything to tie up the loose ends - I guess it's the researcher and nurse in me. Finally today, I found a picture over at the incredible EU Referendum that made me say ‘THAT'S IT!’” (read more)
Voolfie guest blogging at Blonde Sagacity writes Context? We Aint Got No Context... “One of the most penetrating and trenchant insights of the last five years was by Douglas W. Kmiec in a 2004 review of Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911 in National Review. Mr. Kmiec writes, ‘...Moore's political fulmination offers up a nominal truth so shorn of context as to be rendered utterly false.’ The brilliance of this is that it forcefully points out something that many who like to comment on current affairs, either never knew, have forgotten or are purposely ignoring - namely, the importance of context in a discussion of ‘facts.’” (read more)
Tom The Redhunter writes The Nature of our Enemy Part III An Islamic World “On the one hand, there's a danger in reading too much into any one incident. On the other, sometimes they can be so illustrative. Take the issue of Steve Centani and Olaf Wiig, the Fox News journalists who were told to convert to Islam or die. In the video, posted here on Michelle Malkin's site (and on YouTube), Centanni reads a statement, which says in part:” (read more)
Dadmanly writes Enemies Within “Byron York eulogizes Plamegate at National Review Online, in the wake of confirmation that then Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was the anonymous source, who started the Perfect Storm of Washington gossip, insider Beltway politics, and partisan media manipulation. Retelling the saga with the latest revelations added in, York makes a persuasive case for finding equivalence between Lewis Libby and Richard Armitage:” (read more)
Captain Ed writes Who Won From The Plame Flameout? “It's easy to add up all of the people who lost in the collapse of Valerie Plame leak case after Michael Isikoff and David Corn revealed that Richard Armitage originally gave the information to Robert Novak. Joe Wilson watched his carefully-constructed and mostly false version of events come apart at the seams. Novak lost his job at CNN (later catching on with Fox) and came under tremendous criticism for his refusal to act to free other journalists from legal action. Patrick Fitzgerald put a lot of tarnish on his previously sterling reputation for extending a criminal investigation for years after the culprit confessed five days into the Department of Justice probe. Judith Miller lost the respect of her peers because of a belief that she protected Bush administration officials and acted as a mouthpiece for them, an assessment that none of her colleagues bothered to revisit after the Isikoff/Corn story came out on Sunday.” (read more)
Mohammed of Iraq the Model writes If I had known… “Says Hassan Nesrallah giving us in the Middle East a topic for a new debate. Reactions and evaluations to this statement and its timing vary a lot; supporters of Nesrallah consider it a move of courage to admit one's mistake and this is another "virtue" to add to the qualities of the Sayyed's persona as if he isn't yet satisfied with the number of titles he already "won" during the latest war and earlier wars. On the other hand those who disagree with Nesrallah and his party consider the statement an admission of defeat and an evidence of the confused policy of Hizbollah and an opening for future defeats.” (read more)
Michael J. Totten writes Eyeless in Gaza “SOUTHERN ISRAEL, NEAR GAZA – All eyes turned from Gaza to Lebanon as Israel fought a hot war with Hezbollah across its northern border. Before the Lebanon war broke out, the fighting in and around Gaza was the big story in Israel. But once the media coverage ended it stayed ended, even after foreign correspondents were free to pick up where they left off. Perhaps the kidnapping of two Fox News journalists by the latest in a long line of Palestinian terrorist groups -- the Holy Jihad Brigades -- all but guaranteed reporters wouldn’t go back. Even though I’ve been in Israel for a couple of weeks, I still didn’t know any more about what’s going on down there than people who have never been here before. News from Israel’s other rocket war barely trickles up to Tel Aviv. So I hopped in my rental car and drove down to Mishav Klahim, just east of Netivot and 20 kilometers from Gaza, to meet Shika Frista who promised to show me what’s going on.” (read more)
Robin at Chickenhawk Express writes The Smoking Gun From Qana (CAUTION GRAPHIC PICS) “I am jumping ahead of myself in the Qana analysis report but this is REALLY big and I believe it is the smoking gun for the staged photos. Bear with me while I explain this information...Soon after the Qana incident, I posted about the cleaned up faces and migrating blood spots on the little girl in the print pajama pants that was essentially Mr. Green Helmet's photo prop. This whole incident at Qana has just bugged me to no end. I have read, read and read reports, stories, articles etc. I have watched endless videos from the scene and looked at so many pictures that I feel like I was there. I was bound and determine to sort through everything to tie up the loose ends - I guess it's the researcher and nurse in me. Finally today, I found a picture over at the incredible EU Referendum that made me say ‘THAT'S IT!’” (read more)
Voolfie guest blogging at Blonde Sagacity writes Context? We Aint Got No Context... “One of the most penetrating and trenchant insights of the last five years was by Douglas W. Kmiec in a 2004 review of Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911 in National Review. Mr. Kmiec writes, ‘...Moore's political fulmination offers up a nominal truth so shorn of context as to be rendered utterly false.’ The brilliance of this is that it forcefully points out something that many who like to comment on current affairs, either never knew, have forgotten or are purposely ignoring - namely, the importance of context in a discussion of ‘facts.’” (read more)
Tom The Redhunter writes The Nature of our Enemy Part III An Islamic World “On the one hand, there's a danger in reading too much into any one incident. On the other, sometimes they can be so illustrative. Take the issue of Steve Centani and Olaf Wiig, the Fox News journalists who were told to convert to Islam or die. In the video, posted here on Michelle Malkin's site (and on YouTube), Centanni reads a statement, which says in part:” (read more)
Dadmanly writes Enemies Within “Byron York eulogizes Plamegate at National Review Online, in the wake of confirmation that then Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was the anonymous source, who started the Perfect Storm of Washington gossip, insider Beltway politics, and partisan media manipulation. Retelling the saga with the latest revelations added in, York makes a persuasive case for finding equivalence between Lewis Libby and Richard Armitage:” (read more)
And Now For Something Completely Different
Achieving Inner Peace:
I am passing this on to you because it definitely works, and we could all use a little more calmness in our lives.
By following simple advice I heard on the Dr. Phil show, you too can find inner peace.
Dr. Phil proclaimed, "The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you've started and never finished."
So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this morning, I finished off 23 Bud Lights, a bottle of Absolute, a package of Oreos, the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos and a box of chocolates.
You have no idea how freaking well I feel. Please pass this on to those you feel might be in need of inner peace.
We now return to our regular programming...
I am passing this on to you because it definitely works, and we could all use a little more calmness in our lives.
By following simple advice I heard on the Dr. Phil show, you too can find inner peace.
Dr. Phil proclaimed, "The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you've started and never finished."
So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this morning, I finished off 23 Bud Lights, a bottle of Absolute, a package of Oreos, the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos and a box of chocolates.
You have no idea how freaking well I feel. Please pass this on to those you feel might be in need of inner peace.
We now return to our regular programming...
Fly the Flag Campaign
9/11 Flag Flying
Please join us in this FLY THE FLAG campaign.
We have a little less than two weeks and counting to get the word out all across this great land and into every community in the United States of America. If you are able please tell at least 11 people and if each of those people do the same, well you get the idea.
THE PROGRAM IS THIS:
On Monday, September 11th, 2006, an American flag should be displayed outside every home, apartment, office, and store in the United States. Every individual should make it their duty to display an American flag on this fifth anniversary of our country's worst tragedy. We do this in honor of those who lost their lives on 9/11, their families, friends and loved ones who continue to endure the pain, and those who today are fighting at home and abroad to preserve our cherished freedoms.In the days, weeks and months following 9/11, our country was bathed in American flags as citizens mourned the incredible losses and stood shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism.
Sadly, those flags have all but disappeared.
Our patriotism pulled us through some tough times and it shouldn't take another attack to galvanize us in solidarity. Our American flag is the fabric of our country and together we can prevail over terrorism of all kinds.
Action Plan: Here is what we need you to do...
(1) Forward this message to everyone you know (at least 11 people). Please don't be the one to break this chain. Take a moment to think back to how you felt on 9/11 and let those sentiments guide you.
(2) Fly an American flag of any size on 9/11. Honestly, Americans should fly the flag year-round, but if you don't, then at least make it a priority on this day.Thank you for your participation.
God Bless You and God Bless America
[Ed Note: This years post is here]
August 28, 2006
We cannot lose this fight
By W. Thomas Smith, Jr
I know how to fight. Like most American boys – and perhaps a few girls – I learned the very basics of fighting on the playground in elementary school.
I’m not talking about specific fighting techniques, those would come much later: I’m talking about lessons learned about fighting that would shape my – and many others’ – understanding of fighting whether it be in a schoolyard, an alleyway, a boxing ring, or a battlefield.
The first, perhaps most important, two lessons I learned are that once committed to the fight, you have to see the fight through to its ultimate decision, and you have to win. The two are accomplished by: Fighting with skill and fury. Taking advantage of the opponent’s weaknesses. Never permitting the opponent to exploit your own weaknesses. And never wavering when tired, injured, or outmatched.
It sounds simple, and perhaps to some, simple-minded. But it is the only way to consistently win fights. And unfortunately, fighting is sometimes necessary.
Read the rest...
I know how to fight. Like most American boys – and perhaps a few girls – I learned the very basics of fighting on the playground in elementary school.
I’m not talking about specific fighting techniques, those would come much later: I’m talking about lessons learned about fighting that would shape my – and many others’ – understanding of fighting whether it be in a schoolyard, an alleyway, a boxing ring, or a battlefield.
The first, perhaps most important, two lessons I learned are that once committed to the fight, you have to see the fight through to its ultimate decision, and you have to win. The two are accomplished by: Fighting with skill and fury. Taking advantage of the opponent’s weaknesses. Never permitting the opponent to exploit your own weaknesses. And never wavering when tired, injured, or outmatched.
It sounds simple, and perhaps to some, simple-minded. But it is the only way to consistently win fights. And unfortunately, fighting is sometimes necessary.
Read the rest...
Why we don't believe you
By Mary Katharine Ham
Does the mainstream press ever wonder why conservatives distrust them so much?
If so, they need look no further than the “fauxtography” scandals of the last couple of weeks. Conservative bloggers have been hard at work sniffing out suspected fakery and staging in the photos sent back on the newswires from the Israel/Hezbollah conflict, and the investigation got pretty smelly.
First, there was Reutersgate, in which the international news organization had to pull a photo and fire a freelance photographer because he clumsily Photoshopped thicker smoke into the skyline of Beirut.
This incident got bloggers wondering what other photographic evidence of Israeli aggression had been Photoshopped or staged into existence, and just how complicit the news media was in the fakery. They came up with a photo by the same Reuters photographer, in which he had added flares to a photograph of an Israeli plane, and called them missiles.
But that was just the beginning.
Read the rest...
Does the mainstream press ever wonder why conservatives distrust them so much?
If so, they need look no further than the “fauxtography” scandals of the last couple of weeks. Conservative bloggers have been hard at work sniffing out suspected fakery and staging in the photos sent back on the newswires from the Israel/Hezbollah conflict, and the investigation got pretty smelly.
First, there was Reutersgate, in which the international news organization had to pull a photo and fire a freelance photographer because he clumsily Photoshopped thicker smoke into the skyline of Beirut.
This incident got bloggers wondering what other photographic evidence of Israeli aggression had been Photoshopped or staged into existence, and just how complicit the news media was in the fakery. They came up with a photo by the same Reuters photographer, in which he had added flares to a photograph of an Israeli plane, and called them missiles.
But that was just the beginning.
Read the rest...
The Terrorist Murder of a Palestinian Apologist
By Daniel Pipes
FrontPageMagazine.com
An Italian named Angelo Frammartino, 25, espoused the typical anti-Israel views of a far-leftist, as he expressed in a letter to a newspaper in 2006:
We must face the fact that a situation of no violence is a luxury in many parts of the world, but we do not seek to avoid legitimate acts of defense. … I never dreamed of condemning resistance, the blood of the Vietnamese, the blood of the people who were under colonialist occupation or the blood of the young Palestinians from the first intifada.
Actively to forward his beliefs, Frammartino went to Israel in early August 2006 to serve as a volunteer with ARCI, a far-leftist NGO, working with Palestinian children at the Burj al-Luqluq community center in eastern Jerusalem.
But on August 10, he was stabbed in a terrorist assault at Sultan Suleiman Street, near Herod’s Gate in Jerusalem, twice in the back and once in the neck. He died shortly after, only two days before his planned return to Italy. The killer, soon identified as Ashraf Hanaisha, 24, turned out to be a Palestinian affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad. A resident of the village of Qabatiya in the Jenin area, Hanaisha apparently planned to attack a Jewish Israeli but made a mistake.
Read the rest...
FrontPageMagazine.com
An Italian named Angelo Frammartino, 25, espoused the typical anti-Israel views of a far-leftist, as he expressed in a letter to a newspaper in 2006:
We must face the fact that a situation of no violence is a luxury in many parts of the world, but we do not seek to avoid legitimate acts of defense. … I never dreamed of condemning resistance, the blood of the Vietnamese, the blood of the people who were under colonialist occupation or the blood of the young Palestinians from the first intifada.
Actively to forward his beliefs, Frammartino went to Israel in early August 2006 to serve as a volunteer with ARCI, a far-leftist NGO, working with Palestinian children at the Burj al-Luqluq community center in eastern Jerusalem.
But on August 10, he was stabbed in a terrorist assault at Sultan Suleiman Street, near Herod’s Gate in Jerusalem, twice in the back and once in the neck. He died shortly after, only two days before his planned return to Italy. The killer, soon identified as Ashraf Hanaisha, 24, turned out to be a Palestinian affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad. A resident of the village of Qabatiya in the Jenin area, Hanaisha apparently planned to attack a Jewish Israeli but made a mistake.
Read the rest...
The Monster is Still Out There!
John Mark Karr released
DNA of suspect in JonBenet murder no match in case, prosecutors say
BREAKING NEWS
BOULDER, Colo. - Prosecutors abruptly dropped their case against John Mark Karr in the slaying of JonBenet Ramsey and released him Monday, saying DNA tests failed to put him at the crime scene despite his repeated insistence he killed the 6-year-old beauty queen.
“The warrant on Mr. Karr has been dropped by the district attorney,” public defender Seth Temin said outside the jail, a few hours before he was released. “They are not proceeding with the case.”
Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy’s office did not return repeated calls from The Associated Press.
“We’re deeply distressed by the fact that they took this man and dragged him here from Bangkok, Thailand, with no forensic evidence confirming the allegations against him and no independent factors leading to a presumption that he did anything wrong,” Temin said.
NBC VIDEO
• Reports: Karr's DNA doesn't matchAug. 28: MSNBC-TV's Susan Filan and Alison Stewart talk about a report that says John Mark Karr's DNA does not match the DNA found at the JonBenet Ramsey crime scene.
Web Reconnaissance for 08/27/2006
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
Victor Davis Hanson writes Mr. Bush’s Communication Problem “Just when former supporters of the Iraq invasion and the wider so-called war against terror are proclaiming doom and gloom, other commentators conclude that we have already defeated the jihadists! Nostalgia even abounds about returning to the 1990s, when the United States occasionally swatted bothersome terrorists with cruise missiles and indictments. This unbalance in the media reflects — or has helped cause — a public unhappiness over Iraq that has brought the president’s poll ratings to less than 40-percent approval. Yet again, for all the efforts of the Left to demonize Mr. Bush as either incompetent or diabolical — or both — the American people hardly think we have lost — or won — the war, much less that the threat posed by Iraq, or the necessity of fighting Islamists abroad, was trumped up in Crawford, Texas.” (read more)
Kobayahsi Maru writes Check or Checkmate? Death by Cop on the Global Stage “It's finally hit me: we're stuck. Seriously stuck. We have been for years and are only starting to realize it - and only at the margins. In a very real sense, we've been check-mated by Islamofascism, and specifically Iran. Let's play out a few scenarios, albeit from 50,000 feet:” (read more)
Allahpundit of Hot Air writes Carter: Blair is Bush’s Poodle “Jimmy Carter criticizing a western leader for “timidity” is like Jackie Passey criticizing other women for being plain. ‘We now have a situation where America is so unpopular overseas that even in countries like Egypt and Jordan our approval ratings are less than five per cent. It’s a shameful and pitiful state of affairs and I hold your British Prime Minister to be substantially responsible for being so compliant and subservient…’” (read more)
Jay Tea of Wizbang writes A New Definition of ‘Neutrality’ “Under the current version of the plan for peace in Lebanon, the lead is to be taken by UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon. It is under their ‘umbrella’ that the multi-national force will operate to secure the ceasefire. They are to be the neutral third party that will keep the two sides at bay. So why don't we take a look at just how ‘neutral’ they have been?” (read more)
Dafydd writes Disconnections “To most of us, the following two statements seem somehow, you know, connected: Deaths of American, Coalition, and Iraqi soldiers, along with civilians, have risen somewhat in the past week or so; The Iraqi Army, with U.S. air support, initiated a major offensive against the mighty al-Mahdi militia of Muqtada Sadr in the past week or so. But to elite, new-school journalists, these two observations are completely discrete from each other; there is no connection, and the first is only explicable by concluding that we must be losing (or have already lost) the war. Why, what other possible explanation could there be?” (read more)
Captain Ed writes Economic Simplemindedness Of The Wal-Mart War “The war Democrats have declared on Wal-Mart on behalf of the poor will make that constituency worse off, Sebastion Mallaby concludes in his Washington Post column today. Not only does the cost savings at Wal-Mart and other big-box discounters allow poor families to save 25% on their food bills, it provides a better economic safety net than food stamps:” (read more)
Mohammed of Iraq the Model writes Sticking to the essence of the plan… “I've been reading and hearing a lot about options "other than democracy" for Iraq being considered by Washington. I couldn't find the time to search for the original report but I found this recent article that mentions the report and comments on it: But last week came the new nugget: an anonymous ‘military affairs expert’ attended a White House briefing and reported: ‘Senior administration officials have acknowledged to me that they are considering alternatives other than democracy. Everybody in the administration is being quite circumspect, but you can sense their own concern that this is drifting away from democracy.’” (read more)
Streiff of RedState writes How Dangerous Is Service In Iraq? And why W. C. Fields might change his mind “A University of Pennsylvania demographer has an op-ed in today's Washington Post. It differs from the casualty analysis that we've grown accustomed to seeing because the Penn professor uses numbers. Anyone familiar with military history won't be too surprised but there are a couple of items that make this war unusual.” (read more)
Cassandra writes NY TimesWatch: The Agony! The Irony! “Sacre bleu! Can anything be more delicious than watching L'Affaire Plame unravel? Unless, perhaps, it would be watching the New York Times twisting in the wind? At the beginning of this month we reminded the readership of the Times' perfidy in this sordid affair: how, when Val Plame's "secret" identity first came out, the Times was in the vanguard of those clamoring for a special prosecutor. How they demanded Robert Novak reveal his source, though journalists from time immemorial have claimed the right to shield their sources from scrutiny, citing a non-existent federal shield law.” (read more)
SeeDubya of Junk Yard Blog writes Reuters Van Hit by...Something...in Gaza “I just watched the video posted at Hot Air of the armored Reuters truck they say was hit by an IDF rocket. By now you’re tired of bloggers saying, oh, that looks suspicious, but… That looks suspicious. Inside the truck there’s no scorching; the windshield is intact, the upholstery is undamaged, and some overhead equipment was knocked down (but appears intact). Also notice what appears to be a small-arms bullet hole above the driver’s side headlight. The hole in the top looks like a jagged tear inside a round depression, as if a bowling ball had crashed into the roof.” (read more)
Victor Davis Hanson writes Mr. Bush’s Communication Problem “Just when former supporters of the Iraq invasion and the wider so-called war against terror are proclaiming doom and gloom, other commentators conclude that we have already defeated the jihadists! Nostalgia even abounds about returning to the 1990s, when the United States occasionally swatted bothersome terrorists with cruise missiles and indictments. This unbalance in the media reflects — or has helped cause — a public unhappiness over Iraq that has brought the president’s poll ratings to less than 40-percent approval. Yet again, for all the efforts of the Left to demonize Mr. Bush as either incompetent or diabolical — or both — the American people hardly think we have lost — or won — the war, much less that the threat posed by Iraq, or the necessity of fighting Islamists abroad, was trumped up in Crawford, Texas.” (read more)
Kobayahsi Maru writes Check or Checkmate? Death by Cop on the Global Stage “It's finally hit me: we're stuck. Seriously stuck. We have been for years and are only starting to realize it - and only at the margins. In a very real sense, we've been check-mated by Islamofascism, and specifically Iran. Let's play out a few scenarios, albeit from 50,000 feet:” (read more)
Allahpundit of Hot Air writes Carter: Blair is Bush’s Poodle “Jimmy Carter criticizing a western leader for “timidity” is like Jackie Passey criticizing other women for being plain. ‘We now have a situation where America is so unpopular overseas that even in countries like Egypt and Jordan our approval ratings are less than five per cent. It’s a shameful and pitiful state of affairs and I hold your British Prime Minister to be substantially responsible for being so compliant and subservient…’” (read more)
Jay Tea of Wizbang writes A New Definition of ‘Neutrality’ “Under the current version of the plan for peace in Lebanon, the lead is to be taken by UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon. It is under their ‘umbrella’ that the multi-national force will operate to secure the ceasefire. They are to be the neutral third party that will keep the two sides at bay. So why don't we take a look at just how ‘neutral’ they have been?” (read more)
Dafydd writes Disconnections “To most of us, the following two statements seem somehow, you know, connected: Deaths of American, Coalition, and Iraqi soldiers, along with civilians, have risen somewhat in the past week or so; The Iraqi Army, with U.S. air support, initiated a major offensive against the mighty al-Mahdi militia of Muqtada Sadr in the past week or so. But to elite, new-school journalists, these two observations are completely discrete from each other; there is no connection, and the first is only explicable by concluding that we must be losing (or have already lost) the war. Why, what other possible explanation could there be?” (read more)
Captain Ed writes Economic Simplemindedness Of The Wal-Mart War “The war Democrats have declared on Wal-Mart on behalf of the poor will make that constituency worse off, Sebastion Mallaby concludes in his Washington Post column today. Not only does the cost savings at Wal-Mart and other big-box discounters allow poor families to save 25% on their food bills, it provides a better economic safety net than food stamps:” (read more)
Mohammed of Iraq the Model writes Sticking to the essence of the plan… “I've been reading and hearing a lot about options "other than democracy" for Iraq being considered by Washington. I couldn't find the time to search for the original report but I found this recent article that mentions the report and comments on it: But last week came the new nugget: an anonymous ‘military affairs expert’ attended a White House briefing and reported: ‘Senior administration officials have acknowledged to me that they are considering alternatives other than democracy. Everybody in the administration is being quite circumspect, but you can sense their own concern that this is drifting away from democracy.’” (read more)
Streiff of RedState writes How Dangerous Is Service In Iraq? And why W. C. Fields might change his mind “A University of Pennsylvania demographer has an op-ed in today's Washington Post. It differs from the casualty analysis that we've grown accustomed to seeing because the Penn professor uses numbers. Anyone familiar with military history won't be too surprised but there are a couple of items that make this war unusual.” (read more)
Cassandra writes NY TimesWatch: The Agony! The Irony! “Sacre bleu! Can anything be more delicious than watching L'Affaire Plame unravel? Unless, perhaps, it would be watching the New York Times twisting in the wind? At the beginning of this month we reminded the readership of the Times' perfidy in this sordid affair: how, when Val Plame's "secret" identity first came out, the Times was in the vanguard of those clamoring for a special prosecutor. How they demanded Robert Novak reveal his source, though journalists from time immemorial have claimed the right to shield their sources from scrutiny, citing a non-existent federal shield law.” (read more)
SeeDubya of Junk Yard Blog writes Reuters Van Hit by...Something...in Gaza “I just watched the video posted at Hot Air of the armored Reuters truck they say was hit by an IDF rocket. By now you’re tired of bloggers saying, oh, that looks suspicious, but… That looks suspicious. Inside the truck there’s no scorching; the windshield is intact, the upholstery is undamaged, and some overhead equipment was knocked down (but appears intact). Also notice what appears to be a small-arms bullet hole above the driver’s side headlight. The hole in the top looks like a jagged tear inside a round depression, as if a bowling ball had crashed into the roof.” (read more)
DADISM # 39
"I pay the cost to be the boss."
1. Bearing the financial burden of providing for the household, or,
2. Having to put up with Mom.
{Since the majority of dads are not the boss in their working lives, they take great pleasure in being the boss at home. The "cost" in this case means:}
1. Bearing the financial burden of providing for the household, or,
2. Having to put up with Mom.
August 27, 2006
TAPS, 21 Gun Salute and a Folded Flag by Mr. Robert Stokely
August 27, 2006, our family has come full circle on a year of firsts, for on this day a year ago, SGT Mike Stokely, our beloved husband, son, brother and friend was laid to rest in Corinth Memorial Gardens in Loganville Georgia. His funeral and final burial was the "end" of an eleven day marathon of agony that had started with the notice of his death on August 16, 2005. It is difficult to say what was hardest to bear during that eleven day period. The harshness of pain was fluid, but never absent. I came to understand why we bury our dead and how you can't begin a lifetime of healing until you have that closure that comes with laying your loved one to a final respectful rest.
While there was tremendous grief and agony in this eleven day period, there was also great pride that swelled the heart, for how could it not be so as we saw untold support and honor for Mike and our family. On August 22, 2005, before Mike's body was back from Iraq, over 900 people attended a Memorial Service in Sharpsburg GA where Mike lived the year before he left for Iraq with me, my wife / his "other mom" and younger brother and sister. The day after Mike's body came back to the Atlanta area, the town where he went to middle and high school and where he was to be buried - Loganville GA - threw a grand welcome home arrival as police and fire trucks blocked miles of four lane US 78 in both directions, as thousands lined the street. Kids on ball fields stopped playing their little league games and stood still as he passed. Resturants stopped serving food as the staff and customers ran to the highway, person after person saluting, standing with hands over hearts, waving flags, cheering, holding signs and best of all, parents holding their smaller children's hands and pointing and obviously explaining what was happening. Bouqets of flowers were thrown in front of the hearse and in front of our cars. At times when we stopped, people ran to touch the hearse, or even shake our hands. All four Atlanta TV News Channels had helicopters overhead the entire time, doing live broadcasts for the evening news, and of course "film at eleven." The ordinary kid next door who loved his country enough to give his life for her had come home to a hero's welcome.
It is an irony that you can have so much grief interspersed with such pride swelling in your heart even as tears well in your eyes, and still be able to laugh. The memory of the very loved we had lost was caught in a moment Mike would have found humorous, and laughed himself that special laugh he had. As we traveled the highway through Loganville that day of his "welcome home parade", and again to the church for his funeral, many businesses had posted a tribute to Mike on their sign boards. Our favorite and one to be remembered for all time, was at a small meat market and said this:
"IN HONOR OF MIKE STOKELY"
pork ribs $1.69 lb.
Although they probably didn't mean it to come out that way, we loved it, and laughed a much needed, deep down laugh. Mike would have loved it and probably thought this business was the only one with any sense left, given all the fuss being made over him. Forever more, whenever I see pork ribs, I will think of that day and what we now call the "Mike Stokely Special".
Then, it was time - a time we wanted to get beyond, but a time we didn't want to see come. It was 2:00 p.m.August 27, 2005 and time for the funeral. The funeral service at the church was attended by over a 1,000 people and a processional to the grave stretched as far as the eye could see. Again, miles of four lane US 78 was blocked and large crowds again lined the street as we passed by. The small country cemetary was jammed as hundreds, if not more, drew near to the final grave side service. I was thinking the worst was over, but, oh, how wrong I was.
It is hard enough to hold your head up at your son's funeral, and maintain the dignity he would want you as his dad to show, especially realizing the final moments of saying goodbye are at hand. But then, the final moments became unbearable as the mournful sound of TAPS played for my son as I sat just a few feet from his flag draped casket. I was ready to break with pain and grief, even as the twenty one gun salute fired rounds. Then the military escort began to fold the flag that had draped his casket since his return a few days earlier. I had to focus on something and focus so hard that I could not feel the pain that was wretching me from within. At first, I focused on a news photographer as he moved quietly and respectfully about taking pictures. Then, I lost sight of the photographer and the pain was coming back stronger than ever.
And then, I focused again, as "he" stood there and caught my eye. DUTY SERGEANT. He was a broad shouldered, dress uniformed Sergeant standing at the head of Mike's casket as the other soldiers began to lift the flag and ceremoniously fold it. He looked straight ahead, steeled piercing eyes, at full attention, as though looking right at me. I just focused on him in the background of my line of sight as the flag was folded in the foreground. I channeled every emotion and stabbing pain into his focused stare. Then, with the flag folded, the Duty Sergeant took it and as he was handed one of the shells from the twenty one gun salute, with the same steeled focus, he held the shell up, arm fully extended to the sky and his voice boomed "DUTY" and then he placed the shell in the folded flag. Then the second shell, again arm fully extended skyward, voice booming, he said "HONOR" and he placed the second shell in the folded flag. Again, he held a third shell, arm fully extended skyward, and in the same booming voice, he said "COUNTRY" as he placed the shell in the folded flag. Then he handed the flag, with the three shell casings in the fold to the Georgia National Guard Adjutant General, followed by a crisp salute. The flag from Mike's casket was presented to Mike's wife of three months and eleven days.
I had made it without breaking, I kept my head up and the dignity my son would have wanted. Yes, there were tears streaming down my cheeks and he would have been o.k. with that. As we continued to sit in our chairs, those in the receiving line came by to speak to us, DUTY SERGEANT included. Of all the words spoken, I remember only these spoken to me by DUTY SERGEANT. He knelt down, looked me in the eye with that same steeled look earlier, and he spoke these words as he gripped my hand firmly "STAY STRONG, STAY STRONG". However, his eyes spoke as well - YOUR SON WAS STRONG, EVEN IN DEATH. Now I undestood, for it was my turn to walk the path of strength that SGT Mike Stokely blazed for his dad and entire family.
As I got up to walk away, I took the rose I had clutched in my hand and laid it on Mike's casket. A simple note hand written by me was tied by a ribbon to the rose. The note read "I love you son" - the very last words I spoke to Mike as we ended our last conversation on earth in his phone call to me on August 8, 2005. Then they lowered Mike's casket into the ground and sealed his vault. I picked up a clump of red clay that was dug out of his grave and wrapped it in the tissue that held the tears I had just cried. I keep this in a plastic bag and look at it often, and will do so the rest of my life. I look at it for I never want to forget that day, the son I love and the legacy of strength he left for me.
Robert Stokely
proud dad of SGT Mike Stokely
KIA by IED near Yusufiyah south of Baghdad 16 Aug 2005 @ 0220 hours local
DUTY HONOR COUNTRY - HE STAYED STRONG TO THE END
John 15:13 - No Greater Love...
~~
Ed Note:Open Posted at Argghhh! and The Mudville Gazette
Correction: In an email sent earlier, Mr. Stokely writes:
While there was tremendous grief and agony in this eleven day period, there was also great pride that swelled the heart, for how could it not be so as we saw untold support and honor for Mike and our family. On August 22, 2005, before Mike's body was back from Iraq, over 900 people attended a Memorial Service in Sharpsburg GA where Mike lived the year before he left for Iraq with me, my wife / his "other mom" and younger brother and sister. The day after Mike's body came back to the Atlanta area, the town where he went to middle and high school and where he was to be buried - Loganville GA - threw a grand welcome home arrival as police and fire trucks blocked miles of four lane US 78 in both directions, as thousands lined the street. Kids on ball fields stopped playing their little league games and stood still as he passed. Resturants stopped serving food as the staff and customers ran to the highway, person after person saluting, standing with hands over hearts, waving flags, cheering, holding signs and best of all, parents holding their smaller children's hands and pointing and obviously explaining what was happening. Bouqets of flowers were thrown in front of the hearse and in front of our cars. At times when we stopped, people ran to touch the hearse, or even shake our hands. All four Atlanta TV News Channels had helicopters overhead the entire time, doing live broadcasts for the evening news, and of course "film at eleven." The ordinary kid next door who loved his country enough to give his life for her had come home to a hero's welcome.
It is an irony that you can have so much grief interspersed with such pride swelling in your heart even as tears well in your eyes, and still be able to laugh. The memory of the very loved we had lost was caught in a moment Mike would have found humorous, and laughed himself that special laugh he had. As we traveled the highway through Loganville that day of his "welcome home parade", and again to the church for his funeral, many businesses had posted a tribute to Mike on their sign boards. Our favorite and one to be remembered for all time, was at a small meat market and said this:
"IN HONOR OF MIKE STOKELY"
pork ribs $1.69 lb.
Although they probably didn't mean it to come out that way, we loved it, and laughed a much needed, deep down laugh. Mike would have loved it and probably thought this business was the only one with any sense left, given all the fuss being made over him. Forever more, whenever I see pork ribs, I will think of that day and what we now call the "Mike Stokely Special".
Then, it was time - a time we wanted to get beyond, but a time we didn't want to see come. It was 2:00 p.m.August 27, 2005 and time for the funeral. The funeral service at the church was attended by over a 1,000 people and a processional to the grave stretched as far as the eye could see. Again, miles of four lane US 78 was blocked and large crowds again lined the street as we passed by. The small country cemetary was jammed as hundreds, if not more, drew near to the final grave side service. I was thinking the worst was over, but, oh, how wrong I was.
It is hard enough to hold your head up at your son's funeral, and maintain the dignity he would want you as his dad to show, especially realizing the final moments of saying goodbye are at hand. But then, the final moments became unbearable as the mournful sound of TAPS played for my son as I sat just a few feet from his flag draped casket. I was ready to break with pain and grief, even as the twenty one gun salute fired rounds. Then the military escort began to fold the flag that had draped his casket since his return a few days earlier. I had to focus on something and focus so hard that I could not feel the pain that was wretching me from within. At first, I focused on a news photographer as he moved quietly and respectfully about taking pictures. Then, I lost sight of the photographer and the pain was coming back stronger than ever.
And then, I focused again, as "he" stood there and caught my eye. DUTY SERGEANT. He was a broad shouldered, dress uniformed Sergeant standing at the head of Mike's casket as the other soldiers began to lift the flag and ceremoniously fold it. He looked straight ahead, steeled piercing eyes, at full attention, as though looking right at me. I just focused on him in the background of my line of sight as the flag was folded in the foreground. I channeled every emotion and stabbing pain into his focused stare. Then, with the flag folded, the Duty Sergeant took it and as he was handed one of the shells from the twenty one gun salute, with the same steeled focus, he held the shell up, arm fully extended to the sky and his voice boomed "DUTY" and then he placed the shell in the folded flag. Then the second shell, again arm fully extended skyward, voice booming, he said "HONOR" and he placed the second shell in the folded flag. Again, he held a third shell, arm fully extended skyward, and in the same booming voice, he said "COUNTRY" as he placed the shell in the folded flag. Then he handed the flag, with the three shell casings in the fold to the Georgia National Guard Adjutant General, followed by a crisp salute. The flag from Mike's casket was presented to Mike's wife of three months and eleven days.
I had made it without breaking, I kept my head up and the dignity my son would have wanted. Yes, there were tears streaming down my cheeks and he would have been o.k. with that. As we continued to sit in our chairs, those in the receiving line came by to speak to us, DUTY SERGEANT included. Of all the words spoken, I remember only these spoken to me by DUTY SERGEANT. He knelt down, looked me in the eye with that same steeled look earlier, and he spoke these words as he gripped my hand firmly "STAY STRONG, STAY STRONG". However, his eyes spoke as well - YOUR SON WAS STRONG, EVEN IN DEATH. Now I undestood, for it was my turn to walk the path of strength that SGT Mike Stokely blazed for his dad and entire family.
As I got up to walk away, I took the rose I had clutched in my hand and laid it on Mike's casket. A simple note hand written by me was tied by a ribbon to the rose. The note read "I love you son" - the very last words I spoke to Mike as we ended our last conversation on earth in his phone call to me on August 8, 2005. Then they lowered Mike's casket into the ground and sealed his vault. I picked up a clump of red clay that was dug out of his grave and wrapped it in the tissue that held the tears I had just cried. I keep this in a plastic bag and look at it often, and will do so the rest of my life. I look at it for I never want to forget that day, the son I love and the legacy of strength he left for me.
Robert Stokely
proud dad of SGT Mike Stokely
KIA by IED near Yusufiyah south of Baghdad 16 Aug 2005 @ 0220 hours local
DUTY HONOR COUNTRY - HE STAYED STRONG TO THE END
John 15:13 - No Greater Love...
~~
Ed Note:Open Posted at Argghhh! and The Mudville Gazette
Correction: In an email sent earlier, Mr. Stokely writes:
Brain let down in my typing early morning hours when I hacked out the email - the part where I recount the Duty Sergeant placing the shells in the folded flag – should have said “Duty” “Honor” “Country” instead of what I wrote "Duty" "Honor" "Honor"/ see actual excerpt as corrected below.
'...his voice boomed "DUTY" and then he placed the shell in the folded flag. Then the second shell, again arm fully extended skyward, voice booming, he said "HONOR" and he placed the second shell in the folded flag. Again, he held a third shell, arm fully extended skyward, and in the same booming voice, he said "HONOR" (COUNTRY SHOULD HAVE GONE HERE instead of “Honor”)
I have made the correction in the post per his request.
~~
August 26, 2006
The Enemy of my enemy.
...is not always your friend.
Thats the point Dadmanly has been making for the last few months, and finally we hear from a feminist who has finally seen the light.
Dadmanly writes:
As I just told Southern California Soldier's Angel Marian:
Bone continues:
Regardless of her labeling, she is obviously someone who gets it, I hope the rest of the feminists get it and soon.
Thats the point Dadmanly has been making for the last few months, and finally we hear from a feminist who has finally seen the light.
Dadmanly writes:
Pamela Bone, writing an Op Ed in The Australian, bewails the silence of feminists in the face of Muslim oppression of women, and warns:Hate Bush if you want, but please understand that your enemy's enemies are not necessarily your friends.
As I just told Southern California Soldier's Angel Marian:
Keep up the good work and never forget that our life is at stake. If the Left wins, we all lose.
Bone continues:
It seems inconceivable that we could lose this war against terrorism. But if we do, the consequences will be awful. And they will be worse for women, for the women in the generations that will follow us. We have to fight not against Muslims but against Islamic extremism. Don't expect left-wing men to help. They're full of "I'm not scared" bravado. Don't expect all Muslim women to want to be in the fight. There have always been women who oppose rights for women. (Remember the petition, from women, against Australian women getting the vote?) But the least we can do is let the brave Muslim women who are pushing for reforms know they have our support when they want it.
Most of us 1970s feminists are grandmothers now. Lifelong socialist and humanist that I am, if fighting to prevent the possibility that my granddaughters - our granddaughters - will one day be forced to wear a burka makes me right-wing, then right-wing is the label I'll have to wear.
Regardless of her labeling, she is obviously someone who gets it, I hope the rest of the feminists get it and soon.
"Virginia jihadists" Sentenced.
So who says Islamic Imperialism isn't a threat to us here in this country?
Just a note for the convicted, its not a terribly bright idea to threaten the prosecuters with death when you are hauled off to jail, that pretty much nixes your chances of getting out any sooner than sentenced.
Ex-teacher gets 15 years for aiding terror group
By Jerry Seper
Washington Times
August 26, 2006
A federal judge yesterday sentenced a former third-grade teacher at a Muslim school in Maryland to 15 years in prison for providing support to a terrorist organization known as the "Virginia jihad network," which used paintball games to train for a holy war.
At the sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton, Ali Asad Chandia maintained his innocence and pledged to exact revenge against prosecutors in the afterlife, saying that "those who participated in making my children orphans ... should just remember that the day of judgment is on the way."
Other Virginia jihad members convicted in the probe were Ali al-Timimi, 40, of Fairfax; Randall Todd Royer, 30, of Falls Church; Ibrahim Ahmed al-Hamdi of Alexandria; Masoud Ahmad Khan, 31, of Gaithersburg; Yong Ki Kwon, 27, of Fairfax; Mohammed Aatique, 30, of Norristown, Pa.; Hammad Abdur-Raheem, 35, of Falls Church; Donald Thomas Surratt, 30, of Suitland; Khwaja Mahmood Hasan, 27, of Alexandria; and Seifullah Chapman, 30, of Alexandria.
The 41-count federal grand jury indictment handed up in U.S. District Court in Alexandria in June 2003 accused Chandia and the others of conspiracy to "prepare for and engage in violent jihad" against foreign targets in Kashmir, the Philippines and Chechnya. Nine were identified as U.S. citizens.
Just a note for the convicted, its not a terribly bright idea to threaten the prosecuters with death when you are hauled off to jail, that pretty much nixes your chances of getting out any sooner than sentenced.
August 25, 2006
The Liberal Mind
For a truly first rate analysis of how the liberal mind operates you must read this post by Noel at Sharp Knife.
My favorite line is:
The entire post is just as good.
Hat Tip: Emperor Darth Misha I
My favorite line is:
...that after 230 years of democracy, America is ruled by an illegitimate fascist junta--but after a few years, Iraq should be a Jeffersonian republic.
The entire post is just as good.
Hat Tip: Emperor Darth Misha I
Web Reconnaissance for 08/25/2006
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
Bruce Thornton writing at Victor Davis Hanson’s Private Papers writes Inside the 'Cease-fire' “With every crisis in the war against Islamic jihad, the West displays a suicidal appeasement that heartens the enemy and lessens any chance of victory. The absurd ‘cease fire’ the U.N. recently hammered out between Israel and the murderous Hezbollah is a case in point. The resolution forces Israel to suspend its destruction of Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon, while at glacial speed an international force is assembled and then deployed. This means one thing and one thing only: Hezbollah will rebuild that infrastructure and thus undo the considerable damage to it achieved by Israel.” (read more)
Kobayashi Maru writes Owls and Ostriches on Iran “This morning's WSJ carries a pair of opinion pieces defining the edges of a veritable chasm in perception separating two policy paths on Iran. The first (by the editors), is free at OpinionJournal. I call it the 'owl' piece. Owls can see significant activity from great heights. They're particularly adept in the dark, when others are stumbling around or sleeping. They also have the ability to swoop down, silently dispatching their prey before being seen or heard themselves. The editors note first the fundamental issue of sequencing:” (read more)
Bryan of Hot Air writes Nagin: Ground Zero just ‘a hole in the ground’ “A ‘hole in the ground.’ ‘Fixed.’ They were the tallest buildings in the United States, where nearly 3,000 died in a savage attack against our people on our soil. At least he got the length of time right without insulting the dead. I’m fine with criticizing the politicians for dithering over rebuilding the Twin Towers, and especially fine with criticizing that monstrosity Trump called a “pile of crap” that was supposed to replace them. But calling Ground Zero a “hole in the ground” that’s still not “fixed” is, well, about par for the course for the king of the memorial motor pool.” (read more)
Dean Barnett posting at Hugh Hewitt writes Israel Won? “Today brings a mini-onslaught of articles explaining how Israel won the war with Hezbollah. Combined with the Debka analysis several of you sent me last week, the revisionist narrative shapes up this way: Hezbollah was decimated; the Iranian Mullahs have domestic problems for frittering away resources on a war thousands of miles away while their own nation remains impoverished; Iran is furious at Hezbollah for blowing its entire Iranian supplied wad on this adventure; and the Lebanese street has had it up to here (my hand is at my forehead) with Hezbollah’s destructive antics. I want to believe all of this. Actually, it all makes sense so I will believe it. Nonetheless, the Israel-Hezbollah war was a calamity for the forces of civilization.” (read more)
Blackfive writes Media Still Doesn't Understand Recruiting...or Do They? “Look, I'm getting really tired of this crap about recruiting. According to a friend in the Marines, it was easier for him to become a figher pilot than get into the Infantry. If you're William Arkin of the WashPo, you think it's because of recruiting shortfalls that signal a lack of support for the war:” (read more)
John Hawkins of Right Wing News writes The Daily Kos Strategy For Dealing With Terrorists: Talk It Out! “Over at the Daily Kos, Daily Kos diarist gshenaut, thinks we should have a nice, long, conversation with the terrorists, perhaps in a nice cafe, with soft music, tea, and burka clad waitresses: ‘Let's take an extreme example: should the US enter into official negotiations with representatives of al-Qaeda? I believe that most Americans would reject this, and in fact would become angry that it is even suggested as a possibility. However, I also believe that they would be wrong, that there is no rational reason why the US shouldn't welcome the opportunity to negotiate with al-Qaeda.’” (read more)
John Noonan of OPFOR writes Yellow Journalism Makes a Comeback “In a time where recruiting goals are consistently being met and exceeded, the mainstream media is trying to convince you that we're on the doorstep -the back doorstep- of a Vietnam style draft. …I am dying to understand this "involuntary" call-up phrase reporters keep using. Is this their way of rephrasing the word "orders?" There is no such thing as an "involuntary" call up. Military members already volunteered at the onset of their 4 year active duty + 4 year inactive ready reserve commitment. Calling up reserves is not even in the same ballpark as widespread conscription, but that's the spin papers like the Times is throwing at their readership.” (read more)
Sgt Boggs’ Father writing at T.F Boggs writes More Moral Than God, Part 2 (last) “You may wonder what motivated me to bring ‘religion’ to a blog devoted to one soldier’s honest appraisal of a war against a religiously motivated enemy. I mean, isn’t one set of fanatical religious ideas enough of a problem? Why pour gasoline on a raging fire? What could I hope to accomplish by bringing Christianity to the discussion other than to renew the passions that resulted in the Crusades?” (read more)
Ace of Ace of Spades writes Democratic Response To Terrorism: Don't Worry, Be Happy “Glad to see someone else riding tall on my hobbyhorse: Critics of President Bush's conduct in the War on Terror get testy when they are accused of not taking the threat of terrorism seriously, but with increasing prominence, they are making their true feelings known. Quite simply, they don't think terrorism is a big deal.” (read more)
Bruce Thornton writing at Victor Davis Hanson’s Private Papers writes Inside the 'Cease-fire' “With every crisis in the war against Islamic jihad, the West displays a suicidal appeasement that heartens the enemy and lessens any chance of victory. The absurd ‘cease fire’ the U.N. recently hammered out between Israel and the murderous Hezbollah is a case in point. The resolution forces Israel to suspend its destruction of Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon, while at glacial speed an international force is assembled and then deployed. This means one thing and one thing only: Hezbollah will rebuild that infrastructure and thus undo the considerable damage to it achieved by Israel.” (read more)
Kobayashi Maru writes Owls and Ostriches on Iran “This morning's WSJ carries a pair of opinion pieces defining the edges of a veritable chasm in perception separating two policy paths on Iran. The first (by the editors), is free at OpinionJournal. I call it the 'owl' piece. Owls can see significant activity from great heights. They're particularly adept in the dark, when others are stumbling around or sleeping. They also have the ability to swoop down, silently dispatching their prey before being seen or heard themselves. The editors note first the fundamental issue of sequencing:” (read more)
Bryan of Hot Air writes Nagin: Ground Zero just ‘a hole in the ground’ “A ‘hole in the ground.’ ‘Fixed.’ They were the tallest buildings in the United States, where nearly 3,000 died in a savage attack against our people on our soil. At least he got the length of time right without insulting the dead. I’m fine with criticizing the politicians for dithering over rebuilding the Twin Towers, and especially fine with criticizing that monstrosity Trump called a “pile of crap” that was supposed to replace them. But calling Ground Zero a “hole in the ground” that’s still not “fixed” is, well, about par for the course for the king of the memorial motor pool.” (read more)
Dean Barnett posting at Hugh Hewitt writes Israel Won? “Today brings a mini-onslaught of articles explaining how Israel won the war with Hezbollah. Combined with the Debka analysis several of you sent me last week, the revisionist narrative shapes up this way: Hezbollah was decimated; the Iranian Mullahs have domestic problems for frittering away resources on a war thousands of miles away while their own nation remains impoverished; Iran is furious at Hezbollah for blowing its entire Iranian supplied wad on this adventure; and the Lebanese street has had it up to here (my hand is at my forehead) with Hezbollah’s destructive antics. I want to believe all of this. Actually, it all makes sense so I will believe it. Nonetheless, the Israel-Hezbollah war was a calamity for the forces of civilization.” (read more)
Blackfive writes Media Still Doesn't Understand Recruiting...or Do They? “Look, I'm getting really tired of this crap about recruiting. According to a friend in the Marines, it was easier for him to become a figher pilot than get into the Infantry. If you're William Arkin of the WashPo, you think it's because of recruiting shortfalls that signal a lack of support for the war:” (read more)
John Hawkins of Right Wing News writes The Daily Kos Strategy For Dealing With Terrorists: Talk It Out! “Over at the Daily Kos, Daily Kos diarist gshenaut, thinks we should have a nice, long, conversation with the terrorists, perhaps in a nice cafe, with soft music, tea, and burka clad waitresses: ‘Let's take an extreme example: should the US enter into official negotiations with representatives of al-Qaeda? I believe that most Americans would reject this, and in fact would become angry that it is even suggested as a possibility. However, I also believe that they would be wrong, that there is no rational reason why the US shouldn't welcome the opportunity to negotiate with al-Qaeda.’” (read more)
John Noonan of OPFOR writes Yellow Journalism Makes a Comeback “In a time where recruiting goals are consistently being met and exceeded, the mainstream media is trying to convince you that we're on the doorstep -the back doorstep- of a Vietnam style draft. …I am dying to understand this "involuntary" call-up phrase reporters keep using. Is this their way of rephrasing the word "orders?" There is no such thing as an "involuntary" call up. Military members already volunteered at the onset of their 4 year active duty + 4 year inactive ready reserve commitment. Calling up reserves is not even in the same ballpark as widespread conscription, but that's the spin papers like the Times is throwing at their readership.” (read more)
Sgt Boggs’ Father writing at T.F Boggs writes More Moral Than God, Part 2 (last) “You may wonder what motivated me to bring ‘religion’ to a blog devoted to one soldier’s honest appraisal of a war against a religiously motivated enemy. I mean, isn’t one set of fanatical religious ideas enough of a problem? Why pour gasoline on a raging fire? What could I hope to accomplish by bringing Christianity to the discussion other than to renew the passions that resulted in the Crusades?” (read more)
Ace of Ace of Spades writes Democratic Response To Terrorism: Don't Worry, Be Happy “Glad to see someone else riding tall on my hobbyhorse: Critics of President Bush's conduct in the War on Terror get testy when they are accused of not taking the threat of terrorism seriously, but with increasing prominence, they are making their true feelings known. Quite simply, they don't think terrorism is a big deal.” (read more)
Attn: Entrepreneurs
Everyone knows that if you are going to operate a business in today's world you need a domain name. It is advisable to look at the domain name selected as others see it and not just as you think it looks. Failure to do this may result in situations such as the following (legitimate) companies who deal in everyday humdrum products and services but clearly didn't give their domain names enough consideration:
1. A site called 'Who Represents' where you can find the name of the agent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name... wait for it... is www.whorepresents.com (What can we really say about this, the name certainly does seem to fit.)
2. Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at www.expertsexchange.com (I bet this is a big hit in San Francisco)
3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at www.penisland.net (I understand Miss Bobbett loves this site.)
4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at www.therapistfinder.com (Why we didn't go here to find Mr. Karr I don't know)
5. Then of course, there's the Italian Power Generator company... www.powergenitalia.com (I always heard that Venice was for lovers, now we know why.)
6. And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales: www.molestationnursery.com (Again, this might have been a good stop by the Denver Police when they were looking for Mr. Karr)
7. If you're looking for computer software, there's always www.ipanywhere.com (My boys need this one, thats for sure)
8. Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church. Their website is www.cummingfirst.com (Ummmmmmm, I'm not touching this one.)
9. Then, of course, there's these brainless art designers, and their whacky website: www.speedofart.com (Don't tell Naked Shaved Guy he'll be there all day!)
10. Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website at www.gotahoe.com (This is big with the hip-hop crowd)
Remember, its not how you read it...its how others read it.
Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to order me some powergenitalia.
1. A site called 'Who Represents' where you can find the name of the agent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name... wait for it... is www.whorepresents.com (What can we really say about this, the name certainly does seem to fit.)
2. Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at www.expertsexchange.com (I bet this is a big hit in San Francisco)
3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at www.penisland.net (I understand Miss Bobbett loves this site.)
4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at www.therapistfinder.com (Why we didn't go here to find Mr. Karr I don't know)
5. Then of course, there's the Italian Power Generator company... www.powergenitalia.com (I always heard that Venice was for lovers, now we know why.)
6. And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales: www.molestationnursery.com (Again, this might have been a good stop by the Denver Police when they were looking for Mr. Karr)
7. If you're looking for computer software, there's always www.ipanywhere.com (My boys need this one, thats for sure)
8. Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church. Their website is www.cummingfirst.com (Ummmmmmm, I'm not touching this one.)
9. Then, of course, there's these brainless art designers, and their whacky website: www.speedofart.com (Don't tell Naked Shaved Guy he'll be there all day!)
10. Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website at www.gotahoe.com (This is big with the hip-hop crowd)
Remember, its not how you read it...its how others read it.
Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to order me some powergenitalia.
August 24, 2006
Feigned Support - I'm Sick Of It
A commenter name Warren felt he needed to post a reply to Mr. Stokely’s post Mr. Robert Stokely -v- Instead of War. I’m cool with that, but Warren felt he needed to post about the news that came out yesterday of the Marine Corps decision to call up their IRR troopers. As a reminder Mr. Stokely’s post was written and posted on April 3rd of 2006 and if there is one thing I can’t stand, it’s the anti-war types that post comments about current events on posts that no one else is ever going to read.
Warren writes:
Well Warren you asked for it.
Warren,
What is it with you anti-war types, you never comment on a post that is current. Why comment on a post written in April when it is almost September?
Now having said that I'm going to educate you some on the numbers concerning enlistment and re-enlistment rates:
Via Adventurepan: Military recruiting for June once again met or exceeded goals across all four branches:
Marines: 105%
Army: 102%
Air Force: 101%
Navy: 100%
You’ll note that the Marine Corps and Army, responsible for fielding most of the forces on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, have exceeded their goals by the largest margins, despite having higher target numbers than the other branches. They achieved this in the face of a mainstream media attempting to portray the military as rapists, racists, and murderers based up the alleged actions of a handful of men.
Since October 1, all four branches have met or exceed their goals:
Army: 104%
Marines: 101%
Air Force: 101%
Navy: 100%
Reserve forces recruiting has not been as even, but interesting enough, the Reserve and Guard forces most likely to be called upon for ground combat overseas (Army National Guard, Army Reserves, Marine Corps Reserves) have been the most successful in recruiting.
Having supplied you with some facts you obviously were missing let’s look at what you are implying in your comment.
First, you seem to be implying that by using stop-loss i.e., a soldier in theatre is kept in theatre until the mission is complete even if they were to PCS or ETS during that time frame is somehow egregious and illegal. Let me put it differently, you are the owner of a Software Company you are on a deadline to finish a project but two of your four programmers are set to start new projects in two days. Its going to take a minimum of 8 days for all four programmers to finish this project which if it doesn’t get finished and delivered on time could effectively close your doors forever. Do you let those two programmers go onto the new project or do you “stop-loss” them to save the entire company?
Stop-loss simply keeps the people on the job on the job until its finished. Is it fair, no, but it happens in every industry everyday of the week. Get over it.
Second, soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marine’s sign up for a minimum number of years of service, it happens to be 8 years. You can perform those 8 years anyway you like for instance, 4 years Active duty and 4 years in the Guard, Reserves or Inactive Ready Reserve (IRR), or any combination thereof as long as the total commitment equals 8 years of duty. IRR soldiers are at the beck and call of the Government and are subject to recall to active duty at anytime. It’s in their contract. It’s not a back-door draft nor is it illegal; it once again is a fact of life for service members. People who have a problem with this can be placed in to one of two categories:
1) People who have never served,
2) People who have served and refuse to be accountable for their signature. (H/T Brando)
I’m placing you in Category 1 (Cat1) simply because I don’t like your tone. You may be a fellow vet for all I know, I don’t care to me you are Cat1 a non-server stealing from the table of freedom. If it turns out you are a fellow vet then you will have the honor of being dumped in the scum sucking Category 2 as a man who has no honor and refused to honor his own signature.
Are people in the IRR that get activated going to get pissed? Sure, but you know what, people get pissed when they have to park more than 10 feet from the McDonald’s front door and they might have to walk a little bit more before they can shovel down their 2nd Big Mac while on their way to another 5000 calorie day. I don’t give a shit, ruck it up mate and drive on, the thing you fail to mention is that for the most part the IRR soldiers are doing just that, they are rucking it up and driving forward to accomplish the mission.
Finally, since you have struck me as the “We never sent enough men in the first place,” type, why are you bitching now that we are sending over more men and material so as to make Al Qaeda in Iraq’s life miserable and end this war as soon as possible? Isn’t that the goal here, to end the war? That’s what I hear from your hero’s on the left practically everyday on the newscasts; “Bring them home now!” “Stop this war!” Isn’t that your rallying cry? If that is the case why are you complaining that this administration is finally getting its head out of its fourth point of contact and sending in enough men and material to assure victory? The only explanation I can think of is that you really don’t want US to win at all. You really want US to come home with a bloody nose and sulk in our room for the next ten years hoping beyond hope that no one will notice that the Left has effectively neutered the American Military.
For someone who demands that I be honest when discussing re-enlistment rates your misuse of the facts is dishonest to say the least. I really wish you bleeding heart types would just come right out and say it and stop hiding behind some feigned support for the troops; we don’t need your kind of support. To quote Mr. Stokely from the post you commented upon:
Warren writes:
How can you say that retention and enlistment is up or meeting goals when stop loss and now the Marines calling up people who have completed their tours?
At least be honest about one thing in this mess.
Well Warren you asked for it.
Warren,
What is it with you anti-war types, you never comment on a post that is current. Why comment on a post written in April when it is almost September?
Now having said that I'm going to educate you some on the numbers concerning enlistment and re-enlistment rates:
Via Adventurepan: Military recruiting for June once again met or exceeded goals across all four branches:
Marines: 105%
Army: 102%
Air Force: 101%
Navy: 100%
You’ll note that the Marine Corps and Army, responsible for fielding most of the forces on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, have exceeded their goals by the largest margins, despite having higher target numbers than the other branches. They achieved this in the face of a mainstream media attempting to portray the military as rapists, racists, and murderers based up the alleged actions of a handful of men.
Since October 1, all four branches have met or exceed their goals:
Army: 104%
Marines: 101%
Air Force: 101%
Navy: 100%
Reserve forces recruiting has not been as even, but interesting enough, the Reserve and Guard forces most likely to be called upon for ground combat overseas (Army National Guard, Army Reserves, Marine Corps Reserves) have been the most successful in recruiting.
Having supplied you with some facts you obviously were missing let’s look at what you are implying in your comment.
First, you seem to be implying that by using stop-loss i.e., a soldier in theatre is kept in theatre until the mission is complete even if they were to PCS or ETS during that time frame is somehow egregious and illegal. Let me put it differently, you are the owner of a Software Company you are on a deadline to finish a project but two of your four programmers are set to start new projects in two days. Its going to take a minimum of 8 days for all four programmers to finish this project which if it doesn’t get finished and delivered on time could effectively close your doors forever. Do you let those two programmers go onto the new project or do you “stop-loss” them to save the entire company?
Stop-loss simply keeps the people on the job on the job until its finished. Is it fair, no, but it happens in every industry everyday of the week. Get over it.
Second, soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marine’s sign up for a minimum number of years of service, it happens to be 8 years. You can perform those 8 years anyway you like for instance, 4 years Active duty and 4 years in the Guard, Reserves or Inactive Ready Reserve (IRR), or any combination thereof as long as the total commitment equals 8 years of duty. IRR soldiers are at the beck and call of the Government and are subject to recall to active duty at anytime. It’s in their contract. It’s not a back-door draft nor is it illegal; it once again is a fact of life for service members. People who have a problem with this can be placed in to one of two categories:
1) People who have never served,
2) People who have served and refuse to be accountable for their signature. (H/T Brando)
I’m placing you in Category 1 (Cat1) simply because I don’t like your tone. You may be a fellow vet for all I know, I don’t care to me you are Cat1 a non-server stealing from the table of freedom. If it turns out you are a fellow vet then you will have the honor of being dumped in the scum sucking Category 2 as a man who has no honor and refused to honor his own signature.
Are people in the IRR that get activated going to get pissed? Sure, but you know what, people get pissed when they have to park more than 10 feet from the McDonald’s front door and they might have to walk a little bit more before they can shovel down their 2nd Big Mac while on their way to another 5000 calorie day. I don’t give a shit, ruck it up mate and drive on, the thing you fail to mention is that for the most part the IRR soldiers are doing just that, they are rucking it up and driving forward to accomplish the mission.
Finally, since you have struck me as the “We never sent enough men in the first place,” type, why are you bitching now that we are sending over more men and material so as to make Al Qaeda in Iraq’s life miserable and end this war as soon as possible? Isn’t that the goal here, to end the war? That’s what I hear from your hero’s on the left practically everyday on the newscasts; “Bring them home now!” “Stop this war!” Isn’t that your rallying cry? If that is the case why are you complaining that this administration is finally getting its head out of its fourth point of contact and sending in enough men and material to assure victory? The only explanation I can think of is that you really don’t want US to win at all. You really want US to come home with a bloody nose and sulk in our room for the next ten years hoping beyond hope that no one will notice that the Left has effectively neutered the American Military.
For someone who demands that I be honest when discussing re-enlistment rates your misuse of the facts is dishonest to say the least. I really wish you bleeding heart types would just come right out and say it and stop hiding behind some feigned support for the troops; we don’t need your kind of support. To quote Mr. Stokely from the post you commented upon:
“[P]rotest to your heart's desire; speak out against the war and disagree with me and my son and the views we held together; but, please have the courtesy andIf you hate the war, then just say so, and don’t hide behind the troops that are protecting your right to be wrong.
dignity to respect his good name and not use it for expressing your viewpoint. Mike Stokely didn't force you to go along with him; you should not now be selfish and disrespectful and force him to be a part of your exhibit, or any other soldier for that matter.”
Iraq and the other war
By Cal Thomas
Jewish World Review
Sorting through the verbal clutter that often characterizes a George W. Bush news conference, one can find small nuggets of valuable truth.
One was, "It's in our interests that we help reformers across the Middle East achieve their objectives. This is the fundamental challenge of the 21st century."
Another, "a failed Iraq in the heart of the Middle East will provide safe haven for terrorists and extremists. It will embolden those who are trying to thwart the ambitions of reformers."
And a third: "If you think problems are tough now, imagine what it would be like if the United States leaves before this (Iraqi) government has a chance to defend herself."
History's final verdict on the success of the Bush Doctrine will not come during this presidency and perhaps not in our lifetime. This is going to be a very long and frustrating war because it is fueled by a religion perverted by extremists who know no compromise or accommodation.
Read the rest...
Jewish World Review
Sorting through the verbal clutter that often characterizes a George W. Bush news conference, one can find small nuggets of valuable truth.
One was, "It's in our interests that we help reformers across the Middle East achieve their objectives. This is the fundamental challenge of the 21st century."
Another, "a failed Iraq in the heart of the Middle East will provide safe haven for terrorists and extremists. It will embolden those who are trying to thwart the ambitions of reformers."
And a third: "If you think problems are tough now, imagine what it would be like if the United States leaves before this (Iraqi) government has a chance to defend herself."
History's final verdict on the success of the Bush Doctrine will not come during this presidency and perhaps not in our lifetime. This is going to be a very long and frustrating war because it is fueled by a religion perverted by extremists who know no compromise or accommodation.
Read the rest...
Let the voices of 9/11 be heard
By Garrison Keillor
Jewish World Review
It was painful to hear the woman in anguish on the 83rd floor of the World Trade Center, crying, "I'm going to die, aren't I? I'm going to die." Melissa Doi was 32, beautiful, with laughing eyes and black hair. She was lying on the floor of her office at IQ Financial, overwhelmed by smoke and heat, calling for help. And then there was Kevin Cosgrove on the 105th floor, moments before it collapsed, gasping for breath, saying, "We're young men, we're not ready to die." And then he screamed, "Oh my G-d" as the building started to collapse. It's in their voices, what they went through.
Those were two of the 1,613 calls to 911 released by New York City last week, on almost all of which the caller's voice was beeped out. The city argued that to hear persons in anguish in their last minutes constitutes invasion of privacy. The truth is that the callers had no interest in privacy, they were desperate to be heard, and censoring them now is a last insult by a bureaucracy that failed to protect them in the first place.
They were people like us, we might have sat near them in a theater or restaurant, asked them for directions on the street. They went to work that fine Tuesday morning and suddenly found themselves facing the abyss, and the first thing we thought, seeing the burning buildings on TV, was "What is it like for the people in there?" We wanted to know.
Read the rest...
Jewish World Review
It was painful to hear the woman in anguish on the 83rd floor of the World Trade Center, crying, "I'm going to die, aren't I? I'm going to die." Melissa Doi was 32, beautiful, with laughing eyes and black hair. She was lying on the floor of her office at IQ Financial, overwhelmed by smoke and heat, calling for help. And then there was Kevin Cosgrove on the 105th floor, moments before it collapsed, gasping for breath, saying, "We're young men, we're not ready to die." And then he screamed, "Oh my G-d" as the building started to collapse. It's in their voices, what they went through.
Those were two of the 1,613 calls to 911 released by New York City last week, on almost all of which the caller's voice was beeped out. The city argued that to hear persons in anguish in their last minutes constitutes invasion of privacy. The truth is that the callers had no interest in privacy, they were desperate to be heard, and censoring them now is a last insult by a bureaucracy that failed to protect them in the first place.
They were people like us, we might have sat near them in a theater or restaurant, asked them for directions on the street. They went to work that fine Tuesday morning and suddenly found themselves facing the abyss, and the first thing we thought, seeing the burning buildings on TV, was "What is it like for the people in there?" We wanted to know.
Read the rest...
Still Slandering the Troops
By Scott Swett
FrontPageMagazine.com
On August 8th, the Los Angeles Times published a long article in which Nick Turse and Deborah Nelson reported that Army investigators had substantiated 320 U.S. atrocities during the Vietnam War. It is not clear what the Times meant by “substantiated,” since many of these investigations did not lead to criminal charges.
It is also difficult to determine how many of the events, if confirmed, would qualify as war crimes, since Turse and Nelson did not distinguish between ordinary crimes by soldiers and military atrocities. The only “news” presented in the article was that documents on file in the National Archives appear to support the claim of James Henry, then a 20-year old medic, to have witnessed a war crime in the province of Quang Nam.
Why would the Times make available 4,400 words of valuable space to allow a relatively obscure researcher to expound his theories about the Vietnam War? Because James Henry was one of the men who testified at the Vietnam Veterans Against the War’s signature “war crimes” propaganda effort, the “Winter Soldier Investigation,” held in Detroit in early 1971.
Henry’s own story predated the VVAW event, and was already being investigated by the Army at that time. Winter Soldier provided the basis for John Kerry’s April 1971 testimony before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, during which Kerry became a media star by comparing U.S. troops in Vietnam to “the army of Genghis Kahn” and charging the U.S. military with routinely committing war crimes “authorized at all levels of command.” This lie, which came under intense criticism and exposure during the 2004 presidential campaign, is a central part of the leftist myth that America is the primary cause of evil in the world. And it is this lie that the Times seeks to defend.
Read the rest...
FrontPageMagazine.com
On August 8th, the Los Angeles Times published a long article in which Nick Turse and Deborah Nelson reported that Army investigators had substantiated 320 U.S. atrocities during the Vietnam War. It is not clear what the Times meant by “substantiated,” since many of these investigations did not lead to criminal charges.
It is also difficult to determine how many of the events, if confirmed, would qualify as war crimes, since Turse and Nelson did not distinguish between ordinary crimes by soldiers and military atrocities. The only “news” presented in the article was that documents on file in the National Archives appear to support the claim of James Henry, then a 20-year old medic, to have witnessed a war crime in the province of Quang Nam.
Why would the Times make available 4,400 words of valuable space to allow a relatively obscure researcher to expound his theories about the Vietnam War? Because James Henry was one of the men who testified at the Vietnam Veterans Against the War’s signature “war crimes” propaganda effort, the “Winter Soldier Investigation,” held in Detroit in early 1971.
Henry’s own story predated the VVAW event, and was already being investigated by the Army at that time. Winter Soldier provided the basis for John Kerry’s April 1971 testimony before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, during which Kerry became a media star by comparing U.S. troops in Vietnam to “the army of Genghis Kahn” and charging the U.S. military with routinely committing war crimes “authorized at all levels of command.” This lie, which came under intense criticism and exposure during the 2004 presidential campaign, is a central part of the leftist myth that America is the primary cause of evil in the world. And it is this lie that the Times seeks to defend.
Read the rest...
What Part of the War on Terror Do They Support?
By Ann Coulter
FrontPageMagazine.com
This year's Democratic plan for the future is another inane sound bite designed to trick American voters into trusting them with national security.
To wit, they're claiming there is no connection between the War on Terror and the war in Iraq, and while they're all for the War on Terror – absolutely in favor of that war – they are adamantly opposed to the Iraq war. You know, the war where the U.S. military is killing thousands upon thousands of terrorists (described in the media as "Iraqi civilians," even if they are from Jordan, like the now-dead leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi). That war.
As Howard Dean put it this week, "The occupation in Iraq is costing American lives and hampering our ability to fight the real global War on Terror."
This would be like complaining that Roosevelt's war in Germany was hampering our ability to fight the real global war on fascism. Or anti-discrimination laws were hampering our ability to fight the real war on racism. Or dusting is hampering our ability to fight the real war on dust.
Maybe Dean is referring to a different globe, like Mars or Saturn, or one of those new planets they haven't named yet.
Read the rest...
FrontPageMagazine.com
This year's Democratic plan for the future is another inane sound bite designed to trick American voters into trusting them with national security.
To wit, they're claiming there is no connection between the War on Terror and the war in Iraq, and while they're all for the War on Terror – absolutely in favor of that war – they are adamantly opposed to the Iraq war. You know, the war where the U.S. military is killing thousands upon thousands of terrorists (described in the media as "Iraqi civilians," even if they are from Jordan, like the now-dead leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi). That war.
As Howard Dean put it this week, "The occupation in Iraq is costing American lives and hampering our ability to fight the real global War on Terror."
This would be like complaining that Roosevelt's war in Germany was hampering our ability to fight the real global war on fascism. Or anti-discrimination laws were hampering our ability to fight the real war on racism. Or dusting is hampering our ability to fight the real war on dust.
Maybe Dean is referring to a different globe, like Mars or Saturn, or one of those new planets they haven't named yet.
Read the rest...
Web Reconnaissance for 08/24/2006
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
Some Soldier’s Mom writes Through the Mind... Darkly “Isn't it amazing how certain simple phrases can evoke such intense emotions? ‘I love you.’ ‘Will you marry me?’ ‘It’s a boy.’ ‘ Head up, ass down, son.’ ‘Your son has been wounded in a VBIED attack.’
Yup. That about covers it. But it’s the last one that stabs at me to this day. Just saying those words will bring tears to my eyes… alarm to my heart… pain to my spirit. It was a year ago that my view of the world was skewed:” (read more)
GayPatriot of GayPatriot writes Hillary Holding Up AIDS Funding “Sen. Hillary Clinton is taking up where her husband left off. During President Bill Clinton’s term, he repeatedly “zeroed-out” AIDS funding his the Presidential Budget he sent up to Congress. You never heard much about it, because it was the post-1995 Republican-controlled Congress (mostly thanks to then Rep. Tom Coburn and Sen. Arlen Specter) that restored and increased funding each year. Well, here’s what Hillary is up to now — threatening renewal of the Ryan White Act.” (read more)
Sachi of Big Lizards writes Read All About It! (Just Not In the MSM...) “The training of Iraqi security forces, both the New Iraqi Army and the Iraqi police, seems to have fallen off the front pages of the antique media. There is a good reason for this: it's going very well. ‘If it bleeds, it leads;’ but that means that if it's good news, newspapers, magazines, and broadcast news just aren't interested. Don Henley was right: it's ‘give us dirty laundry!’” (read more)
Captain Ed writes Dueling Nuclear Surprises “The Jerusalem Post hints that Iran will unveil a nuclear "surprise" in the next few weeks, but the Israelis may have beaten them to it. This comes as the fragile consensus at the UN Security Council on Iranian defiance appears to have unraveled … Given the hype over the supposedly apocalyptic impact of August 22nd, it's difficult to get too excited over this latest assertion. The only surprise that Iran could possibly unveil is a functional nuclear device -- and many already figure they have at least a few. Perhaps the only way we could be surprised is if the Iranians renounce the uranium enrichment that has the UNSC threatening sanctions.” (read more)
Erick at RedState writes Is John McCain Running in '08 From a Third Party? “What do Air America Radio, Barack Obama's Senate campaign, the Clinton Global Initiative, Democratic gubernatorial candidate John DeStefano in Connecticut, the campaign of Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm in Michigan, NoIraqDraft.com, Rock the Vote, PurpleOcean.org which is the online activism hub of the Service Employees International Union, and Rosie.com, the personal blog of Rosie O'Donnell have in common with John McCain?” (read more)
Andi of Andi’s World writes Mr. President, We Deserve Better “After reading the story below, I became frustrated. Over the past year, I've grown increasingly more agitated over the inability, or refusal, of President Bush and his administration to get in front of the news cycle when it comes to Operation Iraqi Freedom. This administration has lost the information war, and it's an expensive loss.” (read more)
Allahpundit writes E&P editor attacks bloggers over Reutersgate (Update: Zombie explodes the ambulance incident) “I was going to make the title, “E&P editor attacks bloggers over Reutersgate, misrepresents pretty much everything,” but his article’s only the first of two parts. So perhaps the misrepresentations will be addressed in today’s exciting conclusion. Although I wouldn’t bet on it. Let’s begin by quoting from a piece I’ve asked you to read three times now. It’s David Perlmutter, professor of photojournalism and author of two books on the subject, writing last week in, ironically, E&P:” (read more)
Tom The Redhunter writes The Nature of our Enemy, Part II: A Problem in Islam
“The simple fact is that there is a problem within Islam. Islam has a problem with hate and violence, and for the most part it is not being addressed by Muslim leaders. Quite the opposite; for the most part there are all too many Muslim teachers, leaders, and schools who teach and promote hateful doctrines. This, in and of itself, is not an insuperable difficulty. There are those in Christianity, such as Fred Phelps, who teach hateful doctrines. The problem with regard to Islam is that one, the problem is so widespread; two, that very few moderate Muslims act in a concerted, coherent fashion to save their religion; and three, that the Western doctrine of multiculturalism prevents many of us from recognizing, much less doing something about the problem.” (read more)
Dadmanly writes Seasons “...[A]s a consequence of these unfolding events, Mrs. Dadmanly and I have done a lot of soul searching. We are in a particular place and time, emotionally and spiritually. We confront the consequences of my deployment to Iraq, our 18 month separation, and changes. My changes, her changes, Little Manly’s changes. “There is a season,” the writer of the Old Testament Book Ecclesiates, “and to everything a purpose under heaven.” A most strange and passing wondrous season in our lives. I’ve been struggling to capture a mess of feelings and impressions, most recently with this post. Mrs. Dadmanly experienced what she describes as revelatory – for those who don’t share our religious beliefs, call it inspired awareness – and she writes, as follows.” (read more)
Some Soldier’s Mom writes Through the Mind... Darkly “Isn't it amazing how certain simple phrases can evoke such intense emotions? ‘I love you.’ ‘Will you marry me?’ ‘It’s a boy.’ ‘ Head up, ass down, son.’ ‘Your son has been wounded in a VBIED attack.’
Yup. That about covers it. But it’s the last one that stabs at me to this day. Just saying those words will bring tears to my eyes… alarm to my heart… pain to my spirit. It was a year ago that my view of the world was skewed:” (read more)
GayPatriot of GayPatriot writes Hillary Holding Up AIDS Funding “Sen. Hillary Clinton is taking up where her husband left off. During President Bill Clinton’s term, he repeatedly “zeroed-out” AIDS funding his the Presidential Budget he sent up to Congress. You never heard much about it, because it was the post-1995 Republican-controlled Congress (mostly thanks to then Rep. Tom Coburn and Sen. Arlen Specter) that restored and increased funding each year. Well, here’s what Hillary is up to now — threatening renewal of the Ryan White Act.” (read more)
Sachi of Big Lizards writes Read All About It! (Just Not In the MSM...) “The training of Iraqi security forces, both the New Iraqi Army and the Iraqi police, seems to have fallen off the front pages of the antique media. There is a good reason for this: it's going very well. ‘If it bleeds, it leads;’ but that means that if it's good news, newspapers, magazines, and broadcast news just aren't interested. Don Henley was right: it's ‘give us dirty laundry!’” (read more)
Captain Ed writes Dueling Nuclear Surprises “The Jerusalem Post hints that Iran will unveil a nuclear "surprise" in the next few weeks, but the Israelis may have beaten them to it. This comes as the fragile consensus at the UN Security Council on Iranian defiance appears to have unraveled … Given the hype over the supposedly apocalyptic impact of August 22nd, it's difficult to get too excited over this latest assertion. The only surprise that Iran could possibly unveil is a functional nuclear device -- and many already figure they have at least a few. Perhaps the only way we could be surprised is if the Iranians renounce the uranium enrichment that has the UNSC threatening sanctions.” (read more)
Erick at RedState writes Is John McCain Running in '08 From a Third Party? “What do Air America Radio, Barack Obama's Senate campaign, the Clinton Global Initiative, Democratic gubernatorial candidate John DeStefano in Connecticut, the campaign of Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm in Michigan, NoIraqDraft.com, Rock the Vote, PurpleOcean.org which is the online activism hub of the Service Employees International Union, and Rosie.com, the personal blog of Rosie O'Donnell have in common with John McCain?” (read more)
Andi of Andi’s World writes Mr. President, We Deserve Better “After reading the story below, I became frustrated. Over the past year, I've grown increasingly more agitated over the inability, or refusal, of President Bush and his administration to get in front of the news cycle when it comes to Operation Iraqi Freedom. This administration has lost the information war, and it's an expensive loss.” (read more)
Allahpundit writes E&P editor attacks bloggers over Reutersgate (Update: Zombie explodes the ambulance incident) “I was going to make the title, “E&P editor attacks bloggers over Reutersgate, misrepresents pretty much everything,” but his article’s only the first of two parts. So perhaps the misrepresentations will be addressed in today’s exciting conclusion. Although I wouldn’t bet on it. Let’s begin by quoting from a piece I’ve asked you to read three times now. It’s David Perlmutter, professor of photojournalism and author of two books on the subject, writing last week in, ironically, E&P:” (read more)
Tom The Redhunter writes The Nature of our Enemy, Part II: A Problem in Islam
“The simple fact is that there is a problem within Islam. Islam has a problem with hate and violence, and for the most part it is not being addressed by Muslim leaders. Quite the opposite; for the most part there are all too many Muslim teachers, leaders, and schools who teach and promote hateful doctrines. This, in and of itself, is not an insuperable difficulty. There are those in Christianity, such as Fred Phelps, who teach hateful doctrines. The problem with regard to Islam is that one, the problem is so widespread; two, that very few moderate Muslims act in a concerted, coherent fashion to save their religion; and three, that the Western doctrine of multiculturalism prevents many of us from recognizing, much less doing something about the problem.” (read more)
Dadmanly writes Seasons “...[A]s a consequence of these unfolding events, Mrs. Dadmanly and I have done a lot of soul searching. We are in a particular place and time, emotionally and spiritually. We confront the consequences of my deployment to Iraq, our 18 month separation, and changes. My changes, her changes, Little Manly’s changes. “There is a season,” the writer of the Old Testament Book Ecclesiates, “and to everything a purpose under heaven.” A most strange and passing wondrous season in our lives. I’ve been struggling to capture a mess of feelings and impressions, most recently with this post. Mrs. Dadmanly experienced what she describes as revelatory – for those who don’t share our religious beliefs, call it inspired awareness – and she writes, as follows.” (read more)
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