Now that Christmas is over....

....it's time to start on collecting Valentine's cards for our troops!!! The goal this year is 5,000 or more...and we have only ONE MONTH in which to accomplish such a feat! It can be done tho.... with everyone's help! Info is below.... God bless you all! Kat in GA
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OPERATION: VALENTINE

Valentine’s Day Card Drive for Troops

Let's show our troops we love and support them!! Let’s help them chase away those after-Christmas blues!! We are now collecting Valentine's cards to send to our troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. If you wish to participate, please send light-hearted, silly, cheerful cards to this address:

Mrs. Kat Orr
Operation Valentine
P.O. Box 1660
Loganville, GA 30052

Please make sure to leave the envelopes unsealed – every­ card is read before it is shipped, to ensure appropriate content.

The cards can be handmade or store-bought... for that matter, they don't even have to be cards; a hand -written letter is just as wonderful! Let's all band together and overwhelm our heroes with support! This is a great project for Scout troops, churches, or other organizations to get involved with!

ALL CARDS MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN

JANUARY 30, 2007

Thank you so much for having a heart for our heroes!

If you have any questions about this campaign, please e-mail me at LoveFromHome@gmail.com. Also, you might wish join my Yahoo Group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoveFromHome in order to receive updates about the progress of this and other card drives.

**IMPORTANT NOTE: This is not a "dating service" of any type. Please do not send suggestive or otherwise inappropriate cards or pictures. Remember: This is strictly to let the troops know that we love them, we are proud of them and that we HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN them!

**IMPORTANT NOTE 2: This card drive is an individual effort and not done in conjunction with or on behalf of any organizations or groups

Great Job y'all....

recieved this Christmas card& note in the mail the saturday before christmas. I apologize for taking so long to share it with you...christmas was insane, and now I'm home with a nasty, nasty stomach bug that has also hit hubby and oldest boy, among other relatives. :( Ugh. :( Anyway, before I pass out again..... here's the note. Good job y'all... this is why we do this...to make our Heroes' days brighter. (Will be getting info about the valentine's card drive out shortly...once I recover from this evil nasty bug. :( This note comes from the commander of a surgical company at a trauma hospital in Iraq.

Many, many thanks for the huge box of holiday greetings!! I will be putting some in staff mailboxes, sending some to our staff who are on a mission and posting some on the doors to our patient wards... all the rest will be shared with other troops throughout our base. You have brightened our holiday! Thank you!We appreciate you!My warmest wishes for a very blessed Christmas and a very happy New Year! Most gratefully, XXXXXXX on behalf of TQ Surgical Company, Iraq

Good job, y'all... and thank you for your help!

Kat in GA

Merry Christmas!

This is it...I most likely won't be back to the blog until late this week...or next week, I'm not sure.

So I want to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a wonderful and joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Wednesday Hero - Merrill Worcester (On Monday)

This week's hero was suggested by Cindy & Kathi


Each year, around this time, since 1992, the Arlington National Cemetery has something happen to it. It gets covered in vibrant green Christmas wreaths. The wreaths are donated by a man named Merrill Worcester who is the owner of the Worcester Wreath Co. in Maine. From the Worcester Wreath Co.'s website:

Each year Worcester Wreath donates Maine wreaths to adorn the headstones of those who serve and those who sacrificed to preserve our freedoms. In 2007, over 10,000 wreaths are destined for the annual wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington. In addition, 2,500 wreaths will be sent to Togus National Cemetery in Augusta, Maine. Worcester Wreath also donates ceremonial wreaths that will be used as part of the Wreaths Across America events at over 230 State and National veterans cemeteries all across the Country.

Sometimes a hero is one who sacrifices everything in their life to help others. And sometimes a hero is one who sacrifices nothing more than their time.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. To find out more about Wednesday Hero, you can go here.

Still The Best Commercial Ever

H/T: Theo Spark

Bring Him Home...

H/T: Theo's Park

Did He Or Didn't He?

..ban Christmas at SWOSU? Quite frankly I don't know but Mark Tapscott seems pretty sure that someone is trying to do just that. He writes:

The Daily Oklahoman reports this morning that Southwestern Oklahoma State University officials say they have a policy banning the placement Christmas and other religious decorations on public areas of the campus.

The newspaper said university spokesman Brian Adler explained that employees were asked to keep public areas of the campus free religious decor because not all students celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday.

The Oklahoman also quoted SWOSU president John Hayes saying "the university attempted to prevent the appearance as a state agency of endorsing any particular religion." [emphasis is original post]

Adler added, according to The Oklahoman, that "there's no ban on Christmas" and "it was blown way out of proportion." [emphasis in original post]

Did they ban Christmas...seems that many employees are saying that they have been told to remove the words Christmas and Christ from their email signatures and decorations, but is this official policy or some overly zealous managers rule? Either way it falls to Southwestern Oklahoma State University officials to respond and set the record straight.

As others are wont to say...developing.

When Lawyers Write Christmas Stories

Hat Tip: TG

“Twas the Night……”

‘Twas the nocturnal segment of the diurnal period preceding the annual Northern Europe winter solstice celebration, and throughout our habitat, kinetic activity was not in evidence among the possessors of this potential energy, including that species of Mus musculs. Podiatrical outer protective covering was precisely suspended from the forward edge of the phloem and xylem combusting chamber, pursuant to our anticipatory pleasure regarding an imminent visitation from an eccentric philanthropist among whose folkloric appellations is the honorific title of St. Nicholas or Father Christmas or Kris Kringle.

The prepubescent siblings, comfortably ensconced in the prone position in their respective homonid nesting areas, were experiencing subconscious visual hallucinations of varigated fruit confections moving rhythmically through their cerebral cortex. My conjugal mammalian nest mate and I, attired in our nocturnal cephalic coverings, were about to take slumberous advantage of the hibernal darkness when upon the avenaceous exterior portion of the terra firma there ascended such a cacophony of dissonance that I felt compelled to rise to a bipedal position with alacrity from my place of repose for the purpose of ascertaining the precise source thereof.

Hastening to the casement, I forthwith opened the barriers sealing this fenestration, noting thereupon that the lunar brillance without, reflected as it was on the surface of a recent crystalline precipitation, might be said to rival that of the solar meridian itself – thus permitting my incredulous optical sensory organs to behold a minature airborne, gravity defying, friction reducing runnered conveyance drawn by eight diminutive species of Rangifer, piloted by a miniscule, aged bipedal chauffer so ebullient and nimble that it became instantly apparent to me that he was indeed our anticipated caller. With his ungulate motive power travelling at what may possibly have been more vertiginous velocity than patriotic alar predators, he vociferated in wavelengths shorter than normal, expelled breath musically through contracted labia, and addressedd each of the octet by his or her respective cognomen – “Now Dasher, now dancer…” et al. – guiding them to the uppermost exterior level of our abode, through which structure I could readily distinguish the concatenations of each of the 32 cloven pedal extremities.

As I retracted my cranium from its erstwhile location, and was performinga 180-degree pivot, our distinguished visitant achieved- with utmost celerity and via a downward leap – entry by way of the thermal dispensing combustion chamber. He was clad entirely in post mortem mammalian epidermis soiled by the ebony residue from oxidations of carboniferous fuels which had accumulated on the chamber walls thereof. His resemblance to a street vendor I attributed largely to the plethora of assorted playthings which he bore dorsally in a commdious cloth receptacle.

His orbs were scintillant with reflected luminosity, while submaxillary dermal indentations gave every evidence of engaging amiability. The capillaries of this malar regions and nasal appurtenance were engorged with blood which suffused the subcutaneous layers, the former approximating the coloration of Albion’s floral emblem, the latter that of the Prunus avium, or sweet cherry. His amusing sub- and supralabials resembled nothing so much as a common loop knot, and their ambient hirsute facial adornment appeared like small, tabular and columnar crystals of frozen dihydrogen oxide.

Clenched firmly between his incisors was a smoking piece whose grey fume vapors, forming a tenuous ellipse about his occiput, were suggestive of a decorative seasonal circlet of holly. His visage was wider than it was high, and when he waxed audibly mirthful, his corpulent abdominal region undulated in the manner of imprectinated fruit syrup in a hemispherical container. He was, in short, neither more no less than an obese, jocun, multigenarian gnome, or to be politically correct vertically challenged , the optical perception of who rendered me bisibly frolicsome despite every effort to refrain from so being. By rapidly lowering and then elevating one eyelid and rotating his cephalic region slightly to one side, he indicated that trepidation on my part was groundless.

Without utterance and with dispatch, he commenced filling the aforementioned appended
podiatrical outer protective covering with various of the aforementioned articles of merchandise extracted from his aforementioned previously dorsally transported cloth receptacle. Upon completion of this task, he executed an abrupt about- face, placed a single manual digit in lateral juxtaposition to his olfactory organ, inclined his cranium forward in a gesture of leave-taking, and forthwith effected his egress by renegotiating (in reverse) the dead plant matter combustion chamber. He then propelled himself in a short vector onto his conveyance, directed a musical expulsion of air through his contracted oral sphincter to the antlered quadrupeds of burden, and proceeded to soar aloft in a movement hitherto observable chiefly among the seed-bearing portions of a common weed. But I overheard his parting exclamation, audible immediately prior to his vehiculation beyond the limits of visibility: “Ecstatice Yuletide to the planetary constituency, and to that self same assemblage, my sincerest wishing for a salubriously beneficial and gratifyingly pleasurable crepuscular period.”

Web Reconnaissance for 12/21/2007

A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.


In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
Bush Is Upbeat About Economy's Prospects - The White House is betting that the steps it has taken to address the housing and financial crises will be enough to avert a recession without resorting to a major tax cut or new spending, as leading economists in both parties have urged, senior administration officials said. (READ MORE)

Springfield Church Welcomes Many Nations Under God - Even in an era of mass immigration that has produced suburban tamale shops alongside halal meat markets and created a market for television programming in Hindi and Arabic, places of worship remain bastions of racial and ethnic uniformity. (READ MORE)

Disaffected Iraqis Spurn Dominant Shiite Clerics - NAJAF, Iraq -- Two years after helping to bring to power a government led by Shiite religious parties, Iraq's paramount Shiite clerics find their influence diminished as their followers criticize them for backing a political alliance that has failed to pass crucial legislation... (READ MORE)

Spending Bills Still Stuffed With Earmarks - Twice in the past two years, Alaska lawmakers lost congressional earmarks to build two "bridges to nowhere" costing hundreds of millions of dollars after Congress was embarrassed by public complaints over the pet projects hidden in annual spending bills. (READ MORE)

Dim Bulbs - The White House is boasting that the energy bill President Bush signed on Wednesday is actually less ambitious than the agenda proposed in his State of the Union address earlier this year. That's praising with faint damns. As recently as last week, it seemed the final draft might have raised taxes on the oil and gas industries by some $21 billion to fund subsidies for wind and solar projects. (READ MORE)

Irish Opening - A pair of former enemies in Northern Ireland recently traveled together to Boston, New York and Washington, where they met with President Bush. They also stopped by to see us. The message Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley and Sinn Fein politician Martin McGuinness came to deliver: Sectarian violence is in the past and now they want to promote a booming ... (READ MORE)

Election Shenanigans - Push is coming to sucker punch at the Federal Election Commission, the regulatory agency tasked with enforcing campaign finance laws. The Senate has declined to confirm the nominations of three commissioners whose recess appointments will soon lapse, so the FEC will no longer be operational. We sympathize with those who welcome such a prospect. (READ MORE)

Bush Hits Congress' Continued Pork - President Bush yesterday promised to crack down on wasteful spending in the just-passed federal budget, lambasting Congress for including too many earmarks in the $555 billion spending bill. (READ MORE)

China Taps into U.S. Spy Operations - China's intelligence service gained access to a secret National Security Agency listening post in Hawaii through a Chinese-language translation service, according to U.S. intelligence officials. (READ MORE)

India's Nuclear Bargain Blocked - Communist Party leaders say they are trying to keep U.S. influence at bay and protect India's poor from ruthless foreign enterprises by blocking a deal on nuclear energy with the United States. (READ MORE)

Webb: Illegals Broad Issue - Sen. Jim Webb yesterday said localities and states should do what is in their best interests to address their problems with illegal aliens. (READ MORE)

Open Borders Raise Concerns in W. Europe - Nine new countries joined the passport-free Schengen travel zone today, easing trade and travel but raising fears in some quarters that crime syndicates and terrorists will find it easier to reach Western European capitals. (READ MORE)

Scientists Doubt Climate Change - More than 400 scientists challenge claims by former Vice President Al Gore and the United Nations about the threat of man-made global warming, a new Senate minority report says. (READ MORE)

From the Front:
never as funny the second time: the palace that Saddam didn’t build - Saddam Hussein, during his tenure as absolute dictator (or benevolent father, depending on who you ask), built somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 palaces for various purposes. some were for his sons, some were vacation retreats, and some were meant to accomplish government business. but the 15th gem in this crown of palatial residences, the edifice to outshine all edifices (see if you can find anyone else who has used “edifices” in a sentence - i dare you!) cannot be other than the room that the rhino and i moved into two weeks ago. (READ MORE)

Michael Yon: One Step Forward - Local police estimated that the crowd of parade viewers reached 10,000, some of whom undoubtedly turned out because of the press. But I’d heard from the soldiers about a special person who would have been a parade of one to greet their return. Before the parades and publicity, the soldiers knew this one person was always with them. While we were out lurking around the Iranian border, several soldiers talked to me about her, saying things like, “Please write something good about her.” They wanted her to know how much they appreciated her many gestures of support, especially the handwritten letters she sent to the wounded soldiers—who numbered over seventy—and their families. (READ MORE)

A Surgeon's Letters Home From Iraq: 21 DEC 2007 Suicide Bombing - It’s a little after midnight, and I’m spent. I’ve operated for about 18 hours today. We had a sudden rush of patients after a suicide bombing in a city near us. http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=4032612 We received several injured US troops, and they had us busy in the OR for a while. I also helped put an IV in to a baby who had been shot in the head. How did it happen? All I was told was that it was an accident. There are no accidents. Another troop was treated for intentionally hurting himself. He said he only wounded himself because he couldn’t drum up the nerve to kill himself. (READ MORE)

IraqPundit: Obvious Enough for You? - WaPo offers a classic example of clueless reporting. Sudarsan Raghavan traveled to Najaf to interview Iraqi Shiites unhappy with the top religious leaders, and he missed what the people were telling him. The headline says, "Disaffected Iraqis Spurn Dominant Shiite Clerics." And the story begins this way: "In recent interviews in this spiritual capital, the subtle backlash against the marjaiya exposed the depth of popular frustration over the lack of long-term progress, even as violence in Iraq has declined under a 10-month-old U.S.-led security offensive." So far, so good. (READ MORE)



On the Web:
Frederick W. Kagan: Our Friends in Baghdad - Will the United States remain committed to supporting its friends and opposing its enemies in the Muslim world? This question has been asked for decades by people from Indonesia to Morocco and throughout the Middle East. And there is no clear answer. American engagement in the Muslim world has been fitful and incoherent, leaving our friends and our opponents believing that we are at best unreliable. In the past, supporting our friends has been taken to mean Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. In the case of the last three, it has meant helping more or less authoritarian governments retain power in exchange for their help in stabilizing the region. (READ MORE)

Peggy Noonan: American Pastoral - I didn't see the famous floating cross. What I saw when I watched Mike Huckabee's Christmas commercial was a nice man in a sweater sitting next to a brightly lit tree. He had easy warmth and big brown puppy-dog eyes, and he talked about taking a break from politics to remember the peace and joy of the season. Sounds good to me. Only on second look did I see the white lines of the warmly lit bookcase, which formed a glowing cross. Someone had bothered to remove the books from that bookcase, or bothered not to put them in. Maybe they would have dulled the lines. (READ MORE)

Kimberly A. Strassel: Leap of Faith - As pigs in pokes go, the Democratic Party bought itself a big one in 1988. Michael Dukakis was relatively unknown, but he was also the last man standing. Only too late did his party, along with the rest of the country, realize Mr. Dukakis was a typecast liberal--a furlougher of felons, and a guy who looked mighty awkward in a tank. This is what happens when a party takes a flyer, and it could be Republicans' turn with Mike Huckabee. The former Baptist minister and governor of Arkansas is surging in Iowa, and is tied with Rudy Giuliani in national polls. He's selling his party on a simple message: (READ MORE)

William Wilson: A Gift from Divided Government - Amid all the stories of gloom and doom filling the news as we crawl to the final days of 2007, a bright and shining nugget was given to the American people this week. More surprising yet, this wonderful gift came from none other than Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. While the professional commentators and self-appointed gurus bemoan “gridlock” and the ills of divided government in Washington, the actual results of inaction are a blessing for all those who believe in constitutional principles and the Bill of Rights. (READ MORE)

Joel Mowbray: Official Behind Open-Door-For-Saudis To Resign - Defying the axiom that no bungling bureaucrat goes unrewarded, the woman ultimately responsible for the backlog of 2 million passports this year — and who then withheld the truth from Congress — was passed over for a major promotion, and consequently will resign her post early next year. While the millions whose honeymoons, vacations and business plans were ruined will be pleased that someone has been held responsible, it is U.S. border security that could be the biggest beneficiary of consular chief Maura Harty stepping down. (READ MORE)

Rich Tucker: The Foolishness of Fearmongering - It’s important to remember the past and to learn from it, but you’ll never move ahead if you spend all your time looking backward. So why do so many presidential candidates spend so much time peering over their shoulders? “The first time I ever came out to Iowa was with Senator Culver on his first campaign in ’74. And one thing seems different now. You ride across this magnificent state and you see so much open land -- and so few farmers,” Sen. Joe Biden said during a Democratic debate on Dec. 13. And, he wondered, “How do you preserve family farmers? (READ MORE)

Oliver North: A Christmas Gift From Our Troops in Iraq (Part 4 of Series) - BAQOUBA, Iraq -- It is nearly Christmas, and most of the young Americans with whom we have spent this month are going to miss the holiday with their families. For many, it is their third Nativity season away from home since Operation Iraqi Freedom began in 2003. Though you may not have noticed it beneath your tree, the troops here have sent you a gift that is far more valuable than a new hand tool or iPod. It's a present that they made by hand with extraordinary care so that you can use it every day for the rest of your life -- and that your children can use after you are gone. (READ MORE)

Charles Krauthammer: Success Against the Axis - WASHINGTON -- Just four months after 9/11, George Bush identified Iran, Iraq and North Korea as the "axis of evil" and declared that defanging these rogue regimes was America's most urgent national security task. Bush will be judged on whether he succeeded. Six years later and with time running out on this administration, the Bush legacy is clear: one for three. Contrary to current public opinion, Bush will have succeeded on Iraq, failed on Iran and fought North Korea to a draw. (READ MORE)

Jonah Goldberg: Hillary's Holiday Hogwash - Well, the most disgusting, craven, shameless political ad of the election season has just come out in time for Christmas - and, no, it's not from Mike Huckabee. It's from Hillary Clinton. Huckabee's ad has gotten all of the attention because of its alleged "floating cross" masquerading as a bookshelf (or vice versa) and its overall 700 Club Christmas Special feel. But you know what? There's no public policy involved in his ad. Sure, there's a dose of Christian identity politics - more than a dose according to some - but no one following the race is particularly stunned to find out that Mike Huckabee is a committed Christian. His ads say he's a "Christian leader" and that his faith "defines" him. (READ MORE)

Linda Chavez: Destroying CIA Tapes Deserves a Thank You - His name isn't yet familiar to most Americans, but I expect it will be by the end of 2008: Jose A. Rodriguez Jr. He is the man, according to recent press reports, who ordered the destruction of interrogation tapes made by the CIA, which allegedly show the effects of waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation techniques" used against terrorists Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. In the next few months, his name will likely be dragged through the mud, and he will be vilified as a rogue official engaged in a massive cover-up. I think he deserves a medal. (READ MORE)

Mona Charen: Torture and the Democrats - It didn't get a lot of attention, but in mid-December, U.S. forces in Iraq discovered an al Qaeda torture center north of Baghdad. Muqdadiya is about 60 miles north of the capital. American soldiers found a blood-spattered room where chains still hung on the gory walls. A metal bed frame was still connected to an electric shock generator. The Americans also found bloody knives and swords. Outside, the bodies of 26 people were buried in common graves. That al Qaeda has made rape, torture and murder its calling card in Iraq is not news. (READ MORE)

Ann Coulter: There’s a Huckabee Born Every Minute - Despite the overwhelming popular demand for another column on Ron Radosh's review of Stan Evans' book, this week's column will address the urgent matter of evangelical Christians getting blamed for Mike Huckabee. To paraphrase the Jews, this is "bad for the evangelicals." As far as I can tell, it's mostly secular liberals swooning over Huckabee. Liberals adore Huckabee because he fits their image of what an evangelical should be: stupid and easily led. (READ MORE)

Ross Mackenzie: Two Marvelous Gifts From the Democrats in Santa's Workshop - Christmas and the holidays are a time of giving and presents. So what better time to check the list of our ever-generous, oh-so-good friends the Democrats? In Santa’s workshop this year, the Democrats in Congress have, let’s see: (1) attempted to raise entitlement spending by $179 billion; (2) tried to add $300 billion to the deficit over the next decade through 11,351 pork-barrel projects (such as the millions Hillary Clinton sought for a proposed museum to the Woodstock Nation on property owned by a billionaire Clinton donor); and (3) sought to add $98 billion in news taxes over the next 10 years. (READ MORE)

Jay Tea: A Little Morning Heresy - In my recent theological explorations, I've encountered a certain mentality among the more evangelically-minded -- their faith is so strong, so absolute, that nothing can shake it. But their subject of faith isn't God, but the environment. The agnostic in me gets its rankles up when I'm told that certain things are simply indisputable, beyond question, and cannot be argued with. That seems to be the attitude a lot of people have in regards to global warming. (READ MORE)

Jim Addison: McCain, Drudge, and the NYT - The Drudge Report is headlining a leaked New York Times story alleging Senator John McCain gave "special treatment" to a lobbyist for the telecommunications industry at some unspecified point in the past (presumably while he was Chairman of the committee overseeing that legislation). No details are yet available, but part of the Drudge story is that the McCain campaign, and the Senator himself, has urged NYT Editor Bill Keller not to run the story. McCain himself confirms contact, but denies they are "in talks" with the paper. (READ MORE)

DJ Drummond: The American Imperative - The mainstream media was long ago identified as an enemy of the Conservative Movement in the United States. So it should be no surprise that whenever an opportunity arises to disrupt the Republican Party to the advantage of Liberals, the media is quick and eager to assist in that mischief. This, in sum, is the media's reason for their fascination with Congressman Ron Paul's candidacy, the perverse hope that casting him as a true Conservative will split the Republican vote and assist the Democrats' candidate in claiming the White House. (READ MORE)

The Belmont Club: Winning ways - Clint Watts, a former US Army Infantry Officer, FBI Special Agent and Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point argues against slavishly reproducing the tactics that have been so successful in Anbar in Afghanistan. The U.S. is correct to seize upon any opportunity to dislodge al-Qa’ida from Pakistan’s tribal regions, especially if it involves the use of surrogates. However, it should not use a blanket strategy of alliances with al-Qa’ida’s hosts if the social, cultural and geographic conditions make its chances of success unlikely. If it does, U.S. forces might be the ones entangled, stretched logistically, and in conflict with the local ideology. As al-Qa’ida in Somalia and Iraq has learned, this is a bad place to be. (READ MORE)

Ed Morrissey: Congressional Dems Want Surrender On Surrender - Congressional Democrats have finally tired of fighting for surrender and will pressure Nancy Pelosi to end the battles over Iraq war funding. The Politico reports that Pelosi and Harry Reid haven't gotten the message yet, even with the fatigue clearly showing in their latest efforts to block war funding without strings attached: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, despite their pledges to continue pushing to end the war in Iraq, face growing pressure from their rank-and-file Democrats to focus more attention on domestic, 'pocketbook' issues in the upcoming election year." (READ MORE)

Don Surber: Go CFLs - Marketplace economics includes supply, not just demand - The new energy bill passed by Congress and signed by the president includes the phase out of the incandescent lamp after 125 years of service. Well, it had a nice run. Telegraphs are gone. Crank telephones are gone. This is not the 1890s. Some conservatives are crying foul. Marketplace economics! Marketplace economics! Marketplace economics! The phrase is shouted like Gomer Pyle screaming “Citizens arrest!” at Barney Fife’s patrol car. Sam Kazman of the American Spectator wrote wistfully of Thomas Edison’s invention, and made 5 get-a-horse arguments against these new-fangled contraptions. (READ MORE)

McQ: Radical Islam - the goal - It's probably not the clearest statement of the goal, but then many others belonging to radical Islamic factions have said basically the same thing. There is a part of Islam, a radical faction, which wants world-wide Islamic control to become a reality. Per Jihad Watch, the latest announcement of such a goal comes from our good friend President Ahmadinejad in Iran in a statement he made in Saudi Arabia: “IRI President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Wednesday on Al-Adha Eid Day in Saudi Arabia [that the] philosophy of Haj can be defined merely through considering Islam's aim at establishment of a global government.” (READ MORE)

John Hawkins: On The Nature Of Ron Paul's Support - One of the stories that's really circulating in the blogosphere right now is about Ron Paul's ties to white power and Nazi groups. Here's what you have to understand about Ron Paul: once you get beyond the anti-war libs who like him because he wants to leave Iraq immediately and a few mainstream conservatives with little "l" Libertarian leanings, his support is made up mostly of people who are on the fringes on politics. They're anti-war paleocons, Big "L" libertarians, truthers, the North American Union crowd, and other people who are generally ignored by mainstream politicians. (READ MORE)

Ilya Somin: Political Ignorance and the Iowa Caucuses - One of the underanalyzed questions in the current presidential election is the extent to which the results are likely to be influenced by political ignorance. In general, primary voters are likely to be better-informed than the average citizen, and caucus goers even more so (because attendance at a caucus requires a much higher investment of time and effort and therefore tends to draw more committed voters with a higher level of interest in politics). Nonetheless, this recent Des Moines Register poll of likely Iowa caucus voters suggests that ignorance may well have a major impact even in the election with perhaps the country's best-informed voters. The poll asked "likely" participants in the Republican and Democratic Iowa Caucuses whether they believe they need more information about 19 major issues in the campaign. (READ MORE)

Winds of Change: US Army Refuses to Give Soldiers Rifles that Won't Jam in Combat - It seemed like a routine request. Order more M4 carbines for US forces in the pending FY 2007 supplemental, FY 2008 budget, and FY 2008 supplemental funding bills. It has turned into anything but a routine exercise, however - with serving soldiers, journalists, and Senators casting a very critical eye on the effort and the rifle, and demanding open competition. With requests amounting to $375 million for weapons and $150 million in accessories, they say, the Army's proposal amounts to an effort to replace the M16 as the USA's primary battle rifle - using specifications that are around 15 years old, without a competition, and without considering whether better 5.56 mm alternatives might be available off the shelf. (READ MORE)

The Tygrrr Express: General Petraeus and the CAIR Bears - Although Time Magazine has not been relevant for a couple decades, their “Person of the Year” award is a clever marketing tool that allows the magazine to convince people once a year that people actually read the thing. Long known as a liberal shill, U.S. News and World Report left it in the dust by making the revolutionary decision to actually report the news (hence the title) rather than editorialize it. In the great tradition of the Academy Awards and the Nobel Peace Prize, The Person of the Year is another way of crowning somebody on the political left. The only time anybody right of center can win is under situations so calamitous that pressure mandates it. (READ MORE)

Paul Mirengoff: Washington Post fires latest front page salvo against Israel - The reliably anti-Israel Washington Post features a front page story today about the "isolation and exclusion" of Israel's Arab citizens. It begins with a portrait of a young Arab-Israeli couple. We learn that they were educated at a prestigious art and architecture academy in Jerusalem and live in "an airy," stylishly furnished house in the Galilee. They have many Jewish friends with whom they take vacations. However, their application to live in a new community of 150 families on state land was rejected, and they seem to have good reason to believe this was due to the fact that they are Arabs. In response, they have filed a complaint of discrimination. Meanwhile, Arab members of the Jewish parliament, working with the Jewish majority in that body, have mandated the construction of a new city in the area for Arabs. (READ MORE)

Charlie Munn: Where for Art Thou, NATO? - Afghanistan was made a NATO mission ala Kosovo, in the hopes that the countries of the world would pitch in and send troops, easing the burden on the US, increasing cooperation between militaries, and joining in protecting against a security threat to the world. First, we got caveats: “The restrictions, also called caveats, vary and are imposed by governments who fear casualties or don't agree with all parts of the mission. Other caveats are due to a lack of training or equipment.” Most specific countries’ caveats are classified, but they generally include issues such as not fighting at night, not using crowd control weapons, not responding to local security incidents, and not participating in extended patrols. Now, caveats seem to have been dispensed with in favor of just not any sending troops: (READ MORE)

Michelle Malkin: Open borders principal: “We’ve been bloggercized” - Hey, remember that Open Borders 101 high school course I blogged about last week–where the students put themselves in an illegal alien’s shoes and were taught how to evade the law and cook up schemes to fraudulently gain legal status, but were never taught to put themselves in the shoes of anyone who has a dissenting perspective on illegal immigration? Well, the school has responded to the Internet backlash. They’re standing by the propagandizing teacher. Via the Columbus Dispatch: (READ MORE)

Amy Proctor: (VIDEO) 266 Soldiers From One Unit ReEnlist in Baghdad - Ten months into their 15 month deployment in Iraq, 266 soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division in Baghdad were sworn in by Chief of Staff GEN Casey in a mass re-enlistment ceremony in one of Saddam’s old palaces. One of the soldiers, SPC Michael Lee, said: “I feel great. I feel honored to be re-enlisting right now. It’s about my second one (re-enlistment), so I feel like I could try to make this a career.” (READ MORE)

Quid Nimis: A Picture, As They Say... - According to an article at Nola.com, there are currently plenty of public housing units to meet demand. Nevertheless, some city council members are resisting the demolition of Katrina-damaged buildings because the mixed-use area that would replace them reduces the number of public housing units to about a third of what it was in the antedeluvial New Orleans. It's politics, of course- people aren't moving back and it isn't really because the government hasn't made it attractive enough to move back. Even the government can't raise NOLa twenty feet above sea level. But all of this back and forth isn't nearly as interesting as the picture some subversive editor decided to include with the story, here with the actual caption: (READ MORE)

Jihad Watch: "Allah willing, we will reach America....The eyes of the nation of Muhammad are set on Washington, London, Moscow, Paris, Delhi, Beijing, and other countries" - Note the references to the necessity to imitate Muhammad's example. Will CAIR issue a response to this? Will other Muslims who claim that Islam has no expansionist agenda? What do you think? "Leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan: 'Allah Willing, America Will Soon Be Annihilated… We Will Reach America… The Eyes of the Nation of Muhammad are set on Washington, London, Moscow, Paris, Delhi, Beijing,'" from MEMRI: (READ MORE)

Susan Katz Keating: This Just In Re the CIA Interrogation Tapes - Keep an eye on the District of Columbia court filings this afternoon. I have it on excellent authority that the James Madison Project plans to file a lawsuit today aimed at lighting a fire under the tailbones of the info-guardians at CIA. The folks at James Madison - an anti-secrecy nonprofit organization - want to compel the Central Intelligence Agency to speed up the processing of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking release of documents pertaining to the destruction of terrorist interrogation videotapes. Got that? The James Madison group, under the stewardship of director Mark Zaid, wants to know why and how the CIA got rid of those tapes. The group wants the CIA to tell the truth and be quick about it. (READ MORE)

Have an interesting post or know of a "must read?" Then send a trackback here and let us all know about it. Or you can send me an email with a link to the post and I'll update the Recon.

Protecting the Memory of our Fallen from Political Manipulation

A reminder.

If anyone is in Gwinnett County, GA today please stop by and voice your opposition to the
Special December Iraq Moratorium Event - Eyes Wide Open: Cost of War to Georgia - that takes place today December 20 at 4–6 pm.

Our silence to their misuse of the names of our fallen heroes can not be allowed, this is a political membership drive and an anti-war rally not a tribute to the troops as some would like to believe. Do not allow their politics to sully the memory of our fallen.

If anyone is there and can take pictures of the event, and would not mind sharing, I'd very much like to obtain a copy of your digital photos.

Thank you.

Anti-Christmas Oklahoma UPDATED

Well, apparantly you can make this stuff up.

Ed Morrissey notes that he called the office of the OK AG to verify the claim he found:

I'm putting this at the top because early callers to the AG's office claims this isn't true, and they are wishing people a Merry Christmas when greeting callers. So I called there myself, and spoke with Emily Lang, spokesperson for the AG. Ms Lang confirms that they are greeting callers with "Merry Christmas" as a means of refuting this story. AG Edmundson did not issue this order, she insists; they are checking with assistant AGs to see if the advisory ever existed at all. At any rate, the AG does not believe state workers should refrain from Christmas greetings.
Ms. Lang wants people to know that they have a Christmas tree in the office, and hopes everyone has a Merry Christmas.

That's a relief.

[Original post below]

Will was right, when he wrote: "The first thing we must do is kill all the lawyers.."

Mark Tapscott is reporting that Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson has banned the use of the word Christmas at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. You really can't just make this stuff up.

Now the Okie Napoleon is banning 'Christmas'
Oklahoma attorney general Drew Edmondson drew national scorn earlier this year when he arrested Paul Jacob of the Sam Adams Alliance and two colleagues on trumped-up charges that they violated a discredited state law requiring all circulators of initiative petititons in Sooner Land to be residents.

Now the Okie Napoleon is banning Christmas!

I am not making this up (because I am from Oklahoma and this guy is an Embarrassment).

Edmondson issued an advisory opinion to officials at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford advising them that the word "Christmas" should not be spoken by any employee of the state school, not written in any official holiday decorations.

Read it all....

Is it the meaning of the season that scares these people or is it something else entirely? Are the non-believers so afraid tht their non-beliefs will be challenged by a simple greeting that they can't even bear to the word for fear that they might be "saved?"

Cricky its insanity!

Merry Christmas y'all!

UPDATE 2: Did he or Didn't He?

Web Reconnaissance for 12/20/2007

A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.


In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
Key Setbacks Dim Luster of Democrats' Year - The first Democratic-led Congress in a dozen years limped out of Washington last night with a lengthy list of accomplishments, from the first increase in fuel-efficiency standards in a generation to the first minimum-wage hike in a decade. (READ MORE)

A Reading Program's Powerful Patron - When Congress decided to appropriate $2 million in fall 2001 to help D.C. kindergartners and first-graders learn to read, city school officials were told that the money could be spent only on the Voyager Expanded Learning literacy program, a new product with virtually no track record. (READ MORE)

Sanctions Against Cuba Are Excessive, GAO Says - U.S. sanctions against Cuba are more restrictive than those imposed on any other country, including Iran and North Korea, and their rigorous enforcement risks diverting government attention from higher-priority counterterrorism tasks, a new government audit has found. (READ MORE)

For Israel's Arab Citizens, Isolation and Exclusion - KARMIEL, Israel -- Fatina and Ahmad Zubeidat, young Arab citizens of Israel, met on the first day of class at the prestigious Bezalel arts and architecture academy in Jerusalem. Married last year, the couple rents an airy house here in the Galilee filled with stylish furniture... (READ MORE)

Another Bush Tax Cut - Nancy Pelosi and her fellow House Democrats surrendered to reality yesterday, grudgingly handing President Bush and taxpayers another victory. They finally passed a one-year "patch" that will prevent the Alternative Minimum Tax from hitting some 22 million middle-class Americans when they file their 2007 tax returns next year. (READ MORE)

The End of Earmarks? - For those of us fated to watch annual State of the Union addresses, the most entertaining moments are when the Members all rise to cheer and applaud a Presidential statement they know is popular but they also know will never happen. Such a moment occurred in January, when President Bush declared: (READ MORE)

Bush and Bushehr - After a year's delay, Russia announced this week -- with President Bush's odd endorsement -- that it will begin supplying 80 tons of uranium for the nuclear reactor it has built for Iran in the port city of Bushehr. We've been here before. (READ MORE)

House OKs Spending Bill - The Democrat-led House yesterday gave final approval to a $555 billion bill to fund the federal government, ending a long budget battle by buckling to President Bush's demand for war funds and to his spending limit. (READ MORE)

Virginia Groups Unite Against Illegals - Seven grass-roots organizations across Virginia have joined together to form a statewide coalition to lobby state officials for tougher enforcement of immigration laws. (READ MORE)

S. Korean Conservative in Landslide - Conservatives stormed back into power ending a decade of liberal government in South Korea yesterday, achieving an overwhelming victory in a presidential election. (READ MORE)

Doctors Who Fail to Advise Held Liable - A Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling that holds doctors responsible for failing to warn patients about the side effects of the drugs they prescribe exposes medical professionals nationwide to a new and costly wave of lawsuits. (READ MORE)

'Daft' Britons Harness Santa, Clip Angels' Wings - The Christmas season in Britain has fallen victim to an army of government health and safety "Scrooges," who have outlawed certain Christmas decorations and banned angels' wings from a Christmas pageant as a fire hazard. (READ MORE)



From the Front:
ON Point: 3rd LAR in the Desert - Pepperoni or sausage? Regular or super-sized? Six-inch or foot-long? These are just some of the “tough” decisions Marines at Al-Asad face on a daily basis. Currently the largest U.S. military installation in Al Anbar Province, this former Iraqi airbase is anything but rustic. Al- Asad boasts a variety of creature comforts, including: in-room cable TV and internet, multiple souvenir shops and an Olympic-sized indoor swimming pool. People don’t call it ‘Camp Cupcake’ for nothing. For the Marines of Bravo Company, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, however, life is a little different. Contrary to popular belief, not all deployments are created equal. (READ MORE)

Sergeant Grumpy: Runnin' and Gunnin' - OK, I am officially NEVER going to write NSTR or "same ole' shit" again! The day after I posted Update:NSTR, all hell broke loose here. A very important someone was assassinated by an EFP here, and within a few hours everyone in the city with a gun was firing it into the air. The base defense guys were freaked out and more than a few bullets fell on the ground near people inside the base. Timing being what it is for me, we were nearby when it happened and were one of the first American units to respond. (READ MORE)

Lt. Nixon Rants: Torture House found in Diyala Province and Why Al-Qaeda must be Exterminated - Diyala Province has certainly seen it's share of terrorist atrocities and violence wrought by Al-Qaeda. This includes suicide bombings, extra-judicial killings by Al-Qaeda courts, and insurgent activity. But the torture house recently discovered by Coalition Forces north of Muqdadiyah takes the cake. CNN has the story here. Liveleak has the video here (H/T to McClatchy Watch for getting the Liveleak Link). This is not for the faint of heart, but sadly this is the reality of Al-Qaeda caliphate. You can see a transcript of an interview with an Al-Qaeda operative, Jawhar Shehada, that aired on Al-Arabiya a few weeks back (H/T IraqiMojo) to get an idea into the demented mindset. (READ MORE)

IraqPundit: Iraqis Take Back the Streets - "Who's winning?" Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid asked a group of reporters. "Big Oil, Big Tobacco. ... Al Qaeda has regrouped and is able to fight a civil war in Iraq. ... The American people are losing." Maybe you need a new prescription for your glasses, Harry. Talk with your fellow Democrats to see who might be losing. You should see what Gen. Petraeus and his troops have achieved in Iraq. Even the leftist Guardian newspaper can see it and is hopeful: (READ MORE)

From an Anthropological Perspective: Professors Killed in Iraq - I was sitting in the evening Battle Update Assessment last night and heard the unfortunate news that an economics professor was killed at around 1am yesterday morning. He was heading to his car and was shot in the head with a pistol using a silencer. An Iraqi Police checkpoint was 100 meters away and they heard and saw nothing. This tragedy adds to the numerous other professors who have been killed since 2003, as the following news story covers about yet another professor killed. (READ MORE)

Badger 6: Who is Deploying? - Interesting stats in Stars and Stripes from a few days ago, sorry I could not find the link. According to US Army Human Resources Command there are 515,000 Active Duty Soldiers. 200,000 have one combat tour. 70,000 have two combat tours. 15,000 have three or more tours. 59.5% of enlisted personnel have deployed. 62% of officers have deployed. 40.6% of the Active Duty Army has not deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. They break down this way. (READ MORE)



On the Web:
Andrew Ferguson: Man of Letters - I don't think I'm giving away any trade secrets when I say that, in many magazines, the letters page is not quite what it appears to be. The ruse is less noticeable in daily newspapers (particularly this one!), where the editors rely on feedback from their readers and labor to put together a letters page that lets off steam even as it provides genuine interest. It's a different story, though, in the high-end glossies, the ones that are fat with ads and self-regard. (READ MORE)

Daniel Henninger: I'm Sorry, So Sorry - "After the debate today, I went to Mitt Romney and apologized to him." --Mike Huckabee, 2007 "I'm sorry, so sorry. Please accept my apology." --Brenda Lee, 1960 Whose apology would you take as more sincere--Pastor Huckabee's or Brenda Lee's? An apology stood for something back when Brenda Lee admitted, "That don't right the wrong that's been done." But now? We live in an era of apology hyperinflation, with wrongs and apologies a dime a dozen. As happens in most inflations, the value of "I'm sorry" has fallen. (READ MORE)

Karl Rove: The Endless Campaign - The Iowa caucuses are 14 days away, with the New Hampshire primary five days later. And what follows from there won't be pretty. The way Americans are selecting our presidential candidates in 2008 is, frankly, a mess. The first problem is the overall length of the campaign. There are few more demanding physical activities than running for president, other than military training or athletics at a very high level--and this will be the longest presidential contest on record. The first candidate this season announced Dec. 12, 2006; virtually all the Democrats declared by late January, and almost every Republican by mid-March. (READ MORE)

Douglas MacKinnon: Can I Keep My Guns In The New Country of “Jefferson?” - Does anyone really care about “traditional values” anymore? Does anyone really care if the word “Christmas” is expunged from our national vocabulary? Does anyone really care if the United States of America remains a sovereign nation with secure borders? Does anyone really care that upwards of half a million people per year are crossing into our nation illegally? Does anyone really care that among that massive and uncontrollable number, are Islamic terrorists bent on our destruction? (READ MORE)

Rebecca Hagelin: The Power of Words - Imagine a university where you could hear some of the best and brightest minds on a regular basis. Your faculty would include generals and attorneys general, public intellectuals and best-selling authors, dissidents and former political prisoners. In your classroom, you could question prime ministers and Nobel Laureates, members of Congress, cabinet secretaries and Supreme Court justices. Occasionally, the president and vice president would come by to make major policy statements. And it wouldn’t cost you a penny. (READ MORE)

Mitt Romney: America's President Deserves Thanks And Respect - As Americans prepare for the holidays with their families and loved ones, we have many challenges to face but also many reasons to be thankful. We are thankful we live in a nation that is still a land of freedom, hope and opportunity. And we can be thankful that President Bush has kept us safe. Too often our politicians in Washington and on the campaign trail seem to have forgotten this simple fact. (READ MORE)

David R. Stokes: Gore, Putin... and Jesus - Poor Al Gore, December is just not his month. First he loses a nail-biter to George W. Bush, that wound reopened slightly a few days ago with the December 12th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s ruling that gave the presidential nod to Bush. And now, in another pre-Christmas let down, the former Vice President finds himself a mere bridesmaid again as runner up to another winner. Never mind an academy award for his movie “AN INCOHERENT…” …er…I mean “An INCONVENIENT Truth” – and also ignoring the fact that he is indeed a NOBEL PRIZE winner (and don’t forget his legendary invention of the internet and being the inspiration for the iconic 70’s movie “LOVE STORY”). (READ MORE)

Victor Davis Hanson: The Clinton Albatross - If polls are accurate, Sen. Hillary Clinton’s once-sure bid for the Democratic presidential nomination is now not so sure. Her wide lead vanished without warning in Iowa and New Hampshire — and maybe elsewhere as well. Was it due to her waffling on issues like the Iraq war and driver’s licenses for illegal aliens? Or was her campaign too smug — like that of similarly sputtering Republican front-runner Rudy Giuliani — assuming she should be coronated by the polls and media rather than having to fight for the nomination tooth and nail? (READ MORE)

Steve Chapman: 2007: Damming the Flow of Freedom - For a few years in the 1980s and 1990s, the world was changing for the better and seemingly destined to keep doing so indefinitely. Back then, freedom resembled justice as described in the Bible -- rolling down like waters. But in the last few years various governments have managed to dam it up, and in some cases, like the engineers who manipulated the Chicago River in 1900, even reverse the flow. Between 1990 and 1997, the number of democracies in the world rose from 69 to 118, according to the human rights group Freedom House. (READ MORE)

William Rusher: How Dependable is 'Intelligence'? - Let's pretend for a minute that you are the president of the United States, and that this is 2012. An aide walks into the Oval Office and lays on your desk a memorandum from the CIA. It reports that, according to a trusted agent in Iran, the mullahs have succeeded in developing nuclear weapons. What's more, they have managed to conceal one such weapon in each of three American cities -- Washington, New York and Los Angeles -- and in 12 hours will announce an intention to detonate them simultaneously if the United States interferes with an attack Iran plans to launch against Saudi Arabia 24 hours from right now. (READ MORE)

Donald Lambro: For Congress, It's Business as Usual - WASHINGTON -- Thousands of pork-filled giveaways have been stuffed into a bloated, end-of-the-year spending bill working its way through Congress this week. Practicing a dead-of-night thievery long associated with big budget bills, the Democratic House leadership released this 1,482-page monstrosity in the wee hours of Monday morning and quickly scheduled floor debate by 6 p.m. that same day. That left budget cutters scant time to uncover how much fiscal skullduggery their colleagues had perpetrated. (READ MORE)

Marvin Olasky: Seeing Beyond Politics - It's important to care about politics. It's even more important not to care deeply. As Gutenberg College professor Charles Dewberry notes, "If politics can fix a problem, then Christianity is a lie." Christianity isn't about politics. It's about a miracle. "Rejoice! Rejoice!" the Christmas carol declares. "Emmanuel shall come to thee, O captive Israel." Hmm ... when do people rejoice? I've been to baseball games where the home team clenched the lead and held on for a slim victory; that brought sighs of relief, but not rejoicing. (READ MORE)

Larry Elder: How To Make an Un-Level Playing Field More Un-Level - Move over, Martin Luther King Jr., and your desire for a colorblind society. The University of California system prefers a color-coordinated one. UC's Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS) wants to change the admission rules to their 10 schools, including lowering the minimum high school GPA to 2.8 and removing the requirement of two SAT Subject Tests. Current policy makes the top 12.5 percent of each senior class -- based on a minimum 3.0 GPA, their scores on either the SAT Reasoning Test or the ACT with Writing, and their scores on two SAT Subject Tests -- eligible for admission to a UC school. (READ MORE)

Rich Galen: Good News For the GOP - There has been very good news for the GOP over the past few weeks, which has gone unnoticed in the laser focus on the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. You may have noted a recurring theme in the Popular Press: How the disillusion, disappointment, disenchantment and dissatisfaction among Republican voters with the GOP is likely to lead to the end of the Republican Party as we know it. (READ MORE)

Jordan W.: Iraq is Not a Model - The debate about the Iraq War is not internally consistent: there is no agreement on the proper parameters of judgment. Overlapping debates rage about momentum (whether we're "winning"), the shape of our ultimate goals, "victory", the importance of any current success or failure, and the accuracy and/or significance of various costs and benefits for Iraq's inhabitants. Beneath this superficial confusion lies a deeper confusion, stemming from Iraq's dual role as both its own war, and as a leading aspect of the Global War On Terror (GWOT). While a victory in the Iraq war can be judged by its final score, we can only judge the Iraq War as a GWOT victory by tallying its consequences from beginning to end. The GWOT's ultimate metric is the prevention of terrorism, so an end state of decreased terrorism may not be a victory if it is preceded by an avoidable ten decades of increased terrorism. (READ MORE)

Rosemary Mariner: The Americanization of the Armed Forces-Entry Standards, Strength, Fitness, and Cohesion - The American military does not recruit, enlist, commission, promote, court martial, or entrust command to groups. Although the demonstrated ability to work well within a group is important to unit readiness, especially on the tactical level, selection and performance are ultimately individual functions. The emphasis on individual qualification starts with the recruiting process. The definition of a high quality recruit includes brains and health, but not brawn. Entry level standards have been gender neutral since the 1970s. In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, when male propensity to enlist was at a low, high quality female recruits were essential to maintaining the quality of the volunteer force. (READ MORE)

Cassandra: Sky Soldiers - It is called, with a dash of American irony, Camp Blessing: an isolated outpost teetering on the edge of what the media like to call America's forgotten war. But though the living conditions may be a bit rough and the location remote, a feature piece from October of 2005 makes it clear the odd sounding name is well deserved: “‘We do our best to make ourselves parts of the community out here since we’re so far away from other bases,’ said 1st Lt. Patrick E. Kinser, assault force commander, from Jonesville, Va. ‘We’ve established such a relationship with the local population that when we get attacked they get upset.’” (READ MORE)

ShrinkWrapped: Option 6 - In my last post, I quoted Hillel Halkin suggesting that if Israel's current options fail, it will be time for Option 6. I believe Option 6 is closer than people suspect. Many agree that for the near term Israel is facing the most dangerous time in its history. The next few years are likely to include an ongoing evolving existential threat from Iranian nuclear weapons coupled with emboldened and enhanced terror attacks from the North and South. Israel has developed a successful approach to minimizing suicide bombers but has not yet perfected a tactical or strategic approach to the rockets, and eventuallythe missiles sure to be launched against its citizens from close to its borders. (READ MORE)

McQ: Hillary and Harry - Denying is easier than reality - The dynamic duo just keep on denying what is happening in Iraq. One would think that even the most cynical of their supporters would understand that the January talking points are no longer valid in December. Said Clinton: “As I have said before, I cannot and will not support continuing to fund a flawed and failed strategy in Iraq. I was proud to be a co-sponsor of an amendment offered by Sens. Russ Feingold and Harry Reid that would require the President to safely redeploy U.S. troops from Iraq within nine months after which funding for military operations in Iraq would be terminated.” (READ MORE)

Bill Roggio: Iranian Qods Force still active in Iraq - With a sharp reduction in the deadly landmine attacks used by the Iranian-backed Shia terrorists known as the Special Groups, a debate has raged over whether Iran has worked to reduce the number of attacks inside Iraq. The newly released Department of Defensereport, Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq, refutes the notion that Iran has eased the pressure. In fact, the report states that Iran has continued to fund, arm, and train the Special Groups fighters bound for Iraq, despite a pledge by Iran's president. (READ MORE)

Neptunus Lex: Chickens and roosts - Back in September I mentioned that my antennae were a-twitch over the story of two special forces soldiers brought up on murder charges for the shooting of a declared enemy combatant. Turns out the same general officer pushing for their prosecution - despite the fact that the army’s criminal investigation command found them faultless - was responsible for unceremoniously kicking a Marine Force Recon company out of Afghanistan half way through an investigation into a shooting they were involved in there. (READ MORE)

Matt Dupee: Northwestern Afghanistan: Badghis province seeks security, revitalization - The persistent fighting and terrorist activity in southern Afghanistan has slowly crept into the western and northwestern provinces of Herat, Faryab, and Badghis. Random suicide bombings have struck most of the northern provinces since the spring of 2007, raising fears that the Taliban have effectively opened a northern front. The unprecedented suicide bombing attack in northern Baghlan province last month -- which killed 59 school children, five of their teachers, and six visiting Parliamentarians -- further jeopardized the future of northern Afghanistan’s security. (READ MORE)

Jules Crittenden: Sadr To Stay On The Sidelines - Not because he’s cheering anything on, more likely he knows he’d get crushed if he made a move on the field. Reuters: “Iraqi Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is considering extending a freeze on the activities of his powerful Mehdi Army militia, his official spokesman said. ‘Yes, there is a chance that the freeze on the Mehdi Army will be extended,’ Salah al-Ubaidy told Reuters late on Wednesday.” (READ MORE)

Don Surber: Iraquagmire - Democrats wasted control of the 110th Congress with constant votes on Iraq. When the first public opinion poll came out in January that showed Pelosi was rated favorable by the same percent who rated Bush favorably, I goofed on it only to be told well, her unfavorables are much lower. I thought give her time. I could not imagine that under Democratic control, congressional approval would drop like a stone on a featherbed. (READ MORE)

The Captain's Journal: Man of the Year - Time has named Vladimir Putin person of the year. George W. Bush looked the man in the eye and found him to be “very straightforward and trustworthy.” On the other hand, I look Putin in the eye and see Lucifer. Obviously, since he is fond of assassinating people by administering lethal doses of Polonium-210, he is not the choice of The Captain’s Journal for man of the year (we have jettisoned the gender-neutral “person” of the year moniker as stupid). There are powerful arguments for General David Petraeus for man of the year. But even Petraeus doesn’t make it to the top of the list. Who then do we advocate for man of the year? He is Corporal Raymond D. Hennagir. (READ MORE)

The Belmont Club: Corrupted sight - The NYT has details on the complaint against Bilal Hussein, the Pulitzer-Prize winning AP photojournalist who has been detained for 20 months in Iraq. (Hat tip: Tigerhawk) “A spokesman for the military said that Mr. Hussein had been detained as ‘an imperative security threat’ and that he has persistently been ‘treated fairly, humanely and in accordance with all applicable law.’ In a lengthy e-mail message, the spokesman said that Mr. Hussein had been named by ‘sources’ as having ‘possessed foreknowledge of an improvised explosive device (I.E.D.) attack’ on American and Iraqi forces, ‘that he was standing next to the I.E.D. triggerman at the time of the attempted attack, and that he conspired with the I.E.D. triggerman to synchronize his photograph with the explosion.’” (READ MORE)

Ace of Spades: Gun Control Bill Passes Congress - The final form of what some had labeled the "Veterans Disarmament Act" passed both the House and the Senate today after adjustments to reassure my senator, Tom Coburn, that veterans would not be unjustly denied gun ownership. The law's official title is the NICS Improvement Act of 2007. “Prompted by the Virginia Tech University shootings, Congress yesterday approved legislation that would help states more quickly and accurately identify potential firearms buyers with mental health problems that disqualify them from gun ownership under federal law.” (READ MORE)

Lawhawk: Palestinian Terrorist Rocket War Continues - The Palestinian terrorists continue their rocket war against Israel, and Israeli officials acknowledge that they simply do not have any defense against the rockets even as one landed near a school in Sderot. “Israel's ability to counter and deal with the threat of Kassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip is limited and almost non-existent, Chief Intelligence Officer Brig.-Gen. Yuval Halamish, said Thursday.” (READ MORE)

Wolf Pangloss: Karzai prays for the Taliban on Eid al-Adha - It is time for some news from the Far End of the World, the region that touches the sky where the Pashtun tribes live between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Karzai prayed for the Taliban today. ‘Today … is a day we should remember those families who have lost loved ones in different terrorist acts like bombs and suicide attacks,’ Karzai said after prayers to mark the Eid al-Adha Muslim festival.’Today I also ask forgiveness from God for those Afghans who have been killed in the fight against the homeland if they are Taliban or otherwise,’ he said.” Karzai also chided the USA for fighting terrorists in Afghanistan. (READ MORE)

Meryl Yourish: Painting Israel as the villain, again - The AP spins the death of two more Palestinian terrorists as anti-Israel as possible. “Israeli Troops Kill Palestinian Gunmen” Note that in a headline dealing with dead terrorists, the active voice is always used, and Israel or the IDF are always blamed. Remember that when Palestinian terrorists kill Israeli civilians with “crude, homemade rockets,” the headline often states that the rockets killed the Israelis. Palestinians are almost never held responsible. “Israeli troops killed at least two Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, a day after rejecting an unofficial truce offer from the besieged Hamas rulers of the coastal territory.” (READ MORE)

TF Boggs: So What Now? - If you have read my blog over the past few years you already know that I am not the biggest fan of the mainstream media. For those few new readers my dislike for the MSM started when I returned home from my first tour and saw Dan Rather misrepresent the military at Abu Gharib. I had been at Abu Gharib and had many friends there and knew that the first "breaking" report about the prison was way overblown. Moving forward three years, a friend of mine and new reader of my blog, asked me to read a portion of Anderson Cooper`s autobiography "Dispatches From The Edge". As an anchor for CNN Anderson has been pretty much everywhere and seen pretty much everything, or at least that is what the jacket cover says. Skipping all the crap that I didn`t read in order to get to the stuff that I`ll discuss let`s move to page 60. (READ MORE)

Heading Right: Guess Who Gave Millions To The Clintons? - The Clintons have long kept hidden the identities of the donors to their foundation, and now we know why. The New York Times finally got a look at the books, and they discovered millions of dollars coming from people with a lot to lose during the Clinton administration. Shockingly, the pace of donations has accelerated as Hillary comes closer to winning the Democratic presidential nomination: “But an examination of the foundation demonstrates how its fund-raising has at times fostered the potential for conflict. The New York Times has compiled the first comprehensive list of 97 donors who gave or pledged a total of $69 million for the Clinton presidential library in the final years of the Clinton administration. The examination found that while some $1 million contributors were longtime Clinton friends, others were seeking policy changes from the administration. Two pledged $1 million each while they or their companies were under investigation by the Justice Department.” (READ MORE)

Dymphna: Stop the Jihad! I Want to Get Off - We’re talking prison conversion experience here: “One of Al Qaeda’s senior theologians is calling on his followers to end their military jihad and saying the attacks of September 11, 2001, were a ‘catastrophe for all Muslims.’ In a serialized manifesto written from prison in Egypt, Sayyed Imam al-Sharif is blasting Osama bin Laden for deceiving the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, and for insulting the Prophet Muhammad by comparing the September 11 attacks to the early raids of the Ansar warriors. The lapsed jihadist even calls for the formation of a special Islamic court to try Osama bin Laden and his old comrade Ayman al-Zawahri.” (READ MORE)

Chuck Z.: Sorry, Corky – “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” There are no provisos, no "for the purpose of's" in there. The people have the right to keep and bear arms, period. A well-regulated militia is necessary for the security of the United States. Given the volumes of regulations that pertain to our various armed forces, and even moreso to the national guard and reserves, the argument is easily made that they are in fact NOT well-regulated. The abundance of rules and regulations is so vast that no person or entity can possibly know every intricate detail. Thus the application of such regulations can only be made by those who know a piece, but not the totality, of the regulations. Kinda like the supreme court only knowing half of the constitution... wait, I'm being redundant. (READ MORE)

Diary Of A Hollywood Refugee: Stand Beside Mark Steyn - I have read and own a copy of Mark Steyn's "America Alone". Will Faisel Joseph, the Canadian Islamic Council, Khurrum Awan, & Naseem Mithoowani try to sue me for reading it and disagreeing with their bogus assessment that it is "islamaphobic" in nature? Will the Canadian Human Rights Council come after me? “Naseem Mithoowani, one of the Osgoode Hall law students bringing forward the complaint, said the article was one of a series of articles offensive to Muslims.” (READ MORE)

Dadmanly: Christian Intolerance - I’m not sure who Harold Meyerson more offends in his Washington Post hate-screed against a “Christianized GOP,” Republicans or Christians. He clearly slanders both. It is no surprise or new development that liberals and others devoted to the Secular faith take every opportunity to demean, degrade and demonize religious faith among their inferiors. Those who hold a pretense of Intellectualism likewise hold as a logical truism that the very tenets of faith automatically make those who adhere to such tenets intellectually and morally inferior. It’s a high minded prejudice, but prejudice just the same. (READ MORE)

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