My wife and I are on the... (ahem) lower end of the pay scale right now. And we're paying a total of ... well.... a hell of a lot more than we want to be, or should be.
And that doesn't include taxes we pay on a day-to-day basis. Gas tax. Sales tax. Go look at your phone bill, if you have a cellular phone. Taxes put over $17 worth of charges on top of the actual bill!
This country is overtaxed, ain't no doubt about it. Unless you're a communist, in which case you need to get your ass out of my country and into one of your "perfect" communist governments. May I suggest Cuba or North Korea?
Friday, April 15, 2005
Oh HELL yeah!
New ships? New designs for our fine Navy? Yes, I suppose it's all well and good, but DANEgerus favors reactivating two battleships.
By the way, everytime you say "recommission battleships" some Navy guy suddenly needs to clean out the front of his pants. And not in a bad way. You want to know why?
During the first Gulf War, the Navy brought the USS Missouri out of mothballs and put her back in service, albiet with modern upgrades. At that time, Navy recruiting offices were swarmed with retired and inactive Navy personnel stating that they would be more than willing to re-enter the service IF and ONLY IF they were put on board a battleship.
The whole reason battleships were decommissioned to begin with is because they're expensive. Ain't no lie about that. It's a floating fortress, the meanest, toughest, nastiest thing on all the Seven Seas. A carrier group obviously has more firepower, but that's made up of dozens of ships. One battleship will beat any other thing that floats every damn time, and the USA had the cream of the crop. If we put nuke engines in them and refloated them, they'd STILL be the cream of the crop. Replace the old targeting systems, upgrade their powerplant, and we would have a ship that no country on this planet would want to tangle with.
I say bring 'em back.
By the way, everytime you say "recommission battleships" some Navy guy suddenly needs to clean out the front of his pants. And not in a bad way. You want to know why?
The battleships are 10 percent faster than the still-conceptual DD(X). They each bring to bear 12 5-inch and nine 16-inch guns -- capable, with new munitions, of firing accurately to nearly 100 miles. The two battleships can also carry nearly twice as many cruise missiles as all the DD(X) hulls combined. All that firepower is available for $2 billion -- the cost of one DD(X).
During the first Gulf War, the Navy brought the USS Missouri out of mothballs and put her back in service, albiet with modern upgrades. At that time, Navy recruiting offices were swarmed with retired and inactive Navy personnel stating that they would be more than willing to re-enter the service IF and ONLY IF they were put on board a battleship.
The whole reason battleships were decommissioned to begin with is because they're expensive. Ain't no lie about that. It's a floating fortress, the meanest, toughest, nastiest thing on all the Seven Seas. A carrier group obviously has more firepower, but that's made up of dozens of ships. One battleship will beat any other thing that floats every damn time, and the USA had the cream of the crop. If we put nuke engines in them and refloated them, they'd STILL be the cream of the crop. Replace the old targeting systems, upgrade their powerplant, and we would have a ship that no country on this planet would want to tangle with.
I say bring 'em back.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Adding to Tim's Linkdump
A handy guide to the Media's liberal bias.
20 different ways in which the media exerts their bias on the USA.
20 different ways in which the media exerts their bias on the USA.
Linkdump
"I actually had two Korean War(!) veterans thank me - I could hardly stammer a reply." Greeting returning soldiers at Instapundit.
"He gave his life heroically and importantly, but it's immoral for our command not to provide our soldiers with absolutely everything they need to give them maximum protection: body armor, armored vehicles, sandbags. ... It's immoral if our soldiers are left in any way unequipped and unprotected." Senate Democrat politicizing death at PowerLine.
What was it that President Clinton called Senators who blocked votes? Oh yeah -- "Guardians of Gridlock".
"People don't want to accept that a well-educated, liberal community can have hate." Via Ann Coulter, via DANEgerus.
Dan Drezner sez: "John Bolton is right about the United Nations". As if that really matters...
And, lastly, Michael Ramirez:
"He gave his life heroically and importantly, but it's immoral for our command not to provide our soldiers with absolutely everything they need to give them maximum protection: body armor, armored vehicles, sandbags. ... It's immoral if our soldiers are left in any way unequipped and unprotected." Senate Democrat politicizing death at PowerLine.
What was it that President Clinton called Senators who blocked votes? Oh yeah -- "Guardians of Gridlock".
"People don't want to accept that a well-educated, liberal community can have hate." Via Ann Coulter, via DANEgerus.
Dan Drezner sez: "John Bolton is right about the United Nations". As if that really matters...
And, lastly, Michael Ramirez:
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
I am aghast
John Kerry is looking for letters from the family of soldiers. Not letters of pride and respect. No, that wouldn't do for the Democrats. They're looking for letters describing hardship and suffering from soldiers families.
Gee, why would an uber-liberal senator from Masshole be asking for letters of hardship and suffering?
Go read Kevin's response to John Kerry over at Drumwaster's Rants. I wish I wrote that eloquently sometimes.
Gee, why would an uber-liberal senator from Masshole be asking for letters of hardship and suffering?
Go read Kevin's response to John Kerry over at Drumwaster's Rants. I wish I wrote that eloquently sometimes.
Nailed it in one
Via Kim du Toit, (and in turn the Geek w/a .45 and Cap'n Jim) comes this article from The High Road which needs to be a must read for everyone.
This is something that people on the Left just can't comprehend. To the Left, everything would be flowers and rainbows if we just gave up our guns and said lots of nice things to each other.
Which is why I say that the Left is infantile and uncomprehending of anything resembling truth and logic.
For as long as mankind has existed, there were humans who preyed on their fellow man. Why? Who knows. Maybe mommy didn't love them enough. Maybe they didn't have any morals or standards. Perhaps they've got a wire loose and they enjoy hurting people. Who knows? But they exist, as is proven on a daily basis where ever humans congregate. Rapists, murderers, burglers, hoodlums, malcontents, ner'dowells, whatever you want to call them, they are here and they don't give two hoots and a hollar about laws, rules, ethics, morals, or any of the other miriad of things that the rest of us live by. The un-named things that make civilization work are just words to these goblins.
So how do you stop them? Knowing that they don't care about laws or rules, knowing that they don't care about anything you do or say, and knowing that they will violate any rule or concept in order to get what they want, how do you stop them?
You can't convince them or talk to them. You have to shoot them. That's an unfortunate fact of life.
One of the main reason I have a gun and belive in carrying it is this simple fact: If anyone or anything attempts to harm my family or my friends, I will wreak terrible vengance upon them.
It is that simple. If you are so morally depraved that you have no problem with assaulting or raping my wife and family, if you are so careless about rules and laws that you break into my house and attempt to steal from me, you will die. Since these criminals cannot be stopped with laws, regulations, or pretty speech, I have no option left but to either be a victim or to eliminate these people from society.
I refuse to be a victim.
Violence and brutality are as much a part of humanity as intelligence and socialization. It is the universal drive of civilization to contain these instincts, to redirect them into more productive channels, to convince people to live within a set of rules. But no matter how civilized, no society has eliminated them, nor will one. The society that forgets this is the society that falls to the barbarian hordes. The society that accepts this, and nurtures the warrior spirit away from barbarism and into the defense of the right is the society that rises to glory.
This is something that people on the Left just can't comprehend. To the Left, everything would be flowers and rainbows if we just gave up our guns and said lots of nice things to each other.
Which is why I say that the Left is infantile and uncomprehending of anything resembling truth and logic.
For as long as mankind has existed, there were humans who preyed on their fellow man. Why? Who knows. Maybe mommy didn't love them enough. Maybe they didn't have any morals or standards. Perhaps they've got a wire loose and they enjoy hurting people. Who knows? But they exist, as is proven on a daily basis where ever humans congregate. Rapists, murderers, burglers, hoodlums, malcontents, ner'dowells, whatever you want to call them, they are here and they don't give two hoots and a hollar about laws, rules, ethics, morals, or any of the other miriad of things that the rest of us live by. The un-named things that make civilization work are just words to these goblins.
So how do you stop them? Knowing that they don't care about laws or rules, knowing that they don't care about anything you do or say, and knowing that they will violate any rule or concept in order to get what they want, how do you stop them?
You can't convince them or talk to them. You have to shoot them. That's an unfortunate fact of life.
So let's talk about needs. This is what I need.
I need to protect my children from harm. I need to stop my front lawn from being a killing field. I need to be safe when I walk out my front door. The government does its part to achieve these things: the Mongol Horde isn't going to come screaming down Main Street stealing my children for slaves. No Zeroes will be strafing my front lawn. The Wehrmacht isn't going to goose-step up the walk and bayonet me when I go to work. But I need to do my part, because no one else can do it for me. No amount of governmental good intention will prevent a man from assaulting me in an alley. No divison of infnatry will stop a thug from raping my wife. No intelligence satellite will catch the man who murders my child before it happens.
What I want is to never be necessary. I devoutly hope to never see true violence, and I have so far managed to avoid even bar fights. I want to be the absolute last line of defense for me and mine, behind every person my tax money has hired to keep my community safe. But no amount of wanting will mean that I am not that last line of defense, and I need, I deserve, I demand the right to be that last line. This is the final remaining vestige of the barbarian impulse, the warrior spirit, that I possess.
One of the main reason I have a gun and belive in carrying it is this simple fact: If anyone or anything attempts to harm my family or my friends, I will wreak terrible vengance upon them.
It is that simple. If you are so morally depraved that you have no problem with assaulting or raping my wife and family, if you are so careless about rules and laws that you break into my house and attempt to steal from me, you will die. Since these criminals cannot be stopped with laws, regulations, or pretty speech, I have no option left but to either be a victim or to eliminate these people from society.
I refuse to be a victim.
Pictures! We Got Pictures!
Analog Kid has a series of photos up from his brother in law who is stationed in Iraq right now. Just in case you'd like to go look.
Series one.
Series two.
Series three.
He'll be putting up one series a day for a little bit. Go check it out.
Series one.
Series two.
Series three.
He'll be putting up one series a day for a little bit. Go check it out.
Just in case you hadn't heard
Operation Iraqi Freedom has it's first Medal of Honor awardee. Unfortunately, like most soldiers and sailors who win the MOH, it was awarded posthumously.
"No Greater Love Hath Man Than To Lay Down His Life For Another." - Headstone Inscription of a low-caste Indian (Stranger By The River Pg. 131)
The White House announced March 29 that President George W. Bush will honor Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith by presenting his family the Medal of Honor on April 4, the second anniversary of his courageous actions during the Battle of Baghdad Airport.
Smith is the first to receive the military’s highest award for actions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In action near the Baghdad Airport on April 4, 2003, Smith, a Soldier in Company B, 11th Engineer Battalion, working with units of the 3rd Infantry Division, was tasked to build a compound to hold enemy prisoners, when his small force came under attack by more than 100 enemies.
Smith threw two grenades and fired rocket launchers at the enemy before manning a .50-caliber machine gun on an M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier to protect his troops. While engaging an enemy attacking from three sides, Smith fired more than 300 rounds from the machinegun before being killed.
He prevented the enemy from overtaking his unit’s position, protected his Task Force’s flank, and defended the lives of more than 100 Soldiers, according to his award citation.
Smith was serving as a platoon sergeant in Bravo Company, 11th Engineer Battalion, Task Force 2-7, 3rd Infantry Division. He had been serving in the Army since October 1989.
"No Greater Love Hath Man Than To Lay Down His Life For Another." - Headstone Inscription of a low-caste Indian (Stranger By The River Pg. 131)
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
So anyways....
Captain's Quarters has been following the scandals up in Canada regarding the Liberal Party's corruption and other sundry problems. Most of the problems stem from something called AdScam, which the Canadian government tried to cover up without success.
Here's my train of thought: Does anyone think that things are different in the USA?
Look at modern politics. Gerrymandering, soft money, hard money, 527's vs. PAC's, lobbying (legal bribery by a different name), all manner of questionable actions are being performed by the politicians here in the USA. Tom DeLay is under fire for supposedly going on a trip with a lobbyist. Hmmmmm... when you look at the records, Nancy Pelosi and Jim McDermott did the exact same thing. Hell, Jim McDermott went on an exact same trip from the exact same group that Tom Delay went on!
The lying, the hypocrisy, the double dealing, the sheer sliminess that oozes out of Washington D.C. on a daily basis is so foul and putrid that normal people gag from the sight of it. This isn't just one party, this is in my opinion deep-seated corruption and rot of the modern political process.
Looking at the problems that the Canadian government is having, how much do people think that the USA has many of the same problems? I say that if we were to dig into the going-ons of American politicians, we'd find plenty of offenses. We just either can't see it or are prevented from digging far enough to expose it.
Anyone else want to give their opinion?
Here's my train of thought: Does anyone think that things are different in the USA?
Look at modern politics. Gerrymandering, soft money, hard money, 527's vs. PAC's, lobbying (legal bribery by a different name), all manner of questionable actions are being performed by the politicians here in the USA. Tom DeLay is under fire for supposedly going on a trip with a lobbyist. Hmmmmm... when you look at the records, Nancy Pelosi and Jim McDermott did the exact same thing. Hell, Jim McDermott went on an exact same trip from the exact same group that Tom Delay went on!
The lying, the hypocrisy, the double dealing, the sheer sliminess that oozes out of Washington D.C. on a daily basis is so foul and putrid that normal people gag from the sight of it. This isn't just one party, this is in my opinion deep-seated corruption and rot of the modern political process.
Looking at the problems that the Canadian government is having, how much do people think that the USA has many of the same problems? I say that if we were to dig into the going-ons of American politicians, we'd find plenty of offenses. We just either can't see it or are prevented from digging far enough to expose it.
Anyone else want to give their opinion?
More on the protests in Iraq
If you're not reading Powerline on a regular basis, you probably missed this.
Now, if you don't read Arabic (which I'd say 99% of Americans don't) then you would see huge crowds waving banners, with the Has-Been Media filling in the details. Those details would be just about as Anti-American as you can get, since the Has-Been Media is by and large, Anti-American. But when someone who actually reads Arabic looks at the banners...
Well....
That doesn't sound very anti-American to me. More like pro-Iraqi. And yet where did you see any of this in the so-called Main Stream Media?
That's right. You didn't. Never forget that they are the enemy.
If you relied on the mainstream media for your information about the second anniversary of the liberation of Iraq, all you probably read about was an anti-American demonstration by adherents of the dissident cleric al-Sadr. Haider puts those stories into perspective by pointing out that many other Iraqis turned out to demonstrate with a very different agenda. The sign in the photo above says, in English: "The mass graves are proof enough to find Saddam guilty and hang him."
Now, if you don't read Arabic (which I'd say 99% of Americans don't) then you would see huge crowds waving banners, with the Has-Been Media filling in the details. Those details would be just about as Anti-American as you can get, since the Has-Been Media is by and large, Anti-American. But when someone who actually reads Arabic looks at the banners...
Well....
Iraqis take to the streets on the second anniversary of the liberation of Baghdad. Iraqi government declared it as national day, the day Iraq was freed from Saddam’s barbaric rule. Many of the banners call for the Trial of Saddam and his gang. Other banners condemn terrorist and terrorism. Al-Sadr (who received no seats in the current parliament, because very few voted for him) is taking this opportunity to call for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Iraq. His request is counter to what the elected government is asking for.
That doesn't sound very anti-American to me. More like pro-Iraqi. And yet where did you see any of this in the so-called Main Stream Media?
That's right. You didn't. Never forget that they are the enemy.
This is top page news for Yahoo!
Right there aside trade deficit, Rumsfeld, and kidnapping items at Yahoo! News is this little morsel:
And just look at the nose on the tormentor depicted below!
"american", my eye. That's a hooked-nose Joooooo.
Yahoo! News - World Photos - AP
Colombian painter Fernando Botero displays some of his new paintings depicting the horrors of U.S. guards' abuse of captives at Iraq's Abu Graib prison, Monday April 11, 2005 in Paris, France. Botero says he became so upset that he felt compelled to produce works showing his trademark chubby characters naked and being blooded by americans.Spelling of "americans" duly noted.
And just look at the nose on the tormentor depicted below!
"american", my eye. That's a hooked-nose Joooooo.
Yahoo! News - World Photos - AP
Monday, April 11, 2005
Ain't Surprised at all
CBS Cameraman arrested.
Ever notice how the "journalists" are in the perfect place to get pictures of terrorists attacking US troops? Yeah, gee, I wonder why?
And this quote from an Instapundit reader is right on the money.
We all know who the Left is rooting for, and it ain't the USA. The Lame-Stream media, being nothing but the Democrat Party propaganda wing, faithfully sides with the terrorists time and time again. They even stand with them as they attack our troops.
Nothing new here, folks. It's just that they can't hide their activities anymore.
Ever notice how the "journalists" are in the perfect place to get pictures of terrorists attacking US troops? Yeah, gee, I wonder why?
And this quote from an Instapundit reader is right on the money.
The story isn't that CBS is employing terrorists. The story is that no one is surprised CBS is employing terrorists. What's more, I suspect that most Americans, say about 52% of them, feel that most of the MSM outlets with any presence at all in Iraq are employing terrorists.
We all know who the Left is rooting for, and it ain't the USA. The Lame-Stream media, being nothing but the Democrat Party propaganda wing, faithfully sides with the terrorists time and time again. They even stand with them as they attack our troops.
Nothing new here, folks. It's just that they can't hide their activities anymore.
Kerry cites voter intimidation examples
Ole Cut 'n Run is back in the mix!
UPDATE: While we're at it, check out these examples of true intimidation.
Many voters in last year's presidential election were denied access to the polls through trickery and intimidation, former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry told a voters' group Sunday.CNN.com - Kerry cites voter intimidation examples
"Last year too many people were denied their right to vote, too many who tried to vote were intimidated," the Massachusetts senator said at an event sponsored by the state League of Women Voters.
UPDATE: While we're at it, check out these examples of true intimidation.
Florida With Rain
Harumph.
I don't live anywhere near Washington State but a hundred bucks sez that in 2000 there was a lot of haughty talk up there about Florida's redneck backwards process.
OpinionJournal - John Fund on the Trail
During the two recounts, Mr. Logan's office discovered 566 "erroneously rejected" absentee ballots, plus another 150 uncounted ones that turned up in a warehouse. Evidence surfaced that dead people had "exercised their right to vote"; documentation was presented that 900 felons in King County alone had illegally voted and that military ballots were sent out too late to be counted. A total of 700 provisional ballots had been fed into voting machines before officials had determined their validity. In the four previous November elections, King County workers had never mishandled more than nine provisional ballots in a single election.Sounds to me like a few more felons need to be rounded up.
I don't live anywhere near Washington State but a hundred bucks sez that in 2000 there was a lot of haughty talk up there about Florida's redneck backwards process.
OpinionJournal - John Fund on the Trail
So anyways
Barring any more troll vomit, the weekend went pretty well. I did a three-day drill with my unit, went to the Yakima Training Center, and helped with rifle qualification. Unfortunately I wasn't able to fire for qualification. It seems there's a war going on, and ammo stock for training is short. The company didn't get all the rounds they requested, and only 85 people in my company were able to fire. So folks like myself who are leaving soon helped run the ranges instead of qualify. It sucks, but it's life in the military.
So now my time is taken up with getting ready to move. Thank god most of our household goods are still in storage. All we have to do is open the door for the movers and let them grab boxes.
So now my time is taken up with getting ready to move. Thank god most of our household goods are still in storage. All we have to do is open the door for the movers and let them grab boxes.
I leave for three days....
And the trolls try to get cute. Since our little troll can't behave himself, and tried to use my name to troll, he now get's his pee-pee whacked. I'm just going to summarily delete any comment from his IP from now on.
You've been a bad, bad little troll. Oh well, it's what I've come to expect from the Left. They can't win with their ideas, they have no facts to back them up, so they resort to harrassment and idiocy.
And they STILL can't spell properly. I know that my vocabulary isn't the greatest in the world, but these trolls are like third-grade dropouts.
You've been a bad, bad little troll. Oh well, it's what I've come to expect from the Left. They can't win with their ideas, they have no facts to back them up, so they resort to harrassment and idiocy.
And they STILL can't spell properly. I know that my vocabulary isn't the greatest in the world, but these trolls are like third-grade dropouts.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
This is worth a read
Polyshok I.R.P. shotgun ammo would appear to be ideally suited for counterterrorism missions where hostage rescue is the primary goal. It's DefenseReview's understanding that...Polyshok's Specialized Shotgun Rounds
Defense Review is always interested in new specialty 12-gauge shotgun ammo that can fulfill mission-specific military Special Operations (SPECOPS), law enforcement SWAT/SRT, and anti-terrorism/counterterrorism and hostage rescue requirements.
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