Memorial day

There are a lot of other people out there who can express themselves better than I. Better wordsmiths, if you will. So I'm going to keep this post short, because I don't want any of my miserable scrawling to dishonor today.

I'm one of the lucky ones. None of my family has ever died while serving in the military. Four generations of military service, and we've all come home safe. But this war has pushed me into contact with those who have lost a loved one. So this is for them.

This is for WO2 Santos and his family, who dealt with the grief of their son's death with more dignity than I could ever imagine possible.

This is for SPC Cedeño, who's funeral shut down four city blocks in Santo Domingo. The picture below is of his funeral. The way I was positioned for folding the flag, I was looking directly at his father. His father sat there like a rock, with a hard expression on his face that said "I will not break down". And even when tears were running down his face, he didn't break. He accepted the flag from the General with that same expression, those same tears.

This is for SPC Restrepo, who was saving people's lives up to the point he was killed.

This is for PFC Davila, and for every soldier I've ever given final honors to, and for their families who have to deal with the sudden absence of their loved one.

This is for everyone who is touched by the death of a Soldier. Never forget why they died. Never forget what they did.

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

I knew Pete Stark was an idiot

But I didn't know he was this much of a dick.

LETTER FROM REP. STARK TO SECRETARY GATES ABOUT POSSIBLE ABUSE OF MILITARY OFFICERS’ TIME

Below is the text of a letter sent today to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates by Representative Pete Stark (D-CA), regarding the possible abuse of military officers’ time.

May 16, 2008

The Honorable Robert Gates
Secretary of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301

Dear Secretary Gates:

Yesterday, while voting on the war supplemental spending bill in the House of Representatives, I couldn’t help but notice a contingent of approximately 20 flag rank Army officers sitting in the House Gallery watching the debate and vote for a couple of hours. I was looking from below so I thought they were Army, but there could have been other branches present.

It’s possible they were on leave time or vacation. If so, I obviously have no concern. However, if they were doing this on military time, I want an explanation of why they were there.

At a time when our nation is at war, our troops are over-extended, and the Administration is literally asking for emergency military spending, what good to the “war on terror” is having US Generals and other top ranked officers - who were likely accompanied by staff and escorted by their chauffeurs - spending hours sitting in the gallery of the House of Representatives?

Please provide for me the name, rank, branch, and duties of each of these officers, as well as the number of additional staff and drivers that were used to facilitate their attendance yesterday. I would like this information by Monday, May 19th.

If they were here on official duty, this was an abhorrent misallocation of our military resources at a time of war.

Sincerely,

Pete Stark

CC: The Honorable Ike Skelton, Chairman, Committee on Armed Services

CC: The Honorable Jack Murtha, Chairman, Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Defense

I am aghast. I am stunned. And I am pissed off.

LC 0311 Crunchie has the contact info for the not-so-honorable Pete Stark:

WASHINGTON, DC
The Hon. Pete Stark
239 Cannon Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-5065
202-226-3805 (fax)

FREMONT
The Hon. Pete Stark
39300 Civic Center Dr.
Suite 220
Fremont, CA 94538
510-494-1388
510-494-5852 (fax)

I'll be writing his ass. Politely, of course.

BASIC TRAINING IN THE KITCHEN

This is for anyone who enjoys their time in the kitchen or just wants a novel cookbook to help support some of the retirees out there.

BASIC TRAINING In the Kitchen

And to think

Some time ago, when I was getting visitors from Glenn(s) the Sock puppeteer, someone objected to me using the term American Communist Party when referencing the Left.

Tell me again how I'm wrong? Because I gotta tell ya - the more the Democrat American Communist Party talks, the more I'm proven correct.

“And guess what this Liberal would be all about? This Liberal would be all about socializing — er, uh. [Pauses for several moments] …. would be about … [pause] … basically … taking over, and the government running all of your companies.”

Here's a response from Tam, which involves a lot less cursing than I would use.

And there they were, being blatantly threatened by this gerrymandered race-baiting footsoldier of the class war, this remora on the flank of Leviathan, this vacuous sinkhole of consumption that does nothing but suck in tax dollars and shit out red tape and misery. In a perfect world, they wouldn’t have sat for that. In a just world, they’d have stood as one and walked from that room and let little Maxine foam away at her tinpot Trotskyite fantasies. In an educated world, Rep. Waters would be hounded from office and reduced to asking if Mr. Hoffmeister would like fries with that; an occupation admirably suited to her self-evident lack of economic acumen.

In this world, however, her constituents will cheer her words, and vote her another term.

And this world will deserve everything it gets.

Gah - the Left wants to drag this country into a communist hellhole, and it seems like half the country wants to go running off that cliff with them. I guess the dipwads admire Hugo Chavez so much that they want to emulate his special way of collapsing the economy.

The fact that this woman, and I use the term woman lightly, is in office as a representative of any part of America shows just how far this country as sunk.

Suicide Bomber Humor

"Did you hear about the Muslim virgin desperate to lose it? It wasn't really the sex she was interested in; she just didn't want to f**k a suicide bomber when she died."

-- British Muslim chick comic, Sharia Mirza, on the 72 virgins awaiting Islamic suicide bombers via Tantor

Cross Posted at DANEgerus

Idiotic or evil?

How about both?

Senator Chuck Schumer claims that coercing Saudi Arabia to increase oil production by 1 million barrels a day would drop the per barrel price by $25, saving Americans 62 cent per gallon at the gas pump. Yet, somehow, that same amount of oil coming from Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would only ease oil prices by a penny.

Read the whole thing. Schumer shouldn't be elected to community dog catcher, much less the US Senate.

Why I am reluctant to attend college

Because "highly educated" does not mean what it once did.

Of the 14 or 15 applicants I interviewed, only one got them all right -- the only male in the crowd, by the way. None, zero, zip of the rest got even ONE right. Not a single one. A very irritated applicant asked me, "Do we really need to know this old stuff?" I noted that we worked with NATO and Europe, hence, it was important to know the background that led to the creation of NATO and the then just-concluded Cold War. She stared at me and said, "What does World War II have to do with NATO, the Cold War and Europe?"

Emphasis mine. Little 'ol dumb redneck me, with just a high school diploma, is sitting here wondering how someone from a so-called prestigious university could ask that question. THIS is what our universities are putting out? THIS is what a college education buys you?

Can someone tell me why I shouldn't just get a fancy piece of paper, doctor it up to look official, and call it a day? Why should I spend thousands of dollars to get an education of the places responsible for educating young men and women are not doing their jobs? What am I spending my money on?

I'm spending it to get a fancy piece of paper that looks official.

Found at Cold Fury.

Sorry about the lack of posting

But yesterday was rather busy. Went over to a friend's house to help him get his lawnmower running, and got interrupted by a rain storm. And I mean storm. There was a river flowing down his street. So we decided "Fuck it, let's go see a movie instead". So I went and saw Iron Man. Got back, took care of the crap I hadn't taken care of yet, and hit the rack.

Not a great day, but not a horrible one either.

Posted as commentary

To Steve B.'s post below:

That's right folks, the oil companies make an average of 8% profit from a gallon of gas. The government, on the other hand, makes anywhere from 35-45% profit.

They do not search for the oil.
They do not drill for the oil.
They do not pump the oil.
They do not refine the oil.
They do not transport the oil.
They do not sell the oil.

Yet they make 35-45 cents of every dollar of gasoline sold on the market. So you tell me: Who benefits more from the high cost of gas?

Graphic found at Michelle Malkin.

UPDATE AND CORRECTION: From mailgeek in the comments:

While the government does make more per gallon than the oil companies I must correct your facts. The government makes 35+ cents per gallon, not per dollar as our gas taxes are taxes/gallon. That said 9x4 = 36 so even with the current high prices the state and federal governments are making more than the BIG BAD EVIL oil corporations who search, drill, pump, refine, etc. They also employ a lot of people while doing so who also pay taxes on their incomes.

Consider that on top of the direct taxes on our gasoline (that per gallon tax at the pump) there are "hidden" taxes. The oil companies are paying 25% corporate taxes on their pre-tax profit (so without those taxes the companies are "making" 11-12% so those taxes are another 3 or so percent of the total cost. Then consider that some of the pretax profit is paying employees who pay SS and income taxes. Then consider that part of the POST-tax dollars are paid to shareholders (that would be a majority of Americans in one way or another) in dividends which are taxed again. Then consider that when you sell oil company stocks the increase in price is taxed.

All of this leads to the conclusion that the government will still be making more per gallon of gas purchased than the BIG BAD EVIL companies that allow us to get to work with gas prices north of $8/gallon.

You know what? That's even worse.

Am I missing something?

I do read the news, but this is the first I've heard of this:

Hundreds of employee laptops are unaccounted for at the U.S. Department of State, which conducts delicate, often secret, diplomatic relations with foreign countries, an internal audit has found.

As many as 400 of the unaccounted for laptops belong to the department’s Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program, according to officials familiar with the findings.

I just got my security clearance renewed. Would anyone care to guess what would happen to me if I misplaced a laptop computer with classified information on it?

Can you say "Revoked Security Clearance"? I new you could! Could you say "Loss of employment"? I knew you could! My new MOS requires a Secret security clearance. If I lose my clearance, I lose my MOS. Period.

If I lost over 400 damn computers, I would be spending the rest of my life in Ft. Leavenworth, breaking big rocks into little rocks.

“Unaccounted for” does not necessarily mean the laptops have been lost. But they are “missing” until they have been found or otherwise accounted for.

Auditors found that the department had lost track of $30 million worth of equipment, according to one official, “the vast majority of which . . . perhaps as much as 99 per cent,” was laptops.

I want everyone to think about this, and ask if this is really the government they want running more and more of their lives..........

Found via Supply Side Politics. (v2.0, even!)

What's the motivation?

You know, it just occurred to me today, as I was contemplating filling up the tank before the big weekend.

What with the recent wailing and bemoaning by the Fed and State governments about all the money they stand to lose if there is a gas-tax moratorium this summer, I have to wonder:

Just what exactly is the government's incentive to really put any kind of time, effort, and/or money into the development of alternative fuels? Other than as a token sop to the environmentalists, what's really going to change as long as The Gov is making billions every year off of federal gas taxes to pay for "roads and infrastructure improvements?"

If a measley three months will "cost" a typical state $126 million, what would happen if a viable alternative fuel came on the market that reduced nationwide demand for petroleum-based fuels by, oh say, 30% or more?

And just how many patents, how many scientific breakthroughs and technological innovations are sitting in vaults, locked in basements, buried under hush money and endless litigation for just such a reason?

The government won't let us drill in ANWAR or the Gulf of Mexico, won't let us build more refineries, and yet pours millions into corn-based ethanol, the weak half-sister of biofuels. It's almost like they WANT the bio-fuel fad to fail, while keeping demand for oil high...

Nahhhhh.

Just out of curiosity...

Who do you think McCain should pick as his VP running mate?

Mitt RomneyMike HuckabeeJoe LiebermanTim PawlentyRudy GiulianiFred ThompsonSarah PalinCharlie CristBobby JindalLindsey GrahamJim DeMintJ. C. WattsChris CoxJohn BoltonSarah PalinClarence ThomasAntonin ScaliaJanice Rogers BrownKay Bailey HutchisonMichelle Malkin

pollcode.com free polls

Barack Hussein Obama is a ChickenHaught

Barack Hussein Obama, didn't serve, yet has said:

“We’ve got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we’re not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there." -- Barack Hussein Obama Jr.(D)

At a fancy '05 Manhattan fundraiser, Obama told the approving crowd that the Bush administration was using soldiers in Iraq as "cannon fodder."

Ace notes the Messiah gets some schoolin'

McCain Unloads On Obama Over New GI Bill Of Rights

I respect Sen. John McCain's service to our country. He is one of those heroes of which I speak. But I can't understand why he would line up behind the President in his opposition to this GI bill. I can't believe why he believes it is too generous to our veterans. I could not disagree with him and the President more on this issue. There are many issues that lend themselves to partisan posturing but giving our veterans the chance to go to college should not be one of them.

The McCain camp apparently saw that as an opportunity to smack Obama around a bit.

It is typical, but no less offensive that Senator Obama uses the Senate floor to take cheap shots at an opponent and easy advantage of an issue he has less than zero understanding of. … Unlike Senator Obama, my admiration, respect and deep gratitude for America's veterans is something more than a convenient campaign pledge. I think I have earned the right to make that claim.

…And I take a backseat to no one in my affection, respect and devotion to veterans. And I will not accept from Senator Obama, who did not feel it was his responsibility to serve our country in uniform, any lectures on my regard for those who did.

Plays vet card? Check. Indirectly calls Obama a slacker punk? Check. This race may not be so bad after all, once you get passed the grim reality one of them will be President at the end of it.

Cross Posted at DANEgerus

Democrats still hurting America

Powerline has a round-up of the Senate Judiciary Committee's attempted inquisition of oil company executives. The problem is that the oil companies are not doing anything wrong - it's CONGRESS that has hamstrung the US when it comes to oil and petroleum production.

More proof that Congress is either so stupid they shouldn't be allowed to handle sharp objects, or they know what they're doing is stupid and wrong and they just don't care.

Either way, they're proving that they are a disgrace to this nation.

How the pieces fit...

When Liberalism meets Technology

What Obama says:

“We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72
degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to
say OK,” Obama said.

What Technology gives him the capability to do:

Next year in California, state regulators are likely to have the emergency power to control individual thermostats, sending temperatures up or down through a radio-controlled device that will be required in new or substantially modified houses and buildings to manage electricity shortages.

Reducing individual customers’ electrical use — if necessary, involuntarily — could avoid that, Dr. Rosenfeld said. "If you can control rotating outages by letting everyone in the state share the pain," he said, "there’s a lot less pain to go around." (NY Times)

The only question remains not if, but when?

But you know what really worries me? The line, "and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK."

What this shows us -- with utter and disturbing clarity -- is that if Obama is elected President, he will promptly make us signatories to the International Criminal Court, the Kyoto Protocols, and any number of other collectivist & globalist treaties against which more rational minds have succesfully fought (so far). This will put us under the crushing thumbs of international "governing bodies" like the EU. Remember when Britain signed on under the EU? It required that whenever British law and EU law came into conflict, the EU statutes would always have precedence!

This comment shows Obama for what he really is. Besides being a hard-left "Progressive" and radical racialist, he's also a dyed-in-the-wool globalist. His view that we should be beholden in everything we do -- from how much of what we eat or how warm or cool we choose to keep our homes -- to the whimsy of external foreign viewpoints and pressures is perhaps the single most dangerous aspect of Barak Obama's personal/political worldview.

He will be too easily pulled and manipulated by special interest groups and vocal minorities both within and outside this country. He will let our economic policies, our standard of living, and even our cultural norms and morality be dictated and determined by groups who have shown a long history of hating everything we are, and for which we stand.

We quite simply cannot, as a country, afford to have this man as our president.

Ted Kennedy

I've resisted saying anything, because I'm following the "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" motto right now. But yes, I'm following it. I'm just not commenting on it.

If I didn't know

That the MSM was nothing more than the propaganda organ for the Democrat American Communist Party, I would ask why the hell a douchenozzle like Keith Olberman still has a job. I've seen and heard his schtick, and it repulses me to the point where if I see him on TV, I change the channel. If it's not my TV, I leave the room. He's got to be one of the most biased, idiotic jerks on TV.

And the fact that he's one of MSNBC's stars helps explain why they're in the gutter as far as ratings go.

Um......

I cannot say or add anything to this story. I'm honestly convinced that we just need to get the hell out of any part of Africa, build a wall around the entire continent, and let them duke it out.

There's no way in hell I want to be party to anything going on there.

WARNING: Some of the pictures there are very graphic.

Too Awsome Not To Link

Ace of Spades HQ on the media's curious silence in Iraq.

We began by losing in Fallujah so badly our troops now say there are weeks that go by without hearing a gun shot. It's quiet there now... Too quiet.

We then lost Baghdad catastrophically. You can tell we lost because there are so few reports of mortar attacks hitting the Green Zone. The enemy won there by moving further and further out from the city. You know -- surrounding us.

We then lost in Basra so dreadfully it apparently simply vanished from the map entirely, perhaps sucked into another dimension through an interplanar vortex.

Next up we lost in Sadr's last bastion of power -- the slum he's named for -- which you can see by fact that the Iraqi Army is now patrolling the streets and conducts house-to-house searches for weapons. But we lost, because two concessions were made to the Sadrists -- "light weapons" (pistols, rifles) could be kept, one per person, and no US troops would accompany the IA. That last point really stung us, because you know our boys are heartbroken that the IA gets the glamor duty of patrolling this slum. Glory denied; a brilliant psyops tactic to crush the spirits of our troops.

Anyone who reads this blog knows my opinion of the MSM: They are nothing but bought and paid for whores, nothing but a propaganda organ for the Democrat American Communist Party.

Now, prove me wrong.

Barack Hussein Obama

Gets the KKK endorsement from serving Kleagle Sen. Byrd(D) who called Jeremiah Wright's prize pupil:

"a noble-hearted patriot and humble Christian."

Fitting... since the (D)emocrats are the party of Slavery, Secession, Segregation and the Ku Klux Klan.
Cross Posted at DANEgerus

The Left vs. The Military

In Quotes! Please note the number of current Democrat American Communist Party congresscritters listed in there.

And since I just linked to BabyTrollBlog

I'll toss a link his way which I know he'll enjoy: The Global Warming Petition Project. Over 31,000 scientists who say that man-made Glow-bull Warming is a load of hooey.

We urge the United States government to reject the global warming agreement that was written in Kyoto, Japan in December, 1997, and any other similar proposals. The proposed limits on greenhouse gases would harm the environment, hinder the advance of science and technology, and damage the health and welfare of mankind.

There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gasses is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate. Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth.

I can hear the eco-freaks sputtering now "but, but, but, WE HAVE A CONSENSUS!" No you don't, you just shout down anyone who dares disagree with you. Try shouting them down when there's this many!

Found at KisP.

Sending to my congresscritters

This little graphic -



I'm going to print it out nice and big and mail it to each one.

Liberal math is not your friend

From this little gem:

Gas tax holiday would cost state $126 million

We discover that, lo and behold, reducing taxes will "cost" the state money.

The gas tax holiday proposed by Sens. John McCain and Hillary Clinton would save the typical Washington driver $28 this year but cost the state about $126 million in lost highway money and more than 4,300 highway-related jobs, according to a recent report.

These are, of course, spurious numbers because during the summer months is when people are most likely to vacation. Thus, fuel usage will spike outside the "average range." People fire up the motor homes and RVs. People drive hundreds of miles to reach parks or relatives or resort locations. People fill up their jet skis and motor boats and ATVs. So the individual savings will likely be much higher.

But again, we are also brought back around to the fact that this just means that much more money "lost" for The State. Thousands of jobs LOST! Do you HEAR ME! People will likely become HOMELESS if we lose this gas tax! AAAUGH!

So, what is Ms. Clinton's proposed solution to offset the "loss" of "income?"

Clinton, of New York, Obama's rival for the Democratic spot, also favors a summer gas tax holiday but says she'd replace the funds by imposing a windfall-profits tax on oil companies.

Which, if you know anything at all about economics, will be directly reflected in HIGHER PRICES AT THE PUMP to offset their profit loses to higher federally mandated "profit taxes." So, when we save $0.18 per gallon at the pump, but then the oil companies jack the price up $0.15, what's the net gain, really? Isn't there some old saying about giving with one hand while taking with the other?

In the example above, losing three months of gas tax income is forecast to cost the state $126 million. Times four quarters, and that's $504 million a year. 500 MILLION DOLLARS. I've driven on Washington's roads. Does anyone really think we're getting $500,000,000 a year's worth out of them?

But it doesn't stop there, does it? They want a tax on gas to fight global warming, a tax on cigarettes to pay for children's heatlh care, maybe next a tax on candy to help fight millfoil in lakes and streams. What? You can't afford an extra $7 a year? But it's for the environmentchildrenpoor! Besides, you probably won't even miss it.

It's like walking into Sears, and seeing the little sign that says you can take home this riding lawnmower for only $6 a month! Wow! I can totally afford that! And then the washer and drier set for only $11 a month. Wow! I can afford $11 a month, even on my meager salary. Why not? Then upstairs, you notice that you can get a plasma screen TV with surround sound for only $16 a month. WOO-HOO! $16 buck? NO PROBLEMO!

Uh, wait a second there, spud. 6+11+16 = $33 a month. D'oh! Wait, I can't afford that! Yeah, no kidding.

These nickle and dime taxes add up, don't they? Every time the politicians go to the well for a "few dollars" to pay for this or that great social program or to bail out this or that failed idea, they couch it in terms of social responsibility, of sacrificing for the greater good. They of course fail to remind of the fact that last year they wanted another $10 per person, the year before $25, and that next year they'll probably ask for another $15. Every year they take out another "just a little bit" until it adds up to quite a lot indeed.

The reality of it is that politicians have never met a tax they didn't like. And once this new "tax to pay for X" is in place, The System becomes used to the new infusion of cash, and fights against its reduction or cancellation as a "loss of income." Which should tell you, right up front, that this money is being put towards a whole lot more than for what it was originally billed.

Which also means that, once in place, taxes are almost never repealed or reduced.

If they take too much more of my money to help the homeless, I'm going to become one of them myself! Which is cool, because then I'll qualify for welfare, food stamps, and subsidized housing! Maybe I'll even vote Democrat!

Heeyyyy...Waaaait a minuuuute....You don't suppose? Nahhh.....

What is a real man?

Hell, THERE'S a question that's been going 'round as long as men and women have noticed each other's differences. But Mrs. du Toit has her own take on it posted.

Maybe one day I'll write my own little essay on what makes a "real man". But for now, I'm going to post the lyrics to a song that I've been grooving on since I heard it in South Carolina: Brad Paisley's "I'm Still a Guy".

When you see a deer you see Bambi
And I see antlers up on the wall
When you see a lake you think picnic
And I see a large-mouth up under that log
You're probably thinking that you're going to change me
In some ways well maybe you might
Scrub me down, dress me up but no matter what
I'm still a guy

When you see a priceless French painting
I see a drunk, naked girl
You think that riding a wild bull sounds crazy
And I'd like to give it a whirl
Well love makes a man do some things he ain't proud of
And in a weak moment I might
walk your sissy dog, hold your purse at the mall
But remember, I'm still a guy

I'll pour out my heart
Hold your hand in the car
Write a love song that makes you cry
Then turn right around knock some jerk to the ground
'Cause he copped a feel as you walked by

I can hear you now talking to your friends
Saying, "Yeah girls he's come a long way"
From dragging his knuckles and carrying a club
And building a fire in a cave

But when you say a backrub means only a backrub
Then you swat my hand when I try
Well, what can I say at the end of the day
Honey, I'm still a guy

I'll pour out my heart
Hold your hand in the car
Write a love song that makes you cry
Then turn right around knock some jerk to the ground
'Cause he copped a feel as you walked by

These days there's dudes getting facials
Manicured, waxed and botoxed
With deep spray-on tans and creamy lotiony hands
You can't grip a tacklebox

With all of these men lining up to get neutered
It's hip now to be feminized
I don't highlight my hair
I've still got a pair
Yeah honey, I'm still a guy

Oh my eyebrows ain't plucked
There's a gun in my truck
Oh thank God, I'm still a guy

In my opinion, "real men" don't get manicures. Those things on your hands? They're called calluses. You get them from real work. Or from golfing without gloves. Which is still OK in my book.

By the way, I'm still trying to find an MP3 of this song that I can send to the Ragin' Mrs. Anyone out there who wants to share it, drop me a line via email.

Motorcycle not working

Grrrrrrrrrrr.... I have no clue about what could be wrong. I was riding it home the other day, and when I pulled up to a stop sign, it just puttered out.

I pulled the air filter assembly off and checked the carb - it seems to be getting gas just fine. I sprayed it out with carb cleaner just in case. Drained the fuel in the tank to see if that was the problem. The gas looked and smelled fine. The air filter could use to be replaced, but it's not blocking anything. Tried to crank it. It'll crank, it'll turn over, but it won't catch.

Anyone have any ideas on what I should look for next? I'm sitting here with my hands smelling of carb cleaner and gasoline, admitting that I'm a mechanical dolt.

And just because

I never knew there was a webpage dedicated to MRE's, both American and other countries as well.

Huh. Ya learn something new every day.

The mask is coming off

In this political season, we should all be prepared for the rampant anti-military bias that's going to come out from the Left. It's already started with Tom Harkin trying to smear McCain. And it's only going to get worse. People are seeing what's happening:

Just as people like Dick Cavett will never understand. I think he imagines people in the military gleefully rushing off to fight the Hun. No one - least of all the military - likes war. Mr. Cavett has never led men into battle. He has never had to watch a friend's face crumple when she learns her husband is dead. He has never taken a bullet in the chest, or had his pelvis shattered and kept reporting for duty as soon as he possibly could, because that is what you do when your job is important.

Men like Cavett like to pretend doing ones' duty is optional. Who knows? Perhaps in their world, it is? Their somewhat bizarre world view allows them to mock what they will never comprehend. But the complex reality they refuse to acknowledge or respect is that, if everyone thought as they do, America would be defenseless against fanatacists who have sworn never to stop until we are wiped off the face of the earth. Men like Cavett can contend until the end of time that extremists are not a threat. The truth of the matter is, the only thing standing between him and violent extremists are the kind of men he likes to belittle. If he doesn't show up for work, a column doesn't get written. If they don't show up for work, someone may die. Thousands may die. Nations, sometimes.

I guarantee, before the election is over, we'll see all manner of hatred spewed out at our military.

Here's more of what I'm talking about. NASCAR is going to have six cars painted up for a USO "Salute the Troops" benefit on May 24-25. Obviously, a lot of the response has been positive. However, some people just can't handle it:

"Nascar is a crappy excuse for a sport and should be banned for a year to save gasoline."

"That would be the partriotic thing to do. All you nascar "patriots" out there can at least sacrafice a year of no races, right? You can do that small sacrafice for your nation? "

"It's time for all those super-patriotic Red-White-&-Blue nascar fans to write to the organization and demand a year of the races to be called off..."

Contempt for the troops, hatred of NASCAR...... yep. Tell me that ain't standard Leftism right there.

Tom Harkin(D) is a 'phony soldier'

Yes, that's Tom Harkin(D), right between a Communist appeaser and a Communist. Tom Harkin(D) is a "Phoney Soldier" who lied about his service in Vietnam, yet calls President Bush... a liar.

So what comes out of "Phoney Soldier" - Tom Harkin(D)'s lying pie hole today?

Harkin: McCain too 'military'

Republican presidential candidate John McCain's family background as the son and grandson of admirals has given him a worldview shaped by the military, "and he has a hard time thinking beyond that," Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Ia., said Friday.

"I think he's trapped in that," Harkin said in a conference call with Iowa reporters. "Everything is looked at from his life experiences, from always having been in the military, and I think that can be pretty dangerous."

Harkin said that "it's one thing to have been drafted and served, but another thing when you come from generations of military people and that's just how you're steeped, how you've learned, how you've grown up."

Remember when Military service was considered an requirement for higher office? Remember when Communist supporting "Phoney Soldier" jack-offs like Tom Harkin(D) were shunned?

Update... Mark Steyn

Veterans' administration

I confess I find it hard to keep up to speed with the Democrat view of military service.

As I understand it, when veterans like Bush Sr and Bob Dole are running against Bill Clinton, then military service is of no value and Vietnam draft-dodging is irrelevant if not, in fact, the principal qualification for being Commander-in-Chief.

On the other hand, when Bush Jr is running against John Kerry, then nothing less than a combat veteran who says he's "reporting for duty" will do in the White House and a fellow who flew fighter jets over Texas in the Air National Guard is a contemptible draft-dodging chickenhawk.
...
So what's the party's current position? From tomorrow's New York Times...
...
Gotcha. By getting himself captured and banged up in the Hanoi Hilton, McCain artfully avoided the "jarring experiences" Kerry had to confront. He may not have dodged the draft but he dodged the anti-war movement, the hawk chicken. Anything else?
...
Oh, okay. So it's great if you were in combat for a couple of months like Senator Kerry but if you make a whole big career deal of this military thing, that's just way over the top...
...
Right. So unless you're a draftee - and they seem to be a bit thin on the ground in Iraq - don't even think about running for the Democratic nomination. At least until the rules are revised for the next election season.

CrossPosted at DANEgerus

Seriously pissed off

So, the consensus is that the Republicans are going to get bushwhacked this November. I can't really disagree with that, since the Republican party has done nothing but piss off it's base and it's foundation for the past decade.

But I don't think the Republicans truly know what they're going to get. In fact, I'd bet money that they weren't expecting this reaction. Here's a hint, RINOs. When your platform looks more like the Democrat American Communist Party's platform, when you spend more of our tax dollars than ever before, when you act like Liberals instead of Conservatives for days, weeks, months, YEARS on end.....

Then the people who voted for you in the past ain't gonna do it no more.

Yeah. I'm stocking up on ammo when I get back to the states.

Found via Michelle Malkin.

As I referred to earlier

it's a guilty conscience.

"This is bulls**t. This is malarkey. This is outrageous. Outrageous for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country, sit in the Knesset ... and make this kind of ridiculous statement," he said.

I dunno, Congressman. Maybe it's the fact that the Democrat American Communist Party has done everything in it's power to weaken this country, stifle the war on terror, and surrender to the terrorists that's bugging you. Maybe. But since you're nothing but a rat-bastard communist, you don't have enough shame to actually be embarrassed by your actions. Whatever. I wish gutless idiots like you would just shut the fuck up and let the real men go about their business.

Let's be blunt, shall we? What President Bush said in Israel has struck a nerve with damn near everyone in the Democrat American Communist Party, because all the top leadership of said party has done nothing but work against America's interests in the War against terrorism. And they hate to be reminded of that. They would much rather people don't mention how much they want to surrender.

I heard old Obama today on the radio, frothing at the mouth about what President Bush said. I guess stating the plain truth is now a "political attack". Whatever. By the time this election happens, I'll be back in the states stocking up on ammo. I have a bad feeling that this country is headed for hard times, because there's no way it can tolerate people who are so divorced from reality running it. The Democrats American Communist Party have been living in LaLa Land for so damn long that they cannot deal with the facts of life. For the love of God, the Donks have sunk so far that in their quest to defend Obama, they say that.... I can't bring myself to re-type such blatant stupidity, so you'll just have to go read it on your own. But when you actually see "What Hitler was demanding was not unreasonable", well then, just remember that this is what the Left half of the country is thinking. And doing.

If the modern-day Democrat American Communist Party had been running the country during WWII, we would all be speaking either German or Japanese. Period.

Fuck 'em. The only reason the Donks have a chance is because the Republican Stupid Party isn't much better.

Democrat Party Members

Truly are traitors.

Here is a running list of the infomation discovered by Colombian investigators on the FARC terror leader's computers:

-- FARC connections with Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa
-- Records of $300 million offerings from Hugo Chavez
-- Thank you notes from Hugo Chavez dating back to 1992
-- Uranium purchasing records
-- Admit to killing the sister of former President Cesar Gaviria
-- Admit to planting a 2003 car bomb killing 36 at a Bogota upper crust club
-- Directions on how to make a Dirty Bomb
-- Information that led to the discovery of 60 pounds of uranium
-- Letter to Libya's Moammar Gadhafi asking for cash to buy surface-to-air missiles
-- Meetings with "gringos" about Barack Obama
-- Information on Russian illegal arms dealer Viktor Bout who was later captured
-- FARC funding Correa's campaign
-- Cuban links to FARC
-- Links to US Democrats
-- $480,000 of FARC cash in Costa Rican safe house
-- $100,000 to President Correa's campaign for election
-- Chavez attempts to buy arms for FARC through the Belarus regime
-- FARC branches in 17 countries including Germany and Switzerland
-- FARC terrorists expanded operations to 17 countries
-- FARC terrorists expanded operations to Germany and Switzerland

The news today confirmed all of the above information.

The fact that any US citizens were in cahoots with FARC should mean that those citizens would be tarred and feathered. The fact that Democrat American Communist Party members were in cahoots with FARC should mean that those traitors get expelled from the country. But since they are Democrat American Communist Party members, that means that they get a free pass from their political masters and from the MSM, otherwise known as the Democrat American Communist Party whores and propaganda organ.

I'm wondering when the shooting is going to start in this country. There can only be so much that true Americans can take.

Just a side note

I currently have The Very Best of Ray Charles turned up to "pissing of the neighbors" volume. And yes, I'm grooving to it.

You know what the sad part is? I mentioned this CD to a kid at Ft. Jackson, and he asked "Ray who?" I almost choked him to death.

Kee-riste, the kids these days don't even know where their music COMES FROM! I had the same problem in Ft. Lee, when one of the "kids" there was from Harlem. So I turned to her and said "Ah, so you know where Duke Ellington played?"

She said "Duke who?"

HOW THE FUCK DO YOU GROW UP IN HARLEM AND NOT KNOW WHO THE HELL DUKE ELLINGTON IS?????? Luckily, there was a Sergeant First Class standing there with me who turned to me, shook his head and said "They don't know, Dave. They just don't know." So I didn't feel so old. But still, DAMN! We're talking HARLEM! If there's one musician who's tied to Harlem, it's Duke Ellington! But this kid was as ignorant as a baby.

And if you like jazz, you have GOT to find recordings of Duke Ellington in Harlem. He played with just about anyone who was anyone there. Unless we remember where we came from, we won't know where the hell we're going. Every rock musician these days has his roots in the like of Ray Charles, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, Chuck Berry, Benny Goodman, and all those people who pushed the boundaries decades ago. And the kids today walk around thinking everything was just the way it is. And if you don't have a Ray Charles CD, check out THIS one. It's damn good.

I worry about my future sometimes.

Judicial Activism

At it's worst. The California Supreme Court has just overturned a ban on gay marriage. I'm not going to get into it too deep, because I'm still at the "throwing things around" stage. But I hope this might be Step One into getting the worthless gummint out of the marriage business altogether.

For anyone who wants to stop by and scream "GAY MARRIAGE IS JUST LIKE ANY OTHER MARRIAGE!", I have only this to say:

I want to see any gay couple beget a child. On their own. Without ANY HELP FROM ANYONE ELSE.

Can't do it? Then don't claim that you're just like everyone else.

I'm not saying that you cannot love like anyone else. I'm not saying that you cannot feel the same things anyone else can. But marriage, as an institution, is honored for the simple reason that a stable household can produce the future of the nation. Hell, a gay household cannot produce the unbalanced future of the nation!

There ARE differences, whether people want to acknowledge them or not. Mrs. du Toit has gone over this plenty of times, from all sorts of angles. The bottom line is this: If homosexuals wanted all the legal rights that married people have, they could have them. In California, they already do. What they want, however, is the moral equivalence that a legal marriage brings. The problem with that is legal does not equal moral. Now, if you're the kind of person who's moral code says gay marriage is fine, then you have no problem. The problem arises when people who's moral code says that gay marriage is wrong are told "FUCK YOU! I'M MORAL AND LEGAL! YOU MUST ACCEPT ME!"

That's the wrong answer, folks. You don't want the moral folks intruding onto your bedroom, you can't tell them that they have to accept anything you do. Live and let live, and all that.

Got an email

That refers to my post about the oil companies and what their responsibilities are. The emailer states that "more than 40 percent of oil and natural gas company shares are owned by mutual funds, 401(k) plans and pension funds".

Well, take a gander at this page, especially the handy-dandy chart they've got.

Mutual Funds and other firms: 29.5%
Pension Funds: 27%
IRA's: 14%
Private Investors (i..e people who bought stock on their own): 23%

Lessee, if I did my math right, that's 93.5%, correct? The other 6.5% is owned by other institutional investers and corporate insiders. So, if the gummint decides that it's going to tax the hell out of the oil companies, just who do you think will get hurt the most?

Got any mutual funds of your own?

What's that old cliche.....

.....about a guilty conscience?

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama accused President Bush on Thursday of launching a "false political attack" with a comment about appeasing dictators.

Well Barak, if the shoe fits, wear it. What exactly did President Bush say?

In a speech to Israel's Knesset, Bush said: "Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along.

"We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."

Since Obama has repeatedly stated that he would meet with the leaders of terrorist supporting countries, and has advisors who meet with terrorist supporting dictators, I'd say that old Barry should actually take President Bush's speech to heart. Of course, we all know that he won't. He's a Democrat American Communist Party member, after all. Surrender and appeasment are all they know.

UPDATE: In the I Wish I'd Written That category:

The Israelis aren’t stupid. You don’t live to be 60 and face what they’ve had to face from the minute of their birth without a keen sense of who their friends are. And when the Israelis see their mortal enemy Hamas embracing Obama’s candidacy, they might be wondering who this fellow is and just what does he have in store for Israel if he gets elected.

Gee, ya think? More to the point, if the Israelis see that they're about to be sold down the river by America, they're going to do whatever they have to do in order to make sure they survive. And if that means nuking Iran, they'll do it. The one and only thing holding back much of the Middle East from attacking Israel is the knowledge that if they attack, the USA will be there to beat them back. What happens if that threat, real or perceived, is gone?

World War Three.

As Kevin Baker would say,

Do it again, only HARDER!

Now keep in mind, I’m only looking at weapons charges. The rap sheets of these scumbags total twenty six pages, and contains all manner of things that should have kept them off the streets for good. I think it’s time we had a serious discussion here in Pennsylvania about how absolutely and utterly broken the City of Philadelphia’s criminal justice system is, and talk frankly about things we can do to fix it. Gun control obviously is not a solution, since the system is currently not using the laws already in the books in prosecutions. The Philadelphia media must not continue to give the politicians a free pass on deflecting blame onto others, and shame on them that it takes bloggers to bring the criminals records of these scumbags into the public light. The citizens of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania deserve better, and they aren’t getting it from either their political leaders, or from the media.

I don't expect the city of Philadelphia to do a damn thing except more useless, empty gestures. Because that's all they did in the first place. There really are two Americas, and one of them is batshit crazy.

Outstanding

THIS is what supporting troops looks like.

Oldie but a Goodie

Via BabyTrollBlog:

"We, the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid any more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt-ridden, deluded, and other liberal bed-wetters. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim that they require a Bill of No Rights."

ARTICLE I
You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II
You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone -- not just you! You may leave the room, change the channel, or express a different opinion, but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.

ARTICLE III:
You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful, do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.

ARTICLE IV:
You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes.

ARTICLE V:
You do not have the right to free health care That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in public health care.

ARTICLE VI:
You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII:
You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won't have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII:
You don't have the right to demand that our children risk their lives in foreign wars to soothe your aching conscience. We hate oppressive governments and won't lift a finger to stop you from going to fight if you'd like. However, we do not enjoy parenting the entire world and do not want to spend so much of our time battling each and every little tyrant with a military uniform and a funny hat.

ARTICLE IX:
You don't have the right to a job. Sure, all of us want all of you to have one, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful.

ARTICLE X:
You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to pursue happiness — which, by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an overabundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.

If you agree, we strongly urge you to forward this to as many people as you can. No, you don't have to, and nothing tragic will befall you should you not forward it. We just think it is about time common sense is allowed to flourish -- call it the age of reason revisited.

Politics as usual

When it comes to helping military service members, Congress shows that it can't be trusted. Be sure to hit up all the links Greyhawk provides.

Here's my plan

Because the corrupt junta running Burma (or Myanmar, if you want to listen to said junta) cannot help it's citizens, and is refusing aid from other parts of the world.

RANGOON, Burma — Rainwater was the only source of clean drinking water for some of Burma's cyclone victims Tuesday as the U.N. said only a tiny portion of international aid was reaching the region.

The country's military regime, which has renamed the country Myanmar, has been accused of hoarding high-quality foreign aid for itself while people make do with rotten food.

Here's what you do - you package food and water into bundles labeled "This aid is from (fill in the country that's sending it). You then air-drop those bundles all over Burma. And I mean ALL OVER. Scatter 100,000 packages of food and water over the countryside, there's no way the government can collect it all before it gets into the hands of the poor bastards who need it.

Drop in a few guns as well, so the next time some government thug tries to take food and water away from someone, that thug gets shot. I wonder if we have something like the "Liberator" pistols of WWII...... Maybe we could design and make one?

UPDATE: Seems like other people have had the same idea. But plenty of folks out there give good reasons not to do it.

From the comments at The Bitch Girls:

Burma has a small air force, with modern-enough jet fighters. And while their pilots can’t possibly be any good by the standards of a real air force, and most of their jets are outdated, I’m sure they could shoot down some unarmed transports with great ease.

So, either transports get shot down or it’s a real shootin’ war in the skies - we can’t just send in transports alone, if they’re serious, and I see no reason to think that SLORC isn’t.

And from The Belmont Club:

And the third assumption is that invasion doesn't mean killing people. That all "we" have to do is show up and the Burmese generals, who care nothing for human life, will suddenly give way before the 'moral authority' of the invaders, just because it's a good cause. Never mind that the history of war shows that invasion almost always implies an exceedingly violent series of acts. Nope. When "we" show up the Burmese are just going to roll over, get up and fetch.

Now in all probability if the "good old U.S. military" actually does invade Burma it will incinerate every vestige of armed opposition in its path. Burmese Army units will stand about as much chance as ants before a kid's homemade flamethrower. And then all of a sudden the assumptions will collapse in reverse order. People are going to say, 'we didn't realize invasions meant killing people'; 'we didn't realize we wouldn't have allies'; and finally 'we did not think it would be so expensive'. And then we will hear that classic line: "I was for it before I was against it."

It's the same reason we don't go into Darfur and stop the genocide happening there: Because if US troops were to actually SHOOT SOMEBODY while stopping a sadistic, power-hungry governmental thug bent on rape and murder, the idiot Leftists would be howling and shrieking about "Imperialism", "war-mongering", and every other epithet hurled at the military during the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It's a no-win situation.

AP: Military Hits Recruiting Goals Despite ‘Slow Economy,’ and ‘Unpopular War’

Warner Todd Huston at Stop The ACLU:

Don’t you just love the MSM? They can’t even report good news without interjecting their doom and gloom, agenda driven verbiage into any report.
...
After giving us the details that the Marines surpassed their recruiting goals the AP had to remind us that U.S. forces were “stretched thin by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan” and that those joining the service are doing so because — and here is that old canard again — “other job possibilities” are limited for them.
...
...how many times do we have to prove the they-can’t-get-a-job claim made against our recruits is not true?

The old "Stupid Troops" BigLie piled up upon the "Failure to make recruiting goals" Big Lie...

CrossPosted at DANEgerus

On taxing "Big Oil"

Sure, sure, sure, let's all give the damn gummint some extra money by raising taxes on oil corporations. Sounds all great and nifty, right? Hillary Clinton says it has to be done!

Just who the hell do these people thing end up paying those taxes, anyways?

Oil companies, just like any other companies, have an obligation to one group, and one group only: Their shareholders. And that obligation is to make a profit. Period. Everything that a business does, from research to employing people to producing a product is simply actions directed at meeting that one obligation.

So, the gummint comes up and says "Even though we make more money off a gallon of gas than you do, you're STILL making too much money, so we're gonna tax you more!" And the gummint promptly slaps Oil Company X with a billion dollar tax bill. Well, the company has to pay it, because otherwise they'll be out of business and unable to fulfill their obligation, right? But now the company is in a hole. They're out a billion dollars. They can't grow money on a tree. They can't get the magic money fairies to give them more. So how can they raise a billion dollars?

By selling their product at a higher price, that's how. Which means that a gallon of gas, currently at $3.50, will now sell for $4.00.

If the Federal Government really wanted to drop the price of gas, it would eliminate the many taxes that have been added on to it. Federal. State. Local. When I lived in Seattle, and gas was around $1.50 a gallon, the state of Washington got $0.38 out of every dollar of gasoline sold.

That's a 38% tax rate, folks. The oil companies might make anywhere from 8% to 20% profit, depending on conditions and supply, but the Federal Government was taking 38% of every dollar!

But according to people like Hillary Clinton, that's too much. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Ignorant bint.

Holy Moly

I have to admit, that with being in school at Ft. Jackson, not having much internet access (had to share four computers with over 100 students) and basically being busy as hell, I haven't had much time to check the news as of late. So when I sit down yesterday, plug in to the net and catch up on what I've missed, I'm a bit overwhelmed. But one thing sure sticks out -

Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama are so completely unfit to be President that it scares me. It scares me that they are the potential nominee for one half of the political side of this country.

What kind of special moron thinks there's 57 states in the Union? Hell, we can go over his "I'd meet with Iran! No, wait, no I wouldn't, and I never said that!" moment as well. The man is a hack, and idiot, and a liar. He espouses a political philosophy that has killed more people in the 20th century than any war the US has been involved in. And he's in the running to become our next president.

Hillary Clinton wants to punish "Big Oil" for making money. Obviously she's never taken a single economics class, nor has she looked at where the money from a gallon of gas goes. Not to mention that the ONLY reason she's even in politics is because she rode the coattails of her husband for years. And she's crazy as a shithouse rat.

The political platforms of both these people can only be described as "UnAmerican". Anti-gun? Yep. Anti-capitalism? Yep. Anti-free trade? Yep. More State control over everything? Yep.

And one of these people is going to be the nominee for half the country. As much as I hate John McCain, compared to Clinton and Obama he comes out looking like a saint. I swear, this country has a gun in it's hand, but the gun isn't pointed at anyone else. It's pressed firmly against our own head, and our finger is on the trigger. At this point, the only good thing I can say about the election is that when it rolls around, I should be back in the States where I might be able to actually DO something about the impending doom.

Blah. I have to head to work. I'll see you all later today.

Happy Mother's Day to all Mothers

Now, call your mother!

Success

I made it. I graduated Friday, traveled yesterday and I'm finally back in my own house for the first time in six weeks.

And it looks like I have a lot of catching up to do. Amazing what happens when you're gone, eh?

Mario Thanks the troops

Or... how Mario demonstrates that Stephen King is an ass...

CrossPosted at DANEgerus

Writer Stephen King smears the troops

Noel Sheppard of Newsbusters reports : Writer Stephen King: If You Can't Read, You'll End Up in the Army or Iraq

Remember shortly before Election Day 2006 when Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) suggested that if you don't get a good education, "you get stuck in Iraq" (video available here)?

Well, last month, famed horror author Stephen King was speaking in front of a group of high school students at the Library of Congress, and he virtually made the exact same statement.

Yeah... we remember
The fact is that the average serviceman, and service woman, is above average.
While the average LibRule (D)emocrat hates free speech...

Horror Author Tells Fans to Email NB, Shuts Down Discussion of Anti-military Remarks

The saga of horror novelist Stephen King's disgraceful comments about America's military took an interesting turn Monday when shortly after instructing visitors to his website to send me a message stating "Hi, Noel—Stephen King says to shut up and I agree," his own message boards were shut down.

If you buy Stephen King's paper-backs used, he doesn't get any money... just sayin'
Cross Posted at DANEgerus

They support the troops by attacking their families

VIDEO-- Edinboro Peace Thugs Boot & Pummel Military Wife!!

The video shows that every physical action was initiated by the peace thugs.
Every action that escalated the conflict was started by the peace thugs.
They were out of control and unrestrained in their actions.
Every physical action taken by the veteran and his family was in self defense or in seeking to stop the violence.

Carrie Swartout suffered a concussion from the kick to the head.

So... why weren't they arrested and charged?

Catching my breath

It's been a hectic two weeks. But I'm one week away from graduation, and I'll be out of here soon. Thanks to DANE for keeping the place alive. Dane, I owe you a beer or two (dozen) if we ever meet up. You'll know when I've returned home, because I'll be posting on a regular basis again.

In the meantime, here's my quote of the day:

"We in Denmark cannot figure out why you are even bothering to hold an election.

On one side, you have a bitch who is a lawyer, married to a lawyer, and a lawyer who is married to a bitch who is a lawyer.

On the other side, you have a true war hero married to a woman with a huge chest who owns a beer distributorship.

Is there a contest here?"

Damn good question, innit? Quote found at RNS.

Ace of Spades

Has a few stories of American Heroes
Sgt. Merlin German (USMC)
Master Sgt. Brendan O’Connor (USA)
Pfc. Monica Brown (USA)

Red China's massive military buildup

Satellite pictures... by DAVID GARDNER

Photographs emerged last night that appeared to confirm fears in Washington that China is building a giant underground nuclear submarine base on a tropical island.
...
The pictures, obtained by respected military magazine Jane's Intelligence Review, have raised concerns that the Chinese have carved out a secret base straight out of the plot of a James Bond thriller.

They show vast tunnel entrances that are thought to lead to huge caverns capable of hiding up to 20 nuclear submarines from spy satellites.

Sanya is a fast-developing holiday resort that has hosted the Miss World competition since 2003. It is on Hainan Island, which is about 160 miles from the coast of Vietnam.

Jane's Intelligence Review says the base has implications "for China's control of the South China Sea and the strategically vital straits in the area, and underlines Beijing's desire to assert tighter control over this region".
...
The secrecy around the build-up is likely to lead the U.S. to put more pressure on the Chinese to come clean with its plans and raises further questions about Beijing's relationship with the rest of the world in the run-up to the summer Olympics.

If it's all about "defense" then why the secrecy?

2 May 1982 ARA General Belgrano Sunk

Hugo Chavez of Venezuela should learn the lessons of the Argentine Junta...

But he won't...

Jimmy Carter(D) spent the duration of this conflict apologizing for the Argentines as well... what a surprise huh?

Even though Argentina started the war as a political diversion to hide the 'disappearance' of tens of thousands and in the face of British attempts to transfer the Falklands to Argentina without antagonizing the English voter.

The ARA General Belgrano was a WWII era American Cruiser, the U.S.S. Phoenix, that actually survived Pearl Harbor. It was 'glam' duty for Argentina's elite that resulted in:

Some 323 Argentine lives were lost out of a crew of 1,093 when the Belgrano was torpedoed by the British nuclear submarine, H.M.S. Conqueror on May 2, 1982.

The loss of life was a direct result of the Argentine naval destroyer escorts fleeing the scene. Rescue efforts were delayed 24 hours and a majority of the loss of life was due to exposure on the seas.

The fact is that the ship was a threat to the UK expeditionary naval forces that barely sufficient to liberate the Falklands from the Argentine invasion forces. It's sinking resulting in the Argentine navy staying close to their coastal bases for the duration of the war.

You won't be able to put this down... the first half is a very insightful review of the politics by Simon Jenkins, which is very interesting given this was so early in Reagan's ColdWar strategy, and the second half is a Max Hastings 'correspondent on the ground' view of the conflict itself.

Right Saddam?

Eyewitness account:

• HMS Conqueror was earlier in position to sink the Argentinian aircraft carrier Veinticinco de Mayo - a mission that could have shortened the war - but the British government refused permission to engage;

• The submarine tracked the Belgrano for a week, unsuccessfully seeking permission to fire on several occasions before they were finally given the go-ahead on May 2, 1982;

• The crew's initial euphoria at sinking the Belgrano turned to horror when it emerged Argentinian support ships had fled, leaving sailors to drown;

• The captain of HMS Conqueror, Commander Chris Wreford-Brown, led his crew in a service to pray for the enemy dead only hours after two of their torpedoes had ripped the Belgrano to pieces.

The punch-line for tin-horn third world tyrants... if you don't like losing... then don't start wars with the adults.

Compare and Contrast, If You Will...

Republican Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner co-sponsors a bill to pull the plug on the insanity of continuing to squander tax dollars on unchecked subsidies to the ethanol industry, which, after almost 27 years, still hasn't been able to turn a profit.

Sensenbrenner Cosponsors Legislation To End Ethanol Mandates

Meanwhile, a Governor wants:

A fast food tax to help NJ hospitals? Corzine open to idea

Guess how long and hard I had to look to find out Gov Jon Corzine's party affiliation? How many news articles I had to look at? I finally drummed it up on Wikpedia. Go on, guess what it is. Come on, it's an easy one....DEMOCRAT!

Progressives want taxes on gasoline to pay to fight global warming. Now one of them wants to tax fast food to bail out a failing health care system? Yes, lets use tax money to offset mismanagement!

Progressive Greenies don't want us to drill in the Gulf of Mexico because it could damage the ecosystem. Meanwhile, tons of nitrogen from fertilizer used on corn for ethanol production is being flushed into the Gulf of Mexico, actually damaging the ecosystem. According to the pukegressives, we shouldn't use coal, can't shouldn't use oil, and shouldn't use nuclear power. WTF is left?! Solar?! Wind?! Methane from landfills? {{snort}} Yeah, right. That'll keep our highly industrialized nation going strong, eh?

These nutjobs won't be satisfied to everyone (else) is sitting around in yurt wearing clothes handwoven from hemp, eating roots and berries gathered without the use of an internal combustion engine. This, apparently, is what passes for "Progress" in their world.

If we get too much more "Progressive," we'll have to reinvent fire. Well, no, actually, probably a bad idea. Too much carbon monoxide.

New DNC Ad Shows US Troops Being Blown Up

Howard Dean sent the following email to his mailing list yesterday which perpetuates the outright lie that McCain said we should be in Iraq 100 years...

In addition to the McCain clip, this nasty advertisement features a clip of ... American soldiers being killed by an IED.

Yes, that’s right. The Democratic Party is using images of US troops being attacked by terrorists to make political points against John McCain.
...
Even more unbelievably, the IED clip comes from Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. It’s at about 1:35 in this trailer: Fahrenheit 9/11 trailers.
...
...this ad is beyond the pale; the entire ad is based on “a rank falsehood,” according to FactCheck.org...

Allahpundit

The obligatory “DNC ad runs footage of soldiers being bombed in Iraq” post

What’s offensive isn’t the footage, it’s the left’s insane hypocrisy in wetting its pants over a one-second image of Osama Bin Laden in Hillary’s attack ad while shrugging off stuff like this as simple yet powerful doses of reality to awaken a complacent public. If McCain went the route Ace suggests and inserted images of 9/11 jumpers in one of his ads, Arianna Huffington would need smelling salts and Olbermann would have to allot an extra hour for “Countdown” to accommodate his rage. Meanwhile, the DNC could show a Marine getting his head blown off and Chris Matthews would ask the Hardball panel, “Doesn’t America need to see this?”

Cross Posted at DANEgerus

The NAACP hosted Jeremiah Wright today

Same old race baiting NAACP...
Their partisanship for the party of Slavery, the (D)emocrats, is all the more ironic given the (D)emocrats post-war legacy of the KKK, Jim Crow, Segregation and:
Bob Parks : Democrats Still Lying Through Their Teeth

...
September 24, 1957 : Sparking criticism from Democrats such as Senators John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, President Dwight Eisenhower deploys the 82nd Airborne Division to Little Rock, AR to force Democrat Governor Orval Faubus to integrate public schools
...
May 6, 1960 : President Dwight Eisenhower signs Republicans’ Civil Rights Act of 1960, overcoming 125-hour, around-the-clock filibuster by 18 Senate Democrats
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September 29, 1963 : Gov. George Wallace (D-AL) defies order by U.S. District Judge Frank Johnson, appointed by President Dwight Eisenhower, to integrate Tuskegee High School
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June 9, 1964 : Republicans condemn 14-hour filibuster against 1964 Civil Rights Act by U.S. Senator and former Ku Klux Klansman Robert Byrd (D-WV), who still serves in the Senate
...
August 4, 1965 : Senate Republican Leader Everett Dirksen (R-IL) overcomes Democrat attempts to block 1965 Voting Rights Act; 94% of Senate Republicans vote for landmark civil right legislation, while 27% of Democrats oppose. Voting Rights Act of 1965, abolishing literacy tests and other measures devised by Democrats to prevent African-Americans from voting, signed into law; higher percentage of Republicans than Democrats vote in favor
...

Bob Parks also uses my favorite quote from the liberal icon Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood…

"We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don't want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population"

Which reminded me of SNOBabama's "fathers":

"Reverend" Al Sharpton
"Reverend" James Meeks
"Reverend" Jeremiah Wright
"Reverend" Otis Moss III
"Minister" Louis Farrakhan
"Pastor" Michael Pfleger
"Reverend" James Bevel
"Reverend" Eric Lee
"Pastor" Mack King
"Mentor" Frank Davis

How useful they are...

And yes... Al Sharpton marched in a "Kill The Police" rally today with toadies wearing KKK robes. Let's hope no one dies after one of Al Sharpton's hate-fests... again.

"He’s looking less like Kennedy, and more like Steve Urkel." -- Don Surber

Actually... my thoughts on Barack Hussein Obama are much harsher. How is it that a Marxist Hawaiian is a "Post-Racial" candidate? Isn't that a racist statement? And this from a man who sat in Jeremiah Wright's "church"?

1) I objected to "Reverend" Jeremiah Wright's Stalinist Marxism
2) I objected to "Reverend" Jeremiah Wright's Racist lies
3) I objected to "Reverend" Jeremiah Wright's mentally ill conspiracy theories
4) I objected to "Reverend" Jeremiah Wright's anti-Semitism
5) I objected to "Reverend" Jeremiah Wright's Anti-Americanism

And when Jeremiah Wright moved into a gated "White" community I discovered the degree of his hypocritical blaxploitation.

And yes... both Jeremiah Wright & Barack Hussein Obama are "ex-Muslims".

So when Barack Hussein Obama reacted to our discovery of his Reverend/Hater by lecturing us on "race", as if we are collectively guilty, that not only set me off, but it failed to answer the majority of my objections.

Based on what we are learning, in spite of Barack Hussein Obama's MainStreamMedia enabled evasiveness, it appears he was raised in a manner that made choosing Black-supremacist Marxism appealing and comfortable and consistent with what he clearly embraced at Jeremiah Wright's "church". For Jeremiah Wright & Barack Hussein Obama clearly share a "Black Value System".

Cross Posted at DANEgerus