Living in a State of Denial and Feeling Good About It.

OR: Bomb these assholes next.

Ready for this? You sure?

First off -- Remove ALL breakables away from your computer.
Second -- Make sure you have no little ones within ear shot.
Third -- Make sure to hit Misha's Site when you get done reading the below post. Because you are really going to need a dose of A-I. If the Emperor is not up your alley, then try Dean's World, Right-Thinking, or Drumwaster's Rants. Basically anywhere to get a dose of A-I.

The First Plane To Hit The WTC Tower on September 11th, Never Hit The Tower.

And those on the Far Left (tm) actually get pissed off when their patriotism is questioned.

Hat Tip Drumwaster's Rants

Oh, Good Grief

When I first read this little piece of news I originally thought, "no way, this has to be some kind of joke or something." Turns out I was incorrect in this assumption, as Snopes points out:

Equipment vendors who do business with Los Angeles County received a message in November 2003 from the county's Internal Services Department (ISD) informing them that "based on the cultural diversity and sensitivity of Los Angeles County," labeling or describing equipment with the term 'master/slave' is no longer acceptable:

Subject: IDENTIFICATION OF EQUIPMENT SOLD TO LA COUNTY
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 14:21:16 -0800
From: "Los Angeles County"

The County of Los Angeles actively promotes and is committed to ensure a work environment that is free from any discriminatory influence be it actual or perceived. As such, it is the County's expectation that our manufacturers, suppliers and contractors make a concentrated effort to ensure that any equipment, supplies or services that are provided to County departments do not possess or portray an image that may be construed as offensive or defamatory in nature.

One such recent example included the manufacturer's labeling of equipment where the words "Master/Slave" appeared to identify the primary and secondary sources. Based on the cultural diversity and sensitivity of Los Angeles County, this is not an acceptable identification label.

We would request that each manufacturer, supplier and contractor review, identify and remove/change any identification or labeling of equipment or components thereof that could be interpreted as discriminatory or offensive in nature before such equipment is sold or otherwise provided to any County department.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation and assistance.

Joe Sandoval, Division Manager
Purchasing and Contract Services
Internal Services Department
County of Los Angeles

Note: You are receiving this email because you have registered with the County of Los Angeles. If you do not wish to receive future L.A. County Event news, simply click the link below, and update your registration information to remove email notification.

To verify that this wasn't a hoax or an internal joke which mistakenly escaped to the wider world of the Internet, we called the Purchasing and Contract Services division for the County of Los Angeles, and they informed us that yes, they did issue this message, and yes, it was meant seriously.

Seriously, I don't know why I originally thought that story was a untrue (or at the very least greatly exaggerated) considering the source, the County of Los Angeles, I suppose it had something to do with thinking no one can be that obtuse and idiotic. No one except whacky lefties that is.

Hat Tip Kallini.Com

A Marine's Christmas

Twas The Night Before Christmas,
He Lived All Alone,
In A One Bedroom House Made Of
Plaster And Stone.

I Had Come Down The Chimney
With Presents To Give,
And To See Just Who
In This Home Did Live.

I Looked All About,
A Strange Sight I Did See,
No Tinsel, No Presents,
Not Even A Tree.

No Stocking By Mantle,
Just Boots Filled With Sand,
On The Wall Hung Pictures
Of Far Distant Lands.

With Medals And Badges,
Awards Of All Kinds,
A Sober Thought
Came Through My Mind.

For This House Was Different,
It Was Dark And Dreary,
I Found The Home Of A Soldier,
Once I Could See Clearly.

The Soldier Lay Sleeping,
Silent, Alone,
Curled Up On The Floor
In This One Bedroom Home.

The Face Was So Gentle,
The Room In Such Disorder,
Not How I Pictured
A United States Soldier.

Was This The Hero
Of Whom I'd Just Read?
Curled Up On A Poncho,
The Floor For A Bed?

I Realized The Families
That I Saw This Night,
Owed Their Lives To These Soldiers
Who Were Willing To Fight.

Soon Round The World,
The Children Would Play,
And Grownups Would Celebrate
A Bright Christmas Day.

They All Enjoyed Freedom
Each Month Of The Year,
Because Of The Soldiers,
Like The One Lying Here.

I Couldn't Help Wonder
How Many Lay Alone,
On A Cold Christmas Eve
In A Land Far From Home.

The Very Thought
Brought A Tear To My Eye,
I Dropped To My Knees
And Started To Cry.

The Soldier Awakened
And I Heard A Rough Voice,
"Santa Don't Cry,
This Life Is My Choice;

I Fight For Freedom,
I Don't Ask For More,
My Life Is My God,
My Country, My Corps."

The Soldier Rolled Over
And Drifted To Sleep,
I Couldn't Control It,
I Continued To Weep.

I Kept Watch For Hours,
So Silent And Still
And We Both Shivered
From The Cold Night's Chill.

I Didn't Want To Leave
On That Cold, Dark, Night,
This Guardian Of Honor
So Willing To Fight.

Then The Soldier Rolled Over,
With A Voice Soft And Pure,
Whispered, "Carry On Santa,
It's Christmas Day, All Is Secure."

One Look At My Watch,
And I Knew He Was Right.
"Merry Christmas My Friend,
And To All A Good Night."

Semper Fi and God Bless.

Found At Electric Venom

The Plan

Over on Right-Thinking someone asked just what is Bush's plan for fighting terrorism? Well Jason has the answer. I won't quote all of it, for it is just too good and you need to read all of it, but below is the Money Quote:

Without appeasers and tyrants, there can be no true terrorists. While we cannot end murder, we can prevent a 9/11 from ever happening again. All that needs to be done is for countries to stop helping these murderers, and start fighting them. Terrorist organizations only exist because they appear stronger than the governments from whom they accept money and security. It would be very easy to steal that strength.

And if any of these countries won't make the change themselves, well, that's where the US comes in. We will make the world a better place, one, two countries at a time. We will rid the world of all terrorist organizations. It can be done. You only have to be willing to fight for peace and freedom and justice. It's not so hard.

That is Bush's plan. And it's a good one.

Read the whole damn thing, then ask yourself the question. "Whose side are you on?"

People, People Helping People

Yeah, I know, I just paraphrased a Barbara Streisand song, I'll have to turn in my VRWC(tm) Membership Card.

Still though, in an age during which pretty much anyone and everyone goes running to the federal government as a solution to each and every single problem, I receive an email from the Grandmother which reminds me of how it used to be, and how it needs to be again.

If it is any interest for you, one time Grandad Earl and Danielle had ham and potato salad (Earl even made his into a sandwich!) for Christmas lunch in San Diego. This was in an upstairs bedroom, shared bath, and a closet for a kitchen after World War II was over.

Money was more than tight. Earl had a friend (your mom has that capability also--to make friends along the way) in the Navy who worked part time in the ships store, that is the best that I can remember. So I left Danielle with this friend's wife who lived in an apt. across the street and took a bus across town to this Navy store. When I finally got to the counter, waiting three or four hours, this friend handed me this 20 or so pound ham! I said to myself, I can't take it because I don't have enough money, but he calmly marked $2.00 on it. Then I felt like a thief who be caught any minute and could not buy anything else because it was all I could do to carry this ham, thinking they would catch me before I got out of the fenced area.
Remember, I really was a skinny little girl, nineteen years old. So I baked the ham and went to the corner store about five times to get stuff for the salad. You would have loved it as it had practically nothing in it. More later.

Your eternally optimistic grandmother with love, MM

MM stands for Mee-Maw (what I have called her since I first learned to talk, sweet no?) Danielle is my mother and my Grandpa (she calls him Granddad, which is something I never called him) Earl was a WWII Navy veteran, and people ask me just how I got involved in the military, well there's one answer for you. Unfortunately my Grandpa is no longer among the living, he died when I was 12 or 13 years old, I can't remember, but anyway what really stands out in that email for me is this: My grandmother didn't have the money to pay for the X-Mas ham, the merchant then sells this ham at a loss to my grandmother and my grandmother feels like a thief because of it (more telling about the moral code of my family than anything, let me tell you). That right there tells me more about how an individual will always help another individual if they are truly in need of help. This is how it needs to be folks. Today, with our welfare system most people have the "I gave at the office" mentality, and you really cannot blame them for that, but Americans are still the most charitable minded people in the world. Imagine what would happen if the state mandated wealth re-distribution went the way of the dodo. Those on the Left would have you believe there would be bodies in the streets, whole families would starve, and would become homeless. Conservatives believe that private charities and individuals would step in to the fill that void, and you know what? We, they, are absolutely friggin correct. Sure it was after WWII when that little anecdotal story from my Mee-Maw occurred, but can you honestly tell me we, as a nation have changed that substantially? The charity figures do not bear that thinking out. So, you tell me who really believes in the promise of America? Those on the Left or those on the Right?

Your eternally optimistic grandmother with love, MM

Optimism abounds in my family, can't you tell?

Fisking Soros

The SmarterCop fisks George Soros's article in the Atlantic Monthly. For those of you do not know who George Soros is, he is the billionaire currency speculator who is currently giving a ton of money (literally) to the Democratic Party. Basically Mr. Soros is what DANE calls him, "the billionaire who preaches leftist collectivism even as he exploits international currency speculation in a manner that brings to mind most rational criticisms of a 'global economy'... the billionaire Jew-hating Jew who is pouring millions into American elections..."

So, what are you still doing here, go forth and read the SmarterCop's excellent fisking of Mr. Soros.

Hat Tip .:DANEgerus

Slow News Day

So slow in fact, I might start blogging about something I could really care less about, the 40th Anniversary of the John F. Kennedy Assassination. But I don't know if I am that desperate yet.

--OR--

I could blog about the arrest of Michael Jackson on child molestation charges. In all seriousness, if the guy is guilty of molesting a child, kill him. Normally I am against the death penalty, for purely religious reasons. However when it's an innocent child I tend to throw civility out the damn window, and say, "Fry the fucker." But if I were to blog on Michael Jackson and the charges I might start throwing things all about the apartment, and I would really like to get my damage deposit back when I move out of here. So I shall not be blogging about Michael's legal problems.

In all honesty, think I am going to out and see what trouble I can get into. Later.

Last Post About Gay Marriage

I had a feeling this might happen, some paleo-conservative asswipe sent me an email excoriating my "defense" (as they saw it) for gay marriage. And no, I am not going to post the damn thing, nor give this asshole the benefit of mentioning their name. Rather I am going to clarify why I posted what I posted earlier in the week.

First off, apparently this paleo-con dickweed missed the part of the post where I said I do not agree with homosexuality, I tolerate it for the very same reason I tolerate paleo-con assholes. People have the right to live their lives the way they want to live, they have the right to say whatever they wish to say, and do whatever they wish to do just as long as they are not hurting others, period. I fail to grasp the nuances of just how gay marriage will hurt anyone. Will gay marriage all of the sudden cause our Republic to fall? Will gays being given the ability to marry all of the sudden diminish everyone who is not gay rights and privileges? Please. Emotional, knee-jerk responses to anything is not a good thing be it from those on the Left or the Right, and what is all this talk from the paleo-cons of a Federal Marriage Amendment (or laws to "protect the sanctity of marriage") if not an emotional knee-jerk response.

Looking to the federal government to solve a "problem" (if gays getting married is in fact a problem) is something conservatives are supposed to abhor, but when one state's Supreme Court all of the sudden says Massachusetts cannot discriminate against homosexual couples when it comes to marriage, paleo-cons all of the sudden go running to the federal government to correct "this judicial over-reach". It isn't "judicial over-reach" you morons, point out to me exactly where in the United States Constitution does it grant power to the federal legislature to pass laws regulating marriage? If you can do that, then I might agree with the judicial over-reach argument. Also, the Defense of Marriage Act (and any Federal Marriage Amendment) is regulation of private behavior. Conservatives are supposed to abhor regulation, be it of public business or private behavior. This position strikes me as patent hypocrisy.

Sure you can disagree with homosexuality, that is your right as an American citizen. However, don't go running to the federal government and ask them to pass laws imposing your will (or version of morality) on anyone else. Marriage is a state issue (or as Aaron put it it is a social contract between two consenting persons), the federal government should just stay out of it, and the argument could be made that the state's themselves should just stay out of it.

IF gays getting married all of the sudden granted them additional rights, privileges, and immunities that other US citizens didn't enjoy, then perhaps I would see the paleo-con argument, but since all it would do is give them the ability to get married, I cannot see what possible harm this would do to anyone who is not gay. Any position other than this is simply not logical.

"It will undermine traditional marriage", is a favorite meme of paleo-cons. Okay, fine. How will it do that, exactly? "It's always been between one man and one woman." Is the inevitable response, okay fair enough, but who came up with that definition of marriage? The government or the people? (Hint: it was not the government). Since the people came up with it, then the people can change it if they see fit, which under the 10th Amendment they have every right to do. Now, I suppose one could find fault with the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling on that basis, since it was the Courts and not the legislature that granted homosexuals the de facto ability to get married in that state, I don't to be honest, since this is fundamentally a state legal question (which are invariably resolved in state courts anyway), but I suppose one could make that argument. Also, paleo-cons make the argument homosexuals cannot procreate, which is another reason why they shouldn't be allowed to marry. Please, do not make me laugh. Do we outlaw marriage between a man and a woman who cannot have children biologically? No. So that argument won't work either.

This will be my last post on this topic. I will probably get even more paleo-con hate mail because of this post, which is fine, for I will just delete it without reading it. I don't particularly care what arguments you come up with to justify your position, I can come up with even more arguments to justify mine, and I have no desire to get involved in a pissing contest with small minds. The federal government is not in the business of punishing "sins" per se, they (and state governments) punish crimes, and homosexuality is not a crime, it is a lifestyle choice (yes yes, I am aware of recent studies which claim to have found a so-called "gay gene", even if that is found to be true it still doesn't mean homosexuality isn't a choice. Just as people with a genetic predisposition to drinking make a choice to drink, homosexuals make a choice to be homosexual. I don't begrudge them that choice, they do have the right to make it. Free will and all that). "Sins" are left up to the Father to punish, not me, not paleo-cons, and certainly not the federal government.

Update

Chris has linked to this post, along with his 2 cents, which I will quote here.

Kevin has made a post regarding his position on homosexual marriage in this country that pretty much reflects my views on the matter.

However, one point he did not touch upon, that I would like to add, deals with the oft-repeated claim that allowing this would "destroy the sanctity of marriage."

Guess what - Divorce does just that. For a Republican to crusade against "destroying the sanctity of marriage", and not be a hypocrite, he would have to support making divorce either extremely difficult, or entirely illegal. After all, if marriage is a sacred bond, then a husband and wife shouldn't be able to end it simply because they feel like it.

My 2 cents.

What he said.

The Man, James Lileks

A few days ago the Guardian printed 60 letters to George (aka The President of the United States) in which blogosphere celebrity, Salam Pax, wrote the following.

I hate to wake you up from that dream you are having, the one in which you are a superhero bringing democracy and freedom to underdeveloped, oppressed countries. But you really need to check things out in one of the countries you have recently bombed to freedom. Georgie, I am kind of worried that things are going a bit bad in Iraq and you don't seem to care that much. You might want it to appear as if things are going well and sign Iraq off as a job well done, but I am afraid this is not the case.

Listen, habibi, it is not over yet. Let me explain this in simple terms. You have spilled a glass full of tomato juice on an already dirty carpet and now you have to clean up the whole room. Not all of the mess is your fault but you volunteered to clean it up. I bet if someone had explained it to you like that you would have been less hasty going on our Rambo-in-Baghdad trip.

To tell you the truth, I am glad that someone is doing the cleaning up, and thank you for getting rid of that scary guy with the hideous moustache that we had for president. But I have to say that the advertisements you were dropping from your B52s before the bombs fell promised a much more efficient and speedy service.

Okay, so it's snarky, so it's hyper-critical of the president. You would think it would have garnered some kind of critical response, right? Well it didn't on the day it ran, but today James Lileks responded and responded in a big way:

Hey, Salam? Fuck you. I know you're the famous giggly blogger who gave us all a riveting view of the inner circle before the war, and thus know more about the situation than I do. Granted. But there's a picture on the front page of my local paper today: third Minnesotan killed in Iraq. He died doing what you never had the stones to do: pick up a rifle and face the Ba'athists. You owe him.

Let me explain this in simple terms, habibi. You would have spent the rest of your life under Ba'athist rule. You might have gotten some nice architectural commissions to do a house for someone whose aroma was temporarily acceptable to the Tikriti mob. You might have worked your international connections, made it back to Vienna, lived a comfy exile's life. What's certain is that none of your pals would ever have gotten rid of that "scary guy without the hideous moustache" (as if his greatest sin was somehow a fashion faux pas) and the Saddam regime would have prospered into the next generation precisely because of people like you. People who would rather have lived their life in low-level fear than change your situation. I understand; I would have done the same. I'm not brave enough to start a revolution. I wouldn't have grabbed a gun and charged a palace. I would lived like you. Head down, eyes wary. When the man's too strong, the man's too strong. But let me quote from a Guardian story on your life:

"Like all Iraqis, Salam was familiar with the dangers. At least four of his relatives had gone missing. In the past year, for no apparent reason, one of his friends was summarily executed, shot in the head as he sat in his car, and two others were arrested; one was later freed and another, a close friend, has never returned."

The rug was soaked before we got there, friend. Cut the clever cafe' pose; drop the sneer. That "Rambo" crap is old. Iraq needs grown-ups. Be one.

Proof, yet once again, if you get James Lileks attention, be sure it is the good kind of attention. Because if it isn't, you'll get a new ripped for you.

Hat Tip Right Thinking

Improving the Gene Pool By Removing Yourself From It

Call me a heartless bastard, but this is just funny:

The second of two SUNY Maritime College students who slammed into a bridge while riding atop an elevated subway in the Bronx last week has died, officials said yesterday.

Brian Hochstetter, 21, was critically injured when his head hit the Whitlock Avenue bridge and died Tuesday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

"We did everything we could," said Jacobi Medical Center spokeswoman Nancy McPartlin. "We tried. We really tried everything we could to help that family and their son. Our hearts go out to them."

Cost of medical treatment: $15000.00

Cost of burial: $2500.00

Cost of subway token: $2.00

Cost of watching stupidity take care of itself: Priceless

Hat Tip Right-Thinking

Why I am Glad the United States Is Not a British Colony Any Longer.

Can someone please tell me just what in the blue hell is wrong with the British?

The British Parliament on Thursday approved legislation to overturn "double jeopardy" protection for offenses such as murder, rape and armed robbery.

The centuries-old legal rule prevents suspects being tried twice for a crime and is enshrined in the legal codes of many of Britain's former colonies, including the United States.

But under the Criminal Justice Bill, introduced by Prime Minister Tony Blair's government, a person acquitted of certain serious offenses will face a second trial if compelling new details, such as DNA evidence, come to light.

The legislation, hailed by the government as the biggest reform of Britain's criminal justice system in a generation, now only needs royal assent, which is virtually automatic, before it becomes law.

Blair's government presented the legislation last year, but its progress through Parliament has been turbulent, largely due to clauses curbing the right to trial by jury. The House of Lords, Parliament's upper chamber, which has the power to amend and delay legislation, opposed those clauses and repeatedly blocked the bill.

After intense talks Thursday, the Lords backed government plans for judge-only trials in cases where there is a danger a jury could be intimidated. The government in return agreed to put shelve its plans to scrap juries in complex fraud cases.

Yes, one of the most basic rights and protections we, as Americans enjoy, the prohibition of double jeopardy (and one of the protections we actually got from Great Britian) is now, for all intents and purposes, dead in England. Perhaps this Criminal Justice Bill first step on the path to tyranny is a response to England's current out of control crime rate, but what do you expect from a country which has barred the right to self defense, and has, for all intents and purposes, turned itself into an Orwellian police state by the introduction of surveillance cameras?

Instead of actually introducing a bill that grants the basic right of self-defense or granting the people the ability to carry concealed, they pass a law that will eventually destroy the basic civil liberties of every citizen of that country, if it is allowed to stand. Which is foregone conclusion given the fact the British Courts do not have the power of judicial review like American Courts do.

I mean seriously guys, we appreciate your help in the War Against Terror but when you actually enact legislation that subverts hundreds of years of common law, you really need your collective heads examined.

Open invitation to my friends in England (of which I have a few) if you need a place to stay, my couch converts into a bed.

Hat Tip Right-Thinking

The Ever-Expanding Blogroll

For your further reading pleasure I have added DANEgerus to the blogroll over there on the right (where else would I put it?). The guy does some of the better research I have seen, and can pick apart a Leftist argument quicker than you can say. "They're all communists!" Go check him (I am assuming DANE is a he) out and enjoy the read. I know I do.

Pander, Pander, Spit. Repeat

Since when did the US Constitution give the Federal Government the power to legislate marriage?

President Bush yesterday said he will work with Congress to defend "the sanctity of marriage" against yesterday's decision by a Massachusetts court that the state's constitution guarantees same-sex couples a right to marry.

"Marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman. Today's decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court violates this important principle," Mr. Bush said in a brief statement released by the White House. "I will work with congressional leaders and others to do what is legally necessary to defend the sanctity of marriage."

[...]

Republicans on Capitol Hill yesterday were focused on making sure the federal government and other states don't have to recognize same-sex "marriages" granted in Massachusetts.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Texas Republican, said House Republicans were already moving on that point.

"We are pushing a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. We're working on one, we're trying to bring everybody together," he said. "When you have a runaway judiciary, which we obviously have, that has no consideration for the Constitution of the United States, then we have available to us through that Constitution [a way] to fix the judiciary."

First off, I am not all that big of a fan of the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling cited in the summary, however I do realize there are certain powers relegated to the state's under the 10th Amendment, marriage being one of those powers. So the Massachusetts Supreme Court acted well within it's authority to issue said ruling, even if Massachusetts is an extremely liberal state. To answer the inevitable paleo-conservative meme of slippery slope let me say this. First and foremost the United States Supreme Court has stated that the full faith and credit clause of the US Constitution does not necessarily apply to laws defining marriage, meaning if one state legalizes same sex marriage then another state does not have to recognize the union as being legal. Marriage laws are inherently state driven and state mandated, one state's laws do not trump the laws of another state. For example, if one state was to legalize (actual) murder (not likely, but bear with me) that does not mean the remaining 49 states' laws making murder illegal are null and void, for that is not the intent of the full faith and credit clause of the US Constitution. Clear things up?

What really strikes me as being particularity politically asinine about all this is this. Bush and the Congress pander to the Left with this 400 billion prescription drug plan to Medicare, Bush himself renews the Assault Weapons Ban (read that as any gun that looks scary to a Leftist), they pander to the Left (a group that will NEVER vote for Bush or any other conservative, period) then they turn right around and spit in their collective faces and pander to the Buchanan Wing of the Republican Party with all this talk of a Federal Marriage Amendment to the US Constitution.

News flash for you guys, I did not vote for you to pass a Federal Marriage Amendment (something which will never get ratified by 3/4's of the states anyway), I voted for you to act and pass on a conservative fiscal agenda. It's funny, one state decides to recognize same sex marriages and the paleo-conservatives in Congress push for a Federal Marriage Amendment, but yet when it comes down to nut cutting, they will not seriously debate a Balanced Budget Amendment. A Balanced Budget Amendment falls within the purview of the federal government a Federal Marriage Amendment does not.

Before anyone writes me a nasty emails, let me be perfectly clear. I, in no way shape or form agree with homosexuality, however I realize that what constitutes marriage is, under our system, left up to the states and the states alone to define and not the federal government. Any encroachment on what is a fundamental state issue by the federal government is not a good thing for the country as a whole. My position on this issue has been consistent throughout my entire life, be it gay marriage or abortion, let the states decide. Keep the federal government out of it. For when they get involved in moral issues such as gay marriage or abortion they just make the situation worse, rarely, if ever, do they make it better.

To Mr. DeLay. I am ashamed that you were my Congressman for most of the time I lived in Texas. You are, sir, a mean-spirited son-of-a-bitch who has never met a pork barrel project he did not like. You are, to me Mr. DeLay, a reprehensible human being and one of the worse people to ever have served in the US Congress. True you DO believe in tax cuts, but that is about all you and I will ever agree on. To propose a Federal Marriage Amendment is to spit in the face of the concepts of individual liberty and freedom of which this country was founded upon, rein yourself in Mr. DeLay, by bringing forward a federal Balanced Budget Amendment, leave what constitutes marriage where it belongs, the states.

If you guys keep stupid crap like this up, I will stay home come election day. Being the fact that I have voted in every single election since I hit 18, that is saying a lot.

read the entire story here.

Hat Tip Kallini.Com

Interesting

Right after I get finished reading "Founding Brothers" (and grading over 100 midterms, ugg) I run across this little quiz over on my pal Drumwaster's site. Oddly enough, in the book I identified more with John Adams than any of the other Founders, take the below quiz and I am John Adams, funny that.

Which Founding Father Are You?

Mid-Terms Must Die!!!

Never thought I would actually say this, but taking mid-terms is a helluva lot more fun than actually grading them, which is the reason why I have not been posting at all over the past two weeks. Now that I have gotten all caught up with the grading I shall be getting back to posting to this thing on a regular basis.

Quick question for Christopher, you go off to boot camp yet? (although that question will probably be answered by Jason if Christopher has).

Why Is This Guy Still a Democrat???

Senator Zell Miller's response to the "leaking" of a memo by Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

WASHINGTON - "U.S. Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) today released the following statement concerning a memo written by Democratic staff on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that suggests ways to politicize intelligence data:

"I have often said that the process in Washington is so politicized and polarized that it can't even be put aside when we're at war. Never has that been proved more true than the highly partisan and perhaps treasonous memo prepared for the Democrats on the Intelligence Committee.

"Of all the committees, this is the one single committee that should unquestionably be above partisan politics. The information it deals with should never, never be distorted, compromised or politicized in any shape, form or fashion. For it involves the lives of our soldiers and our citizens. Its actions should always be above reproach; its words never politicized.

"If what has happened here is not treason, it is its first cousin. The ones responsible - be they staff or elected or both should be dealt with quickly and severely sending a lesson to all that this kind of action will not be tolerated, ignored or excused.

"Heads should roll!"

Let's see, Zell Miller has already endorsed President Bush's re-election. Said he would actively campaign for the president, if he is asked to do so. Writes a book entitled, "A National Party No Longer: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat". And now he releases a statement excoriating Democrats on the Senate Intelligence committee. Zell principles goes a long way in my book, for that has to be the only reason you remain a Democrat, but sheesh your principles have no place in the party of Clinton. It's time for you to come join the light side. Become a Republican, Zell, you'll thank yourself in the morning. You cannot change the Democrat Party, no matter how hard you try. That is currently impossible to do. Until the Democrat Party rids itself of the radical environmentalists, the abortion on demand crowd, the race hustlers like $harpton and Jack$on, and the kind of elements you describe above, the party of Kennedy and Truman will never change. You've earned the right to spend your last year in public life not pissing up a rope.

Iraq to Germany, France and Russia. Up Yours

Granted that wasn't all the current president of the Iraqi Governing Council had to say in this article, but it is what really stood out to me.

The head of Iraq's Governing Council pledged yesterday to end the loss of American lives in his country within one year.

"Twelve months from now, "we will see Americans in their military garrisons, safe, and nothing [violent] against them," said Jalal Talabani, this month's president of the 25-member council.

"We want to save them, not to put them in danger," Mr. Talabani said in an interview at the huge oval table where the council was about to meet.

The jovial-looking Kurdish leader, who sports a large mustache, said he expects the country to hold elections establishing a democratic federal system of government within a year.

He said that the current council was akin to the British monarchy and that he wants to make it more like the British parliamentary system.

Mr. Talabani, on behalf of the United States and my brothers in arms, I say thank you, sir. But I want you to understand something. You might wish to save the lives of those brave men and women over there right now, and for that you should be commended however, those servicemen are there fighting for us, the American people, just as they are fighting for you. They are doing the job that we trained them to do, and unfortunately soldiers die in war. It is the risk they take, so please do not rush Iraq into democracy just for their sake, for if you do their sacrifice would have been in vain. If you truly wish to honor the memory of those American soldiers who perished, take your time and get your transition to democracy done right the first time.

Here's the money quote from the article.

Mr. Talabani also criticized countries that opposed the war, warning Russia and France in particular that their continued unwillingness to commit resources to his country would place them at a disadvantage when major contracts are awarded.

[...]

He said once a democratic, federal Iraq had been set up, the new parliament would decide what degree of American military presence was needed. But he expressed confidence that the new government would "try to have a very good relationship with the U.S. on all levels economic, political, trade, everything."

Mr. Talabani expressed his criticism of nations that opposed the war in careful diplomatic language but his meaning was abundantly clear.

"I warned them before the war not to put all their eggs in the Saddam basket," he said.

"Contracts will be decided mainly on an economic basis. Of course, we are preferring those who supported us, who were our friends and liberators that's very normal, I think that's natural."

He argued that the war had been "the only solution" to Saddam's despotic rule and that U.S. Congress' approval of about $20 billion in aid to the country had exposed claims that America was after only Iraqi oil as "a big lie."

Mr. Talabani, with that above quote, you have proven we did the right thing and continue to do the right thing.

I especially love the "big lie" quote, classic. Perhaps there will be room for Mr. Talabani in the new Iraqi Government, one can hope.

In the interview, the long-serving Kurdish leader said the key to reducing attacks on American forces, which have claimed about 120 lives since May 1, lies in a rapid handing over of counterinsurgency operations to Iraqi special forces.

"This kind of active antiterror force would do it better than our American friends because they know the country, they know everyone. Also we don't want to see American casualties every day. They came from a long way to liberate it.

"We say it's our country, give it to us. We will secure it, and we will prevent terrorism," he said.

Officials working with Mr. Talabani argued that a heavily armed counterterrorism force would draw on elements of the fledgling Iraqi military, but would derive its main strength from the more experienced Kurdish militias that fought alongside U.S. special forces in the spring to drive Saddam Hussein's troops out of northern Iraq.

Such a force also would recruit former members of Saddam's disbanded military and security forces. Intelligence largely would be gathered and assessed by militias attached to several of the political parties making up the Governing Council.

"We are trying to reach agreement with our American friends about this. We think it's possible to eradicate these terrorist webs quickly if the Iraqis will be permitted to have the responsibility of securing their territory," Mr. Talabani said.

Makes sense, but I do take issue with one thing. ANY members of Iraq's former security apparatus need to be kept out of ANY counter-terrorism unit of the Iraqi Army. Former members of the Iraqi Army? Well just as long as they were not members of the old C&C structure, okay fine. But keep Saddam's former generals out, you guys have come too far to even give a whiff of power back to those people.

Hat Tip Kallini.Com

A Client only a Lawyer Could Love...

When I read things like this, I really want to take the advice of the Bard, and kill all the lawyers.

A man who was imprisoned by the US military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is suing the Pakistani and US governments for damages worth over $10m.

Pakistani cleric Mohammed Sagheer was seized by US troops fighting in Afghanistan in 2001.

He spent roughly a year with other suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives in the US military prison.

His lawyers say he is suing for the mental and physical torture he endured at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay.

In the first case of its kind, Mr Sagheer described his arrest by American authorities as illegal and his treatment at the prison camp in Guantanamo Bay as extremely inhuman.

He says he was kept for more than a year in a prison cell that was like a cage meant for animals.

During this period he says he was treated in the worst possible manner and was repeatedly interrogated about his links to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.

Despite insisting that he no ties to the Islamic militant group, Mr Sagheer says he was punished by the authorities for what they saw as his lack of co-operation.

First off, if Mr. Sagheer had no ties to the Islamic militant group, then why was he fighting US forces in Afghanistan? Granted, that in and of itself does not mean he was a member of Al-Qaeda, but it does mean he was, more likely than not, a Taliban loyalist, and we know the Taliban had ties to Al-Qaeda, that is not in dispute. So it would be fair to make the assumption that Mr. Sageer did in fact have ties to Al-Qaeda, thus making any interrogation he underwent completely justifiable under that circumstance. And just what was this inhumane treatment? He couldn't read his Holy Koran when he was being interrogated?

He suffered physical and mental torture? Please, as Lee pointed out back in August, with this post , a Russian prisoner's family actually wanted him to remain at Camp X-Ray because the treatment he would receive there would be far superior to any treatment he would receive back home, sounds like the Gitmo prisoners are being woefully mistreated doesn't it?

But wait, he says. The news story comes from the BBC. Why pass up a chance to bash American right, BBC?


Hat Tip Right Thinking

Painful and Embarassing... All at the Same Time...

Next time someone tells you they had a bad day, tell them about this guy...

A couple of weeks ago we decided to cruise out to Ryan's Steakhouse for dinner. It was a Wednesday night which means that macaroni and beef was on the hot bar, indeed the only night of the week that it is served. Wednesday night is also kid's night at Ryan's, complete with Dizzy the Clown wandering from table to table entertaining the little bastards.

It may seem that the events about to be told have little connection to those two circumstances, but all will be clear in a moment.


We went through the line and placed our orders for the all-you-can-eat hot bar then sat down as far away from the front of the restaurant as possible in order to keep the density of kids down a bit. Then I started my move to the hot bar. Plate after plate of macaroni and beef were consumed that evening, I tell you -- in all, four heaping plates of the pseudo-Italian ambrosia were shoved into my belly. I was sated. Perhaps a bit too much, however.

I had not really been feeling well all day, what with a bit of gas and such. By the time I had eaten four overwhelmed plates of food, I was in real trouble. There was so much pressure on my diaphragm that I was having trouble breathing. At the same time, the downward pressure was building. At first, I thought it was only gas which could have been passed in batches right at the table without too much concern.

Unfortunately, that was not to be. After a minute or so it was clear that I was dealing with explosive diarrhea. It's amazing how grease can make its way through your intestines far faster than the food which spawned the grease to begin with, but I digress...

Entering, I saw two sinks immediately inside the door, two urinals just to the right of the sinks, and two toilet stalls against the back wall. One of them was a handicapped bathroom. Now, normally I would have gone to the handicapped stall since I like to stretch out a bit when I take a good shit, but in this case, the door lock was broken and the only thing I hate worse than my wife telling me to stop cutting my toenails with a pair of diagonal wire cutters is having someone walk in on me while I am taking a shit. I went to the normal stall. In retrospect, I probably should have gone to the large, handicapped stall even though the door would not lock because that bit of time lost in making the stall switch proved to be a bit too long under the circumstances. By the time I had walked into the regular stall, the pressure on my ass was reaching Biblical proportions. I began "The Move."

For those women who may be reading this, let me take a moment to explain "The Move." Men know exactly what their bowels are up to at any given second. And when the time comes to empty the cache, a sequence of physiological events occur that can not be stopped under any circumstances. There is a move men make that involves simultaneously approaching the toilet, beginning the body turn to position ones ass toward said toilet, hooking ones fingers into ones waistline, and pulling down the pants while beginning the squat at the same time. It is a very fluid motion that, when performed properly, results in the flawless expulsion of shit at the exact same second that ones ass is properly placed on the toilet seat. Done properly, it even assures that the choad is properly inserted into the front rim of the toilet in the event that the piss stream lets loose at the same time; it is truly a picture of coordination rivaling that of a ballet dancer.

I was about half-way into "The Move" when I looked down at the floor and saw a pile of vomit that had been previously expelled by one of those little bastards attending kids night; it was mounded up in the corner so I did not notice it when I had first walked into the stall. Normally, I would not have been bothered by such a thing, but I had eaten so much and the pressure upward was so intense, that I hit a rarely experienced gag reflex. And once that reflex started, combined with the intense pressure upward caused by the bloated stomach, four plates of macaroni and beef started coming up for a rematch. What happened next was so quick that the exact sequence of events are a bit fuzzy, but I will try to reconstruct them as best I can.

In that moment of impending projectile vomiting, my attention was diverted from the goings-on at the other end. To put a freeze frame on the situation, I was half crouched down to the toilet, pants pulled down to my knees, with a load of vomit coming up my esophagus. Now, most of you know that vomiting takes precedence over shit no matter what is about to come slamming out of your ass. It is apparently an evolutionary thing since shitting will not kill you, but vomiting takes a presence of mind to accomplish so that you do not aspirate any food into the bronchial tubes and perhaps choke to death. My attention was thus diverted. At that very split second, my ass exploded in what can only be described as a wake...you know, as in a newspaper headline along the lines of "30,000 Killed in Wake of Typhoon Fifi" or something similar. In what seemed to be most suitably measured in cubic feet, an enormous plug of shit the consistency of thick mud with embedded pockets of greasy liquid came flying out of my ass.

But remember, I was only half-way down on the toilet at that moment. The shit wave was of such force and of just such an angle in relation to the back curve of the toilet seat that it ricocheted off the back of the seat and slammed into the wall at an angle of incidence equal to the angle at which it initially hit the toilet seat. Then I sat down. Recall that when that event occurred, I was already half-way to sitting anyway and had actually reached the point of no return. I have always considered myself as relatively stable gravitationally, but when you get beyond a certain point, you're going down no matter how limber you may be. Needless to say, the shit wave, though of considerable force, was not so sufficient so as to completely glance off the toilet seat and deposit itself on the walls, unlike what you would see when hitting a puddle with a high-pressure water hose; even though you throw water at the puddle, the puddle gets moved and no water is left to re-form a puddle. There was a significant amount of shit remaining on about one third of the seat rim which I had now just collapsed upon. Now, back to the vomit...

While all the shitting was going on, the vomit was still on its way up. By the time I had actually collapsed on the toilet, my mouth had filled up with a goodly portion of the macaroni and beef I had just consumed. OK, so what does the human body instinctively do when vomiting? One bends over. So I bent over. I was still sitting on the toilet, though. Therefore, bending over resulted in me placing my head above my now slightly opened legs, positioned in between my knees and waist. Also directly above my pants which were now pulled down to a point just midway between my knees and my ankles. Oh, did I mention that I was wearing not just pants, but sweat pants with elastic on the ankles. In one mighty push, some three pounds of macaroni and beef, two or three Cokes, and a couple of Big, Fat Yeast Rolls were deposited in my pants...on the inside...with no ready exit at the bottom down by my feet.

In the next several seconds, there were a handful of farts, a couple of turds, and the event ended, yet I was now sitting there with my pants full of vomit, my back covered in shit that had bounced off the toilet, spattered on three ceramic tiled walls to a height of about five feet, and still had enough force to come back at me, covering the back of my shirt with droplets of liquid shit. All while thick shit was spread all over my ass in a ring curiously in the shape of a toilet seat. And there was no fucking toilet paper.

What could I do but laugh. I must have sounded like a complete maniac to the guy who then wandered into the bathroom. He actually asked if I was OK since I was laughing so hard I must have sounded like I was crying hysterically. I calmed down just enough to ask him if he would get the manager. And told him to have the manager bring some toilet paper. When the manager walked in, he brought the toilet paper with him, but in no way was prepared for what happened next. I simply told him that there was no way I was going to explain what was happening in the stall, but that I needed several wet towels and I needed him to go ask my wife to come help me. I told him where we were sitting and he left. At that point, I think he was probably assuming that I had pissed just a bit in my pants or something similarly benign.

About two minutes later, my wife came into the bathroom not knowing what was wrong and with a certain amount of worry in her voice. I explained to her (still laughing and having trouble getting out words) that I had a slight accident and needed her help. Knowing that I had experienced some close calls in the past, she probably assumed that I had laid down a small turd or something and just needed to bring the car around so we could bolt immediately. Until I asked her, I'm sure she had no idea that she was about to go across the street and purchase me new underwear, new socks, new pants, a new shirt, and (by that time due to considerable leakage around the elastic ankles thingies) new sneakers. And she then started to laugh herself since I was still laughing.

She began to ask for an explanation as to what had happened when I promised her that I would tell her later, but that I just needed to handle damage control for the time being. She left.

The manager then came back in with a half dozen wet towels and a few dry ones. I asked him to also bring a mop and bucket upon which he assured me that they would clean up anything that needed to be cleaned. Without giving him specific details, I explained that what was going on in that stall that night was far in excess of what I would expect anyone to deal with, what with most of the folks working at Ryan's making minimum wage or just slightly above.

At that moment, I think it dawned on him exactly the gravity of the situation. Then that manager went so far above the call of duty that I will be eternally grateful for his actions. He hooked up a hose.

Fortunately, commercial bathrooms are constructed with tile walls and tile floors and have a drain in the middle of the room in order to make clean up easy. Fortunately, I was in a commercial bathroom. He hooked up the hose to the spigot located under the sink as I began cleaning myself up with the wet towels. Just as I was finishing, my wife got back with the new clothes and passed them into the stall, whereupon I stuffed the previously worn clothing into the plastic bag that came from the store, handing the bag to my wife. I finished cleaning myself off and carefully put on my new clothes, still stuck in the stall since I figured that it would be in bad taste to go out of the stall to get redressed in the event I happened to be standing there naked and some little bastard kid walked in. At that point, I had only made a mess; I had not yet committed a felony and intended to keep it that way.

When I finished getting dressed, I picked up the hose and cleaned up the entire stall, washing down the remains toward the drain in the center of the room. I put down the hose and walked out of the bathroom. I had intended to go to the manager and thank him for all he had done, but when I walked out, three of the management staff were there to greet me with a standing ovation. I started laughing so hard that I thought I was going to throw up again, but managed to scurry out to the car where my wife was now waiting to pick me up by the front door. The upshot of all this is that I strongly recommend eating dinner at Ryan's Steak House. They have, by far, the nicest management staff of any restaurant in which I have eaten.

If the story isn't true, then this guy has one sick imagination (to put it mildly).
If the story is true, DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMM!!!

Credit to Christopher Kallini (I wouldn't have even looked for something like this on my own.)

It Was Only a Matter of Time

Before someone or some group on the Left got around to blaming the president for the recent spate of wildfires in California. After all they have blamed him for the death of Paul Wellstone, and his family as whole as being complict in the death of JFK... but the level of cognitative dissonance in this editorial by the Tetrahedron Publishing Group -- whatever that is, has to be seen to be believed.

It is no secret the news media is heavily controlled by a cryptocracy of propagandists. During his testimony to Congress, Past CIA director James Woolsey referred to industrial espionage, if not socio-economic and political sabotage, as The Agency's chief functions. Who is making money from the LA fires?

The news media; The banks that will urgently sell reconstruction loans; The insurance companies that always pass new risks and losses onto consumers;

The health care and drug industries that profit from the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people sickened by the smoke and falling debris. Curiously, these vast industries: the news media, the banks, the insurance companies, modern medicine, and even the CIA are heavily controlled by the same global industrialists....

...My friend from LA spoke with me weeks ago about the Bush political-financial empire needing a lift from the failing war in Iraq and current grand jury investigation into the administration's foreknowledge of the 9-11 attacks a distraction, a public diversion; always a disaster. The President's polls, confidence ratings, if you've noticed, have been seriously slipping. "They need another disaster to boost Mr. Bush's election year popularity. You know, 'Wag the dog,' my enlightened friend prophesied in September....

...The "next terrorist attack," I believe, is currently underway, under the cover of the LA flames. Above the clouds of smog, soot and smoke are CIA-owned helicopters likely spraying, besides water, chemicals if not biological weapons....

During the weeks ahead, Southern Californians will be massively intoxicated. Nature and excess population "urban sprawl" will be blamed for the unprecedented devastation and serious toll on the public's health. It is not unreasonable to predict an alleged "terrorist attack," or full outbreak," will take advantage of the ensuing chaos, and give the administration further fuel to run their deadly deceptions.

Um. Okay, yeah.

Run it through the translator and I come up with this:

"Bush Bad. The CA wildfires were yet another deception by the administration."

Seriously, that op-ed (if that is what it in fact is, and not something that came right out of the "It's a Conspiracy" Handbook) belongs up on the Democratic Underground message boards. Logical disconnect doesn't even begin to describe it.

Hat Tip Right Wing News

From the Halls of Montezuma...

Semper Fi!

Man does this bring back a whole host of great memories.

Five days down and just hours to go before Marine Recon Class 03-03 showers and sleeps for the first time in a week. More important, they will be a giant step closer to graduating.

Gunnery Sgt. Brian Foy rounds up the dirty, stinking, dazed students and gives them a pep talk in the middle of the tick- and chigger-infested woods at Fort AP Hill.

Then he makes a special request. He wants a song, but not any song. The Song.

Out of grimy throats comes:

From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli
We will fight our country's battles
In the air, on land and sea
First to fight for right...

BANG - a flare fills the air with golden smoke that embraces the Marines like their funky-smelling uniforms.

BANG - another flare, this one creating a cyclone of dense white smoke.

The "Marine Corps Hymn" careens on.

...and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title
Of United States Marine!

BANG - a can of tear gas cuts the song right out of them.

"GAS! GAS! GAS!"

Choking, confusion.

"Get your gas masks on! Come on! Come on! Let's go," yells Foy and the other Recon instructors.

The last leg is on. All that remains is the Marine's version of the Labors of Hercules.

Amphibious Reconnaissance School Class 03-03 started July 14 at the Marine Recon compound on the shores of the Atlantic with 48 students.

A late June dedication at the one-time Nike missile site on Fort Story means that the budding Recon Marines will sleep in air-conditioned comfort for the first time since the school moved here in 1977.

The new shingle had hardly gone up before the students arrived.

For many it is a short stay. Two weeks into the class, just 32 Marines remain. Several fail the running or swimming tests, others have medical conditions and still others quit or get hurt.

After the early washouts, Class 03-03 settles into a rhythm of daily class work and Monday exams.

The subjects include patrolling, communications and supporting arms. Behind the vague titles lay rappelling from helicopters, setting up global networks and calling in artillery.

These skills are used by four- to six-man Recon squads that travel ahead of Marine forces scouting for enemy positions and ambushes.

It takes a good two years and costs about $300,000 to produce a single combat-ready Recon Marine like the ones used in Afghanistan and Iraq, and this school is the first step in that process.

A Recon Marine is a smart Marine, but he also must be a durable Marine capable of carrying heavy loads several miles or swimming thousands of yards at any time.

Though the remaining Recon students are in excellent shape, they'll have to get in far better shape if they are going to pass the 10-week course that is one of the corps' toughest.

Weekly "ruck runs" are designed to round the students into field shape. "Ruck" is short for rucksack, essentially a military backpack. In Iraq, Recon Marines sometimes carried 140 pounds in their rucksacks over miles of rugged ground.

Maj. Christopher Medlin is the school's commander and his mantra - "It pays to be a winner. It sucks to be a loser." - hangs in the air even when he's not around.

Salubrious or not, ruck runs make the students dread Fridays.

At 4:30 on a mid-August Friday morning, it's already 76 degrees with 96 percent humidity. An hour later and hotter, 28 Marines start a 10-mile run carrying 50 pounds of gear and a single glowing green chemical light stick. This is the last and longest ruck run and the students are anxious.

"Slow down!" bellows an instructor as the students start too fast. A short way down Atlantic Avenue, the Marines turn right and scramble up a sand dune known as "Loch Ness," their boots digging in at 45-degree angles.

The Marines crest the dune and spill in a twisting band of bobbing light toward the silver-brushed sea like hatched turtles.

Under the three-quarter moon, the students thin out along the beach and find their own pace with the waves calling cadence. The sea and the wind mask the sounds of dry heaves, coughs and groans.

Instructors, marked by blue light sticks, are near, but this is a personal gut-check that the Marines handle alone and in silence.

Flunking the run won't fail them, but it won't give them any momentum - or confidence - going into the toughest part of the course next week either.

"It pays to be a winner. It sucks to be a loser," yells Medlin, who crossed the finish line first after 2 hours and 3 minutes, beating Marines 20 years his junior.

"Good job, Marine, good job," Medlin greets each sweat-drenched student who finishes. Many are too spent to get the words "thank you, sir" out.

A few puke.

Not everyone makes the finish line.

"It pays to be a winner. It sucks being a loser," Medlin says, glancing at several Marines sitting in the back of a jaundice-yellow Hummer.

The men are silent. Their bodies or hearts betrayed them on the longest, toughest run and there's nothing to say.

"There will be 10 Marines who will be pulling duty this weekend while everyone else is on pass. That's too bad, because this is the last weekend before AP Hill," Medlin says.

"Yeah, losing really sucks," he concludes, his voice trailing off.

AP Hill.

The full name is Fort AP Hill, but the Recon Marines just call it AP Hill. They always say it carefully like it's a dangerous spell that might turn on them if they say it wrong.

Listening to the students, it's hard to think of the 76,000-acre training post as a real place at all, but rather a euphemism for fear. Worse because AP Hill is actually on the training schedule.

"This is where we will lose some of our students," says Staff Sgt. Robert Langlois, 27, a Recon instructor. "They're so close to graduating, but they can't get past AP Hill."

"We usually lose a few at AP Hill to injuries or a few will say that classroom stuff is one thing, but this staying awake six days in the field isn't worth it," says Sgt. Chadwick Carson, a 25-year-old instructor.

The students fear AP Hill for good reasons.

It can be Sir Edmund Hillary's Everest or Charles Lindberg's Atlantic - an achievement that shapes a successful career.

Or it can be Richard Byrd's North Pole, Napoleon Bonaparte's Moscow - a breaking, aching place of professional failure.

"It's kind of nerve-racking thinking about the sleep deprivation that you are going to be going through," says Lance Cpl. Jason Mormon, who at 29 is nearly 10 years older than most classmates.

"From the stories I've heard, you pretty much start to lose your mind after a while," says Mormon, one of 27 remaining students. "This is the big test to see if you are really made for this or not. Everyone has been pretty much counting down the weeks to AP Hill. When we pulled up to the gate, a few guys said, 'Welcome to Hell.' "

Hell started with a 10-hour land navigation test during which students had to find 10 points spread across 10 miles of forest and fields.

Twelve students fail and must retake the test. It takes some students three tries to pass, meaning they've walked about 30 miles before the toughest training even begins.

During the re-testing, Mormon and the other land-nav successes are taught to live off the land and make traps, weapons, tools and shelters.

Grenade spoons make good knives.

Dog tags are real good fishing lures.

Wire nooses on a downed tree limb can snare squirrels.

"It's important," explains Langlois, "that you find something to make a knife that has a groove in it - it's called a blood groove - so if you stick it in someone you can get it back out."

The Marines are also taught to field dress and cook live chickens, one of the Third World's most common protein sources.

This is leisure time and time to relax before the coming storm.

Soon the Recon students will break into four teams and be graded on six patrols in as many days.

During the day, they'll get orders - such as rescue POWs or set up an observation post - and rehearse their plan.

At night they'll execute the missions.

Students will go 60 hours without sleep and get only eight or nine hours for the entire six days.

Ask students who have failed here what AP Hill is like and 20-year-old eyes go squinty and memories falter until you wonder if they really remember anything except being here.

The instructors have the best stories. Of students who stopped marching when everyone else started, then started when everyone else had stopped.

The most infamous story might be of a student who urinated on sleeping students.

"When you are an instructor during Day 3, you really, really have to watch them," says Carson. "You'll see guys do crazy things. You'll see guys ordering pizzas, trying to open doors."

"I made it until the fifth day last time, and then I got sick and I kept throwing up," says Lance Cpl. Joshua McMichen, 20. "It's depressing to know you were so close and went though so much and then didn't make it.

"Being a Recon Marine is something you have to want, to go through AP Hill twice. Graduation day will be the greatest day of my life."

Gassing the singing Marines kicks off the last leg of labors. Teams will ford a beaver pond, carry a 200-pound log, withstand repeated tear-gassing and haul various other heavy things for nine miles.

The instructors closely watch how each Recon student reacts under the intense pressure.

"They're going go through things that they've never gone through before in their lives," says Gunnery Sgt. Michael Vandevender. "If they haven't built any teamwork, they will tear each other apart.

"The grades matter, but what matters more in the Marine Recon community is word of mouth. A good rep goes further than good grades."

Team 2 struggles with the log, just like the other teams. The log drops a few times - the second time landing on a student's foot. When the log drops, so do the Marines to do pushups.

"Good job, Team 2," says Staff Sgt. Dan McFarland. "Break his leg. Mormon, that's the second time. You have to make sure he has the log before you let it go."

"I didn't do it on purpose, staff sergeant," Mormon explains.

In an instant, McFarland and Mormon are nose to nose.

"No one does it on purpose!" McFarland screams. "Things just happen and that's how people get dead."

Mormon stands up and McFarland gently takes his grimy face in his hands.

"I know you didn't mean it, Mormon," he tells him quietly. "Now, keep your composure. You can do this."

The scene's over in seconds and Team 2 is off carrying the log down the road.

"As much as we train and make it hard on them, we want them to pass. We want them to be Recon Marines," says Staff Sgt. Robert Salters, another of the eight Recon instructors.

A few hours later, Team 2 finishes in first place, followed by the three other teams.

"Keep it together. Don't lose your composure," McFarland tells his team as they peel off their uniforms and inspect their swollen and bloody feet. "You did a good thing. We are extremely proud of you. Don't act like an ass now."

There is no celebration, just relief and what comes with accomplishing something really hard.

"I can look at my friends back home and say to them that they would never, ever be able to do that," says Lt. Sam Newberger. "And there aren't many things anyone can say that about."

With Hurricane Isabel closing fast, Amphibious Reconnaissance School Class 03-03 hastily assembles at Fort Story to graduate and leave town ahead of the storm.

The mantle of "Recon Marine" that 48 had sought in July, only 21 receive Sept. 17.

Unlike Army Rangers or Navy SEALs, Recon Marines get no uniform fob showing they've passed one of the corps' toughest schools.

They get a piece of paper that's both a cherished pass into an exclusive club and a grim promise that within the next few years most can expect to see murderous action.

But on a deceptively gorgeous fall day in mid-September, the graduates feel no weight of obligation or future menace, only a blooming self-inflicted awe at what they have accomplished. They know what they paid for that piece of paper.

Been there, done that, and loved every single minute of it. Congratulations to ARS Class 03-03, you guys are now a part of an elite fraternity, one that I myself am a member of. You have earned the right to call yourselves Recon Marines. Welcome to the family, my brothers. Also, here's hoping you get a choice MFR Atlantic assignment, and not one on in that wussy MRF, Pacific (intra-service rivalary, gotta love it). Chris said, after he read that, it made him feel like a pussy. Yeah I can see how it could, at that.

Hat Tip Kallini.Com

Where did the WMD's Go?

Well if you believe this report, Syria.

U.S. intelligence officials Wednesday released an assessment that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction have been transferred to neighboring Syria. The officials, in the first assessment of its kind, said the transfer occurred during the weeks prior to the U.S.-led war against the Saddam Hussein regime. Middle East Newsline reported the U.S. assessment was based on satellite images of convoys of Iraqi trucks that poured into Syria during February and March. U.S. intelligence officials say the trucks contained missiles and WMD components banned by the U.N.'s Security Council.

First off, before any of you email me and say, "What about the Kay Report?!" Let me say this, The Kay Report only proved Saddam Hussein had a clandestine WMD program and not WMD's, while it is very possible (even likely) that Kay will find WMD's in Iraq, he has not yet done so. In all honesty the story that Iraq sent it's WMD's into Syria has been hanging around for quite a few months, it has never risen above the "official rumor" category, until today, so I am going to take this with a pretty large grain of salt. Those trucks referenced in the story could have just easily carried looted art work or money as they could have carried WMD's, in other words there really isn't much proof to substianate that the trucks carried what the intelligence suggests. Until such proof becomes available, ala Assad turning them over or coming clean that yes those trucks did indeed carry what we think they carried, then the hunt for WMD's should (and could) continue in Iraq.

Hat Tip Right Thinking

Dem Space Based Mind Control Devices...

Have apparently taken control of our good friends, The Democratic Underground. Of course the title assumes they actually have minds to begin with, but I digress.

First off, look at this picture and tell me what you see.



What I see, and what I would be willing to guess most of you see is a simple picture of a beautiful little girl waving an American flag. I do not see any kind of partisian message on display, nor do I see any kind of message of indoctrination. I merely see a message of "Unity", you know that whole "United We Stand, Divided We Fall" deal.

However, take a look at some of the posts over at Democratic Underground about the above picture:

nu_duer: "The message I get is "don't question, just wave your flag and follow."

The people who put this billboard up do have some inspirational, almost anti-war billboards, but this one, using children (this girl looks like she's seen God or something) to sell "patriotism," this billboard bothers me. (if the wind is blowing hard enough to fly that flag, could that little girl really hold it up with one hand?)

And I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in resenting having the flag shoved down my throat at every turn. Its my country's flag, not a "can you hear me now" catchphrase."

Yup, we have to "sell patriotism". It isn't something people are allowed to feel naturally.

frank frankly: "no no no no no

how stupid. how awful and stupid. what the f*ck does that kid know about anything?

ugh. the police state tightening under the rush of hatriotism..."

Ah, the child must be stupid! She doesn't know what kind of hate-filled, racist country the United States actually is.

ixion: "flags didn't bother me... but now they do...

The nationalistic zomby thing really makes me sick. Nationalism before all else and above all things. It's pathetic."

It's spelled z-o-m-b-i-e not z-o-m-b-y, Ixion. Flag waving little girls must be the walking dead apparently.

maveric: A blonde haired blue eyed little girl. Promoting the Aryan agenda

once more.

What do repugs have with blondes? The media whores, pundits, and Fox news especially. Are they ordered to bleach their hair?

The Aryan Jesus is the one that gets me!"

YES!! The ubiquitous Aryan/Nazi reference. Took you long enough.

DBoon: "Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer!"

Once again, waving the American flag is akin to being in Nazi Germany, circa 1939. Especially if it's a little girl that is doing the waving.

MrsGrumpy: "We have it on I-94 here in Detroit.

Unity....heehee, and if not call the FBI on your neighbor."

Equating the billboard's message of "Unity" with informing on your neighbor, ala the USSR under Stalin. That's a stretch, even for the DU.

Resistance Is Futile: "It's not the flag

Look again

Note the motto: "What makes us great. Unity"

This is nothing more than pro-GOP propaganda combined with the stench of Naziism."

Look again, that was the American flag and not the flag of Nazi Germany, Resistance is Futile. And the billboard wasn't written in German. Going off the deep-end? I would say so.

I just love it when the mask slips off and these Barking Moonbats are seen for the anti-American asshats they really are.

But WAIT! There's one more comment:

Ninja Cow: "It's obvious the little girl is signaling Hitler, or heiling him with both arms. The Flag is not what it appears to be. In reality, it is a secret radioactive nuclear flabbermegasted death ray designed by the GOP to brainwash other nations. It also contains American "time travel" devices that allows the USA to steal tech from the future. Where do you think they got the idea for shoe laces??

Little girls are evil. Flags are evil. Santa Clause is evil. Unity is evil!!!"

You also forgot baseball, apple pie, and the Easter Bunny there, Ninja Cow.

Hat Tip Right Wing News

Michael Moore, Great American

Normally I do not comment on anything relating to Michael Moore. In all honesty I really do not view anything the man does or says as worth my time to vent about, and Lee over at Right-Thinking does a far far better job of nailing the fat bastard to the wall better than I could even hope to do. However, when I read this little piece of news I couldn't resist the urge to make a comment in passing.

MICHAEL MOORE, the polemic filmmaker who likes to wear his "progressive'' politics on his plaid sleeves, has made a fortune from bashing doyens of corporate greed. But apparently the provocative Moore doesn't mind the perks of celebrity -- even when they bear the label of big-time corporate America.

Moore recently touched down in California as part of his national book tour. He's traveling in style -- in a private jet provided by Time Warner, and in SUVs courtesy of his publisher, Warner Books. The company also threw in some bodyguards -- as we know from his movies, America is a pretty darn dangerous place.

For his part, Moore sees no contradiction between his private life and his public image, suggesting that the only reason he's feeding at the corporate trough is because it's there. "I would never pay for this,'' Moore told the Los Angeles Times, adding that the irony is not lost on him.

When you make your living bashing malicious corporate CEOs, it's best not to remind people that you're using giant media companies to carry your message.

After all, the bottom line is all about profits, not prophets.

Most telling thing about that for me? It was prinited in the San Francisco Chronicle, a paper notorious for it's lefty bias and it was an actual article not an op-ed. In other related news; Hell just froze over.

I Blame Bush...

For this:

The economy grew at a blistering 7.2 percent annual rate in the third quarter in the strongest pace in nearly two decades. Consumers spent with abandon and businesses ramped up investment, compelling new evidence of an economic resurgence.

The increase in gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the economy's performance, in the July-September quarter was more than double the 3.3 percent rate registered in the second quarter, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The 7.2 percent pace marked the best showing since the first quarter of 1984. It exceeded analysts' forecasts for a 6 percent growth rate for third-quarter GDP, which measures the value of all goods and services produced within the United States.(emphasis mine -K)

You really have to feel for the Naive Nine, they have painted themselves into a box. They have to, in order for any of them to win the White House in 2004:

1) Hope the Iraq situation doesn't keep improving.
2) Hope that the economy goes completely into the crapper.
3) Hope that another terrorist attack is committed on United States soil.

They have to hope for bad things to happen for any of them to have a shot at unseating Bush in 2004. What a terrible predicament for them to be in. I'm smiling from ear to ear, in case you were wondering.

Hat Tip Right-Thinking

Zell Miller Speaks, Again

On Hannity and Colmes, eariler tonight.

The way I see it is that these next five years are gonna be crucial in determining what kind of world my grandchildren and great-grandchildren live in. And I don't want to entrust that to any of these folks that are running out there on the Democratic side.

I'm going to vote for George Bush. I think he's a good man. I once said that he reminded me somewhat of Churchill. I think he's got some Churchill in him. He understands the history of freedom, he knows where it came from. And he's not afraid to take a side. I loved it whenever he looked at the American people on [unintelligible] and said, "We're not leaving."

That's the kind of man that I want in there as Commander and Chief.

And so, in ... I'm not saying that I'm going to become a Republican. But in two thousand and four this Democrat's gonna vote for George Bush for President.

Zell, you really need to come over to the light side my friend. You would be welcomed with open arms. But, alas the man actually possesses principles, so he won't leave the Democratic Party, tis really a shame. If he was a Republican he would be listened to and his views respected by the Party leadership. I hope you have a nice retirement, Zell. You have earned it.

Hat Tip Alpha Patriot

From the News of the Weird Department

Comes this:

A Piqua man was arrested Friday after a burglar broke into his home and stumbled upon a metal box full of illicit photos of young girls, including the thief's 4-year-old sister.

Richard Yearsley, a 51-year-old registered sex offender, was arrested from from his apartment at 329 Harrison St. after the 20-year-old burglar called the Piqua Police Department at 4:40 p.m.

Yearsley was subsequently charged with rape of a child under the age of 13 and illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material, according to new reports. The rape charges are for a March incident where Yearsley allegedly touched a 3-year-old child sexually.

That story ranks right up there with this story from a few weeks ago.

Seriously, you just cannot make things like this up.

Hat Tip Right-Thinking

Shoot the REMF* Next Time Colonel

Main reason why my blogging has been light over the past few days? I've been sick with an early bout of the flu. It has gotten so bad that I finally broke down and stayed home today (thank G-d I have some decent TA's who will actually follow my lesson plans). However, when I read this, my illness just got worse.

The Army has filed a criminal assault charge against an American officer who coerced an Iraqi into providing information that foiled a planned attack on U.S. soldiers.

Lt. Col. Allen B. West says he did not physically abuse the detainee, but used psychological pressure by twice firing his service weapon away from the Iraqi. After the shots were fired, the detainee, an Iraqi police officer, gave up the information on a planned attack around the northern Iraqi town of Saba al Boor.

(.......)

An Army official at the Pentagon confirmed to The Washington Times yesterday that Col. West has been charged with one count of aggravated assault. A military source said an Article 32 hearing has been scheduled in Iraq that could lead to the Army court-martialing Col. West and sending him to prison for a maximum term of eight years.

First and foremost, yes LTC West did violate the UCMJ, you will not get any argument from me on that one. However, are we at war or aren't we? Did LTC West actually kill this prisoner? No. Did he violate some part of the Geneva Convention pertaining to captured POW"s (although the argument could be made this Iraqi policeman is a foreign combatant, and is thus not subject to the Geneva Convention), yeah he probably did. However, LTC West's men had already been attacked, and LTC West himself had been made a specific target of an assassination attempt.

An informant reported that there was an assassination plot against Col. West, an artillery officer working with the local governing council in Saba al Boor. On Aug. 16, guerrillas attacked members of the colonel's unit who were on their way to Saba al Boor.

An informant told the soldiers that one person involved in the attack was a town policeman. Col. West sent two sergeants to detain the policeman, who was placed in a detention center near the Taji air base. The interrogators had no luck at first, so Col. West decided to take over the questioning.

Already attacked once, and now the subject of an assassination attempt. LTC West response to all this? Fire his sidearm (a Berreta 9mm) twice. He did not point his sidearm at the prisoner, nor did he verbally threaten the prisoner's life. He knew this Islamist idiot had information that he needed, and he was going to get it by any means necessary. That my friends is what you are supposed to do when the lives of the men you lead are in danger. I would be willing to hazard a guess that LTC West's men would now be willing to go off and die for this man. Since he got the inforrmation, he saved their lives. Leaders do that sort of thing.

The Army's treatment of LTC West just flat out makes me sick. Retire him? No way. Imprison him? Uh-uh. Court Martial him? Nope. Give him a medal and sent him back to Iraq, with his old unit? You bet.

Semper Fi -- LTC West

*Rear Echelon Mother Fucker

Hat Tip Raging Dave

A Democrat Who Gets It.

Senator Zell Miller of Georgia has endorsed President Bush:

SENATOR ZELL MILLER OF GEORGIA, the nation's most prominent conservative Democrat, said today he will endorse President Bush for re-election in 2004 and campaign for him if Bush wishes him to. Miller said Bush is "the right man at the right time" to govern the country.

The next five years "will determine the kind of world my children and grandchildren will live in," Miller said in an interview. And he wouldn't "trust" any of the nine Democratic presidential candidates with governing during "that crucial period," he said. "This Democrat will vote for President Bush in 2004."

Note to the Naive Nine -- You might want to listen to what Zell Miller is saying. But you probably won't, since you guys are always right and conservatives are always wrong.

Also, DNC Chairman McAuliffe, you need some Neosporin? You just got burned bad.

Good luck in 2004 guys, you are really going to need it.