To be or not to be and more.

As everyone is aware, it is difficult for me to type at the present due to a complication in my eyes from surgery. I am planning on waiting till the 5^th, after I see a specialist on this problem to make a decision if I should take the site down or not. Of course, I do not wish to, but if after seeing the specialists and the prognosis does not look good, well, that will make my decision for me. However, if it can be fixed, then I am off and running.

I am very sorry this occurred, but things happen, so I will be letting everyone know what is going on soon.

As long as that is the case, well, I am going to start saying what ever the hell I feel like saying. So, In the meantime, I wish to make a few comments on the present status of the war on terrorism and the bleeding hearts attempting to bring it to a total halt.

I have been watching the demonstrations on the news channels, as well as the various bleeding heart Presidential want a be politicians and it makes me sick to see this type of crap going on.

When I saw the ten thousand people demonstrating and H. Clinton screaming at Bush to bring the troops home, I told my nephew it was all over but the shouting. He had asked why, I told him this is simply telling the enemy and bin Laden that we are pulling the troops out soon. They have won, bin Laden got away with it, yes, we are paper tigers and all is right in their world.

The next morning I awake to read our troops received intelligence about a terror plot and did what soldiers are supposed to do, go out and kill everyone of the bastards. I said a few HooAHs and felt better.

It appears that for once we may have a President who could care less what the bleeding heart idiots are saying. He has instructed his troops to forget about the hearts and minds, forget about the touchy feel nonsense and do what a soldier does best, go out and kill every single enemy combatant they can find.

Friends, we have the best, most highly trained and well equipped military in the world. They are not taught to bring a feel good attitude to the battle ground. They are not taught to hold hands and merrily skip through the enemies countryside doing good deeds.

They are taught to be the meanest SOB in the valley and kill anyone who is an enemy combatant. To shoot first and ask questions later. That is what a soldier does, he kills the enemy and it is about time the bleeding heart idiots in Washington understands that. If not, we will have another Black Hawk down, pulling out the troops without finishing the job.

Irish and proud of it

I must confess that my family, what is left of it, is Irish. We have family in Southern Ireland, which I have not spoke to in years. What compounds the problem, as least it in eyes of Ulster is we are Catholic.

If we were living in Northern Ireland and with my quick temper and mouth, we would probably be dead by now. Old habits are hard to break and the killing of Catholic Irish is one of them. There was a period of time when an actual state of war existed between Northern Protestants and Southern Catholics, thank God, that has passed, at least somewhat.

Reading the dispatch from Ireland this moring brought back many bad memories of days gone by, but not forgotten. It also brought back the hatrid that exists to this day between the two religions.

One would assume, in this day and age people would be well past those problems. Not in Ireland, this is an on-going problem and an on-going hatred that has existed since the dawn of time and the early days when Ulster wore orange sashes and marched in their parades. To think that it all started from a King, long faded into history is even more mind boggling. There must come a time when hatred and distrust is buried and a new dawn appears, but not in Ireland.

My ancestors came into New York's five points when life was nothing, even a movie was made of this time and age and it was very accurate. Today, I am a multi-generation American and proud of it. Yes, I have nasty ancestors even one that road with the wild bunch and a few hung for horse theft, but through it all common sense has prevailed and the only thing I hate is flavored coffee.

I still have remnants of my ancestors, quick temper leading to tears and I tend to talk fast at times, other than that I am a normal, red blooded American. I wear the green on St. Paddy's day and watch the parades. I do not eat corn beef and cabbage as my relatives in Ireland have not even heard of it. My Mother, rest in peace, used to make a great soda biscuit and my Grandfather, a better tea. Other than that, I am American and proud of it.

Setback

I feel that I need to discuss what has transpired with my eyes, resulting from my surgery for glaucoma. All in all, the surgery worked as planned, the pressure in the eye appears to be under control. However, I have a complication which has left my vision completely out of focus and for all piratical purposes, non existent for the time being.

I have a swollen retina which is causing this problem and I have been referred to a specialist to follow up with this set back.

Writing is very difficult, but not totally impossible, with the aid of a magnifying glass and a whole lot of patience, of which I am slowly running out of.

This has been an on going fight to regain my eyesight and as the old soldier I am, I will continue this until reaching its conclusion.

Thanks,
Ranter

Stupid is as Stupid does.

I have wrote about finding peace within lifetime, however, what the House is attempting to do, overriding the President's plan is not a factor in that scenario.

On the contrary, it is stupid tricks such as this that sends signals to our enemy that yes, we are pulling out. Which is the dumbest thing we could do at this point in time. In fact, dumb does not even truly describe the words in my mind.

This idiotic act stinks of the unpatriotic and improper thought process which took place in the 1960 and 1970 era, it instills the image within our troops and within the enemy that we have no idea what to do, even further, that we could care less about the people in Iraq we will be destroying when we do pull out. Much like we abandoned the people of South Vietnam and the mountain tribesmen who had been fighting for us, which resulted in the murder of thousands and the total death of entire generations to come.

The enemy, al-Qaida and other facets banding with them has known from the start of the lack of dedication to an extended and protracted war, they have been waiting in the background for these actions, knowing their moment in the sun is near. They will begin a battle within Iraq, joined by Iran and Syria and totally destroy the people we were protecting and now abandoned.

How often must we repeat our history before we ever learn one single lesson? How many men, women and children must we destroy through improper military actions before we realize we are killing off humanity?

I constantly repeat myself, saying we need a united country, when this will never occur, not once and we will be destined to repeat our mistakes.

Just out of our reach

I have often felt in awe to have grown up and lived within the age that we are all living within. I have not only witnessed the birth and growth of the computer age, but have actively been involved with it since the beginning.

I have learned that a virus can attack a piece of hardware just as fast and deadly as it does the human body.

I have managed to survive within the universe of space aliens, fighter jets, pacman and centipedes. I have fired bursts of energy at so many imaginary gaming creatures that I should receive an honorable mention in a science fiction magazine or have a hobbit named after me in some long lost Tolkien book.

I once stool in France, watching two tractor trailers deliver the computer that was to manage all of NATO, a Sperry Rand Univac which took up an area twice the size of my home. It consisted of lights, wires, tubes, and so many other electronic switches that it required an army of technicians to set it all up. It was programmed by connecting wires on a breadboard and the output was on data punch cards. Today, I am typing this on a Dell with a few million times the speed and power and taking up a small amount of space in front of me.

It boggles my mind to think that my laptop is a few thousands times as powerful as the computer that took men to the moon, safely bringing them back to Earth.

I can stand in line at a Starbucks, ordering my Triple Espresso Latte while I communicate on a cell phone with a cousin in Ireland, yet I recall watching news items once brought into my home courtesy of the first communications' satellite, known as Telstar.

In my childhood I was entertained by Milton Berle acting insane, I knew all the puppets on the Howdy Doody show and laughed till it hurt with The Honeymooners. I watched with tears in my eyes as the events unfolded at the Munich Olympics, stood in awe as Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and heard great men of our time speak words that still live today.

Yes, we are living within a Brave New World, our lives managed by microchips, Windows, Linux, and a plethora of software capable of taking care of our every whim and wish. Artificial Intelligence, software thinking for us, suggesting what we should do, say, act, embedded deep within the software engines of many computer games, deciding what the game should do next to counteract our move.

Still, I cannot help wondering, why, with all of the technical achievements, leaps in technology, advances in communications why one small item is still just out of the reach of humanity. It is not that hard to pronounce, does not take up that much space, will not beat us in a game, or even do our work for us. Yet, it can instill feelings within us that no microchip can ever do, while providing a safer existence for our children.

Peace, see, it is not that hard to say or read, yet it is still out of our grasp. Perhaps one day, one day soon.

The dum-dums are at it again

It has long been a matter of record among the intelligence community that Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki operates under the watchful eye and firm rule of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr who controls downtown Baghdad, known as Sadr City and his militia of Shiite fighters.

al-Maliki has deemed this area of Baghdad out of bounds for our military, which has since assumed areas further away, but still monitoring the situation. Supposedly, the U.S. Military is not permitted to operate in Sadr, However, we can all bet the farm that with the addition of 21000 troops this may soon be a moot point and al-Maliki will join his boss al-Sadr in another dimension or the now famous Iraq gallows.

That would be the thought process, if the bleeding heart, feel good, tree hugging Senator’s were not doing their absolute best to throw a monkey wrench into the plans. These aforementioned Senator’s announced agreement Wednesday on a resolution opposing President Bush's 21,500-troop buildup in Iraq, which of course, is a nothing but a power play, laying the necessary groundwork for a direct confrontation between the White House and Congress over the war.

These elected dum-dums are so caught up in their own self-importance they cannot foresee the problems they are creating among the men and women of the military. The loss of moral that occurs among the troops as anyone who served from my generation will attest to, is a constant byproduct of the antiwar media facing their families at home.

The men and women serving have been constantly asked to go above and beyond the initial conception of the war in Iraq. Unlike the war in Vietnam, where serving a full combat tour would exempt the soldier from a mandatory second one. This is the dawn of a bright and brave new world.. Today’s men and women do not face a draft, the have no fear of their number called, forced into the service and a guaranteed tour in combat.

This is the all-volunteer military, higher pay, better training, equipment and the best weapons systems their government can provide them with. The only problem to this scenario is the men and women face two, three and more tours in a combat zone. Our men and women are up to the task, they are motivated and professional, but we can only go so far before some of them begin to burn out from the constant levels of stress.

America’s answer should not be divided among party lines and a media constantly in our face with anything negative they can dig up. It should be a united front against a common enemy, not what the elected dum-dums are putting together to test their new powers.

This whole sordid political affair makes me sick

A Few Things

Blackfive has two interesting views of the war in Iraq, written by men serving their country. The first is by a Marine Lieutenant; the second is by a 1^st Cav medic, both of these well written articles lend their unique perspective to the war as they are serving in different areas of Iraq.

I highly recommend stopping by and reading what is truly going on in that war torn city, straight from the mouths of the people serving.

On a similar note, I am sure everyone has been following the number of attacks and killings of ranking members of al Qaida these past few weeks. It is very apparent that our special operations teams have been extremely busy. Any successful attack on these pieces of scum is a big plus and although their names remain secret, they all deserve our respect.

I wanted to take a moment to send a huge Ranter Salute to Cpl M and his wife over at, A Soldier’s Perspective on the birth of their daughter, Annabella Emilee Scott, born December 30th 2006, at the Naval Hospital on Camp Lejeune. She weighed 7 lbs, 12 ounces, and was 19 inches long. Time of birth was 2:34 PM.

I am very sorry my congratulations are late, but Cpl M and his family know they are sincere. So welcome to the world Annabella Emile and Happy Birthday and a huge Semper Fi to the proud Papa.

Thanks
Ranter

Nothing Changes

I recently received an email dwelling into the past of Barack Obama. It details his life and his connection to the Muslim faith, which the writer attempts to portray as a closely guarded secret.

My first impression was, “who the hell cares what his faith is” and I still stand by my small outburst in my home. Then I began thinking of where this world has ended in this war on terror and I was immensely saddened by my thoughts.

What have we wrought, that is the question for the day. We are tangled in wars in various countries and yes; the enemy we face is of the Muslim faith. Does that mean we take everyone of that faith in America and place them behind fences, much like the internment of the Japanese Americans during WWII?

Not in the contents of a sane nation it does not. However, we are faced with rather imposing questions on what is truly manifesting within the minds of the average American and the answer to that is not that nice.

Like many Americans I recall when JFK was elected as the first Catholic to attain that office and I recall my Father stating that it was about time. So, this train of thought is nothing new.

One would think that through the course of time that questions of the religious faith of a President would subside, but in truth, it does not. In fact it plays an essential part in the question of the candidate capturing the needed votes in the first place.

The war on terror has now added a new fear in the minds of Americans everywhere and I for one do not agree with this dilemma facing the voters. The question of a person’s faith should never enter into anything and yet; it still does, all these years later.

It amazes me when I think of how far we have stepped back when we should be taking giant steps forward.

Support is what is needed.

I have to apologize for not posting sooner, but I have had a few problems resulting from my surgeries and I am addressing them. My vision has changed severely, what was once clear is now difficult to see, close up or in distance, my vision has changed for the worse, it is difficult to accept, but I will overcome these problems.

In the mean time, I will try and get back to saying what is on my mind.

Have often stated that I never intended this blog to be a venue for the politics of our country. Many times I have totally avoided a topic, not wanting to violate my own rules. However, the present policy of President Bush cannot be ignored, so with that in mind, I will speak my peace.

President Bush is constantly at odds with a media still caught up in their past laurels, Watergate, Vietnam, Nixon. This media, the New York Times for one, is constantly determined to place the president in the worst possible light. It matters not if the actions are good or bad, in the media’s view they are as bad as anyone has ever seen, in any presidency.

President Bush may be a lot of things to the American people, but one thing remains, he is our President, we voted him in office and no matter what you feel, we should support his actions.

President Bush has instituted a plan to increase the military presence in Iraq and what amazes me is the same people who were screaming for more troops just a few months ago are now saying he is wrong in doing so. This applies from the man and women on the street to the elected officials in Washington.

Let’s be honest here, if we pull our troops out of Iraq the only thing this will accomplish is we leave the country wide open for Iran to take it over. Let alone, the warring parties in Iraq would take this move as their chance to do whatever they wish. The country would be in a state of war and chaos of untold proportions.

If we listen to the media and our elected officials, this is exactly what would transpire. What would this action prove; nothing and it would cost thousands of lives. Of course, the media would be able to place the blame on the fall of Iraq straight into the lap of President Bush.

I for one am tired of all the garbage, I am tired of all the blame, passing the buck, and the media saying whatever they wish, publishing whatever they wish and doing whatever they wish. They are determined to turn this into another Vietnam; they are determined to take down another presidency and to hell with what anyone thinks in the process.

I was going to write how I feel this is a good plan and how we need to have the present government of Iraq working with us, not against us, but I am so tired of the junk going on that it makes me sick.

I'm Back - I Hope.

I can state with all sincerity that I have invested more recovery time on my eye than any other medical problem I have ever encountered. Today, my day of awakening, so to speak, is my first day without the eye being dilated from eye drops. Of course, the medical concept behind that was to allow the eye to remain in a relaxed state to allow healing.

My vision is not totally clear, a bit out of focus and a tad blurry, but I was informed that was to be expected. The Doctor also told me yesterday that I will have a vision change requiring stronger glasses, oh lucky me, I get to spend another three hundred dollars on something that I presently own three pairs of. Oh well, a small price to pay for not losing my vision in a few months, as would have occurred without the surgery.

I recommend the surgery to anyone presently diagnosed with glaucoma and did not have much success with the laser surgery, which usually precedes the total enchilada. The operation it self was not that difficult, of course, they had my mind off on another planet somewhere with all of the medication they were pumping in my IV, so to be quite honest, I do not remember that much about it.

The recovery is a bit lengthy, close to thirty days for me, but I am sure due to me breaking a stitch, (Yes, they stitched up my eye) and the Doctor putting another one in the eye during an office visit that I extended the recovery by an additional week or so.

Hopefully I can return to our normal state of insanity and hear from all my friends once more.

Thank you for all the email, words of encouragement and thoughts. It was very appreciated.

Ranter

Media go bye-bye

I am still recuperating, vision is still quite blurry and although writing is difficult, with a bit of trial and error, it is possible. A few days ago, I put together a few thoughts on the passing of President Ford and decided it had been so time consuming that I would hold off for a while, unless something made me scream from the rafters, then I would blog.

I was having a happy evening. I had just completed copying my collection of photos of family, friends, loved ones. Happiness, fond memories and days gone by, all rolled up into 100Mb of storage, bits and bytes of laughter, love and joy. The Grinch himself would have shed a tear of longing for days, long faded into the fabric of time, Fresh in my mind as it was last night, but resting on the plane of my past.

All in all, after all I have been going through with my eyes, I found myself contented, happy and for the first time in awhile, relaxed, then I ruined it all by trying to catch up on the news.

It began harmless enough, a vast amount of memories fresh in my mind, reading glasses seated on the tip of my nose, magnifying glass in hand, eye straining to the max, itching, burning, the warrior spirit of my Irish ancestors pushing me onward, then I made the mistake of going to Google News, it was all downhill from then on.

I came upon the below headline, happy thoughts all gone, bye-bye, woe is me.

Spears falls asleep in Las Vegas nightclub

I have found something to scream loudly from the highest rafter, in fact, this totally disturbs me.

I should point out that this article was the number three headline, not something situated in the, "who the hell cares" section, but the third one down!. I am now 100% convinced the entire country has lost its sanity, or has some form of sick fixation with Britney, her past marriage, what she is doing, wearing, not wearing, going, coming from and now, SLEEPING! God forbid she may fart in public. It will be breaking news on all the channels, sirens blaring, translation windows for the hearing impaired, "BRITNEY FARTED TONIGHT, IT WAS LOUD, WE HAVE THE AUDIO, STORY AT TEN!" screaming from every channel. Someone please take me away to an island, where I can live happily amongst trees, quicksand and insects, without news of Britney!

The military death toll hit 3000 in Iraq a few days ago, THAT is headline worthy, not Ms. "I am totally shaved, look at me, I am so hot" sleeping in a club!!!! The sad commentary to this, by the time everyone gets a chance to read this, the news will have changed to her passing out, a drunken stupor, a drug overdose, diarrhea attacks, something, mark my words, it will change, go on, a life of its own.

I have given a tremendous amount of thought to this, my conclusion is simple, the media must be bored with politics, wars and the inhumanity of people everywhere.

Thoughts on President Ford

Quietly, I watched the video feed of President Ford's flag draped coffin taken from the hearse by honor member of the Third United States Infantry, The Old Guard, accompanied by Ruffles and Flourish, Hail to the Chief and a 21 gun salute and placed onboard Air Force One.

The official memorial page for President Ford can be found here.

I have always found myself in awe of the tribute paid to a former President upon their death, they have earned every moment. The office of the President is not for the meek, as past President’s have often discovered. I cannot help but notice their fast aging process a few years after taking this high office as the stress of it begins to make itself publically known.

President Ford always tended to attract bad media attention, from his pardoning of President Nixon to his well played falls that become comic fodder for the comic, Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live.

I recall reading a book that stated President Ford never wanted the office of the Presidency, but prior to that, actively sought the Speaker of the House position. When the Presidency was handed to him under the extreme circumstance of Watergate, illegal entry, burglaries and the brilliant reporting by Woodward and Bernstein President Ford rose to the occasion and the needs of his country.

I have brought this up not only to mourn the passing of a President, but to point out something that struck me while watching the events this morning. I have witnessed the passing of many President’s and although always somber moments, they have always reminded me that it matters not if we supported the person during their administration or that we were a member of their party. What mattered was they served their nation in its highest office and now they were only a name it its history.