My Daily Rant

In Memory of Old Ranter

2008-03-18T20:33:00.003-07:00

Oh my dearest friends,

This is perhaps the most difficult post I have ever made. My dearest, dearest, most dearest friend and comrade Old Ranter passed away today 3.18.08 at approximately 5am.

There are no words to express the depth of sorrow that his family, his close friends and I are feeling. Personally, he was my best friend. He used to call me his "tele-wife" because we talked on the phone for hours and hours to such a degree that his brother had to buy him a new extra powered cell phone battery.

His family was so awesome to him - all his life he knew he was loved. How precious is that? He was a loving friend to many, protective and devoted Uncle, best brother you could imagine, and a loving son.

He donated literally thousands of hours to the non-profit organization I run. How can I ever thank him?

He loved computers, anything high-tech or security related. I have fond memories of seeing him walk into my home with numerous gadgets on his belt.

I express to you all my love for him and I know how important you all were to him, and how wonderful this blog was and will continue to be.

His knowledge of history will continue to amaze me.

With love,

Desert Woman desertwoman1(at)gmail.com

U.S. Almost fires on Iranian Navy

2008-01-07T08:41:00.001-07:00

Imagine my surprise when awakening I discovered we lost the chance to take out the Iranian navy. Sky News is reporting on their morning breaking news that US Comes Close To Firing On Iran Ships.

According to Sky News: American forces were on the verge of firing on the vessels after being harassed and provoked, according to Pentagon officials, but the Iranian boats suddenly veered away and ended the incident.

"It is the most serious provocation of this sort that we've seen yet," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

The incident happened as the US Navy cruiser, destroyer and frigate were crossing the strait on their way into the Persian Gulf.

Let me be perfectly honest here, no one, not even me wants more war in the already war savaged Middle East, however, a chance to shove all of the bovine excrement that Iran has been spouting right down their throats, well, that is not war, that is pure poetic street justice. We must always remember too, the good thing about individuals who act their life like a total ass; they will do it again and again.

I am Back!

2007-12-29T09:19:00.001-07:00

It has been a long and winding road, filled with potholes and other debris, but I am now once more back among the somewhat healthy.

To say that this has been an experience straight from Hell is putting it mildly. What began November 5^th as slight problem breathing, quickly escalated to an asthmatic bronchial shut down which kept me in full respiratory distress for a thirteen hour period.

Three days later as I am sitting on my antiseptically clean hospital room, which was technically called a cardiac monitoring unit, as all patients wore a small heart, lungs, etc., monitor which constantly transmitted readings to a processing unit. I was just about to take a bit out of a lunch time turkey sandwich when my chest begins to flutter. Oh great, I, muttered, this was not going to be a good thing, it never is and I was correct on that assumption.

Things were all acting a bit strange, the chest fluttering, my throat was on fire and I see two nurses walking into my room in slow motion. I knew that was not among the normal things in life, so I was not really shocked when I saw my Doctor following them pushing the cardiac crash cart.

Perhaps it was the slow motion nurses or the sight of my Doctor pushing that cart, after all, has anyone actually seen one of the heart needles they use? My frail and still recovering body shudders even thinking about them, but I recovered and it turned out I was now in Ventricular Fibrillation, which according to Merck Manuals, is not a good thing. Here is a small excerpt, "Ventricular fibrillation is a potentially fatal, uncoordinated series of very rapid, ineffective contractions of the ventricles caused by many chaotic electrical impulses."

Here is the full link in case anyone is interested in further reading.

My cardiologist wanted to try a few days of medication specifically designed to correct an abnormal beat. After four days, it was evident that was not going to work out, so they wheeled me up to the heart lab, knocked me out for a few hours and stopped my heart. This was the normal cure and once started it took on its familiar old beat.

The major problem with spending ten days in the hospital, with the severe medical problems that I was undergoing was my muscles were not being used. In fact, they had all atrophied as we quickly discovered when I attempted to take a walk under nursing supervision and quickly fell upon my butt.

Now I was off to a rehabilitation center where they would access my medical problem situation and design an exercise routine to meet my needs as well as getting my body working once more.

I learned quickly that when a physician tells you that you are going to a rehab center, (nursing home) and you inquire how long it will take, they are going to look you in the eyes and lie. Yes they are, they will tell you,

"Oh, just a few days, just enough to get you walking once more."

That translated to four and one half weeks of extended therapy, but I was now all better and went back home, or so I thought.

I will finish this in a few days with the allergic reaction from hell. Yes, I was allergic to myself. I had so much fun.

Update on The Ranter - hospitalized

2007-11-16T12:37:00.001-07:00

My dear friends,

I am writing on behalf The Ranter, our friend.

He was hospitalized two weeks ago with an acute pulmonary stress and arrest, and we almost lost him.

He was as close to death's door as a human being can be. It occured due to a combination of elements, some related to his smoking and its effect on his heart.

He is now in a rehabilation facility, learning how to walk again, and to breath normally which is quite stressful and fearful for someone whose lungs and heart both basically said "I give up".

He wants everyone here to know that he is thinking of them and that he will post as soon as he gets home, which could be as soon as 10 days.

It all depends on how his body reacts to the healing efforts that are extended to him.

I know we all share a deep respect, love and concern for him and I am assured that you will all pray for a quick and speedy recovery for our dear friend.

With lots of love to all of you,

Desert woman.

PS - If you wish, you can email me at desertwoman1(at)gmail.com and I will read your emails to him.

The dog needs house training

2007-11-03T11:43:00.001-07:00

This is a bit off my beaten path, but worth talking about.

It appears that the worm has turned for Duane "Dog" Chapman, America's bounty hunter. It was not that long ago that everyone, including me, was on the "Save the Dog" bandwagon. The Dog had traced a millionaire rapist to Mexico, went in, and grabbed the scumbag, problem was, Mexico did not appreciate someone taking their cash cow, so they wanted to put the Dog in jail, a Mexican jail!

Since then, the dog has been the number one show on the A&E channel as well as tossed out a book or two and all the while wearing a mullet and Indian beads in his hair. Yes sir, the world was good for the dog, and then he had to go and blow the whole thing with a temper tantrum. He should have stuck to catching criminals and not try and change the world.

Click Here for the full story.

It seemed one of the dog's many sons was dating a woman the dog did not like too much and after a telephone call and many nasty no-no words the dog is in the dog house and without a show, I might add.

To top it all off, it turned out his son recorded the temper tantrum telephone call then sold it to a magazine! The dog simply cannot catch a break now; perhaps he needs to change his kibble.

This is truly another case of someone's head becoming too big for their brain. One thing is for certain, after what he said on the tape, the dog will be running around with his tail between his legs for quite a while now.

Stupid is as stupid does

2007-11-02T07:41:00.001-07:00

It appears that the war on terrorism is offering individuals who are ticked off at family members a way to get even.

AFP.com, Agence France-Presse is reporting that a Swedish man, angry with his daughter's husband has been charged with libel for telling the FBI that the son-in-law had links to al-Qaeda.

Click Here for the full story.

Now let us be honest here, sticking the guy in Guantanamo forever is not the best solution for your daughter's marital woes. It does tend to remove the problem, but when the FBI gets wind of what you did, well, that is not exactly the best people to be angry at you for something.

Now here is the funny part, the article reports, "The man, who admitted sending the email, said he did not think the US authorities would stupid enough to believe him."

This guy has not even seen the depths of stupidity yet, he just needs to look around his part of the globe, there is plenty of idiotic things that would amaze him. As far as terrorism, if you are stupid enough to turn in your family member on a trumped up terror threat then don't be surprised when he is never seen again.

Who is on first?

2007-11-02T07:25:00.001-07:00

What fascinates me the most is seeing all of the election nonsense going on and some of the politicians calling for restraint with Iran.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I really do not believe we have set anything in action that would even suggest we are planning military action against them.

Of course, I realize that sanctions are in place, but where is the military build up for a so-called invasion with bombers or manpower, nothing is in place. Yet, we have Presidential candidates saying everything except, we surrender.

What else amazes me is how they are all saying what a peaceful solution each of them can bring to the table. Take the latest reported by Fox News, "Sen. Barack Obama said Friday that as president he would personally negotiate with Iran, offering economic incentives and a chance for peaceful relations if Iranian leaders would forego pursuit of nuclear weapons and support of terrorists."

Nice guy, someone needs to tell these bags of wind that the war is taking place in Iraq, Afghanistan and a few other places around the globe and that is where the work needs to be addressed.

Election time certainly does bring out just about every scenario possible with everyone offering every form of solutions, even if they are wrong and do not even exists.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My

2007-11-01T06:55:00.001-07:00

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am a news junkie. It is true and I cannot do anything about it. For many months, I have subscribed to various news services that send out the morning headlines, news tips and breaking news events. When I was out of the loop without my vision, my inbox quickly filled up with all of the news services coming in constantly.

To combat that problem I have unsubscribed to a few and kept only two or three services. I am still a news junkie, just less items cluttering up my inbox.

One of the major benefits to my news addiction is I can tell you exactly what is going on in the world by a quick look at the topics of the important news releases. It matters not what the services are saying, I can see in the inbox what the frame of mind is for that given day.

Lately, it has all been Iran and not if we are going to attack, but where and with which country besides us. Of course, lately, every news item has pertained to our close relationship with Israel and how they have turned their views on the Middle East into the United States views and whether or not it is a success. Some of the services are painting glowing testament of that success and others are saying what a combined failure it has been.

Let us not forget that small portion of our society that could care less if anything is working, they are only concerned with the fall of civilization and the three horsemen riding to bring about its total destruction.

Take this morning for example, there were various think tanks and experts saying how badly we have failed in the Middle East. A few of them discussed the escalating tensions with Iran and why any war with them is doomed to failure. Of course, there were two articles stating that we are simply towing the Israeli party line in the Middle East and when this all comes tumbling down it is their fault.

What amazed me was not one article made any comments on how the United States could bring about a peaceful solution in the Middle East, only predictions of doom and tensions quickly escalating to a religious war between anyone who tries to intercede.

Then it struck me, these people do not want peace in the Middle East, they want war and destruction. If there were peace then these prophets of doom would be out of business.

Perhaps it is time to stop listening to the so-called experts and their predictions of doom and begin to work together towards peaceful solutions. What a concept, of course, this will never happen. But It sure would be nice if it did.

Update to last post

2007-10-31T16:08:00.001-07:00

Update to the article I posted regarding the Father of a fallen Marine and his litigation against the Westboro Baptist Church, titled, A Father fights back.

The jury has also awarded other damages, which takes the verdict to 11 million dollars. Here is a direct quote from the article on CBS News,

"The jury first awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages. It returned in the afternoon with its decision to award $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million for causing emotional distress."

"Snyder's attorney, Craig Trebilcock, had urged jurors to determine an amount "that says don't do this in Maryland again. Do not bring your circus of hate to Maryland again."

A Father fights back

2007-10-31T14:39:00.001-07:00

I was just going through the afternoon news and this headline immediately caught my undivided attention.

"Jury Awards Father $2.9 Million in Funeral Protesters Case"

Click here for the full story.

If you recall, the father of a fallen Marine had filed litigation against the Westboro Baptist Church and its founder for a multitude of actions resulting from their picketing his son's funeral.

This is the same church that routinely picket funerals of military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, carrying signs such as "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "God hates fags."

A number of states have enacted laws prohibiting the church's picketing and that has had little impact on their protesting. Perhaps handing over a few million dollars will change their attitudes. We can only hope that this award is not overturned.

The disgusting signs and comments made by the church towards our fallen men and women has only enraged people to do something to stop their protesting. We can only hope this verdict stays and finally puts an end to the church is protesting

Invisible Tank

2007-10-31T09:28:00.001-07:00

A story this morning from the UK caught my eye as I was wondering the news services. It was headlined; "British Defense Researchers Create Invisible Tank" and once I saw it there was no way my imagination would allow me to pass it up.

Click here for the full story.

The British have actually done it, I was thinking as I began to read the story. Of course, I was waiting to read how they would create invisible soldiers next, but that was not to pass.

I have seen this invisibility trick done on the military channel before. They were going over the new Army's battle gear called, Land Warrior and already in use in Iraq. On the show they used tiny cameras and a parade of other photo gear to create an invisible soldier standing there. Unfortunately, unless that solder has about three million bucks worth of camera gear he will not repeat it on the battlefield.

It turned out the invisible tank was the same thing, many cameras, just a trick, but it does look pretty cool.

They are still at it

2007-10-26T15:02:00.001-07:00

Most of us have read or written stories about the disgusting antics of the Westboro Baptist church. I have written a few articles, one was Phelps Information which went into a bit more detail on the actions of these individuals.

Honestly, for me to write more on the group would be a total exercise in futility. Their actions towards our fallen service members are well documented and already a matter of public record. In brief, the CBS article stated, "the Westboro Baptist church's members have picketed the funerals of military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, claiming the deaths are punishment for the country's tolerance of homosexuality."

I recall the mixed bag of emotions that went through me while reading about their protests at service members funerals. Besides the anger and disgust, I could not understand why someone had not filed litigation against the church. Then I began reading many of the already published articles on the church and learned that many of the family running the church were practicing attorneys.

In short, they always stayed on public property and insured they were within their constitutional rights. That knowledge disgusted me to no end.

Now, the father of a Marine killed in action, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder is taking the church on in court.

Here is a direct quote from CBS news, "The father of a Marine killed in Iraq took the stand in his invasion of privacy suit against a fundamentalist church that pickets soldiers' funerals, saying protesters carrying signs at his son's burial made him sick to his stomach."

"Albert Snyder said he had hoped for a private funeral for his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder."

The father, Albert Snyder is asking for assistance in his litigation against the church and has setup a web site with information, www.matthewsnyder.org/.

Ben Stein: The Real Stars

2007-10-25T14:27:00.001-07:00

Ben Stein puts it all into perspective. It is about time someone spoke up.

Ranter

The Dalai Lama

2007-10-17T21:41:00.001-07:00

China has never ceased to amaze me with their attitude regarding the Dalai Lama. Of course, they control his homeland and nothing on this earth will make them give it back.

For example, here is a quote from a CBS News article on President Bush giving the Dalai Lama an award.

"China, which reviles the 72-year-old monk as a Tibetan separatist, vehemently protested the elaborate public ceremony."

Now, if that does not hate for the sake of hate, then I cannot think of any other comment that would demonstrate it any better.

Here we have a man of peace, serenity and the spiritual leader to thousands, if not millions. The act by China of taking over his homeland and listing him as a separatist reeks of the fear China has towards him. Yes, fear and they fear him so badly that they will risk whatever they have to insure he does not return, never.

Disgusting, that is what it is, pure and simple disgusting. The Dalai Lama is a man of such high religious stature that throngs of humanity revere him and follow his words. This is what scares China to pieces and it is the sole reason they hate him.

Actually, a man of peace without any hidden agendas is a wonderful thought. He does not ask for millions in donations to build his universities. He does not make statements that God will call him home of his goals are not meant. He desires peace among the world; he does this without beating on your door and ramming his political philosophy down your throat. He supports religious freedom for all faiths, barring none.

China fears this man for many reasons and most of all because they realize he is right, they are wrong, and that really scares the devil out of them.

Security in Iraq

2007-10-13T12:51:00.001-07:00

Since it became a public word, Blackwater has taken more heat than any security organization in Iraq. We have seen media reports, television documentaries, you name it and it has been written about private security in Iraq, Blackwater in particular.

The media loves to portray them as high paid mercenaries, body armor and automatic weapons at ready for any attack. What they normally fail to address is that the majority of the security in Iraq are highly trained, Seals, Special Forces, SAS and other special operations personnel. These are the individuals that our country and others once called our best, our elite, the cream of the crop and governments have spent millions of dollars training and equipping these individuals to go out and perform jobs that no one else was capable of doing.

Now, they are no longer within the fold of the militaries they once represented and because of this, the media calls them killers, mercenaries, anything, but what they once were.

The media loves to say the word mercenary, they love to portray these individuals as shoot first and ask question later and let God sort them out, this sickens me.

We place these individuals in harm's way, dissociate them from any coverage or protection afforded the military and tell them if you shoot someone you will be tried under that government' s law and as a murderer in your own country. This is just wonder job security and yet, individuals work in these high risk situations.

If one or more of these individuals make mistakes and people die, then they alone should be tried for their crimes, not the entire security community. The same applies to outright homicide, if this is done, then those individuals should pay, not the entire community.

This entire mess has sickened me and the sad footnote to it all is that it is far from over.

And he could not spell potato!

2007-10-12T15:14:00.001-07:00

The fact that Al Gore won a Nobel Peace Prize for his film, an Inconvenient Truth has me wondering why I never won one. I mean, I have told many untruths in my day, okay, lies, but the fact remains, if he can win, so can anybody.

Gore has always liked to tell a few tales or two. What can we expect from a man who publicly stated that he invented the Internet!

Since the film, Inconvenient Truth was released many questions have been raised about whether some of the science used in the film is correct. In fact, this week a judge in the UK ruled that schools could not screen the film without accompanying notes, which give a balancing view to some of his claims.

Apparently, an Inconvenient Truth has left out a few truths, in any case, it managed to give Gore a few awards and now the Nobel, go figure.

Gore was no stranger to inconvenient truths, he managed to take on the show, Murphy Brown for their story line of an unwed mother and lose. One thing that bothered me was how a man who could not spell potato was able to write anything at all.

It is quite an honor to take home the Nobel and we cannot take that away from him. However, it makes me wonder just how much politics played as a deciding factor.

A nominee that was passed over for the Gore award, Irena Sendler, was in many opinions more worthy of the award. Sendler is a great woman who risked her life during WWII to save 2500 children from the Holocaust, later captured by the Nazi's and severely beaten. Sendler managed to escape and today is living in a nursing home in Poland.

If you are not familiar with the Irena Sendler story, then I suggest you click here for the Wikipedia overview. She should be an inspiration to the world and her story needs to be told.

Family Values

2007-10-12T10:58:00.001-07:00

We all are very aware that the world has become a hotbed of insanity. It has become even more evident with the current rash of school shootings being reported. The latest, a 14 year old Pennsylvania home schooled youth had compiled an arsenal and planned a repeat of the 1999 Columbine attack in Colorado.

In an AP article this morning, CBS News correspondent Maggie Rodriguez reported that officials knew the young suspect's motive: he felt bullied by the students at Plymouth Whitemarsh. But the plot for revenge was foiled when the young man tried to seek out an accomplice who led police to the suspect's house and a disturbing arsenal.

Acting on a tip from a high school student and his father, police on Wednesday found the rifle, about 30 air-powered guns, swords, knives, a bomb-making book, videos of the 1999 Columbine attack in Colorado and violence-filled notebooks in the boy's bedroom, Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. said.

The article also states that the youth's Mother, Michele Cossey was being charged for purchasing firearms for her teenage son. Here is the quote from the page, "Michele Cossey bought her home-schooled son a .22-caliber handgun, a .22-caliber rifle and a 9 mm semiautomatic rifle, authorities said."

After reading this I was struck with the thought that back in the early 1960 era, my Grandfather had given me a 22 rifle for a gift. He then spent the entire summer teaching me gun safety and the proper manner to conduct yourself on a hunt.

It was not the first time that I have accompanied him on a hunt, but it was the first that I was taught the ins and outs of hunting and the proper gun safety procedures.

Then it all fell into place for me, this was something that had stopped across America, gun safety, one of the male members walking the younger through that rite of passage, Today, we are bombarded with school shootings, gang shootings, the list is endless.

As a result of this new threat, our children are no longer safe inside of a school, in fact, they may even be on more danger, just attending a class.

It completely amazes me how far our society has sank into the pits of hate and despair. Back when I was given that gift, the world was different. We had strong family values, Sundays consisted of church in the morning and a mandatory dinner in the evening where the entire family sat down together.

On many Sundays, we would all pile into our Father's non-air conditioned car and head to the local ice cream shop. Those were days that are now lost to the youth of today and along with them are the family values that they once taught.

It is truly sad to see what is going on today and even sadder to think that family values in America died with my youth.

Britney and the Paparazzi

2007-10-11T22:30:00.001-07:00

I normally fill my mornings with massive amounts of caffeine, surfing through various news services and reading even more on the internet. While going about my usual routine I have began to notice something that is either interesting or sick about celebrities, well, actually one in particular, Britney Spears.

I did not start out to read about her insane antics, but it quickly turned in that direction once I began to notice that I was seeing nothing but stories on her. I felt that she was either so newsworthy that she was pushing normal stories to the back page, or she had entered into some type of unholy alliance with the paparazzi. Little did I know that the two were feeding off one another in some form of insane plan of the universe.

Good old Ms. throw back a few beers, snort a line or two, cause a media circus by shaving her head in public, scream at the paparazzi while attacking their cars with an umbrella and then use her genuine Hollywood "get out of jail" card issued to every person who joins the celebrity crowd –REHAB!

What began as every news service and gossip magazine going for the money shot of her getting out of vehicles while blatantly exposing herself, slowly turned into exposing the truth about Britney and the paparazzi, they live for and off of one another.

This became evident when I began to see photos of paparazzi ordering food for Britney. Now, before anyone says this is silly, hear the rest of the story. We had Britney and her sister sitting in a car at a fast food drive up window. Britney was trying her best to order food for the two of them and the person at the drive up could not make out what she was saying.

Why, you may ask, well it was because Britney had not opened her window and kept repeating the order through the closed window. The parade of paparazzi cars behind her took pity and ordered for her.

Next, we have Britney pulled over on the highway with a flat tire; does she call a repair service? No, a few of the paparazzi pull up, get out of their vehicle and change her tire for her. While her car was being serviced, Britney sat in the car singing Christmas songs to her tiny dog all dressed up in a Santa suit.

After that, I see many photos on different occasions of Britney at a gas station getting gasoline. Of course, the paparazzi do not allow her to pump her own gas, no, they get out of their car and pump the gas for her while other paparazzi clean her windows and check her oil!

This went on and on and thankfully, I became sick of the research. Not only do the paparazzi survive off Britney, but they also work hard to insure she is around for more photographs, which she obviously loves to pose for, clean-shaven or not.

Now, I promise from this day forth never to mention her again.

Nothing ever changes

2007-10-11T11:00:00.001-07:00

Everyone by now has hear the comments made that America is a paper tiger and normally we only fight a war until the losses begin to mount, then we bring the troops home.

I recall pondering this question when I first heard, or read that bin Laden made the comment. At that point, we had pulled, rather quickly out of our peacekeeping mission in Mogadishu after the now famous Blackhawk down incident.

I recall too, the feelings that I had inside of me towards the people of Mogadishu after reading the book, Blackhawk down. At that time, I knew well the feelings that the soldiers of the Ranger and Delta units involved in that fiasco and believed as they did that we needed to finish the task before pulling out.

America does have a very short attention span when it comes to war, we always have and perhaps, always shall. The people who make up our great nation tends to tire easily when trying to fix other countries problems with superior firepower.

The basic problem we now face is not the insurgents or suicide bombers, but the feelings of exasperation over trying to give democracy to a country that has no idea what to do with it, or for that matter, cannot stop fighting amongst themselves long enough to form a better government.

It is difficult for Mothers and Fathers, husbands and wives, sisters and brothers mourning their loved ones who have given the ultimate act of selflessness, their own lives, when the country they died for, Iraq, cannot stop arguing or killing their own people.

If we place all of the frustration, fears, death and many casualties into the picture, it is rather easy to understand the growing movement for withdrawal. However, from the standpoint of an old warhorse like me and many of my brothers and sisters, we have problems grasping something like this when the task is left unfinished.

We are not war hungry individuals, waving the flag at every chance we get, we have just grown tired of our country committing the military to a cause and bowing to public pressure, withdrawing before that cause is ever seen.

Perhaps it is time for the draft to once again raise its ugly head into the political arena, perhaps it is time for many things to happen, but one thing it is not time for is to abandon another country and leave the people of that country to die for nothing more than assisting our military when it was there.

It would be nice to just once finish the job, if people have a problem understanding this, ask a veteran of Viet Nam, Mogadishu or many other places in the world.

Turkey and the PKK

2007-10-10T11:22:00.001-07:00

The major question being pondered by military analyst and armchair generals alike is what will happen should Turkey cross into northern Iraq to attack the Kurdish rebels they are holding responsible for two recent bomb attacks.

Sky News is reporting that Turkey has given the green light to its military to "take all necessary measures" against Kurdish rebels held responsible for two recent bomb attacks.

Analysts are predicting that an invasion, even a limited cross border incursion could affect Turkey's ties with the United States.

Sky News is reporting that they have seen Turkish military build-ups before, but they were always limited to hot pursuit border crossings, which due to the heat of the moment do not require prior approval. However, other analysts are reporting that America is presently urging restraint within the northern region, which is normally one of the only remaining peaceful portions of Iraq.

"In the past 10 days more than two dozen people - soldiers and civilians - have been killed in southeastern Turkey in attacks by the Kurdistan Workers' Party - the PKK," the article from Sky News stated.

This is an interesting development, according to Wikipedia; the PKK, aka, Kurdistan Workers Party is listed as a terrorist organization internationally by a number of states and organizations, including the USA, NATO and the EU. More than 37,000 people have been killed in the Turkey-PKK conflict since 1984, most of which were civilians, 4,568 being military personnel.

It never ceases to amaze me that throughout history our country has aligned itself with various military and quasi-military organizations in order to accomplish various military objectives. Then, after the fighting is over and the group is well equipped and trained by our own military and intelligence agencies, we always end up at odds with them, their leadership, and end up having to fight that group later on.

Traditionally, we have only felt sorrow for the people of Kurdistan, as Saddam Hussein did everything that he could, including dropping poison gas among entire civilian populations. Along these same lines, it is very easy to forget that the people of Kurdistan have been waging their own wars.

A Turkish cross-border incursion to battle the PKK just may ignite more sparks within Iraq, we will have to wait and see how it progresses.

Who is on first?

2007-10-08T08:01:00.001-07:00

During my time that I just spent in never land, cloistered from television images and newsprint I kept hearing discussion of what would become of the nuclear weapons in Pakistan if President Musharraf lost everything to al Qaeda.

Of course, the logical answer to that is absolute terror within the free world as well as those that are not. If that were truly the case, that al Qaeda assumed control of weapons of mass destruction, Pakistan probably would not exists for more than twenty minutes before one of the nuclear powers dropped a multi megaton warhead on top of them to put an end the question.

Israel, for example, there is no way on this green Earth that they would permit this to occur. The state of Israel has the resources to put an end to the question and would be completely justified in using them.

The media loves to portray Pakistan standing side by side with America, fighting terrorism and bringing the good old red white and blue to the rest of the world, makes for good press, however, it is a total lie.

Pakistan only fights those along their border that they have a problem with. After all, why else would bin Laden be living there and building bigger and better forces. If we are fooled into thinking that Musharraf is America's pawn, we had better think again. He is only doing exactly what he is forced to do, nothing more.

Personally, I have grown tired of all of things that go bump in the night that our government constantly tells us is waiting to drop the big one on top of our head. Perhaps the think tanks and talking heads are correct and we are fueling terrorism instead of putting the fires out.

It just may be time for us to sit back and take stock of the situation, instead of looking for terrorists hiding under the rug all of the time. Then again, it may be time to build that bomb shelter, only time will tell.

Back soon

2007-10-05T08:25:00.001-07:00

Today is a wonderful day; at least it feels that way to me. Due to severe vision problems, I have spent so many days alone with my thoughts lately, unable to read the news or even blog about it.

Today, I am pleased to announce that due to a wonderful eye doctor and the miracles of medicine, I am once again writing this with near perfect vision.

It was a long and winding road for me, beginning eighteen months ago, with many an obstacle to overcome. It took four surgical procedures and numerous quantities of eye drops, but now that all appears to be in the past.

The glaucoma was effectively brought under control with surgery and then as fate would have it, I was hit with severe cataracts that left me totally without vision. The last procedure on Tuesday corrected that problem. They removed the affected lens from the eye and replaced it with a corrected lens, which has given me perfect vision without the use of glasses or any of, the new laser procedures.

I am in the healing process this week with many more eye drops and a bandaged eye at night, but it all appears to be in the past now.

So, hopefully I will be back in the saddle soon.

I want to thank everyone for all of the kind words and get wells I have received during this time.

Thanks

Ranter

Update

2007-09-14T07:15:00.001-07:00

I had mentioned in my last post, due to severe vision problems, I will not be able to actively participate in my blog for approximately one more week and I wanted to take a moment to explain what is going on.

During the last year, I was affected with glaucoma, which quickly baffled my eye physicians by not responding to any form of non-evasive treatment. The normal range of eye pressure runs anywhere from eight (8) to twelve (12), unfortunately the range of pressures I was experiencing was in the high forty (40) to the high fifty (50) ranges.

The major side affect of pressures of this high of a range is severe, irreversible damage to the optic nerves within the eyes, which is exactly what happened in my case. At the time of my initial diagnoses, my vision was correctable to normal ranges with glasses. Within six months of my diagnoses,I had lost forever, approximately fifty (50) to sixty (60) percent of my vision.

My eye physician's were actively waging a battle for my eyesight; however, it soon became evident that the standard courses of medication and laser surgeries were not accomplishing anything for me. At that point, I underwent the full glaucoma surgery a Glaucoma Filtration Procedure (Trabeculectomy), where a passageway was surgically created in the upper region of my eyes that allowed excessive fluid and subsequent pressures to escape.

That procedure was a success, but as luck may have it, I was soon hit with cataracts, once again severely limiting my vision. This will be corrected soon and hopefully I will once more be able to do the things that I care about. Until then, blogging is far too difficult. I will return soon.

Thanks,

Ranter

Important news

2007-08-31T14:21:00.001-07:00

It never fails, every time I think my vision problems are behind me, the rise up from the ashes of fate to bite me in the butt.

They have the glaucoma under control and I am hit with severe cataracts, leaving me once again without my vision. However, unlike the glaucoma, which could be controlled with drops, the only course for cataracts is more surgery.

Unfortunately, there is a chance this may not be cataracts, but the optic nerve degenerating, as they have stated may yet occur. I will not know anything until the 17^th, if it is cataracts; I should be back to normal as soon as surgery removes the bad lens and inserts a brand new one.

Until that point in time, I will not be blogging. This small bit of information has been very difficult to write. I am using all of the vision tools I can find and it is still difficult.

Thank you,

Ranter

This and That

2007-08-22T21:13:00.001-07:00

There is so much going on in the news that it is rather difficult to pin one thing down. After a bit of thought, I felt this is a good day for a bit of "This and That".

President Bush is apparently trying to show the embattled Iraqi President, Al-Maliki that we still support him. This is a load of hogwash and everyone, including Al-Maliki knows it to be so. The man does not even have the support of his own government, who are ready to send a vote of no confidence his way.

Click here for the full article….

President Bush also made the statement that we are in this war to win and nothing else will do. The President also made reference to Viet Nam and the fact that, yes, we did learn from our mistakes.

I applaud his sentiment and strength of his conviction, it would be a wonderful sight to see that our country learned from Viet Nam, however, it will take a lot more than rhetoric to convince my generation; we will all wait and see on this one. Especially, knowing that when he leaves office this dedication may leave with him as the next President will no doubt see things differently.

However, this article, titled, Pentagon sets goals to hit before end of Bush term, just may back up the Presidents words. Again, we will have to all take a wait and see attitude.

Click here for the full article….

Iran has been using the Iraqi border as their own personal freeway, arming and training anyone and everyone who will fight American forces. We are constantly finding their military markings on the remains of IED's as well as weapons stashes with their serial numbers. Yet, the constant denial from their government is so reminiscent of the Chinese doing the same with the VC in Viet Nam that it is darn near déjà vu.

It is evident the Middle East war will never be totally over, not as long as Iran and Syria are controlling their Iraqi puppets. Along with this intervention is the realization that this war not only is being fought in Iraq, it must be. However, if we are going to fight these silent puppet masters then we need to do it all the way.

It is constantly stated that al Qaeda and its boss, bin Laden have been searching for nuclear weapons. As it stands now, they are but a heartbeat and a coup away in Pakistan. Now that Iran, Syria and company are in the picture, this may become more than a quest.

We can only hope that the next administration has the round ones to do what it takes, either that, or if al Qaeda manages to get their dirty mitts on nuclear weapons, the world will change forever.

Troops need rest

2007-08-22T08:31:00.001-07:00

The respected military.com has an auricle shedding a truthful outlook on our military in Iraq and Afghanistan, titled, Army's Fighting Force Nearly Exhausted.

The opening two paragraphs set the tone for this insightful look in what is happening with our military.

"WASHINGTON - Sapped by nearly six years of war, the Army has nearly exhausted its fighting force and its options if the Bush administration decides to extend the Iraq buildup beyond next spring."

"The Army's 38 available combat units are deployed, just returning home or already tapped to go to Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere, leaving no fresh troops to replace five extra brigades that President Bush sent to Baghdad this year, according to interviews and military documents reviewed by The Associated Press."

Click here for the full article…

This is already known within most circles; however, seeing it in print really hammers it home. Many of us have been privately discussing this growing trend, exhaustion of the troops and I do not believe that anyone has come up with a solution, other than implementing the draft.

Our military is the greatest in the world, bar none and the men are women are dedicated to the outcome, but they need rest.

If what this article is saying is the truth, then something does need to be done. One thing that needs to be kept in mind is the military is not broken, as some are saying. Needing rest is one thing, broken is another. Ask a soldier how they feel.

Red moon rising

2007-08-20T07:20:00.001-07:00

It was not that many years ago that we all sat transfixed to our televisions watching the celebration in Berlin as thw wall came tumbling down.

A new era of freedom for the East Berlin residents held captive by the Russians for all those years. It was also the beginning of the demise of the once strong and proud Russian military.

Soon, news reports were filtering out of Russia of general staff officers begging for money amd standing in bread lines to feed their families. This was accompanied by the Russian military offering military junkets for anyone with enough bucks who wants to come and shoot any of their failing weapons systems or fly MIG's until the fuel runs out.

We began seeing American and Russian pilots flying one another's aircraft they had once trained to blow out of the skies. Peace had peeked her head into Russian skies lrsving the government did not have enough money to pay its military.

Former Russian KGB agents came to America and wrote books speaking of their spy game days. A few of the Russian leaders were making big bucks selling anything and everything on the black market, you want a nuclear submarine, no problem, MIG's, no sweat!

Russian President Boris Yeltsin did not help much, he may have been instrumental in freedom, but now he was too ill from years of alcohol abuse. Enter Vladimir Putin, once the leader of the dreaded KGB, now the President of Russia and changes are on the way.

Today, the Russian military is working hard to regain the military ,ight they once had and honestly, this should cause a lot of concern for world leaders.

Where all of this will end is anybody's guess, one thing is clear, it appears the Russian's want to be a world power again and very badly too.

News that needs to be told

2007-08-19T09:05:00.001-07:00

We have been hearing reports of the Iraqi police and citizen groups fighting al Qaeda and kicking them out of their neighborhoods. This news should be getting a lot more media time than it is.

Of course, if the media begins telling tales about Iraqi's fighting the insurgents and removing them from their areas it might look good for the Bush administration and we know the media is not about to do that.

The Stars and Stripes is reporting in an article by Joseph Giordono , that Iraqi police and armed residents in the southern Baqouba district of Buhriz waged a fierce battle with as many as 60 insurgents and killing 21 of them. Iraqi police requested airstrikes by American helicopters and effectively kicked al Qaeda out of their neighborhood.

The battle was not without casualties, the civilian fighters suffered 14 dead and as many as 20 wounded, but they made a stand and that is what is important.

Click here for the full article….

A spokesperson stated that the police and citizens were assisted by American and Iraqi forces operating within the area and liberated Baqubah — the so-called capital of the Islamic State of Iraq — from al-Qaida.

This and the other stories I have been seeing on many military sites are vital news and should be reported by our media as they are occurring. As General Patton was fond of saying, American's love a winner and do not tolerate a looser, it is a shame the great man is not here today to kick the media in the ass and get them to report all of the news, not just what makes Washington look bad.

Enough is enough

2007-08-17T08:10:00.001-07:00

I am so fed up with all of this bleeding heart; love thy neighbor bull that is going on this election year. We have Obama, finally, a candidate with a set of them stating he would send troops in Pakistan, he would do this, do that and do you know what? The man makes perfect sense; he is saying things that should be done. He is not sitting there wringing his hands saying how bad we are and we will pull the troops out.

Does this mean I will vote for him, I really have no idea yet, there is far too much whining, oh, woe is me, the Bush administration is so bad, BULL!

Here is the way things are folks, we were attacked by terrorists who trained in our own country. These disgusting, slime crawled from the pits of hell and flew aircraft full of passengers into our buildings. This was not controlled implosion, the government was not involved and the only thing that happened is WE WERE ATTACKED!

We read that bin Laden and company is attempting to gain nuclear weapons. The truth to the matter is we HAVE these weapons and we are not afraid to use them and should make that perfectly clear to everyone, no matter what people may say. If these maniacs use a nuclear weapon, then so should we and we should not only destroy them, but the country harboring them.

They are not nice people; they torture prisoners, cut off their heads, kill children, anything and everything to gain attention. It is about time we totally let loose our dogs of war, pulled the pins on our weapons of mass destruction, whatever we have, use it and end the darn thing, for the last time.

We know this is all the meandering and ranting of an old warhorse and it matters not who will read these words, for nothing will be changed.

America has a short and selective memory, perhaps the video of what occurred that day should be replayed continuously for one week. However, all that would accomplish is litigation from individuals stating that their children were upset, or they were upset. Do you know what, the entire country should be upset, and it should be so ticked off that it demands more blood.

That will not occur, a percentage of the general population and the politicians will go quietly into the night and pretend things were different. They will hide their heads into the sand and blame Washington and everyone else except the true culprits, the true murdering scum and their leadership.

Oh my stars, I truly hate this time of the year!

Tap Water?

2007-08-16T10:09:00.001-07:00

As my brother, Wild Bill can tell you, folks it can get hotter than hell in the desert and yes, Virginia, there IS humidity in the desert; in fact, during this time of the year there is a lot of it to go around.

We have humidity because unlike other deserts, we get rain, oh my, do we get rain, but only certain times of the year. We do not get those normal summer showers that smell so good back east; we get full-blown weather cycles called, monsoons. Yes, you read that right, monsoons, the same thing we have all read about that occurs in India.

As you can see, besides the heat, it is wet and along with this, if you wish to stay healthy living in the desert, you must stay hydrated.

It is very common to see people walking about the malls, stores, streets, carrying bottled water with then. No, this is not a fashion statement, it is one of the ways we desert folk stay alive.

I have often told friends that the bottle of designer water they just forked out $4.00 for was nothing more than tap water being poured into bottles with expensive names by a guy with a hose. Of course, this always brought laughs from them, but little did anyone know just how close I was to the truth.

A report can be found on the web site, Mercola.com that is dedicated to better health, which states, Pepsi's "Aquafina" Bottled Water, is Tap Water. This does not stop there; it also states that Coca Cola does the same!

Here is a blurb from the site, "Pepsi's Aquafina, and Coca-Cola Co.'s Dasani bottled waters, are both made of purified water from public reservoirs. Coca-Cola will post online consumer information about the quality control testing that goes into their bottled water, sometime near the end of summer, or early fall 2007."

Click here for the full article…

So, remember this the next time you spend money on bottled water, as the saying goes, buyer beware.

Who is the BadAssMarine?

2007-08-16T07:54:00.001-07:00

It was interesting going through my email; it appeared that many people were all thinking of the same thing, just who is the BadAssMarine who spoke those powerful words straight from his heart.

I was very surprised by the amount of email I received on this, some quoting his words, others asking who he is. Fox News is even searching for him, as reporter, Catherine Donaldson-Evans, asked in the article, "Patriotic Rapping Marine: Who Is This Mystery Man?"

Thanks to BLACKFIVE, the search is over. The poet extraordinaire is none other than Marine SSGT Lawrence E. Dean II. If you want more information about this man then run over to BLACKFIVE, where you can see his My Space page as well as download the interview they did.

Congrats BLACKFIVE, Blue Skies Brother.

The cowboy way

2007-08-15T12:25:00.001-07:00

I was reading the latest poetic writing of Brother Wild Bill while he discussed my favorite genre, good old cowboy movies, good guys winning the day, and the bad guy always getting his butt beat to a pulp.

The vigilante committee of days gone by was a welcome sight to many as well and prompted me to recall something from my youth, growing up in the city.

Just about every eastern city is the same, ethnic neighborhoods, smells of wonderful cooking, celebrations where the street is closed and the people party until they drop. We do not find much of this in the west, lots of ethnic flavor and God knows I love it and all the great food, but not like the east once had and still does in some places.

One of the neighborhoods I frequented growing up was about as ethnic as it could get. It also had neighbors that watched everyone else's child, gave a hug when they fell, a welcome ice cream, and a band-aid when a torn knee or elbow came into play. It was truly a neighborhood raising children and I was always happy playing there with my cousins.

Unfortunately, it was also the exact type of neighborhood that is always portrayed in every gangster movie we see today, even though I called mine, my second home and loved it.

I never really knew who was a wiseguy and who was not, nor did I ever care. I was safe and that was all that mattered to me.

Late one evening an unknown male came into the neighborhood looking for excitement. This was not a normal person though, his excitement consisted of peeking into children's windows at night and that evening, he made the biggest mistake of his life.

It just so happened, one of the ever-watchful neighbors saw this sick creep bent over looking into a window.

The next morning we learned that someone had found a guy near death in the corner dumpster behind a store. He had been beaten to within an inch of his life, but still among the living, he was wrapped in trash bags and tossed into the dumpster, where the trash collectors found him in the morning.

The story went that he was in the hospital for over thirty days and when the police asked him what had happened, he only replied that he had fallen into the dumpster, nothing more.

One could say that this was a classic case of vigilante committee justice and one I am sure that sick pedophile never forgot until his last days.

History or going to the dogs

2007-08-15T06:45:00.001-07:00

We are all acutely aware of the adage about history repeating itself. This has really been on my mind that past few days while reading the various news items.

First thing is the Russian Air force is making long distance flights once more, supposedly smiling at our responding pilots in Guam. The next item was Washington discussing the possibility of reinstituting the draft.

"Fox News - Frequent tours for U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have stressed the all-volunteer force and made it worth considering a return to a military draft, President Bush's new war adviser said Friday."

As I was reading these I was wondering how far history would repeat itself this time, will it include a new cold war?

Let us not forget that many analysts are saying the Iraq and Afghanistan war is this generations Viet Nam, making comparisons to no means of departure. Personally, I think the analysts all need to get out more, see a movie, read a book and quit thinking so darn much.

I for one, am too old and cranky to see this generation go through another flower power, or all of the trappings of the summer of love, 1967? Lest we forget, all of the counter culture and drugs are still with us and in fact, more prevalent than ever.

Of course, the music of the 1960 era compared to the rap of this era is two completely different concepts. That does not mean that people cannot speak their peace about war, hunger, politics, whatever is on their mind. The music may be different, but the message can still be just a powerful.

One thing is certain; the world has changed and is still within a constant state of more change to come. No one can really say what the nest 100 years will be, for the sake of many, let us hope that maybe, just maybe, people may learn to get along.

Now, where did I put those bell bottom jeans?

Big Brother tosses his cookies in China

2007-08-14T08:36:00.001-07:00

China's record of accomplishment on human rights can be judged by their actions at Tiananmen Square in 1989, where several hundred protestors were shot and killed as tanks rolled through the square to stop the protest.

Today, The New York Times is reporting, "SHENZHEN, China, Aug. 9 — At least 20,000 police surveillance cameras are being installed along streets here in southern China and will soon be guided by sophisticated computer software from an American-financed company to recognize automatically the faces of police suspects and detect unusual activity".

"Data on the chip will include not just the citizen's name and address but also work history, educational background, religion, ethnicity, police record, medical insurance status and landlord's phone number. Even personal reproductive history will be included, for enforcement of China's controversial "one child" policy. Plans are being studied to add credit histories, subway travel payments and small purchases charged to the card."

Click here for full story…

Although some security experts are reporting this is cutting edge technology, it looks more like big brother tossing his cookies in China and the people cleaning up the mess and paying the price for the rest of their lives.

I can only imagine the outcry, demonstrations and uproar if this would have been announced for any of our larger cities, such as New York. Frankly, I would have been on the front lines myself.

Some experts may call this cutting edge, but I call it government control, Once more China proves their concerns are not for their own people.

Running Cadences-US Army Rangers.

2007-08-13T12:30:00.001-07:00

I am still in tears over that Marine's words, but, just in case any of my brothers are lonely for PT, this is for all of you.

Ranter

BadAss Marine

2007-08-13T12:13:00.001-07:00

This Marine tells it like it is and speaks from his heart in his rap.

Private contractors in Iraq

2007-08-13T08:55:00.001-07:00

USA Today published a story outlining the lack of accountability for private contractors in Iraq. The story, By Deborah Hastings, Associated Press, titled, "Iraq contractors avoid legal restraints" paints a picture of private contractors shooting at random and answering to no one.

I read this article and could not stop feeling this reporter for some reason or another had a very large problem with the very concept of private security operating within a war zone. This is more than evident throughout the entire story, beginning at the first two paragraphs, which sets the tone for this scathing report.

Taken from the article, "There are now nearly as many private contractors in Iraq as there are U.S. soldiers — and about half of them are private security guards equipped with automatic weapons, body armor, helicopters and bullet-proof trucks."

"They operate with little or no supervision, accountable only to the firms employing them. And as the country has plummeted toward anarchy and civil war, this private army has been accused of indiscriminately firing at American and Iraqi troops, and of shooting to death an unknown number of Iraqi citizens who got too close to their heavily armed convoys."

"Not one has faced charges or prosecution."

The reporter immediately points out that the contractors do not have to answer to anyone:

"They operate in a decidedly gray legal area. Unlike soldiers, they are not bound by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Under a special provision secured by American-occupying forces, they are exempt from prosecution by Iraqis for crimes committed there."

Let us be frank about this, there would not be one private contractor working in this country if they had to answer to Iraqi law. They are not military personnel; in fact, the majorities are not even America citizens, but hail from all parts of the globe. Thus stated, there is no physical way to in which to hold them accountable to our military code of justice.

The contractors are charged with executive protection, in fact the story points out that they routinely protect high profile individuals. This is a war zone, with IED's a way of life and death, they must take as many precautions as possible, including the use of deadly force, as long as it is not indiscriminate, they are within their rights, either that or Senators, Congressmen and foreign dignitaries would not last an hour.

This is not a walk in the park, it is war and the media constantly overlooks this. The reporter points to a few instances of the improper use of force, these cases should be dealt with on an individual basis, but overall, they are doing their job and it is a job that our military does not have time or resources to do.

Click here for full article…

The hunt for the creep of Earth

2007-08-12T18:11:00.001-07:00

I was reading a post on Redneck's Revenge, titled, US Planning for the Day Musharraf Flees Pakistan ...and leaves the nukes in Islamist hands, blogged by, Redneck Texan.

Click here for blog and article…

This led me to a few thoughts I had recently on this exact subject. It is common knowledge that bin Laden has been actively seeking access to nuclear weapons for some time now. The question of the Pakistani nuclear weapons falling into bin Laden's hands has no doubt been one of his prime objectives in his escape into the Pakistani tribal lands, where he is suspected to be.

U.S. troops are not permitted to operate within Pakistan, but it is safe to assume that black ops have been in place actively seeking this bin Laden, to either bring him to justice for his crimes or bring justice to him.

This too, brings up another question, killing bin Laden in fierce battle, which analysts say is guaranteed event, would effectively make him a martyr and a holy object of a jihad. The only other option would be to imprison him for life, but this too has inherent problems. It would be safe to assume American would be in danger everywhere.

It matters not what the analysts or for that matter anyone prophesies will occur, it will be up to the hands of the special operations forces presently hunting him and we can safely assume that when they do catch up to this murderous terror master, he will be dealt the slow, painful death he so badly deserves.

Wild Bill’s bad day

2007-08-12T10:23:00.001-07:00

After I posted about the story, I found on Michael's blog I remembered I wanted to touch base on the bad day our brother in arms Wild Bill had yesterday.

Click here for Redneck Central and the poetic ramblings of brother Wild Bill.

This time of the year, our days and nights are comprised of thunderstorms and power outages. Of course, being the self sufficient smart technology guy that I am I have a battery backup, surge protector, UPS.

It has my multiple processor, power hungry computer, 19 inch flat screen monitor, cable modem, router and a laptop plugged into it and has served me well during our may power outages.

That is until a few days ago, I was on my computer and heard the thunder exploding overhead and due to my trusty UPS thought nothing of it. Of course, as luck tends to go, the warranty has recently expired on my UPS and without warning, it decided not to recharge any longer. As I quickly discovered when the power went out and my computer and everything else died along with it.

Suffice to say, it is now serving as a surge protector only until I get to the electronic store and pick up a replacement for it.

I thought of this while reading through the gosh awful day that Wild Bill was rambling about and my heart went out to him. Brother Wild Bill, keep the faith and your powder dry, a better day is coming.

Fallen hero of Israel

2007-08-12T09:54:00.001-07:00

One of our friends who frequent this blog, Michael, from Israel, has a blog titled, Oleh Musings. I am a reader of his blog and like to stay up on all of the trappings of life in Israel.

I was reading through his blog today, to catch up and came across an article on one the heroes of the Second Lebanon War, Maj. Ro'i Klein.

I was extremely moved by this man's actions, which resulted in his death and saved the lives of his fellow soldier. I highly recommend reading the article and thank Michael for sharing it with us.

'Medal of Courage' to be Awarded to Fallen Maj. Ro'i Klein

The S. Korean hostages

2007-08-12T08:41:00.001-07:00

As most people, I have been watching the story unfold of the Taliban and the captive South Koreans they have been holding for some time now.

This morning, the Associated Press is reporting, "The Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said the two South Korean hostages would be released in part because Taliban leaders were happy with the progress being made in face-to-face talks between two Taliban leaders and South Korean negotiators."

The hostages they are discussing are two sick, female South Korean hostages, which may be the one and only reason the Taliban is even considering the release. They are in talks with South Korean officials who are no doubt requesting some proof of life on the remaining hostages. What better way for these insidious creatures to rid themselves of sick hostages then in a proof of life demand. The Taliban does not have to worry about medical treatment, which they probably cannot even provide.

Of course, it is common knowledge that the Taliban are murderous scum, with no qualms what so ever in simply killing the hostages, but they are now in the negotiation process and cannot afford additional deaths at this time.

There was talk of a rescue mission, but as usual, the media put a quick stop to that with their releasing information of combined multinational plans.

The Taliban are nothing more than a group of thugs who care nothing for the rights of anyone. We can only hope that sanity prevails and the entire groups of South Koreans are soon released before any more are murdered.

Singing Out Against Terrorism

2007-08-12T07:43:00.001-07:00

It appears that a group of Muslims are fed up with violence being carried out in the name of their religion and have got together and released a music video stating just that.

Sky News is reporting, "Singing Out Against Terrorism 08/08/07"

"Moderate Muslims in Pakistan have released a single in a public stand against Muslim militants. Yeh Hum Naheen, This Is Not Us, is a musical collaboration which condemns terrorism throughout the world. Sky's Greg Palkot reports."

Click here for the video of the full report…

I can only say, HUH?

2007-08-11T08:52:00.001-07:00

While reading through the morning bovine excrement often referred to as "news", I came upon a CBS News article with a title that made me utter a loud, "Huh!.

CBS News, "Iran: U.S. Needs "Wise" Leaders".

"(AP) U.S. President George W. Bush's policies have harmed Washington's global image and the country needs "wise" leaders to regain its lost credibility, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said Saturday."

"Mohammad Ali Hosseini said Bush's policies have isolated him both internationally and at home, citing the Republican party's losses in Congress last November as proof of Bush's declining popularity."

Wait just one moment, correct me if I am wrong, but is this not coming from a country whose President has openly called for the destruction of Israel, has constantly threatened the United Nations and America with possible nuclear war, has taken military personnel of the U.K. prisoner, and ad nauseam.

This article simple boggles my mind and the fact that the associated press is giving this any coverage at all is amazing. In truth, a statement such as that should have been filed under the strange but true sections of most media outlets.

Iran has been the thorn within the lion's paw of the Middle East for so long that their absurdities are now becoming intellectual! For this war mongering, world-threatening nation to make a statement such as this in the first place is a total shock, for the media to give it so much news coverage is even more so.

The only thing the leadership of this country has ever understood is violence. Now they are saying the leadership of our country is lacking, I think it is time for a well-needed vacation.

Click here for full article….

Hearts and minds, HA!

2007-08-11T07:58:00.001-07:00

I have been following a story in the British media, UK officer calls for US Special Forces to quit Afghan hotspot.

The article states," Tension between British and American commanders in southern Afghanistan erupted into the open yesterday as a senior UK military officer said he had asked the US to withdraw its special forces from a volatile area that was crucial in the battle against the Taliban."'

Further into the article it states, "Twelve-man teams of US Special Forces had been criticised for relying on air strikes for cover when they believed they were confronted by large groups of Taliban fighters and their supporters."

This is an absolute load of hogwash and these Brits know that. There have been many engagements within that specified area of operation involving clashes with large numbers of Taliban. This has been evident in many of the articles I have been reading.

Apparently, the British commander fails to see the big picture within this area of operation and has been relying on intelligence from those affiliated with the Taliban, who would love the Special Forces teams to be withdrawn, which would leave the area entirely up for grabs by the Taliban.

War is never going to leave this area of Afghanistan as long as the Taliban view themselves as the rightful leaders of this country. Withdrawing the Special Forces teams would only aid them in their quest.

Click here for full article….

The sky is falling

2007-08-09T08:16:00.001-07:00

The sky is falling – the sky is falling. Good old chicken little , little did he know it, but he saw into the future, Here we are with a whole lot of people hollering for us to pull our troops out of Iraq and a whole lot more hollering to send more troops.

What is the answer? Perhaps I can be like the great King in The 300 and go to speak to some drugged out oracle. On second thought, I have no idea. Perhaps if we had done the job right in the first place we would not be in this quandary.

I do not mean massive force, I mean going in as a conquering nation, not liberators. This way we could have dictated what we wanted. Now, before the email begins, allow me to make a few points.

As conquers we would have freed Iraq, took out Saddam and spent the next five years trying in vain to instill leadership that would work together, all the while fighting an insurgency. No wait that is what happened now. Perhaps there is a lot to be said for the more force argument.

The point that I am making is no matter what we would have done, we would still be in the same situation, fighting the same war.

The major problem we are facing is their leadership cannot see the same light of day. One says the sky is blue, the other says, we quit, you said the sky is blue, that is blasphemy.

I used to think that I had the answer, but I was completely wrong. No one will ever have the answer until the various sects can learn to work together towards the common good and wellbeing of the people and that has not happened since the warring sects began.

Perhaps a Kurd, as the great king Salah al-Din was when he took control of the warring clans and formed one continuous force to be reckoned with. That may be one of the few answers that no one has seen and just may be a working solution.

One thing is for certain, they need to discover the magic moment and it needs to be done soon. If not, after we pull out the entire country will be up for grabs, as no one is capable of working together.

Attack in Afghanistan

2007-08-08T09:05:00.001-07:00

Here is a news item that I have not seen in my news rounds this morning. It is taken from the Combined Joint Task Force 82, Operation Enduring Freedom Afghanistan web site.

Click Here for site…

- Coalition forces fend off enemy attack in Oruzgan province. Four Afghan girls, aged 2-12 wounded by enemy fire. More than 75 insurgents attacked Firebase Anaconda, Oruzgan on three sides using small-arms fire, rocket propelled grenades and 107mm rockets at daybreak yesterday. The combined ANA and Coalition Force used accurate small-arms, machine gun, and mortar fire to repel the enemy advance. Close air support was called in to destroy the enemy fighters. Almost two dozen insurgents were confirmed killed in the attack. Four Afghan females, ages 2-12, were wounded by the insurgent's errant RPG fire. The young girls and two ANA soldiers who received minor wounds were evacuated to a nearby Coalition medical facility for treatment.

It amazes me that this appeared to be a full-scale multi-sided attack by insurgent/Taliban forces in Afghanistan and yet, we see nothing in our news media regarding this attack.

If nothing else, the Ranter is on the ball and is bringing the news to you.

'We Shall Continue To Target You'

2007-08-06T07:43:00.001-07:00

An American Islamic militant has warned the White House in a new video that American diplomats and embassies will be targeted by al Qaedal.

Laura Mansfield.com, a respected terrorism watchdog website, has issued the latest warning which appeared Thursday by As Sahab, Al Qaeda's media production group. According to Laura Mansfield.com, the spokesperson seen on the video is an American, from Orange County Adam Gaddahn, aka Azzam al Amriki.

Laura Mansfield.com, reports, "In the 1 hour 17 minute video, which takes the form of a documentary, Gaddahn says that Al Qaeda will continue to target the US both at home and overseas. He singles out embassies and consulates as specific targets."

"We shall continue to target you, at home and abroad, just as you target us, at home and abroad

Video footage from the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa, the September 11 attacks and other bombings was included un the video.

Click Here for the full story and the translation…..

Personal Note, I view these threats made by a man who is nothing more than a traitor to his own country as a disgusting and sickening statement. I sincerely hope the powers in Washington and the judicial system work together to revoke this turncoat's citizenship and send him the message that working with individuals who have taken arms against America automatically makes him a man without a country.

Live by the sword and the U.S. Army will find you

2007-08-05T11:37:00.001-07:00

There is an old adage that states, "Live by the sword, die by the sword", perhaps the demigod, Achilles was thinking of this on his trip to Troy or during his ill-fated meeting with Paris's arrow.

The al-Qaida in Iraq mastermind of the bombing that destroyed the golden dome of a famed sacred Shiite shrine last year, Haitham Sabah Shaker Mohammed al-Badr, was introduced to this adage, courtesy of the U.S. troops hunting him.

A military spokesperson Rear Adm. Mark Fox, a U.S. military spokesman, said al-Badri had been among insurgents spotted by U.S. aircraft moving into "tactical fighting positions."

"From the surveillance that was going on, it looked like they were setting up an ambush," he told reporters in the heavily guarded Green Zone. "So they brought in rotary wing and close air support and there was some strafing that occurred from helicopters."

"Al-Badri's body was positively identified by close associates and family members," Fox said.

Click Here for the full story....

Ride on Delta

2007-08-05T10:37:00.001-07:00

Do you think you have what it takes? The folks over at Military.com, Defense.org have what may or may not be a recruiting video for Delta Force. They really do not have the final answer if this is the real thing or not.

One thing is for sure, it is a great ride to watch with a great soundtrack.

Click here to visit and then click on the video link to watch.

Soldiers Rally to Save Iraqi Child

2007-08-04T11:05:00.001-07:00

We always here so many of the bad things coming out of Iraq that it is easy to forget the wonderful things are military does for the Iraqi civilians.

This is never more evident in the case of US special operations forces playing a major role in insuring an 8-year-old Iraqi girl suffering from a rare heart defect obtained a needed operation.

US ARMY MIL/NEWS, "FALLUJAH, Iraq (American Forces Press Service, Aug. 3, 2007) - Even though she's surrounded by war, Dalal is not much different from other children her age. She likes jump-rope and Cinderella and enjoys reading and drawing. Her favorite classes are religion and language, and she recently completed second grade -- earning perfect marks in all her studies. But, unlike many of her peers, the 8-year-old Iraqi girl also has fought a life-threatening battle from within since birth."

Click Here for full story…

The soldiers responsible should be proud of what they accomplished.

Politics as usual, nothing new.

2007-08-03T11:45:00.001-07:00

If the on-going Presidential race is showing America anything, it is showing us that the candidates are all side stepping any talk about taking actions against terrorism in the Middle East.

Take the latest political no-no that candidate Barack Obama said in public that he now wishes he could take a mulligan on. Obama said if elected, he might order unilateral military strikes against terrorists hiding in this Islamic country (Pakistan).

Of course, that prompted the media to rush out to get a quote from any Pakistani leader it could find. This lead to a quote on the CBS evening news site, which stated, "Top Pakistan officials said Obama's comment was irresponsible and likely made for political gain in the race for the Democratic nomination."

In addition, not wanting to leave anyone out, ""It's a very irresponsible statement, that's all I can say," Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khusheed Kasuri told AP Television News."

When one stops and thinks of these statements and subsequent political spins the candidates are attempting to put on their quotes, well, it tends to drive you insane after awhile.

Iraq is quickly turning into another Viet Nam hot potato. No one wants to be involved with it and neither do they wish to say anything that could be tied to it. Like puppets at the local park, the candidates strings are pulled to make them say, "bring home the troops", nothing more.

It would be nice for one of them to actually say what they are thinking, not what they are expected to say. That would be something new for the voters of America, truthfulness, what a concept that would be.

Latest threats

2007-08-02T15:13:00.001-07:00

ABC News is reporting on one of their blogs, The Blotter
a story:

"New Al Qaeda Web Ad Threatens 'Big Surprise'",

Rhonda Schwartz Reports:

"A new al Qaeda propaganda ad, headlined "Wait for the Big Surprise" and featuring a digitally altered photograph of President George Bush and Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf standing in front of a burning White House, was posted on the Internet today."

Click Here for full story…..

It should be noted that al Qaeda was warning of attacks in the UK before the recent bombing efforts that the police were able to catch before major damage.

The question remains, what they are talking about this time. Unfortunately they always speak in cryptic sentences, threats, innuendos and conjectures, we will have to wait and see what turns up.

Who’s on first

2007-08-02T11:34:00.001-07:00

I have been giving a lot of thought lately to the Middle East arms deal. No matter how I add up all that is being planned, it still makes no sense to me what so ever, none.

Here we have President Bush, our leader and commander in chief, wanting to sell 20 billion dollars in high tech weaponry to the Saudi kingdom. There is just one small tidbit that bothers me about this pending sale, correct me if I am wrong, but that is where 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 came from and we are going to sell them all of this high tech weapons?

Of course, Bushy has promised the Israeli's their fair share and more, but this sale has to make a few of their leaders a bit nervous just thinking of the Saudi's having these weapons and high tech goodies.

We are told that the Saudi government, excuse me, it is a kingdom; anyway, we are told they need these weapons to defend themselves against future attacks from the Shiite bad guys in Iran.

Now, here is where I get a bit confused, but aren't the Shiite's the very same people we have instilled into power and a leadership role in Iraq? One more thing that boggles my mind is Iran was a hated enemy of Saddam. See how this all tends to run together after awhile.

No, I am not saying that we should have left well enough alone, just that this arms deal smells like a windfall for US weapons firms, nothing more. I do wonder how Israel sees all of this.

This and that

2007-08-01T10:58:00.001-07:00

There are many stories on the wire today, let's touch on a few this morning.

Military.com ran a story on the Army's new tests on the M4 carbine. Army Agrees To M4 Sand Test Shoot-Off

"After months of heated debate, the Army will conduct a side-by-side test shoot next month with its standard-issued carbine to see how well it can withstand extreme dust and sand environments."…… Click Here for the rest of the story...

Personally, I feel it is about time the Army began testing on their M4 carbine. There have been so many negative reports from the men using these weapons and it is time to put the weapon to a test. Granted, any weapon will function properly if totally cleaned and lubricated, however, when does a combat soldier get the chance when he is engaged in a full firefight?

DefenseTech.org reports that the Special Operations community is switching out the barrels with a better functioning and better-made barrel.

When a story begins with this line, "If somebody wanted to really help the US Army, they would do something about those God awful M4 carbines that American troops are forced to endure." Then it is time to do something about this problem.

This is an interesting story and one can only hope the truth prevails.

CBS News is reporting, "Rumsfeld Denies Tillman Cover-Up" Any friendly fire fatality is bad, unfortunately, in war it does occur. However, the Pat Tillman incident just does not add up, something is not right about this case. One General has already paid the piper and still may face the loss of his third star; this story only gets worse as it plays out.

If all, of the back-story behind the Tillman, case is true and there was a cover up, then those guilty of a cover up need to be brought to justice.

Fox News reports, "Al Qaeda Commander Calls for Overthrow of Pakistani Government" Wild Bill recently threw a lot of sense into the present situation in Pakistan, but this latest threat may toss all common sense out of the window.

This latest threat may lead to nothing, or it may just bring about their destruction at the hands of the US Air Force, time will tell.

We will leave more for tomorrow.

Arms for sale

2007-07-30T11:23:00.001-07:00

Our government is drawing more heat for its desire to strengthen the Middle East through the sale of arms to Saudi and other allies. They feel this will broaden a united stand against Iran. The major benefactor in the arms deal is Israel and frankly, I am very happy about that action, as this sale of arms could tip the balance in the Middle East, leaving Israel in the dust. Thankfully, they will not have to harbor any worries, as they will be well protected.

Washington feels this sale of arms will demonstrate to the Iranians a united front against their constant saber rattling and cries for the open destruction of Israel.

The question remains if this latest ploy will work as intended or simply provide Israel's enemies with a technological advanced weapons system should they decided once more to invade Israel.

Here is a case in point, The Jerusalem Post stated today, "Israel is looking into reports that Russia plans to sell 250 advanced long-range Sukhoi-30 fighter jets to Iran in an unprecedented billion-dollar deal."

With Israel possibly facing new Russian fighters, this arms deal could put an entirely new twist to everything. The saving grace to this new threat is Israeli pilots are second to none and the best that can be found in the Middle East and possibly many other areas of the globe.

Another question that remains is Saudi's actions; they have had little input into the area lately with their inability or decision not to stop suicide bombers and many other actions in the Middle East.

Washington's history in backing leaders, countries and parts of the globe is not all that great; we can only hope that they have made a wiser choice this time, history will be the judge.

Nothing changes

2007-07-16T11:03:00.001-07:00

The one thing that the war in Iraq has accomplished is to create as many disagreements in Congress as possible. By now, it is completely evident that no one has any idea what to do.

The major problem is everyone is listening to other politicians instead of the Generals and the rank and file in the field. The politicians see another Viet Nam, helicopters being pushed off the ships, throngs of crowds attempting to leave a war torn and soon to be abandoned country. When they should be talking to the Marine or Gi in the field, for that is the only way these self righteous individuals will ever hear the truth.

Instead they take carefully planned junkets to Iraq where they are met by hand picked individuals who are there to tell them exactly what their handlers have told them to say.

They are given body armor and driven around the safe streets of Iraq while someone in the front or back tells them this is a no win situation, nothing but a country on the edge of a civil war with our men and women unable to do anything about it.

Satisfied that they have made a difference and are now ready to tell the big bully President the get ut of this no win situation, they quickly travel back to the safety of Washington where they tell the other political rank and file, "Hey, I have been there, seen it, we can't win!"

An excellent case in pint of some of the politicians only seeing what they want to see occurred on Meet the Press, Sunday when Democrat Jim Webb of Virginia and Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina lost their tempers and began arguing on President Bush's Iraq policy and troop welfare.

The politicians should not be meeting with talking heads or political puppets, they should put on their body armor, grab a few personal protection people and get out to the individuals fighting this war, talk to them, ask their views, what they feel and what they need to succeed.

Washington will never change; they will always see Viet Nam instead of the best military in the world.

They will do anything

2007-07-15T16:02:00.001-07:00

What people in this world will go through to obtain their fifteen minutes of fame is utterly amazing.

Here is a case in point. While reading through the Sunday news I come across the heading, Waiter: I Saw Poisoning of Russian Spy. Well, this defiantly peaks my interest, apparently there was a witness that no one has ever said a thing about.

Silly me, I read through the article expecting this ground shattering, earth breaking news item and find that the whole thing is a crock of bull.

Here I am, reading the first few paragraphs and then I get to this sentence, "Though he did not see it happen, Andrade told the Telegraph he believes that at that moment the poison was sprayed into a pot of green tea on the table."

Arrgghh!!! I stopped right then and there, this guy, no; this media hound was not only making conjecture, pure guess work to get in the news! I even went as far as to look up the term, guesswork, I was expecting to see this guy's name in it, but no, so, here it is, "the formation of judgments or opinions on the basis of incomplete or inconclusive information" Bingo! That is the guy!

In case someone would like to read this article, here you go, "Waiter: I Saw Poisoning Of Russian Spy." Just remember, the article should be renamed, "I was guessing to get into the media.

Bin Laden’s time is running out

2007-07-14T09:43:00.001-07:00

The US Senate has doubled the bounty on Osama bin Laden's head, increasing it to $50 million in the face of fears that al Qaeda is gaining strength.

That amount would make an everyday Iraqi or Afghanistan citizen a very wealthy person by any standard, let alone the near poverty level some of these people are living in. However, the question remains, is this enough?

I have had a major problem with bin Laden still running around free and able to do as he pleases. It was not that long ago that President Bush said, "Bring me the head of bin Laden" and meant every word of it. Here we are a few years later and for some reason the world's most wanted terrorist is not in the limelight as much as he once was.

If we think back to our hunt for the Iraqi terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, there was a tremendous amount of media paid to the possibility that America had made a deal with bin Laden for al-Zarqawi's head. Apparently, bin Laden was publically speaking highly of al-Zarqawi, calling him today's Salah al-Din, all the while, privately hating the attention and media coverage that al-Zarqawi was getting.

As a result of this split, rumors said that bin Laden cut a deal with the CIA for al-Zarqawi, giving him to America and in return, bin Laden be left alone. This could very well be based upon rumor and conjecture, or for that matter, the mutterings of a reporter that was taken out of context.

On the other hand, it could possibly have a shred of truth. Something, somewhere must have changed for President Bush to tone his rhetoric down, if not completely ignore bin Laden's existence.

Whatever the case may be, the man that America hates so badly is still among the living and it is about time he was brought to justice for his crimes against America, as well as humanity, or a special operations unit bring justice to him.

Off with their heads

2007-07-13T08:42:00.001-07:00

The BBC blew it so badly in a piece about their beloved monarch, Queen Elizabeth that they spent an entire day laying supplicant to their Queen asking for forgiveness. It is a good thing she does not wield the power that she once did, she may have been hollering "off with their heads" and meant it.

However, lacking that power, the Queen may have spent the afternoon muttering, "We are not amused" and in the end, apparently granted royal forgiveness to the BBC.

Here is a quote from TMZ.com on the incident across the pond, "BBC cameras caught Queen Elizabeth in a rather uncharacteristic moment of pique while being shot by Leibovitz for a portrait. The famed photog suggested that QE2 take off her tiara because the shot would be "less dressy" without it, slightly absurd given that her majesty was already wearing layers of elaborate robes."

""Less dressy? What do you think this is?" snaps the Queen, referring to her Garter robe."

"In a BBC promo for a documentary about the Queen, it looks like she ditches the shoot, muttering to a lady-in-waiting, "I'm not changing anything. I've had enough dressing like this, thank you very much." But the BBC had to grovel at the Queen's feet today, admitting that that episode actually took place before the photo shoot, and that the Queen didn't, in fact, throw a tantrum."

Click Here for full article on TMZ.com…..

Secret Squirrel Lives

2007-07-12T09:52:00.001-07:00

While surfing through the morning news I came across a story from the "You gotta be kidding me" department.

When I first read the headline, I actually thought it was a joke, something that The Onion would have published in their great tongue in cheek publication. However, this was not to be, the truth in the matter is it actually happened.

By now, you are wondering what the devil the Ranter is talking about, okay, you will not believe this one, Police in Iran are reported to have taken 14 squirrels into custody - because they are suspected of spying.

You have to read the entire story to get a better understanding of this. Sky News is reporting that officials in Iran actually did take the squirrels into custody. Perhaps the aforementioned officials have been watching far too much American television, specifically the cartoon show, Secret Squirrel. In any case, these guys belong with the squirrels, because they are nuts!

Perhaps some intelligence section of some country has hit on something here, after all, they do work for peanuts!

Heroes in the Global War on Terror

2007-07-12T08:30:00.001-07:00

This week's Heroes in the Global War on Terror, featuring Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell, a Navy Cross recipient who was the sole survivor of Operation Redwing; and Army Reserve Maj. Christopher Matson, who received the Bronze Star for his work training and working with Iraqi soldiers.

Former Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Marcus Luttrell

Surrounded and severely outnumbered in combat, you can either give up or fight to the death. Petty Officer Luttrell and three other SEALs faced that decision in the hills of Afghanistan on June 28, 2005. A SEAL never gives up

The team, which included Lt. Michael Murphy and Petty Officers Matt Axelson and Danny Dietz, had been sent on a covert mission to find and kill a Taliban leader. As the SEALs scoured the area, they encountered three civilians who Luttrell believes alerted Taliban fighters. About an hour later, approximately 80-100 Taliban fighters appeared and began a ferocious assault. As the small team fought back, a Chinook helicopter arrived in support – but was shot down by the enemy, killing all 16 men on board.

The SEALs realized that their odds of survival were slim – but their training and sense of honor told them to take out as many enemies as they could,

READ THE REST OF THE STORY……..

General Sherman, we need you!

2007-07-10T13:56:00.001-07:00

I was surfing through the morning news trying to catch up on a few things that I have missed out on recently. I am not seeing better, just more determined to read the online news sources that I normally haunt.

I must confess that lately my news surfing habits have been postponed due to my vision and today, well, I wish I would have avoided the news altogether.

One of the leading headlines was not the battle raging in Pakistan, nor Iraq, nor anywhere else in the world, In fact, it is not a battle, per se, but a world-wide uproar over Madonna and if she played her own guitar or not at a recent performance!

Here is a clip from one of the news sources, "Debate is raging on internet message boards over whether Madonna's "rocking" Live Earth performance owed more to technical wizardry than musical talent."

After digging through various garbage, tripe and other items passing themselves off as news, I finally reach items of interest, only to wish I was back reading Madonna.

Disgusted, I turn on my trusty old television, well, trusty new and expensive television. Turning to Fox News I find a discussion over the legalities and moral issues of installing terrorist cameras in our country, as we recently saw in the U.K.'s tracking of their terror suspects.

During the attempted car bombings in England and the one that did explode in Scotland, the news services were making a big issue over the state of the art cameras on just about every corner in England. Suffice to say, they did nothing but speak highly of this system.

Here we are a few weeks later and apparently there is now discussion over implementing these same style camera systems in strategic locations in America. The same individuals previously spouting accolades over British ingenuity are now screaming invasion of our rights!

The media never ceases to amaze me, their multi-standard, smug attitudes and constant hollering of rights makes me want to run to the nearest barf bag.

I cannot help but think of the wonderful quote sent to me by my buddy, Wild Bill:

"I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are. If I killed them all there would be news from Hell before breakfast." --William Tecumseh Sherman

General Sherman said it well, now, where is my barf bag.

Update

2007-07-07T10:05:00.001-07:00

I want to take a moment to explain my absence the past week or two. I have been undergoing medical treatment for a few complications that have set in to my eyes since the surgery I had to alleviate advanced glaucoma symptoms which was beginning to leave me without the use of my eyes.

The medication drops and subsequent follow up appear to be working now, as a few of the major problems I had initially encountered are beginning to fade away.

My vision is not what it was prior to the surgery, in fact, it is quite worse and this is the next step the Doctor's will attempt to correct.

It has been a difficult task to read the computer monitor, let alone write anything. However, this is changing a bit and my vision is improving enough that I should be able to write soon.

Stay tuned, I will be ranting shortly

Ranter

Operation Arrowhead Ripper

2007-06-22T05:42:00.001-07:00

A big question on everyone's mind is how the new offensive in Iraq is going and the answer is to read Michael Yon's Dispatches.

Michael is presently covering Operation Arrowhead Ripper and is witnessing the fighting firsthand.

Operation Arrowhead Ripper: Day One "The combat has only just begun, and media has now figured out this is serious business. During the morning brief (June 20th), Major Robbie Parke mentioned that CNN, TIME, Reuters and some others, are trying to get out here now. Problem is space. Looks like Gordon and I are mostly alone for now. Others are said to be in Baqubah, but if they are here, they are missing some of the most important parts, and if they were at the important commander's meetings, I would have seen them."

"The heat is intense for the enemy and for us. Soldiers, during any chance, would lay-down during the heat of day, and in complete body armor and helmets, fall asleep in the dirt. I took photos of course. Our guys are tough. The enemy in Baqubah is as good as any in Iraq, and better than most."

Reading through his dispatch on day one opens your eyes to the truth and not the whitewashed nonsense from the networks.

Note: After reading Operation Arrowhead Ripper, make sure you read Michael’s second dispatch, Arrowhead Ripper: Surrender or Die.

Michael Yon had suggested reading the writing of a reporter for the New York Times, Michael Gordon. Granted, the Times is a rather unlikely source for an open view of this war, but I was pleasantly surprised when following advise, I read, Michael Gordon’s story,

U.S. Seeks to Block Exits for Iraq Insurgents: “So the planners of this latest operation are attempting to plug the holes that have allowed the insurgents to escape in the past. The goal is not merely to reclaim western Baquba from insurgent control, but to capture or kill the estimated 300 fighters to 500 fighters who are believed to be based in that part of the city.”

This appears to be another source for good reporting.

My Thoughts

2007-06-21T08:36:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I blogged about a wonderful humanitarian rescue that men of the 82^nd Airborne Division accomplished when discovering an Iraqi orphanage which had neglected the children till they were near death.

Personally, I had watched the video on a news channel and was very moved over their actions. Then when going through the web, I discovered that no one was discussing it as much as it should have been.

Imagine my surprise yesterday evening when I began hearing negativity over the job these men had done. People were now saying that the neglect was as much to blame on the soldiers as it was the Iraqi's, perhaps even more so.

Okay people, naysayers, peace movement, news services and bleeding hearts of American, enough is enough!

Go into any big city and walk into a police station, ask the duty officer how many abuse cases were handled that month, even more so, pick up any newspaper, read any news service, abuse is wide spread and goes on within the sleepy towns of our nation. Some of these towns may only have the resources for a two or more man police department and these police know every person in the town, yet abuse occurs.

I know this to be a fact as I was a big city police officer and when we discovered abuse, it sickened me, infuriated me and at times moved me to tears, but we never even suspected it was taking place. You will ask why and the answer is we cannot go into every house in the city, just as our men in uniform cannot. Police often rely on the good will and caring of concerned citizens to report incidents of abuse, even the small ones.

The fact that the men of the 82^nd Airborne discovered this abuse and neglect was not police work, but karma, pure luck, if you will. A soldier looked over a wall and into the face of hell when he saw the children laying there. The neighbors never complained and do not think they did not know it was going on.

These men found a bad situation and they saved the lives of the children. America should be proud of their men in uniform for an act of kindness, not say they should have known. This makes me sick to discuss it any further.

Hillary Clinton Sopranos Parody

2007-06-20T09:38:00.001-07:00

I know, it is Hillary. But, I love a good laugh too. This is a great take off on the Soprano ending. Heck, she even got old Bill to be in it.

If you were a Sopranos fan you will recognize the wize guy, looks like Johnny Sacks giving the bad eye to Hillary. He was whacked on the show, nice to see he lives, but he must be a Democrat. Well, we can't fault him for that.

Great spoof and worth the watch.

Ranter

Israel helping those in need

2007-06-20T06:25:00.001-07:00

Speaking of humanitarian aid to others, Israel opened it border to allow the hundred of Palestinians who have been camped out there for six day in poor health conditions.

In a rare move on Wednesday, Israel's new defense minister ordered the army to allow into Israel any of the hundreds of Gazans holed up at a fetid crossing who might desperately need medical treatment.

This is taking place at the same time that Israeli fighter jets are hitting Palestinian rocket launchers in northern Gaza in the first Israeli airstrike since Hamas militants seized control of the coastal strip last week, the army said.

This shows the compassion Israel has for human beings, even though they may have been fighting some of these same men over the years, they are providing needed medical treatment.

Click here for full story and videos.

Soldiers rescue orphans near death

2007-06-20T06:02:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I happened to tune in to the military news service and was immediately emotional over what I was witnessing. The sad comment to a wonderful humanitarian job done by our soldiers is that I had to dig for the article, not finding it anywhere. Had it not been for the announcer saying that CBS News shared the video, I would have never located it.

Click here for full article, you may not find it anywhere else.

Soldiers of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division on a day patrol happened to look over a wall into the rear of an Iraqi orphanage and looked directly into his worst nightmare.

Here is a direct quote from the CBS News article, "They saw multiple bodies laying on the floor of the facility," Staff Sgt. Mitchell Gibson of the 82nd Airborne Division told CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan. "They thought they were all dead, so they threw a basketball (to) try and get some attention, and actually one of the kids lifted up their head, tilted it over and just looked and then went back down. And they said, 'oh, they're alive' and so they went into the building."

Sadly, this was a government-run orphanage for special needs children and had been kept this way for more than a month.

In another quote from the same article, "The kids were tied up, naked, covered in their own waste — feces — and there were three people that were cooking themselves food, but nothing for the kids," Lt. Stephen Duperre said."

I cannot do justice to the wonderful act of our men in uniform. Please, Click Here and watch the same video that I saw on the news service channel.

These men did a wonderful job and this story should be more than it is.

Taliban Offensive

2007-06-19T11:27:00.001-07:00

What with the war in Iraq with our men and women are fighting daily battles that a lot of people would just as soon forget about, the politics, allegations and tensions, it is easy to forget that there is also a war in Afghanistan.

Fox News is reporting, "KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Taliban militants overran a district in southern Afghanistan and are pushing for control of another key area, sparking fierce clashes with NATO and Afghan forces that have left more than 100 people dead over three days, officials said Tuesday."

"Hundreds of Taliban fighters launched raids on police posts near the strategic town of Chora in Uruzgan province Saturday, forcing NATO, backed by fighter jets, to respond. Fighting was continuing Tuesday, and some officials reported there have been dozens of civilian casualties."

It is evident that the Taliban is on an offensive and we must wonder is we have enough resources in place to handle the situation. So far, that answer would appear to be yes, but we will have to wit and see.

In the mean time, my thoughts and prayers are with the troops everywhere and especially in harms way.

Rockets fired at Israel

2007-06-17T13:29:00.001-07:00

The news is reporting that two rockets were fired at Israel from inside Lebanon Sunday resulting in some damage, but no casualties.

The Hezbollah denied firing the rockets in a broadcast on the militant group's Al-Manar television.

This latest provocation, although being denided by Hezblooah can only be designed to raise the tensions between Isral and the Hezbollah.

Although a spokesperson for rime Minister Ehud Olmert said that Israel will only monitor the situation for the time being, it is evident that tensions are high.

Personally, Israel should not have received the pressure to withdraw from their last engagements with the Hezbollah. Although many reporters were saying that Israel were encountering many problems during that war that they did not count on, the fact remains that Israel fared a whole lot better than was being reported.

The situation in the Middle East would be better if the world would keep the restraints off Israel and allow them to protect their country.

Happy Fathers day

2007-06-17T08:05:00.001-07:00

Growing up in the 1950 and 1960 era was an experience for my Father, and me we both learned from one another and grew up together.

My parents were young when they were married. WWII had just ended, the troops had returned home and a baby boom was taken place, suffice to say after all the welcome home parties, the people of my generation were being born like wildfire.

The 1950's were full of family time, home life and fond memories. The 1960's were tougher on me as well as my Father. I was just exerting my independence and my Father was doing his best to insure I did not exert too much.

Overall, my relationship with my Father became very strained, we tended to argue extensively, frankly, the majority it was my fault. I was young, on the wild side and made far too many mistakes. My Father tended to argue instead of being a teacher and that only added fuel to the fire.

A few years in the military cooled us both down, I did not return home until after my enlistment was over. When I did come home, I discovered that not only had I matured into a man, my Father had grown as well, understanding, loving and wishing to have his son back.

Some people have said that life is a mixture of tragedy and comedy and I found that to be an accurate description of my youth. However, once I became a son to my Father and him a Father to me, this all changed and we formed a better relationship between us that lasted for many years.

My Father is gone now, as well as all of my family, there are many times that I think of him fondly and with love and I have come to the realization that Father's do not ever leave us, they are always with us and I can see him every time that I look into the mirror.

Happy Fathers day to Fathers everywhere, it is a difficult task filled with love and today they should all be remembered.

ID Cards discovered

2007-06-16T07:54:00.001-07:00

It was just released that military units operating north of Baghdad have found the ID cards of two of the missing soldiers in an al-Qaeda safe house.

In a quote from the story, "The military statement said the ID cards of Spec. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Pvt. Byron Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Michigan, were discovered along with computers, video production equipment, rifles and ammunition at the otherwise empty house near Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad."

I have written in the past that the enemies our troops face do not take prisoners of war, they only take captives for later torture and slaughter, this is disgusting and yet we have portions of the American people who feel we are in the wrong and members of Iraq and the Muslim world saying we are the barbarians.

.In past wars if we were captured we knew we would face torture and mistreatment at the hands of our captives, yet there was always that hope that if we survived, we would come home. This is not the case in Iraq and it is a sad comment that a few of the returning troops I have spoken with have told stories of their desire to save the last round for themselves if faced with insurmountable odds in battle and the possibility of being captured. They knew they would face torture and beheading and the possibility their families would see the videos broadcast on the Internet, they were not going to permit this to happen.

This is not an enemy, but uncontrolled murder by an armed populace, noting more and they do not deserve any respect, none what so ever.

Simper FI General Pace

2007-06-16T07:24:00.001-07:00

As a veteran of the Army and many years serving on a big city police department, a quasi-military organization, I have spent the majority of my life in uniform and carrying a weapon. During all of those years I have had occasion to see men of high caliber, moral fiber and professionalism be forced out of a ranking positions, then as in all forms of military units the individual was simply expected to fall on their sword, as all good soldiers must do.

Thus, I read the decision of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Peter Pace to turn down an offer to voluntarily retire rather than be forced out of office as that of the caliber of men that made the Marine Corps into the proud unit it is today.

General Pace's only transgression is that he was the proverbial sheep led to slaughter for the Bush administration and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. They needed someone of high ranking to take the blame for a lot of the negative publicity they were receiving on the war in Iraq. What better person to send to the wolves then the chairmen of the whole ball of wax.

They knew he was a professional soldier and as such was expected to simply say yes sir, retire and fade away as General Douglas McArthur said all officers do and they were incorrect in their thinking.

General Pace is one man who felt taking this position when his beloved corps and the entire military, which he was in control of was fighting a war was simply not done and will serve out his remaining time of office.

General Pace should be proud of many of the things the military has accomplished while he has been in control. Yes, there have been incidents occur which he took the blame for as all men of high character do, but the truth in the matter is the orders for some of the programs came from individuals in a higher position then he.

My hat is off to a man who stands by his record and his decisions, simper fi General.

Dude, you’re getting a Dell

2007-06-15T09:08:00.001-07:00

I just cannot make news like this up. I just finish posting about Russia's offer for us to use their radar and now I read that they are accusing NASA of damaging their computers with the new power array the shuttle crew installed on the space station. Only in the depth of space, can one small incident destroy a space station and possibly force the crew on it to return to Earth.

Perhaps they should have upgraded the hardware long ago, maybe Dell can offer them a good deal and the shuttle can deliver them on the next trip, if there is a next trip.

We could even get the old Dell spokesperson out of retirement, college, probation or wherever he is to call Putin and scream, "Dude, you're getting a Dell!

One would assume that a space station would have controls in place to handle little things like magnetic discharges, electrical fields and all that cool high tech stuff, but we have to remember that it was built by the lowest bidders and that may have cost a few more million bucks or so.

Whenever I read about the space station, I always envision that scene from the Brice Willis film, Armageddon where we see a beat up, run down station manned by one very lonely Russian who beats the hell out of the equipment to make it work. Little did I know that that was very near the truth to what is still circling the Earth.0

Perhaps it is time to build a new and improved station, one with better computers, if nothing else, maybe Putin can go to his nearest Russian rent to own and get a few new computers for the station, if they will even rent to them.

The Russians are coming

2007-06-15T07:25:00.001-07:00

The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming! How many times during the cold war did these four words strike fear into the hearts of our fellow citizens? Well, guess what, it is about to start again. That is right, you heard it here first, the cold war is going to get cold again.

Well, not really that cold, Russia is but a shell of what it once was. Their military is in disarray and shambles with soldiers and officers on the county's food program. The navy is non-existent; in fact, I recently watched a government sting operation where an undercover agent bought a Russian submarine. The agent was dealing with a known Russian arms smuggler who had turned allegiance when faced with jail and helped the agents, when he spoke to Russian officials about buying a sub, they asked if that was with or without the missiles!

Wow, I could buy a nuclear sub with missiles and crew? I wonder if the bank, oh never mind.

What Russia does have is nuclear weapons and lots of them. In fact, news reports often question the safety and fact of just who has their finger on the button, but they do have them and will point them where needed to tick the west off.

We are caught in a political quagmire with Russia over our country wanting to place star-wars defense missiles in Poland and elsewhere. Russia should not be as worried as they are, we don't even know if the darn things work well or not. If the first Gulf war was any indication of our star wars readiness capability, they should not be worried at all; in fact they should get a kick out of it.

Most of us can remember the sirens going off in Israel, news cameras tracking an incoming scud missile, complements of Saddam and the explosions in the air as we were told that Patriot missiles had taken it down. That was the furthest from the truth, in fact, we did not hit many of them, well, actually none at all, but hey, it sure made for great television!

Russia had offered to share their radar with America and that not only took President Bush by surprise, but the Russian officer corps as well. When you stop and think about it, taking them up on that would have made us something we have not been since WWII, allies. Wow, can't have that happen, where would we get all the press converges from if they were our allies? Besides that obvious reason, Russian military hardware is suppose to be in pretty bad shape, with no money for repairs and the men using them are underpaid, or not paid at all.

We will just have to wait and see how everything plays out, but one thing is clear, this is going to make for interesting reading for a while. I wonder if Putin will take his shoe off and pound on the podium at the United Nations. I guess that would be asking for too much, but it sure would make for great television, perhaps Putin is practicing as we speak.

Future weapons: Dragon Skin (amazing body armour!)

2007-06-13T08:01:00.001-07:00

This episode goes into the Dragon Skin body armor. Watch and see for yourself.

Dragon Skin

2007-06-13T07:59:00.001-07:00

There has been quite a bit of discussion in Washington and the media about our military body armor.

Apparently, Dragon Skin body armor, manufactured by, Pinnacle Armor has initiated quite a battle in Washington and within the media over if it passed military testing or failed them. Some of the people from the armor's company have said the military testing results were created to show their body armor failed.

In the mean time, NBC broadcast results using the opinion of a highly respected test scientist, Dr. Phillip Coyle - the former director of test and evaluation at the Pentagon during the Clinton administration to certify results of side-by-side tests conducted at NBC's expense in Germany.

That was all well and good until the Senate called him to testify and he was confronted with all of the military testing data, then he stated under oath that the Dragon Skin body armor "was not ready for prime time." Click Here for full article.

While all of this is going on the body armor has had quite a bit of media attention on The History Channel and The Discovery Channel on shows like, Mail Call and FutureWeapons. Both hosts were drooling over the armor and could not believe the results of direct hits.

It will take a while to sort all of the conflicting testimony and independent tests results out, but for now it defiantly appears that the body armor will not be issued to our military.

I have included a video from the show FutureWeapons in which the host fires every imaginable type of round at the vest and then, believe this or not, sets off a fragmentation grenade under the vest with zero penetration!

I don’t know what the military tests encompassed, but from the video I am totally impressed. Just about any combat vet reading this will tell you that a fragmentation grenade at that range will make for a very bad day and here we can clearly see that the shrapnel did not penetrate the Dragon Skin body armor.

This made a believer out of me!

After watching this video I have to admit that something just is not right about the whole negativity from the military. It is evident that more people needs to become involved in this and have independent studies done.

On a personal note, I wore body armor for a large part of my life, from its bulky and big inception to today’s lightweight vests. If I was in a situation again where I would have to wear body armor, I would be wearing Dragon Skin.

www.military.com has a link for people to contact public officials on Dragon Skin, I am including their link here.

Alert: Tell your public officials how you feel about this issue.

Contractor or Mercernary?

2007-06-13T07:38:00.001-07:00

I recently watched a show about private security in Iraq and the incident which occurred in Fallujah where six Blackwater independent contractors were killed when their Mi-8 helicopter was shot down by an RPG. (See Wikipedia under history)

Private security contractors such as Blackwater fall under different rules of engagement then the military. They can respond if fired upon, if their loves or that of another is in danger and here is the kicker, when they do open fire they fall under international laws of mercenaries, not private security contractors.

If anyone recalls the late 1960 and 1970's when Mad Mike Hoare was a soldier for hire in the Congo, Nigeria and a failed coup attempt in which he gained fame and imprisonment being a gun for hire can be quite dangerous from the international law standpoint.

That was then, today there are just not enough military personnel to go around and the Pentagon is subcontracting a lot of the daily convoy and executive protection out to private security firms.

I have mixed feelings over private security in a war zone. On one hand, if I were younger I would probably be seriously contemplating working for this company.

On the other hand, the very thought that I would be liable under the international mercenary laws, should I become involved in a firefight, well, that really would make me stop and think before I would take a job like that.

Whatever laws they re governed under, these individuals are out there, day after day doing a job that our military does not have the resources to do and I for one take my hats off to them.

Note: There is a wonderful video at Military.com on private security in Iraq, unfortunantly I am unable to imbed their video here, Click Here if you wish to watch it.

No give and take

2007-06-11T08:07:00.001-07:00

I recently watched a show on the National Geographic channels about a Green Beret team inside of Afghanistan, titled, Inside the Green Beret's. It showed the tensions within the Muslim community and how they were reacting to the presence of American troops. They were also questioning their safety and the safety of their children, asking of the Taliban struck, would the Green Beret's be able to protect them.

All in all it was a testament to the dedication and professionalism of the men serving on the A-Team in Afghanistan and their constant battle to stay one step ahead of the Taliban.

The National Geographic film crew became embroiled in a lot more realism then they had bargained for when a Green Beret vehicle they were in was struck by an IED, improvised explosive device, killing and wounding a total of seven men, Green Beret's and film crew.

It was a very sad moment and one that was caught on film.

What had struck me about this incident was footage that was shown earlier on in the episode taken of Muslim Taliban fighters as a member of their team ran a vehicle into a Green Beret vehicle in a suicide attack.

The translation of one of the Taliban's prayers the moment the suicide bomber activated his explosives struck a note of terror deep within me. The depth of the hatred in his prayer towards American's made me realize even more so that this is far from over.

Their hatred of our lifestyle dictates that they will pursue destruction with their last breaths, yet there are those here at home who feel that all we have to do is pull our troops out and it will be over. This man's prayers answered that question and even more, no it will not be over, it will not be over because that genuinely hate us, everything about us.

The only way this will ever end is to destroy every last one of them, there can be no give and take in this, it is impossible.

If this show "Inside the Green Beret's" is shown again on a National Geographic channel near you then it would be a truly educational experience to watch the entire program and you too will understand exactly what I am saying, there can be only one answer to this war, that is if it is not too late.

Bye-Bye Tony

2007-06-10T19:47:00.001-07:00

Tony Soprano lives and is having dinner with his family, or is he? We left him listening to Journey's Don't Stop Believin' , his wife and son sitting across the booth and his daughter running into the restaurant. What appeared to be two hit men, or two FBI agents was played well by the camera, building up to what I thought was going to by Tony's swan song, bang. However, that was not to be as just as Journey sand, "Don't' Stop" and we see Tony looking up, the film goes to black.

I thought something was wrong with my HBO feed, hit the rewind on my DVR and nope, it was on purpose! I can well imagine the comments over the next few days over one of television’s hottest shows. I am sure critics and viewers will be dissecting the ending for some time and I have to wonder just how many viewers called their cable companies saying their cable went out at the Tony Soprano’s crucial moment, only to be told, nope, sorry, that was the end, you wre robbed, but hey, that sure was fun.

David Chase you robbed us all! Well, at least everyone will be talking about the ending for quite a long time to come.

Well, Rome is over, now the Soprano's, it is either time to find something to do at night or another show to watch.

Time will tell

2007-06-09T08:39:00.001-07:00

I have always found it to be a sad experience to watch a second term President's popularity and political power fade into nothingness.

This is the case with President Bush, once the proud leader of the free world, standing on the ground of the World Trade Center, pointing to its remains and telling the firemen that soon the people that did this will hear them.

President Bush was the leader of a country involved in a war, not on another nation, a standing army, but a war on terrorism, wherever they may hide; we were going to eradicate them from the earth.

People applauded, young men and women enlisted in the military with the sole desire to take it to the people who did this to our country. Everyone proudly displayed their American flags, outside, affixed to their windows, vehicles and lapel pins, patriotism was high and the country wanted to fight back.

Slowly the politicians began questioning the President's policies and they began to question their support as well. Silently the support began to fade into oblivion until from a political standpoint, there was nothing left, but a lame duck President unable to garner enough votes to back any of his programs.

I personally find this very sad indeed, President Bush has said from the beginning that he did not care about his standing in the popularity polls, or his support in political circles, but when that support really does disappear, reality sets in.

History alone will be the sole judge for the Bush years; it will not judge him by his politics, but his actions and how they affected the country and the world.

One hundred years from now other generations will study the Bush years in school, the war in Iraq, Afghanistan and the secret black-ops war that took place behind the scenes that is now the daily headlines. Perhaps some teacher will lecture how poorly the President's policies were and how badly they affected other countries, or just maybe, they will explain to the students that the freedoms they enjoy and the peace in the world was the result of actions one hundred years ago began by one man, George W. Bush.

Either that or just maybe they will be no one around in which to teach to, only time will tell and be the judge.

PARIS HILTON GOES BACK TO JAIL! Exclusive Video

2007-06-08T20:09:00.001-07:00

I still of a sense of humor and this is too darn funny not to share with everyone. It is a take off on the Paris Show.

Enjoy.

It’s the Paris Show

2007-06-08T19:35:00.001-07:00

I would like to pose a hypothetical question. If you received a ticket for speeding and when you got to court you saw ten thousand other people who received the same ticket paying a fine at the clerks window, then when it was your turn you were told you had to go to jail for three months, would you think this was fair?

No, not one of you would think that was too fair, Well, that is exactly the case in California with Paris Hilton. Okay, I know, she is a rich party animal with no concern for anyone but herself, Oh, I agree with that statement just as much as everyone else does, but does that mean she should receive a harsher penalty for driving with a suspended driver's license?

Because, that is all that she did, a minor traffic offense, not murder, robbery, buggery on the high seas, driving with a suspended driver's license.

Look at it this way:

Mary Winkler was sentenced Friday to serving 210 days in prison. This is the minimum time she must serve out of a total three years, 1,095 day sentence, her offense was murder; she killed her preacher husband with a shotgun blast to the back as he lay sleeping in bed.

Paris Hilton was sentenced to 45 days, without home release or electronic monitoring; her offense was driving under a suspended driver's license

In Mary Winkler's case, the people of the state of Tennessee were happy that justice was served and went about their normal day.

In the case of Paris Hilton, every news service, reporter, paparazzi, news photographer, anyone with news credentials were camped outside of her West Hollywood home, while four helicopters continuously circled the estate. When Paris was ordered to court, the entire circus moved to the new location.

The major news services were live from the courthouse and home for over five hours. Once in awhile they would break away to something else in the news, war, the pentagon, what have you, then quickly return to the Paris show.

On Fox News when a spokesperson came out and informed everyone that Paris Hilton was taken back to jail to serve her remaining 45 day sentence, the anchor of Studio B, Shepard Smith was almost giddy with excitement and openly mocking Paris crying because she was crying in the courtroom and telling her Mother and Father that she loved them.

Edward R. Murrow would have turned over in his grave.

I am not a Paris Hilton fan, nor do I really care what she is doing on a daily basis. What I am is disgusted over the feeding frenzy that has been going on over her. I do feel that in this specific instance, the conviction for driving under a suspended driver's license, the judge went overboard, totally overboard in handing down the sentence that he did for a minor traffic offense.

The penalty should be the same for all citizens and in this case it was so far out of the ballpark that it is unconstitutional, yes, and a direct violation of her constructional rights. Not many individuals are sentenced to that harsh of an incarceration for a traffic offense, not many indeed.

The judge did not sentence the crime, but the lifestyle and that is wrong.

I am sickened over this and even more so with a legal system that throws all caution to the wind and all of its resources behind prosecuting a celebrity over a traffic offense.

It says it all when a murderer gets 210 days in prison and a celebrity 45 days for driving on a suspended driver's license.

d-day, band of brothers, parachute drop ww2

2007-06-07T09:43:00.001-07:00

I wanted to post this yesterday, but did not get the chance. Here is a video that says it all for D-Day.

You can click on any of the video links at the bottom for additional Band of Brothers videos on You Tube.

Band of Brothers, D-Day, Day of Days video

Don’t let me take off my shoe

2007-06-06T10:36:00.001-07:00

While reading through this morning's news I came across an article where President Bush has assured everyone that Russia will not attack Europe. My initial response was, er, uh, okay. Well, I am really glad about that, but how does he know?

If we look back over the past threats, I mean, comments from Putin, he did not actually say he would attack Europe, just point his nuclear tipped missiles at it. Kind of like one of those off-the-wall Hallmark cards, the thought is still there, but not really, you just have to wait and see type threat.

President Bush though has a bit of insider, leader of the free world information that insures Russia will only point, not really launch. I guess that would give a whole new meaning to the "I didn't know it was loaded" defense.

One thing is clear, Vladimir Putin does not appear to like President Bush very much, that or he just likes to make idle threats. I am not really sure which is correct, but I am sure we will all find out, sooner or later.

Putin just feels that Russia is not taken seriously anymore. Back in the good old cold war days they could make a threat and in direct response entire military divisions would move, nuclear bombers would be placed on alert and world leaders would wonder if this was the big one or not.

That just may be it; Russia is trying to make threats just as it did in the old days. Ah yes, good old Nikita Khrushchev, taking off his shoes and banging on the podium while hollering, "We shall bury you", now that was threats.

Today things are a bit different. The Berlin wall is in a museum; along with checkpoint charley and Russia's military is but a ghost of what it once was with high ranking officers on the government food program. This can be blamed on the fall of communism, the wall, the temperature, or whatever, the fact remains, they want a little respect, what better way then the good old style of maybe we will blow you up and then again, maybe we wont.

We can only hope this is the case, either that or it may be time to dust off the old air raid sirens again.

D-Day, June 6, 1944

2007-06-06T09:07:00.001-07:00

June 6, 1944 was the day that the free world struck back against German occupation of Europe as American forces stormed the beaches of France in Operation Overlord.

As American military exited their landing crafts they were met with a storm of machine gun fire from well fortified German emplacements, the casualties were high and through courage, determination and the sheer will to live the men who comprised the invasion force persevered.

The invasion force had assistance from the airborne forces dropped behind the lines prior to the invasion.

Casualties were high with thousands of lives lost, but through it all the men who took the war to the doorsteps of Hitler's Germany were determined to win at all costs and they did.

Today we look back upon the sacrifices and heroism of these brave souls as we pause to reflect and celebrate their successes.

My head hurts now

2007-06-05T11:45:00.001-07:00

Let's step back and look at things in a different perspective. Iraq is insane, Afghanistan is fighting more Taliban, politicians are talking out of the sides of their mouth and where does the interest of America rest? The headlines all have to do with how Paris Hilton is getting along in jail, what she had for lunch and if she has been crying or not!

Now, that is just about the dumbest, most insane comments I have ever made and it will only get worse as her jail time grows.

Her only claim to fame is the fact that she likes a good party. Wow, if only the rest of her age had that many problems! They only worry about silly little things, like, I don't know, maybe if they are going to pass that final exam, or if they do graduate from College, is there going to be a job for them where they do not have to ask, "Would you like fries with that?". Let's not forget that many others are concerned if they will make it through this tour in Iraq or Afghanistan.

This is while Paris has attended most of the parties and made a few porn movies. The fact that she operated a motor vehicle while under suspension, well, in all honesty, I feel the prosecutor was trying to make a name for himself, nothing more. That and to prove that the California legal system can try a celebrity and get a guilty verdict. They sure have not had much success in the past, with OJ and Robert Blake, now this time they were determined to get it right.

The court system where she was tried is perhaps, one of the busiest court systems in the country. The fact that she had a trial in the first place meant that a few people has to be plea bargained to a lesser offense. In the long run, that was good for the individuals it affected, but bad for the justice system as a whole.

The system goes about its merry way and the country wonders if Paris will meet a new friend in the shower. Talk about pornography, this is disgusting and just about as obscene as it can get.

Yesterday's headlines all dealt in some manner or another with her going to jail and the country ate it up faster then chocolate cake at a kids birthday.

Perhaps that is where our military went worng, they need to start attending more A-list parties and then they will get noticed.

This and That

2007-06-04T09:16:00.001-07:00

I hate it when I wake up on the wrong side of the bed, cranky, grouchy and looking for my first cup of morning ambition. The very fact that I am in this state of mind tends to make for an even worse mood, if that were even possible. In any case, I trudged on through my morning routines of massive intakes of caffeine and reading as much news as possible before my mind explodes, consuming my thoughts and turning me into a raving lunatic.

Wow, I really went off into no man's land there foe a second, must be all of that caffeine!

In any case, I saw a breaking news headline that stated, "Islamic Militant Group Says Video Shows Planning And Kidnapping Of 3 Soldiers In Iraq and plan to show it on web site" and that just about put my mental stability into that of a screaming, raving lunatic.

These disgusting, revolting individuals first brag about breaking the invincibility of the American soldier, then they murder one of their captives and now this?

These people disgust me.

You got to have hope!

I came across an article discussing a guy in Poland just coming out of a 19 year coma and seeing how his once drab, shades of whites and grey country has changed since he went nighty-night. The headline the news service had bestowed upon the miracle of someone recovering from a lengthy coma as that was of course, disgusting, 'Living Corpse' Wakes After 19-Year Coma.

I guess that referring to someone as a zombie will bring more readers than discussing a miracle! The article reminded me that we should never give up hope, no matter how bad it may get.

Iran's President goes even deeper into insanity.

The President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is often quoted calling for the open destruction of the state of Israel. This throw-back to the Stone Age has just about enough brains in his head to create a thought process, but he just cannot seem to create one that makes sense.

Mr. Dum-Dum Ahmadinejad in the past has called for the open destruction of the state of Israel. This time out, he has stated the Palestinians and Lebanese have pushed the countdown button on the destruction of Israel.

At the rate that Iran is going with their nuclear garbage, Ahmadinejad the dum-dum should be more concerned over the possibilities his country may soon become ground zero then anything else.

And to think I was wondering why I was in such a bad mood this morning.

A bad moon a rising

2007-06-01T09:52:00.001-07:00

It is interesting to note that while our Congress is attempting to scale down and withdraw from the war in Iraq that al-Qaeda is planning full scale nuclear attacks in seven US cities, according to a book titled, "The Day of Islam: The Annihilation of America and the Western World,".

As usual, people within our government fail to see the forests for the trees in the never ending quest to pull the US out of a war.

The article paints a bleak picture based on information, intelligence, interviews and conjecture, however it is written, the very thought of nuclear attacks upon the United States is enough to drive one to the air raid shelters, that is if they are still functioning after all these years.

The book authored by investigative reporter and former FBI consultant Paul Williams reveals the alarming potential for nuclear terrorism on U.S. soil and dwells on a few of the culprets who will be responsible, al-Qaeda of course, the primary.

Williams says these cities are New York, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, Miami, Boston, Houston, and Los Angeles.

The article provides confirmation to these events by, "FBI Director Robert Mueller, who in an interview with NewsMax, confirmed Williams' main claim. Mueller said al-Qaida's paramount goal is clear: to detonate a nuclear device that would kill hundreds of thousands of Americans."

Since the attacks which took place on 9/11 people everywhere have prophesied the additional doom and gloom yet to come at the hands of al-Qaeda. Has anyone in the government anti war circles ever stepped back and actually listened to any of these comments?

It would be pretty difficult to miss any one it, they are even a part of our weekly coffee get together at the local coffee shop. Sooner or later the talk of what al-Qaeda has up their sleeve will pop up during our arm chair quarterback discussions of the world.

If everyday people such as my coffee buddies an me are discussing the event s to come, then someone, somewhere in the government at least has to think about it once!

Along these same lines of thought, one can just about forecast what will take place within our government should one of the pictures of death and destruction take place, name calling, passing the blame and the buck will be first and foremost, that is if anyone is left to do this, should one of the forecasts actually take place.

We can only hope that someone, somewhere in the political government nest of anti-war politicians is thinking of these exact scenarios and putting plans into action to combat them. However, the truth to the whole thing is sadder yet, they are not thinking, not planning and when it is too late, they will just blame the other guy.

The mind of a traitor

2007-05-22T08:54:00.001-07:00

I have always prided myself on my patriotism and for serving my country many years ago. To this day I get a chill wash over me when the flag is raised accompanied by the Star Spangled Banner. Although I am a bit older now and supposedly wiser, if the situation allowed me to once again don an Army uniform, I would do so with as many HooAh's as humanly possible. Yes, I love my country and to this very moment, I would lay down my life to protect her.

This far reaching patriotism of mine has always came to a head when I read of someone basically selling out our country for whatever reason they may have. These reason vary among different people too, financial needs, the desire for excitement, the thrill of the game, whatever be the reasoning behind someone selling out their country the fact remains that I feel they are the lowest forms of humanity, the bottom of the heap, the scum that crawls without arms or legs through the normal goodness of humanity.

This is why, when I first read of Dr. Rafiq Abdus Sabir trial for providing material support to terrorists by agreeing to treat injured al-Qaida fighters so they could return to Iraq to battle Americans, I became sick to my stomach.

Rafiq Abdus Sabir, was convicted in Manhattan federal court after a three-week trial that featured testimony from him and Ali Soufan, an FBI agent who posed as the al-Qaida recruiter in a sting operation that led to four arrests.

At first, I spent a bit of time in an attempt to understand what would make a person sell out their own country and then the fact struck me that I really did not care what his motives were. This man deserves all of the punishment the law allows and the court is willing to hand down.

Iraq needs new leadershjp

2007-05-22T08:33:00.001-07:00

Information is coming in through various news services saying that as Iraq's government compiles a record of failure, the Bush administration is under growing pressure to install a new leadership.

An LA Times, Washington Post article published in The Indian EXPRESS recently stated, "Publicly, administration officials say they remain committed to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, even though after a year in office, his elected government has failed to complete any important steps toward political reconciliation—the legislative "benchmarks" sought by US officials.

But privately, some US officials acknowledge that the congressional clamour to find another approach will increase sharply as the months pass and no progress is made toward tamping down sectarian violence, bringing more minority Sunnis into the government and dividing the nation's oil resources fairly."

Supposedly we are not to interfere within the Iraqi government that we helped to create but the ever increasing problems in Iraq and al-Maliki's
failed record in peace keeping and within the political scene makes it even more important we step in and do something, before it is too late.

The article also states, "A parade of US officials, including Vice-President Cheney, visited al-Maliki recently. Cheney "gathered (Iraqi officials) in his embassy and told them: 'Very frankly, you have to do something,' " recalled Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish lawmaker. "'If you don't deliver, we can't defend you.'"

Personally, I feel a change in the leadership is long overdue, the present leadership has failed drastically in any attempts at a peaceful existence as well as sheltered the very political leaders we are presently engaged in battles with day after day.

This and that

2007-05-21T20:05:00.001-07:00

Click Here for the apocalypse

Did you ever touch that one park bench with the "Do Not Touch, Fresh Paint" sign on it? If you are like me, you just have to reach over and touch it.

I guess the same can be said for a lot of people, thanks to security professional Didier Stevens who has been running a Google campaign for six months now and has received 409 hits on an ad that offers infection for those with virus-free PCs.

The fact that people are actually clicking on something telling them will infect their computer is too much. I mean, come on, we can't make stuff like this up, even if we tried.

This leads me to think of all the fun we could have with a click here to bounce a check, or many other fun things we could all think of.

President Carter said what?

The world is on the brink of total insanity, our military is awaiting funding, all the while wondering if they will have to begin to purchase their own bullets and President Jimmy Carter has finally found a set.

President Carter's administration was filled with high gasoline prices, endless lines at the gas stations and American's held hostage in Iran. The President and his family wore sweaters, kept the White House thermostat turned down and vowed not to leave the White House until the hostages were safely home. He had a long wait.

The President's brother, Billy was a favorite of the media and the darling of beer drinkers everywhere. We loved him, he was our man and he relished in the limelight.

All in all, the Carter Presidency was boring and mundane. It was evident that Jimmy was more comfortable in Georgia than the fast paced moments of being the most powerful man in the free world.

Fast forward to today and we have Jimmy Carter talking to the media and saying what a terrible job President Bush has done and how bad his preemptive military strategies in the Middle East are and the damage they have done.

Of course, that was until the media got hold of it, now it is time for all the spin control.

Just when we all thought that President Carter found a set and he backtracks.

What a mess

2007-05-20T07:13:00.001-07:00

I confess to taking the wrong stance lately in Iraq and beyond. As my good friend and blog buddy Wild Bill pointed out, we are there for all the marbles, the whole enchilada. We are the caretaker to the flame of brightness burning in the world and if we do not take a stand and fight, then there will be nothing left to fight for.

This just about sums it all up in a few words and the sad part to this ever changing equation; we are the lone voice in the wind. Not only that, but we are in this fight without the support of a Congress, who is more concerned with making the President say "Uncle" then insuring the flame of freedom stays lit through these stormy nights.

In response to my post yesterday, Wild Bill said, "But if we don't have Troops in Iraq and The Stan, then where are we gonna be when Iran gets their nukes loaded onto missiles, or Musharraf gets his head cut off and Al Q takes control of those missiles there already loaded and fueled, or Assad decides to kick off a little genocide experiment with Hezbollah and starts over-runnin the Israeli borders ??"

This is about as to the point as it can get and my brothers and sisters, it is right on the money. We are in this for a lot of reasons and it is time politicians in this country took their heads out of their collective behinds and took stock of the situation, before it is far too late to do so.

We have politicians and bleeding hearts screaming for the war to end, little do they realize the end game that is on the horizon, waiting. There are individuals plotting our demise even as we speak, they wish nothing more than the total destruction of all that we hold dear and they have the capabilities to insure this takes place.

Does anyone really think that Iran is building these weapons of mass destruction for their own self protection? They are simply puppets in a war being orchestrated by other people, nothing more.

Yes, we are the keeper of the world's soul, not just our soul of democracy and if we loosen our hold even the slightest amount then it could very well slip out of our hands and float endlessly in the winds of change..

Pick up the pieces

2007-05-19T09:11:00.001-07:00

I believe that I have reached a solution to the war and I have done this while we are In the midst of all the political, behind the scenes and in front of the camera nonsense is taking place regarding the funding to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It is all too apparent that a lot of the Iraqi people could care less about the men and women protecting them, fighting for their freedom. This was even more apparent in the debacle where three of our soldiers were taken captive. The reports stated that an Iraqi police team was accompanying our troops, when the firefight began, they choose not to fight, in other words, these pathetic, cowardly pieces of scum stood there while brave American's were fighting for their lives.

Here is my idea, draw back every bit of the military presence in Iraq, all the way back to an effective line surrounding Iraq. Now that they have done that, let the Iraqi people fend for themselves, fight their battles without close air support or reinforcements of American military. Let them fight it out until the last man is standing.

Then, when all the smoke has cleared and we can see exactly who is running the country, Iran, Syria, al-Qaeda, whomever, we go back in and eradicate them from the face of the Earth.

I know, this really sounds like a dumb plan, but in truth, it is a great one, because this is what is going to happen anyway, the moment we pull out this exact scenario will take place, they are all just waiting for this moment anyway. It would save us a lot of manpower and resources in the future and stop it before it began.

The whole affair is insane to begin with, that we are protecting people who could care less if we live or die. The people of Iraq have no clue as to what their future will be if we pull out, they are living in a false sense of security thinking that they would prevail if this happened, when in fact they would be worse off then when they lived under Saddam.

Stupid is as stupid does

2007-05-19T08:18:00.001-07:00

If for some reason we Americans wanted to send word to our enemy that we were fed up fighting, playing politics, and we were just plain tired of playing the game, how would we do that?

I actually thought about this and the answers that I came up with were not too surprising.

The easiest way for us to send a message to the enemy would be to just do exactly what we are presently doing, stopping the funding. If we did not want it to appear that blatantly obvious that we were throwing in the towel, we could create a series of teases, little messages and then hold back the funds in some big move to make headlines. All in all, it means the same, we quit, tired of playing, we want to go home.

I know, this is un-American, in fact it would be considered to be a traitorous thing to do, but they are doing it. The sad statement is they are doing it after many of our brave sons and daughters gave their all in the fight for Iraq. One would have thought it wiser to just not bother in the first place.

It is totally amazing me how this travesty is taking place before the eyes of the public and no one, not one single person is raising their voice to question this.

The people presently in power are trying to make the President tow the line, say Uncle, nothing more, they are playing with the lives of America's son's and daughter's and no one is speaking up to question this?

The repercussions from this nonsense are only just beginning, the enemies is taking a wait and see approach, they really do not believe we can be that stupid either, but guess what, they are right, we really can.

Those playing this game of Russian roulette think they are in some way making an antiwar statement, when that is not even the case; it is just plain stupidity, nothing more. They are simply making it easy for al=Qaeda to plan their attacks upon our great nation, now and into the future.

While all of this political bovine excrement is taking place we have our son's and daughter's being killed from the lack of armor, better equipment, better technology and they only thing we see is more of the same political crap, nothing more.

The movie Forest Gump had a saying, "Stupid is as stupid does", we can only hope the dum-dums involved in this fiasco are planning their shrimp business, that may be all that is left in a few years.

All my hope and prayers

2007-05-18T06:22:00.001-07:00

I often discuss the trying times we are living within and the fact the overall strange and twilight zone feelings that tend to wash over me at times. The present disturbing headlines of the ambush which took place in Iraq and the three soldiers taken captive by al-Qaeda is a classic example of what I have been saying.

The fact that three American soldiers were taken captive by a terrorist's organization with a history of torture and beheading has been haunting me since then. This is not the typical wartime POW, scenario in which are military was taken prisoner, tortured, kept in less than human-living conditions and if still alive at wars end, released as if nothing ever happened.

This is not even a standing army, nothing that would even come close to that statement. This is simply a mass of individuals disenchanted with their own way of life that has been taught that all of their problems have been brought about by the wicked west.

They do not subscribe to the policies regarding the treatment of prisoners of war, they do not even care about them.

These animals do not even refer to our military as such, but as "crusaders" in a direct and intentional reference to the medieval crusades. They gleefully exclaim that they have broken the shield of invincibility of the American soldier and then throw in that they were taken captive in retaliation for some crime or another that was to have been committed upon their people.

This disgusts me to no end and should have the same effect on every American in this country. Unfortunately, it does not and this too leads to total disgust within me.

My thoughts, prayers and hope is with the soldiers and their families.

Ft. Dix thoughts

2007-05-09T20:19:00.001-07:00

Fort Dix Plot Called "New" Form Of Terror.

CBS/AP: One drove a cab, three were roofers. Another worked at a 7-Eleven and a sixth at a supermarket. Their alleged plot to attack Fort Dix was foiled by another blue-collar worker: a video store clerk.

Six foreign-born Muslims were accused Tuesday of planning to assault the Army base and slaughter scores of U.S. soldiers with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades.

The news of a possible attack upon a military base thwarted by law enforcement did not come as too much of a surprise to me. What did bother me greatly was thinking that if not for the sharp eyes and willingness to help of an unidentified clerk, we would have been reading a totally different outcome. This individual should be commended, they are an inspiration.

Throughout the course of history, nations have went to war over a plethora of reasons, land, food, riches, women, freedom from oppression, to cast out an invading army, the reasons were many, the rational not always correct, but swords were drawn and the battle joined until one was the clear victor.

These are violent times we are living within and contrary to what Congress would have us believe, we are presently and actively engaged in an undeclared state of war. This war is not against a standing army, but individuals with little regard for human life whose sole purpose is the destruction of the very fiber of our nation, what we stand for and our way of life.

Their reasoning and rational for warfare against the United States is simple, they do not like what we stand for, how we live our lives, how we work to succeed, everything which comprises an American, to put it in simple terms, they are attacking us because they hate us.

We have freedom of religion, the freedom to worship as we choose, when we choose, because of this we are infidels. They wish to kill us because of our religious freedom and not embracing their views. Yet, as Americans we place our lives in harms way to insure they have that very right in which to believe.

As Americans we came to grips with the American dream long ago. We know for a fact that it is not a dream, but a reality, achieved through hard work and dedication.

In the enemy's eyes, we are Don Quixote de la Mancha, atop our decrepit farm horse, Rocinante, charging into battle against our windmill and defending the virtues of our lady, Dulcinea and we are decadent, just ask them .

As I mentioned, amazing times we are living in. It was not that long ago that the very thought of attacking a military base would be enough to stop someone. Today, terrorists are convulsing with joy with the very thought of attacking and killing our troops.

New levels of hate

2007-05-07T17:23:00.001-07:00

Hamas Uses Mickey Mouse Look-Alike to Teach Terror to Kids on TV
Click Here for full story

Ah, cartoons, Popeye eating a can of spinach, biceps billow out four times their size, the battleship Iowa and Missouri centered in each bicep tossing shells towards nowhere. That was many years ago, today Popeye is all about green, he loves trees, the ecology and Bluto accompanies him on his quest to insure the Earth stays green. And they wonder why no one bothers to watch them, ids love Popeye kicking butt, they know it is not real, but here in the land of the free cartoons are not into violence.

This does not apply to other cultures in the world, just as the Hamas who use a Mickey Mouse Look-Alike to Teach Terror to Kids on TV. According to the article, On the weekly program "Tomorrow's Pioneers," Farfur and a young girl name Saraa' tell children to pray five times each day and drink their milk, while urging the children to "resist" the "oppressive invading Zionist occupation."

This answers any question ever raised how two or three lightly armed insurgents can hold a tank and its crew under fire for long periods of time before they are neutralized. They are indoctrinated from birth, mentally trained until the time they are physically trained, simple as that.

Today's fighter does not play by rules of conventional warfare, come on, you really have to love a statement like that, it has always boggled my mind when hearing that phrase. This explains a lot and it does not take a degree in humanity to grasp the meaning of it either.

The cultures raising children in this manner have been very successful in breeding bigotry, hatred and violence towards an enemy. Entire religious sects are raised to hate the other and combined they are raised to hate Israel and anyone backing or supporting it and they have done so for hundreds of years.

On a personal level, I find their use of childhood imagination as a tool for teaching their children bigotry and hatred to be reprehensible. Their use of it as a teaching aid is beyond my level of personal disgust, it really does place their thought process in the proper perspective and sheds a bit of light into their minds.

We make them laugh?

2007-05-06T20:21:00.001-07:00

Al-Qaida No. 2 mocks Bush, Iraq pullout bill

On tape, Al-Zawahri says troop withdrawal would 'deprive' group of targets

Let's be honest here folks, we all knew that sooner or later, al-Qaeda was going to toss their two cents into the media circus surrounding the timetable Congress is trying to shove down the White House's throat in their little game of, "I'm the boss?"NO, I am the boss!" - ad nauseam!

Personally, I don't like reading the morning news and discovering that America is giving so much needed comic relief to the guys hiding out in the caves while their minions are hiding behind second story curtains zeroing in their Iranian supplied sniper rifles on our military.

We can only hope that we are not making them laugh so hard that one of them spilled a glass of juice all over those nice little maps they have been collecting of our country. After all, they worked so hard marking off the spots they want to visit someday, the Federal and State landmarks, Federal Dams, bridges, the nation's power grid, military posts and training sites, the dense population areas, mass transportation - airports, railroad and all of our nation's highway system.

The truly sickening comment to their happiness is Congress and the White House are far from over and if any of the elected officials who voted for the Iraqi timetable bill will stop for a moment and think back to the ones who did not vote for it and some of the comments they made as their reasons. This exact scenario, as well as many similar were brought up as not only a possibility of happening, but will happen. Your political maneuvering, "one-up-man-ship" and "whose the boss" games only provide the enemy with comic relief while they plan further actions against our nation.

Al-Zawahri's comments deserve an answer from us, after all, we provided him with comic relief and he did tell us how much he enjoyed the moments. The problem is I don't quite know how to say it in his language and I would not like to get it wrong. So, I will make up a scenario which the translators will not experience any problems with and I will preface them with either "scenario" or "what I really wanted to say".

Scenario: One of the guys from the cave used his satellite cell phone to log his laptop into terrorist net and is reading through the latest Chuck Norris jokes and begins to laugh so hard that juice begins to run out of his nose.

What I really wanted to say: as long as we are entertaining you with so much laughter, return the favor, give us a bit of humor, please use your satellite cell phone to log your laptop into the net, we love watching the CIA home a Predator onto the satellite cell phone signal and send a smart bomb down the signal into that tidy little cave, really makes us laugh and juice to run out of our nose

Scenario: It's one of those typical days in the cave, the temperature outside in the sun is running about 135 Fahrenheit, the cave is really sticky and Osama's been sweating like a pig and really thirsty. So, he reaches into the rock freezer, grabs 64 ounces of juice and slams it down.

The immediate change in old Osama inspires awe in all of you. The juice and the heat of his stomach immediately turn to gas, swelling his stomach out to about two or three times its size. You stand there in amazement waiting for it to explode, but he steps into an out of the way spot in the cave and fills the entire cave with belly gas.

What I really wanted to say: Everything that comes out of your mouth smells like the bovine excrement that it is and each and everyone of you are full of hot air.

Computer war and Mac vs. PC

2007-05-05T14:05:00.001-07:00

While reading through this morning's headlines I decided to see what was going on in the trenches of the hard-fought and fast-paced world of Computer News. What better place to see how the byte war is doing and who has progressed to claim title of mountain king for the day. While there I began thinking of how the industry has grown,

Since the dawning of the computer revolution, heated industry rivalries have existed, some even disliking the other bad enough to secretly want to put the other out of business, some of these guys just do not play too well together.

This was a different world when the home computers were born, comprised of people that normally hung around computer clubs, friend's basements, building breadboards, they were loners, geniuses, whiz-bang students with ideas and garages to build computers within and often got their own way.

They formed businesses; work clothes varied, cut-offs or sweat stained dress shirts, depending on which business you visited that day. Oh, they were there nights too, because that was how they did things, IQ's as high as theirs did not give them much of a peer group, at least at work they could enjoy things, tinker with electronics, software, play computer games, they did not think the way other people did, they thought out of the box. One of the two, soon-to-be largest competitors had a penchant for flying a large black, skull and cross bones pirate flag outside of his offices, yep, thought out of the box. Even when competing against one another, they took it to new levels completely.

Truth be told, competitors within the same industry have always been at one form of war or another with their rivals. Of course, these battles have traditionally been waged in the field of advertising, not the field of battle, The concept of the battle for name recognition was nothing new to end users like us, after all, we had survived the first-shots in the battles for name recognition, with "Where's the Beef?" and the Coke vs. Pepsi wars.

The computer wars have always held a certain fascination for me, this was not a battle for our taste buds with the winner throwing the best knock-out punch in the media ring and our well sought after spending dollars as the championship belt. This was the dawning of the age of computers, hardware, software and peripherals were rushed out of research and into the end-user market faster than a 1200 baud modem.

That area though was not where the true problem was hiding, as IBM quickly learned when preparing their home computers for market, they needed something to make everything work cohesively as one unit, not more hardware, what they needed was an operating system.

When the computer revolution began the concept of one, universal anything was as alien as high speed connections. The VHS vs. Betamax war had recently ended, we would be using VHS until something new came out for the recording industry to wage war over, perhaps something like, Blue-ray vs. HD DVD. We consumers had only recently discovered we could actually effect what product would be an "industry standard," now we needed to choose an operating system and most of us were asking, what is an operating system?

Of course, we all know the outcome very well, Bill Gates did pretty fair, he and his Microsoft taught IBM all about software licensing with their MS DOS. Today, well, to make the story short, Microsoft and Apple are the winners and Microsoft really does not like losing, so much that their legal expenses probably run higher than some of the national debts of smaller countries. BUT THEY WIN!

Good old Jobs, Apple went down hill, he made them winners again. Steve has this attitude and tends to be a winner.

Apple's "Mac vs. PC" commercials now have their own following, they also have a full after market as well as the basis for many spoofs. The link I created will take you to Google Video and load the Bloated PC video with many others to watch.

There has been quite a few spoofs of this commercial; a few have been pretty good. Here is one from MojoFlix that is quite funny at times. It is a cartoon parody, titled: MojoFlix, Gates vs. Jobs, Microsoft vs. Apple.