I can't even get worked up about this...

Berkeley is so bizarro that I can't even be bothered to get upset about their Socialist stupidity.

If Berkeley was bombed into oblivion tomorrow, I'd cry.

But they'd be tears of joy...

Berkeley gives Marines the boot
City Council says recruiting station not welcome; military mum for now

By Doug Oakley, STAFF WRITER
Article Created: 01/31/2008 02:42:43 AM PST

BERKELEY — Hey-hey, ho-ho, the Marines in Berkeley have got to go.

That's the message from the Berkeley City Council, which voted 6-3, with Gordon Wozniak, Betty Olds and Kriss Worthington dissenting, to tell the Marines that its Shattuck Avenue recruiting station "is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders."

It also voted 7-2, with Wozniak and Olds dissenting, to explore enforcing its law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation against the Marines and to encourage the women's peace group Code Pink to protest in front of the station.

In a separate item, the council voted 8-1 to give Code Pink a designated parking space in front of the recruiting station once a week for six months and a free sound permit for protesting once a week from noon to 4 p.m.

Councilman Gordon Wozniak opposed both items.

The Marines have been in Berkeley for a little more than a year, having moved from Alameda in December 2006. For about the past four months, Code Pink has been protesting in front of the station.

"I believe in the Code Pink cause. The Marines don't belong here, they shouldn't have come here, and they should leave," Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates said after votes were cast.

A Marines representative did not respond to requests for comment.The resolution telling the Marines they are unwelcome and directing the city attorney to explore issues of sexual orientation discrimination was brought to the council by the city's Peace and Justice commission.

The recommendation to give Code Pink a parking space for protesting and a free sound permit was brought by council members Linda Maio and Max Anderson.

Code Pink on Wednesday started circulating petitions to put a measure on the November ballot in Berkeley that would make it more difficult to open military recruiting offices near homes, parks, schools, churches libraries or health clinics. The group needs 5,000 signatures to make the ballot.

Even though the council items passed, not everyone is happy with the work of Code Pink. Some employees and owners of businesses near the Marines office have had enough of the group and its protests.

"My husband's business is right upstairs, and this (protesting) is bordering on harassment," Dori Schmidt told the council. "I hope this stops."

An employee of a nearby business who asked not to be identified said Wednesday the elderly Code Pink protesters are aggressive, take up parking spaces, block the sidewalk with their yoga moves, smoke in the doorways, and are noisy.

"Most of the people around here think they're a joke," the woman said.

Wozniak said he was opposed to giving Code Pink a parking space because it favors free speech rights of one group over another.

"There's a line between protesting and harassing, and that concerns me," Wozniak said. "It looks like we are showing favoritism. We have to respect the other side, and not abuse their rights. This is not good policy."

Fran Rachel, 90, a Code Pink protester who spoke at the council meeting, said the group's request for a parking space and noise permit was especially important because the Marines are recruiting soldiers who may die in an unjust war.

"This is very serious," Rachel said. "This isn't a game; it's mass murder. There's a sickness of silence of people not speaking out against the war. We have to do this."

Anderson, a former Marine who said he was "drummed out" of the corps when he took a stand against the Vietnam War, said he'd love to see the Marines high-tail it out of town.

"We are confronted with an organization that can spend billions of dollars on propaganda," Anderson said. "This is not Okinawa here; we're involved in a naked act of aggression. If we can provide a space for ordinary people to express themselves against this kind of barbarity, then we should be doing it."

UPDATE: I guess these Communists are actually blocking the entrance to the Recruiting Office and preventing people from entering. These f*cktards need their asses kicked but good. Protesting is one thing, but this is bullsh*t.

Some people aren't taking this crap.
.

5150 W&I

Britney was taken to the hospital last night,
in a case of huge waste-of-police-resources
(a dozen police officers and two police helo's).

POD: She'll be dead w/in six months.

The ultimate in Bad-Assery!!!

Wicked Sick!!!!

Just remember...

When seconds matter, the Police are only minutes away.

This has ALWAYS bothered me....

Why is it that America is always quick to jump-in in places all around the world...except Africa?

We'll chomp at the bit to stop "Ethnic-cleansing" in places like Bosnia or Kosovo, but we NEVER lift a finger to help in places like Rwanda, Darfur and now Kenya. Thousands and thousands of people are being slaughtered wholesale and we do nothing.

Why is that?

Tribe All but Vanishes From Kenyan City

By KATHARINE HOURELD Associated Press Writer
3:56 PM EST, January 30, 2008

KISUMU, Kenya - The young man hefting a machete at the burning roadblock was frustrated. He'd been looking for five days, but could not find a member of the Kikuyu tribe to kill.

Members of Kenya's biggest tribe have disappeared in their thousands from Kisumu, making it the first -- but perhaps not the last -- city to be ethnically cleansed.

"If we find any Kikuyus, we're going to slaughter them or burn them alive," 19-year-old Daniel Odongo said Wednesday, who wielded the machete as a mob of hundreds of young men with rusty axes and other weapons roared their approval. "But there is none in the houses around here."

When incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was announced as winner of Dec. 27 elections by a narrow margin after days of unexplained delays, many in Kisumu took to the streets of the city of 504,000 on the shores of Lake Victoria, looting and setting shops ablaze.

The residents, mainly from the Luo tribe of opposition leader Raila Odinga, soon turned their rage on Kibaki's Kikuyu people -- a minority in the western city resented for their domination of politics and the economy. They set Kikuyu homes on fire and ordered them to leave, or face death.

At the local police station, records show that officers escorted out of the city an average of 21 buses a day packed with panicking Kikuyus in the first two weeks of January. That means about 20,000 people fled Kenya's third-largest city, leaving about 484,000 people behind them. It is not known how many Kikuyus may have fled on their own, but it is not believed to be much higher than 20,000.

Now only about 150 Kikuyus remain, camping miserably opposite the police station for protection. No buses have been escorted out since Jan. 13, although murderous young men still stop vehicles searching for victims.

Odongo lamented that the only Kikuyus around were being guarded by police.

The Kikuyus trickling into the camp by the police station in the last few days are the poorest of the poor, as well as those with the strongest ties to the city.

"If this continues, I can say goodbye to Kisumu," Donise Kangoro said sadly. The 50-year-old trader, who had not eaten for two days, has lived here for two decades, married a local woman from the neighboring Luyha tribe, and fathered two children.

His wife and children returned to her people, but Kangoro hung on through the madness of the first days, when angry opposition supporters torched the homes of his fellow Kikuyus, and through the tense weekend when news arrived of faraway revenge massacres.

But when he saw a howling mob hunting his neighbors through the streets five days ago, he knew there would be no mercy. He ran, leaving behind his money, food, clothes and goods to sell.

There may be a handful of Kikuyus hiding in the houses of the wealthy, he said, but he doubts it.

"We are the last Kikuyus left in Kisumu," he said.

Government figures released Wednesday said the number of people forced from their homes has risen to 300,000, showing that ethnic cleansing has not diminished, and this threatens to redraw Kenya's once cosmopolitan ethnic map in areas like the Rift Valley.

On Wednesday, the top U.S. envoy for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, said Kenya was experiencing "clear ethnic cleansing" in the Rift Valley region.

"There was an organized effort to push people out of the Rift Valley," Frazer said. Now after weeks of deadly attacks, counterattacks and reprisals, she said "killing may be the object."

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said experts from the department's Office of War Crimes Issues were compiling information about the postelection violence but had not yet made any findings.

"If they do document any instances of atrocities, we'll have to look at what next steps to take, but at this point we're not there yet," he said. He also noted that "ethnic cleansing," unlike "genocide," is not a legal term with a set definition.

Asked if he was disavowing Frazer's comments, McCormack replied: "She said what she said, I am going to stick to what I said."

The violence in Kisumu began when protesters started looting and police responded by firing into the crowds. Dozens were killed. Those shot, mainly Luos, were the first victims killed in this city.

More than 800 people have died across Kenya, including scores in the Rift Valley this week when members of the Kalenjin ethnic group attacked Kikuyus in the town of Nakuru, and Kikuyus attacked Luos and others in the town of Naivasha.

Outside the capital of Nairobi, meanwhile, about 300 unarmed Kikuyus gathered to demand that a scores of Luo people working at the Kenya Research Forestry Institute there leave. They set ablaze a grass field that was part of an animal feed research project, and police escorted a bus full of women and children out of the institute.

When the killings began in Naivasha and Nakuru, Dorothy Atieno suspected the cycle of revenge would continue. The murder of an opposition lawmaker in Nairobi on Tuesday was the final straw.

"I called a (Kikuyu) friend and told her to leave immediately or she would be killed," she said quietly, her painted fingernails toying with her pink skirt. "Luckily, she had already gotten out."

At Nyamasaria Primary School, where Atieno is a teacher, almost half the 1,200 students were Kikuyus. They began to disappear after the election; now, not one is left, she said.

In one of the worst attacks, Kikuyus chased 19 Luos into a shanty in Naivasha, blocked the doors and set it ablaze. Babies were among the dead.

Odongo said that attack is what set him off on his vengeful hunt for Kikuyus.

Throughout the town, the blackened walls thrust into the air like broken teeth in a row of fully intact houses. Many of these Kikuyu homes and businesses were attacked by neighbors who lived beside them for decades.

Looters have done a thorough job, with even roofs and windows stripped away.

Now children play in the ruins, where the only other sign of the victimized owners are a few torn photos and a Christmas card trampled into the mud.

Six-year-old Nicky Ochieng, a Luo, said he took two books from the house where his Kikuyu friend, Maina, used to live. Asked whether they will ever play together again, he answered earnestly, "only if Raila becomes president." The other children giggled.

The child echoed what adults here say: Vanished neighbors can only come back if there is a political solution to the allegations of electoral rigging, charges supported by international and local observers.

Odinga and Kibaki began formal talks Tuesday, but the patience of their supporters is evaporating and the language of both leaders was brittle and combative.

In that deadlock lies the only chance of redemption, said Kangoro, his words echoing those of the people who would kill him. Kikuyu and Luo residents agreed that an acceptable political solution would allow them to live together again. When Kangoro fled, he left his house keys with neighbors, trusting them to look after his home.

"Not all these people are bad," he said.

In addition to the ethnic violence, there also have instances of random killings -- but mob justice is common in Kenya, even in normal times.

At the roadblock, where graffiti on a flaming truck reads "We want guns," George Otieno insisted the dispute was not "on a tribal basis."

Although he had gone hunting for Kikuyus without knowing how they voted, that was only to put pressure on Kibaki, he said.

"This is purely political," he concluded, waving his machete to make his point.

Original Article

The "LIE OF THE DAY!"

The Hell you say!

Clinton Says She Can Control Her Husband
January 30, 2008 8:19 PM

ABC News' Eloise Harper Reports: Senator Hillary Clinton, in an interview with ABC News' Cynthia McFadden for ABC News' Nightline, was asked about President Clinton’s controversial comments about race and Senator Obama in the past weeks. Clinton apologized for her husband.

“I think whatever he said which was certainly never intended to cause any kind of offense to anyone,” Clinton said, “if it did give offenses then I take responsibility and I’m sorry about that.”

"Can you control him?" asked McFadden.

“Oh of course,” Clinton replied.

This woman is in serious denial...

Eeeeeeeewwwwwww...

I think I have to hurl.

Not because of what she did necessarily (hey, babies gots to grow up...), but how ugly she is.

Especially after the previous posting...

Police Chief's Wife Faces Underage Sex Charges

UPDATED: 4:04 pm EST January 22, 2008

NEW CITY, N.Y. -- A former suburban prosecutor and PTA president had sex with two underage boys, joined many other teens in booze and pot parties and kept it all a secret from her police chief husband, officials said Tuesday.

Beth Modica, 44, was indicted on 35 counts alleging statutory rape, criminal sex acts, sex abuse and endangering children. Wearing an olive-gray suit and handcuffs, she pleaded not guilty at her arraignment in Rockland County Court and was ordered held on $75,000 bail.

"These are serious charges, against children in her community," said Judge Catherine Bartlett. The judge issued orders of protection for the two boys involved, whose names were not made public.

District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said Modica had intercourse and oral sex with a 16-year-old boy and oral sex with a 15-year-old boy last summer, and on several occasions served and shared alcohol and marijuana with "many" other teens from Suffern High School at her Sloatsburg home or in her car.

Ramapo police Chief Peter Brower, whose force covers Sloatsburg, said the investigation began Dec. 31, when his department received a complaint in the mail. He would not say who sent it.

Modica was an assistant district attorney in Queens and Rockland in the 1980s and 1990s, and until this month was attorney for the Town of Ramapo and the village of Sloatsburg but was not reappointed to the yearly term. The district attorney, who took office a few weeks ago, said he saw no conflict in his office prosecuting the case.

Zugibe said Modica's husband, Spring Valley police Chief Paul Modica, "was not involved, was unaware and was not present when the alleged acts occurred. ... I have only the greatest respect for Chief Modica." He would not comment on whether the couple's four children, including a son at the high school, were aware of the alleged crimes.

Beth Modica's lawyer, Gerard Damiani, said the couple, who had lived in Sloatsburg, had separated. He said she is living with her mother, who was in court but did not comment.

Modica is a former PTA president at Sloatsburg Elementary School.

Paul Modica's lawyer, John Edwards, said, "Paul's sole interest at this point is protecting his children. ... He's trying to make sure the kids are impacted as little as possible."

If convicted of rape or criminal sex acts, Beth Modica would face 16 months to four years in prison.

Arguing that his client should be freed without bail, Damiani said, "Her character has never been questioned except for these allegations." He said she was in good standing with the state bar association.

As Rick James would say; "Cocaine is a helluva drug!"
.

A damned shame...

Russia's most famous - and glamorous - female bodyguard killed as her Porsche is carjacked in Moscow

Last updated at 10:07am on 30th January 2008

Russia's most famous female bodyguard Anna Loginova has been killed after failing to prevent her own Porsche being carjacked.

The glamorous 29-year-old died from head injuries after clinging on to the door handle and being dragged along the street at high speed as the car screeched away.

"She suffered serious injuries and died at the scene," said a police spokesman. Police believe that she was killed in a random carjacking and was not the victim of an attack based on her work for wealthy high-profile Russian clients.

Loginova ran an agency for female bodyguards, some trained by the ex-KGB, to give discreet protection to Moscow's billionaires and their wives and mistresses.

In a recent magazine interview, she insisted that she and her team of glamorous bodyguards gave better protection than the more traditional beefy male security men.

"I do think that a girl should be a girl, not a Terminator," she said. She posed semi-naked for a Moscow men's magazine to make it clear that she was feminine as well as good with a gun.

She was highly respected for her bodyguard skills. "A normal man gets sick and tired of male bodyguards around him all the time," she said.

"In addition, many restaurants now do not allow a guard inside. They can come in and check everything but then they are asked to wait in the lobby.

"In contrast, you can take female bodyguards inside, she will sit down at the table and nobody would guess that she's a weapon herself - and can react appropriately in any dangerous situation."

She spoke of a recent carjacking incident in Moscow.

"I got out, locked the car and at that moment a man ran up and squeezed my hand with keys. I reacted immediately with a Jujitsu move, bending back his hand and hitting his face with my elbow.

"He did not expect such a reaction. The next moment, I took out my handgun but a Honda car passed by and he jumped in."

Last year, 50 Porsche cars were stolen in Moscow, including 12 within the last two months. Only three were ever found.

A disgusting loser.

There aren't many worse things you can do as a military person. This scumbag got what he deserved. The Big Chicken Dinner.

The only solace is that he actually WAS in the military. Unlike some of the posers that never even served.

Corpsman gets 2 years over unearned medals

By Andrew Scutro - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jan 29, 2008 11:14:34 EST

NORFOLK, Va. — A hospital corpsman accused of wearing unearned combat awards was sentenced to two years’ confinement, reduction to E-3 and a bad-conduct discharge Thursday.

Prosecutors had asked that Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class (FMF) Dontae Lee Tazewell be sentenced to 18 months’ confinement and a bad-conduct discharge.

Within minutes of the sentencing, an ambulance and two fire trucks raced to the courthouse, in response to an emergency somehow involving Tazewell. More information was not immediately available.

Before military judge Capt. Patricia Battin announced the sentence, Tazewell took the stand, saying news coverage of the event had caused his children and wife embarrassment.

“Because of the guilty verdict, I personally feel ashamed,” he said. “I feel like I brought shame to the hospital corps, to the Navy, to myself and my family.”

“This is about an accused who had a plan to con the United States Navy,” said prosecutor Lt. Matthew Wooten.

Tazewell, 28, was found guilty of 10 specifications of wearing unauthorized ribbons and medals on Wednesday. He was accused of using false paperwork to give himself a Bronze Star with “V,” Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, Navy Unit Commendation Medal and various other medals, according to the charging documents. Tazewell allegedly told people he risked his life to save Marines in combat in Iraq five years ago. He was not convicted of the specification involving the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with “V.”

According to his official Navy biography, Tazewell, who joined the Navy in June 1998, rates only a Good Conduct Medal. But in a 2006 article appearing in the base newspaper Soundings, which covered Tazewell’s awards ceremony that was prompted by the alleged forgeries, the corpsman was said to have been ambushed on patrol in Iraq and repeatedly ran into the line of fire to rescue six wounded Marines.

The defense had put the burden on the Navy for awarding Tazewell the medals, claiming that the corpsman merely alerted his command to awards, with Lt. Matthew Cutchen saying, “He did what junior personnel are told to do.” Wooten refuted that point. “He could have corrected it; he could have stood up and said this wasn’t true,” the prosecutor said.

Wooten said that Tazewell not only awarded himself a Bronze Star, but “the accused decided to give himself the distinction of valor.”

Present at sentencing were several of Tazewell’s former chiefs and shipmates from his deployment to Kuwait, who testified during the proceedings.

At the conclusion of sentencing, a master at arms was prepared to lead Tazewell away in handcuffs.

On Tuesday, several of Tazewell’s direct superiors and fellow sailors testified.

Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman (FMF/SW) Michael Dean Smith supervised Tazewell during the deployment of Marine Wing Support Squadron 272 to Kuwait in early 2003. Corpsmen from the unit manned flightline aid stations at three airfields in Kuwait and sometimes rolled with supply convoys. But Smith said none of his sailors, including Tazewell, rated any of the decorations Tazewell allegedly gave himself.

“I can say 100 percent that nobody in my unit, MWSS-272, had any combat-related injuries whatsoever,” Smith told the court. “All of our convoys were uneventful. We never encountered any enemy action or any enemy fire or had to return fire.”

Chief Hospital Corpsman (FMF) Santiago Chavez worked closely with Tazewell at an expeditionary airfield in Kuwait. He said corpsmen went on supply convoys as a rule, but often headed south, away from Iraq, to other airfields in Kuwait. As for Tazewell’s performance at the airfield, Chavez said, “He did what everybody else was doing.”

In comments to reporters after the first day of the court-martial, Cutchen could not say if his client ever stepped foot in Iraq. “He adamantly denies the charges against him,” Cutchen said.

During the court proceeding, witnesses were asked to review the citations and certificates that Tazewell allegedly fabricated while working in the administrative office at a branch medical clinic at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, Va.

Marine Capt. Adele Burks, former adjutant for MWSS 272, said the paperwork allegedly submitted by Tazewell on behalf of himself was almost wholly inconsistent with recognized standards.

“The overall format is incorrect with regard to fonts and the like,” she said, adding that the paperwork was endorsed by a fictitious three-star general. Reading one document allegedly crafted by Tazewell, Burks said, “Lt. Gen. Haviland does not exist,” who is most likely a concoction based on MWSS 272’s commanding officer until 2004, then-Lt. Col. Joseph K. Haviland.

Wooten said Tazewell failed his March 2006 advancement exam and was facing separation because he hadn’t made E-5 in the required eight years. In response, Wooten said Tazewell “conned the Navy” with “phony” citations that somehow passed through the chain of command.

The citations were so successful that Tazewell was treated to an award ceremony attended by more than 100 people in which a Navy captain lauded Tazewell by telling the audience “This is what a hero looks like.” Several military publications also wrote articles about Tazewell. Based on the awards, the Navy reviewed Tazewell’s record and advanced him to E-5.

H/T: In from the cold.

25 less we'll have to fight later on...

Bus crash on icy road in China kills 25

By WILLIAM FOREMAN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 3 minutes ago

GUANGZHOU, China - Some of the worst winter weather to hit southern China in decades took 25 more lives Tuesday when a bus plunged off an icy road, adding to the chaos the snow storms have caused during the nation's peak travel season.

Numerous cities suffered blackouts as heavy snowfalls caused power lines to snap and hampered the delivery of coal, used to generate most of China's electricity. Around 50 deaths so far have been blamed on the weather.

The storms also stranded travelers, among them hundreds of thousands of migrant workers heading home for the Chinese New Year. The holiday, which begins Feb. 7, is China's most festive. For many migrants, it is their only chance to visit their families, and by Tuesday many had given up trying to go.

Premier Wen Jiabao visited Changsha, capital of central Hunan province, which has suffered its heaviest snowfall levels since 1954, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Wen issued instructions to clear ice from roads and power cables. Much of the disruption to the grid has been blamed on the accumulation of ice and snow on power lines, weighing them down and causing them to snap.

Because of the snowfall, Wen was forced to fly to an airport in the neighboring province of Hubei and complete his journey by overnight train.

Power plants that produce 7 percent of China's electricity have shut down for lack of fuel, Xinhua said Tuesday, citing the State Electricity Regulatory Commission. Other plants accounting for a further 10 percent of the electricity supply have less than three days' reserves, it said.

Trains are delivering less than 25 percent of normal daily coal shipments due to bad weather obstructing transportation, Xinhua said, citing the Railways Ministry.

The Politburo of the ruling Communist Party warned that the bad weather would continue at an emergency meeting held Tuesday and chaired by Secretary-General Hu Jintao, who is also president.

"In the next few days, there will be more severe weather in some southern areas. The government departments and localities must be aware of the seriousness of the situation and be fully prepared to prevent and fight disasters," it said in a notice.

The extreme weather has been blamed for nearly 50 deaths over the past two weeks. In the latest accident, a bus plunged 40 yards off a road into a valley in mountainous Guizhou province, the State Administration of Work Safety said.

The 35-seat passenger bus was carrying 38 people when it went crashed, killing 25, the safety watchdog said. Two passengers were hospitalized in critical condition and the other 11 had slight injuries.

The road was covered with a thick layer of ice and snow, highly unusual for the southern province where the winters are normally mild, Xinhua said.

Meanwhile, the number of migrant workers stuck at the main train station in the southern city of Guangzhou dropped to 200,000 — from a high of 500,000 — as many simply gave up trying to make the annual trip home and cashed in their tickets, railway officials said.

The workers have been camped out in the station's plaza over the last several days as heavy snowfall in provinces to the north cut off parts of the busy railway line that starts in the city and ends in Beijing.

Traffic on the Beijing-Guangzhou line may not return to normal for three to five days, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Red banners at the Guangzhou train station encouraged travelers to cash in their tickets and stay in the city.

The train station plaza looked like a massive canopy of umbrellas, as people waited for their trains in a bone-chilling drizzle. Tens of thousands of others were camping beneath a highway overpass in front of the station.

Many like Wang Jigen, a 50-year-old construction worker, were hanging around the station because they had no other place to go. Wang left his job and had just enough money to go home to the western province of Sichuan. His train was canceled and he couldn't afford to stay in a hotel.

"I spent last night outside at a bus depot," said Wang, dressed in a tattered sweater and a corduroy coat. "I have no idea where I'll sleep tonight or how I'll ever get home."

Construction worker Liu Chenmin, 43, said he visits his family in neighboring Hunan just three times a year, though the trip is just eight hours by train. His hopes of getting a train were fading fast, and he had already warned his family — a wife and a teenage son and daughter — that he might not be home for the holiday.

"I just called them and they are really disappointed but they understand because my hometown is buried in snow," he said. "But spending the holiday here is going to be sad and uncomfortable for me."

The severe weather has caused economic losses of $3 billion since it began Jan. 10, the Civil Affairs Ministry said.

Shanghai was blanketed in white after sleet changed to snow overnight, leaving city streets slick with slush. The city's expressways remained closed and traffic was slow. Trains and flights from the city to many destinations were delayed.

"Now you can buy train tickets only to nearby cities like Hangzhou and Suzhou. No long-distance train tickets are available. No idea when things will be back to normal," said a staffer who answered the phone at the Shanghai Train Station. He gave only his surname, Yuan.

___

Associated Press writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report from Shanghai.

Bravo Zulu

Well done Agent Collins.

Travis special agent rushed to rescue after helicopter crash in Iraq

By Ian Thompson | DAILY REPUBLIC | January 25, 2008 16:28

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE - James Collins' first thought as he saw the helicopter crash-land into the choppy waters of a lake in Iraq on Jan. 3, 2006, was to save his captain, who was on the Marine CH-46 Sea Knight.

By the time the special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations reached the lake, he had stripped off his boots and most of his gear, not slowing down as he charged into the 52-degree water.

His actions in the next 30 minutes saved at least three people from drowning and earned him the Airman's Medal, which is awarded for heroism not related to combat.

Collins, who is presently a member of Travis Air Force Base's OSI unit, went to Iraq in August 2006. He was at the Haditha Dam on Lake Qadisiyah in the Al Anbar Province when the accident occurred.

Collins and several other members of his group were at the helicopter landing pad on top of the dam that day. One of the 14 people on the departing helicopter was Collins' captain, who was catching a ride to another location to set up a memorial for an airman who had been recently killed.

'We put his bags on the helicopter for him,' Collins said.

Collins and the others put their heads down against the dust stirred up as the Sea Knight lifted off. They looked up to see the helicopter strike the dam with its belly and skid forward, its rear landing gear catching on the lip of the dam.

One of the men near Collins swore as the Sea Knight pitched forward, the helicopter pilot pulling hard on the stick to level out the craft as it headed toward the lake 3.5 stories below.

The pilot managed to bring the helicopter level as it reached the cold, choppy water in a controlled crash-landing.

'We saw people still in their full gear exiting out the back and sides into the water,' Collins said.

Collins, who was a scuba diver and had taught dive rescue, dived into the lake and swam toward the passengers. His first thought was to rescue his captain.


About 50 meters out, Collins found the captain's helmet floating on the water. The captain was nowhere to be found.

Collins then spotted a Marine fighting to stay afloat in the water and grabbed him. He then saw a second struggling Marine and grabbed him as well, pushing both men toward the shore.

After passing the two Marines off to a growing chain of other rescuers on the shore, Collins dived back into the 52-degree water and swam out 25 meters to grab a civilian contractor.

The cold was enough 'to take your breath away,' Collins recalled, but that didn't slow him down.

A third time, he helped rescue one of the helicopter's crew members 'who was frantic and I was pushed under.'

Collins managed to surface and get to the shore before coughing up the lake water he had swallowed.

'I was told later that lake had the highest cholera content in its water in the country,' said Collins, who also suffered from hypothermia after spending more than a half hour in the water.

Collins and others managed to rescue 10 of the passengers. One Marine pulled from the water died after efforts to resuscitate him failed. The bodies of three other passengers, including Collins' captain, were recovered the next day.

'For awhile, I could picture the captain every time I closed my eyes,' Collins said.

One of the chaplains counseling Collins told him that although he didn't rescue his captain, he did rescue the others.

'It didn't make it any easier, but it did begin to register,' Collins said.

The Air Force and the Office of Special Investigations recognized Collins' selfless actions earlier this month by awarding him the Airman's Medal for his heroic efforts that day.

OSI commander Brig. Gen. Dana Simmons paid a visit to Travis on Jan. 15 to present the award to Collins and express his gratitude.

Reach Ian Thompson at 427-6976 or ithompson@dailyrepublic.net.

22 yrs ago today...

The Challenger blew up during take-off.

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing.

Wow. That was so long ago...


H/T: AoS

Back to the grind...

Another six-day stretch at work (graveyard).

Oh joy...

Saturday Shenanigans...

Another fun viddy from the USN.

The main LT chick is kinda cute (even though she's kinda thick).
Even the female CAPT is pretty hot (for a CAPT).

Enjoy.

Friday Motivation

Outstanding!



H/T: Ace of Spades

*POD

Shillary & Obama

vs.

Rommney & Rudy

In Nov.

Now THAT'S a horse-race!



*Prediction Of the Day

John McCain is a f*cking liar.

This guy will say/do anything to get elected.

I just don't get it...

I hope there's more to this story than what's here, because this is pretty stupid. The K-9 officer releases his dog on a suspect w/ a knife? WTF?

San Diego police dog stabbed in standoff

The Associated Press
Last Updated 12:07 pm PST Wednesday, January 23, 2008

SAN DIEGO -- A knife-wielding man is accused of repeatedly stabbing a police dog while authorities tried to subdue him at a motel.

San Diego police were called to the motel Tuesday night to investigate reports that the man was threatening guests.

Patrick Gautier, 43, allegedly refused to drop the knife. Police then sent the dog, a 2-year-old German shepherd, after the man. Authorities say Gautier repeatedly stabbed the dog in the rib cage before police fired bean bag rounds at the man.

The dog was taken to an animal clinic for treatment.

Gautier has been arrested on suspicion of assault on a police service dog and assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer.

I love this!

One of THE best take-downs...EVAH!

Do you want me around, or not?

We, as peace officers, have a real conundrum (there's a kick-ass word for you). The people we serve don't want to see us until they need us. But then they want to know why we weren't there to stop them from becoming a victim.

I can't tell you how many times I have driven through certain neighborhoods in my high profile marked patrol car, and had people of all ages staring at me. Kids, teens, adults and the elderly, all of whom have had some undesirable contact with the police, look at me as if they wish I would just die on the spot.

They don't want to see the police rolling around their neighborhood. I hear calls of "ROLLERS!" and "FIVE-O!" from street corners, warnings to cease illegal activity for the time being due to the presence of the cops. Kids who are barely old enough to wipe their own asses run away clutching at their waistbands. Seven year old kids stand on the corner with walkie talkies and cell phones. It's truly dumbfounding (there's one).

But God help us when one of these kids gets shot, or robbed, or beaten to a pulp because of his business or gang associations. Then it changes to "Where the fuck was you when my baby got shot?!" or "You motherfuckers don't give a shit about us! If you did you woulda' been here to keep Jerome from getting robbed".

Then when we come out and arrest the kids, we're just harassing them because of their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or some other miscellaneous bullshit.

Whoa! Wait a minute. Slow your roll there Mama. Check this shit out. If your "baby" wasn't slinging dope, he wouldn't have been standing on some other dealer's street corner, and therefore would not have been shot at. If he wasn't known to the entire neighborhood to be carrying large quantities of cash at any given time because of his illegal pharmaceutical business, he would not have gotten robbed. How does that hit you, huh?

Yes, no shit. Your "baby" is/was a criminal. He sold dope to other kids. He probably had a gun on him when he was shot too. And you know what else? The gun he had was probably stolen.

Excuse me if I sound cynical, but MAKE UP MY FUCKING MIND! Do you want us there, or don't you? If you do, you are just going to have to put up with us being there 24/7 for a long time to reclaim your neighborhood for you. And you need to improve your parenting skills because apparently you never explained to your youngsters that the shit they do is wrong.

If you don't want us there, don't call us when the shit hits the fan. Do as the gangbangers do and deal with your own problems, your own way. Either way, if you live in that neighborhood, you and your neighbors need to make a choice.

You can tell the kids who were raised properly, because they wave at the black and white with all their fingers, not just the middle one. There are still a few good kids in the bad parts of town, and they need all the help they can get. But if the adults are just showing them how to be criminals, they are beyond most of the help I can give them. I just send them to Officer Wright's hall, and they learn how to be bigger and better criminals.

Wow! The idea for this post started out as a rather light hearted jab at people who don't want us around until they need us. I guess when the feelings really start to come out, it can change the whole feel of a post.

Like I said when I started this blog so many months ago, if you can't handle it, go read someone else's warm and fuzzy blog. This is the shit my brothers and sisters and I deal with on a daily basis. If your kids are fortunate enough not to live in the shitty parts of town, consider yourself lucky.

Welcome to reality.

From Ofc. Smith's Blog.
.

For those of you wondering...

...what my ring-back songs are.

Apparently they're kind of hard to hear (for SOME people...).
Thanks Verizon!

Enjoy, Bitches!

One of my all-time favorite videos:






Now you know.

Definitely Cute!

Maybe it's the glasses...

How it works for reals, yo!

*Viewer Discretion Advised*
(Language)



I'm pretty sure this is what it would look like if some hoods came up on a person with training.
(At least I hope...)


Also, there's this one:

Blonde-Star: There when you need it!

Blondestar

To commemorate MLK day...

Cuz it's funny!

I love LOLCats!

Band of Brothers

Man who keyed car gets day in court; so do Marines

By John Kass | Tribune columnist
January 20, 2008

Jay Grodner, the Chicago lawyer who keyed a Marine's car in anger because the car had military plates and a Marine insignia, finally got his day in court last week.

Grodner pleaded guilty in a Chicago courtroom packed with former Marines. Some had Marine pins on their coats, or baseball jackets with the Marine insignia. They didn't yellor call him names. They came to support Marine Sgt. Michael McNulty, whose car Grodner defaced in December, but who couldn't attend because he's preparing for his second tour in Iraq.

Grodner was late to court for the second time in the case. Grodner called Assistant State's Attorney Patrick Kelly, (Marine Corps/Vietnam 1969-1972), informing Kelly that he would be late to court.

"He wanted to avoid the media," Kelly said Friday. "So he's coming a half hour late."

"I don't run my courtroom that way!" responded Judge William O'Malley, ordering Grodner be arrested and held on $20,000 bail when he arrived. Finally, Grodner strolled in. A short man, wide, wearing a black fedora, dark glasses, a divorce lawyer dressed like some tough guy in the movies.

Grodner told me he'd describe himself as a "radical liberal" who's ready to leave Chicago now with all this negative publicity and move to the south of France and do some traveling.

Judge O'Malley has also traveled, but in his youth. He was a police officer on the West Side during the riots before law school. And before that, he performed another public service. Judge O'Malley served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1961-1964.

During the proceedings, the judge described the offense as anger rose in his voice, especially as Grodner started balking on a plea arrangement he'd made with prosecutors.

"Is this what you did? Yes or no," Judge O'Malley asked Grodner.

"Without knowing, yes," Grodner said, sticking to his I-might-have-done-it-but-didn't-really-mean-it defense.

O'Malley asked again, in a stronger voice, not that of a judge but of a cop on the street or a Marine who meant business.

"DID YOU KNOWINGLY CAUSE DAMAGE TO THIS CAR?" O'Malley asked.

Grodner bowed his head, meekly, and responded in an equally meek voice:

"Yes," he said.

After the admission, came the details and Grodner was lucky, getting off with a misdemeanor and no jail time, and not a felony even though he caused $2,400 in damage to Sgt. McNulty's car.

So Grodner received a $600 fine, which will go to a Marine charity, 30 hours of community service and a year of court supervision. If he doesn't pay up in a month, the judge promised to put him in jail for a year.

Judge O'Malley had something to say. He looked out into his courtroom, at all those men who'd come to support a Marine they didn't know.

"You caused damage to this young Marine sergeant's car because you were offended by his Marine Corps license plates," said Judge O'Malley.

Grodner stood there, hands behind his back. He grasped the fingers of his left hand with his right, and held it there, so they wouldn't wiggle.

"You're probably also wondering why there was a whole crowd of people here, Mr. Grodner," said Judge O'Malley.

"I don't want to wonder," said Grodner, continuing in his new meek voice, not in his tough divorce lawyer voice, but the gentle, inside voice he'd just learned.

"That's because there is a little principle that the Marine Corps has had since 1775," the judge continued. "When they fought and lost their lives so that people like you could enjoy the freedom of this country. It is a little proverb that we follow:

"No Marine is left behind.

"So Sgt. McNulty couldn't be here. But other Marines showed up in his stead. Take him away," said the judge and former Marine.

They took Grodner away, he was processed, and everyone left. The lobby was dark, quiet, except for two court deputies running the metal detector. Then Grodner came through an inside door, put his fedora back on, the dark glasses, a tough guy again.

We stood outside, in the parking lot, talking for 20 minutes. He smoked, and I didn't. He explained that he wasn't anti-military and why he pleaded guilty.

"The judge, he's the guy with the black robes," Grodner said. He could have been slapped with a felony, but Sgt. McNulty's family said they wanted to put this behind them and let it go as a misdemeanor. Grodner showed no remorse, and I asked if he'd apologize.

"Yes, I'd say, 'I'm sorry if I scratched your car.' It escalated. That's when he wanted me locked up and thrown away," said Grodner, always the victim.

Grodner tells me he plans to leave for the French Riviera and get some sun.

Sgt. McNulty will get some sun, too. In Iraq.

I doubt this POS will even be welcome in France, anymore.

H/T: B5

Just killing the Cops that Americans won't kill...

Border Patrol agent dies, struck by fleeing vehicle in Calif.

The Associated Press
Last Updated 5:39 pm PST Saturday, January 19, 2008

YUMA, Ariz. -- A U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed Saturday when he was struck by a fleeing vehicle along the border in southeastern California, agency officials said.

The agent was trying to stop a vehicle that had illegally entered the country from Mexico when he was hit, said agent Eric Anderson, a spokesman for the agency's Yuma sector. The incident happened in the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area about 20 miles west of Yuma at about 9 a.m.

Details of the incident are still under investigation and Anderson said the agent's name was being withheld until relatives were notified.

"Mexican authorities are using every means at their disposal to arrest the people responsible" for the slaying, Mexico's Foreign Relations department said in a statement.

"The agent attempted to impede their progress," Anderson said. "We don't really know what happened then - he was either struck or run over by the vehicle, which resulted in the loss of one of our agent's lives."

Witnesses told the Yuma Sun newspaper that agents were chasing a Hummer and a Ford pickup on Interstate 8 when the vehicles turned into the dunes and fled toward Mexico. The agent was trying to place spike strips in their path and was struck by the Hummer.

The Imperial Sand Dunes are the largest dunes in California, extending north of the border for 40 miles and averaging five miles wide.

The area is popular with off-road vehicle enthusiasts but also is frequently used by smugglers trying to bring people or drugs into the country from Mexico.

Prayers to the Agent's family.

UPDATE: The agent has been identified as Sr. Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar, 6yrs on the job.

ODMP

Hooah!

This looks pretty good.*


www.iamanamericansoldier.com

*Although I'm just a little suspicious because the reviews are all from Lefties.

H/T: Steve-O

My beloved Corps...

The very best America has to offer...

"He tricked me!"

That's not too difficult, Kellie.



Seriously, how can someone be THIS stupid?

When a 5th grader is obviously smarter than you are, you should probably re-evaluate your educational goals.

One less America-hater.

Chess master Bobby Fischer dies at 64.

Good.

Thank you, Gaston.

I had the opportunity to attend the Glock Armorer's Course this past week. Now I are one!

Now I have even more respect for Glock pistols. IMHO (and many others) Glocks are pretty much THE best, out-of-the-box, combat pistols around. And no, they didn't give us any special Glock Kool-Aid at the class. I've always thought that, but taking the class just confirmed it. The Glock pistol was invented by Mr. Gaston Glock, who wasn't even a "gun guy". These pistols are engineering marvels!

There's a reason why 77% of US law enforcement agencies use Glocks. I consider myself lucky to be able to carry one at work (and when I'm off). I went to the class with another copper from my department and my buddy Pat, who was recertifying.

As a side note, the guy that taught the class was a guy by the name of Dennis Tueller. All fellow coppers know about the "21 foot rule". For those that don't, it basically says that an attacker (armed with a blade) can attack (and kill or seriously wound) you before you can even get your gun out, if he/she is within 21 feet of you.

This is known as "The Tueller Drill".

Yep, same guy. Very cool.

How close is too close?

P.S. As a side note, I'm thinking about buying another Glock.

Marine humor.

Some people might not find this very funny.

I do.

Do you any need any more reason...

...to never see another Tom Cruise movie?

This guy is a lunatic. Scientology is a cult.

This is one of the creepiest things I've seen in a while. And what's up with the saluting? Is this a military organization?

F*cking whack-jobs!

RIP Richard...

How awesome that this guy brought happiness to (literally) millions of people.

He done good.

Richard Knerr, who gave the world Hula Hoop, Frisbee, dies at 82
The Associated (with Terrorists) Press

ARCADIA, Calif. -- Richard Knerr, co-founder of the toy company that introduced the world to the Hula Hoop, Frisbee and other American fads, has died. He was 82.

Knerr, who started Wham-O in 1948 with his childhood friend Arthur "Spud" Melin, died Monday at Methodist Hospital after suffering a stroke earlier in the day at his Arcadia home, his wife Dorothy told the Los Angeles Times.

Knerr and Melin got their start in business peddling slingshots. They named their enterprise Wham-O after the sound a slingshot made when it hit its target.

They branched into other sporting goods, including boomerangs and crossbows, then added toys that often bore such playful names as the Superball, Slip 'N Slide and Silly String.

When a friend told them in 1958 about a large ring used for exercise in Australia, they devised their own version and called it the Hula Hoop.

Around that same time, they bought the rights to a plastic flying disc invented by Walter "Fred" Morrison, who called it the Pluto Platter. Wham-O bought the rights and renamed it the Frisbee.

Both products became hugely popular and millions of Hula Hoops and Frisbees have been sold.

"If Spud and I had to say what we contributed, it was fun," Knerr told the Times in 1994. "But I think this country gave us more than we gave it. It gave us the opportunity to do it."

Melin died in 2002 at age 77.

Besides his wife, Knerr is survived by three children from a first marriage that ended in divorce, Melody Knerr, Chuck Knerr and Lori Gregory; two stepchildren, Richard Enright and Jeanne Stokes; and eight grandchildren.

Services will be private.

Flying video of the day.

H/T: Theo Spark

The way I see it...

Right now, things look bleak for the Republicans. Seriously, are these guys the best you could come up with?

Romney just won Michigan. This is good only because McCain (RINO) didn't, not because Romney is some great Conservative (which I don't think he is).

The whole crowd of Republicans SUCKS! Except maybe for Thompson and Hunter, neither of which has a chance in Hell of winning.

Hunter will be bowing out any day now. Maybe Next time, Duncan...

Giuliani is MIA (which I think is a good thing. RINO). Is he even still a candidate?

Huckabee (Super-RINO) is cooling down because people are finally looking past his "Aw-shucks!" routine. They (and I) don't like what they see. He's FOS.

Ron Paul. Nutter. Racist. Enough said.

I guess that leaves Romney, when all is said and done. I'll hold my nose and pull the lever for him, but I won't like it.

It'll be a cold day in Hell when I cast a vote for a DemocRAT.

Justice for a POS.

Man gets 29 to life for murder of LA County sheriff's deputy

The Associated Press
Last Updated 12:35 pm PST Tuesday, January 15, 2008

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- A man who took part in a holdup that killed a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy has been sentenced to 29 years to life in prison.

A judge in Long Beach gave 21-year-old Justin Ashley Flint the maximum sentence Tuesday even though he wasn't the gunman. The judge noted Flint's long criminal history and called him a danger to society.

Flint was convicted last month of first-degree murder and attempted robbery but not of a special circumstance that would have barred his chance of parole.

Thirty-year-old Deputy Maria Rosa was shot in March 2006 in Long Beach by robbers who tried to take her purse as she prepared to go to work.

The judge said Flint never showed remorse for his involvement. At trial, jurors heard audiotapes of Flint in jail singing "I Shot The Sheriff."

Frank Gonzalez, who is alleged to have been the triggerman, goes to trial in March.

Outside court, Flint's mother told KNBC-TV that the sentence was too harsh and she hopes it will be appealed.

Dep. Maria Cecilia Rosa
.

I think John McCain is an asshole.

This guy just doesn't get it.

But apparently, Michiganders do.



Let's review:

John McCain

--voted against the Bush tax cuts, one of only two Republican senators to do so;

--twice authored the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill with its Z Visas and path to citizenship;

--has done nothing to accelerate the construction of the border fence;

--stands behind McCain-Feingold even after the Supreme Court has struck down portions of it as unconstitutional;

--defends the Gang of 14 even though a long line of vacancies on the courts of appeal existed at the end of 2006 (and has only gotten longer in 2007);

--worked with Lindsey Graham to destroy the GOP's agenda in September of 2006 by grandstanding over the interrogation and treatment of terrorists bill;

--opposed drilling in ANWR;

--opposed the Federal Marriage Amendment, twice;

--advocates a massive energy tax;

--performed poorly in three straight debates, displaying his off-putting temper on Saturday night last, and then wandering through the Sunday and Thursday debates, often losing the thread of his response and failing to answer the question, raising issues of his energy and age;

Thanks to Hugh Hewitt

Hooah!

Soldier Beats Cancer, Joins Unit in Iraq

Thursday, 10 January 2008
By Pfc. Monica K. Smith

3rd Combat Aviation BrigadeCAMP STRIKER — They call him “Tiny”, and as with many nicknames, “Tiny” inaccurately describes Sgt. Jared Squires’ stature. At six foot five inches, Squires, a crew chief with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, more than snugly fits into the space allocated for crew chiefs in the Black Hawks he flies in. Squires, from Los Lunas, N.M., doesn’t mind his nickname, he’s just happy to be flying again.

In July, 2006, Squires learned he had a problem that was less than tiny - he was diagnosed with skin cancer. The Army surgeon estimated Squires would have six years to live.

“When I first found out, I went to the doctor’s office and my wife went with me,” Squires said. “The doctor came and said, ‘I’m sorry to let you know you have malignant melanoma’. I thought ‘I’ve got two kids. I’ve got my wife.’ To put a timeline on my life … I wanted to do everything I could right away because in six years, I might not be there for my boys.”

Squires began a series of surgeries and positron emission tomography (PET) scans, used to detect cancer and the effects of cancer therapy, at Low Country Cancer Care in Savannah, Ga. However, the cancer spread to the lymph nodes in his left arm. They removed the lymph nodes but his body couldn’t produce the skin needed to heal his wounds. The fourth surgery was a skin graft to help close the wound, which Squires said was “by far the most painful thing I’ve ever been through in my life.”

Squires said his inability to fly was one of the worst facets of his illness.

“I was grounded and couldn’t fly after my first surgery,” Squires said.

Once Squires completely healed from his surgeries, he began taking interferon, a protein made as a drug to stimulate the body’s immune system to fight off some types of cancer. At the end of August, Squires began a daily, four-hour long treatment for 30 days which required him to be hooked up to an IV.

“The first day of treatment I could barely walk out on my own strength,” Squires said. “I almost had to be carried out.”

Squires had 11 months of self-injection of interferon, three times a week. Though he didn’t lose his hair, it did begin to thin out. His days consisted of two activities: treatments and sleeping because his treatments left him exhausted.

“My company’s (family readiness group) stepped up big time,” Squires said. “For two weeks they came to my house and dropped off meals because my wife was busy taking care of me. It was a life saver. It really helped.”

Sgt. Thomas Lacroix, was one of those who stepped up to help the Squires family. A member of Co. A, 2-3rd Avn. Regt., Lacroix has known Squires for seven years. The two met in advanced individual training, served a tour in Korea and then again with the CAB.

“(I) felt pretty bad for him,” said Lacroix, from Keene, N.H. “I knew his family, his wife, two kids - I tried to do everything I could to help his family out – there wasn’t much anyone could really do for him.”

As the Combat Aviation Brigade prepared to deploy to Iraq, Squires was taken out of Co. A, 2-3rd Avn. Regt., and sent to the CAB rear detachment because he was non-deployable.

While on rear detachment, Squires worked with incoming Soldiers who were deploying while continuing with his treatments. He finished his treatments at the end of October and was cleared to fly. However, Squires was not content with simply being able to fly – he wanted to deploy.

“I had the opportunity to stay in rear detachment and I chose not to,” Squires said. “I told them ‘no, I want to go.’ It took a lot of me, from my side, to get them to say, ‘hey, yeah, you’re good to go.’ They tried to med-board me and I had to get my oncologist to say, ‘he’s fine.’ They thought I was crazy. My wife knew I wanted to go and that I missed the guys. I missed my friends, we’ve been together so long – they’re my family.”

After Squires obtained all the letters he needed from dermatologists and from his oncologist stating he was rid of cancer and capable of deploying, he was on the first plane to Iraq.

“I know it was a big morale boost to have him come out and join the team again,” Lacroix said. “It was pretty rough deploying without him. There was a big void in the company.”

For the rest of Squires’ life, he must have routine PET scans and visit a dermatologist every six to nine months. In addition he must take active measures to prevent cancer from reoccurring.

“I have a 75 percent chance of it coming back,” Squires said. “But skin cancer is preventable. It’s not like breast cancer. It’s not passed down for generations. There’s a chance it will come back, but if I take the preventative steps it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Lacroix says the company is glad to have Squires back and that his returning was expected.

“That’s what he wanted and he showed he could do it,” Lacroix said. “He got better and beat it. He’s a true leader. He had the option of staying home and dodging a deployment but he chose to come out here. The younger guys look up to that.”

Original HERE

Total Stud!

Stryker Soldier Awarded Distinguished Service Cross

Dec 13, 2007
BY Spc. Vincent Fusco

FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska (Army News Service, Dec. 13, 2007) - A 1st Stryker Brigade Soldier who saved the life of his platoon leader was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross Dec. 12 at Fort Wainwright for his actions during an ambush in Iraq.

Sgt. Gregory Williams received the Army's second-highest award for valor from Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. for what he did in a gun battle that ensued after an improved explosives device stopped his Stryker last year in Baghdad.

Although injured himself, Sgt. Williams pulled his lieutenant from a smoldering Stryker, provided suppressive fire with a 50-caliber weapon and enabled first aid to be given to Soldiers burned by the IED blast. He was a squad leader in Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1/5th Infantry, 1st SBCT, 25th Infantry Division.

"When I want to talk about the quality of the force, I talk about Sgt. Williams," said Gen. Casey. "(Soldiers like Sgt. Williams) are the heart and soul of the Army."

During a mounted night patrol Oct. 30, 2006, in Baghdad's Huriyah neighborhood, Sgt. Williams' Stryker was struck by shaped charges that sent a stream of molten fire through the hull of the vehicle.

"It was like someone took a can opener and peeled it (the Stryker) open," Sgt. Williams said.

As the Stryker and its occupants caught fire, enemy forces unleashed an ambush of rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 rounds. While the vehicle was still in motion, the Soldiers dismounted from the back ramp, found cover and returned fire.

Sgt. Williams, a Valley Spring, Calif. native, was unconscious for a few seconds after the blast, recovered and put the flames out on himself and other Soldiers around him before grabbing a first aid bag to treat his comrades.

But Sgt. Williams realized that the Soldiers were in greater need of suppressive fire, so he expended 120 rounds - four magazines - of ammunition from his M4 carbine upon the enemy.

After helping provide suppressive fire, he saw his platoon leader, 1st. Lt. Aaron Willard, from York Springs, Penn., inside the smoldering Stryker. Lt. Willard's legs were burned and lacerated from shrapnel, and he had just finished his third magazine engaging the enemy when he began to pass out from blood loss.

"My ears started ringing and I started to see a white light in front of my eyes," Lt. Willard said. "Sgt. Williams grabbed me and threw me towards the back of the vehicle."

Lt. Willard then remembered waking up on the ramp and the medic treating his wounds.

Spc. Matthew Driscoll, a gunner in HHC, 1-5th, was one of the Soldiers trapped by enemy fire and recalls how Sgt. Williams established fire superiority.

"We didn't have any cover because we were taking fire from our 12 o'clock," Spc. Driscoll said. "So Sgt. Williams jumped into the (.50-caliber M2 machine gun) spot and started unloading."

A rifle round went past Sgt. Williams' head and hit the hatch before he expended 100 rounds into the enemy's position. He paused for a moment before two more rounds hit the hatch. Sgt. Williams then fired another 200 rounds before the weapon jammed and B Company, 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 172nd SBCT, (now 1-5th, 1-25th SBCT) arrived to provide security.

"That (Sgt. Williams' suppressive fire) was the turning point of the firefight," Lt. Willard said. "If no one got on the 50 cal., there would've been more casualties."

When the medic pulled Sgt. Williams down to assess his injuries, Sgt. Williams found that he couldn't hear and everything felt like it was spinning. He had minor burns and two punctured eardrums that needed surgery.

Willard, who is now a captain in the Warrior Transition Unit, a unit that oversees the health and welfare of Soldiers receiving medical care, credits Sgt. Williams as the person who, in the heat of the moment, "recognized when to get on the 50 cal. and start shooting."

"I think it was a great honor to receive this award, I'm very proud to receive it," Sgt. Williams said. "But I was just doing my job and what I was trained to do."

Sgt. Williams believes that everyone in his squad would have done the same thing that day, and credits them as heroes in their own right.

H/T: Cop The Truth

Democrats.

Thanks JB!
.

Cool...

Semper Fi, Devil-Dog!

'Glorified paper pusher' earns 2 bronze stars for Iraq service, combat action

Staff Sgt. Jacob Jones seems to be having a problem – he needs an accurate description, and people can’t seem to agree. Some would call him hero, although, as an aviation operations specialist, he prefers the term “glorified paper pusher.”

This has been going on for a while. Last year, shortly after arriving for his first tour in Iraq, Jones walked into a room full of laughing U.S. Army soldiers in Diyala province and silence immediately descended over the group.

Jones asked what was going on.

“Well, there’s a going bet as far as what your job is and what it is you do in the Marine Corps,” one of the soldiers said. “Are you like, recon or something?”

Jones told them they couldn’t be further from the truth, but the soldiers may have been on to something.

On Jan. 2, Lt. Col. David W. Bussel, the commanding officer of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma’s Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, presented Jones with two Bronze Star medals at the theater here – one with an authorized combat distinguishing device.

Both awards were presented for actions performed in Iraq while Jones served as the operations chief of the Iraqi Ground Forces Command’s Military Transition Team, but one medal was for a specific incident – putting himself in harm’s way to protect Iraqi women and children from a sniper attack.

But without knowing all that, what convinces an entire group of Army soldiers to perceive Jones as the hard-boiled stereotype they know from movies, when his usual trade is aviation operations?

Is it the swagger, the attitude? Is it his cool under fire? Is it a perceived difference between services?

Whatever it is, it sure isn’t pushing paper.


Have weapon, will travel

When he first arrived in Camp Victory in March, Jones’ job as operations chief involved arranging transportation for the transition team members and the team’s Iraqi advisor officers.

But after only a few weeks, Jones received a different mission. He became the personal security for Army Lt. Col. Timothy Small, the transition team’s plans officer.

“They knew I was a Marine, they knew I knew how to fight,” Jones said. “They wanted someone who could shoot, move and communicate. And they picked me.”

Small’s mission consisted of standing up a joint operations center in Baqubah, a major stronghold of insurgent activity.

Jones and Small set up the Provincial Joint Security Coordination Center in a local police building. The center became the hub for coordinating efforts between local police, fire department and emergency medical services.

“First and foremost I was (Small’s) security,” Jones said. “The last thing we wanted was for him to get captured. So I was his hired gun.”


On cowardly snipers

Jones descended from the coordination center’s rooftop on the morning of May 4 after checking the machine gun posts and headed to Small’s office to give his situation report.

“As soon as I sat down in the office and I started talking to him, letting him know everything was secure…, we started taking rounds,” Jones said.

Jones grabbed his M-4A1 carbine and M-9 pistol and threw a bandolier of 5.56 mm ammunition over his shoulder. He ran to the front of the building – the location of the impacts.

“When I got there, there were a bunch of women and children that were trying to meet with the police and (the insurgents) were shooting at the women and children that were standing at the front door, which is just cowardly,” Jones recalled with visible disgust.

Iraqi Police told Jones there was a sniper firing from a nearby window. Jones peeked out of a window and identified the attacker’s location.

“I moved into a firing position in the front doorway and … I unleashed the fury, man. I let loose with that M4,” Jones said.

Jones and the insurgent went back and forth, popping in and out of cover while firing at each other. Eventually, Small met up with Jones, took a knee and joined in.

Soon, they ran low on ammunition.

“Jones immediately took it upon himself to retrieve ammo from a nearby outpost,” Small said. “It was only about 50 meters, but to get there he had to expose himself to enemy fire.”

Jones returned with the rounds as another insurgent joined the rooftop sniper. Regardless of the reinforcement, he and Small managed to neutralize both enemies.

But the insurgents had not had their fill.

“The next day we started taking more fire out of there,” Jones said in a frustrated voice.

Jones decided to end the problem with an AT-4 rocket launcher. He grabbed the weapon, moved to the coordination center roof and aimed in on the insurgents’ building. Prior to destroying the enemy position, however, a U.S. Army captain alerted him to a friendly patrol nearby.

Jones put away the rocket launcher. He would have to find another solution.


Plan B

“Get your men out of the racks, right now.” Jones told the Army captain. “Mount them up. Get them into a stack next to the building. We’re going to raid this block.”

Inspired by Jones’ efforts the previous day, the Iraqi policemen stepped up and joined the U.S. service members in the house-to-house city block raid.

“By the example Jones set that day, he boosted the morale of the whole headquarters and proved to (Iraqi police) we were ready to fight by them,” Small said. “Up to that point, they hadn't fought side by side with the Americans. All I can say is he really turned things around.”

Jones took charge of the patrol, teaching the Iraqi police the proper way to clear buildings while proceeding down the block and continuously receiving fire from enemy insurgents. Jones’ patrol was not the only force in conflict, as the 1st Army patrol got caught up in a major firefight as well.

Meanwhile, Jones’ patrol cleared the city block, progressing steadily to the top of the building where he had engaged the previous day’s sniper.

“After that we really didn’t take any fire from (that tower),” Jones said. “We made our presence known. That was my biggest thing. Don’t sit inside the base. Get out there. Show them that we’re not afraid.”


Day-to-day

During his 6-month Iraq tour, Jones said he grew much closer to the policemen he worked with than he had anticipated.

“After I had been there for a while, I started to work with the guys 17, 18 hours a day,” Jones said. “I really befriended them. They became like family to me. I just wanted to make sure nothing was going to happen to them while I was there. I would have given my life for them. I really would have.”

Many of the policemen were new recruits. Jones often found himself teaching them about basic warfighting tactics he learned through the combat training every Marine receives.

“I wanted to make them better warfighters,” Jones said. “I wanted to make them aware of what they’re doing and how to better themselves as policemen…as soldiers. I didn’t want to see any guys get killed. I didn’t want to see anyone get hurt.”

During his tour, Jones used his training as an emergency medical technician to treat typhoid-infected Iraqi policemen. He also provided daily medical care to the policemen and local civilians, and on one occasion treated two burned Iraqi children before helping evacuate them to a local base for further treatment.

As he bonded with the locals and Iraqi police, his conversations with them became more and more personal toward their duty as citizens.

“When I talked to the Iraqis, I’d tell them about honor, courage and commitment,” Jones said. “I’d tell them what (those values) mean to me as a Marine. I’d say what they could mean to an Iraqi soldier. I’d talk to them a lot about those things and that’s what really carried me through, I think.”


One team, one fight

After just one day of working in the joint coordination center, Jones found himself volunteering the limited down time he had – taking post with U.S. soldiers on rooftop observation points at the Diyala province governor’s building.

“I’d go up there to motivate the guys, talk to them, be an extra set of eyes,” Jones said. “I just wasn’t ready to go to bed a lot of times.”

Acting either as a spotter or designated marksman, many of the U.S. soldiers would look to him for advice during engagements with hostile forces.

“(The soldiers) worshipped him. He was their hero,” Small said. “When gunfire happened there, they knew Jones would step up and fight back. He proved himself as a Marine, no question about it. He showed no fear whatsoever in the face of combat. I can't say enough things about the guy. He was a soldier’s soldier.”

As Jones spent time with the soldiers, the separation felt from being a Marine in a community of Army closed up. They became simply another group of friends he would be forced to leave behind after his tour.


An unnerving, welcome silence

After around three months in Baqubah, Jones was forced to return to Camp Victory in August.

“I didn’t want to leave,” Jones said. “I tried to extend twice out there. I tried to stay as long as I could because I truly believe in the mission. I really want those people to succeed. I’ve met their families. I worked with them. I ate with them. I slept with them. I cried with them. I really want them to be better.”

Two weeks after leaving, Jones returned one last time when the U.S. Army signed over the area authority to the Iraqi Army. While he was gone, a “surge” of U.S. soldiers had swept the city clean of insurgents during Operation Arrowhead Ripper. As Jones’ convoy began heading down the road toward the Governor’s building, he noticed an unusual amount of people walking the streets.

“To be honest, I was freaking out. I wasn’t used to seeing people in the streets,” Jones said. “The markets were open. And I saw kids out playing with balls. The schools were open. There were women walking around with their children.”

Jones was particularly surprised considering his last experience before returning.

“The last time I rolled through that check point there was a suicide bomber and there were body parts lying in the side of the street,” Jones recalled. “Body parts! Right there in the middle of the road. And then I came back and there are schools open, and people walking around.”

As Jones stood in the room of the signing, the silence made him uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to the lack of gunfire.


You are not exempt

Jones currently sits in a small office as the staff noncommissioned officer in charge of flight scheduling at H&HS aboard MCAS Futenma, but is currently scheduled to execute orders to the School of Infantry West, Camp Pendleton, Calif. to become a combat instructor.

The decision was tough, Jones said. He called it a dramatic change in his original career plans, having always desired the title of drill instructor.

“I really wanted to train Marines,” Jones said. “And I wanted to say that I could make a difference in the way I thought the Marine Corps was going to be shaped.”

After his experience in Iraq training policemen and seeing so many service members wounded or killed by combat, he reconsidered where he could make the greatest impact.

“Drill is important, however, drill is not going to keep a Marine alive,” Jones said. “You need to learn weapons proficiency. I want to keep people alive. I want every Marine leaving Marine Combat Training who thinks ‘I’m not going to be in a front line unit’ to understand – I’m an aviation Marine who pushes paper for a living and I was out there doing it every day.

“So you need to pay attention. And that’s the focus I want them to have: ‘it could happen to me.’”


Glorified

As he looks back on his time in Iraq, the most important thing that remains on his mind is the hope that his contributions left a mark.

“I’ll look on (my time spent there) with humility, and pride,” Jones said. “I’m proud of the work the police did. I’d like to think that I had a hand in making Diyala province and the country of Iraq a stronger nation, more able to stand up for themselves. I just like to think that I made a difference.”

But, as always, he remains humble about his accomplishments.

“I don’t even want to be called a hero,” Jones said. “I did my job. Just call me Marine and that’s good enough.”

Regardless of what word you’d use to describe Staff Sgt. Jacob Jones, or what he’d prefer for himself, there is a variety to choose from.

Marine, paper pusher, hero. Proud, humble, glorified.

But when it’s all said and done, really, they all apply.

H/T: Cop The Truth

Dial 911 and die...

Do you need any more reason?
Phones, restraining orders and wishful thinking don't work.

YOU are the only one responsible for your own safety/well being. Don't abdicate that responsibility to someone else, or worse; the Government.

REMEMBER THIS: The Police are under NO legal obligation to protect you, as an individual. This is a legal fact.

Who would you rather rely on: The Police or Yourself?

Graveyards suck...

Tonight was my only night off this week and I can't get to sleep.

AAAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!!

WTF?

So what? This is like .000001% of the military. Who cares?

What's the point of this story? Bush's illegal war is turning people in the military into murderers?

Nope, no Liberal bias here...

Report: 121 veterans linked to killings

NEW YORK - At least 121 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans have committed a killing or been charged in one in the United States after returning from combat, The New York Times reported Sunday.

The newspaper said it also logged 349 homicides involving all active-duty military personnel and new veterans in the six years since military action began in Afghanistan, and later Iraq. That represents an 89-percent increase over the previous six-year period, the newspaper said.

About three-quarters of those homicides involved Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, the newspaper said. The report did not illuminate the exact relationship between those cases and the 121 killings also mentioned in the report.

The newspaper said its research involved searching local news reports, examining police, court and military records and interviewing defendants, their lawyers and families, victims' families and military and law enforcement officials.

Defense Department representatives did not immediately respond to a telephone message early Sunday. The Times said the military agency declined to comment, saying it could not reproduce the paper's research.

A military spokesman, Lt. Col. Les Melnyk, questioned the report's premise and research methods, the newspaper said. He said it aggregated crimes ranging from involuntary manslaughter to murder, and he suggested the apparent increase in homicides involving military personnel and veterans in the wartime period might reflect only "an increase in awareness of military service by reporters since 9/11."

Neither the Pentagon nor the federal Justice Department track such killings, generally prosecuted in state civilian courts, according to the Times.

The 121 killings ranged from shootings and stabbings to bathtub drownings and fatal car crashes resulting from drunken driving, the newspaper said. All but one of those implicated was male.

About a third of the victims were girlfriends or relatives, including a 2-year-old girl slain by her 20-year-old father while he was recovering from wounds sustained in Iraq.

A quarter of the victims were military personnel. One was stabbed and set afire by fellow soldiers a day after they all returned from Iraq.

File this under "Who gives a shit"...
.

Just bizarre...

I guess he should've turned the other cheek.

Or ate it...

Man cooked parts of slain woman, police say
Suspect called police to tell them what he was doing, authorities say

TYLER, Texas - A man killed his girlfriend, then filleted and cooked parts of her body before calling police to tell them what he was doing, authorities said Sunday.

Christopher Lee McCuin, 25, called 911 on Saturday and told an emergency dispatcher he had killed Jana Shearer, 21, and was boiling her body parts at his mother's home, said Smith County Sheriff J.B. Smith.

When authorities arrived at the home, they found Shearer's mutilated body, one ear boiling in a pot of water on the stove and a fork sticking out of some human flesh sitting on a plate on the kitchen table.

Authorities said it was unclear whether McCuin consumed any part of Shearer's body.

"We cannot prove that he did," Smith told The Associated Press. "He was either going to, had been or led us to think that he was doing it."

Authorities believe Shearer, 21, was abducted from her home Friday night and killed. Her death and mutilation was apparently the beginning of a crime spree that also included McCuin allegedly stabbing the boyfriend of his estranged wife and breaking into a business. The stabbing victim is in critical condition at an area hospital, officials said.

McCuin, of Tyler, about 110 miles east of Dallas, was charged with capital murder. He was being held in the Smith County Jail on a $2 million bond Sunday and did not have an attorney, officials said. He was scheduled to be arraigned Monday, Smith said.

Before he called 911, McCuin told his mother and her boyfriend to look in their garage, authorities said. There the couple saw the remains of Shearer. McCuin's mother and her boyfriend fled the home and flagged down a police officer. McCuin dialed authorities after they left.

A man who answered the door Sunday night where the body was found declined to comment.

Apparent blunt trauma
Shearer appeared to have died from blunt trauma to her head, Smith said. She may have been kidnapped Friday night, when her mother witnessed her get into McCuin's truck.

"There was no struggle but she could see the girl left with no shoes, no purse and no cell phone," Smith said.

McCuin then drove to his estranged wife's home, where he stabbed William Veasley, 42, Smith said. McCuin was still in that home when deputies arrived, but escaped in his car after a short chase, Smith said.

"We thought it was a disturbance or an assault," Smith said.

McCuin wasn't seen again until Saturday morning, when he arrived at his mother's home and called her into the garage so she could "come see what he had done," Smith said.

When sheriff deputies arrived, McCuin barricaded himself in the home for a short time before coming out. After he emerged, officers entered and found Shearer's body, Sgt. Gary Middleton said.

Detectives were trying to determine where the slaying happened. They think McCuin drove to his mother's home with the dead woman in the back seat of his extended-cab pickup, Smith said.

‘Get pretty loud’
Freddy Castillo, who lives two houses down, said he frequently heard McCuin and his girlfriend argue in the house and the yard.

"They would get pretty loud," Castillo said. "They'd yell back and forth and then he would just get in his car and leave."