Don't know what to make of this...

But I'm inclined to just say give her a fine or a short jail stay and be done with it it, assuming she hasn't had any run-ins w/ the law since her escape.

I doubt she's a threat to society and she's probably not the same person that she was 32 yrs ago, when she was 19.

San Diego Mom Caught 32 Years After Prison Break
Fugitive Married, Has Three Children

UPDATED: 1:10 pm PDT April 30, 2008
SAN DIEGO -- A woman who escaped a Detroit prison camp 32 years ago and fled to Southern California, where she married and raised three children, was back in custody Wednesday following her arrest last week at her Carmel Valley home.

Marie Walsh, 53, was known as Susan Lefevre in 1975 when she was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison for conspiracy and violation of drug laws, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

Agents tracked Walsh down last week after authorities in her former home state received an anonymous tip about the life she had been leading since going on the lam more than three decades ago.

Walsh was arrested and booked into Las Colinas women's lockup in Santee, where she is awaiting extradition to Michigan to serve the rest of her sentence.

In jailhouse interviews, Walsh -- who initially tried to deny her past when confronted by federal officers on Thursday -- described the offense for which she was convicted as a low-level crime.

"It was a couple hundred dollars worth of drugs, a transaction that my friend did, and I was there in the car," she told a local television station.

Walsh said she "just got in with the wrong crowd" as a teenager and was "experimenting" with drugs when she was arrested for allegedly dealing cocaine and heroin in 1975.

After a year at a detention camp, Walsh managed to escape by climbing a fence.

"And my grandfather was waiting ... a few blocks away," she told the news station. "And the helicopters were overhead. I thought maybe they would shoot at me, and I just really didn't care. I had to get out of there. And it was a very wrong thing to do."

Walsh, who has lived in Carmel Valley for 10 years, said her family knew nothing of her former identity and fugitive status prior to her arrest.

Walsh characterized her reformed, family-oriented ways as grounds for mercy and lenience when she faces justice again in the Midwest.

"I've been through 30 years of paying off a debt (to society)," she said. "I hope that there's some consideration for the fact that I did turn my life around."

This is simply amazing...

Cincinnati man regrows part of his finger through modern medical miracle.

H/T: HotAir

Woman murdered in PD parking lot.

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Do you need more evidence that the Police cannot protect you?

Police say they couldn't save woman shot in front of them

11:43 AM PDT on Wednesday, April 30, 2008

By kgw.com Staff

WEST LINN, Ore. -- West Linn Police say there wasn't time to save a woman shot to death in the parking lot of their police station by her estranged husband.

Bill McMurtrey chased Lisa McMurtrey with his truck as she fled to the police station, then he shot and killed her with a rifle in the parking lot of the West Linn Police Department before fatally shooting himself, police said Tuesday.

West Linn Police Chief Terry Timeus said he looked out the window of his office and saw the shooting unfold but it all happened so fast, there wasn't time to stop it.

Timeus said he saw a sport utility vehicle from his second-story office. He then heard a crash followed by shouting. He then saw that a man had crashed a gray Ford pickup into the SUV and was brandishing a high-powered rifle.

He said Bill McMurtrey had the lifeless look of a killer in his eyes.

Officers heard two shots as they hurried to respond. Lisa Gayle McMurtrey, 51, was found dead at the scene. Newton Bill McMurtrey, 56, initially survived, but was taken to Oregon Health Sciences University Hospital, where he later died. He had been living in Damascus.

"We are saddened by this tragic incident," Police Chief Terry Timeus said. "Though we know our officers could not have changed the outcome of this shooting, we understand she was trying to make it here for her safety, our hearts go out to the victim's family."

According to police, Lisa McMurtrey arrived at the police station in her SUV and then Bill pulled alongside in his pickup truck and opened fire. From KGW's Sky 8 helicopter, a smashed SUV was visible in the parking lot of the police station, and what appeared to be a covered body was slumped over the steering wheel.

Officers said it appeared Bill McMurtrey used a rifle to shoot the woman to death, then shot himself. The police chief watched the whole crime unfold from his window as he called for backup units.

After the incident unfolded, police said they received calls from witnesses saying they saw a gray pickup truck ramming a black SUV near Highway 43 about 30 minutes before the shooting.

West Linn Police spokesperson Neil Hennelly said that information was reported after seeing news reports of the shooting. Hennelly reminded that "it is imperative that people call 9-1-1 immediately if they witness suspicious or violent behavior."

Neighbors of the woman shot to death by her estranged husband in front of police Tuesday said they knew the couple was separated, but they never thought things would turn so violent.

“I never ever would have expected that of him, never,” said neighbor Dusty Calliham, who lived across the street from Bill in Damascus.

She described him as an easy-going man who often helped his neighbors. “He’d pick up our mail when we were on vacation, take care of our dog, because he had a dog, too, and was just a real fun, happy guy,” she said.

Lisa McMurtrey did not have any restraining order against her husband.

Just remember, YOU are the only one responsible for your own safety and that of your loved ones.
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Allergies...

A post about a commercial, at Theo Spark's blog, made me think of this commercial.

I think it's one of the best ever.

Congress: "most irresponsible in modern history"

Investor's Business Daily says that this Congress "is possibly the most irresponsible in modern history." How true that is!

The DemocRat-controlled Congress sits on it's ass, does nothing and blames the woes of America on the Republican's. Lovely...

Congress Vs. You
Tuesday April 29, 6:50 pm ET
Ibd

Energy: President Bush let the Democrat-led Congress have it with both barrels Tuesday, lambasting lawmakers for fiddling while the energy crisis burns. It was a well-deserved takedown of do-nothing lawmakers.

We've said it before, but we'll say it again: This Congress is possibly the most irresponsible in modern history. This is especially true when it comes to America's dysfunctional energy policy.

The media won't call either the House or the Senate on its failures, for one very obvious reason: They mostly share an ideology with the Democrats that keeps them from understanding how free markets and supply and demand really work. Sad, but true.

So we were happy to hear the president do the job, calling out Congress for its inaction and ignorance in his wide-ranging press conference Tuesday.

"Many Americans are understandably anxious about issues affecting their pocketbook, from gas and food prices to mortgage and tuition bills," Bush said. "They're looking to their elected leaders in Congress for action. Unfortunately, on many of these issues, all they're getting is delay."

Best of all, Bush didn't let the issue sit with just generalities. He reeled off a bill of particulars of congressional energy inaction, including:

Failing to allow drilling in ANWR. We have, as Bush noted, estimated capacity of a million barrels of oil a day from this source alone -- enough for 27 million gallons of gas and diesel. But Congress won't touch it, fearful of the clout of the environmental lobby. As a result, you pay at the pump so your representative can raise campaign cash.

Refusing to build new refineries. The U.S. hasn't built one since 1976, yet sanctions at least 15 unique "boutique" fuel blends around the nation. So even the slightest problem at a refinery causes enormous supply problems and price spikes. Congress has done nothing about this.

Turning its back on nuclear power. It's safe and, with advances in nuclear reprocessing technology, waste problems have been minimized. Still, we have just 104 nuclear plants -- the same as a decade ago -- producing just 19% of our total energy. (Many European nations produce 40% or more of their power with nuclear.) Granted, nuclear power plants are expensive -- about $3 billion each. But they produce energy at $1.72/kilowatt-hour vs. $2.37 for coal and $6.35 for natural gas.

Raising taxes on energy producers. This is where a basic understanding of economics would help: Higher taxes and needless regulation lead to less production of a commodity. So by proposing "windfall" and other taxes on energy companies plus tough new rules, Congress makes our energy situation worse.

These are just a few of Congress' sins of omission -- all while India, China, Eastern Europe and the Middle East add more than a million barrels of new demand each and every year. New Energy Department forecasts see world oil demand growing 40% by 2030, including a 28% increase in the U.S.

Americans who are worried about the direction of their country, including runaway energy and food prices, should keep in mind the upcoming election isn't just about choosing a new president. We'll also pick a new Congress.

The current Congress, led on the House side by a speaker who promised a "common sense plan" to cut energy prices two years ago, has shown itself to be incompetent and irresponsible. It doesn't deserve re-election.

DemocRats - Worthless solutions for America's problems.

H/T: Gateway Pundit

I don’t carry a gun…

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Saw this and thought it was pretty apt.

I don’t carry a gun…

…to kill people. I carry a gun to keep from being killed.

I don’t carry a gun to scare people. I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m paranoid. I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m evil. I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the world.

I don’t carry a gun because I hate the government. I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m angry. I carry a gun so that I don’t have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.

I don’t carry a gun because my sex organs are too small. I carry a gun because I want to continue to use those sex organs for the purpose for which they were intended for a good long time to come.

I don’t carry a gun because I want to shoot someone. I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m a cowboy. I carry a gun because, when I die and go to heaven, I want to be a cowboy.

I don’t carry a gun to make me feel like a man. I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the ones they love.

I don’t carry a gun because I feel inadequate. I carry a gun because unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am inadequate.

I don’t carry a gun because I love it. I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.

Rev. Wright meets "The Bus".

Barry O'Bama threw Rev. Wright under a bus today, after the Rev's two speeches over the last couple of days.

Quite frankly, I'm a little surprised that Barry did it so soon. I knew he'd have to do it sooner or later, if he wanted his campaign to go forward, but I didn't think it would be this soon.

Due to the mutual bus-throwing, look for a new revelation from Rev. Wright in the next week or two. Something probably along the lines of "O'Bama's a liar. He's known about my statements for years and he was at church for most of them."

We'll see...

To add: Hildebeast will probably suffer some fallout from all of this too, since she (or her operatives) was behind outing some of this kerfuffle.

Why doesn't he do this more often?

H/T: HotAir

Rule #1 of Gunfighting...

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...have a gun.

Deputies shoot, kill man with knives at Fresno court

By GARANCE BURKE, Associated (with Terrorists) Press Writer Mon Apr 28, 10:35 PM ET

FRESNO, Calif. -- A man with a history of mental illness burst into a packed Merced County courtroom Monday wielding two carving knives, and was shot to death as he threatened a judge he may have blamed for his misfortune, authorities said.

A year earlier, 40-year-old Robert Eaton had been arrested for felony vandalism for ramming his car into the downtown courthouse.

On Monday, Eaton drove straight back there in a silver Toyota Camry he hijacked from someone who was hired to take him to a doctor's appointment. He ran past guards and through a set of metal detectors at the front door holding a knife in each hand, Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin said.

Attorneys and witnesses standing in the hallway cried out as he approached Courtroom 2, but he charged through the courtroom doors and into the well where lawyers were standing in the midst of court proceedings, Chief Deputy District Attorney Harold Nutt said.

"As soon as he hit the inside doors, I was behind him and I started yelling that he had a knife," said Nutt, who saw Eaton approach as he stood in the hallway talking with a colleague. "The officers started yelling at him, and yelling at everybody else to get down and at that point it was rather chaotic. People started screaming, people started heading for the door, and I just ran back outside."

As Judge Brian McCabe tried to hurry his court clerks out the back through his chambers, Eaton held the knives aloft in a stabbing position about 30 feet away, Nutt said.

When Eaton refused to drop the weapons, several officers fired directly at him, and the man died on the courtroom floor, in front of a few dozen lawyers, law enforcement officers and others doing business in the court, Pazin said.

No other injuries were immediately reported, but the courthouse remained on lockdown for hours as investigators interviewed witnesses and officers involved in the incident, said sheriff's spokesman Tom MacKenzie.

Nutt said a public defender told him he recognized the suspect as a previous client with a history of mental illness.

A woman who works for a nonprofit mental health agency that takes patients to medical appointments told authorities that she picked up Eaton in Atwater on Monday afternoon. After a few minutes, he asked the woman to pull over so he could take off his jacket and produced the two kitchen knives, according to MacKenzie.

"He said 'I'm not going to hurt you. I need your car, get out,'" Mackenzie said the woman told authorities. "He gave her her phone and her purse and drove off."

Merced police were investigating the reported carjacking when they got another call about the commotion at the courthouse, MacKenzie said.

Eaton, of Atwater, had an arrest record dating back nearly two decades for car theft, vandalism and other charges, authorities said.

When he crashed into the courthouse in April 2007, Eaton had been angry that he was refused treatment by a local mental health facility.

"There is a likelihood that he and Judge McCabe may have crossed paths in his courtroom," Pazin said at a news conference Monday evening. "He had the knives in tow and literally left the vehicle running and came straight over to the courthouse."

Dartagnan Hutcherson, who watched Eaton burst into Courtroom 2 and get gunned down by deputies, described a traumatic scene.

"He just came in. He was out of breath," Hutcherson told the Merced Sun-Star after the shooting. "He had blood all over him."

I'm sure he was just getting his life together and he wouldn't hurt a flea...
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Britain is fixing to reap what they've sown...

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More "cheeky-shenanigans" from the Religion of Peace.

British Muslim 'bullied' for converting to Christianity
Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent

A British citizen who converted to Christianity from Islam and then complained to police when locals threatened to burn his house down was told by officers to “stop being a crusader”, according to a new report.

Nissar Hussein, 43, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, who was born and raised in Britain, converted from Islam to Christianity with his wife, Qubra, in 1996. The report says that he was subjected to a number of attacks and, after being told that his house would be burnt down if he did not repent and return to Islam, reported the threat to the police. It says he was told that such threats were rarely carried out and the police officer told him to “stop being a crusader and move to another place”. A few days later the unoccupied house next door was set on fire.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a British human rights organisation whose president is the former Cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken, is calling on the UN and the international community to take action against nations and communities that punish apostasy.

Its report, No Place to Call Home, claims that apostates from Islam are subject to “gross and wideranging human rights abuses”. It adds that in countries such as Britain, with large Muslim populations in a Westernised culture, the demand to maintain a Muslim identity is intense. “When identities are precarious, their enforcement will take an aggressive form.”

H/T: Ace via The Corner

Haji won't die...

This video is very scary! When you hear a bunch of Haji's yelling "Allahu Akbar", you'd better GTFO!



I think I'd want the Dark-Green at the front of the conga-line, after that ND he had leaving the building!
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Chickens coming home to roost...

Hopefully San Fransicko will keep doing more stupid things like this.

S.F.'s $100 fine for visible recycling bins

Phillip Matier,Andrew Ross
Monday, April 28, 2008

San Francisco residents, already facing some of the highest housing prices and parking fines in the nation, now have a new nightmare to watch out for - $100 tickets if their garbage or recycling cans can be seen from the street.

"It just blew me away," said Richmond District resident Catherine Fox, one of 189 people who have been dinged since the city started handing out the tickets last month.

Diana Tsoi lives on the same street as Fox and got hit with a $100 fine around the same time as her neighbor.

"It's just ridiculous," Tsoi said. "Some people don't have anywhere else to put these big cans but along the side of their house."

Too bad, because under a law passed two years ago by the Board of Supervisors, it's no longer good enough just to get your cans off the sidewalk once they've been emptied - you have to get them out of sight as well.

Completely out of sight.

Not an easy task, considering every home now gets three 32-gallon cans, each of which measures about 19 by 24 by 38 inches.

"I had mine tucked into the side of the house 20 feet back from the curb," Fox said.

Not good enough.

If someone complains, the city sends out the garbage cops, and if the bins are in sight, you're cited. The ticket shows up in the mail.

The supes passed the out-of-sight-or-else ordinance as an add-on to the existing law that requires cans to be off the sidewalk by 6 p.m. on pickup days.

Things were quiet for the first year, with the Department of Public Works sending out "educational" warnings instead of tickets.

At one point, believe it or not, there was a self-appointed can cop driving around neighborhoods on a motorcycle, snapping pictures of offending bins and turning in people.

Starting in March, the real tickets started going out.

"I don't remember any warning, and I'm pretty alert," Fox said.

Both she and her neighbor Tsoi said they plan to fight the citations.

"I have a hearing date for later this month," Fox said. "It's the same day as my son's 14th birthday.

"I thought I'd take him along as a civics lesson."

Killing is just too good for some people...

I would dearly love to torture this POS for a long time, maybe a year, before I put a bullet in his brain.

'Man Held Daughter Captive In Cellar'

Updated:23:00, Sunday April 27, 2008
Police in Austria have entered a cellar where a man allegedly held his daughter captive for 24 years, during which time he may have fathered seven children by her.

The basement area consists of a very narrow hallway and several rooms, said Franz Polzer, head of the Lower Austrian Bureau of Criminal Affairs, on Austrian TV.

Authorities accessed the area after the father told them how to unlock a hidden door using a code only he had known.

Detectives say Elisabeth Fritzl had been missing since August 29, 1984.

Now aged 42, the woman was found after a tip-off to police. Her 73-year-old father Josef Fritzl has been arrested and is being held in custody.

Speaking from outside the house, Sky's Greg Milam said: "The fact that police have been able to get inside that cellar is significant.
Advertisement

"It means they have a better idea of what Elisabeth Fritzl was going through.

"But it also means the father is talking to police."

The case came to light after one of the children was taken to hospital in the town of Amstetten.

The youngster, 19-year-old Kerstin, was said by police to be "gravely ill".

Elisabeth told police her father began sexually abusing her when she was 11 and he locked her up in a room in the cellar on August 28, 1984.

During the 24 years that followed, she said she had six children by him.

The seventh child was a twin who died shortly after birth. Josef Fritzl removed the body and burned it.

The two oldest children, aged 18 and 19, and the youngest aged 5, had been locked up with their mother since birth and had never seen sunlight or received any education, police said.

Josef's wife Rosemarie had been unaware of what happened to her daughter and it was assumed she had disappeared voluntarily when her parents received a letter from her saying they should not search for her.

Three of Elisabeth's younger children were each left on her parents' doorstep, the first accompanied by a letter saying she could not look after the baby herself.

All were taken in by Josef and his wife as foster or adopted children and went to school as normal.

Police said Elisabeth only agreed to talk after the authorities promised she would not have to have see her father again and the children would be taken care of.

The mother and children are now being treated in hospital by a team of psychologists.

DNA tests are being carried out to determine whether Fritzl is the father.

The case follows that of Natascha Kampusch, the girl who was held in the basement of a house on the outskirts of Vienna for more than eight years.

She was snatched on her way to school by technician Wolfgang Priklopil, who threw himself in front of a train after she escaped.

In another case that rocked Austria, three young girls were locked up for seven years by their mentally ill mother near the city of Linz.

It's "Global Warming" I tell 'ya!

Anchorage digs out after record snowfall

The Associated (with Terrorists) Press

Published: April 26th, 2008 12:37 PM

Anchorage continues to dig out from a snowfall that set a record for the day and the month.The National Weather Service says 17.2 inches fell at its office just south of Anchorage's international airport and 22 inches fell in northeast Anchorage on Friday and Saturday.

The heaviest snow fell between 3 and 6 p.m. Friday at a rate of almost two inches per hour.

The monthly total at the weather service office is now 29.7 inches, breaking a record from 1963 when 27.6 inches fell during April.

The 15.5 inches that fell Friday is the third-most for any one day in Anchorage. The record is the 25.7 inches that fell six years ago on March 17, 2002.

With "friends" like these...

Do we need any more evidence that the UN is completely worthless?

The UN has covered up claims that its troops in Democratic Republic of Congo gave arms to militias and smuggled gold and ivory, the BBC has learned.

The allegations, based on confidential UN sources, involve Pakistani and Indian troops working as peacekeepers.

The UN investigated some of the claims in 2007, but said it could not substantiate claims of arms dealing.

UN insiders told the BBC's Panaroma they had been prevented from pursuing their inquiries for political reasons.

The UN peacekeeping operation in DR Congo is the largest in the world, with 17,000 troops, spread across the country.

...An 18-month BBC investigation for Panorama has found evidence that:

- Pakistani peacekeepers in the eastern town of Mongbwalu were involved in the illegal trade in gold with the FNI militia, providing them with weapons to guard the perimeter of the mines.

- Indian peacekeepers operating around the town of Goma had direct dealings with the militia responsible for the Rwandan genocide, now living in eastern DR Congo.

- The Indians traded gold, bought drugs from the militias and flew a UN helicopter into the Virunga National Park, where they exchanged ammunition for ivory.

H/T: Gateway Pundit

The Austrian Oaf

I saw Arnold on America's Most Wanted tonight.

He told John Walsh that he "wants to put away every single criminal" in Kalifornia.

Um, yeah. Not so much...

Schwarzenegger To Release 22,000 Prisoners To Make Budget

POSTED: 10:17 am PST January 10, 2008
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will propose cutting nearly 10 percent of the budget for public education, releasing nonviolent inmates and closing nearly one in five state parks as part of a series of deep cuts to close a projected $14 billion budget gap over the next 18 months.

At least 22,000 nonviolent inmates will be released, reported NBC11's Mike Luery. Inmates with less than 20 months remaining on their sentences would be released if they are determined to be "low risk."

Only prisoners serving sentences on nonviolent, non-sex offender crimes would be eligible for early release.

The proposal would allow the state to save on the cost of housing inmates and hiring guards.

Eat feces, you double talking douche-bag.
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Bomb them NOW!

Do we need yet another reason to turn Iran into a glass parking lot?

Britons kidnapped in Iraq are ‘held by Iran’
Uzi Mahnaimi and Michael Smith

Five British hostages who were kidnapped in Iraq almost a year ago are being held inside Iran by Revolutionary Guards, according to two separate sources in the Middle East and London.

The hostages were handed over to the Revolutionary Guards by their Iraqi kidnappers last November, the sources believe. One of the sources said they were being held in the western Iranian city of Hamadan.

If confirmed, the involvement of Revolutionary Guards would be seen as evidence that senior figures in the Iranian government had backed the decision to hold them in the country.

However, British officials said that while there had been rumours that the five were in Iran, they had seen no evidence to support the idea.

The hostages are said to be in good physical shape but spending much of their time in solitary confinement.

According to one of the sources, they are under the control of Mohammad Safaei, 41, a senior Revolutionary Guard colonel who was previously in charge of special operations in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.

The hostages were kidnapped in Baghdad last May in an attempt to force the Americans to release Qais al-Khazaali, an Iraqi militia leader said to be close to the Revolutionary Guards.

Khazaali was apparently being groomed by Iran to take control of a breakaway faction of the Mahdi Army, a Shi’ite militia, that would be compliant with Tehran. A former chief spokesman for the Mahdi Army, Khazaali was arrested by US troops after masterminding a raid inside a base in which five US soldiers were killed. The Americans have refused to release al-Khazaali in exchange for the British hostages.

One of the sources, who has close links to the Revolutionary Guard, said the captors were looking for a face-saving way of freeing them. They have suggested the hostages write to church leaders in the UK asking for assistance in gaining their release, the source said.

The five were abducted from the Iraqi finance ministry, where one of them, Peter Moore, a computer specialist, was teaching data-processing. The other four were his bodyguards.

The suggestion that the hostages are in Hamadan follows contradictory claims earlier this month that they were in Tehran. This is the first time it has been claimed they are in the hands of Revolutionary Guards. One of the sources has previously proved to be a reliable source of information about them.

Funny...

How 2 of the 3 acquitted NYPD coppers were Black. They must be sell-outs or Uncle-Tom's.

Or maybe they're undercover Klansmen...

The rally at Sharpton's office was followed by a 20-block march down Malcolm X Boulevard and then across 125th Street, Harlem's main business thoroughfare, where some bystanders yelled out "Kill the police!"

From the same article that I quoted below.

H/T: Gateway Pundit

Added:



From The Sniper

Saturday Monday

Rick Monday (Chicago Cubs 1972-1976) is a Patriot.

32 years ago, today.

"If that's all you're known for, that's not a bad thing."

Monday said:

"Doug Rau, a left-handed pitcher for the Dodgers at the time, came out of the dugout and I handed the flag to him. The two guys were led off the field through the Dodger bullpen.

"After the guys left, there was a buzz in the stands, people being aghast with what had taken place. Without being prompted, and I don't know where it started, but people began to sing 'God Bless America.' When I reflect back upon it now, I still get goose bumps."

Thanks Rick! And Semper Fidelis!



It's worth noting that Rick Monday is still in possession of the flag he saved from being burned. He was offered a million dollars for it recently, but turned it down.

I remembered this was coming up, but HotAir reminded me it was today.
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Stirring the Racial Pot...

"Rev." Al Sharpton is at it again. It can't ever be that the jury saw all the evidence and found that the officers had acted appropriately, can it? No. It has to be that cops (2 or 3 of whom were Black) murdered a poor up-standing citizen just because he was Black.

Cops killing scumbag - A travesty

Scumbag kills cops - Justice

My prediction: the Fed's will charge the NYPD coppers w/ civil-rights violations and they'll be acquitted and there'll be another LA-type riot at some point.

Sharpton vows to 'close this city' after officer acquittals

By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated (with Terrorists) Press Writer

NEW YORK - Hundreds of angry people marched through Harlem on Saturday after the Rev. Al Sharpton promised to "close this city down" to protest the acquittals of three police detectives in the 50-shot barrage that killed a groom on his wedding day and wounded two friends.

"We strategically know how to stop the city so people stand still and realize that you do not have the right to shoot down unarmed, innocent civilians," Sharpton told an overflow crowd of several hundred people at his National Action Network office in the historically black Manhattan neighborhood. "This city is going to deal with the blood of Sean Bell."

Sharpton was joined by the family of 23-year-old Sean Bell — a black man — and a friend of Bell who was wounded in the 2006 shooting outside a Queens strip club. Two of the three officers charged were also black.

The rally at Sharpton's office was followed by a 20-block march down Malcolm X Boulevard and then across 125th Street, Harlem's main business thoroughfare, where some bystanders yelled out "Kill the police!"

Fifty of the marchers carried white placards bearing big black numbers for each of the police bullets fired at Bell and his friends.

Sharpton urged people to return for a meeting this coming week "to plan the day that we will close this city down" with the kind of "massive civil disobedience" once led by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

"They never accused Sean Bell of doing anything. Then why is he dead?" Sharpton asked, his voice roaring with anger. Authorities "have shown now that they will not hold police accountable. Well, guess what? If you won't, we will!"

"Shut it down! Shut it down!" the crowd chanted, standing up and applauding wildly.

Sharpton didn't say exactly how they would protest the acquittals of the officers who fired the 50 shots. He said Bell's supporters could demonstrate all over the city, from Wall Street to the home of Justice Arthur Cooperman, who on Friday acquitted the three detectives after a nonjury trial.

Sitting behind Sharpton as he spoke were Bell's parents, his sister and Nicole Paultre Bell, who took her fiance's name after his death.

"The justice system let me down," Paultre Bell told the crowd in a soft voice. "April 25, 2008: They killed Sean all over again. That's what it felt like to us."

It was her first public comment since she stormed out of a courtroom Friday after the NYPD detectives were cleared in Bell's killing as he left his bachelor party.

One of Bell's companions, Joseph Guzman, also spoke briefly on Saturday, saying: "We've got a long fight."

No justice, no peace...
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John McCain is a douche-tard.

Remember the NCGOP "O'Bama" television ad that he said was 'harmful to the Republicans’ cause. And I’ve done everything that I can to repudiate and to see that this kind of campaigning does not continue.'?

Yeah well, it turns out that McCain hadn't actually seen the ad in question, before he denounced it.

Nice.

H/T: Michelle Malkin

FAIL!

Are you sh*tting me?

I can't believe the sh*t that we let these idiots get away with in this country. I'm fine with your right to protest, but when you infringe on my freedom of movement and you assault me when I film you on public property, that's over the line. And apparently the police were standing right there.

WTF?

BTW, why was that white girl chanting about deportation?
I don't think she needs to worry...



H/T: Gateway Pundit

Semper Fi!

This article is a bit disjointed (the editor needs his ass kicked), but it's a cool story.

Air Force photographer becomes Marine grunt

4/22/2008 By Cpl. Ryan Tomlinson , Regimental Combat Team 5
KOREAN VILLAGE, Iraq —

KOREAN VILLAGE, Iraq —A hard fought transition brought one Marine from shooting photos to shooting rifles.

Cpl. Andrew M. Oquendo, a scout with Delta Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 5, went from photographer with the U.S. Air Force to infantryman in the U.S. Marine Corps.

The 22-year-old infantryman from Paterson, N.J., joined the Air Force after struggling to make payments on his tuition at Delaware State University.

Oquendo was determined to experience what it takes to be successful, so after talking with a high-school friend and a recruiter, he reported to boot camp at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas, in February 2005.

“The Air Force was the only branch I could think of that I wanted to join,” said Oquendo. “I didn’t see any other options, so I signed the dotted line to start my future.”

Upon graduation, he was provided the sense of pride by becoming a member of the U.S. military.

“I felt like most Marines feel when they graduate boot camp and earn the Eagle, Globe and Anchor,” he said. “I felt like I was on top of the world.”

The new airman checked into the Defense Information School in Fort Meade, Md., to earn the military occupational specialty of photographer. Once earning the title of photographer, Oquendo deployed in July 2006 from Scott Air Force Base, Illi., in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“I was in Qatar temporarily until my unit was visited by Maj. Gen. Anthony Przybyslawski (former commanding general of U.S. Air Force Personnel Center), and I took pictures of him,” Oquendo said. “He liked the photos so much he asked if I could accompany him through the rest of his tour.”

During the tour, Oquendo saw Marine infantrymen conducting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and had a feeling that something was missing in his life. He felt he wasn’t contributing enough to the Global War on Terrorism.

“I knew what I really wanted to do, so I had to do whatever it took to achieve it,” said Oquendo.

After building the courage, he talked to Maj. Gen. Przybyslawski about his ambitions and got the assistance he needed to make the transition from the Air Force to the Marine Corps.

“I went to the administrative center to apply for separation forms and the lady at the front desk thought I was crazy for filling it out after how long I’d been in,” said Oquendo. “Little did she know how committed I was to becoming a Marine.”

Within two weeks, his separation request was approved and he left the Air Force Nov. 1, 2006. Oquendo stepped on the “Yellow Footprints” at Parris Island, S.C., Nov. 27, 2006, with the ambition of becoming an infantry Marine.

The newest Marine recruit was prepared for whatever he had to face. According to him, he was looked up to by most of his members of the platoon.

“Since I had been in the military for two years, it was kind of like cheating because a lot of times were easier for me than the other recruits,” Oquendo said.

Now deployed to Iraq for his second combat tour, but this time with the Marine infantry, he is as happy as ever.

“I wanted to be an infantryman because it’s the backbone of the Marine Corps,” said Oquendo. “It’s the stuff you read about in the history book making difference in the world.”

He added he wanted to be part of a brotherhood that would make history.

“When it comes to motivation, Oquendo bring it to a different level,” said Sgt. James D. Leach, a scout squad leader with Delta Company, 2nd LAR. “It’s good having him around.”

Excellent point!

I'm reposting this from Gateway Pundit, because it's just so damned good.

He's right, of course. The DemocRats talk a good game. All they do is complain about how crappy the Republican's are, but they offer ZERO solution's to ANY problem. This is a prime example of their do-nothing plans.

So Much For That Pelosi Plan to Cut Gas Prices

"All you have to do is drive down the street in your car, see the price at the pump, and you know that Americans can no longer afford George W. Bush as President and his Rubber Stamp Republican Congress."

Nancy Pelosi
April 26, 2006

The Pelosi-Reid Congress is shooting for record high gas prices to go with their record low approval ratings.


But, enough is enough...
This week House Republicans demanded that Pelosi turn over her promised plan to cut gas prices:

House Republican leaders on Tuesday challenged Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to release a plan to lower gas prices that they say Democrats touted when they were in the minority.

“Two years ago this week, you stated that House Democrats had a ‘commonsense plan’ to ‘lower gas prices,’ ” the letter said. “In light of the skyrocketing gasoline prices affecting working families and every sector of our struggling economy, we are writing today to respectfully request that you reveal this ‘commonsense plan’ so we can begin work on responsible solutions to help ease this strain.”

Sadly, she couldn't deliver.
Pelosi and democrats have no plan-- just complaints.

Larry King even tried to get her to say something about her plan, via Michelle Malkin:

She had nothing.
Look how uncomfortable she is when he's asking her the question!

Democrats may have been elected into office because of their constant complaints against President Bush, the military, the Republican Congress, Karl Rove, Scooter, Abu Ghraib...
But, now that they are in control everyone can see they have nothing.
No plan- No ideas- Nothing.
It's clear today and Americans are suffering because of it.

Check out this related post too.

To add: Of course the whole "gas/energy" problem can be blamed on the DemocRats/Libs/Tree-Hugging Enviro-nazi's. They have kept the US from drilling in places where we have oil deposits and their enviro-friendly/anti-business policies have kept us from building any new refineries for the past 30yrs.



But don't worry...they have a plan. They'll fix everything...
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Bellavia for Congress

I heard about this last week, but didn't post anything about it then.

Medal of Honor nominee David Bellavia is running for Congress in New York's 26th District. David wrote "House to House" and is one of the founders of Vets For Freedom.

He's a good man, give him some love if you're able.

Maybe they'll riot...

Because this couldn't be a case of these coppers were right and they did what they were supposed to do. It must be because cops are racist and killed a black man just for being black. Yeah, that MUST be it...

Oh yeah, love that headline...

COPS ACQUITTED IN 50-SHOT SEAN BELL SHOOTING DEATH
3 NYPD Detectives Cleared Of All Charges In 2006 Incident
Shouts Of 'Murderers! Murderers!' As Officers Exit Court

NEW YORK (CBS) ― In what marks the end of one of the most high-profile police-involved shooting trials in New York City, a judge has acquitted three NYPD detectives of all charges in the shooting death of 23-year-old Sean Bell on Friday. Bell was gunned down in a hail of 50 bullets outside a Queens strip club on what would have been his wedding day in November 2006.

Justice Arthur Cooperman delivered the verdict in a Queens courtroom packed with spectators, including victim Bell's fiancee and parents, as at least 200 people gathered outside the building.

Detectives Gescard Isnora, 29, and Michael Oliver, 36, faced up to 25 years behind bars for manslaughter charges, while Det. Marc Cooper, 40, faced a year in jail on reckless endangerment charges.

"Murderers! Murderers!" many in the crowd shouted as the officers exited the building. Others chanted "PBA, PBA, KKK! KKK!" while some circled in an orderly protest in front of the court house.

"We're grateful that this court ruled on the evidence presented in this case, but in this case there are no winners or losers, we still have to live with a death." Patrick J. Lynch, President of New York's Police Benevolent Association, said in a statement to the media outside the courthouse.

"This sends a message to New York City police officers that when you are in that position, when you are in front of a court house, when you are in front of a court bench, you will get fairness."...

Glad these guys got the Justice they deserved.
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Pot, meet kettle...

Someone's out of touch, but it isn't the NCGOP.

Apparently it's a bad thing to point out someone's association with an America-hating, racist pastor and that said association doesn't reflect the mood of certain voters. Maybe McLame can tell us exactly what he finds objectionable about this ad.



Just another episode of Maverick...doing everything he can to piss off every one of his voters.

McCain says N.C. Republicans out of touch over ad
Fri Apr 25, 2008 8:44am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. presidential candidate John McCain accused North Carolina's Republican Party of being "out of touch with reality" over its refusal to pull an advertisement criticizing Democrat Barack Obama.

In an NBC interview aired on Friday, the Arizona senator said he has done all he can to persuade the state party to cancel the television ad that criticizes Obama as "too extreme" because of controversial remarks made by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

"They're not listening to me because they're out of touch with reality and the Republican Party. We are the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan and this kind of campaigning is unacceptable," McCain told NBC's "Today" Show.

"I've done everything that I can to repudiate and to see that this kind of campaigning does not continue," he added.

Asked if the state party's unwillingness to heed his call raised questions about his leadership, McCain replied: "I don't know exactly how to respond to that."

North Carolina is one of two states holding the next crucial Democratic primaries on May 6 in the tight race between Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton to oppose McCain in the November presidential election.

Obama, an Illinois senator who would be the first black U.S. president, has come under fire for attending Wright's church in Chicago where the fiery black preacher made a number of racially charged statements about the United States.

Wright, who is now retired, said in a PBS interview that people are trying to paint him as "some kind of fanatic."

The McCain campaign said it had been assured that North Carolina Republicans would withdraw the TV ad, scheduled to air early next week.

Piss-off asswipe.
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First time...

This was pretty cool. I had the pleasure of transporting my Godson, Shane, for the first time, today. I had to pick him up from pre-school and drop him off at day-care, because his bus transpo wasn't locked-on yet. Mom and Dad were busy, so I volunteered to help them out. It was fun! Here's a pic of him, but not from today and not in my hoopty.

The sky is falling!

Maybe not so much, Henny Penny.

This is a bunch of crap and from the Wall Street Journal, no less!

Load Up the Pantry
April 21, 2008 6:47 p.m.

I don't want to alarm anybody, but maybe it's time for Americans to start stockpiling food.

No, this is not a drill.

You've seen the TV footage of food riots in parts of the developing world. Yes, they're a long way away from the U.S. But most foodstuffs operate in a global market. When the cost of wheat soars in Asia, it will do the same here.

Reality: Food prices are already rising here much faster than the returns you are likely to get from keeping your money in a bank or money-market fund. And there are very good reasons to believe prices on the shelves are about to start rising a lot faster.

"Load up the pantry," says Manu Daftary, one of Wall Street's top investors and the manager of the Quaker Strategic Growth mutual fund. "I think prices are going higher. People are too complacent. They think it isn't going to happen here. But I don't know how the food companies can absorb higher costs." (Full disclosure: I am an investor in Quaker Strategic)

Stocking up on food may not replace your long-term investments, but it may make a sensible home for some of your shorter-term cash. Do the math. If you keep your standby cash in a money-market fund you'll be lucky to get a 2.5% interest rate. Even the best one-year certificate of deposit you can find is only going to pay you about 4.1%, according to Bankrate.com. And those yields are before tax.

Meanwhile the most recent government data shows food inflation for the average American household is now running at 4.5% a year.

And some prices are rising even more quickly. The latest data show cereal prices rising by more than 8% a year. Both flour and rice are up more than 13%. Milk, cheese, bananas and even peanut butter: They're all up by more than 10%. Eggs have rocketed up 30% in a year. Ground beef prices are up 4.8% and chicken by 5.4%.

These are trends that have been in place for some time.

And if you are hoping they will pass, here's the bad news: They may actually accelerate.

The reason? The prices of many underlying raw materials have risen much more quickly still. Wheat prices, for example, have roughly tripled in the past three years.

Sooner or later, the food companies are going to have to pass those costs on. Kraft saw its raw material costs soar by about $1.25 billion last year, squeezing profit margins. The company recently warned that higher prices are here to stay. Last month the chief executive of General Mills, Kendall Powell, made a similar point.

The main reason for rising prices, of course, is the surge in demand from China and India. Hundreds of millions of people are joining the middle class each year, and that means they want to eat more and better food.

A secondary reason has been the growing demand for ethanol as a fuel additive. That's soaking up some of the corn supply.

You can't easily stock up on perishables like eggs or milk. But other products will keep. Among them: Dried pasta, rice, cereals, and cans of everything from tuna fish to fruit and vegetables. The kicker: You should also save money by buying them in bulk.

If this seems a stretch, ponder this: The emerging bull market in agricultural products is following in the footsteps of oil. A few years ago, many Americans hoped $2 gas was a temporary spike. Now it's the rosy memory of a bygone age.

The good news is that it's easier to store Cap'n Crunch or cans of Starkist in your home than it is to store lots of gasoline. Safer, too.

Write to Brett Arends at brett.arends@wsj.com

Sorry Brett, but you're full of sh*t.
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In case you didn't know...

This is why cops are not in the mood to put up with any shenanigans on traffic stops.

When stopped by the police, don't be an idiot.

I love this guy!

McCain, in New Orleans, Says Katrina Response `Disgraceful'

Edwin Chen Thu Apr 24, 2:36 PM ET

April 24 (Bloomberg) -- John McCain toured a New Orleans neighborhood still reeling from Hurricane Katrina and issued a new and scathing critique of the "terrible and disgraceful" failure of the Bush administration's response to the disaster.

McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said that had he been president he would have immediately visited the area after the storm hit in August 2005. While he's been critical of the administration's Katrina response before, the Arizona senator's remarks today were some of the sharpest he's used.

"Never again will a disaster of this nature be handled in this terrible and disgraceful manner," McCain said after a walking tour of the Lower Ninth Ward, a predominantly black neighborhood that was devastated by Katrina. "History will judge this president," he said. "This was an unacceptable scenario."

The New Orleans stop was part of McCain's outreach to voters in economically struggling regions of the country and to black voters who historically have voted overwhelmingly for Democratic presidential candidates. He also has been seeking to show how he would be different from fellow Republican Bush, whose approval ratings are at all-time lows for a president.

McCain also blamed the spending habits of Congress, one of his signature campaign issues, for part of the devastation suffered in New Orleans.

"I would also place some of those responsibilities on the Congress, which funded pork barrel projects that were not only not needed but certainly not as important as some of the projects that were needed here," he said.

The hurricane is blamed for more than 1,100 deaths, most of them in New Orleans. Thousands of the city's residents were left homeless by flooding. For days, people seeking refuge at the Super Dome were largely left to their own devices there, without adequate food or water or sanitation.

"All I can say is, it will never, ever happen again," McCain said after his walk, accompanied by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a Republican.

He can talk trash (wrongly) about Pres. Bush, but he can't even criticize Barry O'Bama or Shillary? GTFO!

Douchebag.

H/T: Ace
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Moron

Norman Stamp, you were an idiot. 65 years old and been on the job for 44 years?

You should've retired, dude.

Off-duty Baltimore officer killed by police during bar fight

By ALEX DOMINGUEZ, Associated (with Terrorists) Press Writer


BALTIMORE - An off-duty officer was shot and killed by another officer early Thursday after he drew a handgun when police tried to quell a brawl at a strip club, police said.

Officer Norman Stamp, 65, was fatally shot after he failed to follow an order to halt and instead drew his weapon, Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said at a news conference.

The uniformed officer, John Torres, had first used a Taser in an unsuccessful attempt to subdue him, Bealefeld said. Torres did not recognize Stamp, and there was no indication Stamp identified himself as an officer, he said.

Torres, 26, "did what he was taught to do in these types of situations," Bealefeld said.

Officers responded shortly after midnight to reports of a fight outside the Haven Place club. Torres stationed himself by a door to prevent anyone else from joining the melee, and confronted Stamp when he emerged wearing brass knuckles, Bealefeld said.

The jolt from the stun gun caused Stamp to fall to the ground, Bealefeld said, at which point Stamp drew his handgun. After he was shot, Stamp was rushed to a hospital, where he died around 1:30 a.m.

Stamp had been with the department 44 years, making him one of its longest-serving officers.

"Officer Stamp was a mentor to some and a friend to many," Bealefeld said. "This is an incredibly difficult time."

The brawl began after several women came to the bar looking for work and "some people made comments about them," Bealefeld said. Stamp's role had not been determined.

Police spokesman Sterling Clifford said Torres, who joined the department in 2002, would not have recognized Stamp because the older officer had spent several years in the unit that patrols the Inner Harbor.

"He just wouldn't have ever run into him," Clifford said. Torres was placed on administrative duty after the shooting.

Stamp became the seventh person shot and killed by Baltimore police this year, Clifford said.

Another case of involuntary removal from the gene pool.
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This sh*t is going too far...

Climate change 'may put world at war'

By Charles Clover, Environment Editor
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 23/04/2008

Climate change could cause global conflicts as large as the two world wars but lasting for centuries unless the problem is controlled, a leading defence think tank has warned.

The Royal United Services Institute said a tenfold increase in research spending, comparable to the amount spent on the Apollo space programme, will be needed if the world is to avoid the worst effects of changing temperatures.

A dried-up reservoir: Climate change 'may put world at war'
Governments should be preparing for the worst

However the group said the world's response to the threats posed by climate change, such as rising sea levels and migration, had so far been "slow and inadequate," because nations had failed to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

"We're preparing for a car bomb, not for 9/11," said Nick Mabey, author of the report which comes after Lord Stern, who compiled an economic assessment of climate change for the Government, said last week that he had underestimated the possible economic consequences.

Mr Mabey, a former senior member of the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit who is now chief executive of the environmental group E3G, said leading economies should be preparing for what would happen if climate change turned out to be running at the top of the temperature range scientists are predicting.

He noted that investment in energy research is ten times less than the £10 billion a year (at 2002 prices) spent on the Apollo shuttle programme.

Unless similar sums are poured into battling climate change the world risks being caught completely unprepared if the climate reaches a "tipping point" where warming and sea level rise began to accelerate, he said.

Even if climate change was more benign than the worst-case scenario, the research would not be wasted as technological advances in nuclear power, biofuels, carbon capture and storage and renewables were urgently needed anyway, he added.

The report said: "If climate change is not slowed and critical environmental thresholds are exceeded, then it will become a primary driver of conflicts between and within states."

It added: "Climate impacts will force us into a radical rethink of how we identify and secure our national interests.

For example, our energy and climate security will increasingly depend on stronger alliances with other large energy consumers, such as China, to develop and deploy new energy technologies, and less on relations with oil producing states.

"No strategy for long run peace and stability in Afghanistan can possibly succeed unless local livelihoods can survive the impact of a changing climate on water availability and crop yields."

A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "We welcome the RUSI report as a helpful addition to the growing debate on climate security."

YGBFSM!

What an utter bunch of crap.
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McCain/RNC = Pathetic

McCain and the RNC are absolutely pathetic. They want this ad taken down because it's “Not appropriate and unhelpful.” I've decided a while ago that I won't contribute one-red-cent to the RNC because of crap like this. Everyone in a leadership position at the RNC should be fired.

I see nothing wrong with this ad and the fact that the RNC (and McCain) does, is all I need to know about them.



I'll vote for McCain. But won't like it.

H/T: Michelle Malkin

Thank-you MSG O'Connor

One of the soldier's mention in this previous post, is being awarded a medal a week from today, for that action.

MSG Brendan O'Connor will be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross next Wednesday, at Ft. Bragg, NC. The DSC is second only to the Medal of Honor for valorous conduct in combat.


Added: "Back in the day" MSG O'Connor was a commissioned officer in the Army Reserve and rose through the ranks to become the commander of a Special Forces "A-Team". In 1994, he resigned his Reserve commission to join the Regular Army as an Enlisted SF Medic. In 2006, he was the Special Operations Command "Medic of the Year".

Lessons in Leadership: From a Janitor

A post from a guy on the George McGovern thread over at Ace of Spades made me think of this great story that I read a while back.

It's a great read and a great story and the ten leadership lessons can be used by all of us.

Every day.

Lessons in Leadership: From a Janitor

By Col. James E. Moschgat,
12th OG/CC, 12th FTW, Randolph AFB, Texas

William "Bill" Crawford certainly was an unimpressive figure, one you could easily overlook during a hectic day at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Mr.Crawford, as most of us referred to him back in the late 1970s, was our squadron janitor.

While we cadets busied ourselves preparing for academic exams, athletic events, Saturday morning parades and room inspections, or never-ending leadership classes, Bill quietly moved about the squadron mopping and buffing floors, emptying trash cans, cleaning toilets, or just tidying up the mess 100 college-age kids can leave in a dormitory.

Sadly, and for many years, few of us gave him much notice, rendering little more than a passing nod or throwing a curt, "G'morning" in his direction as we hurried off to our daily duties.

Why? Perhaps it was because of the way he did his job-he always kept the squadron area spotlessly clean, even the toilets and showers gleamed. Frankly, he did his job so well, none of us had to notice or get involved. After all, cleaning toilets was his job, not ours.

Maybe it was is physical appearance that made him disappear into the background. Bill didn't move very quickly and, in fact, you could say he even shuffled a bit, as if he suffered from some sort of injury. His gray hair and wrinkled face made him appear ancient to a group of young cadets. And his crooked smile, well, it looked a little funny. Face it, Bill was an old man working in a young person's world. What did he have to offer us on a personal level?

Finally, maybe it was Mr. Crawford's personality that rendered him almost invisible to the young people around him. Bill was shy, almost painfully so. He seldom spoke to a cadet unless they addressed him first, and that didn't happen very often. Our janitor always buried himself in his work, moving about with stooped shoulders,a quiet gait, and an averted gaze. If he noticed the hustle and bustle of cadet life around him, it was hard to tell.

So, for whatever reason, Bill blended into the woodwork and became just another fixture around the squadron. The Academy, one of our nation's premier leadership laboratories, kept us busy from dawn till dusk. And Mr. Crawford...well, he was just a janitor.

That changed one fall Saturday afternoon in 1976. I was reading a book about World War II and the tough Allied ground campaign in Italy, when I stumbled across an incredible story. On September 13, 1943, a Private William Crawford from Colorado, assigned to the 36th Infantry Division, had been involved in some bloody fighting on Hill 424 near Altavilla, Italy. The words on the page leapt out at me:

"In the face of intense and overwhelming hostile fire ... with no regard for personal safety ...on his own initiative, Private Crawford single-handedly attacked fortified enemy positions." It continued, "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty, ...the President of the United States.

"Holy cow!" I said to my roommate, you're not going to believe this, but I think our janitor is a Medal of Honor winner. We all knew Mr. Crawford was a WWII Army vet, but that didn't keep my friend from looking at me as if I was some sort of alien being. Nonetheless, we couldn't wait to ask Bill about the story on Monday.

We met Mr. Crawford bright and early Monday and showed him the page in question from the book, anticipation and doubt in our faces. He starred at it for a few silent moments and then quietly uttered something like, "Yep, that's me." Mouths agape, my roommate and I looked at one another, then at the book, and quickly back at our janitor. Almost at once we both stuttered, "Why didn't you ever tell us about it?" He slowly replied after some thought, "That was one day in my life and it happened a long time ago."

I guess we were all at a loss for words after that. We had to hurry off to class and Bill, well, he had chores to attend to. However, after that brief exchange, things were never again the same around our squadron. Word spread like wildfire among the cadets that we had a hero in our midst - Mr. Crawford, our janitor, had won the Medal!

Cadets who had once passed by Bill with hardly a glance, now greeted him with a smile and a respectful, "Good morning, Mr. Crawford." Those who had before left a mess for the janitor to clean up started taking it upon themselves to put things in order. Most cadets routinely stopped to talk to Bill throughout the day and we even began inviting him to our formal squadron functions. He'd show up dressed in a conservative dark suit and quietly talk to those who approached him, the only sign of his heroics being a simple blue, star-spangled lapel pin.

Almost overnight, Bill went from being a simple fixture in our squadron to one of our teammates. Mr. Crawford changed too, but you had to look closely to notice the difference. After that fall day in 1976, he seemed to move with more purpose, his shoulders didn't seem to be as stooped, he met our greetings with a direct gaze and a stronger "Good morning" in return, and he flashed his crooked smile more often. The squadron gleamed as always, but everyone now seemed to notice it more. Bill even got to know most of us by our first names, something that didn't happen often at the Academy. While no one ever formally acknowledged the change, I think we became Bill's cadets and his squadron.

As often happens in life, events sweep us away from those in our past. The last time I saw Bill was on graduation day in June 1977. As I walked out of the squadron for the last time, he shook my hand and simply said, "Good luck, young man." With that, I embarked on a career that has been truly lucky and blessed. Mr. Crawford continued to work at the Academy and eventually retired in his native Colorado where he resides today, one of four Medal of Honor winners living in a small town.

A wise person once said, "It's not life that's important, but those you meet along the way that make the difference." Bill was one who made a difference for me. While I haven't seen Mr. Crawford in over twenty years, he'd probably be surprised to know I think of him often. Bill Crawford, our janitor, taught me many valuable, unforgettable leadership lessons. Here are ten I'd like to share with you.

1. Be Cautious of Labels. Labels you place on people may define your relationship to them and bound their potential. Sadly, and for a long time, we labeled Bill as just a janitor, but he was so much more. Therefore, be cautious of a leader who callously says, "Hey, he's just an Airman". Likewise, don't tolerate the O-1, who says, "I can't do that, I'm just a lieutenant.

2. Everyone Deserves Respect. Because we hung the "janitor" label on Mr. Crawford, we often wrongly treated him with less respect than others around us. He deserved much more, and not just because he was a Medal of Honor winner. Bill deserved respect because he was a janitor, walked among us, and was a part of our team.

3. Courtesy Makes a Difference. Be courteous to all around you, regardless of rank or position. Military customs, as well as common courtesies, help bond a team. When our daily words to Mr. Crawford turned from perfunctory "hellos" to heartfelt greetings, his demeanor and personality outwardly changed. It made a difference for all of us.

4. Take Time to Know Your People. Life in the military is hectic, but that's no excuse for not knowing the people you work for and with. For years a hero walked among us at the Academy and we never knew it. Who are the heroes that walk in your midst?

5. Anyone Can Be a Hero. Mr. Crawford certainly didn't fit anyone's standard definition of a hero. Moreover, he was just a private on the day he won his Medal. Don't sell your people short, for any one of them may be the hero who rises to the occasion when duty calls. On the other hand, it's easy to turn to your proven performers when the chips are down, but don't ignore the rest of the team. Today's rookie could and should be tomorrow's superstar.

6. Leaders Should Be Humble. Most modern day heroes and some leaders are anything but humble, especially if you calibrate your hero meter on today's athletic fields. End zone celebrations and self-aggrandizement are what we've come to expect from sports greats. Not Mr. Crawford-he was too busy working to celebrate his past heroics. Leaders would be well-served to do the same.

7. Life Won't Always Hand You What You Think You Deserve. We in the military work hard and, dang it, we deserve recognition, right? However, sometimes you just have to persevere, even when accolades don't come your way. Perhaps you weren't nominated for junior officer or airman of the quarter as you thought you should; don't let that stop you. Don't pursue glory; pursue excellence. Private Bill Crawford didn't pursue glory; he did his duty and then swept floors for a living.

8. No job is beneath a Leader. If Bill Crawford, a Medal of Honor winner, could clean latrines and smile, is there a job beneath your dignity? Think about it.

9. Pursue Excellence. No matter what task life hands you, do it well. Dr. Martin Luther King said, "If life makes you a street sweeper, be the best street sweeper you can be. Mr. Crawford modeled that philosophy and helped make our dormitory area a home.

10. Life is a Leadership Laboratory. All too often we look to some school or PME class to teach us about leadership when, in fact, life is a leadership laboratory. Those you meet everyday will teach you enduring lessons if you just take time to stop, look and listen. I spent four years at the Air Force Academy, took dozens of classes, read hundreds of books, and met thousands of great people. I gleaned leadership skills from all of them, but one of the people I remember most is Mr. Bill Crawford and the lessons he unknowingly taught. Don't miss your opportunity to learn.

Bill Crawford was a janitor. However, he was also a teacher, friend, role model and one great American hero. Thanks, Mr. Crawford, for some valuable leadership lessons.

And now, the rest of the story:

Pvt William John Crawford was a platoon scout for 3rd Platoon of Company L, 142nd Regiment; 36th Division (Texas National Guard) and won the Medal of Honor for his actions on Hill 424, just 4 days after the invasion at Salerno. On Hill 424, Pvt Crawford took out 3 enemy machine guns before darkness fell, halting the platoon's advance. Pvt Crawford could not be found and was assumed dead. The request for his MOH was quickly approved. Major General Terry Allen presented the posthumous MOH to Bill Crawford's father, George, on 11 May 1944 in Camp (now Fort) Carson, near Pueblo.

Nearly two months after that, it was learned that Pvt Crawford was alive in a POW camp in Germany. During his captivity, a German guard clubbed him with his rifle. Bill overpowered him, took the rifle away, and beat the guard unconscious. A German doctor's testimony saved him from severe punishment perhaps death. To stay ahead of the advancing Russian army, the prisoners were marched 500 miles in 52 days in the middle of the German winter, subsisting on one potato a day. An allied tank column liberated thecamp in the spring of 1945, and Pvt Crawford took his first hot shower in 18 months on VE Day. Pvt Crawford stayed in the army before retiring as a MSG and becoming a janitor.

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan officially presented the MOH to Bill Crawford.

Bill Crawford passed away on March 15th, 2000 in Palmer Lake, CO.
He is the only U.S. Army veteran and sole Medal of Honor winner to be buried in the cemetery of the U.S. Air Force Academy
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I almost missed this...

Thank-you, Jason...

Good shooting!

Below is the printout from the CA Dept. of Corrections (Parole) on a scumbag parolee that was killed by a Sacramento Co. Deputy Sheriff Sunday night. Said scumbag was wanted as a Parolee At Large and as a suspect in a robbery/murder/arson that happened the same day. The deputy's got info that the PAL was located at a motel in a nearby city and went there to contact him. The PAL saw them approach and ran. One of the deputy's gave chase and the PAL reached into his waistband and was shot once. He died at the scene.

Thanks to the deputy for a job well done.

I wish I was in this class...

Notice the girls didn't move, while she was shooting the Uzi.

Nice!



Better quality video here.

When the stuff hits the fan...

Will you be ready to GTFOOD*?

Here's a good primer I came across the other day. It'll get you started.

You should think about situations like this (natural disasters, civil insurrection, etc.) and take a few steps to be ready if it does happen. You never know...

LISTENING TO KATRINA

*Get The Freak Out Of Dodge

Who do the Terrorists support?

Which DemocRat candidate do Terrorists support?

See for yourself (via Michelle Malkin).

CHP saves the day.

My buddy Mark and his flight officer rescued a missing runner in the Sierra foothill's yesterday.

The guy was out running and got separated from the rest of the runners, wound up getting lost and had to spend the night in a t-shirt and shorts (it was very cold), before being rescued by H-20.

As usual, people have to risk their lives to undo the stupidity of others...

It's just another day for them, but good job Mark and Leslie!

Watch the video:

Here and Here.

Hero of the day.

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Allan Kieta, you're stud! Well Done!

To add: I have no idea how he was able to do it, the burglar could've had a gun or knife, but he did and that's totally awesome.

Blind homeowner captures intruder

A blind homeowner used the wrestling skills he learned more than 30 years ago to overpower an intruder and hold the man at knifepoint until police arrived this morning.

“I just kind of panicked and just kind of went crazy after that,” Allan Kieta said. “I’ve wrestled all my life. My dad’s a Marine; he taught me some stuff. You’re thinking in your head all this survival stuff.”
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An Indianapolis police official called it one of the most incredible tales of citizen self-defense that he’s heard in years.

“It’s pretty remarkable for anyone that’s blind to be able to defend themselves, let alone make an apprehension,” Lt. Jeff Duhamell said. “To be able to grab this guy and hold him down until police got there is pretty remarkable.”

Kieta is typically at work on Mondays but had taken the day off from his job with the federal government. So he was home when a man entered his Eastside residence in the 3100 block of Richardt Avenue about 9 a.m.

“We have a little poodle-like dog. It was barking and barking,” Kieta said. “I opened the door and just ran into him.”

Kieta, 49, who is legally blind, said he was the Kentucky high school wrestling champ for the 145-pound division in 1976. He used his skills and other self-defense tactics learned from his father to subdue the intruder.

“I had him pinned in the laundry room and just kept pummeling,” Kieta said, describing the pounding he gave the 25-year-old arrested by police.

Kieta punched, kicked and grappled until the suspect became disoriented. Kieta said he grabbed him by the belt and dragged him into the kitchen. Kieta then found a kitchen knife and held it at the man’s throat.

Kieta fumbled to dial 911 with his other hand.

“Being visually impaired, I couldn’t get the buttons because I was using my left hand,” he said. “It took me about 20 tries.”

Police arrived minutes after dispatchers received the call at 9:47 a.m.

Alvaro Castro, 25, was arrested on an initial charge of residential entry, Sgt. Matthew Mount said. Police say Castro denied trying to burglarize the home. He said he was the ex-boyfriend of Kieta’s 18-year-old daughter and said he was trying to visit her when he ran into her father, Mount said.

Kieta said Castro also told him he was looking for his cat.

“I go, 'Your cat? You’re in my house!”’ Kieta recalled.

Castro was held at Wishard Memorial Hospital's secure detention facility, then transferred to the Marion County Jail late Monday night.

Kieta said he suffered swollen hands and a sore back, but no serious injuries.

“When my wife was cleaning the blood off, she said ‘I think it’s all his,’.” Kieta said.

Al Qaeda Decapitated in Iraq

More news you won't hear from the Drive-By-Media:

April 22, 2008: Between mid-March and mid-April, al Qaeda suffered major losses in Iraq. American and Iraqi troops killed or captured 53 al Qaeda leaders. These include men in charge of entire cities (or portions of large cities like Mosul or Baghdad), as well as men in charge of various aspects of terror operations (making bombs, placing them or minding the bombers). Most important, nine of the ten most senior men involved, were captured, and interrogated. This led to locating more al Qaeda staff, and assets. Hundreds of weapons and explosives caches have been discovered this year, as a result of interrogating captured terrorists. The result has been a sharp fall in suicide bomber attacks, and the ones still carried out are against soft targets (civilians), including the recent funeral of two men earlier killed by terrorists. This was part of an al Qaeda campaign to force Sunni Arabs to switch sides again and support terrorism. But these attacks have the opposite effect, causing more hatred for al Qaeda.

All this is good news, meaning it's not reported. Face, any media outlet that puts out too much good news will go out of business. Bad news brings in the eyeballs and advertising revenue. Stories of desertion and desperation in Basra grab the headlines, while al Qaeda's travails are relegated to the back pages, if at all.

From: StrategyPage
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True American Bad-Asses!

True studs and heroes, all. One of the sergeants gets choked up about the bravery of one of his fellow team-mates. Good stuff.

Ambush in Afghanistan

(The embed code given on the CBS site is no good, so I can only post this link)

Very Cool!

Pizza Hut is dead to me.

Major props to this guy. He shot the turd that was trying to rob him and threatening his life. He got fired, so what. He can get another job because he's alive to do so. Good for him!

F*** Pizza Hut.

Pizza Hut delivers pink slip to employee held at gunpoint

By JACQUELINE LEE • REGISTER STAFF WRITER • April 19, 2008

A Republican state lawmaker called on Iowans Friday to boycott Pizza Hut restaurants after the company fired a Des Moines delivery driver who shot an armed robber last month.

"You tell me any Iowan that was in his situation, that had a gun put to his head, how they would've reacted differently," state Sen. Brad Zaun of Urbandale said. "I think it's the wrong decision by Pizza Hut and I will not be buying any more Pizza Hut products."

James William Spiers III, 38, fired multiple shots at a man who accosted him March 27 and demanded money at the Sutton Hill Apartments, 2100 S.E. King Ave.

Spiers said Pizza Hut officials asked for his resignation in exchange for at least two months' pay and counseling.

"I was terminated, but they're not going to kick me to the curb," he said Friday. "When they terminated me, I had asked if they could provide me with counseling. That's all I asked for."

Pizza Hut officials confirmed that Spiers was offered a severance package, counseling services and job search help but declined to comment further.

"We're doing all that we can to help him with the transition," said Chris Fuller, a spokesman for the Dallas company, which is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands Inc. The chain has more than 6,200 U.S. restaurants, at least 10 of which are in the Des Moines area. Spiers drove for the Pizza Hut on Southeast 14th Street.

Officers who were called to Sutton Hill Apartments on March 27 found Spiers in the parking lot shortly after 10:30 p.m. They said Spiers immediately raised his hands and knelt to the ground. A police report said Spiers told officers "that he had a gun in each of his front coat pockets."

A suspect, Kenneth Jimmerson, 19, was arrested when he later called for medical help. Jimmerson, who police say suffered at least three gunshot wounds, faces a first-degree robbery charge. Melanie Stout, 18, who allegedly called in the pizza order, is charged with conspiracy. Both are in the Polk County Jail.

Spiers, who has a valid handgun permit, said it was the first time in 10 years on the job that he had been a robbery victim. Public reaction was immediate and overwhelmingly in favor of Spiers.

Pizza Hut officials made it clear after the incident that employees are not allowed to carry guns. Fuller said Friday the policy is in line with the food delivery industry and will not be altered.

Spiers said he wishes the company would "at least make exceptions to the policy given the situation I was in."

"Now the area regional manager is going to offer me a paycheck for the next couple of months, minimum wage every two weeks," he said. "They can't make up for tips."

Zaun gave company officials credit for the offer to help Spiers with counseling, but added: "I would just encourage everybody to reconsider their decision when they're considering patronizing Pizza Hut."

Spiers, meanwhile, said he will take advantage of the counseling.

"Psychologically, I'm OK," he said. "I don't go to sleep right away at night."

Watch his interview here.
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Newt Gingrich is an idiot.

The "Global Warming" menace is flourishing because people like him give credence to it with BS like this. Why does he do it? Does he actually believe in the "Global Warming" BS? Or is he somehow trying to curry favor with a segment of the "Global Warming" crowd?

Whatever the reason, it's disgusting and he should know better.

"Global Warming" is an Inconvenient Lie.



H/T: Michelle Malkin