I love these cars!

These things look hella sweet. I haven't driven one, but I've heard they're a lot better performing than the Crown Vic's. In the V-8, that is. It's about the same in the V-6 model.

This has some funny stuff towards the end.

How cool is this!

A website that has all the episodes (season 1 & 2) of Adam-12 on-line!

SWEET!

Adam-12 was one of my FAVORITE TV shows when I was a kid. That, and SWAT and Starsky & Hutch and Hawaii Five-O and Emergency!

BTW, those are all on there too.

I love the Internets!

Friday Night Hotness

Gina Carano

So damned fine...

Bunk!

H/T: Ace

What are schools teaching these days?

WTF? Don't schools teach anyone about civil rights any more?

Aside from the fact that these kids were told they were banned from the store (who really cares about that?), these kids had left the store (having not committed any crime) and then told to return to the store?

And then they did!

Then, they were illegally detained for 2 1/2 hours!

Does anyone at Apple know that it's illegal to kidnap someone or hold them against their will?

So, according to the article (and Apple) they were kidnapped off the street and then falsely imprisoned in the store, just so that the manager could tell them to leave the store? That doesn't make any sense what-so-ever.

Didn't these kids learn anywhere that they didn't need to return to the store?
Didn't they learn that they can't be held against their will when they hadn't committed a crime?

Please people, teach your damned kids about their Constitutional Rights!
If their school won't, you'd better.

Hopefully these kid's parents get a lawyer and sue the crap out of that store.

Teens say they were banned from Apple stores for life, company denies it

By Kristina Peterson
Bay Area News Group
Article Launched: 05/29/2008 07:27:16 PM PDT

Four Palo Alto teenagers raised in the heart of Silicon Valley got the scare of their lives when they thought they might be banished from all Apple stores worldwide, for life.

Their crime, the teens said, was downloading a third-party car racing game onto iPhones at Apple's University Avenue store in Palo Alto last weekend. For that, the two Palo Alto High School students and two recent graduates said they were detained 2 1/2 hours at the store and permanently banned by management.

Apple spokesman Steve Dowling denied the teenagers' banishment claim.

"They were not banned from that store or any other store," Dowling said.

Coincidentally, the company has already announced it will encourage customers to download similar third-party applications onto their iPhones, starting next month.

Earlier this week, the four teenagers said they were depressed about not being able to visit their favorite store again.

"I can't walk down University Avenue without going in there," said Paly senior Daniel Fukuba, who camped out for the first iPhones last year.

Fukuba, who works at a local start-up when not in school, said he and two friends - junior Eric Vicenti and Paly alum Noah Rogers - had some time to kill before meeting up with Paly alum Anjay Patel on Saturday, so they headed over to the Apple store.

"We thought that it was completely harmless," Vicenti said.

When an employee stopped by and asked what they were doing, Fukuba told him they were "playing around with the phones."

Rogers, who said he worked for the Palo Alto Apple store during the holiday season, said employees are trained to restore the iPhones and computers each night so any downloaded applications would be erased before the next day.

"All you have to do is plug it in a laptop to restore it to normal," he said.

The employee did not seem alarmed, but a few minutes later a manager came over and asked whether they needed help, Fukuba said. He replied that they were doing fine, and shortly after Patel arrived the group left the store.

Patel said he had spent less than five minutes in the store, doing nothing but checking his Facebook page and barely chatting with his friends. "I may have said one or two words to them," he said.

But the group had time to talk over the next 2 1/2 hours.

"We're halfway down the block when the manager comes running out and tells us to stop right there,"' Fukuba said.

The students were ordered to return to the store, where a security guard and the manager called police, Vicenti said.

Sgt. Sandra Brown confirmed that the store called the Palo Alto Police Department and an officer responded, but made no arrests. She said the store issued the teens an "admonishment" to leave the store, but police did not force them out.

After being lectured by the manager on the dangers of "hacking" into the phones, the teens were photographed and told their pictures were being sent to all Apple stores "so they'd be on the lookout for us," Rogers said.

He and Patel were then allowed to leave. Fukuba and Vicenti, who are both under 18, had to wait for their parents to come pick them up.

Over the next few days, the boys worried about the ban's repercussions.

Fukuba wondered what will happen if he needs to get his computer or iPhone repaired.

"I'll have to get a friend to buy stuff for me, like a drug deal," Fukuba said.

Later in the week, the teens had heard through a friend that a different manager had told said they were still welcome at Apple, despite what the other employees had said.

"I'm not really sure what's going on," Fukuba said.

Bullet Counters

Thomas Sowell. Spot-on, as usual.

Stop and think.

By Thomas Sowell

‘Killing an Unarmed Man.” That is how the front-page headline in the New York Times characterized an incident in which a man tried to run over a policeman with his car and was shot by three policemen on the scene, including his intended victim.

An automobile is a deadly weapon. If you are killed by an automobile, you are just as dead as if you had been shot through the heart.

A phrase like “an unarmed man” makes a talking point — as if matters of life and death should be discussed in terms of how you can spin a talking point.

The biggest and most common talking point when the police fire at someone is counting how many bullets they fired. There are politicians, media people, and — above all — community activists who can work themselves into a rage over how many bullets were fired.

If we stop and think — which of course the demagogues hope we will never do — it is hard to see any moral difference between killing someone with one bullet or with dozens of bullets.

People who have never fired a gun in their lives say that they cannot understand why the police fired so many bullets. If it is something that they have never experienced, there is of course no reason why they should be expected to understand.

But, even after confessing their ignorance, such people often proceed to spout off, just as if they knew what they were talking about.

It is very easy for a pistol shot to miss, even in the safety and calm of a firing range, much less in a desperate situation where a decision must be made in a split second that can cost you your life or end someone else’s life.

In a life-and-death situation, nobody counts how many bullets he is firing, much less how many bullets others are firing. It is not like a western movie, where the hero whips out his six-shooter, fires one time, and the villain drops dead.

A factual study of more than 200 real-life incidents where the police fired their guns found that most of the shots missed.

Even at a distance as close as six feet, just over half the shots missed. This may be far less surprising to people who have actually fired pistols than to people who have not.

Not only can someone who is shooting a pistol for real not know beforehand whether or not his shots will hit the person who poses a danger, often it is not clear afterwards whether the shot hit anybody, depending on where it hit.

Nor does even a clear hit always render the wounded person harmless. When your life is on the line, you keep on firing until you are damn sure it is safe to stop.

Only afterwards does anybody count how many shots were fired. That is when the editorial-office heroes give vent to their righteous indignation and their ignorant assumption that better “training” or better “rules” can solve the problem.

Such people seem to have no sense of the tragedy of the human condition, that there are times when decisions have to be made and acted upon immediately, whether or not we know as much as we would like to know or can carry out our decisions as perfectly as we wish we could.

People who are full of excuses for criminals — bad childhood, unemployment, unfair world — sit in the safety and comfort of their editorial offices and presume policemen to be guilty until proved innocent.

And they concoct clever headlines about killing an “unarmed” person, as if someone trying to run you over with a car poses no danger.

Where the person killed is black, as in the present case, that settles it, as far as the politically correct commentators are concerned, even though two of the three policemen who shot him are also black.

Not only do the people who put their lives on the line to protect the rest of us deserve better, we all deserve better than to have our own security undermined by those who undermine law enforcement.

The police themselves can back off on law enforcement when irresponsible charges can ruin their careers and their lives. No one pays a higher price for that than low-income minority communities where crime flourishes.

From NRO

The U.S. Energy Catastrophe

Brought to you by those brilliant politicians in Washington.

By Thomas E. Nugent

I suffered a minor heart attack when I saw the price of my latest fill up: $90. Gas is just under $4 a gallon here in South Carolina, and like many Americans I could be in for a major coronary when the pump price soars past $4.50 or even $5 this summer.

Rising energy prices have put a kink in vacation plans this year. Consumer confidence hasn’t been this low since 1980 (back when interest rates on car loans were 21 percent). There are still an untold number of gas-guzzling SUVs on the road, a visible contradiction to the so-called adverse consumer reaction to high gas prices. What gas price will trigger a meaningful backlash? I think we’re pretty near that point.

Of course, we’ve hardly got it as bad as Europe — especially France, where the equivalent gallon-price of gas (after the euro/liter conversion) is about $9. No wonder most of their cars look like they were built for the golf course.

That said, oil consumption is only up about 1 percent year over year. So why are oil and gas prices soaring?

Some of the blame goes to “investors” in hard assets, which includes oil. On the advice of academics who said commodities are a good portfolio diversifier, a lot of institutional investors got involved in oil speculation, thus helping bid up the barrel price. There’s also a continued rise in global demand, even as the U.S. slows. A growing third world is consuming much more oil than ever before.

But the true culprits are located in Washington, D.C.

Remember all those Democrats in 2006 who promised lower gasoline prices if they got elected? Well, they got elected. And what did we get? Much higher oil and gas prices.

Investor’s Business Daily, the free-market newspaper, has pointed out that Democrats are a prime cause of killer oil and gas prices. About a week ago the Senate failed to end the moratorium on oil-shale development in Colorado. Republicans voted for removing that moratorium; Democrats voted against. But voters put more Democrats in office than Republicans, so here we are.

By the way, that shale-oil reserve potential is about 1 trillion barrels. Then there’s Alaska and offshore, where another 50 billion barrels of oil are awaiting development. But this Congress says such exploration is off limits. The result? We’ll continue to export wealth to the tune of $600 billion per year by relying on foreign crude and OPEC for our energy needs.

Not to be outdone, politicians in Washington are still saying help is on the way. One idea is to eliminate the gas tax and thereby keep gas prices from rising. That’s it, guys and gals! Keep encouraging more consumption of something you won’t let the free-market drill for in the first place. As Ronald Reagan said, “There they go again.”

The next time Congress tries to blame oil companies for high oil prices — or OPEC, or the insatiable, over-consuming U.S. public — remember these statistics. Remember them especially when you make that trip to the polling place in November.

If economic growth means anything to you, you’ll vote for the candidate who is pro-growth, not pro-OPEC.

— Thomas E. Nugent is executive vice president and chief investment officer of PlanMember Advisors, Inc., and principal of Victoria Capital Management, Inc.

From National Review

Democrats are traitors to America, Pt. 23

Today, Nancy Pelosi said that the surge was a success due to the GOODWILL OF IRAN!

The US Armed Forces apparently had nothing to do with it.

Traitors.




Photo courtesy of Gateway Pundit

Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less.

Newt Gingrich has a petition going to "Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less."

He's gotten over 148k signatures in 48 hrs.

Check it out.

H/T: The Next Right, a new conservative blog.

Updated: DUH, I guess it might help to post a link for the petition...

Comments

Somehow my comments got changed from "anyone" to "registered only". It's been changed back, so comment away!

Thanks to R and Stacy.

Bill O'Reilley is a buffoon.

I just got done watching the O'Reilley Factor tonight. Bill was ranting on about oil prices. He was complaining about the exorbitant salaries that the oil execs make, etc.

He also said we should do a gas-boycott on Monday!
This, if nothing else shows what an intellectual lightweight that BOR really is.

It's pretty simple Bill, but your kindergarten solutions won't help at all.

I've come to the conclusion that BOR is really just a blow-hard that loves to hear himself talk.

RIP Dep. James Throne...

Kern Co (CA) Dep. James Throne died in the line of duty last Friday, May 23rd when he collided with another deputy, while responding to a call for assistance from a fellow deputy. He is survived by his wife Amanda, and three children. Dep. Throne served with the Kern Co Sheriff's Dept. for 2.5 years and was a Taft Police Officer before that.



The following is a letter his wife sent to the local media to publish.

Wife of Fallen Deputy Sends Letter to Media
Amanda Throne
May 27, 2008

Editor’s note: The following letter was sent to local media outlets by the wife of fallen Kern County, California, Deputy James Throne:

James was an outstanding father. No matter how tired he was he would always play with his children. He would usually get home at about 2 in the morning and the kids would be in our room by 7. I’d tell them “leave him alone, be quiet and let daddy sleep.” He’d say “It’s ok they just want to spend time with me.” He could frequently be caught in our room helping our boys get past a difficult part on a video game.

He loved being a law enforcement officer. He gave his all everyday. He had a contagious drive to learn more and be more. He was planning on taking his senior deputy test as soon as he was eligible. He had been training to go to SWAT also. Earlier in the year he broke a couple ribs while training at the Sheriff’s station where the cadets train. He taught classes for the academy, usually it was around drug stuff. He also taught defensive tactics and occasionally he would practice on his brothers Ray and Richard or his nephew Kenny Liggett. He’d also talk to the kids at the Lamont schools and he received an officer of the year award from the optimist club for his work with the children. He was also a bike patrol officer. HE worked so much overtime because he had to make sure everyone was taken care of and had all the help they needed. Like Ernie said in an earlier story he was to go to guy at work. He was always getting calls from his fellow officers. They’d call at all hours of the day and night. He helped them write warrants and would advise them on how to do things.

Our anniversary is coming up on June 17th. We were planning on going to Las Vegas this year. We would’ve been married 8 years this year. We were planning on having another baby.

I can’t find the right words to describe to you what a truly remarkable person he was. His ambition inspired me to be a better person, mother, wife, and friend. He was truly my superman. He had so much drive and determination. He really had a drive to be the best of the best. Kern county sheriffs deputies are a fantastic group of people. I know it was an honor James to work along side these great men and women. He was very proud to be a Sheriffs Deputy and to serve and protect you.

His number one priority on the job was to protect the community and his fellow officers. He was always the one to make sure everyone was doing the right thing. He always tried to help the people he arrested rise up and do better things with there lives.

A couple years ago he gave me a plaque with a poem on it as a surprise gift. Here is what the poem said. “A Tribute to a Cop’s Wife” To: Amanda My Beautiful and Loving Wife. Amanda, I’m sure you’ve heard at times during our married life, From those who ask, Aren’t you proud to be a Deputy’s wife? But Amanda, let me say this: It’s you I’m proud of, and they would be too, If only they could say what takes to be one and what she has to go through.

To be a lawman, it’s no easy task to do what we have to do. But it’s a much harder job to be his wife, and it takes someone special like you, And I know God chose you to be with me in this life. Because He knew you had the quality and strength to be a cop’s wife. Some may say that I have courage and I’m a hero and that sort of thing: And when I hear it, this thought to my mind it always brings: It’s you Amanda, who’s the real hero, not me. And I know you get lonely and frustrated at times and wonder if it’s worth it all: But if you ever left me, this “brave courageous hero” would be no man at all.

And I know you worry about the temptations I face on the streets, Of the women of the night and the girls that I meet, But let me tell you this, Amanda , and listen good: There’s nobody on earth that could replace you, they certainly never could.

And I know there are times when I go to work and you kiss me goodbye, That you must worry and wonder if this is the day I’ve been chosen to die. And, Amanda, if that should ever happen and someday be true, Remember Amanda, my very last thoughts on this earth will be with you. All my love Your Husband,

James Throne, Deputy Sheriff, Badge # 952 Kern County Sheriff’s Department – 2005 Bakersfield, California “Because I love you.”

Amanda Throne

Dep. Throne is the 3rd California Law Enforcement Officer killed in the line of duty this year.
.

Walking on bridges is deadly.

If you're a Terrorist, that is.


H/T: Ace

Wanker Wed.

Warning: Some vulgar language

Go to school, get a car.

Cool story.

Student's perfect attendance results in new car

Wed May 28, 6:39 AM ET

CONSTANTINE, Mich. - Andria Baker has pretty much always been present. From the first day of kindergarten through her last day of high school, Baker somehow made it to school for every day of classes, despite colds and sports injuries. Why? If she kept it up, her father promised her a car.

Baker kept up her end of the bargain, willing herself to go to school on those days when she felt under the weather. She notched her 13th year of uninterrupted classroom attendance with her final day at Constantine High School on Friday.

At a party Sunday, her father, Tim, presented the young woman with the keys to a new, $17,000 Pontiac G6, complete with a "0 DAYS" personalized license plate.

"Without a doubt, it was worth every penny I spent," he said.

The look on his daughter's face when she saw the car was priceless, Tim Baker said.

"When she turned around after seeing the car, she did not know what to do," he said. "We got her into the car and she just sat there. Then she ran into the house to get her driver's license, and she and her best friend got in the car and tooled down the road."

Andria Baker, 19, said she probably would have gone ahead with her quest for perfect attendance even if a new car had not been promised.

"A lot of my friends thought I was crazy, but I just kept going," she said.

H/T: HotAir

When will Barry O'Bama admit that the surge worked?

P.S. Pay no attention to the fact that Kate Norley is fricking HOT!

WTF is wrong with these people?

Are the politicians in both parties intent on destroying this country?

The lunatics are surely in charge of the asylum...

Coal-Cap Disaster

Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal strongly editorializes against the Warner-Lieberman cap-and-trade plan that allegedly will solve our alleged problem with global warming -- now called climate change. This plan is very similar to the one Sen. John McCain announced two weeks ago. The Journal argues that cap-and-trade “would impose the most extensive government reorganization of the American economy since the 1930s,” including a huge tax increase, higher prices across-the-board, and significant losses to economic growth in the decades ahead.

But why do we need a planned economy for energy or anything else? Why not a fully deregulated free market for energy where prices allocate production and consumption?

And why not allow the current $130-a-barrel oil price to open the door to a full portfolio of energy resources, including offshore drilling, Alaska, nuclear power, oil shale, conversion of coal and natural gas to liquid fuel, and the development of so-called alternative-energy sources such as solar, wind, and various cellulosic investments (although this latter group may never contribute more than 10 percent to our energy needs)? A true free-market approach wouldn’t pick winners and losers with heavy subsidies or penalties.

Incidentally, market forces also will curb energy consumption. The rising price of crude oil and gas at the pump has already cut demand sharply. Michigan professor Mark Perry, at his great Carpe Diem blog, reports that Americans in March 2008 drove 11 billion fewer miles than they did in March 2007 -- a drop of 4.3 percent. This marks the first traffic decline since 1979 while the month-to-month percentage drop is the biggest since record keeping began in 1942. It’s also the fifth straight monthly falloff in miles driven on a year-on-year basis...

From Larry Kudlow's blog

UPDATE: I shortened Kudlow's article, so I could post a few other things here.

From PowerLine

Looming Disaster

Next week, the Senate will vote on the Lieberman-Warner cap-and-trade climate control bill. The proposed statute is a nightmare that would devastate our economy. The Wall Street Journal calls it "the most extensive government reorganization of the American economy since the 1930s."

The EPA estimates that by 2030 it will reduce GDP by 0.9% to 3.8%, and that is based on assumptions that appear hopelessly optimistic. Even the EPA's assumptions contemplate an additional increase of 44% in the cost of electricity over what would occur without Lieberman-Warner.

From John Stossel, who is almost always right:

Cap-and-trade sounds good. Trade is good. But "cap" is force. Government will make arbitrary decisions about how much CO2 will be permitted in a thousand different situations. I can only begin to imagine the bureaucracy that will be required. Will chimney police go to every business and home telling you how much you can emit? Will armed officials from a Department of Global Warming raid your house and jail you if you run your air-conditioner too much? I assume friends of Al Gore will get special dispensation because they are working for the good of the nation.

How much will McCain's plan reduce global temperatures?

He doesn't say -- probably because even the most radical climate-change policies promise no more than a negligible reduction.

As Fred S. Singer, president of the Science & Environmental Policy Project, told the Heartland Institute in 2007, "All these schemes are quite ineffective in reducing the global growth of atmospheric CO2 -- never mind in having any effect on climate. The schemes do have one thing in common: They will damage the U.S. economy and hurt the pocketbooks of every consumer..."

In other words, economic growth will be stifled -- for what?

Roy W. Spencer, a research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and author of "Climate Confusion," says he's "increasingly convinced" that climate change has far more to do with natural phenomena like El Nio and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation than carbon dioxide. "Maybe the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is higher now than it has been in hundreds of thousands of years. So what?" he wrote in a recent article for the National Review...

Wake up folks, politicians are going to ruin this country under the guise of "Climate Change", something our enemies could never do.
.

O'Bama tells another lie...

It was factually impossible for O'Bama's claim to have happened.
Auschwitz was in Poland and wasn't liberated by U.S. troops.


H/T: Ace

One of so many...

Remembering Merlin German and many others...

The young Marine came back from the war, with his toughest fight ahead of him.

Merlin German waged that battle in the quiet of a Texas hospital, far from the dusty road in Iraq where a bomb exploded, leaving him with burns over 97 percent of his body.

No one expected him to survive.

But for more than three years, he would not surrender. He endured more than 100 surgeries and procedures. He learned to live with pain, to stare at a stranger's face in the mirror. He learned to smile again, to joke, to make others laugh.

He became known as the "Miracle Man."

But just when it seemed he would defy impossible odds, Sgt. Merlin German lost his last battle this spring — an unexpected final chapter in a story many imagined would have a happy ending.

"I think all of us had believed in some way, shape or form that he was invincible," says Lt. Col. Evan Renz, who was German's surgeon and his friend. "He had beaten so many other operations. ... It just reminded us, he, too, was human."

But he was closest to his mother. When the hospital's Holiday Ball approached in 2006, German told Norma Guerra he wanted to surprise his mother by taking her for a twirl on the dance floor.

Guerra thought he was kidding. She knew it could be agony for him just to take a short walk or raise a scarred arm.

But she agreed to help, and they rehearsed for months, without his mother knowing. He chose a love song to be played for the dance: "Have I Told You Lately?" by Rod Stewart.

That night he donned his Marine dress blues and shiny black shoes — even though it hurt to wear them. When the time came, he took his mother in his arms and they glided across the dance floor.

Everyone stood and applauded. And everyone cried.

A favorite story about German

Sgt. Joe Gonzales, a Marine liaison at Brooke, has one to share about German.

It was the day he and German's mother were walking in the hospital hallway. German was ahead, wearing an iPod, seemingly oblivious to everyone else.

Suddenly, he did a sidestep.

For a second, Gonzales worried German was about to fall. But no.

"He just started dancing out of nowhere. His mom looked at me. She shook her head. There he was with a big old smile. Regardless of his situation, he was still trying to enjoy life."

H/T: OpFor

A sad duty...

Funeral Duty

By William Troy
Monday, May 26, 2008

Throughout this war, the Army has maintained the practice of assigning a general officer to attend the funeral of every soldier who falls in service to our country. I've had this duty many times. The intensity of each funeral leaves me struggling to understand the enormousness of the sacrifice to which I have been a witness.

My first funeral is as clear in my mind as scenes from a familiar movie. Pfc. Christopher Kilpatrick died on June 20, 2005. I think everyone in town knew him. The residents of Columbus, Tex., filled every chair at the Knights of Columbus hall, and well-wishers lined the walls. His two sisters made a memorial video set to music. It was a moving tribute to the baby brother they fussed over; the toddler in cowboy boots; the youngster growing up hunting and fishing; the Eagle Scout; the basketball player letting a three-point shot fly; the kid with a big smile and the obligatory pickup truck.

I had to speak after that video, and I wasn't sure the words would come out. I blocked out the rest of the hall and tried to address his parents and sisters. I hope I did Christopher justice. We laid him to rest just outside of town. When I tried to tell my wife about it later, through my tears all I could say was, "Today was supposed to be his 19th birthday."

Every funeral is different. Each family copes in their own way. Our job is to oversee the military aspects of the services -- taps, the firing of three rifle volleys, the folding and presentation of the flag. You comfort where you can and bear witness to the loss that the family, friends and community have suffered.

I have attended 23 funerals in many different states and, to my surprise, have never encountered an angry parent -- only heartbroken ones who are intensely proud of their son or daughter. Grief is the crushing load these parents and spouses bear. Yet far more often than not they treat the military in attendance as family. They invite us to the receptions after the services, where they show us scrapbooks and introduce us to friends. They hug us and wish us a safe return to our units and families. They smile through their tears. I often get the feeling their sense of duty wills them through. I suspect that when the crowds have left and they are allowed to be alone, they collapse in grief and exhaustion.

During funerals, we typically read the tributes offered at the services conducted in theater. Nothing speaks to the families like the words of buddies and commanders. These people knew him or lived with her; fought beside and loved them. When a tank commander writes about the loss of his driver, you realize that a tank crew is a single entity -- a living, breathing organism. It, too, has lost an integral piece that made it whole. Voices from deployed units transcend the miles and speak with an eloquence I could never approach. I never try. I simply read what they wrote.

Though I haven't counted, I have not come across more than a handful of parents who were still together. Usually the separated parents support and comfort one another, but not always. I have shared a couple of funerals where the father left early in his son's life and returned only upon his death. At my second funeral, I was told that such an absent father was rumored to be around. We learned that the father had gone to the funeral home after visitation, but no one knew if he was going to show for the services. Because the awards and folded flag are presented to the next of kin, the military party had to know if he would be present. As we walked with the family to the service, I was told he was not present. Yet as I took my seat, there he was at the end of the family pew. He had slipped in at the last moment. When I presented the awards to him, he murmured a quiet thanks. At the grave site, as I watched him from a respectful distance, my heart broke for him as much as for the soldier's mother. He was saying his silent goodbye, and he was utterly alone.

My funeral duty has taught me a lot. The cynicism with which some people view politicians doesn't square with what I've seen. Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Mike Gregoire, husband of the governor of Washington, attended just about every funeral I went to in their states. Absent the media or official entourages, they personally expressed condolences to grieving families. I've learned that the Patriot Guard Riders motorcycle club may seem unconventional, but its members' patriotism and sincerity are undeniable.

And I've learned that war most often claims the lives of young kids who go out on patrol day after day, night after night. They go because they are good soldiers led by good sergeants. They go with a singular purpose: to not let their buddies down. Each soldier we lay to rest shared that goal. They kept faith with their comrades, even in the face of danger and death. That is the most humbling lesson of all.

Maj. Gen. William Troy is vice director for force structure, resources and assessment in the Joint Staff. In 2006-07 he served as deputy commanding general of I Corps at Fort Lewis, Wash. In 2005-06, he was DCG (Support) of 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Tex.

Memorial Day 2008

Video via: Flopping Aces

A Daughter's letter to her Father...

Hi Daddy,

Sorry I haven't written to you in a while. A lot of things have been going on. I miss you so much. How have you been? Is heaven everything they say it is? I know it's probably that and more. I can't wait 'till I can come join you again. I miss you so much - just being here for me to hold your hand and you calling me "princess." But one day we can do this again. But it will be even better because Jesus will be with us.

I keep going in your office to see all your things and your awards that you have gotten over the years. You accomplished so much. I am proud you were my daddy; I would not have chosen anyone else.

I like to go into your closet, too and just touch and smell all your clothes ... it gives me so many memories that I miss so much. Sitting at this table I see your writing on a little piece of paper telling me and mom what e-mail and address in Iraq to write to you ... CSM JAMES D. BLANKENBECLER, 1-44 ADA. I love to just look at your handwriting so much.

I have your military ring on right now. It's kind of big for my little finger, but it makes me feel you're holding my hand when I have it on ....

It's been on since we found out the news. I have your driver's license with me, too, so I can just look at you whenever I want. You have a little smile this time. When we went to get them done in El Paso I asked you to just smile this time ... and you did it just for me.

I also was looking at your car keys and that little brown leather pouch you always had on your key chain. It made me cry a lot when I picked it up. Everything reminds me of you so much. When we pass by Chili's I remember you sitting across from me eating your favorite salad. You always told the waiter to take off the little white crunchy things ... because you hated them. And when we drive by billboards that say "An Army of One," it makes me remember you in your military uniform. How you always made a crunching sound when you walked, and how you shined your big boots every night before you went to bed. I miss seeing that all the time. Little things that I took for granted when you were here seem priceless now.

One thing that I regret is when you wanted to open my car door for me, but I always got it myself. I wish I would have let you do it. And when you wanted to hold my hand, I sometimes would pull away because I didn't want people to see me holding my daddy's hand ... I feel so ashamed that I cared what people thought of me walking down the parking lot holding your hand. But now I would give anything just to feel the warmth of your hand holding mine.

I can't believe this has happened to my daddy ... the best daddy in the whole world. It feels so unreal, like you're still in Iraq. You were only there for 17 days. Why did they have to kill you? Why couldn't they know how loved you are here? Why couldn't they know? You have so many friends that love you with all their hearts and you affected each and every person you have met in your lifetime. Why couldn't they know? When I get shots at the hospital I won't have my daddy's thumb to hold tight. Why couldn't they know I loved for you to call me "princess"? Why couldn't they know if they killed you I would not have a daddy to walk me down the aisle when I get married? Why couldn't they know all this? Why? I know that you are gone now, but it only means that I have another angel watching over me for the rest of my life. That's the only way I can think of this being good. There is no other way I can think of it.

All the kids at my school know about your death. They even had a moment of silence for you at our football game. A lot of my teachers came over to try to comfort me and mom. They all ask if they can get us anything, but the only thing anyone can do is give me my daddy back ... and I don't think anyone can do that.

You always told me and mom you never wanted to die in a stupid way like a car accident or something like that. And you really didn't die in a stupid way ... you died in the most honorable way a man like you could - protecting me, mom, Joseph, Amanda and the rest of the United States.

In the Bible it says everyone is put on this earth for a purpose, and once they accomplished this you can return to Jesus. I did not know at first what you did so soon to come home to God. But I thought about it - you have done everything. You have been the best husband, father, son and soldier in the world. And everyone knows this.

One of my teachers called me from El Paso and told me that when her dad died he always told her, "when you walk outside the first star you see is me." She told me that it is the same for me and you. I needed to talk to you last night, and I walked outside and looked up ... and I saw the brightest star in the sky. I knew that was you right away, because you are now the brightest star in heaven.

I love you so much, daddy. Only you and I know this. Words can't even begin to show how much. But I tried to tell you in this letter, just a portion of my love for you. I will miss you, daddy, with all of my heart. I will always be your little girl and I will never forget that...

I love you daddy, I will miss you!!

P.S. I have never been so proud of my last name.
Sunrise - June 27, 1963
Sunset - October 1, 2003

Army Command Sgt. Maj. James D. Blankenbecler 40, of Alexandria, Virginia was in a convoy that was hit by an improvised explosive device and rocket propelled grenades in Samarra, Iraq. Blankenbecler died of his injuries. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas. Died on October 1, 2003. He was the highest-ranking U.S. enlisted man to die in Iraq.

Jessica Blankenbecler, 14, e-mailed this final letter to her father, Command Sgt. Maj. James Blankenbecler, at 1:29 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 3.,

H/T: Ace

Lest we forget...

Gas prices

My buddy Kevin and his wife Holly just got back from "European Vacation" and he said that gas prices over in the UK/Ireland are about $8 to $9/gal. Of course it's been that way for a long time and we've had it good for a long time.

Something's gotta give...

Hopefully this isn't the Denver PD chick!

More great solutions from politicians...

I guess it doesn't occur to these "bright" politicians that the movie producers will just make their movies elsewhere.

Intelligence in action...

Porn Tax Considered As Solution To Budget Shortfall
Written by: Doug G. Ware

LOS ANGELES - California state lawmakers are considering an unusual idea to solve the state's huge budget shortfall: Tax pornography.

The idea was proposed by a state assemblyman, and would impose a 25 percent tax on the production and sales of pornographic videos -- the vast majority of which are made in southern California.

It is unknown, however, how seriously lawmakers will take the idea or how the porn business would deal with the new tax. It is likely, though, that porm-makers would simply pass the cost along to consumers by making pornographic materials more expensive.

However, many economists believe that pornography is an industry with inelastic demand -- meaning market conditions typically don't affect consumers' desire for the product. In other words, it is believed that most porn consumers would continue to buy regardless of how much it cost.

A potential economic downside to the tax proposal is that porn producers could leave California to manufacture and distribute videos in other states that don't impose the tax.

Homecoming...

The embed code doesn't work to show this video, so just click on this.

H/T: Michelle Malkin via Pat Dollard via NewsBusters

Just in time for Memorial Day.

Soldier killed in Iraq to get Medal of Honor

Ross McGinnis jumped on grenade thrown into Humvee, saved four others
updated 11:01 a.m. PT, Fri., May. 23, 2008

WASHINGTON - The White House announced Friday that a Pennsylvania soldier who jumped on top of a grenade in Iraq and saved the lives of his comrades will posthumously receive the Medal of Honor.

The nation's highest military honor will be given to 19-year-old Army Pfc. Ross McGinnis of Knox, Pa., on June 2.

McGinnis "distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism," said White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto.

McGinnis was perched in the gunner's hatch of a Humvee when a grenade sailed past him and into the truck where four other soldiers sat. He shouted a warning to the others, then jumped on the grenade. The grenade, which was lodged near the vehicle's radio, blew up and killed him.

Lt. Col. Anne Edgecomb, an Army spokeswoman, said McGinnis easily could have jumped out of the truck and saved himself.

'It saved their lives'
"The instinct is, jump out of the vehicle, but his four buddies were in the vehicle with him ... and he chose to place himself on top of the grenade and absorb the impact, and it saved their lives," Edgecomb said.

McGinnis was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, in Schweinfurt, Germany.

He died on Dec. 4, 2006.

Three others have also been awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for their actions in Iraq. They are Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor and Marine Cpl. Jason L. Dunham.

Congrats Chief Eberhart!

A great story about a good man. May God watch over him...

My fellow Chiefs,

I wanted to share with you this picture as well as a short synopsis of how it came about.

AO1 David Eberhart (pictured) is terminally ill with cancer. I was his Chief for his first tour on the USS INDEPENDENCE and even then his goal in the Navy was to be a Chief Petty Officer. His career, though very successful, has been interrupted with cancer treatment, periods of remission and finally with the news of being terminal.

He is currently assigned to MALS-24 at Kbay. A few months ago he requested to see the MCPON [Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy - the Navy's senior enlisted sailor. -ed.]. MCPON Campa happened to be on the island visiting and went to the hospital to see AO1. It was explained to him [MCPON] how badly AO1 wanted to be a Chief and that he even took the Chief's exam from the hospital during a three day period -- he didn't have the strength for more than an hour at a time. On his good days he would put on his uniform and make his way to work though the time there took a severe toll on him physically.

He did not make board as he was six-points shy. It was requested by PACFLT Chiefs that AO1 be made an Honorary Chief Petty Officer. We talked about it in Newport and MCPON was in concurrence. The intent was for MCPON himself to make the presentation.

News came this week that AO1 Eberhart may not make it through the weekend as his health is rapidly declining. FLTCM Tom Howard along with a ton of Chiefs (including CMDCM Don Krampert from CPRW-2) from the area banded together to make this happen as quickly as possible. On Thursday, AO1 David Eberhart was designated an Honorary Chief Petty Officer.

I personally called and talked to Chief David Eberhart following his promotion Thursday and the excitement in his voice came with a strength and commitment that cannot be explained in words. He remembered well our time on the INDY but his short term memory is fading quickly.

Chief Eberhart's terminal prognosis remains listed in days. He is married with two children.

Thank you for all you do.

V/r Aaron

Aaron A. Shipley
Sailor and Command Master Chief
Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance GROUP

H/T: Neptunus Lex and The Donovan

This would be great for Coppers!

If you're young/agile enough, that is!

Parkour is pretty kick-ass.

Idiocy: Thy name is Maxine Waters!

This chick is so stupid she doesn't even know what she's trying to say!

And the others are laughing at her, because she's so ridiculous.

Link: sevenload.com

H/T: HotAir

The profits of doom.

Brought to you by the United States Congress.

More here, a must-read to understand what's going on.

Profits Of Doom?

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, May 01, 2008 4:20 PM PT

Profits: Exxon Mobil's first-quarter earnings of $10.9 billion, up 17% from a year earlier, are stirring outrage in Washington. Some are calling such profits "obscene." What a sad lack of understanding of economics.

Case in point: Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Like her rival, Barack Obama, she's pushing a massive "windfall profit" tax on those "greedy" oil companies. "There is something seriously wrong with our economy when Exxon's record $11 billion in quarterly profits are seen as a disappointment by Wall Street," Clinton said Thursday. "This is truly Dick Cheney's wonderland."

No, what's seriously wrong is that politicians such as Clinton can cynically manipulate public opinion to enact disastrous policies.

Indeed, rather than be upset at Exxon's profits, Americans should be thrilled — and angry at a Congress that doesn't seem to want to encourage the oil industry to make even more.

Our free-market economy is built on profit. Higher profits mean more jobs, higher incomes, more investment in equipment and people, higher standards of living. Yes, profits are the engine for all of this — and that includes the profits of "Big Oil."

By signaling that supply is scarce, higher profits encourage more production. Except, that is, when Congress through its inept lawmaking stands in the way. And that's the case now with the oil industry.

Congress seems almost constantly at war with the oil companies — slapping them with taxes and pillorying their CEOs while ignoring the fact that higher profits lead to more exploration, drilling and development.

If anyone is to blame for our current energy mess, it's Congress. At least 20 billion barrels of oil sit untapped in Alaska and another 30 billion lie offshore. Such sources that could help satisfy U.S. demand for years to come. Yet, Congress has put them out of bounds.

Instead, Congress scapegoats oil profits. In reality, according to Ernst & Young, from 1992 to 2006 the U.S. oil industry spent $1.25 trillion on long-term investment vs. profits of $900 billion.

Truth is, oil industry profits are in line with the rest of American industry. In 2007, a record year, they earned 8.3 cents per dollar of sales. Beverage companies and cigarette makers, by contrast, earned 19.1 cents. Drug makers, 18.4 cents. Indeed, all manufacturers, 8.9 cents on average, made more than "Big Oil."

Besides, we've tried windfall profits taxes before, in the early 1980s, and they were an utter failure. As the Congressional Research Service found, revenues produced for the government were nearly 75% below what was expected. Meanwhile, domestic oil output fell 8%, while oil imports surged 16%.

That's just poor policy, and even worse economics.

Remember: Oil companies don't really pay "windfall profit" taxes, anyway. You do. Some 50 million Americans today own oil company stock, either directly or through 401(k)s and mutual funds. Don't be suckered: "Windfall profits" taxes come right out of your retirement account, not out of the oil industry's business.

Oh sure, Big Oil's profits are up. But so are the taxes they pay. In 2006, that came to $90 billion — up 334% in just four years.

This is how Clinton-style populism works. It starts with ignorance and ends with serious damage to our economy.

Oil prices aren't high because profits are up; they're high because we don't have enough oil. By clamping down on drilling, refusing to move forward on nuclear energy and hitting producers with punitive taxes, Congress is doing all it can to ensure we don't have enough in the future.

Here's some info from other articles in that series:

Conventional wisdom is that the U.S. has just 30 billion barrels of oil left, enough for just 10 years of pumping at current rates. Sounds pretty bleak, but that figure is ludicrously low. Just last week, a new report concluded that the Bakken oil basin, stretching from North Dakota and Montana into Canada, contains an estimated 4 billion-plus barrels of oil.

Colorado and Utah are estimated to contain as much as 1.2 trillion barrels of oil trapped in shale below ground. They're not counted as "recoverable" reserves because until recently they weren't economical. Today they are.

The 2006 discovery in the Gulf of Mexico by Chevron, Devon Energy and Norway's Statoil of an oil field containing as much as 15 billion barrels of crude is still another example.

Offshore U.S. sources hold as much as 10 billion barrels of untapped oil, while the 2,000 acres of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge have as much as 16 billion — enough to replace 30 years of Middle East imports.

Many estimate that just under 1 trillion barrels of oil remain to be pumped. But a U.S. Geological Survey four years ago put the amount worldwide at 3 trillion.

From IBD

Someone's tit's in a wringer...

Texas had no right to take polygamist sect kids: court

May 22 05:30 PM US/Eastern

Appeals Court Rules State Not Justified in Seizing Over 400 Kids from Polygamist Sect

The state of Texas had no right to remove hundreds of children from a polygamist sect because it has not proven they were in imminent danger, an appeals court ruled Thursday.

Officials raided the sprawling compound of the reclusive sect on April 3 and took 250 girls and 213 boys into state custody amid allegations of systemic sexual and physical abuse.

Officials said girls were being "groomed" to accept sex with their middle-aged "spiritual husbands" as soon as they hit puberty and boys were being indoctrinated to perpetuate the cycle of abuse by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS).

But the Texas Court of Appeals ruled that the state's Child Protective Services agency overstepped its authority by removing children who were not in "immediate" danger of harm.

"Evidence that children raised in this particular environment may someday have their physical health and safety threatened is not evidence that the danger is imminent enough to warrant invoking the extreme measure of immediate removal prior to full litigation of the issue," the ruling said.

It was not immediately clear when the children, who are currently being held in group homes, would be returned to their parents.

The appeals court gave the judge who ordered the children into state custody 10 days to vacate that order. The state could appeal the decision.

The state's Child Protective Services defended its decision to seize the children and said it would "work with the Office of Attorney General to determine the state's next steps in this case."

A spokesman for the Attorney General's office declined to comment.

But while CPS said it had found a "pervasive pattern of sexual abuse that puts every child at the ranch at risk," the court ruled there was insufficient evidence to warrant the removal of all the children.

"The Department did not present any evidence of danger to the physical health or safety of any male children or any female children who had not reached puberty," the nine page ruling said.

Investigators were also unable to prove that the teenaged girls who had become pregnant had been married to older men.

"The Department conceded at the hearing that teenage pregnancy, by itself, is not a reason to remove children from their home and parents."

The department was also chided for failing to put forth a "reasonable effort" to find "some measure short of removal."

The FLDS split from the mainstream Mormon church when polygamy was banned. The group holds that plural marriage is a way to get to heaven.

Mainstream Mormons now excommunicate members who engage in polygamy and reject any connection with the FLDS.

The ranch was purchased in 2003 and built by Warren Jeffs, the self-described prophet of the group, who was convicted last year by a Utah court on two counts of being an accomplice to rape, relating to the forced marriage of a schoolgirl to a cousin.

"Barry O'Bama would be a terrible president"

I'm pretty sure this is conventional wisdom in the financial community.

Carl Icahn Says Obama Would Be a "Terrible" President for U.S.

By Michael McKee
Enlarge Image/Details

May 22 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire investor Carl Icahn said Barack Obama would be a "terrible" U.S. president whose election would bring higher interest rates and a loss of international confidence in the dollar.

"I don't normally get involved in politics, but this time I am," Icahn told an investors conference in New York last night. "I don't think Obama really understands economics."

The Illinois senator is the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Obama has 1,962 delegates, according to an Associated Press tally, putting him 64 delegates shy of the 2,026 needed to clinch the nomination.

"I personally think he would be a terrible president," Icahn, 72, said. Obama would probably go on a "huge spending spree" that "the country can't afford right now."

Coupled with the higher tax rates that the Illinois senator has already endorsed, "you would have a loss of confidence in the dollar," leading to accelerating inflation and "much higher interest rates," Icahn said. His comments, and remarks by other presenters at the conference, were embargoed by the organizers until this morning.

Even worse, Icahn said, would be a Democratic president with a veto-proof supermajority of 60 Democrats elected to the Senate.

"It would be devastating," he said. "Then you couldn't stop runaway legislation."

Military discount at Lowes

LOWE’S OFFERS MILITARY DISCOUNT FOR MEMORIAL DAY

10% Discount on Purchases Up To $5,000 for All Active, Reserve, Honorably Discharged, and Retired Military Personnel and Their Immediate Families

H/T: RofaSix

News you won't hear...

...on the MSM.

We are winning in Iraq.

And this on the heels of the news that worldwide terror attacks have decreased 40% since 2001. But the DemocRats will say that we're less safe now than we were prior to going into Iraq.

Link: sevenload.com

H/T: HotAir

Attention Coppers!

Just remember, when you think you aren't appreciated or what you do doesn't make a difference.

There and Back to See How Far it is.

Thank God, it's over!

David Cook is the new American Idol. Whoopty Do!

Now, can we get on with important things like gas prices, the economy and the war against Islamic Jihadists?

Puh-lease...

'Squawk Box' Guest Warns of $12-15-a-Gallon Gas

Robert Hirsch, an energy advisor, says CNBC morning show prediction was a citation of the 'Dean of Oil Analysts.'

By Jeff Poor
Business & Media Institute
5/21/2008 3:38:13 PM

It may be the mother of all doom and gloom gas price predictions: $12 for a gallon of gas is “inevitable.”

Robert Hirsch, Management Information Services Senior Energy Advisor, gave a dire warning about the potential future of gas prices on CNBC’s May 20 “Squawk Box”. He told host Becky Quick there was no single thing that would solve the problem, due to the enormity of the problem.

“[T]he prices that we’re paying at the pump today are, I think, going to be ‘the good old days,’ because others who watch this very closely forecast that we’re going to be hitting $12 and $15 per gallon,” Hirsch said. “And then, after that, when oil – world oil production goes into decline, we’re going to talk about rationing. In other words, not only are we going to be paying high prices and have considerable economic problems, but in addition to that, we’re not going to be able to get the fuel when we want it.”

Hirsch told the Business & Media Institute the $12-$15 a gallon wasn’t his prediction, but that he was citing Charles T. Maxwell, described as the “Dean of Oil Analysts” and the senior energy analyst at Weeden & Co. Still, Hirsch admitted the high price was inevitable in his view.

“I don’t attempt to predict oil prices because it’s been impossible in the past,” Hirsch said in an e-mail. “We’re into a new era now, and over the next roughly five years the trend will be up significantly. However, there may be dips and bumps that no one can forecast; I wouldn’t be at all surprised. To me the multi-year upswing is inevitable.”

Maxwell’s original $12-15-a-gallon prediction came in a February 5 interview with Energytechstocks.com, a Web site run by two former Wall Street Journal staffers.

“[Maxwell] expects an oil-induced financial crisis to start somewhere in the 2010 to 2015 timeframe,” Energytechstocks.com reported. “He said that, unlike the recession the U.S. appears to be in today, ‘This will not be six months of hell and then we come out of it.’ Rather, Maxwell expects this financial crisis to last at least 10 or 12 years, as the world goes through a prolonged period of price-induced rationing (eg, oil up to $300 a barrel and U.S. pump prices up to $15 a gallon).”

According to associate of Maxwell at Weeden & Co., Maxwell is out of the country and currently unavailable for comment.

Maxwell’s biography on the Weeden & Co. Web site said he “has been ranked by the U.S. financial institutions as the No. 1 oil analyst for the years 1972, 1974, 1977 and 1981-1986,” according to polls taken by Institutional Investor magazine.

“In addition, for the last 17 years he has been an active member of an Oxford-based organization comprised of OPEC and other industry executives from 30 countries who meet twice a year to discuss trends within the energy industry.”

Although Maxwell’s prediction is for the long-term, not everyone supports high-end predictions, even in the short-term. CNBC contributor and the vice president of risk management for MF Global (NYSE:MF) John Kilduff said on “The Call” May 7that he expected gas prices to drop following the Chinese Olympics, as China’s economic boom slows down.

BULLSH*T!

I blame George W. Bush!

You'll be hearing about this very soon, from the MSM...

Report: California Congresswoman walked away from $578K mortgage

Capitol Weekly reports that newly elected California Congresswoman Laura Richardson walked away from the mortgage on her $535,000 Sacramento home, letting the house slip into foreclosure and disrepair less than two years after she bought it with no money down.

"While being elevated to Congress in a 2007 special election, Richardson apparently stopped making payments on her new Sacramento home, and eventually walked away from it, leaving nearly $600,000 in unpaid loans and fees," the publication reports.

Richardson, a Democrat from Long Beach, declined to comment for the Capitol Weekly story, and her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from LA Land.

Capitol Weekly, citing tax records at the Sacramento County assessor's office, reports "... in January 2007, Richardson took out a mortgage for the entire sale price of the house -- $535,000. The mortgage amount was equal to the sale price of the home, meaning she was able to buy the house without a down payment, even though the housing market was beginning to turn. A March 19, 2008 notice of trustee's sale indicates that the unpaid balance of Richardson's loan, which is held by Washington Mutual, is more than $578,000 –$40,000 more than the original mortgage."

In addition to 100% financing on the home itself, the report quotes the woman who sold the house to Richardson as saying she also gave Richardson $15,000 toward closing costs.

The weekly also reports Richardson's residence quickly became an eyesore, angering neighbors. The report says she recused herself on two key house votes on government efforts to address the foreclosure crisis.

LOL!

Sweet!

Michael Savage and Teddy "Chappaquiddick" Kennedy

Here's what Michael Savage (AKA: Michael Weiner) had to say about Teddy Kennedy on his radio show yesterday. I don't listen to MS as a rule (I think he says some goofy stuff sometimes) and I'd rather listen to Hugh Hewitt, who's on at the same time as MS.

Before I became a Christian, I'd have said some pretty disparaging things about the detestable Teddy Kennedy and what he's going through right now. But I won't do so, because of that.

I'll let you decide whether this is right or not. Make sure you listen to Robert Byrd talking about Teddy (at about 10:00). What a freak this guy is (and always has been)!

BTW, I think MS is a crack-pot and FWIW, my guns have killed less people than Teddy Kennedy's car has.

Congress hits bottom, keeps digging...

When this is your solution to fix high gas prices, you've really got NOTHING.

The sad thing is that Republicans actually voted for this piece of crap.

No solutions. On either side of the isle.

House passes bill to sue OPEC over oil prices

Tue May 20, 2008 2:27pm EDT
By Tom Doggett

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation on Tuesday allowing the Justice Department to sue OPEC members for limiting oil supplies and working together to set crude prices, but the White House threatened to veto the measure.

The bill would subject OPEC oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela, to the same antitrust laws that U.S. companies must follow.

The measure passed in a 324-84 vote, a big enough margin to override a presidential veto.

The legislation also creates a Justice Department task force to aggressively investigate gasoline price gouging and energy market manipulation.

"This bill guarantees that oil prices will reflect supply and demand economic rules, instead of wildly speculative and perhaps illegal activities," said Democratic Rep. Steve Kagen of Wisconsin, who sponsored the legislation.

The lawmaker said Americans "are at the mercy" of OPEC for how much they pay for gasoline, which this week hit a record average of $3.79 a gallon.

The White House opposes the bill, saying that targeting OPEC investment in the United States as a source for damage awards "would likely spur retaliatory action against American interests in those countries and lead to a reduction in oil available to U.S. refiners."

The administration said less oil going to refineries would limit available gasoline supplies and raise fuel prices.

Foreign investment in U.S. oil infrastructure has declined in the last decade. But the state-owned oil companies of several OPEC nations are owners of U.S. refineries, and those investments could be affected if the legislation becomes law, said Arlington, Virginia-based FBR Capital Markets Corp.

The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to carryout a study on the effects of prior oil company mergers on energy prices.

The Senate would still have to approve the House measure.

The Senate previously approved similar legislation as part of a broad energy bill. However, the OPEC-suing provision was removed after White House opposition in order to get the underlying energy legislation signed into law.

Why I love Italy...

Because they have hot women and this...

Character and Faith count...

And Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has both, in spades. She is a great woman.

Over a month ago, her office announced that the 44-year-old and her husband, Todd, were expecting their fifth child in May. It was a secret the beguiling brunette, a runner, managed to keep from even her staff.

Then, April 18, she surprised us again by giving birth a month early to Trig Palin, 6 pounds, 2 ounces. In true Sarah fashion, her amniotic fluid leaked in Texas, she gave a speech at a Republican Governors Association convention as scheduled anyway, and then returned to Alaska to deliver.

Immediately the family made this announcement: "Trig is beautiful and already adored by us. We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives."

Trig Palin has Down syndrome. Early prenatal testing alerted the Palins to this chromosomal abnormality, as it is alerting more and more families in the early stages of pregnancy.

Unfortunately, because of early screening, more children with Down syndrome are aborted and fewer and fewer are being born.

Children with Down syndrome do bring "unspeakable joy" into this world. I know the laughter and blessings my 5-year-old nephew, Ethan, with Down syndrome, has brought to our family. But how do you explain this joy to a perfection-at-any-price world?

Politicians rarely help. How many politicians are ever called upon to really walk the walk in their lives?

....Palin, a politician who has been eloquent in her defense of life before birth, has now proven with her own life how much she truly "walks the walk."

Thank you, Sarah, for a beautiful witness given to us through a little one whose Norse name, Trig, means "brave victory."

H/T: Newsbusters

O'Reilley as you've never seen him.

You may have seen Bill O'Reilley's meltdown, but here's newly uncovered video from the same shoot.



H/T: RofaSix

The "No Food Diet"

It works!


Diet Book Author Advocates New 'No Food Diet'

H/T: HotAir

Liberals don't know what Patriotism is...

...but Jeffrey Sahli does. Luckily for America...

Boy stands up for Old Glory

By Myung Oak Kim, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Thursday, May 15, 2008

Jeffrey Sahli noticed the faded, fraying American flag outside Evergreen Middle School soon after he started eighth grade last year.

"I thought the flag wasn't being treated with flag etiquette. I thought I needed to do that," the 14-year-old said. "I wanted to serve my country and I thought, heck, I'll start right here."

With the principal's permission, he began taking care of Old Glory. Every school day he carefully hoists the U.S. and Colorado flags before classes and takes them down before heading home. He folds the Colorado flag into a neat square, the U.S. flag into a triangle, and places them in a cabinet in the office.

He keeps them inside on stormy days.

Susan Roy didn't know Jeffrey but saw him every time she dropped off and picked up her son at Evergreen Middle.

"Jeff would be out there - rain or shine - it didn't matter," she said. "He just wasn't taking it down, throwing it over his shoulders and taking it inside. He was very purposeful about it."

"As simple as it is to some people, it really is a big deal. He doesn't do it for an attaboy.

"He just does it because it's right."

Roy was so impressed that she told a family friend stationed in Iraq about Jeffrey. First Sgt. Timothy Horan serves with the Kentucky National Guard's 138th Fires Brigade.

"You don't hear of kids taking that kind of responsibility, especially with something like that," he said. "A lot of younger kids think it's corny."

Horan bought a flag at the military store and hung it above Camp Liberty near the Baghdad airport on Jan. 30 in Jeffrey's honor.

The next day, he was flown out of the country for emergency heart surgery. Friends sent the flag to Horan this spring. He got it to Roy who gave it to Evergreen Principal Jane Sutera.

Sutera arranged a surprise ceremony Thursday at the school where a shocked and grateful Jeffrey received the flag and a certificate from the Army recognizing his patriotism.

"I've never been recognized for doing something as simple as that," he said.

"It was one of the best feelings I've had in my life."

He said he wasn't embarrassed by the attention because he wants people to see what he stands for.

"I stand for duty, honor, God and country."

Jeffrey doesn't come from a military background, though he hopes to attend West Point.

He wears a cross and a dog tag on a chain under his shirt. The bands on his braces are red, white and blue.

Outside Evergreen Middle School, the flag is clean and bright.

Jeffrey said the flag reminds him of the soldiers serving in Iraq.

"When they're coming home, I wanted them to see the flag flying high."

kimm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2361

P.S. I didn't get this from BlackFive. I had read about Fri. or Sat. but never got around to posting about it until today. Only a coincidence.

Liberals are morally bankrupt...

...and un-American.

Liberals hate America and everything it stands for.

Here's why:

I was on Theo Spark's website and he had this video about a former-Marine that hand-sews Gold and Blue Star Flags.



I wanted to find out more about this awesome guy, Rod Raubeson.

In doing so, I found this story, that took place right before 9/11 and dealt with flying the American flag in the city of Amherst, MA. Raubeson, and other people that actually support America, wanted the flags flown for extended periods of time in downtown Amherst.

Now keep in mind, that this was just prior to 9/11.

Anyway, many people in the town didn't want the flags flown except on designated holidays and the proposal was voted down (4-1) by the Amherst Select Board.

Amherst resident Emily Lewis said she was uncomfortable seeing the streets lined with flags, saying "It's a militaristic symbol".

Huh?

Here's what University of Massachusetts physics professor Jennie Traschen had to say about the American flag: "The flag is a symbol of tyranny and fear and destruction and terrorism."

Are you f*cking kidding me?

What. The. F*ck.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Liberals are traitors to America.



On a side-note, thanks to Rod Raubeson for his service then and for his service now.

Moron of the Month

Charlie should just shut is pie-hole and stick to doing whatever he does.

Love this part:

"You learn as you go along. I am going to be 60 this year. I would be a blinding idiot if I had not learnt a bit by now."

*News Flash!* He is and he hasn't.

Prince Charles: Eighteen months to stop climate change disaster

By Andrew Pierce
Last Updated: 1:08PM BST 18/05/2008
The Prince of Wales has warned that the world faces a series of natural disasters within 18 months unless urgent action is taken to save the rainforests.

In one of his most out-spoken interventions in the climate change debate, he said a £15 billion annual programme was required to halt deforestation or the world would have to live with the dire consequences.

"We will end up seeing more drought and starvation on a grand scale. Weather patterns will become even more terrifying and there will be less and less rainfall," he said.

"We are asking for something pretty dreadful unless we really understand the issues now and [the] urgency of them." The Prince said the rainforests, which provide the "air conditioning system for the entire planet", releasing water vapour and absorbing carbon, were being lost to poor farmers desperate to make a living.
Article continues
advertisement

He said that every year, 20 million hectares of forest – equivalent to the area of England, Wales and Scotland – were destroyed and called for a "gigantic partnership" of governments, businesses and consumers to slow it down.

"What we have got to do is try to ensure that these forests are more valuable alive than dead. At the moment, there is more value in them being dead," he said.

He estimated that the cost would be about £15 billion a year but said that this should be viewed as an insurance policy for the whole world. "That is roughly just under one per cent of all the insurance premiums paid in the world in any one year. It is an insurance premium to ensure the world has some rainfall and reasonable weather patterns. It is a good deal."

Last month, the Prince had a meeting at St James's Palace with four state governors from Brazil to discuss the best way to allocate the money. One option would be for an organisation such as the World Bank to administer the fund. The Prince made clear yesterday that if nothing was done there was a "severe danger of losing a major part of the battle against climate change".

In an interview on Radio 4's Today programme, the Prince disclosed that he had raised his concerns with the White House, Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, and President Sarkozy, of France. He said he had pressed Barclays, Shell, Goldman Sachs and McDonald's to join his campaign.

But he also said consumers had to play their part by choosing products that were environmentally sustainable and called for improvements in labelling.

He denied, however, that he was interfering in the political process. "All I am ever trying to do is to provide an enabling facility," he said.

He conceded that at times he had been forced to keep his counsel when he would have liked to have spoken out. "You learn as you go along. I am going to be 60 this year. I would be a blinding idiot if I had not learnt a bit by now."

Weekend music...

This song (one of my favs) is from one of my fav CD's.
It's from the "Moodswings" and the album is "Mood Food" (the actual album song is longer and has MLK speaking on it).

It's a FANTASTIC album to play when the ladies come over to chill. Trust me.

It's Caturday!

Homes for Our Troops comes through...

H/T: RofaSix

An open message to Keith Olberturd:

Get the poster here.

Olberturd calls US Troops "Cold Blooded Killers"!

What a POS!

Read it here.

Plus, I thought this would be a great opportunity to post a pic of one of my FAVORITE hotties - Laura Ingraham.

Yum...



Make sure you listen to Mark Levin at the above link, too.

This is a tragedy, if true...

If this Marine's actions were indeed caused by PTSD (and a lack of proper help), then this is a true tragedy.

Marine who died after cross-state chase wrote of war stress

By ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN, Associated (with Terrorists) Press Writer, Sat May 17

TUCSON, Ariz. - Last month, Marine Staff Sgt. Travis N. "T-Bo" Twiggs went to the White House with a group of Iraq war veterans called the Wounded Warriors Regiment and met the president.

Twiggs had been through four tours in Iraq, one in Afghanistan and months of therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in which he said he was on up to 12 different medications.

"He said, `Sir, I've served over there many times, and I would serve for you any time,' and he grabbed the president and gave him a big hug," said Kellee Twiggs, his widow.

About two weeks later, Travis Twiggs went absent without leave from his job in Quantico, Va.

He and his brother drove to the Grand Canyon, where their car was found hanging in a tree in what appeared to be a failed attempt to drive into the chasm.

The brothers carjacked a vehicle at the park Monday. Two days later they were at a southwestern Arizona border checkpoint, and took off when they were asked to pull into a secondary inspection area, Border Patrol spokesman Michael Bernacke said.

Eighty miles later, the car was on the Tohono O'odham reservation, its tires wrecked by spike strips.

As tribal police and Border Patrol agents closed in, Twiggs, 36, apparently fatally shot his 38-year-old brother, Willard J. "Will" Twiggs, then killed himself.

Pinal County Sheriff's spokesman Mike Minter said no motive has been established. But Kellee Twiggs said the decorated Marine would still be alive if the military had given him enough help.

"All this violent behavior, him killing his brother, that was not my husband. If the PTSD would have been handled in a correct manner, none of this would have happened," she said in a telephone interview from Stafford, Va.

Travis Twiggs, who enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1993 and held the combat action ribbon, wrote about his efforts to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder in the January issue of the Marine Corps Gazette.

The symptoms would disappear when he began each tour, he said, but came back stronger than ever when he came home.

He wrote that his life began to "spiral downward" after the tour in which two Marines from his platoon died.

"I cannot describe what a leader feels when he does not bring everyone home," he wrote. "To make matters even worse, I arrived at the welcome home site only to find that those two Marines' families were waiting to greet me as well. I remember thinking, 'Why are they here?'"

Weeks later, Twiggs "saw a physician's assistant who said that was the severest case of PTSD she'd seen in her life," his widow said.

He began receiving treatment, but the Marine wrote that he mixed his medications with alcohol and that his symptoms didn't go away until he started his final tour in Iraq.

When he came home, "All of my symptoms were back, and now I was in the process of destroying my family," he wrote. "My only regrets are how I let my command down after they had put so much trust in me and how I let my family down by pushing them away."

Kellee Twiggs said her husband was "very, very different, angry, agitated, isolated and so forth," upon his return. "He was just doing crazy things."

She said her husband was treated in the psychiatric ward of Bethesda Naval Medical Center and then sent to a Veterans Administration facility for four months.

Most recently, Travis Twiggs was assigned to the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory at Quantico, a job he said helped him "get my life back on track."

"Every day is a better day now," he wrote in the Marine Corps Gazette. "...Looking back, I don't believe anyone is to blame for my craziness, but I do think we can do better."

Twiggs urged others suffering from similar problems to seek help. "PTSD is not a weakness. It is a normal reaction to a very violent situation," he wrote.

Kellee Twiggs said she can't understand why her husband was not sent to a specialized PTSD clinic in New Jersey.

"They let him out. He was OK for a while and then it all started over again," she said.

A spokesman at Quantico, 1st Lt. Brian Donnelly, said the Corps is committed to providing full medical, psychological and social support to anyone with a combat-related injury, including PTSD.

"Our leaders are trained to be alert for signs of PTSD in their Marines and to provide a supportive climate in which Marines can feel comfortable seeking help," Donnelly said.

One lingering mystery in Twiggs' case is his older brother. Kellee Twiggs said she thinks the Louisiana man joined her husband in driving west "because T-Bo was hurting so bad and for so long that Will's life was a little in chaos."

"For them to both drive off into the Grand Canyon, they both apparently wanted to end their lives," she said.

Kellee Twiggs said "something needs to be fixed" in treating soldiers coming home from combat with PTSD.

"These boys and girls coming back, they need help, things need to be changed, and they don't need to be made to feel weak for asking for help," she said.