Thursday, July 31, 2008
San Fran Nan - Nobody cares...
Her book "Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters"
Apparently America's
Heh.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
O'Bama's Lie of the Day
This excerpt is from remarks O'Bama gave at the NALEO Conference in Washington, DC on June 26, 2008.
I wonder which father he was talking about, his biological father Barack O'Bama, Sr. (the one from Kenya) or his step-father Lolo Soetoro (the one from Indonesia).
Funny, I must've been absent that day in History class when my teacher said that Kenya and Indonesia were participants in WWII.
Also funny that Wikipedia doesn't have any mention of O'Bama-daddy serving in WWII.
Maybe O'Bama was simply mixed-up (and tired) from the "O'Bama World Tour 2008" and he meant that his great-grandfather (the one from Kenya) served with British Colonial Forces during WWI.
Or maybe he's just a liar who will say anything to get himself elected.
I'm betting on the former.
H/T: McClatchy-Watch
I wonder which father he was talking about, his biological father Barack O'Bama, Sr. (the one from Kenya) or his step-father Lolo Soetoro (the one from Indonesia).
Funny, I must've been absent that day in History class when my teacher said that Kenya and Indonesia were participants in WWII.
Also funny that Wikipedia doesn't have any mention of O'Bama-daddy serving in WWII.
Maybe O'Bama was simply mixed-up (and tired) from the "O'Bama World Tour 2008" and he meant that his great-grandfather (the one from Kenya) served with British Colonial Forces during WWI.
Or maybe he's just a liar who will say anything to get himself elected.
I'm betting on the former.
H/T: McClatchy-Watch
WTF?
It'll be interesting to hear "the rest of the story..."
Long Beach police shoot Los Angeles police officer
By THOMAS WATKINS - Associated (with Terrorists) Press Writer
Last Updated 12:57 pm PDT Wednesday, July 30, 2008
LOS ANGELES -- Long Beach police officers shot and wounded an off-duty Los Angeles police officer early Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
Officer Jason Geggie, a 1 1/2-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, was shot after Long Beach officers responded to a call about a person brandishing a gun while walking down the street, Long Beach police Sgt. Dina Zapalski said.
Officers arriving at the scene on Mira Mar Avenue shot Geggie, 26, in the arm and torso.
"The officers got there and found the suspect in the area," Zapalski said. "When they went to contact him, he was armed with a firearm, and the circumstances led to an officer-involved shooting."
She did not give additional details but said Geggie pointed a gun toward officers.
The Long Beach officer who fired his weapon was placed on standard three-day administrative leave, Zapalski said.
Geggie, a Long Beach resident currently assigned to the LAPD's central traffic division, was taken to a local hospital and was in stable condition.
He was booked for investigation of two counts of exhibiting a firearm in a threatening manner, including once in the presence of a police officer.
Zapalski said investigators were trying to determine why Geggie was armed.
"We're still trying to figure that out," she said. "We have no idea why he was walking down the street with a firearm."
Long Beach police said a gun was recovered at the scene and none of its officers were injured.
Both police departments were investigating the shooting.
This goes with the post below...
...but it wouldn't embed w/ that post, for some strange reason.
Watch this vid and then read the post below.
I don't know how to keep it from auto-playing, so I'll take this post down in a few days, because the auto-play is annoying.
[Deleted Video was here]
This one is the one from the post below.
Watch this vid and then read the post below.
I don't know how to keep it from auto-playing, so I'll take this post down in a few days, because the auto-play is annoying.
[Deleted Video was here]
This one is the one from the post below.
In Memorium: Cpl. Sean Stokes
One year ago today, a hero for the ages was Killed In Action in Iraq.
Marines decades from now will know the name Sean Stokes and they will be taught about his heroism. The Marine Corps honors heroism and Sean Stokes was a hero.
As long as there's a Marine Corps, Marines will know the name Sean Stokes.
I wrote about him here, on his birthday, this past February. Go there and read the links.
And then read about Sean here and here. (The second link contains other heroes you should know too, including two Medal of Honor nominees.)
Semper Fidelis Sean, you are not forgotten.
Here's an excellent vid from the History Channel that shows some of Sean's heroism:
This is what his Battalion Commander had to say to his family, after hearing of his death:
Dear Stokes Family,
The Buhl Family extends its deepest sympathy and condolences to you. May I also extend thoughts and prayers for Sean on behalf of all the men and their families who have served with him in the Thundering Third.
Corporal Sean Stokes was easily one of the finest Marines to ever wear our uniform. No man gave more for his Brother Marines and his country.
As many know, Corporal Stokes repeatedly volunteered to return to Iraq. He once expressed to me that he felt a great sense of personal responsibility to lead, teach, and mentor others less experienced that were headed for harm's way. I can only imagine how much stronger his feelings became over the past couple of years.
A larger than life Marine who was as brave as he was big, Sean repeatedly demonstrated great physical and moral courage during our 2004-5 deployment, which included clearing the City of Al Fallujah of thousands of terrorists and insurgents. This extraordinary service has continued, and culminated in his ultimate sacrifice.
We all grieve for Sean and will always miss him dearly. For those who wish to learn more about the incredible Marine he was and always will be to those who served with him please read, "We Were One" by Patrick O'Donnell. Sean's heroic deeds, wonderful personality, and special connection to his brothers are well described in this fine book.
God Bless you Corporal Sean Stokes - another Marine has reported in to Heaven... rest in peace now and forever.
Love and Semper Fidelis,
Col Willy Buhl and Family
3d Bn, 1st Marines 2003-2005
From the book "We Were One" by Patrick K. O’Donnell:
While eating dinner on a cold February night this year (2008), I received an impassioned phone call.
“Pat, this is Stokes. You know my dream has always been to be a Marine. I need your help on something. I found out this week The Corps doesn’t want to extend my enlistment -- they are going to kick me out. Can you write letter of recommendation for my career placement officer? He said it might help, but I’m still probably going to get kicked out.”
Dumbfounded, I said, “This is crazy. You were one of the bravest Marines in 1st Platoon. Sean, of course I will write something for you. I’ll put a few calls in and see if there’s something that can be done.”
When I hung up the phone I was furious. This Marine risked life and limb countless times, deployed to Iraq twice, single-handedly killed nine insurgents, was twice combat wounded (and those are just the ones documented in his record). Sean Stokes was one of the finest Marines I’d ever known, I personally witnessed his heroism. Now he had to beg and use every contact he had to just to stay in the Marine Corps? My anger drove my calls.
That night I called all the officers who I met as an embedded combat historian during the epic Battle of Fallujah in November 2004. A few days later, I was informed by one of the officers who was with me in the Third Battalion, First Marine Regiment (3/1), “The Thundering Third,” that Stokes could stay on for another ten months. He would have to deploy with the Thundering Third, which was sure to go to Iraq, but once the deployment was over so was his career. So for at least ten more months Stokes would remain a Marine.
I met Sean in combat over two years ago while interviewing the men in his platoon for my book,“We Were One.” Standing about six feet tall, blued eyed and resembling Luke Skywalker from the movie Star Wars, the young Marine had great personal presence and above all, courage. His peers confirmed my initial impression and what I saw first-hand on the battlefield, that Stokes was a natural leader and fearless. Oddly he was a private, the lowest ranking member of 1 st Platoon. I wondered why.
Other men in the platoon explained that prior to 3/1’s second deployment to Iraq in the summer of 2004, then-Lance Corporal Stokes was court-martialed for leaving Camp Pendleton without permission. Stokes’s motivation for going AWOL was pure: he was trying to help a family member escape domestic violence.
Caught between a rock and a hard place, Stokes put at risk his dream and career, to be a Marine, in order to protect his loved one. After moving her to a new residence, he returned to Pendleton and asked for a second chance. He was demoted to Private, the lowest rank in the Marine Corps, and he was allowed to stay in the Corps on the condition that he join Lima Company, 3/1, and deploy to Iraq.
Before going to Iraq in 2004, Marines knew from Corps scuttlebutt and the headlines in the news that a major battle was looming. Word was, “this is going to be a tough one, you might not come home.” Stokes understood the risks of heading to Iraq, but rather than dread the deployment, Stokes embraced it. “3/1 gave me another shot.”
The Marine Corps he loved so much gave him a second chance, and Stokes responded by becoming a model Marine during the following three years. The story should have ended here, but Stokes’s AWOL would continue to haunt him.
On November 8, 2004, the Thundering Third assaulted the main defenses of Fallujah. Throughout the battle the 1,000-plus battalion was outnumbered at least two or three to one. Stokes’s 1 st Platoon was often pitted against multiple platoons of Al Qaeda fighters in deadly urban combat. The Marines had to clear a seemingly endless string of houses; Marines kicked in doors, room by room, hoping they wouldn’t find a machine gun pointed at their faces. “At each house I said a prayer,” said Stokes. “‘Please God get me out of this one.’ When I come out of the house, I thank Him, light up a cigarette and move on to the next one.” The fighting was room to room, often hand to hand, against enemies who were hoping to be killed and only wanted to take an American with them. Stokes’s 1 st Platoon dropped from 46 Marines to 14 in less than two weeks.
On the second day of the battle, grenade fragments ripped into Stokes’s arms and legs, but he was still able to function and he wanted to remain with his buddies, so Stokes hid his wounds to avoid mandatory evacuation. Over the next nine days he led the fight through the endless rows of houses and bunkers.
“Stokes was always the first into the house for my team. I cannot say for sure the number of enemy combatants Stokes eliminated but there were many,” recalled Lance Corporal Heath Kramer, Stokes’s fire team leader.
On November 17 th Stokes, along with most of 1 st Platoon, was lured into a sophisticated ambush in a couple of adjacent houses. One member of the platoon was killed, Lance Corporal Mike Hanks. Inside one of the houses, Stokes was thrown back six feet by an enemy fragmentation that detonated next to his body. He was trapped alone in the ambush house with the jihadists. “As I got up, rounds started impacting near me down the hall. They fighters kept coming closer, closer…I was firing at the Chechens who were getting closer (foreign fighters in Fallujah hailed from at least 18 different countries; the Chechens were the best trained, most deadly Islamist fighters in the city) …then my magazine went dry! Everything I did was by instinct, so I pulled out a grenade to frag the Chechens. I thought I was going to die; I was out of mags and they were just about to peek around the corner.”
Before the insurgents could kill Stokes, Lance Corporal Kramer bull-rushed a padlocked steel door and burst into the house, guns blazing. Kramer grabbed Stokes and carried him to safety. The Marines destroyed the house with explosives and tank fire, killing the Chechens. Suffering from a concussion, yet lucid, Stokes refused to leave his fellow Marines:
Kramer said “He begged me not to let him be taken out of combat. This is the kind of Marine I wanted beside me during a time like this. In my four years I served, Stokes was the best Marine I served with. Through all of the hard training we had, sleep deprivation, and having to serve under me as his fire team leader, (I was very tough on my fire team) he never complained and only wanted to learn more and make himself a better Marine.”
Stokes snuck out of the field hospital so he could rejoin his buddies as quickly as possible. A week later, Stokes found himself in hand-to-hand combat with an insurgent, whom he dispatched with a trench knife.
In January 2005, 3/1 returned home. The war took a heavy toll on Sean. I remember how he told me all he wanted to do was work out and kick box. “I need to keep busy.” To take his mind off the war, I recommended he read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and get some counseling. Many members of 3/1 suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. To survive on his paltry 13K annual salary, he took a job at a local cellular phone store. He was determined to stay in the Corps.
A year after Fallujah, Stokes returned to Iraq with 3/1 for his second tour. He volunteered to be a scout and lead Lima Company into battle again. As usual, Stokes was out front.
After returning from Iraq from his second tour, Stokes spent the next few months at Pendleton preparing for his next deployment. Since fighting in Fallujah, he had been promoted to Lance Corporal, and again to the rank of Corporal, with Sergeant right around the corner. He was devastated when he was informed that his enlistment would not be extended. While he debated leaving the Marine Corps and taking a real-estate job, he called me and told me his heart was in the Marine Corps.
I was told flatly by several officers that Stokes’s chances of staying in the Corps after the temporary ten month deployment to Iraq were practically nil. The Commandant of the Marine Corps would have to approve it, and Marines with similar incidents to Stokes’s AWOL were being let go.
One officer stated bluntly, “His only chance is if we get him the medal he deserves from Fallujah. With a combat decoration in his file, there’s a tiny chance he might be able to stay in.” In my 15 years of conducting interviews with more than 2,000 WWII and Iraq veterans, I’ve never seen a stronger case than Sean’s for at least the Bronze Star. The combat version of the medal is awarded to servicemen who distinguish themselves by courage under fire. Stokes clearly went beyond the call of duty and the requirements for the medal, so I wrote a four-page letter detailing Stoke’s actions in Fallujah and why he merited the Bronze Star. It also included a reference for his second Purple Heart, which he should have received for the wounds he hid at the beginning of the battle.
Initially, I never told Sean about the medal recommendation. I did not want the members of the medal committee to think Stokes was in some way trying to influence his own award. As the USS Bonhomme Richard was pulling out of port with the Thundering Third on board, bound for the unit’s fifth combat deployment to Iraq, Stokes called me on his cell phone. “Hey Pat, How are you? We are pulling out. Hope everything is going well with you. By the way, did you ever get a chance to send that letter to the career planner?” I said, “I’ve done something better, something you deserve.” Cryptically, I left it at that. In a final act of selflessness, to spare them the anguish of deployment, he never told them he was heading to Iraq.
Weeks passed and nothing was happening on the medal. I found out that the “ award authority” had expired, so the battalion was highly unlikely to approve it. Though the medal was going nowhere, one officer suggested I persevere, in order to create a paper trail. Sean emailed me to let me know he was moving from Kuwait to Iraq the next day, and asked whether I or any of the officers had written on his behalf to the Marine career planner. Out of frustration and because I did not want him to think I failed him, I emailed him Bronze Star recommendation letter I wrote. Stunned, he wrote back:
“Wow, i don’t deserve that...i just got off a four day training op in Kuwait so sorry its taken so long to respond but here i am. i can’t thank u enough for that but i don’t deserve it. The guys who deserved medals got them and i got to live on...that’s my medal.”
While leading 3/1’s personal security detachment on a combat operation outside Fallujah, an honor reserved for the most elite Marines, Corporal Sean Stokes died in his battalion commander’s arms on July 30, 2007. He will be a Marine forever.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
McCain vs. O'Bama
Compare/contrast John McCain's experience as a Naval Officer/Congressman/Senator vs. Barry O'Bama's experience as a "Community Organizer"/Senator.
From Flopping Aces.
134 men died that day. The ship almost sank. John McCain was in the thick of it and volunteered for duty on another carrier. Three months later, he was shot down. He spent 5 1/2 years in a Vietnamese prison camp, much of it in solitary confinement.
Barry O'Bama (when he grew up) made speeches (and whatever "Community Organizers" do) and took drugs, all the while hating his country.
Barry O'Bama is a complete joke. If he was white, people would be able to see it.
From Flopping Aces.
41 years ago today, a missile accidentally fired from an aircraft on the deck of the USS Forrestal. It flew across the flight deck, slammed into another plane, detonated that aircraft, its fuel, and its weapons. Shrapnel from that explosion punctured a dozen other aircraft that were waiting at the aft end of the ship-fully fueled and loaded with bombs for a massive airstrike. In the cockpit of the one of those planes-sitting right next to the plane that had accidentally launched the first missile, was John McCain. Less that 2 seconds after that first missile launched, the entire flight deck was an inferno. Pilots who had been strapped into their planes waiting for their turn to launch were trapped and surrounded by burning jet fuel, launching missiles, a hailstorm of shrapnel, and thousands of pounds of bombs.
John McCain unstrapped himself, climbed out on the nose of his A4 Skyhawk plane, jumped, and rolled through burning jet fuel. On his way to safety, some of the bombs on the burning planes began to explode, and he was knocked down by the shockwaves and by shrapnel piercing his body.
The crew and airwing of the USS Forrestal who were there that day deserve to have this day remembered and honored. That includes Senator John McCain.
134 men died that day. The ship almost sank. John McCain was in the thick of it and volunteered for duty on another carrier. Three months later, he was shot down. He spent 5 1/2 years in a Vietnamese prison camp, much of it in solitary confinement.
Barry O'Bama (when he grew up) made speeches (and whatever "Community Organizers" do) and took drugs, all the while hating his country.
Barry O'Bama is a complete joke. If he was white, people would be able to see it.
5.8 quake in Los Angeles.
It was obviously Bush and Cheney's fault!
If you vote for O'Bama, the Earth will be calm!
If you vote for O'Bama, the Earth will be calm!
Will to Win: Deanna Jensen
I watched this one after I watched the ones about Dep. Fulford.
Deanna was a Motor Officer with Scottsdale PD. She was on her way home after providing escort for another officer's funeral.
A bee flew into her helmet and she crashed. She was thrown from the bike onto a huge boulder. She died at the scene but was revived by a doctor that was passing by. She had severe massive internal injuries, including a broken pelvis that was completely separated from her spinal column.
Hearing about what happened to her in the hospital (and her subsequent recovery) is pretty amazing and shows her Will to Win. The doctors told her husband she'd be in the hospital for 4-6 months. She left the hospital in 31 days.
Watch it here.
Deanna was a Motor Officer with Scottsdale PD. She was on her way home after providing escort for another officer's funeral.
A bee flew into her helmet and she crashed. She was thrown from the bike onto a huge boulder. She died at the scene but was revived by a doctor that was passing by. She had severe massive internal injuries, including a broken pelvis that was completely separated from her spinal column.
Hearing about what happened to her in the hospital (and her subsequent recovery) is pretty amazing and shows her Will to Win. The doctors told her husband she'd be in the hospital for 4-6 months. She left the hospital in 31 days.
Watch it here.
Will to Win: Jennifer Fulford
This video (which I can't embed here) shows why cops have to do the things they do and why they act the way they act.
What happened to Dep. Fulford could happen to any cop on any given day.
Any given day could be their last.
This incident lasted 51 seconds. Dep. Fulford was shot 7 times (hit 11 times) and two bad guys were shot 5 times and 6 times respectively.
Watch her incredible story here.
Part 2 here and part 3 here.
BTW, she was Parade Magazine's 2005 Officer of the Year.
What happened to Dep. Fulford could happen to any cop on any given day.
Any given day could be their last.
This incident lasted 51 seconds. Dep. Fulford was shot 7 times (hit 11 times) and two bad guys were shot 5 times and 6 times respectively.
Watch her incredible story here.
Part 2 here and part 3 here.
BTW, she was Parade Magazine's 2005 Officer of the Year.
Oh jeeze...
What a fricking lunatic.
But wait! There's more...
Unfortuantely, we're stuck with this loon for the foreseeable future, since the San Fransicko DemocRats will be reelecting her, I'm quite sure.
Pelosi: 'I'm trying to save the planet'
By DAVID ROGERS | 7/29/08 4:34 AM EST
Just call her Nancy the Navigator.
“I have always loved longitude,” Nancy Pelosi says before breaking into laughter. “I love latitude; it’s in the stars. But longitude, it’s about time. ... Time and clocks and all the rest of that have always been a fascination for me.”
“The Geographer,” Jan Vermeer’s portrait of a Dutch mapmaker staring out a window with a sea chart before him, is a favorite of the House speaker. But mostly, Pelosi is drawn to the explorers of the Age of Discovery — Balboa, Magellan, Vasco da Gama — all struggling at sea without an accurate way to measure East-West progress. And she is fascinated by the historic melding of science and politics in the race to find a solution, the modern chronometer — much as today’s world seeks answers such as an electric car battery in the energy debate that now consumes both Pelosi and Congress.
“Whoever makes that discovery, rules,” she says.
But wait! There's more...
“I’m trying to save the planet; I’m trying to save the planet,” she says impatiently when questioned. “I will not have this debate trivialized by their excuse for their failed policy.”
“I respect the office that I hold,” she says. “And when you win the election, you win the majority, and what is the power of the speaker? To set the agenda, the power of recognition, and I am not giving the gavel away to anyone.”
Let’s face it, Washington: This speaker is different. She’s the first woman ever to hold the post and a very tough one at that, with a penchant for the mystical.
Unfortuantely, we're stuck with this loon for the foreseeable future, since the San Fransicko DemocRats will be reelecting her, I'm quite sure.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Critcal Mass biker gets tossed.
I hate bike-Nazi's like these, but what the copper did was stupid, not to mention, criminal.
Good hit by the copper. Hope it was worth his job...
H/T: Ace
Monday Funny Pt. II
I quit watching Reno 911 after the 2007 season sucked so bad, but these are kinda funny.
Pretty much...
...one of the most awesome things I've seen.
My favorite (among many) is at 3:03.
How awesome is that?
Praise Him.
Thanks Janiah!
My favorite (among many) is at 3:03.
How awesome is that?
Praise Him.
Thanks Janiah!
Has anyone else heard about this?
Maybe it's just something that the college kids do. I've certainly never heard of it, until now.
It's called "The Area Code System".
So anyway, it goes like this:
Those nutty kids...
It's called "The Area Code System".
So anyway, it goes like this:
The days of rating babes like Marisa Miller a “10″ are over!
The Area Code System is much more complex and accurate because we know not all 7’s, 8’s and 9’s are created equal.
The code, broken down by PutUpYourDukes, goes like this:
Every human being on the planet can be adequately described using a three-digit number (i.e. area code). The first digit denotes the rating of how attractive the face is (0-9). The second digit describes whether you would sleep with that person or not (0=no, 1=yes). And finally, the third digit describes how attractive the person’s body is (0-9).
Now when you’re at Palm Bar in Morristown on Thursday night and a member of the opposite sex walks by you can discreetly convey her hottness and whether or not you’d “do” her with this hyper accurate three digit code.
Those nutty kids...
Sunday, July 27, 2008
It's happened yet again...
Two dead, 7 wounded in Tennessee church shooting
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - A man opened fire with a shotgun in a church in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Sunday, killing two people, including a man called a hero for shielding others from a shotgun blast, police and local media reported.
Seven others were wounded, four critically, police said.
The gunman was tackled by church-goers and taken into custody by police. He was charged later with first-degree murder, but police declined to give a motive for the shooting and the Tennessean newspaper said his motive remained unknown.
Jim D. Adkisson, 58, of Powell, Tennessee, was being held on a $1 million bond at the Knox County Detention Center, said Randall Kenner, communications coordinator for the city of Knoxville.
The gunman apparently concealed a 12-gauge shotgun until he entered the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church and then fired several shots before being subdued, police said.
Four people were listed in critical condition and one in serious condition at the University of Tennessee Medical Center suffering from gunshot wounds, hospital spokeswoman Becky Thompson said.
One other person was treated for gunshot wounds and released, she said, declining to identify the patients.
Another church-goer was treated at Fort Saunders Regional Medical Center for a non-gunshot injury and then released, hospital spokeswoman Kimberly O'Neal said.
The attack happened as children were singing for the congregation, and police are reviewing video recordings made by church members to see if they captured the assault, Knoxville Police Chief Sterling Owen told reporters.
No children were harmed in the attack.
There was no evidence he had been to the church before and he had apparently said nothing before firing, Owen said. The FBI is assisting in the investigation, he said.
Owen identified the man who was killed as he stood in front of the shooter as Greg McKendry, 60, a church member who apparently was the first person the gunman encountered. The Tennessean said McKendry stood in front of the gunman and shielded others from a shotgun blast.
Linda Kraeger, 61, died at the University of Tennessee Medical Center a few hours after the shooting.
The shooting was reported to police at 10:18 a.m. EDT and the first officer arrived at the church within minutes, taking the gunman into custody from the congregants, Owen said.
Like lambs to the slaughter, because no one thought it could happen there.
It can (and will) happen there. Will your church be next? Or the restaurant you're eating at? Or the grocery store you're in? Or while you're getting money from the ATM?
Mr. McKendry was a true hero, but he was still a sheep, because he had no means to protect the flock.
No one else is responsible for your safety, except YOU!
Get a handgun, train with it and carry it. Religiously.
Your life (and the lives of your loved ones) may well depend on it.
Pass it on...
I saw this on TV tonight and it brought more than one tear to my eye, because it's a great song and a great message.
Pass it on...
Check out what they have to say at the Foundation For A Better Life.
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
—Mark Twain
Pass it on...
Check out what they have to say at the Foundation For A Better Life.
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
—Mark Twain
Kinda cool...
Whether you love 'em or hate 'em, WalMart isn't going anywhere,
Check out the growth map here.
From Theo Spark
Check out the growth map here.
From Theo Spark
Kill or BE Killed!
It's pretty simple theory. We (The Free World) have to kill them (Islamo-fascists) before they kill us. They only way to end the GWOT is to find every one of them, under every rock and in every cave, and kill them. Before they kill us. Because they want to. It's written in their religion that we have to convert to Islam or be killed.
There's no way to co-exist with a religion that has as one of it's tenets that Infidel's (us) must either yield to Islam or die. There's no way to "negotiate" with them. There's no way to "appease" them.
We either yield, or die. It's as simple as that.
Neither is acceptable.
H/T: LGF
There's no way to co-exist with a religion that has as one of it's tenets that Infidel's (us) must either yield to Islam or die. There's no way to "negotiate" with them. There's no way to "appease" them.
We either yield, or die. It's as simple as that.
Neither is acceptable.
ALMOST a third of British Muslim students believe killing in the name of Islam can be justified, according to a poll. The study also found that two in five Muslims at university support the incorporation of Islamic sharia codes into British law.
The YouGov poll for the Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC) will raise concerns about the extent of campus radicalism. “Significant numbers appear to hold beliefs which contravene democratic values,” said Han-nah Stuart, one of the report’s authors. “These results are deeply embarrassing for those who have said there is no extremism in British universities.”
The report was criticised by the country’s largest Muslim student body, Fosis, but Anthony Glees, professor of security and intelligence studies at Buckingham University, said: “The finding that a large number of students think it is okay to kill in the name of religion is alarming. ...
In addition to its poll of 1,400 Muslim and nonMuslim students, the centre visited more than 20 universities to interview students and listen to guest speakers. It found that extremist preachers regularly gave speeches that were inflammatory, homophobic or bordering on antisemitic.
The researchers highlighted Queen Mary college, part of London University, as a campus where radical views were widely held. Last December, a speaker named Abu Mujahid encouraged Muslim students to condemn gays because “Allah hates” homosexuality. In November, Azzam Tamimi, a British-based supporter of Hamas, described Israel as the most “inhumane project in the modern history of humanity”.
H/T: LGF
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Bolton on O'Bama's European Vacation
One world? Obama's on a different planet
The senator's Berlin speech was radical and naive.
By John R. Bolton
July 26, 2008
SEN. BARACK OBAMA said in an interview the day after his Berlin speech that it "allowed me to send a message to the American people that the judgments I have made and the judgments I will make are ones that are going to result in them being safer."
If that is what the senator thought he was doing, he still has a lot to learn about both foreign policy and the views of the American people. Although well received in the Tiergarten, the Obama speech actually reveals an even more naive view of the world than we had previously been treated to in the United States. In addition, although most of the speech was substantively as content-free as his other campaign pronouncements, when substance did slip in, it was truly radical, from an American perspective.
These troubling comments were not widely reported in the generally adulatory media coverage given the speech, but they nonetheless deserve intense scrutiny. It remains to be seen whether these glimpses into Obama's thinking will have any impact on the presidential campaign, but clearly they were not casual remarks. This speech, intended to generate the enormous publicity it in fact received, reflects his campaign's carefully calibrated political thinking. Accordingly, there should be no evading the implications of his statements. Consider just the following two examples.
First, urging greater U.S.-European cooperation, Obama said, "The burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together." Having earlier proclaimed himself "a fellow citizen of the world" with his German hosts, Obama explained that the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Europe proved "that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one."
Perhaps Obama needs a remedial course in Cold War history, but the Berlin Wall most certainly did not come down because "the world stood as one." The wall fell because of a decades-long, existential struggle against one of the greatest totalitarian ideologies mankind has ever faced. It was a struggle in which strong and determined U.S. leadership was constantly questioned, both in Europe and by substantial segments of the senator's own Democratic Party. In Germany in the later years of the Cold War, Ostpolitik -- "eastern politics," a policy of rapprochement rather than resistance -- continuously risked a split in the Western alliance and might have allowed communism to survive. The U.S. president who made the final successful assault on communism, Ronald Reagan, was derided by many in Europe as not very bright, too unilateralist and too provocative.
But there are larger implications to Obama's rediscovery of the "one world" concept, first announced in the U.S. by Wendell Willkie, the failed Republican 1940 presidential nominee, and subsequently buried by the Cold War's realities.
The successes Obama refers to in his speech -- the defeat of Nazism, the Berlin airlift and the collapse of communism -- were all gained by strong alliances defeating determined opponents of freedom, not by "one-worldism." Although the senator was trying to distinguish himself from perceptions of Bush administration policy within the Atlantic Alliance, he was in fact sketching out a post-alliance policy, perhaps one that would unfold in global organizations such as the United Nations. This is far-reaching indeed.
Second, Obama used the Berlin Wall metaphor to describe his foreign policy priorities as president: "The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down."
This is a confused, nearly incoherent compilation, to say the least, amalgamating tensions in the Atlantic Alliance with ancient historical conflicts. One hopes even Obama, inexperienced as he is, doesn't see all these "walls" as essentially the same in size and scope. But beyond the incoherence, there is a deeper problem, namely that "walls" exist not simply because of a lack of understanding about who is on the other side but because there are true differences in values and interests that lead to human conflict. The Berlin Wall itself was not built because of a failure of communication but because of the implacable hostility of communism toward freedom. The wall was a reflection of that reality, not an unfortunate mistake.
Tearing down the Berlin Wall was possible because one side -- our side -- defeated the other. Differences in levels of economic development, or the treatment of racial, immigration or religious questions, are not susceptible to the same analysis or solution. Even more basically, challenges to our very civilization, as the Cold War surely was, are not overcome by naively "tearing down walls" with our adversaries.
Throughout the Berlin speech, there were numerous policy pronouncements, all of them hazy and nonspecific, none of them new or different than what Obama has already said during the long American campaign. But the Berlin framework in which he wrapped these ideas for the first time is truly radical for a prospective American president. That he picked a foreign audience is perhaps not surprising, because they could be expected to welcome a less-assertive American view of its role in the world, at least at first glance. Even anti-American Europeans, however, are likely to regret a United States that sees itself as just one more nation in a "united" world.
The best we can hope for is that Obama's rhetoric was simply that, pandering to the audience before him, as politicians so often do. We shall see if this rhetoric follows him back to America, either because he continues to use it or because Sen. John McCain asks voters if this is really what they want from their next president.
John R. Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of "Surrender Is Not an Option."
H/T: Flopping Aces
AMAZING!
The Associated (with Terrorists) Press is finally admitting that we're winning the war in Iraq.
I won't link to an A(w/ T)P article, but that's what they're saying. You can find it other places.
I won't link to an A(w/ T)P article, but that's what they're saying. You can find it other places.
DemocRats try to keep US from getting Iraqi oil.
Business as usual from the DemocRats. Bush's own polices are most certainly a part of the problem too.
State Department investigating Iraqi oil contracts
By CHRISTINE SIMMONS
Associated (with Terrorists) Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The State Department's inspector general is investigating Iraqi oil contracts after four Democratic senators complained that department employees may have encouraged lucrative oil deals between Iraq and several Western companies.
Any backstage meddling would have violated Bush administration policy, which has been to discourage such deals until Baghdad passes a law that will fairly divide the nation's oil resources among the various provinces.
A congressional official on Thursday confirmed the probe, speaking on condition of anonymity because it involved an investigation. It comes about a week after four Democratic senators called on Harold Geisel, the State Department's acting inspector general, to investigate the matter.
"We are concerned that U.S. policy regarding these oil contracts has not been clearly defined, communicated or consistently implemented by the Iraqi government, the Kurdistan Regional Government and international oil companies seeking to do business in Iraq," Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan, Chuck Schumer of New York, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Claire McCaskill of Missouri said in their July 16 letter.
In response, Geisel wrote back on July 22 and told the lawmakers he had "initiated a review of the responses provided to the Congress recently on the issues surrounding oil contracts, oil field development and U.S. policy in Iraq."
In early July, Levin asked Stephen Hadley, the president's national security adviser, to respond to news reports that State Department employees had advised Iraq on no-bid technical contracts.
His request followed one by Schumer, Kerry and McCaskill that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice try to block any deals between Iraq and the oil companies, including U.S-based Exxon Mobil.
The Bush administration says its policy has been to discourage the deals, but suggests it has no plans to interfere.
"The United States government has stayed absolutely out of the matter of the awarding of Iraqi oil contracts," Rice said in June. "It's a private sector matter."
But according to a recent investigation by the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee, the administration's policy was not expressed to at least one U.S. company. And in some cases, State Department and other administration officials even encouraged an exploration deal between Texas-based Hunt Oil Co. and Iraq's Kurdish government, according to e-mails released by the panel.
This is rich!
El Al has the best security of ANY airline in the world. The last ATTEMPTED hijacking was 38 yrs ago. In 2008, El Al was named by "Global Traveler" Magazine as the world's most secure airline.
If there's ANY airline that I'd feel safe flying on, it's El Al.
It's pretty simple; the Israeli's know everything about airline security. The FAA know's next to nothing. For the FAA to say that is beyond ridiculous. The FAA has been and always will be, a joke.
Here's what Wikipedia has to say about El Al:
If there's ANY airline that I'd feel safe flying on, it's El Al.
It's pretty simple; the Israeli's know everything about airline security. The FAA know's next to nothing. For the FAA to say that is beyond ridiculous. The FAA has been and always will be, a joke.
Cut Back Flights From Israel To U.S.
Finds Israel's Aviation Safety Has Serious Security Flaws
WASHINGTON (CBS) ― The Federal Aviation Administration could soon cut back the number of flights from Israel to the United States after finding Israel's aviation safety to have "severe security shortcomings," according to a report by Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
The FAA says it uncovered serious flaws in flight safety during a tour of Israel's airport security this week.
Primarily, at Ben-Gurion International Airport the FAA found a lack of proper supervision, overcrowded airspace, and outdated technology.
An Israeli air panel came to the same conclusion just a year ago, but no changes were implemented.
A report is expected to be released in 90 days which will detail the FAA's decision on whether flights from Israel to the U.S. should be limited.
Here's what Wikipedia has to say about El Al:
Airport security measures
Passengers are asked to report three hours before departure. All El Al terminals around the world are closely monitored for security. There are plain-clothes agents and fully armed police or military personnel who patrol the premises for explosives, suspicious behavior, and other threats. Inside the terminal, passengers and their baggage are checked by a trained team. El Al security procedures require that all passengers be interviewed individually prior to boarding, allowing El Al staff to identify possible security threats. Passengers will be asked questions about where they are coming from, the reason for their trip, their job or occupation, and whether they have packed their bags themselves. The likelihood of potential terrorists remaining calm under such questioning is believed to be low (see also Microexpression). At the check-in counter the passengers' passports and tickets are closely examined. A ticket without a sticker from the security checkers will not be accepted. At passport control passengers' names are checked against information from the FBI, Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Scotland Yard, Shin Bet, and Interpol databases. Luggage is screened and sometimes hand searched. In addition, bags are put through a decompression chamber simulating pressures during flight that could trigger explosives. El Al is the only airline in the world that passes all luggage through such a chamber. Even at overseas airports, El Al security agents conduct all luggage searches personally, even if they are supervised by government or private security firms.
Flight security measures
Undercover agents (sometimes referred to as sky marshals) carrying concealed firearms sit amongst the passengers on every international El Al flight. Most El Al pilots are former Israeli Air Force fighter pilots.
The cockpits in all El Al aircraft have double doors to prevent entry by unauthorized persons. A code is required to access the doors, and the second door will only be opened after the first has closed and the person has been identified by the Captain or First Officer. Furthermore, there are reinforced steel floors separating the passenger cabin from the baggage hold. This is intended to strengthen the plane in case of an explosion.
Following an attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner in 2002, all aircraft in the fleet have been equipped with an infrared countermeasures system called 'Flight Guard', developed by Israeli Aerospace Industries to defend them against anti-aircraft missiles. Although comparable systems such as CAMPS are now available for civilian aircraft, there is no information to date about any other airlines deploying such a system. Switzerland and other European countries have expressed concern that flares dropped by the Israeli system could cause fires in the vicinity of an airport. However none of the higher risk countries that the El Al aircraft fly to have raised any concerns.
Security controversy and passenger profiling
Critics of El Al note that its security checks on passengers include racial profiling and have argued that such profiling is unfair, irrational, and degrading to those subject to such screening. Supporters of El Al argue that there is nothing inherently racist about passenger profiling and that special scrutiny of Muslims may often be necessary for security purposes.
The airline was also criticised by the Hungarian courts for refusing to search luggage with the passenger present, acting against Hungarian domestic laws which stipulate that only authorized officials are able to undertake such searches. A civil case was brought to Israel's Supreme Court on March 19, 2008 alleging that El Al's practice of ethnic profiling singles out Arabs for tougher treatment.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Thanks Prof. Pausch
Vaya con Dios...
CMU Professor Randy Pausch Dies After Battle With Cancer
'Last Lecture' In Pittsburgh Touched Viewers Nationwide, Inspired Book
PITTSBURGH -- Last August, doctors told Carnegie Mellon University professor Dr. Randy Pausch that he was suffering from pancreatic cancer and only had months to live.
Almost a year later -- after his story touched people around the world on the Internet and in a best-selling book -- Pausch died Friday at age 47.
"Good Morning America" host Diane Sawyer received a phone call from the family early Friday with the news, and university spokeswoman Anne Watzman confirmed that Pausch died at home in Virginia.
"I think his legacy is probably unbelievable here. He's had to have touched so many lives," said CMU employee Doria Martinelli, of Kennedy Township. "I can even remember growing up myself -- just, like, my basketball coach or a certain teacher or whatever. This guy here touched people that he never even met, which I just think is unbelievable."
"I kind of refuse to believe he's gone," said student Victor Martinelli. "I don't want to have to believe that a guy that important to me is passed away, so I'm kind of in denial right now."
Shortly after being diagnosed, Pausch gave his famous "Last Lecture" at CMU in September 2007. Online video of the inspirational speech has been downloaded millions of times, and Pausch turned it into a book of the same name.
Sawyer once interviewed Pausch and his wife in a special report: A love story for your life.
While his story gained fame, Pausch found himself feeling conflicted, because he said every minute he spent in the spotlight was a minute not spent with his family -- specifically, his three young children.
He often said that all the public appearances he made and interviews he granted were his attempts to wrap himself up in a bottle that would wash up on shore for his kids to see when they were older.
The most recent post on Pausch's personal Web site was from Thursday:
“A biopsy last week revealed that the cancer has progressed further than we had thought from recent PETscans. Since last week, Randy has also taken a step down and is much sicker than he had been. He's now enrolled in hospice. He's no longer able to post here so I'm a friend posting on his behalf because we know that many folks are watching this space for updates.”
Pausch's wife, Jai, issued a statement thanking "the millions of people who have offered their love, prayers and support. Randy was so happy and proud that the lecture and book inspire parents to revisit their priorities... The outpouring of cards and e-mail really sustained him."
CMU is requiring all incoming freshmen to read Pausch's book before the start of their semester, and co-workers are making plans to carry on his legacy.
Administrative assistant Cleah Schlueter -- who collected thousands of letters for Pausch after he delivered his famous speech -- will sell bandannas in his honor for $3 each at the Pick Up The Pace For Pancreatic Cancer 5K walk at North Park on Aug. 17.
Schlueter said she hopes a large group will walk to honor Pausch's life and legacy. For more information, she can be reached by e-mail at cleah@cs.cmu.edu or by phone at (412) 268-9656.
In addition to his "Last Lecture," Pausch was known at CMU for starting The Alice Project to help teenage girls learn how to program computers. It's a 3D environment that lets them create animation or play an interactive game while learning.
The family requests that donations on Pausch's behalf be sent to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, 2141 Rosecrans Ave., Suite 7000, El Segundo, Calif., 90245, or to CMU's Randy Pausch Memorial Fund, which supports work on the Alice project.
An endorsement for Barry O'Bama.
Caveat Emptor.
One more reason to vote McCain.
PARCHMAN — Before he died Wednesday evening, death row inmate Dale Leo Bishop apologized to his victim's family, thanked America and urged people to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
"For those who oppose the death penalty and want to see it end, our best bet is to vote for Barack Obama because his supporters have been working behind the scenes to end this practice," Bishop said.
One more reason to vote McCain.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Republicans my a**!
So they'd rather vote for an empty suit because of his race, than for the guy with actual credentials? That's rich!
They aren't true Republicans (something I've always suspected of Colin Powell) and they aren't Conservatives.
Disgusting.
Read it here.
H/T: HotAir
They aren't true Republicans (something I've always suspected of Colin Powell) and they aren't Conservatives.
Disgusting.
Read it here.
During the 2008 primary season, Mrs. Burstion-Donbraye cast her conservative lot with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. She staunchly opposes abortion.
"But there's been an 'Obama' sign on my lawn since Super Tuesday," she readily admits about her unusual support for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama.
"I went from a Huckababe to an Obamamama," she says.
Or you could call her an "Obamacan."
"What's an Obamacan? A Republican who can't afford health care insurance," she quips.
Mrs. Burstion-Donbraye can be counted among the growing number of high-profile black Republicans, including Gen. Colin L.Powell, commentator Armstrong Williams and former congressman J.C. Watts, who say they might not vote for the Republican candidate this fall.
These black Republicans are struggling with the historic significance of the Obama candidacy. Their conflict is just one example of the ways in which race will affect the outcome of the general election between Mr. Obama and Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee.
H/T: HotAir
The Israeli's don't play...
This just happened on Tuesday.
The Israeli's (God bless them!) don't mess around when it comes to Terrorism. They will kill you if you mess with them. I hope the Pali's don't wise up too soon, so Israeli's can kill more of them.
We could learn a few things from the Israeli's...
Good job, Rabbi Asael!
From Double Tapper
The Israeli's (God bless them!) don't mess around when it comes to Terrorism. They will kill you if you mess with them. I hope the Pali's don't wise up too soon, so Israeli's can kill more of them.
We could learn a few things from the Israeli's...
Good job, Rabbi Asael!
Rabbi Yaki Asael, 56, father of eight, from Susia, shot and killed a terrorst today in Jersalem. Asael owns and operates a vineyard and teaches Bible studies in the Kiryat Arba Yeshiva High School.
Eleven people are being treated for physical injuries and shock after an Arab terrorist drove a dozer into traffic and smashed a bus and at least two cars and tried to overrun pedestrians before he was killed by Rabbi Asael. One of Rabbi Asael's former students killed the terrorist just 3 weeks ago.
In the video, Rabbi Yaki Asael is told "Nice work" (Kol HaKavod, in Hebrew) by a security officer on the scene.
From Double Tapper
In Memorium: Ms. Daisy Cutter
She could seriously f*ck your day up...
Duke Field Airmen drop last 15,000-pound bomb
by Capt. Patrick Nichols
919th Operations Group
7/21/2008 - DUKE FIELD, Fla. (AFPN) -- Duke Field Airmen from the 711th Special Operations Squadron dropped the last operational Bomb Live Unit-82 from an MC-130E Combat Talon I July 15 at the Utah Test and Training Range.
Nicknamed "Commando Vault" in Vietnam and "Daisy Cutter" in Afghanistan, the BLU-82 is a 15,000-pound bomb, and because of its size, the bomb was dropped by parachute from the aircraft.
"We in the Air Force Reserve Command feel fortunate to have been chosen to drop the last operational Daisy Cutter," said Col. Jon Weeks, the 919th Special Operations Wing vice commander and mission commander on the drop. "Our people in the 711th Special Operations Squadron dropped several BLU-82s during the first few months of Operation Enduring Freedom with significant psychological and tactical effect."
When originally designed, the BLU-82 was the largest conventional bomb in existence. It could instantly clear jungles for helicopter landing zones in Vietnam.
Later, the military used the bomb as an antipersonnel weapon because of its large lethal radius combined with the psychological effects of the flash and sound. The warhead contains 12,600 pounds of GSX slurry (ammonium nitrate, aluminum powder and polystyrene). A 38-inch fuse extender detonates the bomb, allowing maximum destruction at ground level without leaving a crater.
"The power of this weapon is overwhelming," Colonel Weeks said. "Even flying the chase plane at 6,000 feet above ground level and approximately three-quarters of a mile away from the bomb's detonation point, we felt a shock wave that shook the aircraft. As former commander of the 711th SOS and a traditional reservist, I feel especially proud to have been part of this historical event."
The crew determines the accurate delivery of the weapon. The navigator positions the aircraft and calculates ballistic and wind computations. The pilot keeps the plane on course with precision instrument flying.
"As far as aircraft loads go, the delivery of the BLU-82 was nothing unusual," said Lt. Col. Mike Theriot, the aircraft commander and pilot on the mission. "Our aircraft routinely drop loads much larger and heavier."
Wing officials said they believe there are no plans, at this time, to produce BLU-82s in the future. The only remaining inactive bombs are used for loadmaster training and for static displays in museums.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Police training saved Wichita officer's life
Wow, what a stud! Shot in both legs (one a femoral wound) and chases after the bad guy.
Good job to his beat-partners. Without them, he'd be dead.
Good job to his beat-partners. Without them, he'd be dead.
Police training saved Wichita officer's life
By Stan Finger
The Wichita Eagle
WICHITA, Kan. — If it hadn't been for the quick work of three police officers, authorities said Monday, Wichita law enforcement officials would be adding another name to its list of fallen heroes.
"We're extremely, extremely fortunate that we didn't have an officer killed in the line of duty" late Friday night in west Wichita, Chief Norman Williams said.
The officer, shot once in each leg, underwent surgery upon his arrival at Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St. Francis Campus. He remains in intensive care and will need additional surgery, police said.
"He's extremely grateful" to the officers who rendered aid, the emergency medical service workers and the hospital staff, said Capt. Joe Dessenberger, commander of the Patrol West Bureau, where the officer is stationed.
The suspect shot himself a few blocks away only minutes after the shooting and died later at St. Francis, Williams said. Authorities are trying to confirm his identity.
"Why did he shoot him? We have no idea," Williams said.
The officer, a three-year veteran of the force, was investigating a complaint of a suspicious person in the 500 block of South Richmond, near Maple and Meridian, at 11:20 p.m. Friday.
Unable to see anyone matching the description given by the caller, the officer notified dispatch that he was returning to regular patrol after 10 minutes of searching, Williams said.
But as he drove east on Maple at about 11:30 p.m., the officer spotted a man walking on the north side of the street who resembled the description given, Williams said.
The officer turned around, pulled over next to the north curb in the 2400 block of Maple and spoke to the man as he walked to the back of his patrol car.
The suspect pulled out a large-caliber handgun and fired twice from a distance of perhaps 10 to 15 feet, hitting the officer once in each leg.
The officer fired back three or four times, Williams said, but missed the suspect, who fled north into a residential area. Not realizing he was wounded, the officer ran after him but was unable to apprehend him.
He began feeling woozy as he worked his way back to his patrol car in the darkness and radioed dispatch that he had been wounded and needed medical attention.
Three officers arrived within moments and noticed he had a lot of blood on his uniform -- especially on his right leg.
Officers laid him down behind his patrol car, tied a tourniquet around his right leg and gave other first aid until an ambulance arrived.
At the hospital, emergency workers discovered the bullet had hit the femoral artery in his right leg.
"We're just really blessed that the officers weren't tied up on calls," Williams said. "That timely response and the subsequent medical treatment that the officers gave made the difference between life and death."
Authorities also praised residents who tipped police off to the suspect's location. He tried to hide next to a red car in the front yard of a house in the 2800 block of Maple, and then shot himself as officers closed in.
The suspect died at St. Francis shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday. He has an extensive criminal history, Williams said, but because he has used three different names in the past, police want to confirm his identity before releasing it to the public.
It's the second time this year that a Wichita police officer has been shot in the line of duty. An officer working a part-time security job was hit in the chest by a bullet on March 25 as he patrolled the downtown campus of the Wichita Area Technical College. He was not injured, and no suspects have been arrested in the case.
It has been eight years since a Wichita police officer died in the line of duty. Lt. Jack Galvin died on Nov. 4, 2000, two weeks after he was injured in an explosion at the bomb range.
It has been 28 years since an officer was shot to death. Officer Paul Garofalo was killed by a shotgun blast on Nov. 9, 1980, after he stopped to question two women on the street in the 1000 block of East Ninth Street.
Williams said the latest shooting incident reinforced the importance of training: The officer was able to maintain his composure and provide a description of the suspect and his location, and the responding officers were able to provide life-saving medical aid quickly.
The case also is an example of a point stressed from the earliest days of the training academy:
"There is no such thing as a routine call," Williams said.
Copyright 2008 The Wichita Eagle
Disgusting traitors...
*WARNING* This will make you angry and want to kill every hippy in sight.
It never occurs to these disgusting traitors that if they were living in a Fascist country, they'd already be dead.
They wouldn't have the guts to say what they say in a truly Fascist country, but they know they can get away with here, because we're a Free Nation.
It never occurs to these disgusting traitors that if they were living in a Fascist country, they'd already be dead.
They wouldn't have the guts to say what they say in a truly Fascist country, but they know they can get away with here, because we're a Free Nation.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
*A MUST READ*
Read this and email it to everyone you know.
Basically, DemocRats saying that it will take "10 years" for us to get new oil, are LYING and DemocRats WANT high gas prices.
Here's a little tease:
The above quote is from IBD via Flopping Aces.
Basically, DemocRats saying that it will take "10 years" for us to get new oil, are LYING and DemocRats WANT high gas prices.
Here's a little tease:
In areas where the bureaucratic hurdles are over and lawsuits are absent, oil has been drilled and brought to the market in as little as one or two years. Louisiana’s offshore areas are an example.
California’s 10 billion barrels in offshore oil could be brought to market in as little as a year “if the moratorium were lifted,” according to a recent Sanford C. Bernstein report said, citing that the oil is under shallow water and drilling platforms already exist.
To be sure, oil won’t be flowing tomorrow even if all drilling restrictions were lifted.
That doesn’t mean it won’t impact prices.
Oil prices are influenced by futures markets — where people buy and sell future supplies of oil. Futures prices are now higher than spot prices, a signal that supply is tight.
If we have the will to drill, we can break the negative market psychology and send oil tumbling back below $100 a barrel.
Just a little talk from President Bush last week about pushing for more oil supplies helped push oil prices down more than 10% to below $130 a barrel in just five days, even though a drilling ban remains in place.
The above quote is from IBD via Flopping Aces.
There will be War!
...with Iran.
It looks like we made our last attempt at talks with Iran, so the Israeli's will do what we are incapable of doing.
I'm just not sure if the Israeli's will strike before the elections, or after. I would think after would be the ticket, so as not to induce more people to vote for O'Bama. But what do I know?
From Hugh Hewitt:
It looks like we made our last attempt at talks with Iran, so the Israeli's will do what we are incapable of doing.
I'm just not sure if the Israeli's will strike before the elections, or after. I would think after would be the ticket, so as not to induce more people to vote for O'Bama. But what do I know?
From Hugh Hewitt:
A U.S. decision to bend policy and sit down with Iran at nuclear talks fizzled Saturday, with Iran stonewalling Washington and five other world powers on their call to freeze uranium enrichment.
In response, the six gave Iran two weeks to respond to their demand, setting the stage for a new round of U.N. sanctions.
Iran's refusal to consider suspending enrichment was an indirect slap at the United States, which had sent Undersecretary of State William Burns to the talks in hopes the first-time American presence would encourage Tehran into making concessions.
Officials and diplomats refused to characterize the timeframe as an ultimatum, but it appeared clear that Iran now has a de-facto deadline to show flexibility.
Daniel's back home!
Daniel is back home and he has some comments about his experiences on the road.
It was nice to hear what he had to say. Here's part:
It was nice to hear what he had to say. Here's part:
The best thing I think that most surprised me would be American people's desire to help people. I am not even going to limit that to "vets, wounded, bloggers" or such, because so many people were willing to help for reasons that had nothing to do with my service. While many people were voiced their pleasure at getting to help a vet, a number of people readily admitted that they weren't too concerned about my service at all. Some people even just wanted to see Rockstar... The sheer number of offers I had to stay with complete strangers was simply overwhelming. People who had nothing to offer other than a meal and a floor were still vying for the chance to help. Had I been able to stay one day with every person who offered, this trip would have lasted into the "years" category. I had offers from all walks of society, too. I met people who obviously were liberal, conservative and other. There were those who were well to do, and those who were scratching to make ends meet. In all honesty, I feel that the "economically poor" were probably more willing to help than any other group. Don't confuse me here, I'm not passing judgment or looking down my nose. I am simply awestruck that those who themselves are worse off than me still want to help. I met and corresponded with people throughout the USA, as well as the rest of the world. I had e-mail bidding me well from around the world, from people who've never set eyes on my country, and will likely never meet me. I met people who were nearly speechless as they tried to convey their feelings about my trip to me in a thickly accented English, underlining their immigrant background and their pride to be here now. All in all, I'm that much more proud to be a citizen of these United States, and above that a member of this worldwide society.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
I'm smart n sh*t!
Here's Your Score: You correctly answered 11 out of the 12 possible questions, which means you did better on the quiz than 91% of the general public.
I'm sure most people that read political blogs will do just as well.
The general population is just...stupid.
Take the quiz.
H/T: LGF
I'm sure most people that read political blogs will do just as well.
The general population is just...stupid.
Take the quiz.
H/T: LGF
Some people will put personal comfort over integrity and principle...
It'd be a cold day in Hell when I take anything from Hugo Chavez, free or not.
N.H. will accept free oil from Chavez after all
Jul 18 02:28 PM US/Eastern
By NORMA LOVE
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - Two years ago, New Hampshire refused to accept heating oil from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the pro-Castro U.S. critic who once called President Bush "the devil." But with fuel prices rising, well, free oil is free oil.
With the state's blessing, New Hampshire residents will be receiving some of the fuel this winter.
New Hampshire becomes the last state in the Northeast to embrace the offer.
"A lot of people have said, `We need help and we value any help we can get,'" said Amy Ignatius, director of New Hampshire's office of energy and planning.
The oil giveaway will be managed by Citizens Energy, a nonprofit organization set up by former Massachusetts Rep. Joseph Kennedy to help the poor stay warm. But the state energy office plans to help Citizens publicize the aid and sign up fuel-oil dealers.
It is just the latest example of how rising oil prices have brought about an attitude adjustment in the U.S. Over the past few weeks, pressure has been growing in Washington and around the country to lift the federal ban on offshore drilling.
Back in 2006, when Chavez began offering free oil to Americans from Venezuela's government-controlled Citgo, New Hampshire's energy office contacted the Venezuelan Embassy about working out a deal.
But the idea galled some New Hampshire Republicans, including Sen. John Sununu, who called the it a "disgrace" and an attempt at grandstanding by Chavez, and Democratic Gov. John Lynch squelched the effort.
This year, though, "the state's role is to make sure people are aware of the program," Lynch spokesman Colin Manning said.
A lot has changed over the past two years. Back then, heating oil sold for about $2.50 per gallon in the Northeast. Last month, the average price was $4.61, with predictions of $5 per gallon oil by winter.
"The average tank is 250 to 275 gallons," Citizens spokeswoman Ashley Durmer said. "Filling it once is over $1,500. That is unfathomable that anyone can pay that price. If you have to fill the tank four times, it's going to be a devastating winter for a lot of people."
On Thursday, Sununu again criticized Chavez but said he has no problem with people or businesses accepting help from an independent nonprofit such as Citizens.
Sununu and other lawmakers around the Northeast are pressing for big increases in federal home heating aid. More than 6 million New England households rely on oil heat.
Bob Garside, president of the Oil Heat Council of New Hampshire, a trade group, predicted many of the state's 200 dealers will refuse to participate in the heating-oil giveaway. "In the past, it's been nothing but a ploy for Chavez," Garside said.
Bill Fuller, general manager of Fred Fuller Oil Co., disagreed. He began delivering fuel for Citizens last winter, when hundreds of New Hampshire residents who applied on their own, without state involvement, got 100 gallons free. Fuller said he plans to do it again.
"It's actually a pretty good program," he said. "We get a voucher. We fax it in and get money right away."
Not only do DemocRats NOT want to drill for oil, they want to INCREASE our gas taxes!
House Transportation Committee Chair Jim Oberstar continues to press for a gas tax increase. He believes that a tax hike of a dime per gallon will be necessary to pay for highway construction next year because the "Highway Trust Fund" is running on empty.
Of course, highway spending isn't the only thing leading Democrats to press for gas tax increases. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell repeatedly proposes a 50 cent gas tax increase to combat global warming. At least, he's claiming the purpose is to fight global warming. When he first proposed the increase in August 2007, the average price of a gallon of gasoline was $2.80. It is now $4.10 and we have a much better idea of how gas prices influence driving habits. Dingell's proposal hasn't changed. His accountants agree: 50 cents sounds like the right amount.
Sadly, many stupid Americans will still vote DemocRat in November.
There's just no fixing stupid...
H/T: Ace
Thursday, July 17, 2008
News Anchors follow O'Bama to Iraq.
Since they they went to Iraq with John McCain, they figured they had to be fair and cover Barry O'Bama's trip too.
H/T: Newsbusters
H/T: Newsbusters
Pot meet Kettle
This would be laughable if it wasn't so pathetic.
House Speaker Pelosi calls Bush 'a total failure'
Jul 17, 7:35 PM (ET)
By LAURIE KELLMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush has been a "total failure" in everything from the economy to the war to energy policy, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday. In an interview on CNN, the California Democrat was asked to respond to video of the president criticizing the Democratic-led Congress for heading into the final 26 days of the legislative session without having passed a single government spending bill.
Pelosi shot back in unusually personal terms.
"You know, God bless him, bless his heart, president of the United States, a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject," Pelosi replied. She then tsk-tsked Bush for "challenging Congress when we are trying to sweep up after his mess over and over and over again."
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino defended Bush.
"What the president said is a fact - this is the longest a Congress has gone in 20 years without passing a single spending bill, so it's clear that the speaker is feeling some frustration at their inability to do so."
Pelosi's outburst was a departure. Her usual practice in public has been to call Bush's policies a failure - not his presidency or him, personally. Pelosi's remarks are the latest evidence of the Democrats' throw-caution-to-the-wind approach to Bush in the waning days of a presidency weighed down by an unpopular war and soaring gasoline prices.
How not to treat your officers aka: How not to run a Police Department
A great read both for the heroism involved and how to make perfectly good officers want to leave.
Read the whole thing here.
But Jackson’s fellow officer, Kyle Remolino, in the vehicle nearest the Blazer, realized what was happening. He reported shots fired.
“How do you know those are shots,” someone asked over the radio.
“Because there’s a bullethole in my windshield.”
Still, the police didn’t shoot back.
The Blazer did a U-turn around a median and, like a passing man of war, opened fire on the line of patrol cars waiting to make the turn. The officers ducked behind the ballistic panels in their doors.
Again and again the Blazer pulls this broadside maneuver. But, every time, nobody shot back.
“I didn’t want to see any of these guys get hurt,” Jackson said. “I couldn’t live with myself if that happened.”
Jackson asked the sergeant in charge for permission to engage. But he was told to stand by.
When a lieutenant arrived and took over as incident commander, Jackson’s patrol car pulled near. Jackson and the lieutenant spoke through their open windows.
“We gotta do something,” Jackson said.
“Go do it.”
Read the whole thing here.
It's official! If you don't vote O'Bama, you're a racist!
You just KNEW this was coming...
H/T: Gateway Pundit
Paterson: Obama Defeat Would Be Victory For Racism
By JACOB GERSHMAN, Staff Reporter of the Sun | July 17, 2008
"Can America reject the crucible of race that has dictated and pervaded all of our history to embrace an African American man who has the right polices for the next decade in this country? Can America overlook its past practices that were so grave that in1820 the great Scottish Whig, Sydney Smith, writing in the Edinburgh Review, said of America: 'How can they protest the tyrannies of Europe when they torture and brutalize one-sixth of its population?' How can America get past this and elect an African-American president of the United States?" Mr. Paterson said.
He continued: "Can America go past the crippling way that we've shot ourselves in the foot over and over, denying opportunity to people who are bright, to people who are qualified, to people who are able because they didn't look like us, or they didn't come from where we came from, or they are from a different gender, or they are from the African continent? Can America push that away and find new leadership? We'll find out in the next few months what America can do."
Mr. Paterson, who is New York's first black governor, also turned the focus on himself, strongly suggesting that people have belittled his governorship not because of the unusual way in which he took office but because of his race.
H/T: Gateway Pundit
Semper Fi, Sergeant!
Stud.
H/T: Lex
Soldier Gets Silver Star for Killing Bomber
July 15, 2008
Knight Ridder
FORT LEWIS, Wash. - It took Sgt. Michael Espejo Jr. a moment to realize that the injured Afghan policeman he was dragging away from a burning truck was no policeman at all.
He had one of the man's arms draped over his shoulder and felt an odd bulk under his Afghan National Police shirt. Some new body armor, maybe?
And then he noticed the wire coming out of the sleeve and the switch device in the man's hand.
A suicide bomber -- in his arms.
"I threw him off of me, and started backing away from him," Espejo recalled Monday.
He and another Soldier took turns falling back and covering each other, yelling at the man in English and in Pashto to put his hands up.
There were four other U.S. Soldiers, a couple of State Department agents and a number of Afghan policemen all within range of the ball bearings, nails or whatever else might come flying out of the bomber's vest.
Espejo kept moving back. The man didn't seem to be all there. And when he started moving his hands together to work the switch, Espejo shot him dead from about 30 yards away.
"It all happened in a matter of seconds," he said.
On Monday, the Army presented the 26-year-old Fort Lewis military policeman with the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest award for combat valor.
Espejo's family and his fellow Soldiers from the 66th MP Company were on hand to watch Lt. Gen. Charles Jacoby Jr., the post commander, present the medal in a ceremony outside the I Corps headquarters building.
Jacoby said Espejo's actions "perfectly capture the essence, the prototype, of the American Soldier in a counterinsurgency."
In just a moment, he went from trying to help an injured ally to lethally stopping an insurgent foe, the general said.
The incident occurred Sept. 27, 2007, in the Bati Kot district of Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan, not far from the provincial capital of Jalalabad.
Espejo's squad was on its way back to its base when it encountered what appeared to be a vehicle bombing at a place the Soldiers called the Tree Farm -- the terrain switches dramatically there from featureless desert to groves lining the highway. Attacks happen frequently there.
His company commander, Capt. Christopher Hormel, said investigators later theorized that two insurgent suicide bombers were traveling together on the highway, probably bound for Jalalabad, when they struck a man in the road. They stopped, and one of them accidently blew himself up.
The 66th patrol came along to find the other bomber -- dressed in an Afghan National Police uniform -- lying on his back, palms down and disoriented from the explosion.
The ordeal didn't end with the shooting. Hormel said his troops spent the next nine hours on the scene, not knowing if there might be other suicide bombers as a crowd grew. Later, an Afghan fire truck suffered a brake failure as it arrived, crashing into the crowd and injuring many, he said.
"What Espejo did was save a lot of people's lives," Hormel said. "But I've got a whole unit of heroes."
Espejo, from Bakersfield, Calif., served four years in the Marine Corps before switching to the Army three years ago. He just returned home in April after a 15-month tour with the 66th MPs.
He and his wife, Rosa, live in Tacoma, with their son, Michael III, 21/2. They're expecting a second child.
He said he thinks from time to time about how close he came to dying.
"After it happened I was kind of standing up against the trucks and I was like, 'Whoa, that was close,'" he said. "And then you shake it off and keep going on with your mission."
Espejo said he did what any other Soldier would have done in the same situation.
But his buddies clearly viewed his actions as above and beyond. They cheered him with applause and handshakes after Monday's medal ceremony.
"He's my idol," said Spc. David Banicki, 21, the gunner on Espejo's armored security vehicle that day.
"You're going to stand there and pretty much look death in the face and it's either you or him, and you're going to push everybody else away instead of yourself," Banicki said. "It just says a lot about who he is."
H/T: Lex
Semper Fi, Danny!
I saw this episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, where Danny Gilyeat got a new home after returning from duty in Iraq. After he got back, his wife split on him and their four kids.
Now, friends have re-built a Harley that Danny was working on before he left.
Video is here.
H/T: The Donovan
Now, friends have re-built a Harley that Danny was working on before he left.
Video is here.
‘Extreme makeover’ recipient receives extreme chopper
By MALCOLM GARCIA The Kansas City Star
Daniel Gilyeat sauntered through the back door to the offices of Cycle Connections, an online motorcycle magazine, then paused and scratched his chin.
He was more than a little aware that a roomful of mechanics and Hooters employees on a Saturday afternoon meant something was up.
“Danny, you need to come here,” said sales manager Dave Miller. “For all the things you do to keep us safe, we wanted to give you an opportunity to get back on the road.”
Miller then turned to the mechanics.
“Go ahead.”
Without a word, they pulled a sheet off a sparkling deep blue and purple 1981 Ironhead Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Gilyeat stood still, eyes reddening with the strain of holding back tears — again. Only last February, crews from ABC-TV’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” had torn down his Wyandotte County house and built him a new one, three times larger, to help him readjust to life back home after losing his left leg in Iraq in 2005.
As overwhelming as that was, some of his friends knew it wasn’t enough. Gilyeat, they understood, had a passion to be back on the road.
“They approached me, and we made arrangements with his neighbors” to take Gilyeat’s bike, Miller recalled. “It was a Thursday night, raining. I took it to my house, and then I wondered, ‘What have I got myself into?’ ”
Completely stripped and without any kind of body work, the bike was in rough shape. Furthermore, it had to be custom-fitted to accommodate Gilyeat’s artificial leg.
Miller approached mechanics at Bear’s Hiway Classics, a Kansas City motorcycle dealer, and asked for their help. Beginning in March, they donated their time and began their work that, among other things, included a stirrup for Gilyeat’s artificial leg and a hand-controlled gear shift and clutch in the shape of a grenade.
“I did the motor, but it was really a team effort,” said shop manager Travis Wright. “The big thing was to try and make it presentable.”
Perhaps the greatest challenge: Keeping their work secret from Gilyeat.
“I’m just relieved it’s over,” Miller said. “I put family and friends on stress mode getting this done.”
When the motorcycle was finally ready, Miller organized a gathering of Gilyeat’s family and friends at the Cycle Connections magazine offices, with Hooters supplying the food.
Gilyeat could only stare in stunned surprise.
“You recognize it, Danny?” one of the mechanics shouted.
“Your bike, dude.”
“We stole it from you.”
“And of course,” Gilyeat finally said, “today it’s raining.”
But that didn’t stop him from sitting astride it and firing it up to a roomful of cheers.
“I’d never have guessed,” he said. “I still don’t recognize it. It’s an amazing thing. We do what we do because America’s worth it. You all have given me more than enough.”
“Danny,” a man shouted back. “For what you did, we could never give you enough.”
H/T: The Donovan
He deserved to get fired!
There is no room for turds like this guy, in Law Enforcement.
I hope getting a $4 cup of coffee for free was worth your career, you dumbass!
I hope getting a $4 cup of coffee for free was worth your career, you dumbass!
Officer Accused Of Threatening Starbucks Managers For Free Coffee
Police Lieutenant Failed Polygraph Test, Fired
POSTED: 6:38 pm EDT July 16, 2008
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A police lieutenant in Daytona Beach was fired over accusations that he threatened slower emergency response times if he was not given complimentary specialty Starbucks coffee drinks.
An internal police investigation found that Daytona Lt. Major Garvin received free coffee for about two years from a city Starbucks coffee store.
However, when recently denied free coffee from new management, Garvin allegedly told managers that he could change the police department's response time if they refuse to give him complimentary drinks.
Garvin is accused of saying, "If something happens, either we can respond really fast or we could respond really slow. I've been coming here for years and I've been getting whatever I want. I'm the difference between you getting a two-minute response time, if you needed a little help, or a 15 minutes response time."
However, when confronted about the comments, police said Garvin agreed to take a polygraph test.
When asked whether or not he threatened managers with adverse response times, Garvin responded, "no."
But polygraph test results suggested that the officer was lying, Local 6's Tarik Minor reported. Garvin was then fired.
Starbucks employees said Garvin visited the Starbucks store six times a day during his shifts and intimidated some workers during visits.
"I want somebody protecting my streets who is honest and trustworthy," Starbucks customer Adam Cuddy said. "So, if he is going to fail a polygraph, whether it is about coffee or anything, I don't know how comfortable I feel as a citizen being protected."
The investigation also revealed that Garvin requested the complimentary coffee even when he was not on duty.
Garvin was hired by the department in 1993.
Un-believable!
The District of Columbia just doesn't get it!
DC Rejects Handgun Application
Posted By: Daniel Guzman 4 hrs ago
WASHINGTON (WUSA) -- District residents can start registering their guns today. But at least one very high profile application was already rejected.
Dick Heller is the man who brought the lawsuit against the District's 32-year-old ban on handguns. He was among the first in line Thursday morning to apply for a handgun permit.
But when he tried to register his semi-automatic weapon, he says he was rejected. He says his gun has seven bullet clip. Heller says the City Council legislation allows weapons with fewer than eleven bullets in the clip. A spokesman for the DC Police says the gun was a bottom-loading weapon, and according to their interpretation, all bottom-loading guns are outlawed because they are grouped with machine guns.
Besides obtaining paperwork to buy new handguns, residents also can register firearms they've had illegally under a 180-day amnesty period.
Though residents will be allowed to begin applying for handgun permits, city officials have said the entire process could take weeks or months.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Poor guy...
Officer's Squad Car Wrecked 29 Minutes Into Job
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
HOBART, Ind. — Police officer Tim Pochron's first day on the job went poorly: Less than a half-hour into it, his squad car was wrecked in a crash.
Pochron was inside his house at 12:29 a.m. Monday when someone hit his new squad car parked outside, as well as a tree, police said.
"Pochron was 29 minutes into the first day of his new job when his parked squad car was struck," Lt. Steve Houck said.
The driver tested positive for drugs, was arrested and taken to a hospital, police said.
Pochron, 26, was sworn in last week. He was supposed to work the morning shift Monday. Instead, he spent the morning filling out paperwork at the police station.
The force of the crash bent the rear axle of the squad car. Deputy Chief Jeff White said the car can be repaired, though he's not sure how much it will cost.
Pochron "was just heartbroken," White said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
