Vote in the 2009 Web Blog Awards

Hey gang, I noticed that some awesome websites were included in the 2009 Web Blog Awards. So I must implore all of you to vote in this year's competition:

Some Suggestions:
The Blogmocracy
Jumping in Pools
Innominatus
The Pirate's Cove
Legal Insurrection

And if you aren't too busy, you can always throw a vote towards Notoriously Conservative.

Stop Obama From Importing Terrorists Stateside

I received this e-mail today:

Today Barack Obama is going to announce that the terrorist mastermind of September 11th, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, will be sent to New York City for a criminal trial in a civilian court.

In that trial, the terrorist will get all the rights afforded an American citizen in a criminal trial, including the right to a fair trial, the right to a taxpayer funded attorney, the right to review all the evidence against him, potentially including classified intelligence matters, the right to exclude evidence against him including, potentially, any confession obtained through enhanced interrogation techniques, etc.

At best, this will be a show trial fit not for the American Republic, but a third world kleptocratic totalitarian regime. At worse, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will gain access to classified material he can then leak to other terrorists while New York yet again becomes a target for terrorists. We have already had occasions in this country where terrorists' sympathetic lawyers have conveyed information, orders, and plans to other terrorists.

You can find more details here.

Call your Congressman and Senator right now. Tell them they should use every tool at their disposal to block this. The number to call is 202-224-3121.

Sincerely yours,

Erick Erickson
Editor, RedState.com

A Letter from a Recon Marine in Afghanistan

From the Sand Pit: It's freezing here. I'm sitting on hard, cold dirt between rocks and shrubs at the base of the Hindu Kush Mountains, along the Dar 'yoi Pomir River, watching a hole that leads to a tunnel that leads to a cave. Stake out my friend, and no pizza delivery for thousands of miles.

I also glance at the area around my a-- every ten to fifteen seconds to avoid another scorpion sting. I've actually given up battling the chiggers and sand fleas, but those scorpions give a jolt like a cattle prod; hurts like a ba---rd. The antidote tastes like transmission fluid, but God bless the Marine Corps for the five vials of it in my pack.

The one truth the Taliban cannot escape is, believe it or not, they are human beings, which means they have to eat food and drink water. That requires couriers and that's where an old bounty hunter like me comes in handy. I track the couriers, locate the tunnel entrances and storage facilities, type the info into the handheld, shoot the coordinates up to the satellite link that tells the air commanders where to drop the hardware. We bash some heads for a while, then I track and record the new movement.

It's all about intelligence. We haven't even brought in the snipers yet. These scurrying rats have no idea what they're in for. We are but days away from cutting off supply lines and allowing the eradication to begin.

I dream of Bin Laden waking up to find me standing over him with my boot on his throat as I spit into his face and plunge my nickel-plated Bowie knife through his frontal lobe. But you know me, I'm a romantic. I've said it before and I'll say it again: This country blows, man. It's not even a country. There are no roads, there's no infrastructure, there's no government. This is an inhospitable, rock pit sh-- hole ruled by eleventh century warring tribes. There are no jobs here like we know jobs.

Afghanistan offers two ways for a man to support his family: join the opium trade or join the army. That's it; those are your options. Oh, I forgot, you can also live in a refugee camp and eat plum-sweetened, crushed beetle paste and squirt mud like a goose with the stomach flu, if that's your idea of a party. But the smell alone of those "tent cities of the walking dead" is enough to hurl you into the poppy fields to cheerfully scrape bulbs for eighteen hours a day.

I've been living with these Tajiks and Uzbeks, and Turkmen and even a couple of Pushtuns, for over a month and a half now, and this much I can say for sure: These guys, all of 'em, are Huns, actual, living Huns. They LIVE to fight; it's what they do; it's ALL they do. They have no respect for anything, not for their families, nor for each other, nor for themselves. They claw at one another as a way of life. They play polo with dead calves and force their five year old sons into human cockfights to defend the family honor. Huns, roaming packs of savage, heartless beasts who feed on each other's barbarism. Cavemen with AK-47's. Then again, maybe I'm just cranky.

I'm freezing my a-- off on this stupid hill because my lap warmer is running out of juice, and I can't recharge it until the sun comes up in a few hours. Oh yeah! You like to write letters, right? Do me a favor, Bizarre. Write a letter to CNN and tell Wolf and Anderson and that awful, sneering, pompous Aaron Brown to stop calling the Taliban "smart." They are not smart. I suggest CNN invest in a dictionary because the word they are looking for is "cunning." The Taliban are cunning, like jackals and hyenas and wolverines. They are sneaky and ruthless, and when confronted, cowardly. They are hateful, malevolent parasites who create nothing and destroy everything else. Smart? Pfft. Yeah, they're real smart.

They've spent their entire lives reading only one book (and not a very good one, as books go) and consider hygiene and indoor plumbing to be products of the devil. They're still figuring out how to work a Bic lighter. Talking to a Taliban warrior about improving his quality of life is like trying to teach an ape how to hold a pen; eventually he just gets frustrated and sticks you in the eye with it.

OK, enough. Snuffle will be up soon, so I have to get back to my hole. Covering my tracks in the snow takes a lot of practice, but I'm good at it.

Please, I tell you and my fellow Americans to turn off the TV sets and move on with your lives. The story line you are getting from CNN and other news agencies is utter bullsh-- and designed not to deliver truth but rather to keep you glued to the screen through the commercials. We've got this one under control. The worst thing you guys can do right now is sit around analyzing what we're doing over here, because you have no idea what we're doing, and really, you don't want to know. We are your military, and we are doing what you sent us here to do.

You wanna help? Buy Bonds America.

Saucy Jack
Recon Marine in Afghanistan
Semper Fi
"Freedom is not free, but the U.S. Marine Corps will pay most of your share.

Thanks Roy!

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News Headlines - 11 13 09

Fort Hood
Alleged Fort Hood shooter paralyzed from waist down, lawyer says

H1N1
New CDC estimates show what toll swine flu is taking in US
CDC: H1N1 Sickens 22 Million in 6 Months
H1N1 Map

Socialism
Bush warns against federal control of private sector...

Global Warming
OBAMA MAY DROP 'CAP AND TRADE'...
The Coming Climate Dictatorship

Abortion
RNC Plan Covers Abortions

Obama in Asia
In Tokyo, Obama Makes Concession on Marine Base
Obama: Asia Can't Rely on U.S. Consumers - Oh he pisses me off...
Obama has come half way around the world to deliver a message to East Asia: the global economy can no longer count on the U.S. consumer to keep it afloat.

Palin
Opinion: Can Palin Make Comeback?

Scientist Ian Plimer Argues CO2 isn't Causing Global Warming

Professor Ian Plimer, a geologist from Adelaide University, argues that a recent rise in temperature around the world is caused by solar cycles and other "extra terrestrial" forces.

He said carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, widely blamed for global warming, is a natural phenomenon caused by volcanoes erupting.

"We cannot stop carbon emissions because most of them come from volcanoes," he said. "It is a normal element cycled around in the earth and my science, which is looking back in time, is saying we have had a planet that has been a green, warm wet planet 80 per cent of the time. We have had huge climate change in the past and to think the very slight variations we measure today are the result of our life - we really have to put ice blocks in our drinks."

Most mainstream scientists agree that the recent warming period was caused by an increase in carbon dioxide since the industrial revolution.

However Prof Plimer said the world has experienced three periods of cooling since 1850 and furthermore carbon dioxide was increasing during many of those cooler periods.

"If we had only had warming, then there would be a connect between co2 and temperature, there is not," he added.

Prof Plimer has come under attack as a "denialist poster boy" whose theories are in danger of stopping the world from tackling the grave dangers of climate change.

But he said the scientists "frightening people witless by following the party line" are motivated by politics and research funding.

"They are taking advantage of the current situation. That is understandable. In previous times people got wonderful research grants in a war against cancer and they achieved a lot of money for that. Now we have a war on climate change and we have a huge number of people out there who have their career staked on it and are beneficiaries of this process."

Read the rest here.

Of course he is labeled a skeptic, and mocked for his views. You may say, he's just a geologist, what does he know? But geology is a science that has imperical data right under their feet. His science isn't based on computer models, but by the analyzing of rock and soil to look into our past and determine what effects CO2 has had on weather patterns, historically. This isn't a prediction like the rest of global warming science, this is based on previous events that actually have quantative measurements of weather activity.

Anyway, take it as you will, more food for thought.

If You've Always Wanted to be a Soldier

If you have always wanted to join the military, but can't, you can still help. Here are a few ways you can help the USA:

The next time you see an adult talking (or wearing a hat) during the playing of the National Anthem, kick their butt.

When you witness firsthand someone burning the American Flag in protest, kick their butt.

Regardless of the rank they held while they served, pay the highest amount of respect to all veterans. If you see anyone doing otherwise, quietly pull them aside and explain how these Veterans fought for the very freedom they bask in every second. Enlighten them on the many sacrifices these Veterans made to make this Nation great. Then hold them down while a Disabled Veteran kicks their butt..

If you were never in the military, DO NOT pretend that you were. Wearing battle dress uniforms (BDU's), telling others that you used to be "Special Forces" and collecting GI Joe memorabilia, might have been okay if you were still seven; now, it will only make you look stupid and get your butt kicked.

Next time you come across an Air Force member, do not ask them, "Do you fly a jet?" Not everyone in the Air Force is a pilot. Such ignorance deserves an butt kicking.

If you witness someone calling the U.S. Coast Guard non military, inform them of their mistake, and kick their butt.

Next time Old Glory (U.S. flag) prances by during a parade, get on your dang feet and pay homage to her by placing your hand over your heart. Quietly thank the military member or veteran lucky enough to be carrying her. Of course, failure to do either of those could earn you a severe butt kicking.

What Jane Fonda did during the Vietnam War makes her the enemy. The proper word to describe her is "traitor." Just mention her nomination for "Woman of the Year" and get your butt kicked.

"Your mama wears combat boots" never made sense to me, stop saying it. If she did, she would most likely be a Vet and probably kick your butt.

Bin Laden and the Taliban are not communists, so stop saying "Let's go kill those Commie's!" And stop asking us where he is. Crystal balls are not standard issue in the military. That reminds me, if you see anyone calling those dang psychic phone numbers, let me know, so I can go kick their butt.

Flyboy (Air Force), Jar Head (Marines), Grunt (Army), Squid (Navy) etc, are terms of endearment we use describing each other. Unless you are a service member or Vet, you have not earned the right to use them. Could get your butt kicked.

Last but not least, whether or not you become a member of the military, support our troops and their families. Every Thanksgiving and religious holiday that you enjoy with family and friends please remember that there are, literally, thousands of sailors and troops far from home wishing they could be with their families. Thank God for our military and the sacrifices they make every day. Without them, our country would get its butt kicked.

News Headlines - 11 12 09

NY-23 House Seat
Scozzafava: GOP not based on 'substance'
Recanvassing shows NY-23 race tightens even as Rep. Bill Owens is sworn into House seat...

Sarah Palin
Carrie Prejean Hearts Sarah Palin...Larry King Not So Much
A sneak preview of “Going Rogue”

Socialism
TEXAS GOV. SAYS USA HEADING TOWARD SOCIALISM



Afghanistan
Sniffer dog went missing in Afghan battle -- discovered safe after 14 MONTHS lost in desert!

Global Warming
Church bells to ring out warning on climate change...

Economy
In One Town, Nearly Half Of Residents Out Of Work...
Recession Drives More Women to Work
IEA: Oil Rise Risks Derailing Economy

Fort Hood
Political Correctness to Blame at Fort Hood?

Guns/Healthcare (apparently they are related.)
Obama to attack gunsas public-health threat?

Odd

The One Fingered Salute

Thanks to Roy for sending me this e-mail:

Leading the fight is U S Marine Gunnery Sgt. Michael Burghardt, known as "Iron Mike" or just "Gunny." He is on his third tour in Iraq . He had become a legend in the bomb disposal world after winning the Bronze Star for disabling 64 IEDs and destroying 1,548 pieces of ordnance during his second tour.

One day he arrived at a chaotic scene after a bomb had killed four US Marines. He chose not to wear the bulky bomb protection suit. "You can't react to any sniper fire and you get tunnel-vision," he explains.

So, protected by just a helmet and standard-issue flak jacket, he began what bomb disposal officers term "the longest walk," stepping gingerly into a 5 foot deep and 8 foot wide crater.

The earth shifted slightly and he saw a Senao base station with a wire leading from it. He cut the wire and used his 7 inch knife to probe the ground. "I found a piece of red detonating cord between my legs," he says. "That's when I knew I was screwed." Realizing he had been sucked into a trap, Sgt. Burghardt, 35, yelled at everyone to stay back. At that moment, an insurgent, probably watching through binoculars, pressed a button on his mobile phone to detonate the secondary device below the sergeant's feet.

"A chill went up the back of my neck and then the bomb exploded," he recalls. "As I was in the air I remember thinking, 'I don't believe they got me.' I was just ticked off they were able to do it. Then I was lying on the road, not able to feel anything from the waist down."

His fellow Marines cut off his trousers to see how badly he was hurt. No one could believe his legs were still there "My dad's a Vietnam vet who's paralyzed from the waist down," says Sgt. Burghardt. "I was lying there thinking I didn't want to be in a wheelchair next to my Dad and for him to see me like that. They started to cut away my pants and I felt a real sharp pain and blood trickling down. Then I wiggled my toes and I thought, 'Good, I'm in business.'" As a stretcher was brought over, adrenaline and anger kicked in. "I decided to walk to the helicopter. I wasn't going to let my team-mates see me being carried away on a stretcher." He stood and gave the insurgents who had blown him up a one-fingered salute. "I flipped them one. It was like, 'OK, I lost that round but I'll be back next week.'"

Copies of a photograph depicting his defiance, taken by Jeff Bundy for the Omaha World-Herald, adorn the walls of homes across America and that of Col. John Gronski, the brigade commander in Ramadi, who has hailed the image as an exemplar of the warrior spirit.

Sgt. Burghardt's injuries (burns and wounds to his legs and buttocks) kept him off duty for nearly a month and could have earned him a ticket home. But, like his father (who was awarded a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts for being wounded in action in Vietnam) he stayed in Ramadi to engage in the battle against insurgents who are forever coming up with more ingenious ways of killing Americans.

News Headlines - 11 11 09

Veterans Day
Veterans Day: Pause to Remember at the 11th Hour
SLIDESHOW: Honoring Those Who Serve - Thank you.

Fort Hood Shootings
Hasan Had More Ties to Jihadists than Originally Thought
Blame game erupts over probe of Fort Hood suspect...
Warnings May Have Been Missed... - Well duh.

Economy
Stocks extend gains

Brazil's Blackouts
Brazil Looks for Answers After Huge Blackout - Builld some nuclear power plants, they work beautifully.
BRAZIL'S CITIES HIT BY BLACKOUTS...
60 MILLION LOST POWER...
Extraordinary pictures...

H1N1
H1N1: Your Flu Questions Answered

Global Warming
Climate Bill Likely on the Shelf For Rest of the Year - But I thought we had to act now, before the damage was no longer reversible?
No Climate For Change Treaty In Copenhagen

Stepping Down
Obama communications director steps down -- another win for Fox News?

Polls and Popularity
New poll shows GOP leading Dems in congressional preference ballot. - They can pull off some wins if they give us some conservative candidates.
RASMUSSEN POLL: OBAMA AT 46% APPROVAL...
GOP gains among independents

Health Care
Reid puts House healthcare bill on Senate calendar...
Dem vows to block if looks like House...

President Reagan's Veterans Day Speech

I posted this last year, but I think it is worth reposting.

Ronald Reagan's V-Day Ceremony Address at the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial
Delivered 11 November 1988, Washington D.C.

Before I begin, let me take a moment to congratulate the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and the other distinguished guests without whom the construction and operation of this memorial would not have been possible. Let me also say that America is grateful to the hundreds of Vietnam veterans who, when I asked them to join my Administration, did so, and have and are serving our nation so proudly. For your devotion to America, I salute you.

We're gathered today, just as we have gathered before, to remember those who served, those who fought, and those who -- those still missing, and those who gave their last full measure of devotion for our country. We're gathered at a monument on which the names of our fallen friends and loved ones are engraved, and with crosses instead of diamonds beside them, the names of those whose fate we do not yet know. One of those who fell wrote, shortly before his death, these words: "Take what they have left and what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own. And take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind."

Well, today, Veterans Day, as we do every year, we take that moment to embrace the gentle heroes of Vietnam and of all our wars. We remember those who were called upon to give all a person can give, and we remember those who were prepared to make that sacrifice if it were demanded of them in the line of duty, though it never was. Most of all, we remember the devotion and gallantry with which all of them ennobled their nation as they became champions of a noble cause.

I'm not speaking provocatively here. Unlike the other wars of this century, of course, there were deep divisions about the wisdom and rightness of the Vietnam war. Both sides spoke with honesty and fervor. And what more can we ask in our democracy? And yet after more than a decade of desperate boat people, after the killing fields of Cambodia, after all that has happened in that unhappy part of the world, who can doubt that the cause for which our men fought was just? It was, after all, however imperfectly pursued, the cause of freedom; and they showed uncommon courage in its service. Perhaps at this late date we can all agree that we've learned one lesson: that young Americans must never again be sent to fight and die unless we are prepared to let them win.

But -- But -- But beyond that, we remember today that all our gentle heroes of Vietnam have given us a lesson in something more: a lesson in living love. Yes, for all of them, those who came back and those who did not, their love for their families lives. Their love for their buddies on the battlefields and friends back home lives. Their love of their country lives.

This memorial has become a monument to that living love. The thousands who come to see the names testify to a love that endures. The messages and mementos they leave speak with a whispering voice that passes gently through the surrounding trees and to out across the breast of our peaceful nation: a childhood teddy bear, a photograph of the son or daughter born too late to know his or her father, a battle ribbon, a note -- there are so many of these, and all are testimony to our living love for them. And our nation itself is testimony to the love our veterans have had for it and for us. Our liberties, our values, all for which America stands is safe today because brave men and women have been ready to face the fire at freedom's front. And we thank God for them.

Yes, gentle heroes and living love and our memories of a time when we faced great divisions here at home. And yet if this place recalls all this, both sweet and sad, it also reminds us of a great and profound truth about our nation: that from all our divisions we have always eventually emerged strengthened. Perhaps we are finding that new strength today, and if so, much of it comes from the forgiveness and healing love that our Vietnam veterans have shown.

For too long a time, they stood in a chill wind, as if on a winter night's watch. And in that night, their deeds spoke to us, but we knew them not. And their voices called to us, but we heard them not. Yet in this land that God has blessed, the dawn always at last follows the dark, and now morning has come. The night is over. We see these men and know them once again -- and know how much we owe them, how much they've given us, and how much we can never fully repay. And not just as individuals but as a nation, we say we love you.

These -- These days, we show our love in many ways -- some of it through the Government. We now fly the POW - MIA flag at this memorial on Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and POW - MIA Recognition Day. This is a small gesture, but a significant one. America also keeps a vigil for those who have not yet returned. We have negotiated with the Vietnamese to bring our nation's sons home, and for the first time to have joint teams investigating remote areas of Vietnam that might shed light on the fate of those we list as missing. In Laos, we have also begun a new round of surveys and excavations of crash sites. And we have told Hanoi that it must prove to the American people through its cooperation whether men are still being held against their will in Indochina. Otherwise we will assume some are, and we will do everything we can to find them.

Here at home, a new Department of Veterans Affairs and extended veterans benefits are merely outward and visible signs of an inward and invisible grace that has come to our land. Vietnam service is once more universally recognized as a badge of pride. Four years ago, I noted that this healing had begun and that I hoped that before my days as Commander in Chief were over it would be completed. Well, now as I approach the end of my service and I see Vietnam veterans take their rightful place among America's heroes, it appears to me that we have healed. And what can I say to our Vietnam veterans but: Welcome home.

Now before I go, as have so many others, Nancy and I wanted to leave a note at the wall. And if I may read it to you before doing so, we will put this note here before we leave:

"Our young friends -- yes, young friends, for in our hearts you will always be young, full of the love that is youth, love of life, love of joy, love of country -- you fought for your country and for its safety and for the freedom of others with strength and courage. We love you for it. We honor you. And we have faith that, as He does all His sacred children, the Lord will bless you and keep you, the Lord will make His face to shine upon you and give you peace, now and forever more."

Thank you all, and God bless you.

(For the audio, visit americanrhetoric.com)

Happy Veterans Day! Muggers Return Veterans Wallet

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- "Thank you for your service." Lots of veterans will be hearing that today, Veterans Day. But in Milwaukee-it was a mugger who thanked an Army reservist -- and gave him back his wallet.

The robbery victim is a 21-year-old University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student who was robbed early yesterday morning.

He says four men mugged him at gunpoint. But when one of the bandits found his military ID, the robber thanked the young man, apologized and told the others to return his stuff.

The apparent leader of the pack also gave the victim a quick fist bump. The victim asked not to be named because his keys are still missing.

They may be low down criminals, but at least they are patriotic. That's more than can be said of a lot of politicans.