Sundays are for Beauty - Hummel Trumpet Concerto

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Tine Thing Helseth, the best, and prettiest, trumpet soloist in all of Norway, specializes in classical repertoire. She appeared on this Blog back in June performing the Third Movement of Franz Josef Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto. To enjoy that again, go HERE.

Johann Nepomuk Hummel succeeded Haydn as Kapellmeister with the Esterházy court orchestra in Hungary, and there wrote his Trumpet Concerto In E Major, in December 1803. It was first performed on New Year's Day 1804 to mark Hummel's entrance into the Esterhazy court orchestra as Haydn's successor.

The trumpet concertos by Haydn and Hummel are arguably the best of their genre; they certainly are beautiful.

Have a Beautiful Sunday.

You Lie! - Kathryn Jean Lopez - National Review Online

Kathryn Jean Lopez is the editor-at-large of National Review Online (NRO). She is fondly referred to as K-LO by the regular contributors to NRO, and, as you will see from this piece, can be quite adamant about certain moral truths. The Left is making her famous with their attacks against her strongly held beliefs, which endears her even more to this Blog. Here's a clip from the below piece.

The Democratic leadership in Washington wants you to believe that the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church are trying to create a theocracy and reverse Roe v. Wade with one congressional vote. (As if anyone could.) Don’t get suckered in by the lies of the president and the pro-choice Catholics he has flanking him as cover, most notably Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Here's the whole article:
You Lie! - Kathryn Jean Lopez - National Review Online

Saving Freedom From Fascism

It would be difficult to imagine a more enlightening or entertaining panel at the recently concluded C-PAC meeting in Washington, or at any such meeting anywhere. The video is a little long, but you can listen to one of the three speakers at a time (when you have time). Jonah Goldberg, Amity Shlaes and Herb London are names that freedom loving Americans should be more than acquainted with: they should be intimately familiar with each, and should read what they have written on this and other subjects.

Seen and Heard at CPAC: Former Examiner associate editorial page editor chairs panel on saving freedom from fascism | Washington Examiner

Sen Inhofe: Investigate Al Gore

Senator Jim Inhofe, who has been featured on this Blog before, is the voice of sanity that is beginning to gain more and more credence with the American people in the ongoing (but not for long) "debate" over whether the earth is warming and, if so, whether the cause is anthropogenic. Prior posts about Senator Inhofe's valiant battle are here and here.

Here's the link to the current story on The Beacon Blog.

Senator James Inhofe Wants Criminal Investigation of Al Gore and Other Global Warmists

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The Arrogance of Obamacare

Click on image to enlarge.

H/T: bkmck

Dr. Thomas Sowell on Personal Responsibility

DR.Thomas Sowell attacks the idea of incessant and totally unnecessary apologies as "the incidental symptoms of an increasing loss of a sense of personal responsibility."

Slavery is too serious for an apology, and somebody else’s being a slaveowner is not something for you to apologize for. When somebody who has never owned a slave apologizes for slavery to somebody who has never been a slave, then what began as mushy thinking has degenerated into theatrical absurdity — or, worse yet, politics.

In one of my former places of employment, there was a sign prominently displayed in the conference room that read: "There is no "I" in teamwork." Thus, if things didn't work out, it wasn't the fault of any one person; it was a team failure - or, if it worked out, a team success. I never failed to comment to those who bought into such nonsense that although there was no "I" in teamwork, there were six of them in Individual Responsibility.

Too Many Apologies - Thomas Sowell - National Review Online

Marc Thiessen on Enhanced Interrogation

Former Bush speechwriter, Marc Thiessen, speaks out about how the CIA's Enhanced Interrogation Program, discontinued by the Obama administration, kept America (and much of the world) safe after 911.

We stopped attacks on our consulate in Karachi, they were planning to blow up our Marine camp in Djibouti, they were planning on repeating 9/11 in Europe by flying airplanes into Heathrow airport in downtown London they were planning on flying a plane into Library Tower in Los Angeles and other planned attacks that were foiled as a result of this program. If you think about it … under the Bush Administration we went 2,688 days without another terrorist attack. So there’s only two possibilities as to why that’s the case: either the terrorists lost interest in attacking our country or we found out what their plans were and stopped them. Now clearly the latter is the case.

In the Green Room: Former Bush Speechwriter Marc Thiessen Defends “Enhanced Interrogation” | The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.

Oops! Maybe It Wasn't A Big Success.

When Mullah Baradar, the Taliban military commander, was captured last month in Pakistan, it was hailed as a great success in the Global War on Terror. One problem I had at the time was that every newspaper headline I saw stated something like this: "Taliban military commander ARRESTED in Pakistan." (Emphasis added). When will we get it straight? We ARREST bank robbers, burglars, rapists and other reprobates; we CAPTURE or KILL Taliban military commanders or other similar enemy combatants. Got it? This all started, sorry to say, when George W. Bush declared his intentions re Osama bin laden were to "bring him to justice." That language seemed to indicate that Bush was thinking of bin laden as a common criminal - big mistake. Now, the Obama administration, which some months ago declared that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (911 mastermind) would be tried in U. S. District Court in Manhattan, might be responding to the will of the people and rethinking that ludicrous decision. It's definitely time that our government understand the difference between domestic criminals (who, as citizens, enjoy constitutional rights) and crazy Islamic terrorists hell bent on destroying our way of life.

Anyway, back to the "arrest" of Mullah Baradar: turns out it might not have been such a big success after all. In fact, something very troubling about the below linked piece from Marc Thiessen at The EnterpriseBlog, is the statement that Pakistani Interrogators have learned nothing from Baradar. Sorry, but if Pakistani Interrogators have learned nothing from Baradar (and he is still alive) then Pakistani Interrogators didn't want to learn anything from Baradar. That's troubling.

Here's the Thiessen piece:

Bungling Baradar’s Interrogation?

If Molly Were President

Our 13 year old granddaughter had to write a speech, titled as above, as part of an oratory competition at her school. Here's what she wrote.

If I Were President:

The Lord has bestowed on our country a gift. His gift has enabled us
to become the greatest nation in the world. We are a nation founded on
the belief that all men are created equal and that everyone should
have an equal opportunity to succeed. We are one nation, under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. As president, I would
uphold the principles that our founding fathers laid out for us, and I
would continue to develop our American exceptionalism.
'What,' one may ask, 'is the cornerstone for our great nation?'
The answer- a piece of paper. But it is not just any piece of paper;
it is our Constitution. As president, I would use this great document
as a basis for all decisions I would make. I would appoint officials
who also hold our Constitution in high esteem. One of the major points
in our Constitution is that government needs to be limited. I believe
in free enterprise and individual freedom. I would ensure that the
government did not intrude on the lives of the American people. We are
the land of the free and I, as president, would keep it that way.

Taxes are a major concern for the American people. As president, I
would create one flat tax for everyone. It would be fair and not
confusing.

As president, I would adopt former President Ronald Reagan's
policy of 'peace through strength'. We are the strongest nation in the
world, and we need to maintain that status. If we even appear weak,
our enemies will see us as an easy target. We are currently in a war
against evil and we are winning! I would not withdraw our troops. Our
brave men and women would stay until we win the war. We need to be
respected and feared.

Another important issue that I would deal with as president would
be energy independence. We must stop relying on nations such as Saudi
Arabia, Iran, and Venezuela for our oil. We need to drill here and
drill now. We also need to build nuclear plants and refineries. God
gave us plentiful resources and we should use them.

Life is perhaps the most important issue. As president I would
make a law to end abortion- the murdering of innocent lives. God gives
us life. It is not ours to take away.

Though being president of the most powerful nation in the world
would be difficult and stressful, I would take my duty seriously, and
I would be honored to serve my country in that way. Being president
would also be very exciting and fun at times. As president, I would
work for the American people and for the best interest of America. And
like Ronald Reagan I would "restore the great, confident roar of
American progress, growth, and optimism."
NOTE: The spacing of the above is the fault of the blogger, who obviously does not know how to transfer a document from "Word" to a new blog post. The only fault with the content, as I told Molly, is that it tends to lean a little too far to the Left.

Oh, by the way, she won.

UPS Mechanics Are Funny.

Just in case you need a laugh (now that it appears Obamacare might be resurrected):

Remember it takes a college degree to fly a plane, but only a high school diploma to fix one...a reassurance to those of us who fly routinely in our jobs.

After every flight, UPS pilots fill out a form, called a 'gripe sheet,' which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft.

The mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight.

Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor.

Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by UPS ' pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers.

By the way, UPS is the only major airline that has never, ever, had an accident.

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit
S: Something tightened in cockpit

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Auto pilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: Distance Measuring Equipment volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.
P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what friction locks are for.

P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search

P: Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!)
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

And the best one for last

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.

H/T: Dcarr9271

Sundays are for Beauty - America: Horse With No Name

Remember the band "America?" They had so many hits in the 70's, it was hard to keep track. Dan Peek, the one who left the band in 1977, happens to be a cousin of my friend John Askins in Tallahassee. Peek is a very interesting guy, and the website linked below has lots of information on him and the band, if you're interested. Peek is on the far right as you watch the video.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_(band)#Dan_Peek

Beauty comes in many variations, and the hit songs of "America," it seems to me, qualify as one of those variations.

Have a Beautiful Sunday.

Krauthammer: Ungovernable? Nonsense.

In the latter days of the Carter presidency, it became fashionable to say that the office had become unmanageable and was simply too big for one man. Some suggested a single, six-year presidential term. The president’s own White House counsel suggested abolishing the separation of powers and going to a more parliamentary system of unitary executive control. America had become ungovernable.

Then came Ronald Reagan, and all that chatter disappeared.

Later, a highly skilled Democratic president, Bill Clinton, successfully tackled another supposedly intractable problem: the culture of intergenerational dependency. He collaborated with another House speaker, Newt Gingrich, to produce the single most successful social reform of our time, the abolition of welfare as an entitlement.

It turned out that the country’s problems were not problems of structure but of leadership. Reagan and Clinton had it. Carter didn’t. Under a president with extensive executive experience, good political skills, and an ideological compass in tune with the public’s, the country was indeed governable.


Ungovernable? Nonsense. - Charles Krauthammer - National Review Online

Left-Wing Prof Shoots 6 in Alabama

This is from today's Patriot Post. Imagine if Amy Bishop (that's her in the above photo: does she look sane?) had been actively involved in the Tea Party Movement. Think there might have been a little more coverage of this wacko? The Patriot Post article covers a couple previous episodes in her somewhat bizarre life, but doesn't mention a 2002 incident at an I-Hop restaurant where she assaulted a woman after she was told the woman had received the last booster seat in the restaurant. During the assault Bishop screamed: “I am Dr. Amy Bishop,” and then hit her on the side of the head in front of her children. Here's the clip from the Daily Beast concerning the I-Hop incident:

Suspect Charged in 2002 Fight - The Daily Beast

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Here's the coverage from the Patriot Post:

Left-Wing Prof Shoots 6 in Alabama - Perspective - PatriotPost.US

Get this: Bishop, who one family source referred to as a left-wing extremist "obsessed" with Barack Obama, was recently denied tenure at the university. She had also brought a gender discrimination charge against the school and was writing a novel about a woman who kills her brother but repents by becoming a brilliant scientist. (Sounds vaguely autobiographical to me.)

"She was just a normal professor," her husband remarked. Apparently, in Obama-loving academic circles, "normal" is a loose term.

The Mount Vernon Statement

Conservative leaders, led by The Heritage Foundation, and tired of waiting for a career politician to step forward with something resembling the 1994 Contract with America, met yesterday at Mount Vernon and produced - and signed - The Mount Vernon Statement.


About the Mount Vernon Statement

In light of the challenges facing the country and the need for clarity in the age of Obama, The Mount Vernon Statement, modeled on the Sharon Statement issued on Sept. 11, 1960, is a defining statement of conservative beliefs, values and principles penned by a broad coalition of conservative leaders representing a wide spectrum of the movement including fiscal, social, cultural and national security conservatives.

Please click on the below link to read The Mount Vernon Statement and, if you agree that it's time to retake and resolutely defend the high ground of America’s founding principles, please sign the statement and pass it on.

http://www.heritage.org/MountVernon/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell

Pat Caddell's Truthful Statements Too Much for Colorado Democrats

Pat Caddell, one of the best known Democratic pollsters (he was Jimmy Carter's pollster), has run into trouble with a Democratic Senatorial candidate in Colorado for whom he was working. So what kind of trouble? Caddell dared to speak truthfully about public employee unions (specifically SEIU), and the radical environmentalists (two of the biggest contributing groups to the Democratic party.

Click on to the below link to the story on Politico.com today for more details, but first some clips from the article:

In a November appearance with conservative policy advocate David Horowitz, Caddell called the SEIU "thugs" and said environmentalists were out to "deconstruct capitalism."

In his reference to the Service Employees International Union, Caddell targeted President Andy Stern. "He said, 'we believe in the power of persuasion, and if that doesn't work, we believe in the persuasion of power.' Now if you don't know what that phrase means, and how they're using this, then you don't understand how exactly dangerous this all is. Because those guys are thugs, the SEIU," Caddell says.

The veteran strategist also questions the mission of public employee unions. "I don't understand what they're doing. I mean, who are they protecting us from, the taxpayers?" Caddell asks.

Now, if only a Republican pollster or spokesman would have the courage to speak truthfully on such issues.

Romanoff cans Caddell in Colorado - David Catanese - POLITICO.com

A School Superintendent with Guts

That's Frances Gallo, Superintendent of Schools for Central Falls, Rhode Island, pop. 19,000. She is possibly the only school superintendent in the nation who refuses to bow to a teachers union. We can only hope that this will start a new era in collective bargaining for teachers, whose unions traditionally care not a whit how unsuccessful their members are in the classroom, or how little learning is actually going on in the classrooms. It's all about benefits and more pay for less work for teachers - some of whom have no real interest in educating the children placed in their care.

John Derbyshire wrote about this brave lady in a post on The Corner on National Review Online today.

State of the Nation - John Derbyshire - The Corner on National Review Online

The Sweetness and Light Blog is also following this bold step by Superintendent Gallo. Let's hope that the more attention the story gets, the more other school superintendents will develop some spine and convince teachers unions that teachers first have to show results before they can even think about dictating the terms of their employment.

http://sweetness-light.com/archive/ri-town-to-fire-every-teacher-at-school

God bless this courageous lady. May her actions be emulated by school boards across the country.

He's an Embarrassment

National Security Advisor James L. Jones is a former Commandant of the Marine Corps, a former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, and a recipient of the Silver Star. So how could such a man turn into such a wishy-washy bureaucrat? Good question, but the fact that such a transmogrification has occurred is manifestly clear from the interview he had with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday yesterday (click on "Share" below). Anyone who could dissemble on clearly stated questions such as those offered by Wallace, and then defend the ludicrous and ignorant statements of his deputy, John Brennan, is not the man to whom our national security should be entrusted. Jones's refusal to acknowledge the indisputable success of the Surge in Iraq (it happened on Bush's watch) is a clear example of his placing partisan politics over truth. With Jones and Brennan as our #1 and #2 men responsible for the safety of our nation, we are in serious trouble.

James Jones definitely deserves our utmost respect for what he was, but certainly not for what he has become.

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Hey! That's My Grandniece

Wow! Who knew Allison, my grandniece, could sing like a rock star? This is she performing at her high school concert this past weekend. She's terrific!

Sundays are for Beauty - Drew Brees and Son Super Bowl XLIV

That's former NFL great quarterback, Boomer Esiason (who knows first hand of the deep and abiding love of a father for his son) saying: "And guys, guys, that's what it's all about: Drew Brees with his son. Don't you live for that moment right there? That is the most precious moment that a father can share with his son." To learn why Boomer is so completely absorbed with the father son relationship, you can read of his son Gunnar's 17 year battle with cystic fibrosis in this entry from Wikipedia.

There is a legend about Buddhist Monks and fathers and sons, with many variations. Here is one of the most popular:

Once there was a merchant who opened a store. He wanted a slogan to place over the doorway to his shop to bring him good luck. He went to a well known monk and asked the monk to write a slogan that would bring him good luck.
"Come back tomorrow", the monk said, "and I'll have what you want."
The next day the merchant arrived to see the following slogan written;
Grandfather will die
Father will die
Son will die
The merchant was outraged at this terrible slogan. He confronted the monk. "How could you write such a terrible curse", he said.
"But I didn't write a curse", said the monk, "In fact, I wrote you a blessing."
"If what I wrote comes true, no father will die until he has at least one grandson, and no father will die before his son, and finally no son will die before his father." "Is this not the natural order of things?" he asked the merchant. "Go and consider carefully what I have written", he told the merchant.

There can be nothing more devastating for a father than having a son precede him into the next life, and it appears obvious that both Drew Brees and Boomer Esiason understand that. The special bond God created between fathers and sons is manifest by the emotion expressed by Drew Brees in the above video. Such love certainly is one of the most beautiful things in this world.

Have a Beautiful Sunday.

The FBI Strikes Back - at least one former agent does.

http://spectator.org/archives/2010/02/08/obamas-miranda-madness

In a prior post, we were lamenting the fact that the FBI was allowing the Obama administration to try to salvage a politically stupid act by its attorney general, by compromising the Bureau's subsequent interviews of the Christmas Day Bomber after bringing his parents to the United States (much too late to obtain actionable intelligence).

The above link to The American Spectator should infuriate anyone ever involved with the criminal justice system. Here's a clip from a "courageous" (now that his pension is secure) former Bureau official:

"It's one thing for someone to go out and say that we're getting intelligence from someone like Sheik Mohammed," says a former Federal Bureau of Investigation official. "It's another to have what amounts to a propaganda event because you're getting tired of being criticized in the media and you want the media to give inaccurate information to the American public."

Wouldn't it be nice if Director Mueller had the courage to speak out so strongly?

Expert Advice Should Not Be Ignored

That's Andrew McCathy (top) and former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, the two men who know more about the proper handling of captured terrorists than anyone else on the planet. McCarthy was the prosecutor who convicted the Blind Sheik for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. The case was tried before Judge Michael Mukasey, who later became Attorney General in the George W Bush administration. These two experts have been warning ever since that trying terrorists, who commit acts of war against the United States, in our civilian courts is a major mistake. They both agree that such terrorists should be tried before military tribunals (preferably in a secure location such as Guantanamo Bay, Cuba). The current attorney general, though, without consulting with these experts, apparently decided on his own (although no thinking person believes that) to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 911 attacks, in U. S. District Court in Manhattan, blocks from the location of destruction of the Twin Towers. It appears just lately that that ludicrous decision might be rescinded and any trial of KSM will be held before a military tribunal - something always considered by the vast majority of Americans to be a no-brainer.

Yesterday on The Corner on National Review Online, McCarthy discussed a piece from the Washington Post written by General Mukasey on the topic, and includes several informative links. Please take time to read all the linked material to acquaint yourself with the incompetence of Eric Holder and the Obama Justice Department. Without trying to sound partisan, Eric Holder has not made one correct decision since assuming his current post, and it's really time for him to go.

Mukasey Shreds Obama Administration's Legal Claims on Christmas Bomber - Andy McCarthy - The Corner on National Review Online

The Afghanistan Marines

Thank God for the Marines! This came from a friend who is the father of two Marines (one just returned from Helmand Province). The origin of this piece is not known to me so I asked a retired Marine (who has first hand knowledge of such things based on personal experience) to comment on the words of this Recon Marine in Afghanistan. His take on the assessment of the situation in the Hindu Kush is posted immediately below.

From a Recon Marine in Afghanistan

No one in America knew what they had gotten into in Vietnam except the guys who were there. No one in America knows what a hell hole Afghanistan is and what we are getting ourselves into....this Marine kind of gives you an idea.

++++++++++++++++++++++
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.
No take out or pizza delivery for thousands of miles.

I also glance at the area around my ass every ten to fifteen seconds to avoid another scorpion sting.

I've actually given up battling the chiggers and sand fleas, but them scorpions give a jolt like a cattle prod. Hurts like a bastard. 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 that, 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 shit 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 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 ass 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, 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 bullshit 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.

Saucy Jack
Recon Marine in Afghanistan

Semper Fi

"Freedom is not free... but the U.S. Marine Corps will pay most of your share."


Here is the comment I requested on the above from a retired Marine Officer:

The young Marine has captured the essence of every past and probably future view of the world from the hardened view gained through real world experiences. Smelling, hearing, feeling the places only experienced by others through the miracle of internet and TV. My experience in Bosnia and Kosovo was exactly the same as the young Marine. The vision given to the American people by the media was not near being accurate in their transmission of the news.

These observations could well have been written by Hannibal or some young Russian in the 1980s. This part of the world has not changed in hundreds, thousands of years.

Some other young man in a future time will be writing about his insights and they will read similarly.

H/T: Dcarr and Rtaylor

A Good Start for the Day

Needed a little something to brighten my morning today and found it right here on the old Blog. This is from a Sunday last September, and it seemed to cheer everyone who saw it.

http://wwwpopblogger.blogspot.com/2009/09/sundays-are-for-beauty-part-20.html

Please use the "Share" button below to send to a friend who might be cheered.

Sundays are for Beauty - George Strait

George Strait is considered the King of Country by most people who follow the genre. If you haven't seen his 1992 hit movie: Pure Country, treat yourself and your family. It's available on Amazon.

In case you're not familiar with this genuinely authentic country star, you can read more about him HERE.

Have a Beautiful Sunday.

Politicizing the FBI - Shameful

Surely this is not the first administration to seek the help of the FBI to further its political agenda, but it would be difficult to imagine any administration having done so in such a blatantly obvious way - a way that makes us less secure. For the Bureau to cooperate with the administration by leaking information just obtained from the Christmas Day Bomber after visiting with his parents in Nigeria is unforgivable. One wonders what the lawyer (whose fees we are paying) for Abdulmutallab thinks about all this. The "Rights" of the "accused," something of paramount importance to Eric Holder, would appear to have been seriously violated (or would have been if such "Rights" ever existed). No lawyer worth his salt would allow his client to talk to the FBI at this stage without assurances that his client's cooperation would be rewarded. We are now to believe that the reading of Miranda Rights to the bomber was not a problem after all, because he is once again talking freely. First of all, the FBI should be nowhere near this guy. He should be (and should have been) under the care and control of people who know how to get every bit of information out of him without making deals about "criminal prosecution." No doubt there is already a guilty plea in the works, with some kind of lenient sentence to follow. Meanwhile, all the information we could have gleaned in a timely fashion is no longer useful - even if he is providing it truthfully now (which is doubtful). This piece from The Corner on National Review Online today is right on target:

But even worse is that someone in the administration is leaking this at all. How does it further our national-security interests to tell Abdulmutallab’s fellow terrorists overseas that he is informing on them? What would you do if you were one of those fellow terrorists? If you hadn’t already gone to ground, you sure would do so now.

The Saga of Abdulmutallab, Underwear Bomber - Dana M. Perino & Bill Burck - The Corner on National Review Online

Political Math on the "Budget Freeze"

Matthias Shapiro, of Political Math Blog, has done it again, and done it with a smile. This is his graphic example of just what the "Budget Freeze" recently announced by President Obama really means.

His written analysis backing up the above graphic can be found HERE.

Chairman Mullen JCOS on Don't Ask; Don't Tell

Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Tuesday said allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military is "the right thing to do." His position differs from that of Elaine Donnelley (see prior post), and is somewhat surprising considering the outcry from retired Generals and Admirals on this controversial issue. Donnelly, I think, states the case best when she says:

"Apparently the president has not read the law itself, which states, 'There is no constitutional right to serve in the military.' Many groups of people who are patriotic are not eligible to serve in uniform, but everyone can serve our country in some way."

Here's a link to the article that appeared in The Hill today:

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/79259-mullen-dont-ask-dont-tell-repeat-is-right-thing-to-do

Elaine Donnelly: Misusing the Military

Misusing the Military - Elaine Donnelly - The Corner on National Review Online

Elaine Donnelly, the founder and president of the Center for Military Readiness, an independent public policy organization that specializes in military personnel issues, published this piece on The Corner on National Review Online today.

Contrary to the president’s statement, there is no national desire to “finally” repeal the 1993 law (Section 654, Title 10). The statute, which is always mislabeled “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” states that homosexuals are not eligible to serve in the military. Only the well-funded LGBT Left is pushing this issue, and they expect a political payoff regardless of the consequences.