The Way of the Gun

Restraint in the Face of the Enemy is Now Medal-worthy?

2010-05-14T06:16:00.007-04:00

Read the following article, then my commentary.

Hold fire, earn a medal

Posted : Wednesday May 12, 2010 15:51:31 EDT

U.S. troops in Afghanistan could soon be awarded a medal for not doing something, a precedent-setting award that would be given for “courageous restraint” for holding fire to save civilian lives.

The proposal is now circulating in the Kabul headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force, a command spokesman confirmed Tuesday.

“The idea is consistent with our approach,” explained Air Force Lt. Col. Tadd Sholtis. “Our young men and women display remarkable courage every day, including situations where they refrain from using lethal force, even at risk to themselves, in order to prevent possible harm to civilians. In some situations our forces face in Afghanistan, that restraint is an act of discipline and courage not much different than those seen in combat actions.”

Soldiers are often recognized for non-combat achievement with decorations such as their service’s commendation medal. But most of the highest U.S. military decorations are for valor in combat. A medal to recognize a conscious effort to avoid a combat action would be unique.

Consideration of such an award, first reported by an Associated Press reporter in Afghanistan, doesn’t mean that, if approved, troops would be pressured to prevent such casualties at risk to themselves, Sholtis said.

“We absolutely support the right of our forces to defend themselves,” Sholtis said. “Valuing restraint in a potentially dangerous situation is not the same thing as denying troops the right to employ lethal force when they determine that it is necessary.”

A spokesman for the 2.2 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars, the nation’s largest group of combat veterans, thinks the award would cause confusion among the ranks and send a bad signal.

“The self-protections built into the rules of engagement are clear, and the decision to return fire must be made instantly based on training and the threat,” said Joe Davis, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. “The enemy already hides among noncombatants, and targets them, too. The creation of such an award will only embolden their actions and put more American and noncombatant lives in jeopardy. Let’s not rush to create something that no one wants to present posthumously.”

Giving a medal for restraint was proposed by British Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, ISAF’s Regional Command South commander, during a recent visit to Kandahar by Army Command Sgt. Maj. Mike Hall, the top U.S. enlisted member in Afghanistan, Sholtis said.

U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the ISAF commander, has placed a premium on preventing civilian deaths, having last year tightened the rules of engagement for air strikes and other combat operations in an effort to prevent fatalities. Such deaths build resentment among a populace the U.S. is trying to win over as part of its counterinsurgency strategy to simultaneously drive out the Taliban and strengthen Afghan government.

According to the United Nations, more than 2,400 civilians were killed last year, although estimates vary widely. From March 21 to April 21, 173 civilians were killed in Afghanistan — a 33 percent increase over the same period the previous year — according to the Associated Press, citing Afghan Interior Ministry figures.

-----------------

OK,

So in addition to peace-keeping, nation-building, gender-norming, alternative-lifestyle embracing and culture-bridging, American troops are now going to be judged and awarded on their ability to avoid conflict. Read that again: American MILITARY members are going to be judged by their ability to AVOID CONFLICT in a COMBAT ZONE. If you've never been exposed to left-wing moonbattery before, welcome to the modern statist's utopia. With this in mind, I've got to say I believe our military leaders are suffering from a paucity of vision on this issue. If restraining from using legal, authorized levels of force to protect civilians from any possible harm is laudable, I have a better solution. I have come up with a fool-proof 100% guaranteed way to prevent ANY civilian casualties. I'm amazed none of these highly trained and educated leaders have come up with this solution before, it's so simple. To completely ensure that NO CIVILIAN CAUSALITIES ever occur again, and as an added bonus, every servicemember currently in theater can obtain the coveted medal to be awarded by the Commander-in-Chief, namely the Leftwing Order of SurendER, or LOSER award. All this by simply unilaterally withdrawing all of our troops immediately! The calculus is simple: No troops = no causalities! The resulting bloodbath of civilians by Taliban/Al-Quaida, once American troops withdraw would be irrelevant at that point because we would not be responsible, so who cares, right? Although the article above states that "British Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, ISAF’s Regional Command South commander" suggested the brilliant idea behind the LOSER award, my guess is he got the idea from the French.

Closing the Wealth Gap | P.J. O'Rourke

2010-03-31T06:10:00.004-04:00

Closing the Wealth Gap | P.J. O'Rourke | Cato Institute: Speeches

Much wisdom in this speech regarding collectivism and wealth.

Posted using ShareThis

Response to Fund Request Form Letter from GOP

2009-08-26T22:37:00.003-04:00

In frequent pleas for funds I receive from the GOP, I always send a personal message back, without any of the requested remuneration. If the GOP doesn't get back to its Conservative roots, then perhaps it's time to find another organization which already does.

Dear GOP apologist,

I’ll tell you the same thing I have told every GOP fund raising author the past two years: Put a REAL Conservative on the ticket and I’ll support her. Tell all of your D.C.- insider Senators and Representatives that we will no longer support nor tolerate RINO’s or “moderates” or “mavericks”, those days are over. If you want money and power, then you better get some REAL Conservatives on the tickets. Sarah Palin did not cost John McCain the election, she saved it from being a total blowout for the Dems. Time for talk is over, we want to see ACTION not more specious promises which never come to fruition. You need to grow a pair and learn from the Progressive politician playbook; they play for keeps. Slash and burn politics is all they know and look at their numbers in Congress. If you don’t have the stones for that then you need to get out of D.C. and let someone who does have your job. Every penny I spend from here on out is ONLY for REAL Conservatives in the Ronald Regan mold. If you want specifics I’d be happy to supply them. Mr. Mark Levin’s book is a very good place to start, however.

With utmost sincerity,

Conservative Republican

Seattle Bank Teller Fired for Chasing, Apprehending Robber

2009-08-01T22:40:00.004-04:00

SEATTLE — A Seattle bank teller has lost his job because he ran down a would-be bank robber and held him until police arrived.

Jim Nicholson, who worked at a Key Bank branch, says he understands the bank's policy that employees comply with robbery demands and avoid dangerous confrontations. But he tells The Seattle Times that his instincts took over when the man demanded money during the Tuesday incident.

Nicholson says he tried to grab the man, then chased him several blocks before knocking him down with help from a passer-by. The man turned out to be unarmed.

The 30-year-old Nicholson was fired Thursday. Key Bank officials declined to comment, but Seattle police and the FBI say they advise tellers against acting against robbers. Instead, police Sgt. Sean Whitcomb says, they should be good witnesses and comply with demands unless their personal safety is in jeopardy.

OK, you've read the article now read the analysis. Given just this tidbit of information regarding the felonious act of bank robbery and the heroism of the bank teller, here's what modern educationists call deconstruction:

I'll provide some stipulations for frame of reference. 1) The bank robber must not have been physically or psychologically imposing.
2) The bank teller was of at least average intelligence.
3) No weapon was ever displayed by the criminal.
4) No money was stolen.
5) No one was injured before, during or after the robbery.

Alright, you are a mild-mannered bank teller serving customers when a disheveled individual approaches your window and demands money. Based upon your personal experiences with persons of lower socio-economic status who provide such worthwhile services such as spitting upon your windshield, wiping it with a used Big Mac wrapper and then demanding cash for "cleaning" your glass, you realize that you're not dealing with John Dillinger. You decide in a split-second that you are not going to comply with this mendicant's demands and in fact decide to employ some "street justice" back by apprehending him just to get some payback for all those saliva baths you paid for. After running him down and catching him, with the assistance of another good Samaritan, you wait patiently for the popo to arrive. As bank robbery is one of the crimes for which the premier American law enforcement agency the FBI has primary jurisdiction, the Feds are on their way. While no bank money was stolen/recovered during your apprehension of the criminal element, you would probably be tempted to think that your actions would merit some accolades from "the powers that be". In 21st century you'd be wrong. Since all employee actions are, legally speaking, viewed as endorsed by their employer, if the robber had been injured in his pursuit by the overzealous employee, the bank would probably have been held with pecuniary responsible for his medical bills. (You can thank a local trial lawyer for this, BTW.) The criminal-cum-victim is a favorite paradigm of the modern Statist. So now, since Mr. conscientious bank teller has not only exceeded his authority as an employee, he's actually broken company policy by not being a compliant sheep and waiting for his possible slaughter by the criminal element, he's being "rewarded" by being castigated in public by the FBI AND losing his job for his attempt to help stop the downward slide of the thing we used to call American culture and values.
Fifty years ago, this man would have been lauded both in public and in private. The police would have commended him on assisting them in their often thankless job of keeping the peace. His employers would have toasted him for his fortitude and thanked him for his trouble and the criminal would have been rewarded by 20 to life "up the river". Not anymore. So what happened?
Simply put, the 60's happened. Radical anti-establishment pseudo-intellectuals who infest academia bought into the notion that socialist and communist ideals were counter-cultural enough to prove they were "different" and not part of the proletariat from which they sprang. Even though they didn't have trust funds, they could still play with the rich kids by espousing enough anti-American venom. So the 60's radical student became the 80's radical professor, spreading the infection of statism to students from all walks of life who entered all professions across America. This led to cultural and legal ramifications which begat many of the social pathologies we are "enjoying" today. Common sense became extinct and political correctness replaced it. Modern feminism reached into former bastions of manhood and basically emasculated large swaths of society. See: Co-ed basic military training; Title IX; and a whole slew of language assaults like chairman to chair, fireman to fireperson or my new personal favorite Hir. This level of cultural incursion has profound psychological effect. When one is immersed in a culture which constantly expresses itself with these terms and their understood meanings, it tends to infect the entire culture, particularly the young. Which, of course, is its intended effect. To what end?
I believe this whole movement is a calculated and cunning effort to subvert traditional American bed-rock values and institutions thereby removing America from its predominate place in world history. And I fear its working. As the bank robber story illustrates, taking personal initiate is not only frowned upon by the authorities, it also results in very negative personal consequences for the transgressor including loss of income and public castigation by police authorities. But, as the last election revealed, this is hope and change we can believe in...for a little while longer at least.

Conscious Discipline: The latest educrats "new clothes" to instill discipline in the classroom

2008-07-18T21:35:00.004-04:00

Oh that I could make this up. Conscious Discipline(C) is the latest educrat fad in their never ending quest to appear to instill discipline in the classroom without actually correcting any child's behavior. Let's call it consequence free misbehavior addressed with a smiley face and a happy song. If you look at any of the videos linked in the title for just a few minutes you'll see the new-age psychobabble being espoused as enlightened educator-child interaction. I watched a few minutes of Session Two: Composure in which the current guru a la mode Dr. Becky Balley explained then demonstrated the latest in educrat approved adult-child classroom interaction techniques. If you have school-age children you MUST watch this video because this either has already arrived or will shortly, at a classroom near you. I can sum it up for you in a sentence: Barney meets Glenda the Good Witch. If it weren't so sad it would be hilarious. Hundreds of thousands of our taxpayer dollars are being spent to propagate this educat fad du jour. Other than the premise of the Conscious Discipline movement, which I disagree with, the other major issue with it is practicality. This particular practice "may" have some apparent success in school districts where parental involvement and home discipline are enforced. Where the children are socialized and compliant to authority figures. But outside of these rapidly disappearing social oasis' in the real world of inner city and urban societies, CD is nothing more than a cruel joke. A Kabuki dance with no positive results. Given the chance, I'd like to ask Dr. Becky what the correct CD response is to a four year old, who upon seeing a teacher begin the requisite CD technique for stopping children from fighting, tells that teacher to "Shut the f&*% up, I don't have to listen to you!" You may be thinking that no four year old would ever utter those words to a preschool teacher, and you'd be wrong. I've observed this and much more in this exact scenario, which makes the educrat pushing this particular pathology an accessory to social manslaughter.

But this is just the latest in a long line of attempts to substitute psychobabble for true discipline. The reason Johnny can't read is because the educator is too busy distracting, redirecting or otherwise attempting to keep Billy and Jose from burning down the classroom. Unlike their foreign counterparts, like the Japanese students who actually are required to clean up their own classroom each day before class starts! Gasp! Of course in today's litigious climate, if one were inclined to implement true discipline, you could expect massive lawsuits and a caterwauling press hounding you and your family out of the state. The 60's radicals who inculcated the Dr. Spock ethos into the impressionable minds at that time are now in the power positions, making the decisions which affect all of society via the teacher's union and their professional standards. As standards deteriorate and morale dissipates, we will continue to see a slide in the literacy rates of not only academic studies, but also of social, moral and civil education as well. An uneducated populace cannot long hold a Republic, so said the Founders. Unfortunately, we are well on our way of proving them right. Dr. Becky, are you listening?

Yes, You Can...Just like Obama...

2008-07-18T18:56:00.005-04:00

http://www.zazzle.com/obama_yes_we_can_t_shirt-235965833883515039

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/26/obama.transcript/index.html

"Yes, we can. Yes, we can change. Yes, we can.

Yes, we can heal this nation. Yes, we can seize our future...

And where we are met with cynicism and doubt and fear and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of the American people in three simple words -- yes, we can."

And so can Reader's Digest subscribers and those who see this magazine cover on newsstands in a grocer near you...

Perhaps I'm too finely calibrated with regard to my unbridled loathing of your next President but the very first thing I thought when I read this cover was, what a conspiracy. The Main

Stream Media really has a lot of fellow travellers, now, sadly, Reader's Digest is amongst them. It's a far cry from its heyday: http://www.nationalreview.com/11feb02/miller021102.shtml And just another testament to the decaying Western Civilization we see every day here in Aztlan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztlan

Q: What's wrong with the Republican Party? A:Republican Politicians

2008-07-14T21:32:00.004-04:00

I just received the latest in a long line of fund raising letters masquerading as "questionnaires" from Grandpa's Old Party (GOP). These adverts now come in official looking envelopes and "unique tracking codes" to ensure I understand that the enclosed questionnaire will be officially and individually tabulated with the utmost of care and consideration by the latest technological gimmickry and that my feelings and thoughts will be expressed directly to the GOP leadership to guide them back to the path of Conservative righteousness.

I have a number of issues with this approach. First of all, the idea I'm supposed to be buying is that GOP leadership is "confused" as to what I, as a Republican want from "my" party and they truly need my input to understand where they need to be headed to elicit my financial support. However, if you read the questions, they hit every hot button topic and the YES/NO response is exactly on track regarding what a Conservative would want them to do in Congress. For example, Q: Do you support President Bush's tax cuts and should Republicans in Congress press for making them permanent or do you believe Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats should continue to raise your taxes. A: Yes, I want the tax cuts made permanent. OR A. No, American taxes are too low, I support Liberal programs and increased taxes.

The problem with this is that BOTH parties support increased government control and spending increases with the attendant tax increases. Just look at the voting records over the past 7.5 years by both parties to see this. Not to mention the President... So while the implication is that voting for a Republican would result in lower taxes, in actuality, this is pure fantasy. For the most part, there's not a spits worth of difference between the major parties right now. The terms Republicrat and Demican have never rung more true.

The end of these questionnaires is inevitably a plea for funds. Since I'm a Republican the suggested donations begin at $1,000.00 and go down to a measly $20.00. But if I'm really scraping the bottom of the barrel I could just send $11.00 to pay for the tabulation of my single form.

As I wrote in the three lines available on the bottom of the last page of the latest Senatorial survey I just received, "Until the GOP members actually start voting like Conservatives, not just paying lip-service to them in election years, I'll be supporting the Constitution Party with moral, public and financial support and encourage others to do the same!"

I then placed this edifice to ignorance and affrontery in the postage-paid envelope back to foggy bottom from hence it came. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foggy_Bottom

How's that for irony?

Long live the Republic!

Technorati

2006-10-06T20:26:00.000-04:00

Technorati Profile

Illegal imigrant water stations. Are you kidding me?

2006-06-15T19:50:00.000-04:00

http://www.kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=5030576

Left-wing liberal lunacy never ceases to amaze me. These pro-terrorist hippies are aiding and abetting illegals crossing our southern borders by providing them oasis' with blue flags on them. Let's see what else would they be doing, cutting holes on what little fence-line that exists on the border? I have a question, if you aid a bank robber in his getaway, what are you? The correct answer is an accomplice to bank robbery. Why doesn't that logic apply to the actions of these traitors? If I chose to suddenly start walking across the Mojave desert, who's responsibility is that? Who gets the blame if I end up a dehydrated mummy? I'll tell you, because evidently there's a lot of ambiguity on this question in America of the 21st Century...It's MY OWN FAULT!!! Yes, that's right, I take personal responsibility for my actions. I know it's very difficult for your multi-culti types to grasp, but it's that spirit which made this country what it was for many years, the greatest place on Earth. Before the liberal termites started eating it from the inside out.
Hey, I've got an idea for all you bleeding-heart leftists out there, if you want to do something with your time and money, how about sending a few bucks or even volunteer to help the Minutemen put up a secure wall along our border so we don't have any more nomads wandering in the desert that you help to commit a crime with every step? Here’s the web-site: http://www.minutemanproject.com/default.asp?contentID=23

And by the way, there's another humanitarian aspect to your little project that you seem to overlook: http://www.immigrationshumancost.org/
How does this fit in to your little utopian scheme?

Our schools are underfunded, yeah that's the problem

2006-06-13T18:06:00.000-04:00

I just can't figure out what we're doing wrong in our schools...
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060609/1023815.asp

OK, maybe I can.

UNICEF, of all organizations has done a little research and reemphasized that the U.S. education system is bad and getting worse every year. And it has nothing to do with class size, dollars per student, socio-economic status or race. It has everything to do with D-I-S-C-I-P-L-I-N-E. http://kapio.kcc.hawaii.edu/upload/fullnews.php?id=52

To fix American schools we only need two things reintroduced: Prayer and a paddle.

I distinctly remember having to face the principal for fighting with a classmate in second or third grade and having to bend over the chair and take my licks. (Thanks Principal Steele) Playground infractions were dealt with by the teacher who put your nose against the school house wall until the end of recess. There's a huge difference between child abuse and child discipline. And you know what, I had respect for teachers and the staff and I got a good education.

This leads us to another anomaly of the last couple of decades, teachers having sex with their pupils. This speaks more to a societal moral breakdown than something particular to the educational complex but it's illustrative in that it's one of the few taboos we still maintain. And I wouldn't be surprised to find a sizeable advocacy group in the U.S. promoting teacher-pupil sex as a "positive learning experience", or some such psychobabble. Radical forces did their work well in the 60's. When they decided to "let it all hang out" they threw the baby out with the bathwater. With no "archaic" social morality to anchor society, we are now reaping a society in which anything goes. It also opened the door to all the other attacks on the family we are seeing today like homosexuality, bigamy, pedophilia, etc. First it was the priests, then the teachers, it will only spread. Wait until President Hillary comes out of the closet...

Batwoman, now a lipstick lesbian, thanks D.C. Comics

2006-05-30T12:59:00.000-04:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5030518.stm

Will it never end. Once a society starts exalting those who are toxic to its survival, the end is in sight.

Yale is teaching who???

2006-03-20T20:29:00.000-05:00

http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110008115

Yale University has admitted a student who was a mouth-piece for the Taliban when they ran the show in Afghanistan. And they won't tell anyone why. The link above is to the article explaining what one journalist found out while visiting. Here's my response:

I believe the "head in the sand" approach Yale is taking on this issue is typical of elite Ivy League universities today. The educrats who govern and teach at these institutions view the concepts of nationhood and national identity as quaint artifacts of the 20th century which have no place in a modern world-view. This world-view is nearly the same as the United Nation's in that we all live in a global village, each nation viewed as an equal morally, socially and philosophically, with one large exception. The only truly evil country left, in their view, is the United States which still acts unilaterally without the consent of either the Europeans or the U.N. So anyone who successfully thumbs their nose at the U.S. is automatically a hero who deserves the spoils which can be offered; in this case, admittance to an elite teaching institution. Were the powers that be at Yale and other elite universities to actually admit their world view, their endowments would dry up like a sand dune in Rub' al Khali. So they take the soft option and not talk about admitting people who are viewed as heroes in their hallowed halls but as enemies by the United States in the hopes that not too many people who give money to their institution will hear about it. Apparently it works, Mr. Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi continues his education at Yale. Despots, dictators and their apologists are all welcome at this enlightened university now.

Al Quada owns what in America?

2006-02-21T17:35:00.000-05:00

The following is a letter I sent to the President today. I head about this issue last Friday night on Savage Nation and figured enough Conservatives would have joined in with the likes of Hillary and her ilk that this would have been a non-event by yesterday. I mean Savage was on the same side of an issue with Hillary and Kennedy! http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/393375p-333478c.html
I was proven wrong by our CinC today when he issued his first veto threat on this issue. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PORTS_SECURITY?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-02-21-16-26-11
I have to ask myself why? Why this issue? As I explain below, if he's not real careful, this issue could consume many Republicans in the coming elections. Why don't American companies own American ports anymore? How much of America do American's actually own these days? Show me that statistic.

-------------------------------

Mr. President,

As a long time conservative, I've been following politics for nearly 30 years now. I generally support you and your platform, particularly with regards to the GWOT. That being said, your decision to allow American port operations to be outsourced to a KNOWN economic supporter of our enemies is unfathomable. You must have some VERY viable reasons for taking this stance and threatening veto. I trust you'll be able to articulate those views to the American public. The liberals already have a head start with this one and if I'm agreeing with them, then you need to be very certain and very articulate regarding the reason(s) you support this sale. I'll direct your attention here: http://www.nationalreview.com/symposium/symposium200602211008.asp
If you can refute the arguments presented in National Review, then I'll reconsider my position. But trust me on this one, if you don't make an iron-clad case for this transfer, you and our party will pay dearly come election day. Don't let this be your "Read my lips" declaration. You and your staff are doing too many other things right, this is too small an issue (as far as I know) to go to up against the wall over. Even if it's "the right thing to do" economically, it doesn't pass the common sense test politically, intellectually or emotionally.

In my humble opinion,

PLF5403

Anti-Christian Democrats in America

2005-12-13T20:19:00.000-05:00

At the link http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47836 is a little gift from our Democratic friends for your bumper, just before Christmas. As a token of my thanks, I'm offering this in return:

Back in Malaysia

2005-12-09T07:42:00.000-05:00

From the irony department:

While sitting with a couple of friends at lunch today in the "Mines" shopping center http://msf.mines.com.my/which is situated halfway between the captial of Malaysia, Kualua Lumpur and the International Airport. I noted a certain festivity in the air in the form of music. Music from my youth to be exact. Songs with titles like Jingle Bells, Oh Come All Ye Faithful, and Hark the Herald Angel. Now this may not seem too extreme on it's face. I mean it is mid-December, the traditional Christmas season. It was a public mall so anyone could come or go as they pleased. No, what I found ironic was the fact that me and my friends (2 Americans, 1 Malaysian) were sitting in a predominantly Muslim country (complete with Mosques on every corner and the call to prayer heard five times a day) in a public mall listening to traditional Christian music, eating Domino's Pizza with banners declaring Merry Christmas flying everywhere; yet in our homeland (the USA), a reportedly Christian nation, this practice is not allowed in many public places anymore. Our government dictates cries of "winter holidays" are as festive as allowed. Forces are at work to remove Chirst and mentions of GOD from any government controlled edifice including our currency. Corporations have banned "Merry Christmas" or any mention of Christian practices or traditions on corporate property for fear of the inevitible lawsuit. The "separation of church and state" is a primary political platform for the presumed Democratic presidential front-runner http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,177388,00.html. The rumor that the number one retailer on the planet, Wal-Mart has gagged its staff with the impotent "Happy Holidays" is on the Net. http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/walmart.asp

Have we already lost the war on terror GWOT because we've already surrendered our culture and our religion to the humanists, atheists and multiculturalists?

I recall the old saw...Jesus is coming soon, and boy is he pissed.

Home Sweet Home

2005-11-24T19:31:00.000-05:00

I recently went home and took this shot at sunset. Check out the Blue Mountains in Eastern Oregon...

What's going on in D.C.?

2005-08-14T21:36:00.000-04:00

This is a weird one. I've been nudged to post a fresh one, so here you go.

I'm on a business trip to D.C. the first part of this week, then on to Albany, NY mid-week. Anyway, I'm at the hotel and decide to go buy a few brewskies at a nearby store. So I'm in Chantilly, VA, just outside of D.C. and I find a QVC Pharmacy just down the street. It's 7:00 P.M. or so and I walk in and see a young woman (early 20's) and a young man (same age) behind the counter. They both appear to be of Middle Eastern descent and the woman is wearing a scarf of a devout Muslim. Neither of them had a detectable accent. As I'm waiting to pay for my 6-pack, two other young ESL (English as a second language) Middle Eastern males are at the young lady's register. I didn't see what they were purchasing but I heard a snippet of conversation. One of these customers asks the young lady if she speaks Arabic. She responded that she did not. The young man at my register however, says he does. I assumed that there was some type of language barrier or something. Then one of these guys said something that I still don't quite know how to take. He said "If you speak Arabic, then you'll be alright," and then he and his friend walked out the store. The tone in his voice contained no hint of levity. Neither of the clerks said anything about the comment, at least not in my presence, and continued about their business as if nothing happened. As an employee of the DHS, I tend to take things like this very seriously. I paid for my purchase and then went out to see if I could get a tag number, but they had already gone. I'm of two minds on this one. One, they were just typical urban whack-jobs who'll say anything to get a rise out of people. Or two, they were devout Muslim men who are in on a little secret and were dishing out a warning.

My question is this: Is it in vogue in certain Muslim communities in the U.S. to talk up the coming Jihad in America? Or were these guys just "fronting" for the pretty Muslim girl? Or, do they know something I (we) don't about the next attack on our soil?

Next up, PLF travels to a D.C. restaurant, where perhaps bin Laden is the matre'di!!!!

Black English Vernacular - is back...

2005-07-18T22:32:00.000-04:00

What tha dilly yo? Check dat phat shorty frum da school house: Mary Texeira. She be talkin' bout dat fly ni**a-talk Ebonics dat be all up in da skoolz in San-B. Dats kickin. (See http://members.aol.com/tommydamac/ebonics.htm for translation)

I had hoped that that liberal educator's sacrificial language had died in the 20th Century, but it was not to be. Liberal California lives up to its name and continues to harbor vast colonies of liberal drones who won't let a bad idea die. Ms. Texeira cited research which showed "students learn better when they fully comprehend the language they are being taught in." Which makes perfect sense on its face. If I don't understand the words you are using to communicate with, how can I understand your message. Which is fine as far as it goes. But if you'll look at the language in the dictionary, the spectrum of topics is rather limited and "ghetto-centric". In other words, how would you attempt to communicate Pythagoras' Theorems in Ebonics? (Yo G, check dis: a2+b2=c2) The second and perhaps more important point is that promoting a language based upon race/social status/geographic boundary does nothing but further balkanize the American population. If graduates of this new "socially approved" curriculum ever want to leave da hood, what are their job prospects in the rest of the country? This educational tact seems short-sighted and very detrimental to the students and to the nation in the long run. Or, as they (might) say in San-B; Yo, G, dat shorty is mad wack.

Constitutional Limits

2005-07-11T21:51:00.000-04:00

http://www.filecabi.net/v.php?file=MichaelCrook.wmv

http://michaelcrooktalks.com/node/62

Although he sounds "rational" in that he uses grammar and punctuation correctly and does not mention "the voices in his head" or the tin-foil hat, it does not take long at all to realize that Mr. Crook is not sane. He must've had a very traumatic childhood, or worse yet didn't, but wished he had. Perhaps mommy didn't hug him enough. Regardless, he's finally found a way to get "the big people" to pay attention to him. As they say, negative attention is better than no attention at all, to a narcissist. And that is all this really amounts to, a pathetic cry for attention from a very small man. There's an apt term for those who take glee in the death and misfortune of others, they're called ghouls. This certainly describes the content of Mr. Crook's website and outlook. As Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Some, as Mr. Crook, have argued that this gives them carte blanc to say anything they want, regardless of how inflammatory or vile it may be. As DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN stated, the U.S. population has been defining deviancy down for quite some time. In a different age, Mr. Crook's words would have been enough to have him either jailed for sedition or committed for obvious mania. Today he's just a poor victim who's found a gimmick to get some attention, hiding behind the very laws that shield him while he defames those that give the ultimate sacrifice to keep those laws in place. As far as criminal acts go, he's not been tried or convicted for any. But as far as I'm concerned, what he's done and continues to do is as bad as any terrorist propaganda site you can think of. And a creative prosecutor should be able to convict him for giving aid to the enemy, as Article 3, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution defines it. But I'd be happier with "street justice" in this case. Mr. Crook has pushed the limits of the 1st Amendment and it's time for someone to push back. For the same reason you can't yell "fire" in a crowded theater, you also can not speak ,in the terms that Mr. Crook uses, of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in defense of this nation, at least not without some consequences. Let the karma begin...

When did the telcom arms race start?

2005-04-05T21:23:00.000-04:00

When did Americans lose control of their telephones? I’ve lived overseas 12 of the past 22 years. When I left the US caller ID was just getting popular, now it’s obligatory. Nobody told me there was a privacy arms race going on but it really came home last night. I have an unlisted phone number but still received numerous phone calls for the previous owners of the phone number for about the first 9 months I lived here. I have caller ID, but many people mask their caller ID information when they call. At exactly 12:44 AM this morning, I received a call from a phone which had a masked caller ID. The “young man” on the phone inquired as to my sexual preference, snickered and hung up the phone. Once the shock of the incident subsided, in about 10 seconds, I immediately looked at the caller ID information and determined it was masked. I then hit the *69 call-back feature but was informed by the phone company that that feature was not available to a masked caller ID phone. I then got up and searched the phone book for the proper response to harassing phone calls. I found an 800 number which let me “talk” to a computer for a few minutes and informed me that I could purchase a service called privacy director which would intercept all anonymous callers and tell them that they can’t call me unless they unmask their caller ID…but only from 8 AM to 7 PM Monday through Friday. So here we have it, the telephone arms race. If you want caller ID, it’s an additional fee. If you want to mask your caller ID, it’s an additional fee. If you don’t want to get harassing phone calls in the middle of the night from anonymous callers who mask their ID, yup, it’s an additional fee. And I have my doubts that this would stop anyone from calling me from a spoofed phone number. (see http://www.camophone.com/ for details) For that service, I’ll await the next round of defensive armament from the telecom for, yes, you guessed it…another fee. I can hardly wait to see what joy VoIP brings to this brave new world. And I LIKE computers.

GoreTV. It's not just about the election anymore.

2005-04-04T21:13:00.000-04:00

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050404/us_nm/media_gore_dc_7

Who's lying to this guy? American needs the Gorebot on TV 24/7, yeah right. And I love the fact that the story says this won't just be Air America on cable. Sure it won't. When's the first YAF segment scheduled? How about that NRA promo? Who are they trying to kid? The only thing conservative about this project will be the number of stations airing it and the number of people watching it. Now I give Hollywood its due, they can do magic on the big screen but I think they've met their match. There's not enough CGI in the world to animate the Gorebot and have anyone believe he's not an android. The Google tie-in is interesting, until you learn the fact that over 90% of Google employees contributed to the Kerry campaign. Not withstanding Gorebot's invention of the Internet. As with the huge endowments which fund all sorts of liberal's pet-projects, I find it endlessly fascinating that corporations will provide money to these causes. Don't they know they're funding the very thing that wants to tax them into oblivion and redistribute their profits as liberals see fit? I guess that's the next generation's problem. I guess their philosophy is as long as the bank account has a few zeros to the left of the decimal point, let's keep on biting the hand that feeds us. Well, if nothing else, at least we'll have an alternative to counting sheep once GoreTV hits the airways.

2005-04-03T17:43:00.000-04:00

Look, it's the ANWR, let's drill here!!!

Where unfettered Liberals lead us...

2005-01-30T21:24:00.000-05:00

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/30/wgerm30.xml

That little news story illuminates WHY we invoke GOD's name when we pray at the opening of every sessions of Congress and why "In God We Trust" is imprinted on our currency. Without morality, anything goes. Remove all the stop signs on people and you're left with Big Brother sending your sister, your mother, and eventually even you to the brothel or face getting your unemployment benefits cut. After all, brothel owners pay their taxes just like everybody else, at least in Germany. Think it can't happen here? Remember the metric system, if not just look at your speedometer the next time you jump in your car. Old-school morality may seem to rain on your parade of licentiousness, but it's a lot better than the alternative. Just ask your cousins in Germany.

Who was that? Nobody, just your future calling...

2004-12-30T10:38:00.000-05:00

I promised to report on the foreign press, and I will, but I think this needs to be presented first.
Is it just me, or has there been a recent increase in the types and numbers of "unusual but natural phenomenon"? I refer of course to multiple hurricanes hitting Florida, smoking volcanoes in WA state, tornados in L.A., Earthquakes in Ohio (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/), and sundry floods, fires and pestilences (http://www.xtra.co.nz/broadband/0,,10616-3926214-300,00.html). I guess the "big one" in Sri Lanka brought all of this home this week. I'm one of the last people to buy the media spin on things so I don't believe this global warming crap. One example (http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/intro/shindell_07/). However, you can't blame earthquakes on global warming, can you, no but how about coalition bombing? (http://theinfoequalizer.tripod.com/id7.html). My point being that there are numerous cause-and-effect theories out there and none of them have been proven. Even Nostradamus is in on the act: (Many Nostradamus followers believe that both Quatrains refer to the attack on the World Trade Center. The references to fire and terror from the sky fits with the aerial attack, they argue, and New York city is around 40° 5' N latitude (relatively close to "forty-five" degrees). The date is also not far off. Additionally, several other quatrains refer to an Antichrist figure called "Mabus," who supposedly will start a world war. The letters in Mabus can be rearranged to spell Usam B, leading some to believe Nostradamus saw the coming of Osama bin Laden.) In other words, WOLF has been cried since civilization began (Google for Assyrian apocalypse). However, mankind now has the technology to make the "final solution" real for all of us. So, an analysis of the book of the Apocalypse reveals the following:
-- 4 horsemen of the apocalypse
-- Wars and rumors of wars
-- Pestilence of biblical proportions (no pun intended)
-- Signs and wonders in the heavens, etc.
All culminating in Armageddon http://bible.gospelcom.net/passage/?search=Matthew%2024:6-7&version=49;
AND: http://bible.gospelcom.net/passage/?search=Luke%2021:10-11&version=49;

Again, I'm a skeptic's skeptic but you've got to admit that things are a little shaky in the world right now. And certain global organizations aren't helping things in the pestilence department: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1423188,00.html

So, I wish each and everyone of you a wonderful New Year, but keep your eyes open and the Good Book in mind. Cause if I'm right, you ain't seen nothin' yet...

Where in the world are you?

2004-11-28T09:05:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted for a while because I've been over half-way around the world for the past couple of weeks and will be for a couple more. My job has sent me to Malaysia, near the capitol, Kuala Lampur (KL) for a month. I'm fortunate in that I am getting the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a lot of the country up close and personal. I'm staying in a little older hotel away from KL but we get the local national paper and the Asian Wall Street Journal. Reading these everyday has given me some new insights into how "the rest of the world", particularly the far East, sees America. I hope to expand and speak to this issue upon me return to the US. Let's just say that the American press's left-leaning reporting IS having an impact on our enemies AND our allies view of us.

Vampire Lesbians of Sodom

2004-11-11T09:09:00.000-05:00

I've been mulling over this entry for a week now. Is it appropos of anything or just titillating, pardon the pun. I've finally decided to air it as an example of the undercurrent of immorality that coexists with the good in our society. So, throwing caution to the wind, I give you:

I could not have come up with that title had my life depended on it, yet running that query in Google results in over 3,000 hits, to whit:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22vampire+lesbians+of+sodom%22

How many layers of wrong is this? I'm not sure where to start parsing this KRAP. (That's the German spelling, so you know I mean it) First off, the title refers to an ACTUAL PLAY being performed in the United States of America, and has been for over two decades! Here's a canned review:

--One of the longest running plays in Off-Broadway history, “Vampire Lesbians of Sodom” tells the saga of two fatally seductive vampiresses whose paths first collide in ancient Sodom. Their bitter rivalry as bloodsuckers but more importantly, as actresses, endures for two thousand years with stops along the way in 1920’s silent movie Hollywood and contemporary Las Vegas.--

Let's start at the beginning with vampires. They are a ficticious creation based on the premise that the "un-dead" exist and propegate by feeding on the living. Oh, and they are evil.

Lesbians, they are non-fiction, for sure. They propegate through artificial insemination or converting the hetrocentrics. Oh, and they are evil. (See Leviticus 18:22, 18:29)

And finally Sodom, fabled city for which the word sodomy was begot. It is non-fiction as it's location and scientific evidence of its destruction were located here: http://www.arkdiscovery.com/sodom_&_gomorrah.htm The word sodomy was derived the the practicioners of this ahem, art:

sodomy

• noun anal or oral intercourse.

— DERIVATIVES sodomize (also sodomise) verb.

— ORIGIN from Latin peccatum Sodomiticum ‘sin of Sodom’ (after the Book of Genesis chapter 19, which implies that the men of the town of Sodom in ancient Palestine practised homosexual rape). (Editor's note: it does more than imply, it states it as such)

So putting the title of this little play into context reveals that it centers around the existances (they're technically not "lives") of "fatally seductive" undead Lesbians, who by definition practice sodomy and begin their journey in the cradle of the historic birthplace of said act.

Other reports on this play describe it as a campy look at the "lives" of these two heroines.

I'm no theologian but I can't imagine that God is looking too fondly on anyone contributing time, energy or resources to keep this little ball of entertainment in the public arena as it takes a farsical romp on territory which God calls an abomination, which is on the list of top three things you don't want God to attribute to you come judgement day. (Number one is unrepentant and unsaved; number two is a Michael Moore fan)

Rom 1:26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but it's pretty obvious to anyone who has been forced to learn to read and comprehend the English language at more than an eighth grade level that according to the Bible "gay love" is WRONG in any and all of its manifestations. Any other interpretation is either willful ignorance or simple immorality.

Which brings me to my second point: Liberal churches.
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/politics/10137626.htm

This article shows how far the liberal dogma of licentiousness has penetrated American society and all of its institutions. When a Baptist Church south of the Mason-Dixon line is a plaintiff FOR civil unions, you can hear the hoof-beats of the Four Horsemen approaching. I read a fascinating historical study on the rise and fall of Western civilizations in a book The Great Reconing: Protecting Yourself in the Coming Depression http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671885286/qid=1100148857/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/102-6746462-4376114 Check out the review at the bottom of the page. This book revealed a hidden mechanism at work in the world which seemed to time the rise and fall of Western civilizations every 500 years. The point being, America is at the end of it's lease and just as the decadent Roman empire fell, so too will ours. Now, not wanting to be the MC of doom and gloom, the silver linining is once one civilization crumbles, another inevitably rises to take its place. Of course this was true in the past before nuclear bombs, bioweapons and centralized food and water distribution. Perhaps mankind has mastered enough science to finally eradicate the entire species.

Aw screw it, let's all go see a play...

Madonna reveals nouveau thinking on Iraq...

2004-11-10T06:40:00.000-05:00

After conferring with her top political advisors, the Dixie Chicks, Madonna tells Britons how Americans should vote/think/act. And provides insightful commentary regarding the electorate's ingnorance.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/041109/19/rnmi.html

Next up: Madonna tells teen girls how to remain chaste, based upon her VAST experience with that subject...

(WARNING, the following link contains Madonna nudity and may not be appropriate for anyone outside the Liberal elite.)

http://www.zihuatanejo-rentals.com/madonna1.htm
~

I May be Ignorant, But You're Blind...

2004-11-06T00:58:00.000-05:00

Read the link first, then come back here.

http://slate.msn.com/id/2109218/

The attitude of condensation and stereotyping in this article is beyond incredible. According to Jane Smiley if you voted for Bush you are all of the following: "ignorant, greedy, think yourself superior, full of bloodlust, full of original sin, have a taste for violence, have an unthinking fear/belief of God, have sold your soul for power, believe all complex thought is evil, prefer to be ignorant, are virtually unteachable, are predatory and resentful, amoral, avaricious, and arrogant, don't know which end is up, love to cheat and intimidate, are borne of hubris and hatred and like it all that way.

All that from a 50 year old female, one-time college professor, author with a PhD living in California. This article sums up the elitist-Left's view of "red-staters" and neatly encapsulates their feelings of superiority on every level, morally, intellectually and philosophically over the ignorant masses who voted for Bush. I'm saving this article because it really illuminates the soul of the Democratic Party and shows me exactly what kind of attitudes we are dealing with. Much like the Islamic fundamentalists, anyone steeped in this kind of vitriolic stew for very long soon begins to see the world from only one perspective, theirs. Soon it's either my way or the highway and anyone who disagrees is (see paragraph above to fill in the blank.) If my notably limited math skills--as a red-stater--are serving me, Ms. Smiley attended an elite liberal womyn's college (Vasser) in the early to mid 1970's at the height of the Feminist movement in America. She obviously had a penchant for that atmosphere and became a card carrying member of the liberal elite as a PhD college professor. Being a professor for so many years would obviously provide one with ample opportunity to survey the literature of the "enemy" and form opinions and arguments against them. These opinions were then honed by brow-beating any poor student who was unfortunate enough to be sent to her indoctrination center, I mean classroom and have an opinion of their own. As the screed revealed, she possesses none of the attributes of which liberals claim to champion, e.g. religious tolerance, understanding, patience, love of mankind, etc. Instead, she denigrates the red-staters and reveals in numerous ways how much she disdains them and belittles their intellectual capacity. Ms. Smiley is exhibiting the classic symptoms known in psychological circles as PROJECTION. In other words, Ms. Smiley is casting all of the adjectives she used to describe red-staters to cover her own possession of those self-same attributes. The only reason that I, a red-stater, know this is I saw it in a coloring book I was drooling on one day. Which brings me to the second point I'd like to make. I've attempted to parse this sentence but still don't quite understand it completely; perhaps one must be a PhD or merely a blue-stater to "get it."

"The history of the last four years shows that red state types, above all, do not want to be told what to do—they prefer to be ignorant. As a result, they are virtually unteachable."

As I read it, red-staters, (me) above all, do not want to be told what to do--I prefer to be ignorant. So if I chose to "be told what to do" by the liberal nanny government in the person of John Kerry, et al, then I would be intelligent and enlightened? Is that what you're offering me, complete surrender of my free will and ability to question your "supreme" intellectual superiority to be considered "teachable"? In other words, if I don't acquiesce completely to the liberal dogma and accept every tenant, I'm irredeemable and beneath contempt. There are a few words that describe this type of thinking, but the one that stands out most prominently is fascism. Perhaps this attitude was effective in the hothouse culture of academia for suppressing dissent, but it does not fly here in the real RED world. Here in the real world, there are actually "threats to democracy" in the form of Islamic fundamentalists who do things like fly jumbo-jets into skyscrapers, not phantom 19th century industrialist ghosts who established a vast Right-wing conspiracy as you suggest. Indeed, it is you and your ilk who have directed all of your hatred and prejudices against those within America who do respect the rule of law and do honor God, family and country instead of our nation's true enemies--Islamic Fundamentalists. Fear of God is not ignorance; it is the beginning of knowledge.

For a PhD professor, you sure don't know very much.

PLF5403

--
"The future doesn't belong to the faint-hearted. It belongs to the brave." -- Ronald Reagan

Subject: Fwd: Do you see a pattern here?

2004-10-28T09:46:00.001-04:00

The following email was sent to me by a friend of mine who has a terrible liberal affliction he's trying to shake. My response is at the end.

Subject: Fwd: Do you see a pattern here?

Democrats;

Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.
David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.
Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.
Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an
army journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade.
Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam.
Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-'47; Medal of Honor, WWII.
Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea.
Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star,
Vietnam.
Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-1953.
Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74.
Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91.
Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII, receiving the Bronze Star
and seven campaign ribbons.
Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76; Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze
Stars,and Soldier's Medal.
Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple Heart, Silver Star and
Legion of Merit.
Mike Thompson: Staff sergeant, 173rd Airborne, Purple Heart.
Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor. Marine in Vietnam;
Bronze Star with Combat V.
Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze Star.
Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57
Chuck Robb: Vietnam
Howell Heflin: Silver Star
George McGovern: Silver Star & DFC during WWII.
Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy.
Walter Mondale: Army 1951-1953
John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs and Air Medal with 18 Clusters.

Republicans;

Dennis Hastert: did not serve.
Tom Delay: did not serve.
Roy Blunt: did not serve.
Bill Frist: did not serve.
Mitch McConnell: did not serve.
Rick Santorum: did not serve.
Trent Lott: did not serve.
Dick Cheney: did not serve.
John Ashcroft: did not serve.
Jeb Bush: did not serve.
Karl Rove: did not serve.
Saxby Chambliss: did not serve.
Vin Weber: did not serve.
Richard Perle: did not serve.
Douglas Feith: did not serve.
Eliot Abrams: did not serve.
Richard Shelby: did not serve.
Jon Kyl: did not serve.
Tim Hutchison: did not serve.
Christopher Cox: did not serve.
Newt Gingrich: did not serve.
Phil Gramm: did not serve.
Dana Rohrabacher: did not serve.
John M. McHugh: did not serve.
J C Watts: did not serve.
Jack Kemp: did not serve.
Rudy Giuliani: did not serve.
George Pataki: did not serve.
Spencer Abraham: did not serve.
John Engler: did not serve.
Arnold Schwarzenegger: AWOL from Austrian army base.
Antonin Scalia: did not serve.
Clarence Thomas: did not serve.
Pundits & Preachers
Sean Hannity: did not serve.
Rush Limbaugh: did not serve
Bill O'Reilly: did not serve.
Michael Savage: did not serve.
George Will: did not serve.
Paul Gigot: did not serve.
Bill Bennett: did not serve.
Pat Buchanan: did not serve.
John Wayne: did not serve.
Bill Kristol: did not serve.
Kenneth Starr: did not serve.
Ralph Reed: did not serve.
Michael Medved: did not serve.
Charlie Daniels: did not serve.
Ted Nugent: did not serve.
----------------------------------

First, while the litany of Liberal icons who served their country in the military is impressive, how little of it affects them and their decisions regarding it today. And secondly, unless you were a draft-dodger or anti-war protester, what difference does it really make. Are you advocating that anyone who aspires to public office "MUST" have been in the armed forces? Have you looked at the percentage of the American populace under the age of 30 who have military service in their background lately? It's minute. Should they have no say in what our military does? Or, as I suspect, are you insinuating that the Republican "chicken-hawks" listed above are hypocritical and should not have any opinion on public policy regarding military issues or have less credibility than those who did wear their country's uniform? To that I say I've never been a car salesman but I have some very strong opinions regarding auto value and quality that I believe are as valid as any salesman's. And what is a politician: A U.S. Gov't salesman. Are they selling "BIG gov't" or "little gov't" that's the primary difference. While I personally believe EVERY able-bodied young man (and woman volunteers) should be compelled to serve his country's armed forces for a minimum of 36 months, most people in America disagree with this point of view. So be it. That being the case, don't judge someone's ability to comprehend the facts of a military situation in the political arena based solely on whether or not they served in said military. I've never been to N. Korea, but I've got some firm ideas regarding how that country should be run differently than it currently is. Should I be excluded from having an opinion on that subject? The list of things I've never been is a long one, but I am able to synthesize information on those things and form (IMHO) an informed opinion. While I might think less of you personally for not having served your country, I can still value your opinion on military matters, if it's informed. Provide me with logical analysis, not "heartfelt angst" and sound bites and I'll give your opinion a little more credibility.

Signed,

A right-wing, fundamentalist, ultraconservative with 20 years of U.S. military experience to back it up

Total Information, er Terrorist Awareness:

2004-10-28T06:24:00.000-04:00

http://www.aclu.org/pizza/

Working where I work and researching the limits of computer technology, I can tell you the technological pieces are already in place. It's only a matter of political will (and money) to implement them. Do a Google for "total information awareness" or "terrorist information awareness". The U.S. Gov't has already done the basic research to create the Orwellian "Big Brother" computer system. As far as what we can do about it...I don't know. While the "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" myth may have had some validity in the 50's. I'm a bit more cynical nowadays regarding fighting city hall. The most direct route is ensuring that everyone you vote for understands the threat that this computer system would pose to individual privacy and is professionally opposed to it. (Unlike Kerry who is "personally opposed to gay marriage, but supports it in the Senate.) Conversely, if this is the way the "Mark of the beast" will be implemented, there's absolutely nothing in the world you could do about it. Just take the sage advice of the Nissan commercial "Enjoy the ride."

The Vice-presidential debate

2004-10-06T01:56:00.000-04:00

The VP debate was far more civil than I anticipated. While both men got their shots in, it was clearly Edwards on the defensive. The Vice-president showed far more discipline in keeping to the topic at hand and focusing on each question as it was presented than did Edwards. I counted at least 15 times when Edwards said "I'd like to go back to..." when asked a new question. Civility was the rule of the evening. Perhaps the VP's heart condition had something to do with that. I did detect a little bias in the questions presented. One which really stuck out was the question which ended with "...what's wrong with a little flip-flopping?" As this charge had been leveled so successfully by the Right-wing, it's interesting that it was soft-peddled in the way it was asked of Edwards. Pundits on Fox give the VP the first half and Edwards the second which was dominated by domestic issues. I would argue that that would depend upon the viewers expectations of government in that arena. My wife made a very interesting observation when watching Edwards closing soliloquy, "He reminds me of Clinton". I agree. Can America afford four more years of Clinton???

2004-09-23T18:13:00.000-04:00

Dear CBS "News" Corp.,

This is the final straw. I remember watching your network when there were only four channels available in our small town in the 1970's. CBS News has been a staple in my childhood and through my adulthood, until now. With so many competing ideas and ideologies out there now, I need a voice I can trust to give me the unfiltered truth. Until this week, I thought that voice was CBS in the person of Mr. Dan Rather. I can now see that this is not the case. I don't know if it's a personal bias or vendetta which has clouded Mr. Rather's judgement and allowed him to take the ethically dubious steps toward a smear campaign under the guise of "news", and I really don't care. All I know is that I will never again watch Mr. Rather or your newscasts, unless or until he is removed from your network. I deeply regret this action but feel I have no other choice. I am NOT a patsy who appreciates being lied to. If Mr. Rather's personal politics affect his judgement this deeply on this subject, how many other subjects are being filtered through the Rather bias machine before they are presented as the gospel of the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather? I can assure you of this, he will no longer be allowed into my house. The trust is gone.
Regretfully,

Mr. Average American

America is full

2004-09-14T21:18:00.000-04:00

American immigration policy is broken. We intake far too many people every year to assimilate them into the melting pot. There are numerous enclaves throughout the US where "traditional" American life-styles are not practiced and English is never spoken. This balkanization of the nation may be a precursor to its demise. A look at the demographic shifts expected in the next two decades are very sobering indeed. http://economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=1291056
America needs an immigration time-out so that those who are already here have time to assimilate into the American mainstream. Barring that, the Normal Rockwellesque country that was "America" in the 20th Century will become something unimaginable in the 21st.

You do the math.