This is SO True

Courtesy of IMAO and his Cafe Press store:

Too Funny to Pass Up!

Huge HT to BobG at Sweet Spirits of Ammonia for this one:

Dear Abby:

My husband is a liar and a cheat. He has cheated on me from the beginning, and when I confront him, he denies everything.What's worse, everyone knows he cheats on me. It is so humiliating.

Also, since he lost his job six years ago, he hasn't even looked for a new one. All he does is buy cigars and cruise around and shoot the bull with his pals, while I have to work to pay the bills. Since our daughter went away to college, he doesn't even pretend to like me and hints that I am a lesbian.

What should I do?

Signed,Clueless


Dear Clueless:

Grow up and dump him. For Pete's sake, you don't need him anymore. You're a United States senator from New York. Act like it!

Talk is Cheap, Bob

Today, Bob Schieffer asks the question "Why Aren't We Talking to Syria?"
In his missive he makes a few points:

• The answer to that, we are told, is for the same reason we don't talk to Iran and North Korea lately: to talk now would be a reward for bad behavior.
  

• ...we stayed in touch with the leaders of the Soviet Union through the long and dangerous decades of the Cold War. It would have been dangerous not to. But these days we seem to find more and more people not to talk to. Then when we need to talk, we can't for fear of rewarding bad behavior.
  

• No power on earth, Israel or us -- even if we wanted to -- could kill every Arab who wants to destroy Israel. There are just too many of them. That leaves but one option: convince countries like Syria that it is in its own self-interest to take another approach.
  

• Simplistic? Hardly. It worked with Egypt, once a far greater threat to Israel than a small poor country like Syria could ever be.

It is with the last comment that the TrekMedic takes issue.

Yes, 20+ years ago, the Egyptian army was a more serious threat to Israel's security. Yes, it took a great deal of arm-twisting to get Sadat to back away and cease his sabre-rattling. (Look where that took Sadat, BTW)

But, Syria, as poor as Schieffer describes them, isn't sending its regular federal troops into conflict with Israel, with the inherent costs borne on the Syrian taxpayers' backs. President Assad is merely using his country as a conduit (and safe haven) for groups like Hezbollah; which is funded, in part, but a network of Islamic terrorists, terrorist nations, and private supporters. If we talk with Syria at all, the message must be clear and frank: Stop any tacit support of Hezbollah, or face our wrath. Period. End of message. No UNtied Nations sanctions. No "carrot-and-stick." No bulls**t. Just STOP! That, my friends, ends bad behavior.

News We DON'T Hear About in Iraq!

Hoo-RAH!! This is more like it:

USMC Sniper Metes Out Swift Death in Iraq
By ANTONIO CASTANEDA
Associated Press Writer

RAMADI, Iraq (AP) -- He was 5 when he first fired an M-16, his father holding him to brace against the recoil. At 17 he enlisted in the Marine Corps, spurred by the memory of 9/11. Now, 21-year-old Galen Wilson has 20 confirmed kills in four months in Iraq - and another 40 shots that probably killed insurgents. One afternoon the lance corporal downed a man hauling a grenade launcher five-and-a-half football fields away.

Wilson is the designated marksman in a company of Marines based in downtown Ramadi, watching over what Marines call the most dangerous neighborhood in the most dangerous city in the world.

Here, Sunni Arab insurgents are intent on toppling the local government protected by Marines.

Wilson, 5-foot-6 with a soft face, is married and has two children and speaks in a deep, steady monotone.

After two tours in Iraq, his commanders in the 3rd Battalion, 8th Regiment call him a particularly mature Marine, always collected and given to an occasional wry grin.

His composure is regularly tested. Swaths of central and southern Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, are dominated by insurgents who regularly attack the provincial government headquarters that Marines protect.

During a large-scale attack on Easter Sunday, Wilson says, he spotted six gunmen on a rooftop about 400 yards away. In about 8 seconds he squeezed off five rounds - hitting five gunmen in the head. The sixth man dived off a 3-story building just as Wilson got him in his sights, and counts as a probable death.

"You could tell he didn't know where it was coming from. He just wanted to get away," Wilson said. Later that day, he said, he killed another insurgent.

Wilson says his skill helps save American troops and Iraqi civilians.

"It doesn't bother me. Obviously, me being a devout Catholic, it's a conflict of interest. Then again, God supported David when he killed Goliath," Wilson said. "I believe God supports what we do and I've never killed anyone who wasn't carrying a weapon."

He was raised in a desolate part of the Rocky Mountains outside Colorado Springs, "surrounded by national parks on three sides," he says. He regularly hunted before moving to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., as a teenager. His brother also serves in the military.

Guns have long been part of Wilson's life. His father was a sniper in the Navy SEALS. He remembers first firing a sniper rifle at age 6. By the time he enlisted he had already fired a .50-caliber machine gun.

"My father owned a weapons dealership, so I've been around exotic firearms all my life," said Wilson, who remembers practicing on pine cones and cans. "My dad would help me hold (an M-16), with the butt on his shoulder, and walk me through the steps of shooting."

And the Winner Is,....

Well,..since no one else spoke up about being my 10000th hit, it appears Charlie on the Turnpike wins by default!

For his prize, Charlie wins my respect and admiration for venturing into this demented section of the blogosphere more than once!

It Won't Always Be a Plane Into a Building,....

Gunman Shoots 6 at Seattle Jewish Center; 1 Killed
Saturday, July 29, 2006

SEATTLE — A man walked into a Jewish organization Friday afternoon and opened fire, killing one woman and injuring at least five others before he was arrested, officials said.

The gunman, who employees said claimed to be a Muslim angry at Israel, forced his way through the security door at the Jewish Federation after an employee had punched in her security code, said Marla Meislin-Dietrich, a co-worker who was not at the building at the time.

Staff members said they overheard him saying "'I am a Muslim American, angry at Israel,' before opening fire on everyone," Meislin-Dietrich said. "He was randomly shooting at everyone."

Police would not confirm the account. When asked if the suspect was a Muslim, Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said at a news conference "you could infer that that was his background."

Naveed Afzal Haq was booked into jail late Friday for investigation of homicide and attempted homicide.

Surprisingly, UNN hasn't found a way to twist this story around to blame Israel, GWB, or Fox News for this terrorist hate crime!

Hollywood Must Die!

This morning, I saw an advert on TV for a new movie called "John Tucker Must Die!"

The plot, such that it is, involves John Tucker simultaneously dating 3 girls. They find out and set up the "new girl" to bring him down.

At best, it might pass for a date movie, but I'm inclined to believe its just some late-summer teenybopper drivel.

And that brings me to what bothers me about this movie, and some healthy paranoia about Leftywood in general.

You see, in the movie, John Tucker is dating a black girl, played by marginally-successful rapper Ashanti.

Now, before you all scream "RACIST!" at me, let me finish my rant! Its not that John Tucker is dating a black girl, but more that I'm sure the script didn't specify any racial details for these characters and someone in casting decided to cast Ashanti to keep the NAACP and other professional protesters off their backs.

And THAT gets to the heart of this post: It seems to me these days that every Tween and Teen show on TV (Disney, Nickelodeon, The N, ABC Family) features a core cast of characters with ONLY one involved in an interracial relationship, or a town full of middle-class white people populated by ONLY one well-adjusted, well-spoken minority star or family.

BTW - You also see this a lot in advertising - 4 women enjoying a new diet cereal consists of three white women and a token black. 4 guys at the local bar, drinking the latest great, new beer and,...you guessed it, only one token black guy hanging with the guys!

The peer pressure on teens these days that is coming from the media seems to be one where you MUST date outside your racial or ethnic group, or there is something wrong with you!

Now, I'm not against interracial dating, I don't believe in burning crosses on someone's lawn for exhibiting "jungle fever," or any of that stupidity. I just think Leftywood is trying their damnedest to take a colorful, American "melting pot" stew society, full of various spices and flavors, and turn it into a gray, tasteless, formless mush of a society.

**That's my opinion and you're entitled to it!"

Olympic Philliness

Phila. can't cut Olympic mustard
By Larry Eichel
Inquirer Staff Writer

There will be no Olympics in Philadelphia.

Yesterday, the city was eliminated by the U.S. Olympic Committee from what had been a five-city competition to become America's candidate to host the 2016 Summer Games.

Surviving the cut were Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Houston joined Philadelphia in falling by the wayside.

(snip)

USOC officials said the decision to cut Philadelphia and Houston was based largely on a survey the USOC conducted of 100 members of the Olympic community from around the world - the kind of people who ultimately will have the final say on where the Games go.

In that survey, said Bob Ctvrtlik, the committee's international vice president, it was "very, very clear that... the three cities, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco, were best positioned within the international sports movement to go forward at this time."

Philadelphia and Houston came in fourth and fifth, not necessarily in that order, in the technical analysis as well, USOC officials said.

"Reading between the lines, it's clear that our international reputation was our main flaw," said David L. Cohen, executive vice president of Comcast Corp. and cochair of Philadelphia 2016, the local organizing committee. "And it was the one thing we had no capacity to address in the time frame that was available."

(That means changing the political shenanigans before the IOC gives the city the once over, folks! Apparently, Mr. Cohen is resigned to the same ol' same ol' Democratic bulls**t!)

The TrekMedic muses:

Personally, I was against Philadelphia getting the US Olympic nod based not on our strengths (pre-existing sports venues and infrastructure), but for this simple reason:
Just as many people protested the 2008 Summer Olympics being held in Beijing because it legitimizes the Communist regime, holding the Olympics in Philadelphia also legitimizes the "pay-to-play" atmosphere that would have seen union goon fat-cats lining their pockets with millions, if not billions, of dollars directed towards building and upgrading whatever venues would have been used!

An Anti-ACLU Rant for 7/28/06

Crossposted from Stop The ACLU
Well it comes at no surprise to us at Stop The ACLU and Wide Awakes Radio that the American Civil Liberties Union is opposed to passage of H.R. 2679, the Public Expression of Religion Act of 2005.

A review of the bill is as follows:

PERA would eliminate the ability for judges to award attorney's fees compensation to groups like the ACLU in Establishment Clause cases only. These fees where originally authorized by CONGRESS so that good attorneys wouldn't be dissuaded from accepting civil rights cases pro bono.

But in the hands of the ACLU it has become a source of income for the organization. In any other type of lawsuit, ie: personal injury, the attorney's fee if any comes out of the settlement with their client if they prevail. But not under the law authorizing these fees.

The ACLU actively shops around for reasons to challenge any public displays of religion in order to collect these "attorneys' fees". This has led to a systematic removal of your Constitutional protections under the 1st Amendment to freely exercise your religious beliefs. They accomplish this by judge shopping. They shop for a district to present a case in. A district in which one of their "best buddies" activist judges will hear the case and more often than not, rule in the favor of the ACLU.

The ACLU prefers to bring these types of lawsuits against cities, towns, and states which are usually cash strapped. First it is a matter of sending a letter to the governing body recommending that they cease and desist from further allowing public displays of religion. That if they fail to do so, it will cost the city, town, or state massive amounts of money to defend against them in court. And usually, a city or town is likely to not challenge. They will capitulate to the will of the ACLU. But if it does come to trial and they prevail, the amounts awarded to the prevailing party are often compounded by the amounts awarded to the ACLU attorney(s) for fees that had they NOT prevailed, would have gone uncollected.

This is extortion. Do what we tell you or something bad is going to happen. Pure unadulterated extortion.

It is these practices that the Public Display of Religion Act of 2005 (H.R. 2679) promises to eliminate so of course the ACLU would be opposed to its passage. They aren't interested in protecting your right to freely express your religious beliefs in public.

From the ACLU's News Release on H.R. 2679 dated 07.26.06:

The American Civil Liberties Union today urged the House Judiciary Committee to reject H.R. 2679, the "Public Expression of Religion Act of 2005" (PERA). The panel is expected to vote on the legislation today [meaning Wednesday - in committee]. The bill would bar the recovery of attorneys' fees to citizens who win lawsuits asserting their fundamental constitutional and civil rights in cases brought under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

"If this bill were to become law, Congress would, for the first time, single out one area protected by the Bill of Rights and prevent its full enforcement," said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "Proponents of the measure claim that the bill is needed to protect religious freedom, when in fact, the bill would undermine it. We hope that the committee will stand for the Constitution and reject this unwise proposal." emphasis mine

Hold the presses... Stop Stop Stop.....

Did they actually make an argument that if the bill becomes law, Congress would single out a Constitutional protection and block it from enforcement?

WRONG!

The only thing being discussed is a law written and adopted by Congress for the awarding of the fees. And the removal of the fees from a certain kind of cases in order to remove the ability for unscrupulous people like the ACLU to abuse it. In other words, shop around for cases in order to create a money making enterprise out of the award.

The so-call establishment clause only appears one place, in the first Amendment. The leftists at the ACLU are addicted to abusing the so-call protection of separation of church and state. Which is a fantasy created by people like the ACLU in order to have grounds in which to remove religion from the public sphere. Here's what it actually says:

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. Amendment I of the United States Constitution

Where is this phantom "separation of church and state"? I don't see it mentioned.

I do see a provision whereby the Congress of the United States is preventing from making a law which establishes a religion in the United States. The founders were escaping a government that dictated that if you didn't follow the Church of England, you were a criminal. This is what they were trying to avoid.

I fail to see how putting a nativity scene in the public square or a cross being present on a war memorial constitutes Congress making such a law. Because Erie, PA allows the erection of a nativity scene in Perry Square doesn't constitute Congress taking any action what-so-ever to establish a national religion.

Democrats strongly opposed the bill yesterday.

A veterans' group, the American Legion, has pushed for the legislation out of concern that war memorials and cemeteries could be cleansed of religious symbols. Mr. Nadler called the gravestone issue a "red herring" and submitted a letter in which the ACLU said it would "vigorously defend" the rights of veterans to use any religious symbol they choose on grave markers. The letter did not address the use of Christian crosses in publicly owned group memorials or tombs for unknown soldiers.

.....

After more than an hour of debate yesterday, the committee adjourned before taking an up-or-down vote on the bill.

But the ACLU would have you believe otherwise. Their press release continues:

The ability to recover attorneys' fees in civil rights and constitutional cases, including Establishment Clause cases, is necessary to help protect the religious freedom of all Americans and to keep religion government-free. People who successfully prove the government has violated their constitutional rights would, under the bill, be required to pay their own legal fees -- often totaling tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Few citizens can afford to do so. But more importantly citizens should not be required to do so where the court finds that the government has violated their rights and engaged in unconstitutional behavior.

The ability of the ACLU to collect attorney's fees in establishment clause Cases does not protect your religious freedoms, it attacks them. The ACLU actively shops for these types of cases because in the hands of judges like Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the former Chief Counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union and former National Board member, the ACLU will prevail every time. And it becomes a business.

It is time that these types of abuse be brought to an end. Call, write, email, fax, and visit if you can , your Congressman and urge him to vote for the Public Expression of Religion Act of 2005 (H.R. 2679), and put an end to the abuse and prostitution of our Constitution and our Judicial Branch of government.

This has been a production of Stop The ACLU Blogburst. If you would like to join us, please email Jay or Gribbit. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll. Over 200 blogs already on-board.

This is Cool!

Wow,..I made it to an important blog!

Raj Bhakti (R-Candidate for US Congress PA-13)'s Raj Blog, picked up my Boy Scout rant!

More on That MORON

Dean Calls Iraqi Prime Minister Anti-Semite, Criticizes Bush For U.S. Visit
Wednesday, July 26, 2006

WASHINGTON — Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean on Wednesday called Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki an "anti-Semite" and criticized President Bush for inviting the newly-elected leader of Iraq to the United States.

"The president made a big deal about bringing the Iraqi prime minister to address Congress and met with him yesterday. The Iraqi prime minister is an anti-Semite. We don't need to spend $200 and $300 and $500 billion dollars (YEARRGHH!!!) bringing democracy to Iraq to turn it over to people who believe Israel doesn't have the right to defend itself and to refuse to condemn Hezbollah," Dean told the Democratic Professionals Forum in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Dean's comments ramped up three days of complaints that seemed to be dying down after al-Maliki's address to a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday. The prime minister, invited to speak to the body by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, tried to build fading support for the ongoing U.S. military commitment in Iraq. His speech came during his first trip to Washington since becoming prime minister two months ago.

(snip)

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Dean's comments went beyond the pale.

"Frankly, I've been in politics some 40 years and I've met a lot of politicians, and I think those of you who have followed me know I don't get into a lot of partisanship. But I dismiss Howard Dean. He's a disappointment, I think, even to some Democrats," Warner said.

"These are tough times and it requires tough talk and also honest appraisal of situations, and I think the Maliki visit points out problems that need to be faced in the future, immediate future," he continued. "But I come back time and time again, what is the alternative if we were to not continue to support the Iraqi people in achieving their measure of democracy and freedom? What signal would then be sent into that area of the world? ... That signal would certainly benefit the terrorists if we were to, in any way, become less than fully committed to work this out."

The TrekMedic opines:

Jeez, Howard,..can you make it any easier for people to make the RIGHT choice in November??

I'm Shocked,..Aren't You?

Lance Bass of *NSYNC Reveals He's Gay
Wednesday, July 26, 2006

NEW YORK — Lance Bass, band member of *NSYNC, says he's gay and in a "very stable" relationship with a reality show star.

Bass, who formed *NSYNC with Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick, tells People magazine that he didn't earlier disclose his sexuality because he didn't want to affect the group's popularity.

Stop! You're killing me! OMG! ROFLMAO!!!!!

Addendum - Drunken Samurai has a great take on this story, too!

Who Was It?

Ok,...I'm at 10010 hits! Who was the lucky 10000?

Music to My Ears (Or,..Something Nice ON Air)

Seems the purveyors of Radio Air Pollution (RAP) are losing big time to REAL music stations.

Consider this:

• WMMR recently beat out rap station WUSL (Power 99) for the all-important 18-34 demographic and is Number 1 for the first time in 11 years!! That's quite a feat for the only full-time rock station in Philly!

• University of Penn-supported WXPN, which plays a fair amount of off-the-radar and mainstream rock, is teaming up with Y100 Rocks!, the on-line remnants of the other rock station in Philly (they went to RAP in Feb of 2005)

And this is from the Inkwaster report (link at top):

The other observation is that times are tough for rap/hip-hop/top-40 stations as major slippage was evident among Power 99, Q102, Wired 96.5 and The Beat.

TrekMedic observation - 15 years ago, Top-40 wasn't another connotation for "RAP for white people"

(snip)

But if you compare audience share from spring '05 to spring '06, Power was off 22 percent; The Beat (WPHI, 100.3) was off 5 percent; Q102 (WIOQ, 102.1) was off 22 percent; and Wired (WRDW) was off 26 percent.

Combined, the four stations in spring 2005 commanded 30.9 percent of the 18-to-34 listening audience. In spring 2006, the four stations had the ears of 24.9 percent.

(snip)

What's the issue with Q102? "It's across the street," said Q102 program director Rick Vaughn, referring to Wired. Vaughn says his competitor has been "mirroring everything we do," thus diluting Q102's numbers. "There's one station too many doing this kind of music."

The TrekMedic adds:

Thank you Captain Obvious! Really, Rick? ONE station too many doing this kind of,...um,..I can't call it music,...! ONE station at all causing Radio Air Pollution is too many in this town!

And speaking of "One:" how about a BIG laugh in the face to Radio One,..the s**t-hop/RAP station owners who tried to kill rock in Philly when they shut down Y100!! HA-HA-F***ING-HA!

Gads,..I've been tagged again!

Tagged by Katey! No doubt, getting back at me for that video!

Anyway,..here goes:

3 things that scare me:
1. Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House
2. Hilary Clinton as President
3. Heights! I broke into a cold sweat watching the paramedic from Saved talk his friend off that bridge!

3 people that make me laugh:
1. My boss!
2. Howard Dean
3. George Carlin

3 things that I hate most:
1. Main Liners driving $75K SUVs, drinking Starbucks, talking on their cell phones, and DOING 25 in a F***ING 40 mph ZONE!!!
2. Liars (same a Katey)
3. Liberals (I guess that could be the same as #2!) (Ditto, Katey)

3 things I don't understand:
1. Liberals
2. Phillies Ownership Group
3. Women (nyah, nyah, Katey)

3 things I am doing right now:
1. Completing my "meme"
2. Downloading porn,....Um,...forget that
3. Listening to the Phillies

3 things I want to do before I die:
1. Go to Italy and/or Ireland
2. Spend a week down the shore in conjugal bliss with a female of my choice
3. Get my degree and become a Physician's Assistant

3 things I can do:
1. Speak 6 languages fluently
2. Start an IV, do chest compressions, and intubate, all by myself
3. Cook

3 ways to describe my personality:
1. Fun
2. Mercurial
3. Weird

3 things I can't do:
1. Vote for Democrats
2. Sing
3. Bungee jump

3 things I think you should listen to:
1. Your Parents (PLURAL)
2. The voices in your head!
3. Your Medical Command Doctor!

3 things you should never listen to:
1. Liberals
2. John Street
3. Someone who says "trust me"

3 absolute favorite foods:
1. Ravioli
2. Pizza Steaks
3. Chicken Mei Fun

3 things I'd like to learn:
1. Patience
2. Women
3. How to kill your boss and get away with it!

3 beverages I drink regularly:
1. Coke
2. Yuengling
3. Jagermeister

3 shows I watched as a kid:
1. Adam-12
2. Emergency!
3. Star Trek

3 people I am tagging:
1. Matt, from Peace Through Strength
2. Kitty, from AFSister
3. ALa , from Blonde Sagacity

Coming soon,....

Sometime over the next two or three days, Is This Life? will have its 10000th visitor! I don't have a way of tracking the honored guest, so I'm relying on your honesty on this one.

Oh,..and,..thank you for your support over the last year and a half!

Boy Scouts Get a Dose of Philliness

So,..the City of Philadelphia's murder rate is skyrocketing, and shows no signs of letting up any time soon.

Even the usual professional protesters can't seem to stop the carnage.

So, what does our illustrious leader, mayor John Street do about it?

He threatens to evict the local Boy Scout Council from a city-owned property!!!

Way to go, Captain S**t-for-Brains! Let's get rid of the only bastion of moral standards in this city, simply because they don't allow homosexuals!!

In a city where a total vacuum of morality in "urban areas" is eventually the root cause of this chaos and carnage, wouldn't you WANT to use the Boy Scouts as an example?? Maybe try to get some of this children from broken homes involved in something that would give them a moral compass??????

Now, flying in the face of a Constitutional Charter, Mayor Street wants to start charging the Cradle of Liberty Council "fair market value" for the use of the property. He knows the BSA can't afford it. Oh, yeah, did I mention, there's a developer primed to put up a 47-story condo across the street from the BSA/COL headquarters?? Hmm,..who do you think is getting a little extra in his pocket on this play??

Tell me again,..why isn't there a single SERIOUS Republican candidate for mayor in this hell-hole of a city??

Being Smart, Gracefully,....

Wow,..nothing like a 18-year old girl to put another MSM mouthpiece in her place, huh?

Note to Nancy Grace: report "news," not unsubstantiated gossip and maybe people will take the MSM seriosuly for a change!

HT to Crooks and Liars for the video feeds and transcript!

America the Great,..for Now!

Earlier this week ALa at Blonde Sagacity made a great posting about Americans in Lebanon being,...well,...Americans.

Now comes the news this morning of all of these happy/ecstatic/tearfully joyous Americans and dual-citizened Lebanese-Americans, singing the praises of Uncle Sam, the US military (cannot confirm if my family is involved), apple pie and GWB.

Well,...here's a suggestion to all of you evacuees currently kissing American soil: when you get home and are safe an sound in your houses, how about dropping a line to you brethren (literally) still in Lebanon and keep singing the praises of the United States. We aren't your enemy just because we're backing Israel's right to self-defense, OK?

Suspensful Silliness on a Sultry Saturday

Reaganisms That Still Ring True

Major HT to Pennsylvanian in Exile for this gem:

Wisdom of Ronald Reagan

"Here's my strategy on the Cold War: We win, they lose."

- Ronald Reagan

"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

- Ronald Reagan

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant: It's just that they know so much that isn't so."

- Ronald Reagan


"Of the four wars in my lifetime none came about because the U.S. was too strong."

- Ronald Reagan


"I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandment's would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress."

- Ronald Reagan


"The taxpayer: That's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination."

- Ronald Reagan


"Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other."

- Ronald Reagan


"If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under."

- Ronald Reagan


"The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program."

- Ronald Reagan


"I've laid down the law, though, to everyone from now on about anything that happens: no matter what time it is, wake me, even if it's in the middle of a Cabinet meeting."

- Ronald Reagan

"It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first."

- Ronald Reagan

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."

- Ronald Reagan


"Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book."
- Ronald Reagan


"No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.

- Ronald Reagan

A Phillebrity Passes,...

Steak legend Harry Olivieri dies
By JOHN F. MORRISON & CHRISTINE OLLEY
morrisj@phillynews.com 215-854-5573

World culinary history was changed forever one day in 1933 when Harry Olivieri got tired of eating hot dogs.

Harry and his older brother, Pat, had been selling hot dogs at a stand at 9th and Wharton streets in South Philadelphia since 1930.

It was a time when horses still plodded the streets and there was a water trough for the steeds in front of the hot-dog stand.

Pat suggested that Harry go to a local grocery store and pick up a slab of beef. Harry went, paying 7 cents for a pound.

He took it back to the stand, sliced it up, put some raw onions on the grill and, unknown to them, a legend began sizzling right there in front of them. The world's first steak sandwich was born.

Pat and Harry slapped the meat on rolls and were about to devour their meal when a cab driver, a longtime fan of the brothers' hot dogs, arrived for his meal and smelled the delicious aroma of meat frying in onions.

"I want one of those," the driver said.

"But it's our dinner," the brothers protested.

The cab driver was insistent. He was about to become the first of a long line of Philly steak-sandwich addicts, stretching through the decades and around the globe, with billions of the succulent fare devoured.

"Sell him yours," Pat said. After all, he was the oldest, and in an Italian family, the oldest sibling ruled.

Harry handed it over. They charged the driver 5 cents.

No doubt others had made steak sandwiches before and certainly thousands would make them in the future. But Pat's King of Steaks was born that day at 9th and Wharton, and its fame spread rapidly through a hungry city.

After all, it was the Depression and where else could you get such a delicious, filling meal for a nickel?

"The business just grew and grew," said Harry's daughter, Maria. "It was word of mouth all the way."

Harry M. Olivieri died yesterday. He was 90 and was living in Brigantine, N.J., with his daughter, but had lived nearly all his life in South Philadelphia.

Pat, whose name was given to the business (after all, he was the oldest), died in 1970.


The TrekMedic muses:

The Olivieri Bros may have been the first, but REAL Philadelphians know Geno's is still the best!

(Let the steak war begin!)

An Anti-ACLU Rant for 7/20/06

Crossposted from Stop The ACLU

ACLU Website:

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND -- A United Nations human rights body expressed grave concerns today about the record of human rights in the United States. The American Civil Liberties Union with a delegation of 10 and working with a broad coalition of other groups is in Geneva to monitor the examination of the United States the U.N. Human Rights Committee (HRC).


In a two-day session that concluded today, the committee members pressured the United States for answers on the following issues:


The sentencing of children to life without parole and the disproportionate incarceration of minorities;
The militarization of the border;
The failure to prevent human rights violations and respond in a non discriminatory manner to Hurricane Katrina;
The failure to end racial profiling practices, specifically the profiling of South Asian convenience store employees in Georgia;
Warrantless spying on ordinary Americans;
The abuse of women in prison; and
The indefinite detention, rendition and torture of non-citizens.

"The U.S. should be ashamed of itself," said Ann Beeson, Director of the ACLU's Human Rights Program. "The review by the Human Rights Committee was a stark and all too accurate condemnation of the state of rights in America."

No, the ACLU should be ashamed of itself. The review by the Human Rights Committee which includes member states Cuba, Saudi Arabia and China ,and ensures that violaters are included, is a joke and nowhere near accurate.

Jim Hoft has covered this well.

Religious persecutors, Womens Rights violators, Communist Regimes, and illegal organ harvesters will make up the new UN Human Rights Council.

And this is the organization that the ACLU want to hold the U.S. accountable to? The ACLU, and the U.N. are the two most dangerous organizations in the world. They are both seeking to destroy America's credibility and soverignty. The U.N. are a corrupt joke when it comes to human rights, and they have absolutely zero credibility to make any judgement on America in that area.

The ACLU, who provided the list called "Dimming the Beacon of Freedom", to this corrupt organization that can't even clean up its own human rights violations are an embarrassement to this great nation. It is shameful that their list included our efforts to spy on the enemy, protect our borders, and several other accusations without evidence. I also wonder if their accusation to "abuse" of women in prison would be not providing them with abortions at the expense of taxpayers.

Besides the issues within our own judicial system and its decay, the ACLU is also turning to international sources to undermine our nation's sovereignty and national security.

For instance, the ACLU filed a formal complaint with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention against the United States, stating that the United States violated international law when it detained 765 Arab Americans and Muslims for security reasons after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on our nation. Eventually, 478 were deported. ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said, "With today's action, we are sending a strong message of solidarity to advocates in other countries who have decried the impact of U.S. policies on the human rights of their citizens. We are filing this complaint before the United Nations to ensure that U.S. policies and practices reflect not just domestic constitutional standards, but accepted international human rights principles regarding liberty and its deprivations." Source

Romero, of course, makes the United States sound like some rogue nation with no regard for human rights, not the beacon of liberty that so many have come to escaping from tyranny and the bonds of oppression.


All of this should concern you. You may think that it doesn't directly affect you in your everyday life, but it will eventually. The ACLU's embrace of international law seeks to hypocritically do the opposite of what the ACLU claim to protect, and the Constitution forbids; prohibit the free exercise of religion.

In spring 2003, a group from the United Nations Human Rights Commission, of which former ACLU officials Paul Hoffman and John Shattuck are a part, met and discussed a resolution to add "sexual orientation" to the UNHRC's discrimination list. Homosexual activists at the meeting called for a "showdown with religion," clearly intending to use international law to silence religious speech that does not affirm homosexual behavior. Source

The ACLU's actions are a direct threat to our very freedom of speech, religious exercise, security, and soverignity. In some countries, laws are being pushed, and in some cases, enacted that essentially criminalize forms of religious speech and activity that does not affirm homosexual behavior.

If we are going to turn the interpretation of our laws to international jurisprudence, and decisions of foreign courts, judges, and legislatures, the question begs...why did we fight a war of independence? If the ACLU are successful in their agenda for international law, the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution will eventually become irrelevant documents. More and more of America's freedoms, and our very soverignty will be sacrificed for international law. Our freedoms will vanish. The ACLU's vision of freedom that includes the public sale of child pornography, the silencing of churchs and ministries, and unlimited abortion and euthanasia will replace them. To many Americans, these sound more like human rights violations than anything on the ACLU's list.

On October 27, 1787, Alexander Hamilton predicted that a "dangerous ambition" would one day tyrannize the gangling young American Republic, all the while lurking "behind the specious mask of zeal for the rights of the people." It could almost be said that Hamilton had a prophecy of the ACLU.

This was a production of Stop The ACLU Blogburst. If you would like to join us, please email Jay or Gribbit. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll. Over 200 blogs already on-board.

This is an Interesting Development,...

HT to MUSLIM QUESTION:

Ethiopia prepared to invade Somalia
By LES NEUHAUS, Associated Press Writer Wed Jul 19, 2:10 PM ET

NAIROBI, Kenya - Ethiopia is prepared to invade neighboring Somalia to defend its U.N.-backed government against what appeared to be an imminent attack by Islamic militiamen, a government spokesman said Wednesday.

The militiamen, who hold most of southern Somalia, deployed hundreds of fighters outside the town where the largely powerless government is based and said they planned to seize it.

"We have the responsibility to defend the border and the Somali government. We will crush them," Ethiopia's Minister of Information, Berhan Hailu, told The Associated Press.

Seizing the town of Baidoa would give the Islamic militia — which the United States has linked to al-Qaida — the uncontested authority over most of Somalia.

Somali transitional President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed is allied with Ethiopia, and has asked for its support. Ethiopia has intervened militarily in Somalia in the past, and hundreds of Ethiopian troops have been spotted along the countries' border in recent weeks.

The Somali Islamist militants are allied with Muslim separatists in the Oromo region of Ethiopia.

The TrekMedic muses:

Although the NYTreason hasn't blabbed much about it, the US has a military presence in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Its nice to see someone else join the anti-AQ fight. Hmm,..maybe this "With us or against us" thing is working,..not that the MSM would ever acknowledge it!

Well Said,....

HT TO Atlas Shrugs for this gem:

Checking out Ehud Olmert's speech to the Knesset today. When truth walks in the room, everyone stand up. Yeah it's good, good, good. (hat tip Perry)

Citizens of Israel, there are moments in the life of a nation, when it is compelled to look directly into the face of reality and say: no more!

And I say to everyone: no more! Israel will not be held hostage - not by terror gangs or by a terrorist authority or by any sovereign state.

In the life of a nation there are moments of transcendence, of purification, when political and sectarian disputes which separate us are replaced by a sense of mutual responsibility. I highly value and appreciate the way the Opposition has been conducting itself in the Knesset these days. The human competition and personal rivalries are dissolved and instead our feeling of mutual responsibility arises, our sense of partnership, and primarily, our eternal love for our people and our land.

This is such a moment! There's more and it's all brilliant. Seraphic Secret has posted the entire speech.

Democratic Lemmings (Or,...Who's Being Racist, Now?)

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) is facing the fight of his life for having the intestinal fortitude to back President Bush's policies in Iraq.

From the Hartford Courant:

Black Leaders Divided Lieberman Inspires Range Of Memories July 11, 2006 By DAVID LIGHTMAN And MARK PAZNIOKAS, Courant Staff Writers

Two of the Congressional Black Caucus' most prominent members, U.S. Reps. John Lewis and Maxine Waters, have split over Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman and his primary with Ned Lamont, a divide that highlights the question of how the black vote might sway the outcome.

Waters, the more media-savvy and aggressive of the two, is backing Lamont - potentially bad news for Lieberman, who in recent years has been criticized for his stand on issues such as affirmative action and school vouchers.

But Lewis, viewed as more of an old-guard civil rights leader, helps reinforce Lieberman's message that he was a part of the rights movement as early as the 1960s, when he was a student at Yale.

(snip)

Waters says Lieberman "acts just like a Republican," and that she is talking with Lamont. "I'm calling Mr. Lamont," Waters told The Tom Joyner Morning Show, a nationally syndicated radio program, last week, "to tell him I'm going to come up and help him."

(snip)

Like Waters, Lewis is a member of the Congressional Out of Iraq Caucus. But he backs Lieberman despite the senator's support for the war.

(snip)

Even though Lieberman's NAACP legislative report card has been stellar, Waters and others have long been critical of the senator.

The TrekMedic ruminates:

The Courant describes Rep. Waters as "more media-savvy and aggressive." Hmm,..sounds like MSM-speak for "loud-mouthed media whore" to me!

So we are left (hehehe) to wonder: will blacks in Connecticut be led by the nose, once again by these so-called "community leaders" (a/k/a media whores)? Or will they vote their conscience and keep a Democrat in the Senate who actually thinks for himself, and not what George Soros, MoveOn.org and (hot) Air America tells him??

Today, We Are All Israelis!

Borrowing a line from "Le Monde" after the 9/11 attacks!

HT to AlexC at Three Sources for the Flag!


I don't think I have to post article after article on the escalation/bitch-slapping of Islamic terrorists by our only TRUE friends in the Middle East! Fox is doing a good job!

Just support Israel! And pray that the UNtied Nations keep their f**king noses out of this!

The (Border) Line Has Been Drawn in the Sand!

Hazleton gets real tough on illegals
Associated Press

HAZLETON - The Hazleton City Council last night approved an ordinance designed to make the city among the most hostile places in the United States for illegal immigrants to live or work.

The 4-to-1 vote came after nearly two hours of passionate debate. Opponents argued it was divisive and possibly illegal, but supporters argued that the rising number of illegal immigrants has damaged the quality of life in Hazelton, about 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

"We must draw the line, and we are doing it tonight," Mayor Lou Barletta told a packed City Council chambers.

Barletta proposed the Illegal Immigration Relief Act last month as a response to what he said were Hazleton's problems with violent crime, crowded schools, hospital costs and the demand for services.

The ordinance would deny licenses to businesses that employ illegal immigrants, fine landlords $1,000 for each illegal immigrant discovered renting their properties, and require city documents to be in English only.

"The illegal citizens, I would recommend they leave," Barletta said after the meeting.

"What you see here tonight, really, is a city that wants to take back what America has given it," said the mayor, who said he wore a bulletproof vest to the meeting. He said he had not been threatened but took precautions because the issue was such an emotionally charged one.

"I think it's good for Hazleton, and I think it's good for the country," council president Joseph Yannuzzi said.

Outside City Hall, about 300 people gathered with opponents of the measure, some with signs that read "Bias," separated by a line of police from supporters, some waving American flags.

Anna Arias spoke at the meeting against the ordinance. She asked the council, "Are any of us ready to support U.S. citizens born of someone who is undocumented?" Several people in the audience responded, "Yes!"

She warned the council that approving the ordinance would make Hazleton "the first Nazi city in the country."

Jack Mundie, council vice president, voted for the ordinance.

"We're against illegal immigrants that are coming here and that are draining the resources of our city," he said.

The ordinance adopted at the meeting had been extensively amended from an earlier draft. One change would deny a license to any business that provides goods or services to an illegal immigrant. City solicitor Christopher B. Slusser said that the provision would likely be invoked only against business people who knowingly violated it and that the city would deal with violators "on a case-by-case basis."

The Republican mayor's proposal has thrust the 31,000-population city to the fore of the national debate on illegal immigration.

The number of Hispanic residents in Hazleton, a former coal-mining town, has increased dramatically in the past six years.

City officials acknowledge they do not know how many are illegal immigrants, whom Barletta has blamed for higher crime rates, failing schools and a diminished quality of life.

A New Story to Tell!

The TrekMedic, in association with Cerebral BlackHole Productions, proudly prevents,..er, presents, my first new, non-published, Star Trek Parody in over 7 years!!!!!!

Click here, here and here now,..laugh later!

An Anti-ACLU Rant for 7/13/06

I am going to assume that most people can agree that America's population is found across a vast political spectrum. From libertarians and liberals to moderates and conservatives we find each other across a broad field on ideas and issues. Many times we can all agree that certain things are problems within society yet be on the opposite extremes on how to solve that problem. One of the problems of society that most people can agree on is that of crime. The solution to reducing this problem most likely is found somewhere in the middle and not the extremes.

One of the purposes of the Constitution is to ensure domestic tranquility. Due process, the Fifth Amendment right, is a procedural right, one that defines the methods that can properly be used to ensure domestic tranquility. Without both, there can be no liberty. Domestic tranquility can easily be achieved without respect for due process, as dictatorships throughout history have shown. It is also quite possible to have a society where due process is respected-even considered sacrosanct-and still lack for domestic tranquility. The latter predicament more closely resembles the situation in the United States today.Source

The ACLU in its extreme ideals of society unravels due process from the reasons it was created to serve. The ACLU maintains that it is their purpose to ensure due process and the police to tend to domestic tranquility. I agree that the roles should be separate. I think the opposite would be an invitation to disaster. The ACLU's sincerity in their statement might be more believable if, as we shall show, they were not so often in opposition of law enforcement. It is generally accepted that domestic tranquility is absolutely necessary to the process of liberty. What is often less understood is how the exclusive concern for due process can also be damaging to liberty.

I think we can all agree on how important domestic tranquility is to maintaining liberty. What good are all of our freedoms if we are afraid to practice them? The only liberties worth having are ones that we can enjoy without fear. This simply can't be done if a society is filled with crime and violence.

The ACLU do not share these moderate views on society. They have a much more extreme viewpoint.

"According to the ACLU," writes Jeffrey Leeds, "there is no right to live in a quiet or pleasant society, but there is a right to speak, to seek to persuade, to have unpopular or even stupid views. Moreover, there is no right even to live in a safe society. The ACLU will work to vindicate a convicted criminal's rights to due process, even if it means setting a killer free."Source

Leeds isn't exaggerating. One ACLU official Dorothy Ehrlich can be quoted as saying, "the citizens' need to be 'free from criminal activity'....is not, in the legal sense, a 'right' at all (and thus is nowhere mentioned in the Bill of Rights) but, rather, an essential social good, like fire prevention, or adequate medical care, or the prevention of famine." Source

Funny that an official from the ACLU is stating that if a right isn't mentioned in the Constitution then it isn't a right at all. After all, this is the organization that defends abortion on demand, and the sale of child porn. These are not mentioned in the Constitution either.

The ACLU's skewed views toward crime can also be seen in its approach toward crime victims. The ACLU has shown very little interest in the rights of crime victims. When it comes down to it, the rights of criminals seem to always override the rights of the victims. For example, the ACLU opposes the use of a crime victim impact statement in capital sentencing because it "unconstitutionally requires consideration of factors which have no bearing on the defendant's responsibility or guilt." Of course the courts have ruled otherwise.

While the ACLU says they have our liberty as its mission, its policies in the area of criminal justice have only aggravated and accelerated the already terrible problems of maintaining domestic tranquility. Their opposition to the death penalty doesn't bother me by itself. It is the ACLU general attitude toward criminal justice as a whole that I deem dangerous. Throughout its history it has fought many court battles to:

Eliminate all prison sentencing from criminal judicial procedure except in a few "extreme" cases of utter incorrigibility-and only then as the penalty of last resort.Source

Let me briefly interrupt my list for a little perspective on this particular policy.

In conjunction with their opposition to the death penalty in all cases this particular policy is quite disturbing to me. It would seem that the ACLU wants rehabilitation and probation to be the primary means of preventing crime in all but the most extreme cases.

"Deprivation of an individual's physical freedom is one of the most severe interferences with liberty that the state can impose. Moreover, imprisonment is harsh, frequently counterproductive, and costly." This explains why the ACLU holds that "a suspended sentence with probation should be the preferred sentence, to be chosen generally unless the circumstances plainly call for greater severity." The Union favors alternative sentencing and lists the reintegration of the offender into the community as "the most appropriate correctional approach." Here's the clincher: "probation should be authorized by the legislature in every case and exceptions to the principle are not favored." Prior to 1991, when this policy was revised, the Union said that only such serious crimes as "murder or treason" should qualify as exceptions. The explicit referencing of those two crimes was deleted because of the public embarrassment it caused the organization.Source

Let us continue with the list:

Disallow capital punishment in any and all situations as a violation of the constitution's "cruel and unusual punishment" clause;

Discredit deterrence as a basis for incarceration;

Oppose rehabilitative confinement;

Block all sentencing guidelines that seek restitution to the victims of criminal behavior;

Mandate suspended sentences with probation as the primary form of "treatment" for criminal offenders;

Restrict all court sentencing discretion through the legislative process or direct judicial intervention in trial proceedings-thus severely crippling the principle of trial by jury;

Eliminate all mandatory sentencing laws;

Facilitate mandatory early parole and release programs;

And, oppose new construction or expansion of jails, prisons, and detention centers. Source

In addition the ACLU is also involved in limiting the power of law enforcement to maintain domestic tranquility:

Severely restrict search and arrest procedures even when evidence of guilt is available;

Hinder protective or corrective police action at crime scenes;

Invalidate airport bomb detectors, drunk driving checkpoints, periodic or random drug screening, and other preventative security measures;

Prohibit the free exchange of criminal records between law enforcement agencies;

Limit even the most sound and non-prejudicial police interrogation and investigation techniques;

Institute national or regional bureaucratic control over law enforcement agencies-thus effectively, removing local accountability;

Severely restrict riot control, swat team, and antiterrorist activities and efforts;

Make most surveillance operations, stakeout procedures, and community crackdowns illegal;

Prohibit the eviction of drug dealers and other incorrigibles from public housing projects;

Deregulate and decriminalize all "victimless crimes"-such as prostitution, drug use and abuse, gambling, sodomy, or the production , exhibition, and sale of vile and obscene materials-despite the proven link between such vices and serious crime.Source

There is one recommendation that the ACLU makes on how to stem crime: strong gun control legislation. It adopted its first gun-control policy in the late sixties which was actually pretty reasonable. For the sake of brevity on such a broad topic I will not quote it. Suffice it to say that most of today's liberals would not agree with it.

However...

In 1971 the Union took the position that the ownership of guns, any guns, aside from guns owned by the militia, was not constitutionally protected.Source

The ACLU's policy towards the second amendment is:

"The ACLU agrees with the Supreme Court's long-standing interpretation of the Second Amendment [as set forth in the 1939 case, U.S. v. Miller] that the individual's right to bear arms applies only to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia. Except for lawful police and military purposes, the possession of weapons by individuals is not constitutionally protected. Therefore, there is no constitutional impediment to the regulation of firearms."

It is strange for the ACLU to use such a dated ruling as precedent, when many more recent cases have ruled otherwise.

The ACLU's approach to crime, its prevention, and punishment clearly are not in the mainstream opinion of most Americans. The organization has consistently been an adversary of law enforcement. The Union's perspective is almost entirely focused on the criminal which makes many people conclude that rather being a defender of civil liberties, the ACLU is actually the champion of criminal liberties.

Roger Baldwin once actually admitted that he could not in good conscience serve on a jury because he simply "would never take part in convicting anyone." When asked how society could possibly continue to exist without some sort of penal justice system, eh tersely snapped, "That's your problem."Source

The ACLU's pandering to criminals, lack of interest in true victims, and opposition to law enforcement are not solutions to society's burden with crime. I advise everyone to use common sense, and not to follow the extreme positions of the ACLU when it comes to preventing and punishing crime.

This was a production of Stop The ACLU Blogburst. If you would like to join us, please email Jay or Gribbit. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll. Over 200 blogs already on-board.

Liberally Laughing

See this fella?



What's the difference between him and DNC Headquarters?

This fella's pricks are on the outside!!!

(rim shot)

Why Didn't We Do This Already??

HT to City Troll for the Cox and Forkum 'toon:



If GWB really wanted to attack terrorists at their source, this should have been coordinated with our rescue of Iraq:

Israeli Warplanes Strike Palestinian Guerilla Camp Near Beirut
Wednesday, July 12, 2006

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Israeli warplanes blasted a Palestinian guerrilla base late Wednesday on the outskirts of Beirut, trying to pin down Hezbollah fighters who earlier in the day crossed the border and killed eight Israeli soldiers, kidnapping two others.

Hezbollah's raid opened a second front for the Israeli army, which now is fighting Islamic militants in both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, where it continues to hunt for a third kidnapped soldier taken two weeks ago by Hamas-linked militants.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the Hezbollah raid an "act of war" by Lebanon, and threatened "very, very, very painful" retaliation. The Israeli cabinet, meeting Wednesday night, drew up plans to carry out more military action and call up thousands of reservists.

The Arab League, meanwhile, reportedly was meeting in secret to decide its next move.

"We are concerned about an escalation," an Arab League official told Reuters. "There's a bad humanitarian situation in Gaza, and we don't want that spilling over into Lebanon."

Residents of northern Israeli towns took cover in underground bomb shelters as Hezbollah, an anti-Israel guerrilla group that essentially runs southern Lebanon, launched rockets across the border throughout the day.

40 years later and these people still don't get it? Don't f**k with Israel!!

And while I'm thinking about it:

U.S. Blames Syria, Iran For Israeli Soldiers' Kidnapping
Wednesday, July 12, 2006

ROSTOCK, Germany — Syria and Iran are to blame for the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah terrorists and the subsequent Israeli military response, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The White House called for the immediate and unconditional release of the two soldiers abducted by Hezbollah guerrillas on Wednesday. Seven Israeli soldiers have also been killed in a cross-border attack that Israel has called an act of war by Lebanon. (Full Story)

"The United States condemns in the strongest terms this unprovoked act of terrorism, which was timed to exacerbate already high tensions in the region and sow further violence. We also hold Syria and Iran, which have provided long-standing support for Hezbollah, responsible for today's violence. We call for the immediate and unconditional release of the Israeli soldiers," reads a statement released by the White House press secretary.

"Hezbollah's actions are not in the interest of the Lebanese people, whose welfare should not be held hostage to the interests of the Syrian and Iranian regimes. We reiterate the international community's insistence that all parties in the region fulfill their obligations under U.N. Security Council resolutions 1559 and 1680, and cease all support for Hezbollah," the statement continues.

The TrekMedic seethes:

"Condemns in the strongest terms??" WTF?? We've taken on and beaten back the Taliban and Al Qaeda, so why haven't we blown Hezbollah and Hamas into their 72-virgin eternity already??

Now is the time for GWB to pounce upon these supporters of the Iraqi insurection and put them in their places once and for all!! If we don't act now, they'll be the next ones taking credit for a terrorist attack on our soil!!

1-2-3-4! Katey Loves the Marine Corps!!

Excellent Post by her Katieness!!

This is something I've posted in the past and I feel needs to be posted again because some people on a forum I visit have the nerve to question a particular Marine's (Joshua Belile) integrity, morals and ethics to the USMC.

So this is for ALL the Marines out there who are the very reason we have our freedoms, in particular, freedom of speech to allow those idiots to say the stupid things they do:

A Marine, as seen by...

Himself:
A handsome, buff, highly trained professional killer and female idol who carries a finely honed K-Bar, wears a crisp 8-point cammie cover and is always on time due to the absolute reliability of his Seiko digital watch.

His Wife:
A stinking, gross, foul mouthed lovable bum who arrives back at home every few months with a seabag full of dirty utilities, a huge Seiko watch, an oversized knife, a filthy hat and hornier then hell.

Headquarters Marine Corps:
A drunken, brawling, HMMWV-stealing, woman-corrupting "cumshaw artist" who wears a Seiko watch, an unauthorized K-Bar and a squared-away cover.

His Commanding Officer:
A fine specimen of a drunken, brawling, HMMWV-stealing, woman-corrupting bullsh*tter with an incredibly accurate Seiko watch, a finely honed razor sharp K-Bar and a salty cammie cover.

What others have said:

Congress:
Marines are overpaid, overrated tax burdens who are indispensable since they volunteer to go anywhere at any time and kill whoever they're told to kill, as long as they can drink, brawl, steal HMMWVs, corrupt women and sing dirty songs while wearing cammies, oversized knives, Seiko watches and really screwed-up 8-point covers that don't look like the Army's.

Ronald Reagan, former President of the United States:
"Some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they've ever made a difference in the world. Marines don't have that problem."

General Douglas MacArthur, US Army:
". . . these Marines have the swagger, confidence and hardness that must have been in Stonewall Jackson's Army of the Shenandoah. They remind me of the Coldstream Guards at Dunkirk."

Admiral Chester Nimitz, US Navy, on the Marine Corps' battle for Iwo Jima:
"Uncommon valor was a common virtue"

General Douglas MacArthur, US Army:
"I have just returned from visiting the Marines at the front. There is not a finer fighting organization in the world!"

LtCol T R Fehrenbach, USA, in "This Kind of War":
"The man who will go where his colors go without asking, who will fight a phantom foe in a jungle or a mountain range, and who will suffer and die in the midst of incredible hardship, without complaint, is still what he has always been, from Imperial Rome to sceptered Britain to democratic America. He is the stuff of which legends are made. His pride is his colors and his regiment, his training hard and thorough and coldly realistic, to fit him for what he must face, and his obedience is to his orders. As a legionnaire, he held the gates of civilization for the classical world ... today he is called United States Marine."

An Anonymous Canadian Citizen:
"Marines are about the most peculiar breed of human beings I have ever witnessed. They treat their service as if it was some kind of cult, plastering their emblem on almost everything they own, making themselves up to look like insane fanatics with haircuts so short as to be ungentlemanly, worshipping their Commandant as if he was a god, and making weird animal noises like a band of savages. They'll fight like rabid dogs at the drop of a hat just for the sake of a little action and are the cockiest SOBs I've ever known. Most have the foulest mouths and drink well beyond man's normal limits, but their high spirits and sense of brotherhood set them apart and, generally speaking, of the United States Marines with whom I've come in contact, are the most professional warriors and the finest men I've had the pleasure to meet. "

General John J "Black Jack" Pershing, US Army:
"The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle! "

General Mark Clark, US Army:
"The more Marines I have around the better I like it! "

General Johnson, US Army:
"I can never again see a United States Marine without experiencing a feeling of reverence. "

Richard Harding Davis, war correspondent (1885):
"The Marines have landed, and the situation is well in hand."

A Marine Drill Instructor at Parris Island:
"Did you come here just to spoil my beloved Corps, maggot?"

A boot camp weapons coach:
"To a Marine, happiness is a belt-fed weapon."

LtCol Oliver North, USMC (ret):
"The only people I like beside my wife and kids are Marines."

MajGen J N Mattis, CG, 1st MarDiv - Iraq, March 2003:
"You are part of the world's most feared and trusted fighting force. Engage your brain before you engage your weapon. Share your courage with each other as we enter the uncertain terrain north of our Line of Departure. Keep faith in your comrades on your left and right and Marine Air overhead. Fight with a happy heart and a strong spirit. For the mission's sake, our country's sake and the sake of the men who carried the Division's colors in past battles -- who fought for life and never lost their nerve -- carry out your mission and keep your honor clean. Demonstrate to the world there is 'No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy' than a United States Marine."

Eleanor Roosevelt - 1945:
"The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps."

You'd Think They'd Learn,....

After the Carole McKinney incident,..this comes as no surprise to me:

Judge Rules FBI Raid on Rep. Jefferson's Office Was Legal
Monday, July 10, 2006

WASHINGTON — An FBI raid on a Louisiana congressman's Capitol Hill office was legal, a federal judge ruled Monday.

Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan said members of Congress are not above the law. He rejected requests from lawmakers and Democratic Rep. William Jefferson to return material seized by the FBI in a May 20-21 search of Jefferson's office.

In a 28-page opinion, Hogan dismissed arguments that the first-ever raid on a congressman's office violated the Constitution's protections against intimidation of elected officials.

"Congress' capacity to function effectively is not threatened by permitting congressional offices to be searched pursuant to validly issued search warrants," said Hogan, who had approved the FBI's request to conduct the overnight search of Jefferson's office.

Click here to read Judge Hogan's ruling.


Just as "W's" administration is not above the law (Gitmo, for example), neither is Congress to be presumed above the law!

History Repeating? (Again?)

Hmm,..where have we heard this before:

Supporters of Mexico's Leftist Candidate Obrador Take to Streets
Sunday, July 09, 2006

MEXICO CITY — More than 100,000 defiant supporters of leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador massed Saturday in a bid to overturn his narrow election defeat with protests that threatened to widen Mexico's regional and class divisions.

Lopez Obrador told the huge crowd he would present allegations of fraud to the nation's electoral court Monday and request that every one of more than 41 million votes be recounted, to expose what he called wrongdoing that cost him the election.

The show of defiance suggested just how difficult it will be for apparent victor Felipe Calderon to unify Mexicans, many of whom believe the nation has yet to overcome decades of institutional corruption and fraud.

European Union election observers have said they had found no major irregularities.

But the ruling party's Calderon can't be declared president-elect until the electoral court weighs allegations of fraud or unfair campaign practices. It has until Sept. 6 to declare a winner.


The TrekMedic muses:

I wonder how you say "Selected, no Elected" and "Let's not elect Calderon in 2010, either!" en Espanol?

Another Reason to Hate Ze French!! (Again!)

A great gem, courtesy of Pennsylvanian in Exile:

US 'flag epidemic' reaches peak on Fourth of July
by Chantal Valery Tue Jul 4, 1:16 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - It's a true epidemic: the red, white and blue, stars-and-stripes banners are everywhere in the United States - on house facades, front lawns, cars and clothes.

Hitting an high point on the July 4 US Independence Day holiday, it is a genuine phenomenon of American national pride that, inevitably, gets a good but also sometimes unwanted boost from commercial exploitation.

"It's a little strange, this obsession of the flag," French author Bernard-Henri Levy wrote after traveling across the country.

"Everywhere, in every form, flapping in the wind or on stickers, an epidemic of flags that has spread throughout the city," Levy wrote in "American Vertigo" of the riot of banners he saw.

"Old Glory," as the US flag is affectionately called, can be seen in abundance through the year in the American heartland and the South, and to a lesser extent in cities like New York and Los Angeles.

The TrekMedic opines:

This is awfully funny, coming from a country more familiar with a full-on WHITE FLAG than their own tri-colored national insignia!

And notice where "Old Glory" gets the least exposure in the US?? I rest my case!