Senor Lechero

Obama shutting down car dealerships. Why?

2009-06-03T11:51:00.001-07:00

President Obama and his Auto Task Force troopers have ordered GM and Chrysler to close down dealerships. I don't think it's a political move to hurt dealerships owned by Republicans, though apparently the majority of the dealerships being closed are in fact owned by Republicans. No, it seems to me that this is a move to drive the price of GM and Chrysler products up. Less dealers equals less cars available equals more expensive cars. If this move had been contemplated by a President Bush task force there would be a nationwide call for investigations and a special prosecutor. All we hear now is....NOTHING! Honest, hard working folks are being driven out of business, forced to lay off employees and dump products at liquidation prices and there is not a peep from anyone. Amazing.

In this ... http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/03/gm-chrysler-say-slashing-dealerships-key-survival/?test=latestnews ...fair and balanced news report from FOX GM and Chrysler executives say "We must slash dealerships if we are to survive...". How's that work? Well GM pays billions of dollars a year to the dealerships. Or not! Dealers pay the auto manufacturers for the products they sell. Not one dime of GM's money goes to the dealerships.

So how is this going to help them "survive"? "that there are too many dealers and the networks date from the 1940s and 1950s when motorists lived farther apart and Detroit automakers led the world in sales." says the head of GM. Do you suppose he is trying to say that the problem is that the dealerships are not paying for the cars they buy? Ask Peter Lopez, who owns dealerships that sell both GM and Chrysler (bet he wishes he'd gone with First On Race Day FORD). "I have met every financial obligation put forth by Chrysler and GM... Now ... they want to shut me down. What gives the government the right to do that? I'm a taxpayer and they're getting taxpayer dollars. It just doesn't add up." He's right, it doesn't add up. Maybe the problem is how "old" the dealerships are. Let's hear from Russell Whatley, "a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep dealer in Mineral Wells, Texas". Russell said "his grandfather opened the business in 1919. 'A 90-year investment is just gone, and neither my family nor my employees have any say about it'."

If these two Dealers don't "get it", and the Obama supporting free American press does not get it, who does? I do.

You see friends, there were less Dealerships (when you had to drive farther to buy a car) it was better for the manufacturers because they could charge you more. It's called "Supply and Demand". GM and Chrysler are selling less cars at more dealerships. They need to sell more cars, and really don't care how many dealerships it takes to do it. But Obama knows that when the new GM's and the Fiat/Chrysler cars hit the market, the fewer places one can go to buy one the more they can charge. They are manipulating the free market to increase their sales. Don't be surprised if the next thing you see Obama doing is creating rules that hurt Ford (as well as Toyota and others) and help GM/Chrysler. Oh wait, he already did. He has raised the CAFE standards to 30mpg or something like that, and ordered Chrysler to use Fiat small car designs, putting Ford behind the 8 ball from the get go. That's not a problem though because the only reason he did it is to save the environment, and we all want that...right?

Isn't conspiring to drive up prices is illegal?

But this is not Obama's first illegal act as President, nor will (I assume) be his last. He coerced the auto manufacturers Bondholders to take less than they deserve through Bankruptcy and gave it to the UAW. That sort of coercion is called "Extortion" when the Mafia does it. But when Obama does it it's called "The smartest economic move ever by the smartest most elegant, not to mention handsome and cool, man who ever walked......."

This world is upside down and things will get worse. But that doesn't mean we should all lay down and let these folks break our knee caps. These closed dealerships should fight back. They should open other dealerships and their advertising should be along the lines of "GM and Chrysler STOLE FROM US AND OUR EMPLOYEES. Show them it matters. Buy a car from us"

I'd buy one.

Bonuses

2009-03-26T17:52:00.000-07:00

The post below was intended to point out the absurdity of the outrage against the AIG bonuses. Yesterday an AIG executive had his resignation letter posted in the New York Times. I hope all the self righteous taxpayers who berated the AIG execs. read it and feel good about stealing the man's compensation.

Then today it comes out that Rahm Emmanuel was on the board of Fanny Mae. He apparently sat in on 6 board meetings, for which he was compensated over $350,000....a nice gig if you can get one.

Coincidentally, over the last couple of days the dems and their allies in the media have been silent on the AIG bonus issue. You don't suppose they are trying to keep their chickens from roosting do you?

The U.S.ofA. is currently run by the biggest bunch of hypicrites ever to walk the earth.

Investing in punishment

2009-03-24T19:22:00.000-07:00

The first time I remember hearing Democrats use the term "Investment" to describe increased taxes was during the G. H. W. Bush administration. He promised "No new taxes" but under pressure from a Democratic Congress he broke that promise. The Dems claimed "Investment" was needed to end the tiny recession, but what they meant was..."We need to raise taxes so we can increase government programs". Bush bought it and the rest is history. Since then the Dems pretty much use the term non stop in their push for higher taxes.

Of course the historical Republican response is "We don't want to punish hard work by increasing taxes", and "The people know better how to invest their money than the Congress does", and "It's NOT the congresses money!" We've always known that higher taxes are really a punishment for success. Well finally the Dems have admitted it.

The hard work needed of A.I.G. executives in liquidating their bad assets and closing down unprofitable divisions led the insurance and financial company to offer "Retention bonuses" to executives who stayed on to work themselves out of a job. But because the government bailed the company out with 170 billion dollars congress got mad and demanded that those executives be punished. The governor of New York threatened to publish the names and addresses of the executives, even after death threats were made. Nancy Pelosi pushed through a bill to tax the bonuses of the executives at a 90% rate (does the term "ex post facto" mean anything to any of you self righteous people?) and was backed up by most of the congress, many Republicans included. They made no bones about this tax being a punishment for the hard work and commitment made by these executives.

So, now that it's out in the open that higher taxes are a punishment, I say we go for broke. Let's tax any elected official who earns any money other than his Government paycheck at a 90% rate. Heck, let's go for 95%. By the time the State gets their 10 or 15% they'll owe more than they earn. We all know they are using their powerful positions for profit. How else does Joe Biden become a millionaire? Or Barack Obama for that matter. President Obama got a 500 thousand dollar bonus, just before he took the oath of office, just to let his publisher turn his biography into a children's book (I sure hope they leave out the part of him smoking pot...and inhaling....after all "that's the point"....and snorting cocaine). He made 2.5 million on book sales last year, that's after he began running for President. Who can possibly deny that it's the fact that he is an elected official that is earning him that money? And who can deny that he owes somebody something for that money?

And while we're at it lets tax Hollywood stars who do political ads 1000% on any money they make in any year them make a political advertisement (or talk politics on Oprah for that matter....and let's tax Oprah for endorsing Obama). Heck, let's tax them for 5 years either side of any year they publicly talk politics. That might shut them up.

Morningstar Children's Home

2009-03-01T17:17:00.000-08:00

Morning Star Children's Home is a wonderful orphanage in Nairobi Kenya. Please read about it here.....

http://www.morningstarch.org/msch/Main_Page

You can also read more about the home and the children on this blog...........

http://zastoupil.org/zblog/

.........set up by a wonderful missionary family from El Cajon CA.

Back to blogging?

2009-03-01T17:06:00.000-08:00

I quit blogging when I found myself too consumed by politics. I don't know if I'll resume posting on a regular basis or not, or whether I'll include politics or not, but today, after reading that Hamas terrorists have fired over 100 rockets into Israel since Israel decided to let them live, a question came to mind and I decided to post it.

Where are the Human Shields? It would be so easy for them to pitch tents near the schools that Hamas is targeting. Why are they not protecting Israeli innocents from Palestinian murderers?

It can't be as simple as it seems...that of course the leftists who act as human shields only protect anti US and anti Israeli targets. Can it?

The Angry Republicans

2006-04-02T12:47:00.001-07:00

The tone of the "Immigration Reform" debate has been as ugly as any debate I remember (ok.....maybe not as ugly as the Florida recount debate...........or the Elian Gonzalez debate........or the.......Iraq War debate...or the.....you get the point). The problem is that most of the ugliness is coming from radical anti-immigration activists within the Republican party.

Elected representatives like Tom Tancredo, Steve King, Dana Rohrabacher, and J.D. Hayworth, people with whom I agree with 95% of the time, along with radio talk show hosts like Hugh Hewitt (who I greatly admire), Laura Ingrham (who I have lost all respect for) and Bill Savage (who is as an ignorant, obnoxious loudmouth all the time, but worse over this issue) have called the people who disagree with them "stupid", un-American, greedy, evil, and just about every other name they can muster up. Why? What is it that has them so riled up?

I'll tell you what it is. They believe that it would be good for America to round up 12 million illegal workers and deport them, make it a felony for them to ever return, make it a felony to employ one of them, raise wages for the jobs they do so Americans will do those jobs (but they are against increases in the minimum wage....as am I), and build a "Wall" on the southern border. The fact that a lot of Americans (most, according to a recent poll) want workers who are in this country illegally the opportunity to become legal workers has these normally sane right wing activists acting just like left wing Democrat nutcases. They are as crazy over this issue as Democrats are over anything "Bush", and they are responsible for dividing the Republican party to the point where we may lose majorities in one or both houses of congress.

It seems to me that an issue that has been with us for 40 years or more, since the end of the "Bracero" programs, would be an issue where open and honest debate takes place. The right wing anti-immigration activists do not want open debate. They label any "immigrant worker" proposals as "Amnesty". They brand as "Greedy Wall Street Moguls" those who speak honestly about the lack of American workers to fill certain types of jobs. And they hide behind their red, white and blue patriotic credentials when others speak of the impracticality of building a "Wall" along the border.

Hidden behind their rants are the facts.

Fact......Most workers who cross the border illegally are not "lawbreakers" by nature, but are doing what they have to do to support their families. They have been working here un-harassed and un-vilified for many years, and would be willing to do whatever it takes to work here legally. Mexico is our neighbor, yet we allow less Mexican workers to immigrate than we do Ethiopian

Tancredo and his allies in Congress say "No person who violated the law to enter this country should ever become a citizen.........." and "If they broke the law they need to go home". I suppose they have never driven faster than the posted speed limit or had an alcoholic drink before the legal age. I guess it's the type of deal where the type of law is what matters. When U.S. Senator Pete Domenici told of how his mother was an "illegal immigrant" and how being "rounded up" tramatized him as a boy (making the point that not all illegal immigration yields bad results......in his case it yielded a Senator), the radicals made fun of him, religating him to the status of a crazy old uncle who everybody hears but nobody listens to.

Laura Ingraham asked a guest "what other laws are OK to break?". The guest answered that Rosa Parks broke the law when she refused to give up her seat, and blacks all over the south broke the law when they entered "White Only" institutions. Ingraham came back with........"why do you resort to branding us racist?" Right, I see how she got here from there.

Fact........There are jobs that most Americans won't do, even if wages were doubled. The agriculture industry relies heavily on immigrant workers. The low skilled but very hard working people who plant, pick, and package our food are necessary if we are to continue having a stable food supply.

Laura Ingraham and a guest on her radio program recently ranted against this fact with these stunningly deep arguments.........."My mother was a waitress for 30 years so don't tell me Americans wont serve our food......." and "When I grew up we mowed our own lawns". The depth of their arguments was underwhelming.

Fact......People can and will find a way around, through, over or under any barrier in their path if their survival depends on it.

Hugh Hewitt says that as a matter of national security we "must build the wall first, then later we can talk about the status of illegal workers". He goes on and on about how "terrorists" are infiltrating our country and the "open" border poses a great threat to America. But he only wants to build the wall on the Mexican border. I guess he thinks that radical Islamists, many who live in Canada, will only enter through Mexico. That though there is no record of (but rumors abound) terrorists entering the U.S. through Mexico. Canada is another story, and terrorists are currently in U.S. custody after crossing from Canada with plans of doing us harm.

Why are these issues above debate? What makes the other side so right (in their own minds)?

Representative Steve King (of Iowa......big illegal alien problem there I reckon) said that anyone who is for allowing illegal workers to obtain legal status should be branded with a "scarlet A" on their foreheads. President Bush says "We have differences in our ideas and should have an open debate....". Who makes more sense?

You may have figured out by now that I support the legalization of immigrant worker status for workers who are here now, doing jobs and not violating other laws. I do not see the drain on our economy that Lou Dobbs thinks he sees (I bet his bank account has really been hurt by illegal immigrants). I think that we can learn a lot about hard work and dedication to family from Mexican (Central and South American workers too) migrant workers. I also believe we need to tighten up our border security, and do not think a "Wall" is the best way to do it.

I think President Bush has been right on this issue since he first brought it up 4 years ago (yes, he was talking about it before the radicals)

I think the "Protesters" in Los Angeles and New York and other cites are wrong in their approach, which basically amounts to "Open Borders" and more Democrat voters (since the birth rate of Democrats is almost zero).

If you read this entire post you are my hero.

"Bush Was Right"

2006-04-02T12:44:00.000-07:00

I assume that most people who read this blog also read Powerline Blog, so you've probably already seen this, but just in case you haven't, check out this music video by The Right Brothers. It's guaranteed to put a smile on your face and set your feet to tapping.........unless of course you are a leftist, then it will probably make you add more pepper to your stew.

Military Deaths in Iraq WAY Down in March

2006-03-31T12:23:00.000-08:00

You haven't seen this on the TV news, nor in most of the MSM, but Coalition military deaths in Iraq dropped drastically in March. Total number of military personnel killed in March was 31 (29 American), down from 58 in February, 64 in January, and 68 in December. In fact, the number of troops killed this month is the second lowest number since the invasion began (23 were killed in February '04). The average number of troops killed per month over the last year was 62, so this month was half the average of the past year.

These numbers do not include Iraqi troops, who clearly are being killed in greater numbers as the number of American deaths drops. That may seem to some as a gruesome tradeoff, yet the goal of the U.S. all along has been to have the Iraqi's do the fighting

This could be a fluke, and the number will rise, or it could be the beginning of a trend. I'm hoping the latter is the case. As the Iraqi military takes control of certain violent sectors of their nation, the U.S. and other Coalition troops will move to the background. Operation Swarmer was a great example of this, as are operations in the Qaim area near the Syrian border.

This is Great news. It was reported earlier this month by USA today, and again today by NPR, but why isn't it being reported by every news outlet? I'll tell you why. The MSM has too much invested in their anti-war, anti-Bush agendas to publish good news that may end up pointing out that Bush was right after all.

Incoherent Leftist Propaganda

2006-03-29T21:24:00.000-08:00

The Independent On Line ran this commentary today (it was listed as "News"). It claims to show how the U.S. military ran a propaganda campaign designed to put out news stories about the Iraq war that are more favorable to the Coalition, and how the positive claims made were false. The problem is that the commentary does not disprove a single one of the Military's claims, but does prove the anti-war bias of the leftist Main Stream Media. Heaven forbid that positive stories get reported.

Here is an example...........Supposedly the "pro military" press ran this headline on 26 October 2005....Iraqi army defeats terrorism. The story put forth by the Bush propagandist Lincoln Group went like this......."With the people's approval of the constitution, Iraq is well on its way to forming a permanent government. Meanwhile, the underhanded forces of al-Qa'ida remain bent on halting progress and inciting civil war. The honest citizens of Iraq, however, need not fear these criminals and terrorists. The brave warriors of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) are hard at work stopping al-Qa'ida's attacks before they occur.
On 24 October, soldiers near Taji received a report that terrorists were stockpiling dangerous weapons. The soldiers found over 150 tank and artillery rounds. These munitions are similar to the ones that al-Qa'ida bomb-makers often use to construct their deadly bombs. The troops destroyed every last round, ensuring they will never be used against the Iraqi people.
Three al-Qa'ida mercenaries in Baqubah were planning to conduct a suicide vest attack. Officers of the Iraqi Police Service (IPS) spotted them as they drove towards their target. But then something happened. The would-be murderer lost his faith and leapt from the moving vehicle. One of the other suicide bombers panicked and detonated his vest while still inside the car, instantly killing himself and another accomplice."

Did you pay attention to the facts......dates, places, very specific incidents?

The Independent then claims this as "The reality check"......
"At least five Iraqis killed by suicide bomber on bus in Baqubah, north-east of Baghdad. Bodies of nine Iraqi border guards, who were shot dead, found previous day. Joint US-Iraqi convoy targeted by car bomb in al-Ma'mun area of Baghdad."

Is there a single fact in the Independent's claim that refutes anything stated in the "pro-military" report? What date did this "bus" bomber event occur? Does the "fact" that one suicide bombing occurred mean that others were not prevented? But the last sentence actually corroborates the "pro-military" version......."Joint US-Iraqi convoy targeted by car bomb......". Exactly...........targeted, but unsuccessful.

The MSM is running out of negative facts to report about this war, so they are making things up.

By the way...........The number of U.S. military personnel killed in action in Iraq has dropped DRASTICALLY. Has anyone seen or heard that reported anywhere?

Senior Ditch Day?

2006-03-29T13:48:00.000-08:00

High School students around San Diego County have been cutting classes to "protest" against proposed immigration reforms being debated in the U.S. Senate, such reforms having already been passed by the House of Representatives.

A news report came out a few minutes ago claiming that "Students went from one school to another trying to get others to join them". A "Principal" was interviews and made the statement that "We want our students to take an active role in debating issues........". Oh Really? I think not.

Isn't this called "Ditching" school, and aren't these students really just having a fun time cutting classes? Does it make one bit of difference to us what students think about immigration policies? If your answer is yes, then why don't we let them vote before they are 18? What age is the cutoff for "having a voice" in policy making.....17, or 15, how about 12, or 10?

This is a perfect example of what's gone wrong in America. Freedom is taken for granted and responsibility is becoming non-existent.

Postcard from the Front

2006-03-27T20:13:00.000-08:00

We received a Postcard from Lcpl Tyler today. It was postmarked on March 14, after he had been in his "Battle Position" for about a week. It's a plain brown cardboard postcard, which Tyler tore from the back of an MRE package. The military has incorporated postcards into MRE packages so deployed troops can mail home. Pretty cool

Here's what it said..........."Hey Mom & Dad, This is the first piece of paper I was able to come by, if you don't know it's the back of an MRE. I think I've been in ******** about a week now, but I loose track of time over here right away. Things in ******** are so much different than last time. It's pretty incredible, we go on patrol and all the people are friendly, they don't run or hid or spit like they did before. The living situation is quite different than before too. We're in what's called a "Battle Position" though I don't think there will be a lot of battling this time around. I haven't seen Camp ****** yet, so I don't know how different it is. I know the chow is better there. Cpl ***** said the day we showed they ate steak and eggs for breakfast. So far our chow is minimal at best. We get one hot a day, maybe. So far it hasn't shown up 3 or 4 days. I'll say more in a letter. I love you. Tyler

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

2006-03-21T20:38:00.000-08:00

We were awakened by the phone ringing at 6:30 am Sunday. In hopes that it was Lcpl Tyler calling from Iraq, I jumped out of bed and answered. It was him, calling on a satellite phone at 5:30 pm Iraq time. He has been there about 2 weeks, and the last time we heard from him was a day or two after he got there and he did not sound well. Seems he had an upper respiratory infection and a bad case of jet lag, But this time he sounded great. We spoke for about 30 minutes, which was amazing as most phone calls are 10 minutes exactly because so many guys are waiting to use the phone. There was a lot of good news. He's well now, and has been made a Fire Team Leader. There is not much happening in terms of the insurgency, only a couple of IEDs which they found before they blew up, a very small weapons cache, and some "shots fired" which occasioned their squad to take a "Firm Position" in a building which had a locked metal door, which the Lcpl promptly blew apart with his shotgun (I just love that sort of thing). After his last deployment (9 marines were killed in action in the first month) we are very happy that things are calm. The people out near the Syrian border are living normal lives, free from terrorist threats and restrictions, and for the most part are cooperating with the marines. The children love the marines. The future of Iraq is being established in places like this by the US Marines.

Here is a link to a great article about the place Tyler is and what the Marines of 3/6 did to make it a better place for 1/7 and the Iraqis who live there.

The bad news in that living conditions are not so great. Camp ******, the Firm Base for 1/7 Baker company, is a fairly nice base, with many of the comforts of home. But most of the marines are not in Camp ******, but in "Battle Positions" in town. The Battle positions were set up after Operation Steel Curtain, and are there to establish the Iraqi Army as the dominant force. A platoon of marines lives with a platoon of Iraqi Army soldiers, and they do everything together. They have running water, which is hot when the town has power. They can send their laundry to the Firm Base by way of CAAT (can you imagine that.........Combined Anti Armor Teams........Humvees fitted with the deadliest of rockets, machine guns, grenade launchers, and marines.........being used as laundry delivery service?)

but it's uncertain as to whether you'll get your socks back or not.............Mom, Please send socks and underwear!" They are supposed to get one hot meal a day, also delivered by CAAT, but often they don't arrive, so it's MREs or care package dinners. The marines also have no access to computers, and very limited access to phones, making old fashioned mail the main source of communicating this deployment.

Then theres the ugly. The Lcpl said is growing a mustache. Imagine this mug with a thin red line under the nose and you'll see what I mean.

Actually, it might look pretty good

Politics once again

2006-03-12T09:20:00.000-08:00

Recently I have refrained from writing about politics because I have come to believe that Bush Hatred (otherwise known as Bush Derangement Syndrome.......credit to Powerline) has made rational discussion of issues impossible, except amongst like minded persons. Leftists and leaders of the Democrat Party are incapable of recognizing or telling the truth, and frankly, reading their hate filled comments on my blog is a waste of my time.

But now I find myself feeling the need to vent about certain pathetic and wimpy Democrat politicians and the bogusness of their contentions. Senator Russ Feingold and the completely worthless Rep. John Conyers are respectively calling for Censure and Impeachment of President Bush for "spying" on Americans without court issued warrants. The only people in American who take them seriously are like minded Bush haters and the mainstream media pundits who desperately want to see Bush fail, even if it means losing a war and sliding into a deep economic recession. The silly rants of these two will get hours of airtime, while the strong case for warrantless eavesdropping will be ignored.

If these political hacks (wholly owned by unions and the ACLU/abortionist/environmentalwhacko special interests) were serious about their stated intentions they would offer up legislation stating clearly that "ALL surveillance of Americans must be authorized by court issued warrant". But they know that this would fail miserably as most Americans want terrorists, both American and foreign, to be eavesdropped on and their plans interrupted. Not to mention that any such legislation would be UNCONSTITUTIONAL, for the President, not the Congress, has both the RIGHT and the duty to take whatever measures necessary in times of war to defeat the enemy!

I remember when Jimmy Carter was elected President. Being a supporter of President Ford and voting in my first election I was energized with the idea of making a difference. The Democrat supporters in the union shop grocery store I worked in understood my support for Republican ideas and programs, but believed a union supporting and peace loving Carter would be better for America. We discussed such things seriously and rationally. After four years of the Carter Presidency most Democrats I knew would not vote for the man again, and supported Reagan. We discussed such things. After eight years of Reagan the hardcore leftists and Democrat leaders began re-writing recent history and claiming that the eight years of Reagan were the "worst years in American history", but not many people took them seriously.

Then a couple of Arkansas politicians became very active in shaping the future of the Democrat Party, guiding it toward the appearance of centrist policies while actually promoting leftist policies. Part of their program was to demonize Republicans at every opportunity (remember the words "Worst economy in 50 years"?...or the "feeding Grandma dogfood".....or my personal favorite "tax breaks for the rich"). In 1992 these two rode into their co-Presidency on promises of "Middle Class Tax Cuts" and "Health Care for One and All", but delivered neither (having majority of Democrats in both the Senate and House of Representatives).

In 1994 American rebuked the Clintons by electing a Republican Majority who promised with their Contract With America to bring 10 specific issues to the floor of the Congress within 100 days of their rule. They delivered on that promise and passed 9 out of 10 of those issues. Democrats did not care that this was what Americans wanted, and soon blamed every bad thing that happened, from the Oklahoma City bombing and the Balkan wars to the stock market collapse on the "Contract ON America".

By 2000 the Democrats were well on their way to political insanity, needing only a George W. Bush to lead them over the brink (thankfully GWB gladly obliged them). GWB is responsible for not being tough enough against terrorism (pre-9?11), and for being to tough against terrorists (abu-Gharaib....GITMO....wiretaps....Patriot Act)....the murder of 100,000 inocents in Iraq, trillions in National Debt, world hunger, global warming, worldwide suffering, destruction of the environment, all greed, all corruption, the "Tone" in Washington DC.......on and on. Democrat voters continue voting for people who make these claims. Those voters are condoning and agreeing with their leaders, leaving the rest of us shaking our heads in disbelief.

Democrat leaders have seemingly jumped wholeheartedly into an abyss from which there appears no way of returning. They have so polluted political discourse in America that it is no longer discourse, rather it is a boiling cauldron of political lies, swallowing up the tidbits of truth as salt in a pot of soup. Yet salt will flavor the soup won't it. So we, Republicans, those on the right, patriots who believe in traditional patriotism and traditional values, must continue to tell the truth until the cauldron is so salty as to be throw out and a new pot started

Lcpl Tyler is back in Iraq

2006-03-01T18:29:00.000-08:00

The 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment has returned to Iraq for their second deployment of OIF 2 (Operation Iraqi Freedom). They will be deployed in the al Anbar province, and once they are safely at their new location I will post about the place they are at.

Clyrinda (my Dove) and I went up to 29 Palms Saturday morning to spend two days with Lcpl Tyler before he deployed. Saturday night we and another couple of marine parents, the Lemans, took 10 marines and two marine wives out for a big dinner. What a joy it was to see these fine young men and their wives enjoying life and each other.

Most of Sunday was spent on base watching them organize their gear for the trip.

However there was alot of time to visit and take photos between their packing, unpacking, marking, inspecting, and whatnot.

You have heard that marines are to "improvise", and "make do", well there was alot of that going on.

It was fun to watch the marines walk up to the Armory and return with their weapons, knowing they'll be holding them for the next seven months.

In the end their gear was ready to go and they were turned loose for "On Base Liberty", and told to return to the staging area at 0700 hours, with hair cut and "No cellphones".

On Monday morning we showed up at 0700 hours and found the busses already there and marines mingling with their loved ones.

We were allowed to mingle with them for about 2 hours, until a burly looking marine yelled "Say your goodbyes.........NOW!", at which time we literally said our goodbyes and the marines loaded onto the busses.

For the most part their spirits were high, though some seemed like lost puppy dogs being tormented by mean boys. Every marine we spoke to wanted to go, to finish the job, to help Iraq and the U.S. of A.

America's finest were not the atheletes at the Olympics, nor the students in the Universities, nor the young adults working hard to support families. America's finest were at 29 Palms that day, saying their goodbyes and climbing on the busses, rifles in hand, where they will stay for the next 7 months.

Who's My Valentine

2006-02-14T10:12:00.000-08:00

Last night we took Lcpl Tyler to Outback Steakhouse for a last hoorah dinner before he deploys to Iraq. As we sat waiting we noticed a woman buying "gift cards" for her children as "Valentine's Day" gifts for her children. After making a few jokes about the expense of the Outback gift cards the general consensus at the table was that Valentine's Day is for a person's "lover", not for a person's children. This is not meant to judge the woman who is giving such a nice gift to her children, but to focus my own thoughts toward my wife, my best friend, my traveling companion, my Dove.

Her name is Clyrinda, and she is truly the better part of me, making me a better man than I ever could be without her. God, in his unsurpassed goodness, saw fit to give me the desires of my heart, and brought her into my life. Through marriage he is knitting us together, making us "one". He has made our desires and goals similar and compatible to one another's, and focused us both on the one thing that matters.........Jesus Christ.

I would never tell the struggles we've gone through together, nor try to convey the joy she has brought to my life, but she knows what they are and she knows that I know. Daily I try to convey to her how much she means to me. That is one reason I call her "My Dove", and never I say it out of routine (as I might use the term "my dear" or "sweetheart". We've walked a long and tough road, a road which by God's grace gets more narrow every day, moving us closer together.

She has earned my devotion and I cherish her. She's my only thought when the word Valentine is spoken. She's my thoughts when I hear a love song, my vision when I think of beauty, my friend when I need someone to stand beside me. The best perceptions in all my senses are her.

Would someone please call her and tell her to read this? Just kidding.

L.A. Times finally gets one right....sort of

2006-02-12T08:03:00.000-08:00

The L.A. Times has a great article, disguised as commentary (it is indeed an eye-witness account of event in Baghdad) from a 1st Lt. Robert Parry of the Califonia Army National Guard. You can read the article here.

The article gives first hand accounts of honor and courage, heroism under fire, and dedicated service in helping the people of Iraq. As Parry points out, it's amazing that the MSM couldn't find this story. There are thousands more stories like this if they only look.

Read the article and learn more about the truth on the ground in Iraq.

**UPDATE** Real Clear Politics has just posted a column by Lt. Col. John M. Kanaley who is currently serving in Baghdad, where he reports on the lack of MSM coverage of a MAJOR event that took place today in Iraq.

Road Trip part 3..........Getting Lost in Nevada

2006-01-30T21:11:00.000-08:00

The trip through Death Valley was meant to be a short cut on the way to northern Nevada. You see I had heard that in northern Nevada the plains are full of wild horses, the mountains teaming with wildlife, and every valley has a creek full of trout. Our destination was the Humboldt River valley around Elko, and parts thereabouts. The plan was to stay the night in Tonopah Nevada then go exploring the next day. My Dove and little Joshua could stay in Tonopah, a mountain town with lots of touristy things to do. RIGHT! There is nothing to do in Tonopah, absolutely nothing, unless you consider exploring abandoned mines,

hotels, and trailer parks (yes.........abandoned) something to do. My Dove did not, so we lit out at first light. There was however a fine dusting of snow, so we had a snowball fight before leaving, then we left.

We headed north, as I remembered the map showed us going north. I had not mapquested this portion of the trip because I was quite sure I knew which way north was. So we headed north for a few miles, until the road veered west, and stayed west for a piece. I kept thinking it would veer back north anytime, but no such luck, and soon we had gone a hundred miles west. Time to look at the map. Seems I had missed a very small jog to the east in Tonopah, that would have put me on the road north. Do you have any idea how fast a hundred miles goes by when you are doing 90 mph? We were not about to turn back and waste two hundred miles, so we decided to visit Hawthorne, home of the largest Ammo Dump in the world.

When speaking of ammo, the word "Dump" does not mean disposal, it means storage. Go figure the English language. The valley Hawthorne is in would be very pretty, if there were not thousands of Bunkers everywhere. Literally thousands of bunkers full of ammunition and ordnances were everywhere you looked. The town seemed like an afterthought. However, Hawthorne is home of the Ordnance Museum, so we decided to make the most of our mistake and ventured inside.. We were the third, fourth, and fifth visitors in the past week (my Dove declined to participate in this educational experience or she could have been the sixth).

Well, Bishop California was just down the road a couple of hundred miles, and I know there are trout creeks there because I've fished many of them, so we headed south and west back to familiar country.

Did you know that Golden Eagles are "opportunistic eaters"? Well let me tell you about it. Tyler, a fine road trip driver, spotted a large bird feasting upon road kill and asked to go back for a looksee. I told him "Sure, but don't be too disappointed when your Eagle turns out to be a Vulture". That silly bird let us drive up to within ten feet of him (it could have been a her), then gave us that old "Get away from my dinner!" look before spreading his majestic eagle wings and flying away. It's true, Golden Eagles eat carrion, in this case Coyote, and we have proof.

You may be asking yourself "Why did senorlechero change the subject from Getting Lost to Golden Eagles?". Well, I'm a guy, and guys will do anything in order not to admit they should have asked directions.

Enough said, check back later for the last installment of Road Trip

Road Trip part 2..........Death Valley

2006-01-19T21:00:00.000-08:00

With southern California traffic behind us we left the shadow of Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous 48 States, and headed for Death Valley, the lowest point in the continental United States. The road from Lone Pine into the White Mountains is a living post card of desolation and beauty. Thousands (or millions, depending on who you believe) of years of brutal weather have carved these mountains into jagged and nearly impassable hills and valleys. God must have known what he was doing when He hid all the gold and silver in these hills, because who would look here for it? A lot of people from the looks of it. There are mines everywhere, many of them open for exploration, which is exactly what Tyler, Joshua and I did.

Many of the mines were inviting, but one in particular was actually calling our names. From the highway it looked like a perfect round opening into the hillside, which goes to show you how distorted things can be at 80 mph, I mean 65 mph. It was time for a short rest stop anyway, so we turned around and drove up the narrow dirt road and parked 40 feet from the opening. We did not come prepared for mine exploration, but did have a couple of flashlights and a warning whistle, so we entered the mine with the confidence of experts. About 20 foot into the mine we halted to look at the old timber beamsholding up the roof of the mine, and our expertise began to dissipate a bit. Tyler pressed on into the depths (why do they say depths? The mine is perfectly level. Shouldn't they say "the lengths"?) ahead of Joshua and I as we decided caution to be the better part of bravery. About 100 feet into the mine, and half a dozen old beam supports, Joshua decided he had gone far enough. Naturally I stayed behind with him so he wouldn't be afraid, and cautioned Tyler not to go too much further. Perhaps 5 or 10 seconds went by, and we decided not to wait for Tyler, after all, he can take care of himself, and we skeedattled on out of there, back to where Clyrinda had a nice picnic set up on the tailgate of the truck, as though she expected us to arrive any moment.

That was fun.

The drive down into Death Valley was spectacular, with deep canyons carved out like scars in the sides of the mountains dropping thousands of feet into the valley.

We stopped at the gift shop and bought some trinkets, a very important thing to do on all road trips, and pressed on to Scotty's Castle. I'm sure I could do a google search and find out who Scotty was, but for me it's enough to know that he was a kook who built a gigantic castle out in the middle of nowhere, and now the Government charges 15 bucks a head to go inside the castle. I think Scotty never existed and the state made it all up.

I'd like to tell you all more about Death Valley, but we hightailed it out of there because we had to get to Tonopah Nevada and wanted to be there before dark so we could explore the town.

Hold out for the next installment of Road Trip, where you will learn how not to plan the stops along the way on a road trip.

Brief thoughts on Martin Luther King Jr.

2006-01-16T10:49:00.000-08:00

I'm not a big supporter of holidays created by the Government to give government workers three day weekends, so I usually don't think much about the man today's holiday is meant to commemorate, but today is an exception. Powerline had a great post about the King. It ends with this great quote from the speech King made the day before he was murdered......

"Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now, because I have been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life, longevity has it's place. But I'm not concerned about that now; I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain, and I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

Oh, that we could all feel that way about our lives. To live as though we could die tomorrow, but act in ways that impact the future is indeed the path to happiness. Martin Luther King was happy, though he knew he could die at any moment. In fact it's likely that he expected to be murdered as the hatred toward him was so strong.

There is another prominent figure in America who is hated with that same intensity.......President Bush. May he too be happy as he presses on toward making a better future for us all.

A MUST READ commentary by Dennis Prager

2006-01-10T21:28:00.000-08:00

Whatever your feelings and attitudes are about the new movie Munich.................read this commentary by Dennis Prager

Road Trip

2006-01-10T20:13:00.000-08:00

A year or two ago I began thinking about life outside of San Diego. Actually, I have visited a place or two, and even enjoyed other places, but never, ABSOLUTELY NEVER, have I thought about living somewhere else.

California has become a difficult place to live. The weather is great, and we are so close to the ocean, mountains, desert, and Baja California, but the people here get worse and worse all the time (I acknowledge that I am part of the problem).

So I've been looking at houses and property in other states. My wife, my dove, Clyrinda, laughs at me when I find a farm in Nebraska, or a horse ranch in upstate New York, or a home on the prairie out in Wyoming or Nevada. That scoffer. Her idea is for us to go visit places and see if we like them. RIGHT!!! She's got a point.

So I took the week after Christmas off and we went on a road trip to check out Northern Nevada. Land is cheap up there, and the antelope roam, along with the wild donkeys, and supposedly Mustangs too (the four legged sort). I wanted to get up near the Humboldt River area and check out the hills and valleys, which are said to have a trout stream every hundred yards or so.

We hit the road and after 6 hours (two in the worst SoCal traffic I've ever seen) made the town of Lone Pine CA, our first stop. The Dow Villa hotel sits in the shadow of Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the continental United States (couldn't tell from our room).We were tired and hungry, and Lone Pine was the perfect place to end the first day of our trip. Lcpl Tyler, traveling with us, noticed there was a cute young lady working the desk in the hotel lobby, so we sent him to ask her where the best restaurant in Lone Pine was. Now mind you, Lone Pine is a one traffic signal town. There are two sporting goods stores, both closed up for winter, a hardware store, two or three gas stations, a Mcdonalds, and a western clothing/cowboy supply store. We were pretty sure the young lady would tell Tyler to take his pick of the 3 cafes in town, but she didn't. She very confidently told him "the Merry-Go-Round three doors down". So Tyler comes back and tells us we should go to the Merry-Go-Round Cafe, just a slight error in interpretation on his part. We should have known something was off because the tables had linen tableclothes and napkins, and there were only 5 or 6 tables in the place. But we were seated right away and ordered drinks (that would be water for me). The waitress brought us menus and informed us that there was "one more special left tonight", which was a "Teriyaki Pork Chop"..........not your everyday "cafe" entree. Upon opening the menu I found four or five entrees, all about $20-$30 each. Being from California we are used to meals being about 15 to 20 bucks, but not in a "cafe" in Lone Pine.

My dove wanted to leave, but I insisted we stay and enjoy the experience. The food was good (not exceptional, but better than Dennys), and the place was mobbed. The entire time we were there people were calling in their reservations or coming in off the street and putting their names on the list for the 45 minute wait. The meal cost us $100 not including the tip, which was generous and well deserved by the hard working waitress and her helper (whose day job is managing the Mcdonalds down the road a bit)

I don't get the whole "trendy restaurant in Lone Pine" thing, but it is what it is.

The next morning we got our breakfast at a cafe across the street from the Merry-Go-Round before heading out on the next leg of our road trip. It was a very good breakfast (breakfast is my favorite meal to have at a restaurant) and definitely satisfied our craving for "on the road cafe food".

Stay tuned for the next installment of Road Trip................Into Death Valley We Go

Police sniper murders misunderstood Bank Robber

2006-01-10T19:52:00.000-08:00

This Story from Fox News tells us all we need to know about the "militaristic" attitudes of the authorities in America today.

Two people rob a bank in Florida this morning. From the reports the two were not a threat to anyone, they were just there for the money. But when the police showed up before their getaway and the pair (seemingly a man and a woman) were cornered, they took three or four people hostage. A bit later one hostage was released in exchange for cigarettes (can you believe they let bank robbers smoke inside public buildings in Florida?). Personally, I would have held out for some Cuban cigars, but that's just me. Later another hostage was released, and reported being treated well and seeing "no weapons", although they believed the robbers had at least one weapon.

The police were in such a hurry to use deadly force...I'm wondering if they were trained by Janet Reno and believed the pair to be Cuban refugees, that they did not wait for negotiations to work, and invaded the bank building with some sort of explosive devise, forcing the robbers to flee outside with their hostage.

To make a long story....well it's really a short story....short, er, shorter, a sniper shot the male sniper to death, leaving both the surviving robber, assumed to be a female, and the hostage psychologically scared for life, and further damaging America in the eyes of Europe and the third world (who have no banks to rob.........and would do anything for American made cigarettes). Couldn't they have just negotiated a bit longer? Are not snipers good enough shots that they could have shot out his frontal lobe, turning him into a peace loving and docile person, who could then be returned to a productive life, perhaps living in a halfway house next to your child's elementary school? I mean really, haven't we grown past the "wild west" days of sheriffs shooting bank robbers when negotiations can accomplish so much?

It's hard to believe isn't it? But doesn't this all sound very familiar?

I should have been a cowboy

2006-01-05T18:16:00.000-08:00

During his 2004 deployment to Iraq Lcpl Tyler started listening to Country/Western music. I listened to a few of his CDs and really liked what I heard, now I'm a C/W music fan. The funny thing is that I had not listened to anything other than Christian music for about 8 years, but C/W music sparked something inside me, reminding me of good music from the past.....James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Band, Van Morrison, and many others. What I liked about that old music, and what I like about C/W music is that it tells a story. I love songs that have nice melodies, well played (and non distorted) instruments, and tell stories.

But the other thing I like about C/W music is that many songs speak of God and how He plays a part in the singers life. It seems to me that any song worth singing should be aimed at God and be pleasing to Him.

Now I know that not all C/W music is aimed at God, and frankly, much of it is just about "good times", but that's the way it is in life, some good and some bad. To quote Brooks and Dunn, "I've learned the path to heaven is full of sinners and believers", and so it is with music.

For now C/W music is pleasing to me and I thank God for that

"What happened to your Blog?" and plans for the new year

2005-12-30T07:45:00.000-08:00

The Christmas Season has been a wonderful time this year. Time spend with family and good friends, time spent reflecting on Jesus Christ, and time spend traveling have all made the season special to me. Because of that I have not blogged since Thanksgiving (and not much in the month before that either). On Christmas Eve my daughter (the oldest, who is 25 and has given my wife and I two beautiful grandchildren) asked what happened to my blog? She had noticed that I had not posted at all in quite a while.

My answer to her was short and true, if not thorough. "I've been busy" is what I told her, but there's a lot more to it than that.

The truth is that the animus of politics (generated by the Democrats hate for President Bush) has risen to such intense levels that I needed to give myself a break from it. I used to think that posting my thoughts would help me crystallize them, making them more complete. I thought that discussion of events would be productive in letting people disagree know that we on the "right" side of the spectrum are not evil. But now I'm thinking that there is no changing what the left thinks about us because they are sick (Bush hatred is an illness) and there is no way to talk with them in any meaningful way.

I don't know when I will begin blogging regularly again, or what I will blog about, but for now I'm not blogging on politics.

Best wishes to all for a very happy new year

Happy Thanksgiving

2005-11-24T08:31:00.000-08:00

I was awakened this morning by the sounds of a truck's gears grinding. The truck was in my driveway (we live on a country road) so I went down to see what the problem was. Max, the gentleman driving the truck, told me in very broken english that his clutch was out. Max, a Mexican, was on his way to work on a home a mile or two down the road. I asked Max if he wanted a ride to work and he said "No....one man work me drive here.......Thank you, thank you very much". It seems Max is thankful. So am I.

I'm thankful for many things, which I could list, but the idea of saying "I'm thankful for my wife........who is beautiful........loving.........kind and generous..........my traveling companion........." seems so obvious. Who wouldn't be happy and thankful to have such a friend? Or I could talk about how thankful I am for my children, who have brought me so much happiness, and challenged me to be a better man. But again, who wouldn't be happy and thankful to be their dad?

So what then? What is it that I'm thankful for that I wish to express in both my words and deeds? I'm thankful that I know God, my creator, the creator of all things, and that he loves me..........a sinner.........a man who has fallen so short so many times. Yet no matter how short..........for God does not measure sin...........God provided for my salvation by dying on the cross for me. He could have lived eternally with His angels and whatever other perfect beings he has created, but he chose to live eternally with sinners saved by grace. Saved by Grace!!!

That's what I'm thankful for.

Time to call the Democrat's bluff

2005-11-15T10:02:00.000-08:00

Every day some Democrat politician calls for repeal of the Bush tax cuts. Usually those calls are sandwiched between the words "taxcuts for the wealthy" and "leaving the bill for our children to pay". Today is Barack Obama's turn (read it here). Mr. Obama is positioning himself as a reasonable Democrat in order to appeal to centrist voters. But the code words in his comments give away the fact that he is just another Democrat that thinks the government knows best what to do with your money. He begins by saying he wants to cut pork. Anyone who doesn't own pigs would agree with that approach. Obama claims that delaying or repealing the tax cuts for the wealthy (primarily millionaires) could save the nation tens of billions of dollars. He believes tax cuts, which have stimulated our booming economy (raising tens of billions in tax revenues), are "fiscally irresponsible policies", creating debt just as pork projects like Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere" do. He equates Republican hesitance to raise taxes with the politicians love of pork.

I say it's time to call their bluff. President Bush should announce a new "Get America Out Of Debt" program...................call it "Millionaires Saving America's Future" and appoint former Presidents Carter and Clinton as co-chairpersons. Those two pillars of truth would call on any and all "rich" persons who do not like their tax breaks to give the money to the treasury where it would be recorded as "Payment Against America's Debt". The only catch would be that all payments must be accompanied by a declaration of how rich the donor is and the donor's political party affiliation........sort of a "put up or shut up" policy.

Democrat millionaires are always saying they pay too little in taxes. Let's make it easy and attractive for them to pay more.............but on a volunteer basis. Then allow Vegas to fix odds and take bets on whether Republicans or Democrats gave more.

On and on it goes

2005-11-14T20:30:00.000-08:00

This morning I read a commentary written by Jimmy Carter and my stomach turned at the blatant falsehoods he presents. Tonight I read a commentary by Cathy Young in which she presents outright falsehood as "fact". Why should it surprise and upset me so much that main stream media is so willing to print such garbage? I wish I had an answer. I wish it didn't upset me so much, but it does. Maybe I just place too much value on the truth.

In the Jimmy Carter piece, titled "This isn't the real America", Jimmy makes the claim that America is becoming a repressed totalitarian state (funny, I sort of felt that way when he was president) where the rich steal from the poor.....legally of course with help from Bush's tax cuts........Big Brother is invading our privacy.........the water, air and earth are deadly environmental abominations, and torture of innocents is rampant (sort of like Iraq before we invaded and set 25 million people free).

This is the Jimmy Carter who as President of the United States in 1979-80 allowed 66 Americans to be held hostage in Iran for 444 days. It was a sad time for the U.S., but apparantly a time Jimmy is proud of. Here is how his Presidential Library describes Carter's lack of action......." He pursued a policy of restraint that put a higher value on the lives of the hostages than on American retaliatory power or protecting his own political future." Talk about understatement. All of America was held hostage by a few radical students in a less than two bit middle-eastern nation, but Jimmy was showed "restraint" by doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about it. Now, 26 years later, one of the hostage takers, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, emboldened by Jimmy's restraint, is President of an extremely militant and ever increasingly anti-American Iran, and is boldly calling for the destruction of America.

In Jimmy's world America would sit back after an incident like 9/11, smoke a Cuban cigar, ask Kofi Annan if he would please help us recover, request that all Americans go into poverty so we can build up a warchest just in case we need it, then sit and hope it doesn't happen again, all the while proclaiming the need for restraint in order to keep the honor of America clean.

Jimmy's distortion of the truth goes far deeper than his mischaracterizations of the current state of affairs in the world. His library makes the claim that "President Carter's actions brought freedom for the hostages with America's honor preserved." The hostages were released upon the innauguration of Ronald Reagan as President. Apparently the Ayatollah Khomeini had reason to fear the new president of the U.S. (maybe he had visions of cruise missiles entering his bedroom)

But Jimmy's biggest concern is "a fundamentalist shift in many houses of worship and in government, as church and state have become increasingly intertwined in ways previously thought unimaginable". Man, me too!! As an example of this unimaginable mixing of church and state he cites...............NOTHING. NADA. ZIP. ZERO. But he really doesn't need to, because he's Jimmy Carter, the most caring man in the entire universe, and everyone knows that if he says it it's the gospel.

America thought it was cute to elect a peanut farmer from Georgia President. I guess we got what we deserved.

In the Cathy Young piece, titled "Fact and fiction on evolution" fiction is presented as fact as though nobody might notice. She turns the current state of reality in "the evolution debate" into a simple game of "It's true because I say so". Yes Mommy!! NOT!! She makes the absurd claim that "The evolutionary theory of origins of species is supported by abundant evidence from the fossil record and genetics research" OH REALLY? So the "missing link" has been found? This is such a highly debatable point that it's incredible anyone would make that statement. Of course no missing links have been found. Something Darwin said would happen thousands of times over in just a few years after he first proposed his theory. She makes the bushleague mistake of presenting the evidence for "micro-evolution" as proof of "macro-evolution". In essence she believes that since there is adaptation within specie, one specie could easily become a different specie given billions of years. Of course the more we learn about DNA and the formation of all living things the more we can believe that no specie can become another specie and reproduce similar offspring. DNA dictates the specie, not the other way around.

Later in her hit piece on evolution theory dissenters she claims that Darwinian Evolution cannot be a "vehicle for atheism and materialism" because "Darwin was a Christian". No, Darwin was not a Christian, nor did he claim to be. Whoever Cathy Young is, she is lazy minded beyond belief. A google search of the words "Charles Darwin Christianity" offered up many sources that point to Darwin's lack of belief in Jesus Christ as Savior (the definition of being a Christian). Here's a quote from Darwin's autobiography she could have found in 45 seconds of searching..........."I can hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true; for if so, the plain language of the text seems to show that the men who do not believe, and this would include my Father, Brother, and almost all my best friends, will be everlastingly punished. This is a damnable doctrine...". Darwin was a very mixed up man who, after coming up with the theory of evolution, pointed to the fact that evolution cannot explain the creation of complex things when he said "to suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances....could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree."

She goes on to name many Christian groups that say "evolutionary science is not incompatible with the basic tenets of religious faith". True enough. But it is incompatible with the Biblical account of creation, which is a basic plank of Christianity. Obviously Christians are not afraid of science as we believe if it proves anything it will prove that the world is "wonderfully and fearfully made", obviously by someone vastly more wise than random chance.

I'm not against peoplelike Jimmy Carter and Cathy Young having their say, I'm just so tired of hearing it stated as such rock solid truth, as though any discussion of the facts they propose is heresy. And they say is the fundamentalist Christians who lack tolerance. Oh my!!

What creates Bush hatred?

2005-11-14T18:32:00.000-08:00

***UPDATE***

Read this Powerline post on the insanity of Bush Hatred (they call it Bush Derangement Syndrome). I especially like their presentation of the opposite of the insanity of Bush Hatred, and use Bruce Willis as an example of "sanity". Think about that for a momment...........Bruce Willis is sane..................at least where Bush and the war or terror are concerned.

Make sure you read the comments at the bottom of this post. They really help drive home what the insanity of Bush Hatred is all about.

ORIGINAL POST IS BELOW

I have known for a long time that Bush haters also hate all conservative Christian republicans, and anyone with any two of those three traits. The Bush haters will tell a person to their face that they don't hate them, then start spewing venom about all the other "lying, hatemongering Nazi like religious rednecks that want to shove their religion down our throats and put storm troopers in our bedroom". But I have never quite figured out how this hatred got it's strength.

An incredibly arrogant opinion piece from Naomi Wolf in The Guardian sheds a little light on the subject. I suggest reading it for the purpose of understanding the cultural war Americans are facing.

Her premise is that Bush supporters have now "had enough" of his lies and are now just waiting for the next president.............Democrat or republican it doesn't matter. She thinks that Bush supporters were "sedated" by the "intoxicant of ruthless jingoism". For those who don't know what "jingoism" is yet (the left has been using it more and more over the past two years to describe Bush's speeches) it is an appeal to emotional patriotism, or nationalism. I guess she means when Bush stood on the rubble at ground zero and said "we will rebuild" or when he said "You're either with us or against us in the fight against terror" as he tried to build a coalition to invade Afghanistan and crush the Taliban. I don't really remember being sedated or intoxicated, but she thinks I was.

She thinks most of Bush's supporters are white men who the rest of America had left behind, and as such they are social and economic couch potatoes waiting for the next Clancy book turned movie (because they can't read) to give them a sense of justice in the world.

She makes so many rude comments about America that I wondered if she's French. She inflates the Katrina response to the level of holocaust, complete with "black and brown bodies" floating in the streets and black "babies crying for water". She reduces the Iraq war into Cheney's "Halliburton cronies carving up Iraq" and enshrines "2000" as though it came from the Biblical book of Numbers. She claims the U.S. is no longer a democracy, the press is no longer free, judges are oppressed,

She closes with this......."Bush will never recover his swagger in our eyes: he was our dealer....." I doubt Naomi ever bought anything from Bush........not the least his swagger.

So what is it about the origins of Bush hatred that I have induced from the rant of Naomi Wolf? Nothing. It's as insane as any other Bush hating rant I've heard in the past 6 years (acutally, in my family Bush hatred goes all the way back G.H.W. Bush's presidency). It's insane to hate the man and it's insane to hate those of us who love him. I take Ms. Wolf's diatribe as proof of that statement.

Time for a 51st state.....Southern California

2005-11-09T09:09:00.000-08:00

When teachers, firefighters and other public employees become union thugs it's time for a change. Perhaps that change should be my family and I leaving California, the state I was born and raised in, but I think a better idea would be for southern California to secede from the rest of the state and become the 51st state.

The results of yesterday's election here have driven home the sad reality that California is run by public employee unions, primarily the teacher's unions, firefighter's union and the prison guards union. These three pump so much money into the Democrat's campaigns that only bazillionairs like Arnold can run against them. Those Democrats want (and the unions support) higher taxes, more public employees, more casino gambling, less stringent drug laws, gay marriage, illegal alien rights (including voting rights and drivers licenses), less private land development, increased access to abortions, "free" health care for everyone, and the list goes on and on.........including teenage abortions without parental notification.

It's sick and sad that those who are supposed to protect and teach our youth care so little about families and the health of young women that they would vote to defeat Prop. 73, a bill that would have required parental notification before a child could have an abortion. But that's the reality here in CA.

But the reality here in San Diego county is quite different, as is Riverside county, Orange county, San Bernadino county. Imperial county. Those counties, along with many in the central valley (Kern, Fresno, Inyo, Mono, Merced) have traditional conservative values, and vote those values. I have not yet seen the election results from yesterday, but I'm guessing it will show that those counties voted overwhelmingly to approve Props 73, 74, 75, 76 and 77, while the rest of the state, including the humongous Los Angeles county, voted to defeat them. It's always this way. We vote, but get nowhere because the rest of the state is incredibly liberal. Red/Blue county maps show a perfect division in our state. I think that division should be made permanent by creating a state called Southern California.

Why should we in Southern California be represented by the likes of Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi? Why should our futures be directed by the people who live in Los Angeles, who need the taxes we pay to survive and can demand more from us any time they want to?

I think the time to create the 51st State in the United States is now, and Southern California is the place.

An honest Democrat tells the truth about Plame/Wilson

2005-11-03T09:18:00.000-08:00

Zell Miller tells the truth like nobody else I know. By that I mean to say that he does it with wit and zeal. Today he lays out the CIA/ValeriePlame/JoeWilson affair as though it was a spy thriller showing on the silver screen. His "opinion" of Plame and Wilson is right in line with mine and his facts are completely correct.

Unfortunately Miller's commentary is in the Alanta Journal and Constitution, which means that if you want to read it you need to register (it takes about 1 minute). Here's the opening line.........

"It's like a spy thriller. Institutional rivalries and political loyalties have fostered an intelligence officer's resentment against the government. Suddenly, an opportunity appears for the agent to undercut the national leadership. A vital question of intelligence forms the core justification for controversial military actions by the current leaders. If this agent can get in the middle of that question, distort that information and make it public, the agent might foster regime change in the upcoming election."

Here's another bit that tell's where Miller is coming from..........

"No one seems to care that our intelligence agency has crippled our president. Certainly not the media. They are determined to make Wilson a hero. Recall the dozens of times the Washington Post and The New York Times carried his lies on the front page, above the fold. The conclusive story discrediting Wilson was buried 6 feet deep, back by the obituaries."

Zel Miller is an outstanding American whose love of country, family and traditional values drove him to part ways with democrats and vote for President Bush. He's witty and wise and writes great commentaries about current issues. I suggest everyone also read this one titled Iwo Jima, If Covered By Media Today

Also read Powerline's post titles "My Favorite Democrat...Part 2"

Debate in the Comments

2005-10-31T12:58:00.000-08:00

I've been having a "debate" with two anonymous posters in the comments section of my last post (the one about Joe Wilson). Here is the latest comment by me..................

"Well I guess the anonymous poster (fellow christian) has disappeared. Too bad, I was really looking forward to what charge he/she would bring against me.

This poster pops into the middle of a conversation between myself and another anonymous poster and accuses me of being a person who "who claim they are Christians in this country spreading hatred and claiming that all Christians believe this or that."

When I responded, assuming it was the original anonymous poster, they posted this....."I am not the same person who posted previously. Your assumption is incorrect. I posted about learning in church that Christians are tolerant, forgiving, and conduct themselves in the image of the Lord. May I ask where you go to church sir? I would like to understand how a Christian organization could foster a person with such anger and bitterness.".....and signed off "A fellow christian"

Isn't it rich when a person attacks you with a baseless slur like that, doing the very thing they are charging another with?

Life is full of such rich examples of hypocracy, especially within the church (meaning the entirety of christendom).

So I pointed out that this person was violating the rules laid out in the bible for "confronting" a fellow believer who "sins" against you, and asked the person to make a specific charge.

Anyone want to lay down the odds of that happening.

In the meantime, the original poster reads my response to the "fellow christian" poster and assumes I am responding to him/her, and gets all bent out of shape because I pointed out the lack of righteousness in fellow christians attack

I guess we have two Bush haters who can't follow the thread of comments posting under the uncommon name "anonymous". No wonder were all confused.

So, to end the confusion I gave anonymous poster #1 the last word, which I don't think he/she used very well ("sticks and stones...etc.) and am posting this recap.

The truth about Joseph Wilson

2005-10-29T13:00:00.000-07:00

***UPDATE*** Since I posted this the Special Prosecutor indicted Scooter Libby on Purgery and Obstruction of Justice charges. The same charges that Clinton plead guilty to and Martho Stewart was convicted of. The prosecutor has obviously determined that no crime was committed in the "leaking" of Ms. Plames identity but has possibly trapped Libby in misstatements. Who knows what will come of that.

What has still not happened is the truth about Plame and Wilson come out in the MSM. Read the Weekly Standard (here, here, and here)articles for a clear picture of who Plame and Wilson are and what they tried to do to the President. Read the comments below to get a picture of what sort of thinking (or lack thereof) is behind the "Bush lied" mentality that nearly half the voters in America have. It's amazing that the half that hates Bush doesn't understand what their hatred says about the half of us that love him.

ORIGINAL POST
There is currently a grand jury investigation into the "leaking" the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame. The investigation seems to be focused on two high level members of the Bush administration..........Karl Rove and Scooter Libby.....as the source of the leaks. There is a great deal of speculation about possible indictments coming down in the case. I'm predicting that there will be no indictments, and here's why............There is a very high likelyhood that Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame are the source of the "leak" about her status as a "covert" CIA operative. Why do I believe this? It's a long and very boring story and it starts with Wilson's trip to Niger to "investigate" Iraq's supposed interests in buying "Yellowcake" uranium from African nations. The facts on this investigation are laid bare in this article in The Weekly Standard by Stephen F. Hayes

Hayes makes the case that Wilson and Plame set out to sabotage the President's campaign by creating the illusion that the CIA had informed Bush that Iraq was not trying to obtain Yellowcake. Clearly there is plenty of evidence that Iraq was indeed trying to buy the stuff. But Wilson and Plame were able to get the media to spin the story the way they.........longtime democrat activists.............wanted it spun

You see, it's easy for the media to make false charges and drum up a case where there is none, but it's difficult to make that case hold up in court when all the facts are brought in by agressive defense attorneys.

I think if the prosecutor, Fitzgerald, brings indictments he will be placing many journalists and others (CIA types) in the hotseat where the whole truth will come out. My thoughts are that the anti-Bush forces do not what the whole truth out and are pressing hard to keep the Grand Jury from indicting. Afterall, the harm they wanted done to Bush has already been done.

**NOTE** I began writing this a week or so ago, but much has happened in the case since then and today I am not so confident that there will be no indictments. Rumors today are that Fitzgerald is considering "Obstruction of Justice" or "Perjury" charges, meaning there was no "illegal outting" of Plame's identity in the first place but he thinks someone lied to cover up the crime that never happened. It may be that the anti-Bush forces are dumber than I thought.

Of course if there are indictments the defense will aggressively lay out the case that Plame and Wilson's planned to damage Bush's campaign in cahoots with the media. They will also go after the media who is attempting to hide their other "anonymous sources". Everyone who testifies will try to cover their hinnys by outting whoever the real "rats" in this case, bringing the anti-Bush chickens home to roost, which will amount to a major public opinion win for Bush and loss for his enemies.

Does anyone still have doubts that the MSM is biased against the war?

2005-10-29T09:45:00.000-07:00

If you do have such doubts, read this post by Michelle Malkin to rid yourself of them. It's a very sad statement of our times when blogs are the only source of truthtelling.

Who would be happy that 2000 service men and women have died in Iraq?

2005-10-27T20:17:00.000-07:00

The Bush hating left of course. Check out these photos of the somber ceremonies held last night to mark the "milestone" of 2000 KIA in Iraq. Do they look happy to you? They look happy to me.

I guess they could chalk it up to their psychosis, but then they would have to admit that their hatred of President Bush is Pathologically Psychotic (is that redundant?)

The Ivy League Glee Club is doing backflips over Miers withdrawing her nomination

2005-10-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

I have quit listening to the Laura Ingraham radio show, but turned it on for a few minutes this morning because I had a hunch she would be rejoicing over the news that Harriet Miers has withdrawn herself from consideration for the Supreme Court. (Ingraham and other self appointed saviors of conservatism in America have savaged President Bush and the Miers appointment for the past three weeks. Ingraham went so far as to say "It doesn't matter how she votes on issues..........", declaring the new litmus test for court appointees to be that they pass muster with her and her group.....Ivy league lawyers one and all)

I was correct in my hunch about how these conservofascists would be reacting this morning. Ingraham and her radio cohorts were talking about how Robert Bork would be doing backflips this morning because he "finally got back at Spector" (Senator Spector being one republican senator that voted against Bork as a SCOTUS nominee). Then John Fund came on the show with Laura and they gave high fives and slapped each other on the back, talking about how "courageous" each other is and what a "great day" this is for America.

I turned it off and will have no need to turn it back on.....country western music is far more enlightening.

They won this battle, and in the end turned out to be right. If Miers could not stand up the the bullying of the conservofascists who were savaging her she does not belong on the court. But in the big scheme of things, it's the democrats and the leftists who have won. The left has long believed that special interest groups such as the ACLU and Planned Parenthood should determine who gets appointed for SCOTUS (that's Supreme Court of The U.S.).

The conservofascists have declared the left to be right on that issue

A case might be made for "Assisted Suicide"

2005-10-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

Lashuan Harris stripped her three young boys naked and dropped them from a pier into the frigid northern California ocean. The boys, ages 1, 2, and 6, are dead. She is in jail on murder charges, but because she suffers from "pshychotic episodes" she is under "Suicide Watch"

Might this be a case where Physician Assisted Suicide is in order?

I'm wondering about something

2005-10-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

Sometimes things happen, insignificant things, that get me wondering about how other people operate. For instance.............This morning at 6:55 I walk up to my local Starbucks and there is a line of people, up to and out the door, waiting to order their drinks. I have stood in that line many times wondering who the Bozo was that designed that particular Starbucks, where there is plenty of space in the store but seemingly nowhere for the line to go but out the door...... but that's not what I was wondering today. Today, when it came to my turn to stand in the door blocking the way in and out, I took two steps sideways, into a small seating area around the side of the counter, making room for 5 or 6 more people to get inside, then watched in amazement as everyone behind me simply stood in the doorway It was as though they thought that if they moved to where I was they would lose their place in line.

I can only imagine what the other people in that line were thinking or not thinking. Perhaps in their minds the old adage "the shortest way from point A to point B is a straight line" is so set in their minds they can't imagine a line that wraps around the counter. Maybe they are simply afraid to do something other than what everyone else is doing. Or maybe it's as simple as their brain does not kick into gear until the caffeine enters their system.

So here's what I am asking readers to do..........try to imagine the situation and tell me what a person standing in the doorway is thinking as the line out the door lengthens and people maneuver past trying to exit the building..........

A) They are not thinking at all
B) "I'm in the door and that's all that matters"
C) "There is nothing but a straight line between me and a cup of coffee"..........so they aren't
moving any direction but forward.

or
D) anything other than I've imagined

Elitism is at the core of the Anti-Mier voices....Bork proves it

2005-10-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

Judge Robert H. Bork, who talked his way out of a seat on the U.S. Supreme court (by that I mean he droned on and on for hours about the intricacies of his judicial values) has now talked himself off my list of favorite conservatives. His commentary today in the Opinion Journal lets the entire world know that the power behind the conservative anti-Miers voices is elitism. By that I mean to say that Bork, and other conservatives.......John Fund, Laura Ingraham, George Will.......think that only a person with a certain level (determined by them of course) of constitutional law practice in their background is qualified to sit on the Supreme court.

Bork says that President Bush has......."taken the heart out of a rising generation of constitutional scholars".......meaning that all these scholars (I'm sure he could give us a list of names.......himself included) have worked so hard to get on the supreme court just to have their hopes dashed by the appointment of this..............this...............nobody.

According to Bork Harriet Miers "has no known experience with constitutional law and no known opinions on judicial philosophy". I guess he must not know that for the past five years Ms. Miers has worked closely with Bush on every single judicial appointment he has made. Those appointments include assessing the constitutional values of each nominee. Do you suppose that Bush and Miers ever discussed what her values are? Nah........it couldn't be that easy.

He says that "The administration's defense of the nomination is pathetic", and on that note I must agree with him. If I were Bush I'd come right out and say "It's my choice to make and I made it............and frankly Miers has more common sense than Bork could ever hope to have".

But the thing that really turned me off about Bork's comments was when he called us (Miers appointment supporters) "moderate (i.e. lukewarm) conservatives". Those are fighting words and Bork deserves to have the smirk wiped right off his wild whiskered face.

The supreme court does need constitutional law experts as justices; currently there are nine of them. But it also needs people who by God's grace are given generous portion of reality based common sense

For instance......Are the words "One nation under God" in the Pledge unconstitutional? Duh.........NO!! Is there a "right to privacy" that allows the indiscriminate killing of unborn babies? WHAT?..........OF COURSE NOT!!! Can a city take your house and give it to another person so higher taxes are paid on it? GET REAL AND GET OUT OF HERE. NEXT CASE

How would Bork answer those questions? I'll never know because I'd fall asleep listening to the answers.

**UPDATE** The list of my favorite conservatives is growing shorter by the minute. Today Ann Coulter uses her guillotine in to chop the head off the "Common Sense" is good for the Supreme Court argument for Harriet Miers (read the commentary here). She claims "It was 'common sense' to allow married couples to buy contraception in Connecticut. That was a decision an randomly selected group of nine good bowlers might well hav concurred with on the grounds that, 'well, it's just common sense, isn't it?".

I'm guessing that Ms. Coulter's mind can't allow for the fact that common sense would say "isn't that the state's call" to the examples she gives. Clearly she has imputed to common sense the foul deeds of agenda driven judges.

Powerline blog and the Harriet Miers appointment

2005-10-11T09:50:00.000-07:00

This morning I read this post by Scott (the trunk) Johnson on Powerline. I especially took note of him saying that the appointment of Harriet Miers is a "blunder of major proportions". After a week of spinning like whirligigs the anti Miers conservatives seem to have settled onto the "She may end up being a good supreme court justice, but her appointment was a mistake because it snubbed Bush's conservative base" argument.

I sent Powerline the following e-mail....................

Dear Powerline guys.............Scott in particular

The "trust me" argument from the President may not be good enough for you (it should be) but it is for me, and most other supporters of GWB. He has a 100% success record in nominating conservative/constructionists for judicial nominations. Harriet Miers has been involved in every one of those appointments. GWB has earned our trust on this issue. The saddest thing about all of this arguing is that you (those who think the appointment is a "blunder of major proportions") don't think he has earned your trust.

Yesterday Laura Ingraham asked Fred Barnes if "results are all that mattered" in the supreme court. Confidently he answered "Yes". Laura huffed and said "Uh Hmmm"...........I could almost see her looking down her nose over horned rim glasses. To Laura it wouldn't matter if a Justice Miers voted correctly every single time.........Laura is right and that's that.

For those of you who disagree with the appointment it all comes down to you thinking you knew who was best for the job. Harriet Miers may very well vote ther correct way (from a conservative perspective) on every issue, but to you it will still have been the wrong appointment.

(I've made a few corrections and clarifications to the e-mail in tis post so my point is more clearly understood.......my apologies to the Powerline guys if what I sent them wasn't a clear)

Best Regards
Geoff Milke.......http://senorlechero.blogspot.com

Are there no heroes to write about?

2005-10-09T14:24:00.000-07:00

When was the last time you heard on the TV news or read in a newspaper about the heroic actions or US soldiers, sailors, airmen or marines? I cannot recall a single instance since November 2004, when the marines cleared Fallujah of it's terrorists. We hear plenty about the service members killed or injured every day, and we hear plenty about supposed abuses of detainees, but not about what OUR men and women are doing to save lives and free Iraq and Afghanistan from terrorists.

Bing West writes about the lack of news relating to the hundreds, or thousands, of acts of heroism during OIF in this article. You can read about who Mr. West is at his website. He has just released a book titled NO TRUE GLORY....A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah.

The names or America's military heros should be part of our everyday lives. Radio, TV and newspapers should give us facts about who these men and women are and why their actions are important. Otherwise pride in our military will be weakened as the Cindy's (mother of hero Casey Sheehan) and the Osama's tell the world how evil we are.

President Bush....steadily saving the US ....

2005-10-05T21:39:00.000-07:00

President Bush is working diligently and humbly to save the United States from enemies on all fronts. He is winning the war on terrorism even though most of the world wishes him to fail. He doesn't blow his own horn even when it means his poll numbers drop. I believe that he would rather win the war and be the most hated man on earth than lose the war and be as popular as Mother Teresa.

He is also winning the cultural war here at home by changing the direction of the Judiciary. His appointment of John Roberts surprised everyone, both left and right, and might just leave an everlasting thumbprint of correct judgments for all Americans. Now his pick of Harriet Miers to replace Sandra Day O'Connor looks to me like another incredibly wise move. In Ms. Miers Bush has quietly slipped in an evangelical Christian fundamentalist with no paper trail for the left to consume and regurgitate. The leftist senators on the Judiciary committee will have nothing to attack but her religious beliefs, and when they do so they will be exposed as the shallow and self serving idiots they really are.

As for all the conservatives who are droning on and on about what a bad choice she is.........well........they are ranting foolishly and will soon realize the error of their rants.

SPAM in the comments?

2005-10-02T21:15:00.000-07:00

Readers of this blog will be noticing many comments "Deleted by Administrator". It seems SPAMers have figured out how to post spam in the comments section of blogs (I hope I'm not the only one this is happening to). Comments like this........."I really like your blog. It's one of the top3 I read. I have my own website which I hope you will visit. www.I'msofullofit.com"

No more than a minute after I posted my last entry there was a spam comment. I'm really mad, but too tired to do anything but delete the comment. I take solace that hell holds a special corner for spammers.

Update on Reflections From The Battlefield

2005-10-02T20:36:00.000-07:00

Last night my wife Clyrinda (otherwise known as My Dove.............read Song of Solomon 2:14 if you want to know why I call her "my Dove") and I had some special guests for dinner...........our dear friends Robert and Valerie Busse along with their friends Pastor Ryan Krause and his wife Kellee. I blogged on Pastor Ryan's book Reflections From The Battlefield about 5 posts or so down from this one. Pastor Ryan is also a Chief Petty Officer and Corpsman attatched to the Marines at Camp Pendleton. Also joining us for dinner was our son Lcpl Tyler and his friend Lcpl Jeremy (in case his parents read this...............which is extremely unlikely..............Jeremy's last name is Maser). A wonderful time was had by all, and the food was excellent, but something stood out to me about the evening, a simple truism I think. When marines are present the Corps is the main topic of conversation...........no matter how hard the ladies try to steer the conversation in other directions.

Pastor Ryan has been attatched to the Corps for nearly his entire 15 years in the Navy. It would be understatement to say that he thinks highly of marines. Pastor Ryan has been deployed to Somalia once and Iraq twice. He has had more than enough of "war" than needed to tell great stories in a roomful of guys. Yet he listened so intently as two twenty year old grunts talked about conditions in Husaybah, Iraq. Though Ryan faced daily shelling by the insurgents his eyes lit up as the "boys" talked about a certain mortar attack upon Camp Gannon. And when the boys left for the evening (they can't be expected to spend an entire evening with a bunch of "old" folks now can they?) the concern Ryan has for them was evident in his wishes for a safe deployment next year.

It's very clear to me that God has a plan for Ryan that not only involves pastoring a church, or caring for wounded marines as a corpsman, or communicating to the world through his writing. Ryan is an encourager of others, amply gifted for the calling.

Postscript................at the dinner table the subject of my blog came up. Ryan asked what was the name if it? Senor Lechero I replied. "I just read it the other day............good blog..........and by the way......the link to the story about my book is no longer active.................". So the point of this post was to let anyone who tried to read about Ryan's book that the link is good again.

If you want to order the book visit this web site

Thank you all for reading this.

Sometime we just need a bit of good news

2005-09-29T20:39:00.000-07:00

It's very easy to become discouraged. Bad news (not a difficult thing to find) can be like a hornet at a picnic, one tiny insect ruining a perfect day.........or it can be like a tsunami, completely overwhelming everything in it's path.

Good news is the same, and today there is a small bit of good news that completely changed my outlook after a very tough day.

Read this post on Michael Yon's Online Magazine and see how it affects your outlook.

The first Democrat to criticize Cindy Sheehan

2005-09-27T19:21:00.000-07:00

If Democrats want to be taken seriously as American patriots, willing and able to defend the U.S. from our foes, then they need to speak out against the insane anti-war/anti/Bush voices in their party. Ed Koch, the former mayor of New Your City did that very thing today in this commentary (thanks to realclearpolitics.com) about the psychotic ranting of Cindy (the mother of U.S. hero Casey Sheehan).

It seems that every major politician in the Democrat party either agrees with Cindy and her nutcase, communist, totalitarian dictator supporting friends, or tolerates them. The Democrats in the media idol's her because they think she and her "movement" may take President Bush down, something they could not do with their made up stories about "stealing elections" and Bush's Texas Air National Guard days.

Now mind you, I hope the Democrats don't condemn Cindy or her insane message, because I'd like to see their party continue being irrelevant for the next 20 years or more. With all the "contenders" for the Democrat's nomination for the presidency in 2008 voting against John Roberts, ranting on about how Bush is responsible for quatrain, and completely void of valid ideas about real issues, I don't think I have much to worry about.

"Milbloggers".......I wish there were more of them

2005-09-21T21:46:00.000-07:00

There is not much I'd rather read these days than what military personnel deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan write. One of the best sources of such writing is Ma Deuce Gunner. This post is a great example of how the men and women in our armed forces think. The final paragraph not only answers a skeptic's question, but tells the reader everything about this fine young soldier.

Click on the link and read it for yourself. It'll make you proud.

Fantastic Commentary by Donna Brazile

2005-09-17T18:38:00.000-07:00

With Bush hatred being psychosis for most democrats I expect to read and hear bizarre rants on a regular basis. What I read today was shocking. Donna Brazile praising the President and his plan for rebuilding New Orleans.

Read it yourself here.

It's worth bearing in mind that Donna Brazile is considered to be the image shaper of democrat presidential candidates. I hope some of her rubs off on some of them.

Reflections From The Battlefield

2005-09-17T18:05:00.000-07:00

When Lcpl Tyler was in Iraq, from August 2004 until March 2005, many friends and family would phone or e-mail us to find out how we were doing, and more importantly how Tyler was doing. We did not hear from Tyler often enough to give us a sense of how things were over there or how he really was, so we found comfort anything at all we could read about events in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq. One great source of comfort was the e-mails a friend (Valerie) would forward to my Clyrinda (my beautiful Dove). Valerie is a very close friend of Chief Petty Officer Ryan Krause, a Navy Corpsman who was in Ramadi for much the same period of time Tyler was in Husaybah. NOTE.......Husaybah is in the news nearly every day right now as it is a terrorist hotbed.......

In addition to being a Corpsman, CPO Ryan is pastor of a church in Temecula CA. He would send his "Reflections from the Battlefield" to his friends and family via e-mail, which were then forwarded to literally thousands of people. We found the reflections to be both informative and comforting, as Pastor Ryan would always focus on how God is still in control and working in the midst of the storm of war. His reflections are now part of a book which was released on 9/11 2005.

Read this article about the book release then decide if you want to read Reflections From The Battlefield

Blame Bush? I don't think so

2005-09-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

Powerline just posted this story. I am heartened by facts that fly in the face of pessimistic the Bush bashing left.

Two Americas?

2005-09-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

The theme of Senator Edwards campaign for the Democrat nomination during the 2004 Presidential election was "Two Americas". He tried to divide the US between the "haves and the have nots", the idea being that those who feel like "have nots" would vote for him. I think there indeed are two Americas, but not the two Edwards talked about, and I think the US may be on the brink of an actual divide.

What are these two Americas? Read this, written by a leftist democrat blogger, then I will finish my thoughts.

You may be tempted to think "those are the thoughts of a crazy person", and I would agree. But what psychosis causes such hatred and inhumane incoherence? Is it only "Bush Hatred" or is it a more profound "Republican Hatred"? You may also be tempted to think "only a small minority of nuts think like that". Oh really? Read this from Chrenkoff. These are the sincere thoughts of mainstream democrats in America and other civilized western nations. Bush and the Christian conservative right are to blame for both hurricane Katrina and the tragedy of her aftermath? Insanity is too naive a term to describe this way of thinking.

Every day the insane ranting of the left gets worse. I am beginning to believe that the left (and the democrat party is the party of the left.......with mainstream democrats echoing the insanity the left displays) truly believes the right is evil and deserves to die (or otherwise be neutralized). This is a very disturbing thought since the majority of the nation is on the right. How can a nation survive such deep division, and should we even desire to survive it? I am not sure I want to live in a nation where such crazy thinking is allowed to grow, even thrive. My father, a democrat I assume, tells my son, his grandson, that Bush is "not his president" and the patriotic feelings of Bush supporters are not "his patriotism". Can you imagine republicans in the 1930s and 1940s telling their grandchildren that FDR is "not my president" and "his war is not my war"?

Those types of rantings are dangerous. Racist white supremacists have been jailed and had their belongings confiscated for less hateful comments than what the left is saying today. Isn't it only a matter of time before someone takes these thoughts to their logical conclusion and begins killing those "evil" people on the right? How many times can President Bush be called evil before someone thinks it's ok to do him harm?

Are there two Americas? Perhaps not, but there will be soon if the left has it's way.

You MUST read this

2005-08-21T09:10:00.000-07:00

Nothing I could say would add to THIS .......................just read it.

How to know if Cindy Sheehan is right or wrong?

2005-08-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

It has been said millions of times over thousands of years, you can tell about a person by who their friends are. Now I'm not suggesting that Cindy Sheehan is a personal friend of David Duke, the ex-KKK leader who continues to spout hatred for certain groups of people. But read this commentary by David Duke then read statements made by Ms. Sheehan (quotes from her are actually in the Duke piece) and decide for yourself if they are not cut from the same cloth. When someone like Duke agrees with you it may be time to re-consider your thoughts.

I'm sick of this poor mother (and I mean that sincerely, as I don't know how I would hold up with the loss of a child) calling President Bush a murderer and giving our enemy (the terrorists in Iraq) aid and comfort. And I'm twice as sick of the media giving her air time in which she tells the world her son was a stupid schmuck who died for nothing.

I'd say that what he did in Iraq (chase and kill terrorists) accounted to more in the big scheme of things that what his mother has accomplished in her entire life (if what she's doing now is the fruit of her life)

What's going on in Mosul

2005-08-11T21:13:00.000-07:00

So many of us want to know what our soldiers, sailors and marines are doing in Iraq. Far and away the best reporting on the subject is being done by Michael Yon (check his website here). Michael is ex military and currently in Iraq as an independent journalist. He is very knowledgable in every aspect of the war, but specifically writes about "Duece Four" (1st battalion 24th infantry regiment), an Army Stryker brigade group based in Mosul.

I check Michael's site every few days for a new dispatch. His latest had me glued to the computer as though I was reading the climax paragraph's of Clancy novel. Read it here and decide for yourself. He leaves us hanging as the brigade goes into action.................so right now I'm checking his site every day just to see what happens. You don't suppose he did that to increase his "hits" do you? Nah......I didn't think so.

Update on 1st Sgt Brad Kasal

2005-08-01T20:16:00.000-07:00

Not much has changed for the 1st Sgt.in the last month. Last week he saw a "Vascular" specialist who did a test which showed that Brad's veins and vessels appear to be working well. Brad's biggest concern has been the swelling and redness (I'd call it more like "purpleness".........sort of cooked beet color) in his leg when he de-elevates it. All the doctors seem to think that this condition will get better after the devise is removed and he can begin to work the muscles in the back of his leg.

He also had another X-ray which showed excellent bone growth, so it looks like the devise will really be coming off very soon..

Back in mid July my son Lcpl Tyler, and a friend of his, Lcpl John, as well as my young son Joshua and myself took Brad to the Gunshow in Del Mar . The 1st Sgt is a huge gun nut and had a great time looking at everything and giving us an education on every gun known to man. It was a pleasure for us, and good for Brad to get out and about for a few hours. It's pretty fun being a civilian and watching two young marines around the 1st Sgt. I thing both of the "little fellers" came away with a great role model etched in their minds. For that matter, so did little Joshua, who wants to know if the 1st Sgt is tougher than Lt. Shane Wolf (see the movie The Pacifier). I told him that Lt. Wolf wouldn't have lasted a month with the devise on his leg, making the 1st Sgt. winner of the "tough warrior" contest in Joshua's mind.

I will update after Brad's next Dr. appointment on Aug. 16th.

God Bless you all, and keep on praying for Brad.

Arguing with Dennis Prager is not a good idea

2005-07-14T21:54:00.000-07:00

Dennis Prager is certainly one of the most wise of Americans. While most radio talk show hosts entertain their listeners with rants about the hot topic of the day, Mr. Prager guides his listeners through thoughtful discussions guided by his motto "I prefer clarity to agreement". In striving for clarity he allows long phone calls from those who disagree with him, and during those conversations he guides the caller logically down a path leading to the destruction of their argument.

Recently Dennis made the point that you can't "support the troops" and be against the war. He pointed out that though "I support the troops" is the cliche of the day, it is only true when you actually support them in what they are doing. Seems pretty straight forward.

Bruce Ramsey writes in the Seatle Times that Mr. Prager is being "disingenuous" by defining the term "support" in such a way.

The following is a copy of the e-mail I sent to the Seatle Times................

Mr. Ramsey sure uses the word "disingenuous" alot. It
seems everyone is disingenuous except him.

Yet he is the one who needs to re-define a term in
able to win an argument. In fact he admits that by
Mr. Prager's definition of "supporting the troops" Mr.
Prager wins the argument. So Ramsey redefines what
"support" means.

Mr. Ramsey claims supporting the troops does not in
fact mean supporting what they are doing, but instead
means attempting to stop them from doing it (bye
bringing them home before they complete the job).
Since he and Prager use baseball as an example, so
will I. Ramsey's game would go like this..........I
support the Padres (our local team), but don't think
they should pound the daylights out of the poor
Mariner's pitchers, so the coach should forfeit the
game and sit on the bench until some pitchers who
deserve to have home runs hit off them come to Petco
Park to play.

It's really quite silly isn't it.

That however is not the biggest mistake Mr. Ramsey
makes. He says we supporters of the war don't have
the guts to say "support the war!". Where has he been
for the past three years? That's exactly what we have
been saying. It's what Bush said when he campaigned,
and WON the election in 2004.

And Mr. Ramsey, I'm sorry I had to hit your pitch out
of the park, but really, you deserved it, and I don't
care whose ballpark you are in.

Regards
Geoff Milke http:/senorlechero.blogspot.com

Update on 1st Sgt Brad Kasal

2005-07-12T21:02:00.000-07:00

The 1st Sgt has postponed the removal of the External Fixator Devise from his leg. He sought out and obtained a 2nd opinion (from civilian orthopedic specialists) on both the status of his leg and the direction his treatment should go from here. After that consultation (which took place yesterday) and phone consults with his two military doctors (Gerrard in San Diego and Mcgwigan in Bethesda) he decided to leave the devise on for another two months or so. While he really wants the devise off, he wants to make sure the bone is healed enough that he can put weight on the leg. It's all very complicated, but Brad is comfortable with this path of treatment, and happy that the end is in sight.

Reporters are not above the law

2005-07-10T15:26:00.000-07:00

When newpapers use "unidentified sources" in reporting on issues critical to national security they should not be protected by so called "Shield Laws", which allow them to keep the identities of their sources secret, even fron Grand Jury investigations into the leaks. This issue has been in the news alot lately, with the identity of "Deep Throat" (the vietnam era jerk who leaked secrets about Nixon's white house) being made public, and with the investigation into who "leaked" the fact that Valerie Plame, wife of national disgrace Joseph Wilson (a current jerk who lied about Bush during the election cycle last year), was a CIA agent.

This is a controversial issue which should be discussed publicly, so here's my two cents worth.

I read this New York Times article yesterday, about the Cleveland Plain Dealer not publishing an "important" story, because their lawyers say they will have to reveal their source or go to jail. It seems that the media types think the main point of all this is "If newspapers are afraid to report stories because they may go to jail, the public suffers" I think the main point is........If the story is SO IMPORTANT to the public, and the "source" is going to LEAK NATIONAL SECRETS, then why won't they do it publicly? If someone in the government does something wrong, why not speak out? If telling your story means leaking secrets and you arn't brave enough to do it publicly, then don't do it. I think newsrooms around the country should be asking themselves "What axe does this person have to grind" before they go public with secrets.

Personally, I wouldn't print something unless the "source" was willing to go public, at least where national security is concerned.

Another update on 1st Sgt Brad Kasal

2005-06-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

***UPDATE*** Today 1st Sgt Kasal met with his Doctor at Balboa and they discussed many options. The 1st Sgt has had the External Fixator Devise on his leg for 7 months. His bone needs at least 2 more months of "support", which the devise provides. The best option seems to be replacing the devise with a "plate" which would be inserted along the bone from just below the knee to just above the ankle, not interfering with the mobility of either joint. It is entirely possible that this could take place within 2 weeks.

Continue to pray for Brad as he considers the options and makes the difficult decisions.

Many of you readers seem to have some idea of the sense of humility which surrounds the 1st Sgt's devotion to the Corps and to his marines. He genuinely believes that the true "heros" of that day last November were the two young marines that pulled him from that building. For months 1st Sgt Kasal did not even know who they were, but he did meet them recently and expressed his deep gratitude to them. I asked Brad if they told him how frightened they were in that building. He said "they told me that they were so pumped (adrenaline I'm sure) that they never really gave it a thought". Brad went on to say "I was the one who was afraid for them, because I knew what was in that building, and how the enemy had a good line of sight on the room, and what they had to get through to get to me". These two young grunt marines impressed the 1st Sgt in a way they may never know.

While we were at the hospital, there was a Staff sergeant and a Sgt Major from Miramar waiting in the room. When Kasal's name was called over the loudspeaker I saw their heads turn to look for this larger than life marine. As we walked past them they gave an "Oorah 1st Sar'nt", and later sought him out in the hallway to give support and to meet a legend. I sat quietly as the 1st Sgt chatted with them and gave a few details as to the state of his recuperation. After we all moved on I was thinking how lucky I am to know Brad, but also how I would love to talk with those two young marine heros. They did such an incredibly heroic act that day in November 2004 in that house in the city of Fallujah, saving my friend so he could be at Balboa Hospital today telling his story. Maybe someday I will get to meet them. Their story is indeed worth telling.

You can see photos of the house dubbed "The House from Hell" and "Kasal's House" here. The photos were all taken by Lucian Read/World Picture News.

Update on 1st Sgt Brad Kasal

2005-06-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the 1st Sgt was admitted into Balboa Naval Hospital for observation and intervening antibiotics due to "mild" infection in some of his wounds (where the pins go through his leg and attach to the devise). The team of doctors, who all care for the 1st Sgt with the utmost respect and concern, decided to remove many of the larger pins from his leg. This was done for precautionary as well as therapeutic reasons. The fewer pins in his leg the better in terms of possible infection. Also, many of the pins cause a lot of pain and restrict mobility, so removing them gave Brad some instant relief.

Good news after the surgery. Some of the doctors think that he is healing at such a good rate that the devise might be able to be removed in 10 days to 2 weeks. That would be fantastic. Of course Brad's primary doctor is out of the loop right now, as the Corps has him up at Camp Pendelton for a week of "exercises", so Brad will consult with him late next week and the final decision will be made on what comes next and when.

Continue to pray that Brad will have no infections, and his spirits will remain high. He's been cooped up for nearly 8 months now. Knowing the type of person Brad is, that is probably more painful than the injury itself.

Where are the results for Terri Schiavo's autopsy?

2005-06-14T11:05:00.000-07:00

***UPDATE***

The autopsy report was released this morning, and is inconclusive in may respects, but not in the one I was most interested in. Terri Schiavo's brain was roughly half the size it should have been. To me this puts to rest the idea that she may have gotten better with therapy and proper medical treatment. How much of the brain damage was due to 15 years of neglect and how much was due to the lose of blood during her colapse is unclear. But, I am not much on conspiracy theories and take the medical examiner at this word.

I am often stunned by what the left passes off as "facts" about conservative Christians. The latest example of this comes in the form of commentary by a "Christian" reverend named Dr. N. Graham Standish, the pastor of Calvin Presbyterian Church in Zelianople (does anyone know where that is?). You can read the e-mail I sent the Dr. below this post. The Dr. ignores 9th commandment..........."You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor" and makes many politically correct accusations against conservative Christians without any facts to back his claims. The one that hits me the hardest is his claim that in the case of Terri Schiavo we (for I am a conservative Christian) " used her to reframe the issue of euthanasia by reducing it to a portrayal of a virtuous family trying to keep a disabled (they refused to call her comatose) woman alive, while her evil husband tried to kill her." Perhaps the good reverend should have found a quote or two to back his claim, for I'm sure many outrageous comments were made, but certainly not by any of the persons he names, and not by anyone I know. The conservative Christians (as well as Jews and others) who supported Terri's parents had (still have) legitimate questions as to the facts of the case............questions like "what has her husband done with all the money?", and "why is he in such a hurry to kill her?". We welcomed the idea of an autopsy on Terri's body so we could all have more facts. We have a legitimate point of view. Commentarys like this attempt to box us in as irrelevant and bigoted are disingenuous and themselves bigoted.

So, where are the results of that autopsy anyway? I want to know what the state of Terri Schiavo's brain was when she was put to death. Frankly, if she was in fact in a "persistant vegitative state" and her brain was mush, as the judge saiddeclared it to be, then I will have learned a lot about this case and others like it, and will gladly proclaim that "I was mis-informed". Likewise, if her brain was fine, and she was in need of medical treatment, not death, I would hope that those who wanted her killed would regret their misinformed attitude. Either way, I will still be against starving people to death.

Here is the e-mail I sent to Dr. Standish

Reverend Standish

It was with great interest I read your commentary on the divisions your percieve in our nation. After reading it all I could think of was the bible passage Luke 18:10-14, and how the Pharisee so proudly proclaimed his righteousness and the tax collector's sinfulness. Phrases like......."As a seminary student in the 1980s", "Apparently I wasn't much of a Christian back then" (a smug way of saying that you've always been the right kind of Christian), "I left the Republican Party in 1992 and registered as an independent precisely because I sensed the Republican Party slipping away from the Christianity to which I had committed my life", "I believe that those of us who are Christian ", all proclaim the superiority of the writer over those who........"suggest that the only political option for Christians is to be Republican.", "Republican-sanctioned, Lee Atwater-orchestrated style of politics in which politicians attack, denigrate, eviscerate and even falsely accuse each other. "

It's odd that you would use the term "falsely accuse each other" then go on to falsely accuse so many people. Apparently your brand of Christianity forgets the commandment to "Not bear false witness". You claim that some Christian Republicans "have an agenda to make the United States a so-called "Christian" nation", but none of those you accuse are guilty of the things you accuse them of. You simply throw out the polictically correct notions without fact and let it lay. That is a textbook example of bering false witness.

This "we're saved, you're not; we're right, you're wrong; we conservatives are right and virtuous, you liberals are wrong and sinful." is a figment of your imagination.

As a conservative Christian Republican, I neither make such claims, not belive such, nor does anyone I know (and I read all of those you name by name). What we do believe is that classic Judeo-Christian values are the best values, and we promote them as such. Values such as life for the innocent, the death penalty for the vilest of murderers, marriage between one man and one woman, anti-suicide, anti-euthanasia, anti-abortion, pro-family, pro-hard work, pro-charity, pro-classic education (as opposed to the politically correct education public schools not present), pro-school choice are what we stand for, and what we believe we want our government to reflect.

As a Christian do you believe it's wrong to speak out for such values?

You condemn us for speaking out for the family of Terri Schiavo, who only wanted to take care of her and allow modern medicine to work in her favor. You say that we "refused to call her comatose" (not even the doctors involved called her comatose..........you obviously don't know much about the case) and "reduced the larger issue of euthanasia to a simple equation" when in truth we were the ones claiming that the situation was far more complex than her husband and the courts were portraying it to be.

I sit here and wonder what you would say if Terri Schiavo's autopsy showed her to have a normal brain. Would you then say her husband and the courts were wrong? Would you say you are wrong in vilifying we who wanted mercy for her and her family?

Mercy seems to be fully lacking in your worldview. Without mercy there is not Christianity. You might want to try some the next time you stand proclaiming your righteousness and our sinfulness. We already know ours, which is why we cried out to the Lord in the first place.

Sincerely (and with a broken heart at your misguided attack on us)
Geoff Milke

The Baja 500....Listen to the Weatherman

2005-06-07T07:29:00.000-07:00

Many of you who read this blog might not know what the "Baja 500" is. Hopefully after reading a paragraph or two you will know, and understand why I spent the past Saturday (6-4-05) in front of my computer listening to the "Weatherman"

Off road racing may not be much of a spectator sport, but for those of us who are off-road racing fans the Baja 500 is one of two "must see" events. Because the race is run the 1st weekend of June every year, right after Memorial Day, Baja California is as perfect as a postcard. A simple drive through the hills or along the coast inspires a relaxing mindset, and kindles the desire for adventure. Though the race is often not a full 500 miles (this year it was only 419) to the racers it feels like 1,000 miles. In fact, many racers will say the 500 is much harder than the 1,000, the other "must see" event, which is held in the middle of November. Spectators gather in farm fields, on beaches, in pine forests, at natural "danger" points and man made booby-traps, and everywhere the course is near paved roads. The fact is, that in Mexico, every dirt trail is a road used by someone to get somewhere, a fact that adds to the "legend" of the Baja. Some day I will blog on some of the stories racers tell (like the time Mark McMillin had a man "appear" directly in front of him in the road, then disappear just as immediately, dropping into a "baja" sized pothole.........like some sick game of chicken with the exhausted drivers..... as Mark drove over him at 80 mph), but not today. Today I just want to give readers a feel for what motivates an avid off-road fan to spend the day sitting at the computer.

I've been involved with off-road racing since 1985, the year Mark McMillin (many time champion of both the Baja 500 and Baja 100.................and my employer at the time) asked me to "Pit" for him at Quatro Casas, my favorite northern baja surf spot. "Pitting" involves helping the racers in any way they may need, from "dumping" fuel and changing tires, to providing food and water. That year I just watched as Mark (and Mark's father Corky) raced past me, giving a short "honk" as they went by to acknowledge their thanks that I was there for them. I was hooked and became the McMillin's family designated beach pit person (after a few years I became their dedicated "out to the wilderness" pit person.

Every baja racer uses an FM radio to communicate with their team members and various other persons connected with the race. Like a thousand exicted truckers on high power CB radios, they chatter on the radios day and night. Bob Steinberger, AKA "the Weatherman" is the grand daddy of all off road racing radio people. Bob has a business (PCI) that sells radios and racing safety equipment. PCI specializes in radio/intercom setups that help racers communicate with each other as well as the world outside their racecar. These days Bob's son, Scott, does most of the selling (when he's not racing in the #7 Trophy Truck), and I'm not sure what Bob really does at the family business. But when it comes to the Baja races Bob is all "Weatherman", and his job is clear as a crystal; he controls the race radio traffic from atop the 10,000 ft. high Picacho del Diablo (devil mountain). Every year, race after race, Bob sets up a high tech communication center atop the mountain that is also home to a world class space observatory.

Racers and fans tune into "the Weatherman" channel and listen to the latest events of the race. The air is full of chatter, from lost racers, to frightened racers wives, as well as local Mexican pranksters and real long haul truckers (who accidently tune to the weatherman channel). Because Weatherman is on top of the highest mountain in Baja, his signal can be heard from almost anywhere on the course. Contrary to that fact, most of the people who call the Weatherman are down in some valley and can only be heard by those within "eyeshot" of them. This year an internet entrepreneur, known affectionately as "Klaus", set up on Devil Mountain with Weatherman, and fed all radio traffic into his computer creating a live internet stream, making Weatherman accessible to all of us who had to stay home. It was sooooooooooooooo cool. Not only could we hear the familiar and comforting voice of Weatherman, we could hear every call to him. You can't imagine what that did to my Saturday.

I intended to build a rock wall in the back yard, so I got an early (8:00 am is early for me on Saturday) start outside. At about 9:15 (the 4 wheel vehicles start the race at 9:00, with one car starting every 30 seconds) I came in for a cup of coffee, and to check the internet to see if there were any posts about the race. I checked race-dezert.com (Klaus' website) and to my amazement, there was a post that said "Weatherman Live Streaming Broadcast). I did a quick "copy and paste" to Real Media Player and there was Weatherman...........tears came to my eyes..............I was at home, and at the Baja 500.

Not much else happened that day. My wife, who had encouraged me to go to the 500, was quite annoyed with me sitting at the computer listening to the scratchy sound of strange voices, so I attempted to accomplish a chore or two. One would think I would have quit listening around 6:00 pm when Robby Gordon crossed the finish line as the Overall 4 Wheel champion, but no. There were still 250 or more vehicles out there, including the young Andy McMillin, who chased Robby all day long and finished 2nd overall, and my brother George, who was to drive in his first off road race in the 502 car (a baja bug), and all my friends in Class 7, who I wished I was competing with.

I listened until about 10:00 pm, and went to bed. Sunday morning I checked in and found that many people had listened all night long. The Weatherman was still on the air helping the lost and the straggling find their crews and safe passage home.

I don't know if modern technology is always a good thing, but this past Saturday I was thanking God for the good thing I found in the Weatherman, Klaus, and the Baja 500.

Update on 1st Sgt Brad Kasal

2005-05-25T08:24:00.000-07:00

***UPDATE*** Ssgt Viklund did not lose his leg. The infection was light and local and they knocked it out. He will be on IV antibiotics for 6 weeks or so, but has great hopes of keeping his leg. PRAISE GOD!!

1st Sgt Kasal had his monthly Dr. appointment Tuesday and is healing well and has excellent bone growth. He should have his devise removed in mid-late July (Brad had hoped for June but knows how important it is to make sure his bone is strong)

The 1st Sgt is a very self disciplined individual, which is a very positive thing right now. He exercises his leg every day, many times a day, gaining movement and strength, and also circulating blood through the leg, stimulating bone growth. He also cleans his wounds many times a day, which has so far kept him from having infections. The threat of infection with external fixating devises in huge, and can be devastating.

A while back I posted photos of 1st Sgt Kasal and one of his marines, Ssgt Viklund, who also has an external fixating divise. At that time Ssgt Viklund was doing great. But now he has developed an infection, and is facing the loss of his leg. He has a very difficult decision to make, and whatever he decides, he has a very tough time ahead of him.

Please pray for Ssgt Viklund as you pray for 1st Sgt Kasal

The best argument for the Death Penalty

2005-05-23T20:34:00.000-07:00

Cathy Young writes in The Boston Globe about retribution (revenge actually) as the only legitimate reason for the death penalty. She claims that unless death penalty proponents admit that retrubution is their real motive their "arguments fall flat".

I get so tired of the arguments anti-death penalty people use to keep murderers alive. One of their favorites (used in a rather lame way by Ms. Young) is to claim that "life in a prison cell" is just as bad (Ms Young says "6' by 6' cell). Can anyone name a state where convicted murderers stay in a 6' by 6' cell? Can anyone name a state where they are in solitary confinement (excepting death row)? No!! Another of their arguments is to claim that "since there is always the 'chance' that an innocent person will be executed, the 'state' has no right to authorize 'murder' in my name". Only the worst of the worst murderers are sentenced to death, and then only after years of appeals are they executed, and guess what...............the state isn't doing the authorizing of execution, a jury of 12 is (that jury represents we the people, not the state)

There is one argument for the death penalty that cannot be refuted by the anti crowd, and that is this..........It is immoral and uncivil to make people (prisoners, guards, doctors, lawyers etc.) be in close contact with a known cold blooded murderer. No one should have to risk their lives being in the same cellblock with a person who enjoys killing other people. Nor should anyone have to risk being murdered while providing food, care, cloting, or anything else to one. It is far more caring to all humanity to kill a murderer than to give him the chance to murder again.

This is true even when weighing the risks of putting an innocent person to death, something that hasn't happened in a very long time.

Another Kennedy out of touch with reality

2005-05-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

Joseph P. Kennedy II has come up with a great new plan that would allow every American to invest in private retirement accounts. He calls it "A populist approach to pension funds." It is so simple and cost effective that I can't believe nobody thought of it yet. Oh..............Wait..........somebody did think of it. In fact his idea already exists. It's called the Tax Sheltered Annuity. Does Kennedy not know that people already have the ability to invest in their own retirement fund? Or does Kennedy think that a government run fund would be a better investment alternative than a private fund? Or, as I suspect, is Kennedy trying to create a diversion from President Bush's Social Security reform plan, and he's dumb enough to think we won't notice?

Kennedy is basically saying that Americans should have the ability to invest their own money (not the money they pay in taxes...........because that's not their own money of course) in a well run and profitable retirement fund. The twist is that Kennedy's plan would allow people to invest in "public" retirement funds, like the Massachusetts retirement fund, or California's fund. That's right, instead of putting your hard earned money into a private fund, you would put it into a fund run full of public employee pension money.

Can't you just hear the "giant sucking sound" of dollars being pulled from private funds and rushing into the state funds?

NO? Neither can I?

What's the point? The democrats know that private retirement accounts are the only way to save Social Security, they just don't want to admit it because that would be to admit Bush is right. Bush knows that millions of Americans have no "extra" money to invest in retirement accounts and will rely on Social Security, so he wants to let them direct some of their Social Security tax dollars into private accounts. The democrats cant stand the idea of their hard earned tax dollars being skimmed off to invest in private retirement accounts. Could this be the first attempt by the dems to alter the social security system and allow private investment?

I doubt it, and think a better question is.....Is Joseph Kennedy II really so out of touch with reality?

Jonathan Chait, wrong in so many ways

2005-05-20T09:50:00.000-07:00

Jonathan Chait has a commentary in today's LA Times which is wrong in it's premise, ignorant in it's reporting, and fatally flawed in it's logic. He claims that the "Christian right" is hypocritical because they don't want there to be any reporting on the "scandal" at the Air Force Academy, thus proving that the loony left is right (correct) in it's assumption that Christians really do want to ram the bible down their throats. Chait's premise is that Christians want to "impose their beliefs on everyone else", and are lying when they say they don't. He tries to show hypocrisy by claiming that the conservative press is not reporting on supposed instances of religious discrimination at USAFA. He wraps it all up with a point of logic that works only if one starts with the assumption that Christians really do want to impose their beliefs (circular logic in the 1st degree).

First of all, as a born again believer in Jesus Christ (as my Savior and as Savior to everyone who believes in Him), as well as a hard right conservative, I find the presumption that Christians want to impose their beliefs on the world a patheticly weak notion, and completely ignorant of the facts. Christians believe in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ through good works and proclamation of the gospel. It is antithetical to Christian teaching to impose the gospel on anyone. In fact, a person can only come to faith in Jesus by their own free will. This is not to say that some Christians do not act in a bad manner..............indeed some do. Yet the vast majority of gospel spreading is done by hard working "missionaries" who first feed and clothe, then preach. People like Chait, who do not know this to be true, cannot come to a correct conclusion on what it is Christians desire, and often end up ascribing evil motives to us. Worldwide, christianity is the most tolerant religion as well as the most generous.

Secondly, how does the fact that three news sources (cherry picked I'm sure) equate to a news blackout on the USAFA story? How many sources did Chait "search" to find the three he names? A quick Google search shows many"conservative" news sources reporting the story, including the San Diego Union/Tribune, Rocky Mountain News, Deseret News, The Daily Texan and the Jewish News Weekly, all sources where conservatives might read the story. Even more telling is that CNN and MSNBC are both listed in the Google search, but FoxNews is not. Yet a search of foxnews.com shows that it has reported the story, even reported it before CNN and MSNBC did. Fox News is far and away the main source of news for most conservatives (Christian and non-Christian). There's no hypocrisy in the fact that two out of three hand picked sources did not report a story. Publications pick their stories in the manner they see fit, and readers are free to read other sources. I'd venture to guess that more conservative Christians have read about this "scandal" than have secularist liberals. Why do I say that? Because it matters to us far more than it matters to them (they have won all the major battles in the last 50 years where freedom of religion vs freedom from religion was concerned)

Lastly, what is with the ridiculous logical mistake of claiming that "Most Americans are Christian, therefore the United States is a Christian country. Therefore, the institutions of this state ought to promote the religious views of the majority............."(the last part isn't worth repeating due to it's petty and insulting nature). Does Chait give a single example of any Christian American making this claim? I'll answer that..........NO! Why not? I'll answer that too. Because Christians in America don't believe it.............never have, never will. A logical statement would have been "Most Americans are Christian, therefore the United States is a Christian country. Therefore having examples of in America of Christians expressing their views should not come as a surprise to anyone"

I wonder how Chait and those like him came to their mistaken view of Christianity and what Christians want? As a young boy was he beat up by roving bands of bully Christians who insisted that he tithe his allowance? Perhaps during the school Christmas Pagent he didn't sing "Silent Night" as loud as the rest of the children, and thus became the object of intense scorn. As an adolescent was he force fed Christian views by authority figures.....maybe his drivers education teacher continually crossed himself and said the Rosary as Chait sat behind the wheel? As a grown up man has he had to work for a company that forced their Christian views on him, made him attend prayer meetings and revivals, or donate to Christian charities? I think none of the above. Yet he believes this is how we act, and preaches thusly from his pulpit at the LA Times

The problem with the "Anti-Immigration" Right

2005-05-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

Of course they say they are not anti "immigrant", they are only anti "illegal immigrant". They cover their rants with the righteous cloth of the Global War On Terror, and "They should wait in line to enter the US just like everyone else had to do". It's pointless to argue with them for they get vigorously agitated and angry and dismiss all logical but contrary points of view. It pains me to hear some of the conservative radio talk show hosts.........Laura Ingraham for instance, or Roger Hedgecock (the convicted conspirator/ex-mayor...........oh yeah, it was overturned on a technicality........even though the other three conspirators plead guilty) locally here in San Diego..........rant on incoherently about how the "Border is like swiss cheese and any terrorist could just walk across" (I guess they could if they were tiny rodents) and "They are taking our jobs and keeping wages down", and my favorite........"They come for the health care and education..........paid for by the taxpayers"

This all pains me so for I agree with them on 99.9% of all issues. I hate seeing them so blinded by this one, and am forced to wonder............"Are they just plain anti-Mexican?"

You see, Mexican and Central American migrants have been coming to America to work since before California was a state. They do in fact perform "the jobs that the rest of us won't do". They work hard for low wages in agriculture, and landscaping, restaurants and hotels. The other day I was stunned when Laura Ingraham, in a pathetic attempt to refute this fact, claimed..........."My mother was a waitress for 30 years!".........as though the illegals have the waiter/waitress jobs all Americans long for. No Laura, they wash the dishes and bus the tables, then, after the waiters/waitresses go home, they mop the floor, clean the grease traps, wash the owner's Mercedes, and generally get the place ready for the next day

Is there a problem with illegal immigration? Yes! But the problem is not the workers who work hard at honest jobs so they can send a little money home to support the families they see one or two months each year. The problem is that along with the hard working migrants come lawbreakers (don't try to tell me "they all are lawbreakers by coming here illegally" for I will be forced to prove you to be the biggest of hypocrites). These lawbreakers, mostly gang members and drug dealers/smugglers cause a lot of problems and use up a lot of resources (yes money, tax dollars).

We do need to have a border where everyone who comes here comes through a gate and is checked by proper authorities, but we will not get that sort of border until we also deal with the fact of the 10-13 million workers who are here and working productively.

President Bush wants to deal with the workers first. The ferocious anti-immigrant righties would be more productive if instead of their constant drone of "Bush is wrong" they would begin a drone of.........."Build the wall at the same time"

The problem with the US Senate

2005-05-17T17:33:00.000-07:00

Spinelessness!! That's the only term I can come up with for the way some republican senators are acting. With John McCain leading the way they are letting the minority set the agenda for the future of this nation.

A showdown looms on the floor of the Senate, yet I fear that repbulicans will pack up their weapons and go home. They will claim that "it's better to live to fight another day", and "we avoided a catastrophic fight", yet we grass roots republicans will be left bleeding on the real battlefield.

Senator Arlen Specter, a man whose approach to politics and leadership I despise, had this to say about the crisis over judicial nominees....."If we fail to step back from the abyss, we will descend into a dark, protracted era of divisive partisanship". What? Is he nuts? Does he live in a cave, or is he just to busy rubbing elbows with the high and mighty in DC? Are we not living in times of excruciating partisanship? The democrats have called us every name from Satan to Hitler. They attribute to us evil motives in everything we find dear. They would legislated us out of existance if it were possible, and if these Senators keep it up, someday it will be possible.

Pablo the Chump

2005-05-12T18:07:00.000-07:00

Pablo Paredes, the anti-war activist, has been sentenced to 3 months of hard labor, and demoted to Seaman Recruit, the lowest rank in the Navy. I did not hear if he will be discharged, but I hope not, for I would like to see him face the Seamen and Officers he slandered.

Pablo is a chump. The anti-war crowd convinced him that he would be a hero, a symbol of their movement. Yet they have deserted him and he is nobody's hero. The fact that he's a selfish, lying brat should be enough to disqualify him from continued service in the navy, but I hope he stays in long enough to face the men and women he deserted.

Pablo; a word of advise......while in jail..........don't drop the soap.

Update on 1st Sgt Brad Kasal

2005-05-07T20:33:00.000-07:00

1st Sgt Kasal is progressing very well in the area of bone growth and mobility, as well as attitude. The bone growth continues at a good rate, and in the past couple of weeks he has been able to move his ankle more and more, getting his foot to nearly 90 degrees (in relation to the leg). That's an improvement of 200% or better in just a few weeks. Getting his foot to 90 degrees is crucial if he is to be able to walk again, which he is confident of doing. He is able to stand longer and walk more every day, which should help with the pain and swelling (when he stands his leg and foot swell like a water balloon being filled with a firehose)

Brad has had a great few weeks. In addition to the good news on his leg, he was able to spend time with his mother and brother who came to visit him. While they were here he did many things with them, ranging from visiting a gun show to attending a memorial for the marines of 3/1 Weapons Company who were killed in Iraq.

Iraq, the reality on the ground

2005-05-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

Today the blogosphere is filled with rants about Conscientious Objector Aidan Delgado and the outrageous claims he has made about how the US military treats Iraqi citizens. Excellent blogs like Powerline and Blackfive are all over the story, and will undoubtedly come up with the truth of the story (which I believe will prove Delgado to be a liar). I want to approach the story from a different angle, and talk about the truth about how the US military, the Marines in particular, treat the Iraqi people.

My son spent 7 months in one of the worst cities in Iraq, Husaybah. Husaybah made the news in a big way three weeks ago when al Qaeda suicide bombers attacked Camp Gannon with three massive suicide bombs (see the terrorists video of the attack here). But the Marines in Husaybah always showed restraint when dealing with the Iraqis who live and work there. In fact, the case could be made that marines were injured because they used so much restraint and employed such stringent Rules of Engagement.

Tonight I offer proof that Delgado's version is wrong. A friend of mine gave me photos taken during the battle for Fallujah in November 2004. What we see are photos like this which show incredible restraint in taking a terrorist prisoner (look at the others, here, here, and here). There is no abusing him, even though he very likely was trying to kill these marines just minutes or hours earlier. Then there are photos like these, here and here, where a navy corpsman is treating a wounded terrorist. It's very likely that wounded marines are sitting very close to this action, watching the corpsman patch up the guy who just shot marines. The best is yet to come. The marines of 3/1 came upon many innocent civilians during the battle. After days of little rest and non-stop fighting, they came upon this particular family, check this one, this one and this one too. Notice the lack of menfolk? All the men were likely off killing marines.Civilians in Iraq are told that US marines must kill their mothers to become marines. Don't they look so frightened?

33 marines from 3/1 died during the 2 week long battle in Fallujah, yet they treated the Iraqis in Fallujah with incredible decency.

The protection women and children, the caring for injured enemy soldiers (terrorists), the decent capture of prisoners are really what the US military is all about

Defense Department report on killing of Italian hero

2005-05-02T20:53:00.000-07:00

In the news today was a story about the Pentagon's investigation into the killing of Nicola Calipari, the Italian hero who died trying to shield an Italian anti-war, communist, news woman, after securing her release from Iraqi kidnappers.

From the first momments after this terrible incident (American soldiers hate killing innocent civilians during war) it was clear that the Italians were going to try to make this a story about Americans screwing up. There has already been so much said by the Italian media and politicians that any hope of them accepting the results of an honest investigation were futile.

But in the aftermath of the tragedy, and in attempts to get the facts out quickly, we find that the US did screw up, not in the fatal incident, but in the reporting, by releasing the investigation report in a format that included access to "classified" redacted parts of the report.

Italian media are quick to point out differences between the American and Italian assesment of fact. One such difference is found in this story, picked up by the Assyrian International News Agency. The Americans say the car carrying the reporter and the two Italian security men was travelling at a high rate of speed and did not slow down, even after lights were flashed and warning shots were fired. The Italians say that they stopped the car immediately upon seeing the warning signs and lights, which only appeared 10 yards ahead of them (I'm paraphrasing all of this). So, if the Italian reports are to be believed, the getaway car was travelling at approximately 30 mph down the most dangerous stretch of highway in all of Iraq (to stop withing 10 yards a car could be travelling no faster than 30 mph). We would also have to believe that the Americans allow cars travelling at high rates of speed to approach to within 10 yards of them before firing warning shots. I sure hope no car bombs ever approach the Americans, because 10 yards is pretty darn close for an explosion.

The Italian report is to come out soon. Perhaps we'll find out that Assyrian reporting is flawed and they meant to say 100 yards (a far more likely distance). But I'm not holding my breath.

Prediction.................Within a year forces in the Italian government will be seeking to try the American in the world court on charges of war crimes.

Scott Ritter.......Al Jazeera's favorite son?

2005-05-01T20:56:00.000-07:00

Spring is upon us, and the snakes are coming out of their holes to bask in the sun on these warm autumn days. One of their favorite places is in the road on the black ashphalt pavement. Every year we see many on the roads near our house, often slowing to show the children..............."Look Joshua, it's a King Snake", or "Beth Ann, did you see that Rattlesnake?"

I was going to start this post by saying......."yesterday another snake crawled from his hole. American traitor punk Scott Ritter slipped into the light of day with this commentary". But this morning I googled Rtter to refresh my memory about him. Now I'm troubled, and find myself wondering "what the heck happened to the guy?" I have found no answer, but suspect that his personal troubles have affected his ability to think rationally.

Ritter exploded into the limelight in 1991 when he became the UN's chief weapons inspector in Iraq, charged with insuring the destruction of Iraq's WMD stockpiles and programs He was an impressive individual and a hero to many of us who thought Saddam's Iraq was a problem in need of a solution. For years he agressively pursued WMD in Iraq and dogged the UN to give him the support he needed.

Then something wierd happened. In 1998 Ritter abrubtly resigned, making claims that the US was making his job for the UN harder, if not impossible. No biggie, Hans Blix was available. I say this was "wierd" because it came out of the blue, and seemed to be contrary to what I knew about Ritter (I admit I knew him only from what I read and heard in the news.........he could have been misleading America all along)

Then, during the buildup to the Iraq war, Ritter called for impeachment and prosecution of President Bush, making claims that Iraq was really not a threat, and that the US could not win a war with Iraq. He is quoted as saying in March 2003 that the US "would leave Iraq with it's tail between it's legs". For all you "Bush lied" freaks, Ritter stated that if the US attacked Iraq, Iraq would respond with poison gas (Ritter believed Iraq had WMDs) then the US would retaliate with nukes.

Today Ritter is a totally discredited farce and liar who ought to dissappear into the closet whatever room he lives in. Yet instead he continues bashing the US and is now the darling of Al Jazeera. In his latest "commentary" he pulls the pit out of the truth then stuffs it with an anti-US, anti-military lie. Ritter makes the claim that a few disillusioned marines from the 3rd battalion 7th MAR, who had a tough time in Husaybah Iraq back in April 2004 are proof that the US is not winning the war. He completely leaves out the fact that 3/7 was replaced by 1/7, who kicked the terrorists butts for 7 months before turning Husaybah over to 3/2. Then he uses the triple SVBIED attack of April 11, 2005 as proof that things are not better in Iraq. NO MARINES DIED IN THAT ATTACK, and up to 50 terrorists did (many non-iraqi terrorists who will not drive suidide bombs into American schools, malls, or churches).

Ritter has a problem with the facts, but a bigger problem with perspective. Everything Ritter writes shows up in far left scialist news sites, making him the American far left's hero.

I started this post mad at the guy for his stupid comments about the Marines in Iraq. I now finish it feeling sorry for him as it has become clear Scott Ritter is mentally unstable.

Why is the truth kept hidden?

2005-04-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

Clyrinda and I attended a conference for married couples this weekend. During one of the breaks we sat down for lunch with another couple, who we know from church yet do not know well. As we ate and chatted the issue of war and President Bush came up. I understand that you all don't know Clyrinda, but let me give a hint as to her political persuasion...............if there is the slightest hint of anti-war or anti-Bush attitude within the range of her voice, she will jump at the chance to challenge that attitude. The husband of this couple mentioned that "things were so bad", and this Iraq thing was "making everything worse", and perhaps another small thing or two along those lines. I kept my mouth firmly wrapped around my sandwich waiting for the moments to pass so we could discuss other issues. Clyrinda had a different, but just as kind, approach. She asked "What would you have the President do?"

Pretty simple question, but I never expected such a simple answer. "Bring all the troops home now" the man said. Now since simple was the talk, I chimed in with "They don't want to come home". Our anti-war friend looked at me with stunned disbelief and did not say another word. I'm sure the idea that marines, sailors, soldiers and airmen on the ground in Iraq actually want finish what they started never occured to him.

How do people come to be so uninformed? (Shawn, if you read this I truly do not mean to insult you)

The misinformation about the Iraq war is astounding, yet passes off as fact. I couldn't begin to count the number of times I've heard "Iraq had nothing to do with Al Qaeda", and yet there are dozens of documented and undisputed instances of very real ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda.

The book Shadow War, by Richard Miniter, lists the undisputed facts which tie Iraq to al Qaeda in Apendix D of the book. I will list a few .

* "Abdul Rahman Yasin was the only member of the al Qaeda cell that detonated the 1993 World Trade Center bomb to remain at large int he Clinton years. He fled to Iraq. US forces recently discovered a cache of documents in Tikrit, Saddam's hometown, that show that Iraq gave Yasin both a house and monthly salary"

* "In October 2000, another Iraqi intelligence operative, Salah Suleiman, was arrested near the Afghan border by Pakistani authorities, according to Jane's Foreign Report, a respected international newsletter. Jane's reported that Suleiman was shuttling between Iraqi intelligence and Ayman Al-Zawahiri, now al Qaeda's number two man."

* "Spanish investigators have uncovered documents seized from Yusuf Galan -who is charged by a Spanish court with being "directly ivolved with the preparation and planning" of the September 11 attacks- that show the terrorist was invited to a party at the Iraqi embassy in Madrid. The invitation used his "al Qaeda nom de guerre," London's Independent reports.

* "An Iraqi defector to Turkey, known by his cover name as 'Abu Mohammed', told Gwynne Roberts of the Sunday Times of London that he saw bin Laden's fighters in camps in Iraq in 1997. At the time, Mohammed was a colonel in Saddam's fedayeen. He described an encounter at Salman Pak, the training facility southesast of Baghdad. At that vast compound run by Iraqi intelligence, Muslim militants trained to hijack planes with knives-on a full sized Boeing 707. Col. Mohammed recalls his first visit to Salman Pak this way: "We were met by Colonel Jamil Kamil, the camp manager, and Major Ali Hawas. I noticed that a lot of people were queuing for food. (The Major) said to me: "You'll have nothing to do with these people. They are Osama bin Laden's group and the PKK and Mojahedin-e Khalq."

And here is perhaps the best of them all.........

* "Abu Musaab al-Zarqawi oversaw an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, Secretary Powell told the United Nations. His specialty was poisons. Wounded in fighting with the US forces, he sought medical treatment in Baghdad in May, 2002. When al-Zarqawi recovered, he restarted a training camp in northern Iraq. Al-Zarqawi's cell was later tied to the October 2002 murder of Lawrence Foley, an official of the US Agency for International Development, in Amman, Jordan. The captured assassin confessed that he recieved orders and funds from Zarqawi's cell in Iraq, Secretary Powell said. His accomplice escaped to Iraq.

None of these undisputed facts are known by the average person, who assumes the media reports of "No Ties" are correct. Why is that? The point of the book is that President Bush would rather win the GWOT (global war on terror) than win re-election so he downplayed the successes in the war. But these are well known facts (there are about 20 more in the book) so why do the anti war forces still succeed in their claims? Since Bush already won re-election, the answer must be that he still wants to win the war.

But nobody asked me to lay low and keep quiet, so I'm talking. Iraq was a major supporter of al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups and needed to be taken out, as did the war making capabilities of Iraq.

Honorable US Senators

2005-04-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

My wife and I just sent the following letter (in e-mail form) to the top 6 republicans in the US Senate.....

Honorable Senator ______________ (Frist, Santorum, McConnell, Kyl, Hutchinson, and Stevens)

Since we live in California, we have no representation in the US Senate. We are writing to you as lifelong republicans who worked hard in the last election to insure a larger majority for you.

But that majority is now threatened.

If you make a compromise deal with the democrats (who have demonized all of us republicans, as well as Bush's nominees) you are telling them they are right and we are wrong.

Please stand firm on this issue and stop the democrats filibuster of nominees.

If you let us down, and compromise, we will do everything in our power to get you, and any other republican senators who support compromise, out of office. It is better to be in the minority and know where you stand than to be in the majority yet unable to stand.

Sincerely
Geoff and Clyrinda Milke (whos son, Lcpl in the USMC, just returned from Iraq and supports Bush 100%)

Corporal "Mac" (Vietnam era "gun control".....California style)

2005-04-15T13:56:00.000-07:00

In 1967 a young marine went off to serve his country in that now infamous place called Vietnam. He was a "gung ho" PFC in the 1st battalion 5th marine regiment, and was ready to do whatever the job called for and still be able to return home safely. He spent 21 months there, extending his tour so his brother would not be sent to the war. He was among the marines that fought in and liberated Hue City from the NVA. That battle was one of the most fierce battles of the war, and is often compared to the recent battle of Fallujah. While in Vietnam he was transfered to the 12th marines as security for an artillery battalion. Around Sept of 1968 he was sent home, the Los Angeles area of California, for well deserved R and R. During his first few days home he decided to buy a handgun to take back to Vietnam. In a California gunshop he found a Colt Trooper Mark 3, a classic six shot 357 revolver with incredible "knock down" power. The problem was California had a 10 day waiting period, and the shop would not deliver the gun in time for his return to the war. The shop owner suggested that he visit the chief of police and see if he could get the waiting period waived. So he took a copy of his orders to the chief and asked for a waiver, which the chief gladly provided. Cpl Mac headed back to Vietnam packing his brand new sixgun.

After his transfer to the 12th marines he was at a base approximately 40 miles north of Thu Bai. The marines had arrtillery set up in one corner of an ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) base. He soon found himself with an opportunity to use the pistol in battle. During an intense firefight with NVA regulars, who were wearing green boxer shorts and tee shirts in an attempt to confuse their enemy, Cpl Mac made a trip to an ammo bunker, moving through trenches so as to avoid being an exposed target. While returning to his position near the artillery, moving through the trench , one ammo box in his left hand, another ammo box and his Colt revolver in his right hand, he came face to face with a "short darkskinned man in his underwear". Cpl Mac immediately dropped both ammo boxes, raised the 357, and with complete confidence and excellent "gun control" fired two shots, the first hiting the enemy in the chest, the second in the neck, nearly severing his head from his shoulders. The NVA soldier dropped dead next to the "sachel charge" he was about to throw into one of the artillery locations.. Fortunately for the marines Cpl Mac dropped the bad guy 10 yards short of his objective.

Just before he returned home Cpl. Mac made a stop in Okinawa, where he bought his dad a gift. He found this beautiful Ruger 44 and had it engraved by a Japanese craftsman. He returned home with both revolvers and today he proudly displays them to friends as a reminder of the part he played in the Vietnam war.

1st Sgt Kasal is doing GREAT!!!

2005-04-15T13:53:00.000-07:00

1st Sgt Kasal had another follow up Dr. visit yesterday, and x-rays show excellent bone growth. He is ahead of schedule and very excited about his prospects.

Continue to pray for him, his leg, the doctors, nurses and technicians who are treating him, and for "his marines"

Today 1st Sgt Kasal was surprised by his marines with a "going away" party (he has been reassigned to a training battalion). He was lured to Camp Pendleton by friends who told him that several of his men were to recieve awards. Instead they honored him and presented him with a finely engraved 45 pistol and many sincere "thank-you"s and "good-luck"s. He is genuinely surprised and touched by the love and respect his marines have for him.

What Filibuster?

2005-04-15T13:36:00.000-07:00

Like most conservatives who want to see conservative Judges in the federal appeals courts, and ultimately the Supreme Court, I am disgusted with the Senators of my party. What a bunch of spineless wannabes they are. They have allowed the democrats to define the debate on judiciary appointments as being about "the right of the minority to be heard". The use of the "filibuster" is a time honored tradition in the U.S. Senate, and should always be there so the minority can be heard. Any senator can get up and talk on any subject for as long as he wants, or until 61 (this number has been changed over the years) of his or her fellow senators vote for "cloture" on debate. This allowed time for more debate, in hopes of changing minds and thus changing votes. Some time back the senate changed the filibuster and allowed senators to just say "I intend to filibuster", thus ending debate until a cloture vote can succeed.

The democrats have successfully gotten the media to put forth the idea that republicans want to "end the filibuster", and no republicans are speaking out against this idea. In fact, the republican senators are in hiding, hoping this issue goes away. The problem is that President Bush has maybe 1 more year to appoint judges before the dems call him a "lame duck" and start asking Hillary (the presumptive dem nominee) who she thinks should be appointed.

Republicans should force the dems hand, and make them stand up and talk, or the filibuster is over, just like in the movie "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington". In successful attempts to demonize the republicans, the dems are now running television ads depicting the famous movie, accompanied by lies about what it is republicans want.

I say call their bluff........use their arrogant ads against them.........and make them stand in the well of the senate and speak, just like Mr. Smith had to do.

S.F.B.I.E.D or .... More Military Jargon

2005-04-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

This news report from Iraq caught my eye, and got my son, Lcpl Tyler very excited.

When the Baker company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment,(1/7) first arrived in Husaybah Iraq, the biggest danger to them was I.E.D.s, or Improvised Explosive Devises. The enemy (terrorists) used any explosive devise they can fine, usually large rockets or mortars, and sets them up in places they expect the U.S. military personel to be, basically creating "booby-traps". Sometimes they will dig up the asphalt roadway, place the bomb in the hole, basically creating a "pothole". They are usually detonated by remote control, often cell phones. The terrorists got very creative with I.E.D.s, (check out these photos of Humvees damaged/destroyed by IEDs) but the marines became very good at avoiding or detecting them. So the terrorists began putting the bombs in cars, creating V.B.I.E.Ds, or Vehicle Borne I.E.D.s. When the marines figured out how to avoid those vehicles, the terrorists began using suicide drivers to put the vehicles near the marines, creating S.V.B.I.E.D.s....................or Suicide V.B.I.E.D.s.

The reason this news excited Lcpl Tyler? A few months back Baker company got intel (a five letter word that refers to the information terrorists cough up when they are tortured by young marines........just kidding, sometimes they cough it up because they are such nice guys) that a fire truck was being set up as a S.V.B.I.E.D, or actually a S.F.B.I.E.D. The marines looked where ever they could for the firetruck, but never found it. Then yesterday, the marines of 3/2 India company found the firetruck, and blew it to smitherenes. The simple minded terrorists thought they could drive it right up to camp Gannon and detonate it. Good try Al Queda (they claimed responsibility), hope you keep up the good work. May you all go quickly to your 70 black eyed virgins.

Baker company also got intel that Zarqawi was hanging out in the area, but never got a chance to go look for him. May 3/2 India have success in that arena also, and send him happily to his virgins.

Update on 1st Sgt Brad Kasal

2005-04-10T15:46:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, 4/8/05, the 1st Sgt had his first Dr. appointment since the Bone Graft Surgery he had done on 3/29. The x-rays showed good bone growth in his leg and he has no infections (with 16 or more pins through his leg, and a 5 inch long incision infection is huge threat). He has normal sensations in his foot and toes, and can tighten most of the muscles in his leg (some cannot tighten due to the pin placement). He is very hopeful (as are we) that he will have the Halo Devise (click here to see a photo) removed in 6 to 8 weeks, but has accepted the idea that it may have to be on a bit longer than that ....be sure to look at all 4 photos....

In the photos the 1st Sgt is standing next to SSgt Viklund, one of 1st Sgt Kasal's marines who was injured in Iraq by an IED. SSgt Viklund had 7 cm of bone destroyed in his leg and is having his leg "lengthened" in preparation for his own Bone Graft Surgery. Vicklund has a different type of "External Fixator" device than that of Kasal, but same basic idea........save the leg if at all possible. A year or two ago both men would be single amputees.

Quality of life

2005-04-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

I read today that ABC News anchor Peter Jennings has lung cancer. I wonder how that will affect the quality of his life. Will he be in constant pain? Will he need medication, chemo-therapy, a ventilator, a feeding tube? Will he spend his children's inheritance on treatment? Will those who are close to him spent much of their time caring for him, neglecting their own lives? The probability is that all of the above will happen at some point. Since it's obvious his illness will affect his judgement as he makes the many "life or death" decisions he faces, perhaps he needs someone to make those decisions for him. Then, as soon as the "quality" of Mr. Jennings' life drops to a level where his guardian (appointed by some heartless fool in a black robe) can see that it's better for him to be dead, he should be put in a room, surrounded by policeman (sworn to protect the life of all people), and denied food and water until he dies. Why should Mr. Jennings be a burden to himself and others? Perhaps he should even die now, and not be put through the trauma of an agonizingly slow death.

I hope it's obvious to all that my "tongue in cheek" introductory paragraph is a slam at the logic used to kill Terri Schiavo. In case it was not obvious, I DID NOT MEAN A WORD OF IT!!!

Sunday Powerline reported on a Zogby poll which asked the appropriate question about Terri's situation. While most polls were busy asking........Should the plug be pulled on Ms. Schiavo, who is a vegetable and is suffering and told her husband she did not want to be kept alive under such circumstances?. Zogby presented the facts of the situation...........If a person is NOT DYING, not on life support, has plenty of loving relatives willing to provide care, has expressed to friends a wish to "live", and has not put in writing any instructions about "extreme measures", should that person be denied food and water? The overwhelming response was NO!!! 79% said no, and only 9% said yes. Throughout the execution of Terri I believed that people must not know what is going on. I don't think any sane person would think it's ok for a Judge to order the starvation/dehydration death of another human being?

But I am wondering who are the 12% who could not make up their minds. Could they be the "independents" who are so proud of their ability to straddle the center of any issue? I would describe them with slightly less mercy, as those who have not the backbone to stand for anything until a poll tells them how everyone else stands. The 9% is a no brainer......the "right to die" crowd figured the quesiton was about Terri Schiavo so they lied to the pollster. There probably are a million or two Americans who are so calloused that they think they should be allowed to decide who lives or dies, but not 30 million. But the 12% who had no opinion is scary. That amounts to 42 million people in America who don't have the ability to understand what the "right to life" means.

I just hope the 79% holds and the 12% does not grow, and the 9% suffer as much as Terri Schiavo and her loving family did for the last two weeks of her life.

Update on 1st Sgt Brad Kasal

2005-04-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

1st Sgt Kasal had his Bone Graft surgery last Tuesday. Everything went well and he is home. If the bone growth goes well he should have the Halo device removed in two or three months (longer than originally hoped for........but better safe than sorry in this instance).

Our prayers for Brad are that he gets no infections (he does a great job cleaning his wounds himself) and that the Bone Graft produced good bone growth. If you are inclined to praryer please join my wife Clyrinda and I in praying for Brad.

The famous photo of the 1st Sgt is on the cover of this months Soldier of Fortune magazine, along with a pretty good article.

Update on 1st Sgt Kasal

2005-03-27T16:53:00.000-08:00

1st Sgt Kasal is finally ready for bone graft surgery. The process of "lengthening" his leg is completed and he will have the surgery early this week. He hopes this will be the last surgery he undergoes, as he has already had sixteen.

While at the hospital on Friday he was greeted by one of his Staff Sargents (I forgot his name....and will edit this post as soon as possible) who also had a bad leg injury. This Ssgt lost more than twice as much leg bone as did the 1st Sgt, but is healing well and can already drive (the injury is to his left leg).

As soon as I can figure out how to post photos I will post one of the two of them standing there telling war stories (about their time in the hospitals)

Operation Gator Bait

2005-03-24T19:25:00.000-08:00

Before deploying for Iraq the marines of the 1/7 were told of their final destination; for Alpha, Charlie, H and S, and most of Weapons companies......Al Qaim, for Baker company and part of Weapons........Husaybah. Al Qaim is known as the "wild west" of the Al Anbar Province, a place where smugglers rule and Baathists hid after the fall of Bagdad. The British were routed there in the early days of OIF1 (Operation Iraqi Freedom One), then the U.S. Army took a beating there before the marines of the 3/7 came and started getting the place in line. It seems the Iraqis believe that to become a U.S. Marine you must "kill and eat your mother", or so a fine bunch of young marines have heard. Husaybah is a few miles north of Al Qaim, and is the actual location of the Border Check Point on the Syrian border. The marines of Baker 1/7 had surely heard of how the 3/7 marines were ambushed and suffered large losses there a few months back. Husaybah loomed ominously before them as they rode in the helicopters from Al Asad to Al Qaim.

They arrived in Al Qaim over the first few days of September 2004. On their second day there three of their own were killed by an IED. Lcpl Wilt, 1st Lt. Winchester, and Captain Rowe, along with ( ) from 3/7, who was just two days from returning home, were killed while searching bridges for explosives. They had not yet developed the skills nor the senses necessary to detect and avoid IEDs. That particular terrorist devise was a fairly new development in the war, but was being used at a rapidly accelerating pace. The 1/7's deployment was off to a very rough start.

By the end of the first week in September all of Baker 1/7 had arrived by convoy in Husaybah. On September 15th Lcpl Uhles was killed by an IED. Two nights later Baker 1/7 launced Operation Gator Bait. All three platoons of infantryman, along with the Recon marines, were going into downtown Husaybah to "Get Some!". They loaded up into AAVs (Amphibious Assault Vehicles), also known as "Tracs", and drove through the worst parts of Husaybah hoping for a fight. The marines of 3rd fiireteam, 1st squad, 2nd platoon Baker company were in the lead Trac. Their job was simple.........upon engagement they were to carry spike strips and barricades to the rear of the firefight and deploy them in the street so no innocent civilians would drive into the fight zone. It wasn't long before a rocket shot a few feet over the top of the lead Trac as another rocket exploded against the side of another. The rear door/ramps opened and "dismount" was ordered. 1st squad ran the direction they were supposed to go, with team leader Lcpl Rodriques leading the way, followed by PFC Roe, then by Lcpl Cochran, with PFC Milke bringing up the rear. Milke had spike strips in one hand and a barricade in the other, his rifle slung across his chest, and a "dead bag" (all the stuff for taking "care" of detainees) on his back. The team moved rapidly up the road when an explosion directly in front of Milke enveloped the first three team members. Milke who had just become fast friends with Roe, was uninjured, recieving one small piece of shrapnel in his goggles, but was stunned and thought "My best friend just got blown up". As the dust cleared Milke saw a man on the ground and yelled "Man down! Corpsman up!" then went to assist Roe. Cochran had already ggotten himself up and checking assisting Roe, who was checking himself for missing body parts. Milke, Cochran, and the corpsman, Doc Wilder, helped Roe get to a protected area in a courtyard and prepared for the fight. Now free from the chore of placing spike strips they prepared to enter the fight.

It all happened so fast, instantaneously, chaotically. Dust, smoke, the sharp loud sounds of rifle fire, the dull pounding sound of the grenade launchers, explosive blasts from rockets, unintelligible loud voices shouting to be heard above the sounds or war, all battered the senses of the marines, especially the 19 year old who stood guard near his injured friend and the Doc. Doc Wilder could not find his scissors, so Milke pulled out his combat knife and sliced open Roe's blouse so Doc could look for critical wounds. Thankfully there were none evident. Milke saw "Hadjis" running across the road near the Tracs and fired a few rounds, then again saw the enemy and fired. Soon all was quiet, and the fight was over. Roe was loaded into a Trac and taken back to Camp Gannon as the marines of Baker 1/7 began a sweep of the neighborhood, rounding up every military aged male withing 3 blocks of th fight. Milke was thinking "That was the craziest 10 minutes of my life" and looked at his watch. Two hours had passed since the fight began. They rounded up numerous "suspects" and headed back to the FOB (Forward Operating Base), where the suspects would be questioned by the Human Exploitation Team, better knows as interrogation experts. Operation Gator Bait was a huge success, with no marines killed and many suspected insurgents captured.

Their first week in Husaybah was not even over and Baker One Seven had survived their first large firefight. Thus began their seven months in that extremely hostile city, which most Americans have never heard of nor the media reported on.

Is the killing of Terri Schiavo Murder?

2005-03-24T09:47:00.000-08:00

I am stunned by the events taking place in Florida where Terri Schiavo is being killed by starvation/dehydration due to the court ordered removal of her feeding tube. Authorities are also not allowing anyone to feed her or give her water, which according to testimony she is able to take. Make no mistake, Terri Schiavo is being killed, not dying a natural death.

I am unable to understand the reasoning behind the desire to kill her, and hope that no other person ever has to suffer what she and her loved ones (husband excluded) are suffering.

Does her killing amount to murder by the courts, lawyers and her husband? Immediately upon Terri's death Jeb Bush should order the States Attorney to seize her body, do an autopsy, and if her brain is intact, prosecute all parties on murder charges.

If in fact Terri's brain is intact (her husband and the courts have declared that her cerebial cortex is gone) then by the witholding of facts (many facts have been provided contrary to what the courts have found) she was in fact murdered by her husband.

In the United States of America do the courts do have the power to "order" people to kill other people? Our laws allow people the option of "dying" by natural causes if they so opt through proper channels. Death from "natural causes" means the bodys natural processes shut down and death occurs, ie. the lungs quit working or the heart stops pumping blood. Starvation is not a "natural cause", nor is dehydration. They are events caused by the direct actions of witholding food and water. It's the same as putting her in a room then removing the oxygen.............she would suffocate to death.

If in fact Terri's brain is mostly gone, and the only thing left is the core which makes her heart beat and her lungs function, then perhaps removal of her feeding tube is a merciful act (although I would never so opt). But if her brain is whole and functioning, and she could in fact get better with therapy (which her husband has withheld since the mid 90's) then killing her should be considered murder.

If anyone has contact with Jeb Bush please tell him to read this rant.

Where in the world is Husaybah?

2005-03-23T22:05:00.000-08:00

My son, U. S. Marine Lance Corporal (Lcpl) Tyler Milke, just returned from his first oversea deployment (are we happy or what?. He signed up for the Marine Corp. while a senior in High School, under the "Delayed Entry Program", knowing full well that he would be sent to war. He wanted to be a "Grunt", an infantryman, specifically a "Rifleman", or in marine speak, an 0311. As a little boy he turned everything into a gun. Sticks, pipes, telephones, pencils, guitars, and every other thing he could lift and point, all became weapons of make believe destruction. He was also very fond of being make believe shot so he could do dramatic deaths. Of his two fondnesses, guns and dying, we are happy he became very good at the former, and left the latter for those not as lucky as he.

As parents of a marine my wife and I also knew he would most likely go to war. We knew he would be well trained and prepared for anything the "insurgents" could throw his way. After Boot Camp and S.O.I (School of Infantry) he was assigned to the 1st Battalion of the 7th Marines (1/7), in Twentynine Palms California. Since we live 150 miles from 29, and only 45 miles from Camp Pendleton, we would have prefered he be attatched to the 1/5, or the 3/1, or any other Pendleton based battalion. He left for 29 in July and deployed to Iraq in August, to a remote Firm Base named Camp Gannon in Husaybah, alongside the Euphrates river at the Syrian border. It seemed like a quiet and safe place to be. Little did we know and our ignorance was bliss (I hate it when cliches turn out to be the best words to us...........maybe that's why they are cliches)

Husaybah is a "mini-Fallujah", where terrorist thugs hide behind and amongst innocent civilians as they attack anyone connected with the "occupation" Only the diligent work the marines of 1/7 Baker Company, and the 3/7 before them, has kept Husaybah from turning into the insurgent stronghold Fallujah became in 2004. These dedicated marines learned how to "quiet" the enemies mortars, even as they flew from the Syrian side of the border. They devised ways to detect the deadly IEDs and mines which have been responsible for most of the Marines deaths in Iraq. They captured and killed many insurgents and their leaders.

They came home without the nine marines who died in combat, and with over 50 injured. My wife and are are grateful that our son returned uninjured (physically)

Next time I will write about Operation "Gator Bait"

Update on 1st Sgt Kasal

2005-03-21T16:01:00.000-08:00

1st Sgt Kasal had another Dr. appointment last Friday, and all is looking good for him. His leg is very close to the proper length for Bone Graft surgery, which should take place in about 2 weeks. He is feeling very optimistic now that he is looking at just a few more weeks of having the "chinese torture devise" on his leg.

Look for another update this Friday

Lcpl Tyler returning from Iraq

2005-03-17T06:07:00.000-08:00

I have not posted lately. There were many things I had "deep" thoughts about, and could have blogged on, but the fact is my time has been used to prepare for the homecoming of our son, US Marine Lance Corporal Milke (marines never use first names.........but parents do) Tyler is currently in Kuwait (possibly Germany by now) on his way back to Twentynine Palms after battling insurgents in Husaybah Iraq for the past seven months. He intends to bring his two best friends home with him to El Cajon CA, and so we have been preparing. His friends are from Missouri and Arkansas, and will not get Leave until April 1, so their families are here in El Cajon with us, and will travel to 29 palms with us today to fetch the "boys" (all three are 19 years old).

We did not get much news from Husaybah, except a few reports from Fox New's Steve Harrigan , so we are hoping to hear many stories about it from Tyler When I return to blogging, in a week or so, I intend to tell the story of our marines time in Husaybah.

How to fix Social Security

2005-03-07T21:00:00.000-08:00

I have recently passed the mid-way point in my working years. I've been a tax paying worker for over 30 years (that would make me somewhere around 48..........OK......I'm 48 and the half way point was 5 years ago.........darn stubborn facts) and have worried about Social Security being "there for me" for at least 20 of those years. The truth is this; the older I get, the less I worry about it. But if I were a young worker now, I would want the Social Security system repaired, and turned into something more akin to a retirement system. What's that you say? "Social Security is a retirement system!" No, it's a tax and pay program which is rotten, corrupt, and unsalvageable.

Bothwell (I do enjoy reading his blog) posts today on the "Lock Box" idea. It's a good idea, but how does it ever get implemented?

First things first is what I say. Admit that Social Security is just a tax on wages to pay for old people's retirements. Once that simple hurdle is jumped, we can begin to talk about what's next.

What's next is that we make it very clear that we will continue to tax all workers to pay for old people's retirements. Everyone who retires in the next 10-20 years will be called Group A, and will not be affected at all. They will pay the same tax,and reap the same retirement payments. Everyone younger than that, who will retire from 21-40 years from now will be called Group B, and will be taxed at the same rate, but 25% of that tax must go into a 401K. Group B will not reap the benifits of the 401K. Instead, they will get the same retirement payments as Group A while the 401K builds equity for the future. Group C will be those retiring from 41-60 years from now, and will pay the same tax, but 50% will go into a 401K. They will retire with the same retirement benifits as Group A and B, but it will be paid for from the built up equity in the 401K that have been sitting since Group B began paying. Group D will be everyone younger than Group C, and will pay 1/2 the tax Groups A, B, and C paid, and will retire with their own 401K paying the bill. The built up equity in the original 401Ks will continue to pay Groups B and C until they all pass on to eternity (group A ...which includes me...will all be dead by then). Whatever is left in the 401Ks after B and C die can be thrown back into the genreal fund and wasted just like Social Security taxes are now. It would be a nostalgic bit of revelry for lawmakers.

Americans will submit to the idea of being taxed for the next 60 years if they know that in 70 years their grandchildren will be free from suffering under the same messed up system we now have. I'm no wizard with numbers, but I'd bet a million...........er, make that my hat...........that if someone ran these numbers it would work. The 401Ks would build up so rapidly with compounding interest that the need for tax increases would be eraticated. It may even be able to progress more rapidly than I have stated it.

The point is this.........a measly 3 to 5 percent of the social security tax voluntarily put into 401Ks by individuals, the boldest proposal to date, won't amount to a pot to ..........brew tea in. We must think big, outside the box, and the first step is to admit the truth. Social Security is a tax, not a retirement system.

An "excursion" with 1st Sgt Brad Kasal

2005-03-06T08:23:00.000-08:00

Many folks are interested in 1st Sgt Brad Kasal's recuperation from injuries he received in Fallujah while serving in OIF-2. As a friend I will use this blog to do updates from time to time.

The injuries to 1st Sgt Kasal's right leg were severe. 5 or 6 rounds from an AK-47 completely shattered (read destroyed, obliterated, disintegrated) both bones about 6" below his knee. The doctor's at Bethesda were able to save his leg and set him on a course for recovery. That course consists of an incredibly painful devise ("far more painful than being shot") which is "transporting" his leg bone. In a previous update I said his leg was being "stretched", but that is not entirely correct. What is happening is this...... 1st Sgt Kasal's leg bones were sawed in half, in two locations (above and below the injury). The two sections of leg bone are being transported by an "Excursion" devise which has screws that actually move the bones inside Brad's leg. The device consists of 4 halos, and 16 pins, some 1/4" thick, protruding through his skin and muscle into his bones. The transporting which is taking place is closing the gap from the original injury while widening the gap from the doctor created injuries, which are filling in with naturally regenerating bone. This is being done to get his leg ready for a bone graft surgery. He still has a little over an inch to go, which will take a month or more to accomplish.

The doctors expect Brad to walk again, but not run. Brad says......"If I can walk, I'll run:" I for one believe Brad. The doctor's can diagnose a body's condition, but not a man's will. 1st Sgt Kasal is a man of extremely strong willpower, and I'm betting on him being able to run again someday, and pass the Corp's PFT (physical fitness test)

The story of how 1st Sgt. Kasal was injured is very interesting, and someday it will be told in it's entirety. Brad told me that he went into that building "because his marines were in there". One of "his marines" was Sgt. Norwood, whom President Bush honored at the State of the Union Address. Sgt. Norwood was killed in that building where such incredible damage was done to 1st. Sgt Kasal, PFC Nicoll, and 6 other brave US marines.

I sense a Fatwah coming on

2005-03-04T18:03:00.000-08:00

Bothwell blogs today on a Muslim who speaks out against Islamo/terrorists. I give the guy a week before some Ayahtollah issues a Fatwah against him.

OOPs..............that blog was from yesterday.

How will the Iraq war be won?

2005-03-03T21:16:00.000-08:00

A while back Bothwell did a piece on 1st Sgt Brad Kasal which was titled "Why we'll win this war". While I agree that men like 1st Sgt Kasal are the reason the US is so successful at war, I do not think those men alone can win this war in Iraq. I agree in part with President Bush when he says that our troops will be able to come home when the Iraqi troops can do the job, I think the war will really be won by the Iraqi people themselves.

Over the past 7 months I have spent alot of time searching the internet for news about Iraq, specifically the western Al Anbar Province, even more specifically the towns of Qaim and Husaybah. My son Tyler has been in Husaybah, or as I call it the Armpit of Al Anbar. I did not find much news from there, but saw alot of news that most folks never saw. I saw articles about US troops helping the Iraqi people and the Iraqi people responding in a positive way. I saw articles about Iraqi citizens reporting weapons caches to the US military. I saw a couple of articles about Iraqis beating terrorists to death before they could blow themselves up. I even read an article about a new "terrorist" group that had declared war on insurgents and foreign fighters. But until this week I never had much hope that the end of the war may be near. This week I read a few articles that give me hope that it may soon be over, of course soon is a relative term, and to me means soon enough that Tyler would not have to go back.

One article was about the massive protests after the terrorist bombing that killed more than 115 people. Thousands of Iraqis walked the streets chanting "No to terrorists", and vowing to never give in. A related article was about hundreds of Iraqis demanding the resignation of the town officials who were supposed to protect them from terrorists. The people of Iraq are getting mad. Good!!

Another article was about the murder of a working man who happens to belong to a trade union, and the union was saying they will never give in to terrorists, and just want to be able to work for a living. Imagine my happiness in seeing a story about a union actually doing something good for a change. I had no idea unions existed in Iraq. Saddam must have been democrat baathist

But the story that really gave me hope was this one about a group of Iraqi special forces who are working closely with the US Marines. These young men who "sleep on rocks, eat MREs, and are not afraid to die" may be the real reason we are going to win the war in Iraq.

UPDATE 3/5/05: If I am correct (believing Bush is correct) reports like this will become more and more common

Baja.........what could be better!!

2005-03-03T20:31:00.000-08:00

Being in Baja sure can help put things into perspective. Hmmmmmmm??? (what literary devise is that?) I'm thinking that some people reading this may not know what "Baja" is. Baja is how we southern californians refer to Baja California Mexico. Baja is just south of us and runs from Tiajuana on the northern border to Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip. It is a peninsula jutting into the Pacific Ocean, with the warm water Sea of Cortez to the east of it. There are pine tree covered mountains rising to 10,000 feet above sea level (they get snow in the winter) and dry desert valleys where only rattlesnakes, skinny coyotes, and giant scorpions live (more creatures live there but these three may be the most plentiful). Baja is known for many things; great fishing, great off-roading, wonderfully hospitible residents, and unbelievable corruption, all of which make any trip to baja a complete adventure.

Anyway, I'm back, and maybe someday I'll tell adventure stories, but not this time. It's enough to say that I saw beautiful scenery, met nice people, drove really fast on dirt roads, and ate enough pescado y camaron tacos to keep a roadside taco stand in business for a month. I'm very satisfied, and thinking it sure is nice to live in the USA.

What's going on in San Felipe?

2005-02-24T05:56:00.000-08:00

This morning I am driving down to San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico. It seem odd to write the state and nation of such a legendary town. Here is San Diego everyone knows what and where San Felipe is. Every year thousands of College and High School students leave the U.S. and head south for "Spring Break". San Felipe is a top destination. During those weeks of March (occasionally early April) many young folks spend drunken days and nights of foolishness in the quiet and beautiful town on the Sea of Cortes. Many never return home, casualties of the foolishness that lured them there in the first place.

But this is not March and not Spring Break. No, this is February, time for the just as legendary SCORE "San Felipe 250". "What is that?" you say. It is the most fantastic off road race imaginable. Days of racing and pre-running in the desert finished off with meals of the best fish tacos on the planet are awaiting me, so I say "hasta la vista".

When I return I will fill in all the blanks and explain just what it is we do down there.

Florida's Death Penalty

2005-02-22T20:50:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks back my mother, who is 71, called me to talk about her upcoming knee replacement surgery. She needed to name someone other than my father as the person who would make medical decisions for her in case she was unable. My dad was named first, and I was to be named second, as long as I would follow her instructions that if she were "braindead" she did not want to be kept alive by instruments of modern technology. I had no problem with that request, so she used me as my dad's backup. She probably figured she needed to ask me if I agree to her wishes since she knows I am radically anti-abortion (pro-life in her jargon)

Tomorrow Terri Schiavo may be put to death in the state of Florida. She was found guilty of being "brain damaged" and in need of a feeding tube. Supposedly she had told her husband that if she was in the hospital and needed food, do not provide it, for it is better to die than to eat hospital food. You think I'm trying to be cute? Well, ok, sort of. But I find it very difficult to talk about this in serious terms. A husband wants his wife to die because she is in a comatose state and needs a feeding tube to survive. She is not going to die from her injuries. In fact, she may get better if she gets treatment, but the courts already ruled that the husband can withhold treatments, even though they had 1.3 million dollars for her care and treatment. I can't believe this is even a discussion. How did we ever get so careless about life? Don't we care for our needy, or have we grown into a nation that believes the saying "We shoot horses don't we?"?

How can a Judge order a woman's death when she has committed no crime. I don't think Judges can order someones death even when they have committed a crime. Suppose a Judge orders Governor Jeb Bush to execute all death row inmates tomorrow morning at 9:00 am. Would Bush be obliged to do it, and would he need to go to court to overturn the order? Or would he be within his rights as Governor to say "No, I don't think I'll do that. In fact I think I'll revoke any State funds that support your courtroom"

If I were the Governor of Florida I would order the State Police to go get the offending Judge, take him to the womans hospital room, and while her parents watch in horror, make him pull her feeding tube himself. Then I would put the tube back in and charge the Judge with attempted murder.

I guess you now know where I stand on this issue.

"Have I told you lately........."

2005-02-21T20:55:00.000-08:00

My wife Clyrinda and I just watched "What A Girl Wants" with our 8 year old son Joshua. I would have preferred to watch "Old Yeller" or "Where The Red Fern Grows" but the idea was to spend some time together, and Joshua picked the movie. He likes movies with singing and dancing. This movie ends with a wedding scene where the "Father/Daughter" dance is to the Van Morrison song "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?"

About a year ago a good friend of ours, Vincent Wujek, died from the flesh eating disease whose name is too hard to remember and even harder to pronounce. It is a form of Strep infection. He went into the hospital on a Tuesday afternoon thinking he had the flu. He went to sleep and never woke up, diying 17 days later.

Vincent was remembered as a good husband and father. He was also a hard worker and good employee. Everyone at church remembered him for something he used to do and say. Vincent would walk up to his friends and loved ones with a big crooked smile on his face and say........."have I told you lately that I love you?" (he would actually say "have I told you that I love you lately", but grammer was not his strong suit, and we all knew what he meant). Those who knew Vincent knew he loved them.

Make sure you today that you have told the ones you love......."I love you", then ask them tomorrow "Have I told you lately that I love you"

A life that mattered

2005-02-21T10:07:00.000-08:00

This morning the internet brought sad news into our home. US Marine Cpl Kevin Michael Clarke was killed in action in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq.

The Corp has a web site dedicated to supporting the parents and wives of US marines. The Marine Parents webste has been a great source of help to my wife and I as we maneuver through our daily lives during our son's first deployment to the war. Online we have met many other marine parents and wives who were online seeking or lending support to others. It was through this website that we met Barbara, mom of Lcpl Kenny, who helped us get a phone card to our son so he could call home. She also taught us to use Yahoo Instant Messenger so we could chat with Tyler. Barbara used the website to communicate to the other parents when Kenny was wounded by a sniper. It is though the website that we are getting information about the return of our marines, and planning a wonderful homecoming.

Yesterday one family posted a message about another type of homecoming. The parents of Cpl Kevin Michael Clarke, known on the parents website as KEVSFOLKS, posted a message that their son had been killed on 2/19/05, and that he is home with the Lord Jesus Chirst. You see, Kevin is a christian, as are his parents. Kevin believed that the death of Jesus on the cross paid for his sins, and that by believing, he would spend eternity with Jesus and all other believers. Christians, by faith, are all looking forward to a great homecoming with God. Jesus Christ said "In my fathers house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." KEVSFOLKS are now resting in the promise of God that they will join Kevin one day, and that Kevin's life and death will be used by God for good things here on earth as well as in eternity.

It must be a horible thing to lose a son or daughter; I can only imagine, and in my imagination it is a nightmare. For marine families it means that two marines in dress blues arrive at your home. They need not speak, for you know why they are there, but they bring consolation along with grief, the comfort of knowing that your marine's death was for a good cause, a cause only a marine can understand, for only a marine understands dying for the Corp. The marines in dress blues bring with them the gratitude of the nation, the corp, the marines, the battalion, the company, the platoon, the squad, the fire team.

We are so proud of Cpl Clarke, and of his parents, KEVSFOLKS.

Iwo Jima

2005-02-19T10:30:00.000-08:00

Greetings (I reckon that's an acceptable way to begin the firt post in my weblog)

Today is the 60th anniversary of the battle for Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima is the premier battle in the annals of wars the U.S. has fought. Many other battles engender thoughts of heroism, but none like Iwo Jima. The photograph of the flag raising on the top of Mt. Suribachi is engraved in the minds of all americans. But there is much about the battle folks do not know. One fact that has always impressed me is that the famous flag raising was not the first flag raising. The first flag raised was "too small" to be seen all over the Island, so another was raised, and the most reproduced photograph of all time was born. There is another great photo of the flag exchange atop Suribachi. Another fact is that While Mt. Suribachi had many Japanese guns on it, the move up the mountain itself was not as deadly as expected because shelling and bombs from the US kept the Japanese hunkered down. The beach landing was far more deadly for the marines. Many heros of the battle were rewarded with medals; most were not. But heros were they all, every one of them.

Which brings me to my thoughts this morning. My son is a US Marine PFC serving in a remote part of Iraq. Daily he faces attacks by AIFs (anti Iraq forces). Daily he does his job. Mortars, snipers, IEDs (improvised explosive devices..........booby traps), mines, Rockets, unfriendly Iraqis of the Baath persuasion, foreign Jihadists have no affect on his doing of his job. He stands his post outside his base, or in a OP (observation post) in town, or on a corner, or next to a wounded marine, or in a convoy, or on a chopper to Al Asad or Fallujah, or wherever his commanding officer says he should be, because he is a marine. He stands in the very place a friend of his was standing when hit by a sniper's bullet, and does not cower. He takes a knee beside another wounded friend exposing himself to the enemy, while a corpsman does battle repairs, and calmly fires his rifle only when he "has a target". He sits in the back of a 7 ton truck riding through the desert knowing that 3 out of 4 convoys hit mines, and says "we're pretty well armored". One man's son is another man's hero. Yet he's my hero too.

In one letter home (one of only 3) he wrote that "things are not too bad here" and that he is overwhelmed by thoughts of marines past who had to suffer much more than he does. He believes that comparatively he has it "easy". During one 3 week stretch of incredibly cold winter he had no heat and no hot water. Yeah right.......real easy. He simply joked about how the "guys get used to the smell" of their unshowered fellow marines.

I could go on and on about the US Marines of today, and how they are indeed as heroic as those of yesterday, but today is a day to remember yesterdays, those of 60 years ago, who did what they did because they were US Marines

If I knew how to post links and photos, I would post the photo, and links to great historical articles.....but you all know how to google