Interesting -

Tomorrow is May Day, a commie holiday...

well that's not fair, since this country seems to heading to socialist one world governance. I know, I know...Stop bashing Obama you right wing  kook...well, to be honest, I could care about Obama...its the total descent into one world governance that bugs me. I am talking about globalization of currency.

Ron Paul is right when he says the Federal Reserve is illegal, the constitution clearly says the Treasury of the United States shall issue currency, and says nothing about the Federal Reserve... check this out

 

 

or read a excerpt of the testimony:

Rep Michele Bachmann questioned Tim Geithner and Ben Bernanke on 03/25/09 and took a position rarely seen in Washington DC. In short, her position is that which is enshrined in the 10th Amendment - “Where in the Constitution are the Treasury and the Fed given such powers?”

Bachmann: What provision in the Constitution could you point to, to give authority for the actions that have been taken by Treasury since March of 08?

Geithner: Oh, uh, the Congress legislated in the emergency economic stabilization act a range of very important new authorities..

Bachmann: Sir, in the Constitution. What in the Constitution could you point to, to give authority to the treasury for the extraordinary actions that have been taken.

Geithner: Every action that the treasury and the fed and the FDIC is….been using authority granted by this body…by the Congress.

Bachmann: And in the Constitution, what could you point to?

Geithner: Under the laws of the land, of course.

Bachmann: And if I could move to the federal reserve chair, if you could point to what provision in the Constitution that would give authority to the federal reserve - this has been over 10 trillion dollars that we’re talking about.

Bernanke: I don’t know where 10 trillion dollars comes from. The congress has the right to authorize funds, which is what they did in the TARP program, and they have given us in the 1930s…they gave the federal reserve the power for emergency lending as a means of addressing financial crises which is what we’ve done.

Bachmann: And to the federal reserve chair - Do you believe there are any limits on the authority that the Federal Reserve has taken since last March…of 08?

Bernanke: The loans we make have to be fully secured and collateralized. (WT-how do you collateralize 10 TRILLION dollars???) We have practical limits in terms of our ability to manage monetary policies. So there are obviously limits. We have reported extensively to the Congress on all the actions we have taken, and the actions we’ve taken have been solely and entirely for the purpose of protecting the American economy from the effects of financial collapse.

Not Goodbye -Just less active for awhile

I am facing enormous pressure from work and family, and need to allocate a lot more time to doing less online, achieving some focus and relaxing.

So until I get it figured out, I am reducing my presence Multiply..

Take care and play nice (you can do it)  

Afghanistan - US Army Aviation

As I have stated before, my cousin who lived with us a year when his parents went abroad in the late 1960's, volunteered ro go on active duty after 9/11, when he was IN WTC South Tower. He said watching people on the floors above plunge to their deaths was more devasting to him that anything he saw in the Gulf War, and soon it took its toll on him, quiting his job w Morgan Stanley and going back into the Army.

I have read about him in a couple of Defense Department publications, and the last I heard, he was off to Afghanistan...again...He told my brother that there are some pretty good pilots serving over there(Army Aviation) and so my honey ( also ex Army) found this for me...its only 3 minutes, but I was breathless...

 

CH-47D Chinook Helicopter doing an Aft Wheel Pinnacle Landing in the mountains of Afghanistan to pick up some Special Forces Operators.

 

Watch how close the rear rotor blades get to the Hill!

These GUYS are Heroes!!!!!!

We Are Not Alone

So many times when I see the news, I wonder if the American people really realize that we are NOT the only country with troops that are fighting (and sometimes dying) in Afghanistan. The Taliban are persistant, as can be seen in this video of Danish troops in Helmand province.

 

Vacation !!!!!

Start:	May 28, '09 08:00a
End:	Jun 5, '09 3:00p
Location:	Oregon

Camping up north

Grandpa gets audited

The IRS decides to audit Grandpa, and summons him to the IRS office.The auditor was not surprised when Grandpa showed up with his attorney.

The auditor said, 'Well, sir, you have an extravagant lifestyle and no full-time employment, which you explain by saying that you win money gambling. I'm not sure the IRS finds that believable.'
I'm a great gambler, and I can prove it,' says Grandpa. 'How about a demonstration?'

The auditor thinks for a moment and said, 'Okay. Go ahead.'

Grandpa says , 'I'll bet you a thousand dollars that I can bite my own eye.'

The auditor thinks a moment and says, 'It's a bet.'

Grandpa removes his glass eye and bites it.

The auditor's jaw drops.

Grandpa says, 'Now, I'll bet you two thousand dollars that I can bite my other eye.'

Now the auditor can tell Grandpa isn't blind, so he takes the bet.

Grandpa removes his dentures and bites his good eye.

The stunned auditor now realizes he has wagered and lost three grand, with Grandpa's attorney as a witness. He starts to get nervous.

'Want to go double or nothing?' Grandpa asks 'I'll bet you six thousand dollars that I can stand on one side of your desk, and pee into that wastebasket on the other side, and never get a drop anywhere in between.'

The auditor, twice burned, is cautious now, but he looks carefully and decides there's no way this old guy could possibly manage that stunt, so he agrees again.

Grandpa stands beside the desk and unzips his pants, but although he strains mightily, he can't make the stream reach the wastebasket on the other side, so he pretty much urinates all over the auditor's desk.

The auditor leaps with joy, realizing that he has just turned a major loss into a huge win.

But Grandpa's attorney moans and puts his head in his hands.

'Are you okay?' the auditor asks.

'Not really,' says the attorney. 'This morning, when Grandpa told me he'd been summoned for an audit, he bet me twenty-five thousand dollars that he could come in here and pee all over your desk and that you'd be happy about it.' -

 

Have a good week..

'I jumped the gun' Obama gets ahead of prompter

 

Obama gets ahead of prompter

By ALEXANDER BURNS

President Obama’s speech at the National Academy of Sciences Monday morning hit a brief snag when Obama got ahead of his script.

Laying his plan for a President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, Obama began to name the members of PCAST listed in his prepared remarks – before realizing he’d already introduced them, earlier in his speech.

“In addition to John – sorry, the – I just noticed I jumped the gun here,” Obama said, pausing for several seconds as he looked at the prompter. “Go ahead. Move it up. I had already introduced all you guys.”

The audience, which gave the president a warm reception, responded with a quiet laugh.

Sure would be nice to have a President that could speak from his notes or memory without a teleprompter...

Sacramento River Delta

Somedays driving on the interstate freeway to get home, dealing with the traffic and all that goes with that just seems not worth it so I deviate to leaving down town, cross the river and take the river road to Freeport and then recross and go home...even though its a bit longer miles wise, its worth it to me to relax and enjoy the views...I hope you enjoy, I am planning to add to these from time to time...

Lake Tahoe 2009

A morning outting becomes an all day trip to Reno and Lake Tahoe . I managed to snap these pictures as we zoomed along our way

Conundrum

 " I’d be okay...issues of redistribution of wealth and more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society."

“We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.”

Barack Obama, while running for President

“Let some people get rich first.”

Deng Xiaoping, 5th General Secretary of the Communist Party of China

Appropriate in the Moment Videos

I told you so...

I really can't wait to see what any Obamaistas have to say about this story, which was obvious to me last year...you can't raise spending and lower taxes at the same time, at least not the extend Obama is. Since the top 5% of salaries starts at $153,000 in this country( according to tax information from IRS) how is taxing only those that make over $200,000 going to pay for not billions, but TRILLIONS of new spending?? Its not, thats how. You can't get enough money, even at 90% tax rate. So what about the tax cut to 95% of Americans (forgetting that a sizable % of the public pay nothing)?

Think taxes are too high now? Just wait:

Congress is all but certain to raise them . Tax increases will hit both businesses and individuals -- and not just singles making more than $200,000 a year and married couples over $250,000 a year. They’ll be the first to get pinched, but not the last. There’s just not enough revenue that can be drawn from the wealthy without crippling the economy, so in time, middle incomers will feel a bigger bite, too.

Higher taxes will be part of a major overhaul designed to simplify the tax code, though it won’t do more than tinker around the edges. Here’s what’s rising to the top of the list of probable hikes for individuals:

• Boosts in top marginal rates from 33% and 35% to 36% and 39.6%. No change in the other marginal rates seems likely.

• A higher rate on capital gains and dividends, but only for those in the top brackets. They will probably be hit with a 20% rate, though it could go a little higher.

• Caps on itemized deductions. Obama’s push to limit the value of deductions at 28% ran into a wall of opposition from charitable groups, but he’s not giving up. Some way of eliminating the tax break still seems likely by 2010.

• No repeal of estate taxes, but count on an exemption of at least $3.5 million, and it could be set as high as $5 million if the Senate prevails. Estate tax legislation will include spousal transfers, making the exemption $7 million or more for couples. The estate tax rate will be capped at 45%, the same as it is now.

• More easings for the alternative minimum tax, but no repeal.

But there may be a silver lining, at least for big corporations: Congress will consider lowering the 35% top corporate tax rate by several percentage points.

Longer term, tax hikes will go even further and hit more people and businesses. The only other option is deep cuts in spending, including Social Security, Medicare and defense, and the public won’t buy that.

The increases will make many unhappy. They already see the burden as high, a point made clearly at those “tea parties” on April 15. Lumping together income, excise, payroll and other taxes, the average rate paid today is 21¢ on every dollar of income, according to a recent Congressional Budget Office analysis of data from 2006, the most recent year for which data are available. That’s the same as in 1982, after the Reagan tax cuts, and 2¢ less than at its peak under Clinton. For the top 20% of taxpayers, the average rate is higher: 26¢. That compares with 24¢ in 1982.

This is a free market economy??

At Chrysler on Friday, lenders prepared to make a new offer to the U.S. Treasury Department to the tune of 46 cents on the dollar for $6.9 billion in debt, according to a report in The New York Times DealBook.

Meanwhile, the Treasury has also directed Chrysler to file a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing which would be ready as soon as next week.

Chrysler has one week to come to terms with a deal to lessen its debt and decrease its labor costs. The company is also soon to come to an agreement or merger with Italian auto maker Fiat SpA, according to numerous reports.

Ok, I admit I am somewhat confused here...Chrysler and the lenders are trying to make a deal and Treasury is saying no, file bankruptcy???  Wouldn't it be better for us as taxpayers to get something back and out of this business, and not let Chrysler go under, and then do what Treasury next proposed??

This marks the fourth counteroffer between the lenders and the Treasury’s auto task force, and comes after Thursday’s news that the Treasury offered Chrysler $1.5 billion of first-lien debt and a 5% equity stake in the restructured company, according to a Reuters report.

 

Taliban Spokesman Blames American Women

Armed Pakistani Taliban fighters patrolled a street in Buner on Thursday. Militants repelled a Pakistani constabulary force. Reuters

The chief of Pakistan’s Army, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, on Friday defended his army’s performance and said it was committed to fighting militancy, in the face of growing criticism from American officials and Pakistani politicians that the military has failed to halt the Taliban insurgency as it creeps toward Islamabad, the capital.

The general’s statement came amid rising alarm at home and abroad that the military was standing by as hundreds of Taliban militants swarmed into the district of Buner and two others from their stronghold in the Swat Valley in a dramatic show of force over the last few days.

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that “the Pakistani government is basically abdicating to the Taliban,” but the spokesman, Haji Muslim Khan, said that Taliban anger was partly caused by the presence of female American soldiers in the region. Mr. Khan said that Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, “should think about Western white women who take up arms and come from 20,000 miles away to fight against us here.”

Given that the circumference of the planet is only about 25,000 miles, it is not clear what route Mr. Khan believes Western forces are taking to get to Pakistan. This video shows how they perceive utopia..

 

This really worries me...what good is "saving the global economy" if this is the future...

Napolitano Apology Accepted

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 24, 2009 - Hunched forward with head bowed, the Secretary of Homeland Security looked the National Commander of The American Legion straight in the eye and said, very quietly, "I'm sorry, Dave."

It was a contrite and embattled Janet Napolitano early this afternoon who offered David K. Rehbein an apology for a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report that many have interpreted as a stinging slap in the face to veterans and active duty military personnel. The DHS assessment, leaked to the press last week, characterized so-called "disgruntled veterans" as being ripe for harvesting by right-wing extremist groups. "The report was not worthy of this department," said the Secretary, "or of veterans. It was very badly written and should never have been released." Secretary Napolitano explained that the controversial document had been issued prematurely and, in its broadcast form, not properly vetted. "An analyst hit the send button when he had no authority to do so," she said. (yeah right)

Secretary Napolitano and National Commander David Rehbein met today at DHS headquarters at the behest of the Commander. Commander Rehbein had been angered by the report's implications and specifically in its use of Oklahoma City terror bomber Timothy McVeigh as an example - the sole example, in fact - of a domestic threat who happened to have served in the military at one time.

Secretary Napolitano admitted that the McVeigh reference, in her words, "probably came from me." Ms. Napolitano had once served on the team that prosecuted McVeigh and, she said, that horrific case had sensitized her to the point that the prejudicial reference to the bomber survived in the context of the report. Secretary Napolitano assured Commander Rehbein that "steps had been taken (to assure that) this will never happen again." She said that additional layers of review had now been added to her department's report dissemination process.

Commander Rehbein accepted the apology

Taliban celebrates Victory

Get used to seeing this type of image..

Intelligence agencies around the world are working feverishly to provide accurate information to their respective heads of state regarding the recent trends in Pakistan. Should the Taliban gain control of the Pakistani nuclear arsenal, neighboring countries particularly India would be forced to act. That is a prospect no one wants

Quote

One of the reasons US was so concerned was nuclear weapons possessed by Pakistan, Clinton said. “You know, we’re - we spend a lot of time worrying about Iran. Pakistan already has them.

“And they are widely dispersed in the country. There’s not a central location, as you know. They are - you know, they’ve adopted a policy of dispersing their nuclear weapons and facilities.

“So it’s imperative that we do everything we can to keep India and Pakistan on a good basis so that when something pops up and they make an accusation and they fall back on what are, you know, just natural impulses to blame the other, it doesn’t escalate.”

Salsa Celtica...

Salsa Celtica’s remarkable success story began in 1995 in the bars and clubs of Scotland’s Edinburgh and Glasgow. They were an immediate hit with the locals and the newly arrived Hispanic community. After recording their debut album 'Monstruos y Demonios' (Monsters and Demons), Salsa Celtica took their music around the village halls of Scotland, from Skye to Mull, Iona to Barra, Lewis to Orkney, and everywhere in between. After this they saved up their pennies and headed off to Cuba to hang out with salsa groups, including Son14 and Sonora La Calle, and to generally soak up Afro-Cuban sounds in Havana and Santiago de Cuba. Swapping whisky for rum they were asked to join in at musical / religious "bembe" gatherings and were invited to worship the Afro Cuban "orichas". After acquiring new tastes and skills they returned to Scotland to sign to Scottish label Greentrax and to release two albums ‘The Great Scottish Latin Adventure’ and ‘El Agua De La Vida’.Enjoy!

Fuerte - Salsa Celtica

Twelve

Twelve - Seven Nations
Twelve
(Words and music by Kirk McLeod, arranged by Seven Nations)

Out from the ashes of gray desire
Out from the dream and into the fire
I said a lot, it won't mean thing
After she's gone these words will sting
No gods could be that cruel to me
No gods could be that cruel to me

Six minutes gone and I'm still alive
And I never thought that I would survive
With pieces of eight and odd bits of string
Are all I remember when I hear her sing

No gods could be that cruel to me
No gods could be that cruel to me

And I blame the sun
And I blame the moon
I blame myself
And I blame you

Twelve minutes gone and I'm still alive
And who would have thought that we would survive
With all lines repeating and nothing rehearsed
I feel so stupid; I feel I'm cursed
I don't want to think anymore
I don't want to think anymore

No gods could be that cruel to me
No gods could be that cruel to me

Taliban Close in on Capitol.

(April 23, 2009) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Taliban militants have established control of a strategically important area only 70 miles from the capital, law enforcement officials said Wednesday. The move is part of an unrelenting push by the Taliban toward the heart of Pakistan.

Heavily armed militants were patrolling villages and local police had retreated to their station houses in much of the city of Buner, a rural area adjacent to Swat, where the Taliban seized control from the Pakistani army in February, they said. Buner is a gateway to a major Pakistani city, Mardan.

“They take over Buner, then they roll into Mardan and that’s the end of the game,” a senior law enforcement official in the North West Frontier Province said.

The expansion of the Taliban into Buner comes 10 days after the government of President Asif Ali Zardari agreed to the introduction of Sharia law in Swat, a move that the Obama administration has criticized as too much of a concession to the Taliban.

Note: Should the Taliban sieze control of Pakistan, theoretically they would control Pakistans nuclear arsenal. My friends from India say India would never allow that to happen, since it would be akin to Israel sitting by while Lebanon (Hezbollah) acquired nukes ...

And just in case you think I am being overly paranoid...this just in from AP news:

Analysts say the decision by the Pakistani parliament and President Asif Ali Zardari to allow Sharia, or Islamic law, in parts of the nation's northwest appears to have backfired.

Instead of bringing peace to a region where hundreds have died in fighting between the Taliban and the Pakistani military, the agreement seems to have emboldened the militants who have not put down their weapons.

Taliban fighters are now spreading their control over larger parts of the North-West Frontier Province, moving closer to the capital, Islamabad.

Speaking recently before the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used unusually blunt language, accusing the Pakistani government of "abdicating" to the Taliban and other extremists.

"We cannot underscore [enough] the seriousness of the existential threat posed to the state of Pakistan by the continuing advances, now within hours of Islamabad that are being made by a loosely-confederated group of terrorists and others who are seeking the overthrow of the Pakistani state, which is, as we all know, a nuclear armed state," she said.

Obama and General Electric - Political Pay backs?

Just as he fired GM's CEO, Obama has General Electrics's CEO has a friend and adviser.

This isn't change for the better, but firming up the infrastructure for the government to have an official news network(s)...just as the Soviet Union controlled their media, NBC, MSNBC and CNBC are being manipulated to support the administration, and in turn will get lucrative contracts. From Reuters:...But John Rice, a General Electric Co vice chairman, said GE sees cap-and-trade as the way to go.GE, the second-largest U.S. company by market value, makes both energy-producing devices from equipment for coal plants to windmills and energy-consuming products like jet engines. "We believe that a cap-and-trade program can provide a reliable market pricing mechanism for carbon," Rice said

Sometimes I wonder about us as a country

I wonder if we will make it as a country.

We have endured bad leaders and good; inflation, recession and depressions. We as a nation have acheived great things. Our constituiton is a pretty great thing. The principles spelled out are pretty great,  reflecting not just the wisdom of some wealthy guys over 200 years ago, but added to over the generations, mostly to correct social injustices. Sometimes just to fine tune.

Our country has provided the opportunity to acheive great wealth; to be corrupt and reprehensible , or to be incredibly generous. Your choice.

We have done some pretty good things -

Now some good things that america has done
1. Internet (not Al Gore, it was DARPA)
2. Transitor
3. Computers
4. Cure for Polio
5. We invented the Supertrain.. just didn't use it
6. Televison
7. Man on the Moon
8. Trillions in foriegn aid to just about everyone
9. Stopped the USSR
10. Rock and Roll ( maybe some people disagree)
11. Put the Hubble Space Telescope in Orbit
12. Broke the Sound Barrier
13 UN (as much as I hate it)

 

Some claim we invent cars, whicih rightfully belongs to Daimler..although Daimler and Benz are traditionally credited with building the first cars in 1886, but the French claim it was first built in 1884 by Delamare-Deboutteville. Still others claim it was built in 1860. It all depends on your definition of a car. Ford perfected the assembly line...but I digress.

 

We have done these things and more because we as a people, not always in agreement about how to get there, went there. Went to revolt and start a new nation. Went to invent. Went to war against fascism. Went to stare down Soviet threat. Went to the moon. Went to space period. We did these and more not as democrats or republicans( or American Independents or whatever) but Americans.

 

When LBJ was president, we marched(some of us) to stop poverty or a war in asia.

When Nixon was president, we marched (some of us) to stop a war (still)...and found out the really is not above the law.

Carter, Reagan, George HW Bush, Clinton

All had their detractors, or fans, but as Americans we stood together- until the second Clinton term...that is when the fracture started, and it has grown worse ever since.

It has become so pervasive that once free press is now either liberal (MSNBC) or Conservative (FOX) or merely leftist (everyone else). (Remember, dont get angry, I am being nice here)

 

There is such a vitriol that all discussion, especially televised news, is a shouting match. There are Democrat and Republicans that still believe in working together, and they are branded as party traitors by the far left and far right...and meanwhile the government we elected does what they will.

 

Some of us get a little upset when the government proposes to spent the country down the river. We were heading that way via our national addiction for cheap good made by peasants in elsewhere, and now we are the largest debtor nation in the world...ever.  So good people, (Democrats, republicans and everyone else) decide to emulate the early colonists and stage the most American of exercises of free speech and hold protest rallies across the country.

 

And the reaction, why first its denial, then we get blathering idiots attempting to educate the masses on their own stupidity.

 

I wasn’t going to waste my time writing about this quote from Janeane Garofalo, but how often is it that you can find such a colossal example of  ignorant, bigoted, insulting, stupid, arrogant, uninformed, malicious, moronic, intolerant, close-minded, idiocy from just one person? Usually you would to combine Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, and Rosie O’Donnel to come up with equal stupidity to what Janeane Garofalo said.

 

And this to me typlifies why we might not make it. I am angry at what she said, but I even angrier that no one on the left seems to be the slightest bit critical that maybe she is being too harsh (or just plain stupid). 

 

 Atlas Shrugged is enjoying a revitalized rebirth. Some states are pondering their own self interest and considering the unthinkable, secession.

Are we going back to the California Republic, the Republic of Texas?

 

I wonder if we will make it as a country.

What do you think?

 

Musical Distractions

Bottle Of Wine - The Fireballs

Red Red Wine - UB40

US Ninth Circuit Court Affirms 2nd Amendement against State and Local Gov.

The Second Amendment Foundation today applauded the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco for ruling that the Second Amendment is incorporated against the states and local governments.

The majority opinion was written by Judge Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain, with a concurring opinion from Judge Ronald M. Gould, who wrote, "The right to bear arms is a bulwark against external invasion...That we have a lawfully armed populace adds a measure of security for all of us and makes it less likely that a band of terrorists could make headway in an attack on any community before more professional forces arrived."

Although the court found against the plaintiffs in the case of Nordyke v. King - Russell and Sallie Nordyke, operators of a gun show in Alameda County, CA - the court acknowledged that its earlier position that the Second Amendment protected only a collective right of states has been overruled by the Supreme Court's 2008 historic ruling in District of Columbia v. Dick Anthony Heller. That was the case in which the high court ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual civil right to keep and bear arms.

Iran and Israel

British delegates joined a dramatic diplomatic walkout today when President Ahmadinejad of Iran told a major UN conference against racism that the state of Israel had been founded "on the pretext of Jewish suffering" during the Second World War.

Around 20 delegates, including envoys from the UK, France, and Finland stood up and left the room at what was considered an anti-Semitic remark by the Iranian leader, who has repeatedly called for Israel to be wiped off the map.

The conference opened as Israel marks Holocaust Remembrance Day - which falls this year on the 120th anniversary of Adolf Hitler's birth. This morning the Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, told his Cabinet that while Israel commemorates the six million Jews slaughtered by the Nazis, "in Switzerland, the guest of honor is a racist and a Holocaust-denier who doesn’t conceal his intention to wipe Israel off the face of this earth".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Monday not to allow Holocaust deniers the chance to carry out a second Holocaust against the Jewish people.

He spoke at the ceremony marking Israel's annual memorial day for the 6 million Jews killed by Nazis and their collaborators during World War II, but the event fell under the shadow of a U.N. anti-racisim conference in Geneva perceived in Israel as anti-Semitic.

Netanyahu criticized the president of Switzerland for meeting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the conference. Netanyahu said the Iranian leader, who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map, has denied the existence of the Holocaust.

"We will not allow the Holocaust deniers to carry out another Holocaust against the Jewish people. This is the supreme duty of the state of Israel. This is my supreme duty as prime minister of Israel," Netanyahu said, speaking at Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust memorial and study center.

Most military analysts believe an Israeli strike would require the green light from the Pentagon: not only would the bombers need US Air Force codes to fly across Iraq but the mission's success would depend on access to detailed American intelligence about the exact location of Iran's nuclear sites. Permission for this was never granted by President Bush and is substantially less likely under President Obama. Washington does not share Benjamin Netanyahu's sense of urgency, with Admiral Dennis Blair, the Director of National Intelligence, saying recently that the US is working with the same set of facts, but interpreting them differently - with Israel taking "more of a worst-case approach to these things"

I don’t know, ya think Israel might be a little more concerned than we are?…I mean how would we react if Belize went whacko, and started saying they were working to develop a nuclear capacity, along with rhetoric that America is the source of all evil and should be wiped out…Does anyone remember how close we came to war with Cuba over a similar issue???

General Petraeus, head of US forces in the Middle East, told Congress that the Israeli Government may be "so threatened by the prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon that it would take pre-emptive military action to derail or delay it"

My dad was a cop, and used to tell me that when a thug comes at you, keep your gun handy…maybe the tough talk from Israel is in a similar vein?

Lest We Forget

Sometimes I think we tend to forget things we shouldn't...like 9/11 and its consequences.  Following that attack, this country retaliated against Afghanistan, taking the Taliban from power and bringing the fight to the doorsteps of the al Qaeda leaders in a Global War on Terror. Rightly or wrongly, the Bush administration also brought an end to the rule of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and we are still there assisting the new government. Please don’t think this blog is a political rehash of one old argument, it isn't. This is about honoring those that volunteered to serve the country in this time.

 

People you don't even know, like the men described here.

 

This story started the minute a bomb exploded in Mosul Iraq on April 10, 2009.

 

At least eight people including five U.S. soldiers were killed and 60 others were injured in a suicide truck bombing in the northern city of Mosul, according to U.S. military and Iraqi source.

    A suicide truck bomber detonated bomb in front of a police station in the southern part of the city and most of the victims are policemen, according to the source. The main building of the police station and some nearby buildings in the neighborhood were severely damaged by the explosion, the source added.  A sixth U.S. soldier was also injured in the blast and two suspects have been arrested, U.S. military said in a statement.

    According to an Iraqi Interior Ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity, at least 20 Iraqi policemen were injured in the bombing.

I like many other heard this perhaps in passing on the evening news, and thought momentarily how sad, what a tragedy. Details that followed were stark, and fact based:

The two Humvees enter the police compund, shortly thereafter a truck laden with explosives rammed the agtes, and crashed into the compund, as Iraqi police riddled the truck with automatic gunfire the driver detonated the explosives, immediately killing the American soldiers and Iraqi police near the blast.

  

But the story continues.  

 

Having recently watched the film based on LTC M.R. Strobl USMC’s memoir of Taking Chance Home, I know the sequence of events that would follow a combat death; the remains being flown back to the US, prepared, flown home, and then the internment. Those are the facts.  

 

But there is more.

Those US Army soldiers killed a mere nine days ago were Staff Sgt. Gary L. Woods Jr., 24, of Lebanon Junction, Ky.; Sgt First Class Bryan E. Hall, 32, of Elk Grove, Calif.; Sgt. Edward W. Forrest Jr., 25, of St. Louis; Cpl. Jason G. Pautsch, 20, of Davenport, Iowa, and Private Second Class Bryce E. Gautier, 22, of Cypress, Calif.

The remains arrive at Dover AFB, and are some of the first to be recorded on film by the media with the families consent.

You see these five caskets, flag-draped, it's sobering beyond belief. … You're just sobered, and you have to come to grips with the finality of it all. It provides good closure. You realize that this is the end. David Pautsch father of fallen U.S. soldier On a chilly Easter night, two days after his son and four of his fellow soldiers were killed in Iraq, David Pautsch watched their remains arrive on a jumbo jet during a somber, half-hour ceremony.

But there is more.

Because until today, I did not know one of the dead was a person I might have met somewhere locally, a local boy. We are a small community; at least we were until the City was organized in 1995, today a bedroom community for Sacramento of about 133,000. But when I moved here in 1993, the Elk Grove area was about 18,000 people, distinctly separate from Sacramento, but growing.

And today he came home….

The remains of U.S. Army SFC Bryan Hall of Elk Grove were returned to his family shortly after his casket completed the cross-country trip to Sacramento's Executive Airport around 10:45 a.m. Sunday.

But there is more…

This morning we decided to take a trip across town before it got to hot out, and without a hint of what’s ahead, started our outing. As we neared the freeway, I saw some fire trucks on the overpass ahead, and as we passed over to make the on-ramp, I looked over and saw the ladder extended over highway below, a small American flag gently flapping. All the firefighters in their blue uniforms were standing on top of their fire trucks, and then I realized it wasn't’t some rescue mission or something, it was a memorial, but whose? Did a fireman die? Honey pointed out that since we don’t watch the news that much, how would we know.

We merged onto the freeway, and went about 200 feet when honey said “there is no traffic on the other side…and there wasn't’t. As we approached where the on-ramp on the other side merges with traffic, there was a motorcycle cop holding traffic; as we approached the next overpass, the same sight, fire engines, American flag, firemen atop their truck….and then looking down the road all I could see were red and blue lights approaching.

Traffic slowed to 40, then 30, then 20, and honey said lets pull over, which we did, and we weren’t the only ones.

Slowly a double file of police motorcycle went by in the center lane of three, and I noticed they were all Elk Grove police…then an Elk Grove fire engine with four American flags, followed by a police car and a hearse, several other cars and then about 50 motorcycles almost all with the American flag fluttering, another cop car, and then regular traffic…

As the fire engine passed and honey saw the hearse, a slow salute, a soft God Bless.  

Once in the car again, I was instructed to find out whose funeral that was, which led me to this blog..

I found the local media had reported, although ever story I found was datelined today, about an hour before the plane landed with his remains.

Of the 5 local TV stations, this is the longest story:

ELK GROVE, CA - Mourners lined the procession route Sunday as the body of an Elk Grove soldier killed in Iraq last week returned home.

The remains of U.S. Army SFC Bryan Hall were returned to his family shortly after his casket completed the cross-country trip to Sacramento's Executive Airport around 10:45 a.m. Sunday.

A funeral procession carried Hall's remains from the airport to Highway 99 to the Elk Grove Funeral Chapel on Elk Grove Boulevard.  Hall, 32, and four others were killed April 10 in Mosul, Iraq by an improvised explosive device inside a suicide vehicle. Hall, who grew up in Elk Grove, had been in Iraq on his most recent tour since last September.

Texas- I might like to move there if...

Back in the late 1970’s after my first marriage ended, I fled North Carolina back to California. After being back a couple of weeks, and regaining some composure, I returned to NC to sign divorce papers, and retrieve my personal property (a separately long story ), to include a car I had bought. I then departed across country, to Houston to spend a week with friends there, before continuing on to California.

This was my first real exposure to Texas, which definitely is not like "blue law" North Carolina, as friends would say "NC is the buckle on the Bible Belt".

 

I enjoyed the drive thru liquor and gun store in League City, where my friend’s husband bought a case of beer and some .38 special cartridges from the comfort of his Ford pickup, and then cheerfully popped open a beer as we drove away. ( I checked and it wasn't until 2001 that Texas passed prohibitions against open container in a vehicle.)

While I really didn’t care for Houston, I remember as I drove to El Paso thinking that parts of west Texas were pretty…that i might not mine living there someday. Well, someday may be sooner than I thought.

Why I am discussing this now…?

Because with the current trend towards nationalization and change I can’t believe in, I can’t but wonder if things get so bad that some states don’t honestly contemplate what many in the media say is a lunatic idea-secession from the USA. I am not speaking about overthrow of the US government, but what I read are legitimate discussions of states exercising their rights to resist federalization, unfunded federal mandates (programs the federal government requires the states to join, but provides no money for, and in most cases threatens states with loss of federal funding of other programs if they don’t comply)

Unfunded mandates plays a role in California’s current budget mess, and by taking more bailout money, California will likely be in a BIGGER mess in two years when the feds turn off the tap to the free flow of money now being offered.

Lately Governor Perry of Texas has been in the news, with his positions that

"Texas is a unique place," he said. "When we came into the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that.

My hope is that America and Washington in particular pays attention," he said. "We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot to boot.”

There is a secession movement afoot and its proponents are determined to put a halt to the federal government’s ambitions to destroy and reconstruct an entire economy and dissolve the last remnants of individual liberty. Twenty-eight states are invoking the law of the land, the U.S. Constitution, by rolling out legislation to assert their sovereignty as free states in order to keep from being undermined by the never-ending swarm of unrestrained federal decrees.

The speed with which the federal government intends to take over private institutions and usurp states’ rights and individual autonomy is unprecedented. When the Bush-Obama regime maneuvers are compared to the Hoover-FDR New Deal era, it looks like today’s hare vs. yesterday’s turtle. The state’s various propaganda arms, from big media to institutionalized special interest forces, are being empowered to publicize and sell the agenda of the totalitarian state by painting it in glossy colors that warm the hearts of unresisting Americans. There are, however, growing pockets of dissenters who conclude that life, liberty, property, and the futures of their children are more important than the trivial things that occupy the minds of the submissive class.

Which brings me to another topic- why is dissent viewed as unpatriotic ?

The Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) report dated 02/20/09 and titled, "MIAC Strategic Report: The Modern Militia Movement" a "law enforcement sensitive" secret police report proposes that certain citizens as being potential violence-prone "militia members." But who might these malcontents be?? They detailed in the report, if you oppose any of the following, you could qualify for being profiled as a potential dangerous "militia member":

The United Nations
The New World Order
Gun Control
The violation of Posse Comitatus
The Federal Reserve
The Income Tax
The Ammunition and Accountability Act
A possible Constitutional Convention
The North American Union
Universal Service Program
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
Abortion
Illegal Immigration

(I italicized areas where I would fall under suspicion-geez)

However, it is the following statement contained in the MIAC report that is particularly disturbing to me.

Under the heading "Political Paraphernalia," the report states, "Militia members most commonly associate with 3rd party political groups. It is not uncommon for militia members to display Constitutional [sic] Party, Campaign for Liberty, or Libertarian material.

These members are usually supporters of former Presidential Candidate [sic]: Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin, and Bob Barr."

Can you imagine the fallout of this preposterous report had the names Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi been used instead of the names Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin, and Bob Barr?

Damn…I better go outside in the morning and remove the stickers from the car- Protected by Smith & Wesson, NRA, VietNam Vet -  US ARMY, Don’t blame me- I Vote Libertarian….I guess the ASPCA stick is safe.

Fightin Words - Trace Adkins

TAX DAY- Sacramento Protest

 

I was apprehensive today as I left work to attend the Tea Party a few miles away at the State Capitol. As I drove down Capitol Mall, I realized there were no street closures, and soon I was at the traffic circle where the State Library and Treasury face each other; much to my shock I actually found a parking space, marked for One Hour Only…no big deal, I wasn’t going to spend all day here, I needed to go back to work.

I saw a few speakers, and found myself involuntarily blurting out AMEN when there was a call on the crowd to respond to “Shouldn’t your government serve YOU?”

There was a LOT of mounted police, not just the usual two that patrol the Capitol grounds, but the city mounted unit, which last saw downtown duty in these numbers when the damn anarchist were protesting the WTO conference in 2003. but unlike then, when the horses were stabbed, hit, spit on and all other manner of ill treatment at the hands of the anarchists, today’s crowd mostly wanted to take a picture with the horse mounted cops, or have the kids or grandkids pet the horse.

I got to hear speeches, but also see thousands of people who like me think the government is like a runaway train, fueled by imaginary money, our future taxes. I mean to spend money to keep the economy going is one thing and we can discuss that (if they bother to read the bill?) But spending is crazy right now, and for the future and it needs to be slowed down and rethought.

I looked up the deficit and surpluses in the federal budgets for the last 12 years. Clinton had surpluses, and Bush did in 2000, but after 9/11, the economy tanked. Then bush went to Afghanistan, followed by Iraq…deeper deficits. But by 2007 the federal budget was heading back towards lessening the deficits that is until the economy slowed and then tanked big last year. Bush ended office with grew to nearly a trillion dollars because of TARP.  The project federal deficit for 2009 is a whopping 1.8 trillion, and piles on nearly a trillion more every year.

So for that reason people like me who worry about the future of our kids and grandkids went to show in a civil way that we are plenty upset with the way the government is spending our tax dollars.

So I was a little disappointed to see some of the cable news this evening so dismissive of the Tax Day Tea Parties.

Critics of President Barack Obama marked national tax day Wednesday with "tea party" protests that Republicans are calling the birth of a grassroots opposition, but Democrats dismiss as a fraud.

Right off the bat they've got the entire premise of the events wrong. What's the point of writing the story if you get that wrong? They're anti-tax protests, spending protests, etc...They’re not "anti-Obama" protests.

And now for some blatant twisting of the truth:

For now, Obama's far-reaching economic policies, including a 787-billion-dollar anti-recession stimulus package, have broad support.

And this, THIS is absolutely PRICELESS. A purported NEWS ORGANIZATION goes to, wait for it...THE DAILY KOS for backing of the ludicrous liberal meme that the protests aren't legitimate grassroots efforts (easily disproved by reading back through blog histories as the movement was developing, not so easily noted if you rely on the most prominent, disgusting, LIBERAL BLOG for your NEWS SOURCE:

But Democrats scathingly attacked the tea parties as an imitation grass roots movement manufactured by fringe elements of the right.

The tea parties "have been largely a creation of the same gang that already ran conservatism off the rails," wrote David Waldman on the liberal Daily Kos politics blog.

 

UPDATED April 16 - Americans are not the enemy. The terrorists are.

Anyone who has read my blogs understands my honey is a Viet Nam era veteran, having served in the US Marines for a couple of years. He then finished college and with a fresh ROTC commission went into the Army for 6 more years. Like many veterans, he is a member of the American Legion, and the local Marine Corps League.

 Then the report came out. Our own Department of Homeland Security Report. 
This report lumps veterans in as potential terrorists, especially if they are not left wing in their politics. Now, one of the specific groups it is worried about is “Disgruntled Military Veterans.”

“DHS/I&A assesses that rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat. These skills and knowledge have the potential to boost the capabilities of extremists—including lone wolves or small terrorist cells—to carry out violence. The willingness of a small percentage of military personnel to join extremist groups during the 1990s because they were disgruntled disillusioned or suffering from the psychological effects of war is being replicated today.”

The report goes on to cite “examples” :

“— (U) After Operation Desert Shield/Storm in 1990-1991, some returning military veterans—including Timothy McVeigh—joined or associated with rightwing extremist groups.

— (U) A prominent civil rights organization reported in 2006 that “large numbers of potentially violent neo-Nazis, skinheads, and other white supremacists are now learning the art of warfare in the [U.S.] armed forces.”

— (U//LES) The FBI noted in a 2008 report on the white supremacist movement that some returning military veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have joined extremist groups.”

So now we should fear veterans, not honor them for their service??? What the hell is going on here?  Well, this new report didn’t escape the notice of the American Legion, whose National Commander responded to DHS:

“Secretary Janet Napolitano

Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528

  April 13, 2009

Dear Secretary Napolitano,

On behalf of the 2.6 million-member American Legion, I am stating my concern about your April 7 report, "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence and Recruitment."

First, I want to assure you that The American Legion has long shared your concern about white supremacist and anti-government groups. In 1923, when the Ku Klux Klan still yielded unspeakable influence in this country, The American Legion passed Resolution 407. It resolved, in part, "...we consider any individual, group of individuals or organizations, which creates, or fosters racial, religious or class strife among our people, or which takes into their own hands the enforcement of law, determination of guilt, or infliction of punishment, to be un-American, a menace to our liberties, and destructive to our fundamental law..."

The best that I can say about your recent report is that it is incomplete. The report states, without any statistical evidence, "The possible passage of new restrictions on firearms and the return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks."

The American Legion is well aware and horrified at the pain inflicted during the Oklahoma City bombing, but Timothy McVeigh was only one of more than 42 million veterans who have worn this nation's uniform during wartime. To continue to use McVeigh as an example of the stereotypical "disgruntled military veteran" is as unfair as using Osama bin Laden as the sole example of Islam.

Your report states that "Rightwing extremists were concerned during the 1990s with the perception that illegal immigrants were taking away American jobs through their willingness to work at significantly lower wages." Secretary Napolitano, this is more than a perception to those who have lost their job. Would you categorize union members as "Right Wing extremists"?

In spite of this incomplete, and, I fear, politically-biased report, The American Legion and the Department of Homeland Security share many common and crucial interests, such as the Citizen Corps and disaster preparedness. Since you are a graduate of New Mexico Girls State, I trust that you are very familiar with The American Legion. I would be happy to meet with you at a time of mutual convenience to discuss issues such as border security and the war on terrorism. I think it is important for all of us to remember that Americans are not the enemy. The terrorists are.”

What kind of country vilifies those who volunteer to defend her shores? 

April 16 UPDATE:

DHS Secretary Napolitano said, "We do not mean to suggest that veterans as a whole are at risk of becoming violent extremists."

She also said: "I apologize for that offense. It was certainly not intended."

The top Republican on the House intelligence committee, Michigan's Pete Hoekstra, has asked the director of national intelligence's ombudsman to investigate the Homeland Security report for "unsubstantiated conclusions and political bias."