SGT USMC 1ea

Number Ten

2004-12-09T16:08:00.000-08:00

To you my Beloved Number Ten child:
I am a multi-billionaire and You are my headstrong child. You and your 9 brothers/sisters have gone out and stolen the crown jewels from the queen mother, sold them and frittered away the money in various sinful ways. Subsequently you were all caught and the government of the United Kingdom worked a deal where they would not execute you if the sum of a Billion dollars in reparations were paid for each of you. You have been released on your own recognizance but have been made well aware of the fact that a judgement day is coming at some point in the future?My sacrifice was given At the New York Stock Exchange when I publicly set up 10 irrevocable trust accounts with a Billion dollars in each then laid out some simple rules for claiming the money:

You must acknowledge the FACT that I am your father and love me accordingly.
You must realize the FACT that what you?ve done was wrong and STRIVE to change for the better.
You must acknowledge and receive my sacrifice and be thankful for it.

The Money was a free gift already paid and not refundable yet statistically so far 90% of the money goes unclaimed for some very strange and convoluted reasons.
*Your first sibling denied the fact that I even existed despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Maybe the delusion was comforting up until the time they strapped him into the chair and pulled the switch.
*Your second sibling acknowledged I existed but thought she had come about by an accident with the Primordial Pool guy or an alien Mailman. This in and of itself did not disqualify her as long as she recognized my hand in raising her but it caused her to have terrible problems grasping rules 2 and 3. Seemed a shame to see her scream her way into the gas chamber because of misguided guesses and suspicions about her heritage.
*Your third sibling knew I was her father but Hated me for some wrong her siblings did and falsely claimed I put them up to. I loved her so and it was difficult to hear the gruesome details of her hanging.
*Your fourth sibling knew that I was his father and loved me greatly, but had rationalized his actions and could not see where he had done anything wrong. Those stuffy Brits never used those jewels anyhow and it is unfair how everyone was getting between him and the pleasure he deserved. The firing squad shot him as he extolled the unfairness of it all.
*Your fifth sibling accepted the offer willingly, paid the Billion dollars and, when judgement day arrived, he received a full pardon for his transgressions and came to live happily with me at my mansion. You probably find him extremely annoying because he tries to sell you on doing the same thing and sometimes makes you feel self-conscious because of his naiveté in Striving to change for the better clashes with your own lifestyle which is more mainstream.
*Your sixth sibling Found your fifth sibling utterly annoying because he knew five was not perfect and continued to make mistakes and seemed to be just plain "holier-than-thou". "Sure I drink my Liquor, lie, cheat and steal, but at least I don't condemn other people like that nasty hypocrite--I would rather die than live like that fake" .....He did.
*Your Seventh sibling was prideful, had a good job and decided he wouldn't accept this charity. He determined that he would work the off the debt himself. The $137,423 dollars he came up with was a bit short of the Billion required but he figured he might be able to cut some sort of deal. He rehashed his thinking as they were giving him the lethal injection, but it was too late.
*Sibling Eight acknowledged me as the father and loved me accordingly. Eight was a generally upstanding and moral citizen give or take the crown jewels thing and a little greed, pride and envy. He realized that what he did was wrong and had no problem with the "Strive to do better" concept. His only problem was that he doubted whether or not there was a billion dollars there. He doubted that the sacrifice had occurred, after all there were only a few thousand eyewitnesses there at the stock exchange at the time and since he was not there himself he could only rely on the secondhand and written accounts of the occurrence. There were even a lot of highly educated and intelligent people writing about how it was all a fake. Why would his father do this for him? Why should He waste his time attempting to claim this gift which to his mind probably did not exist. Once he actually pulled up outside the NY stock exchange but changed his mind at the last second. Would it not be totally embarrassing to walk down the aisle at the stock exchange with all those people watching? Number Five told him "Trust me it's there. I accepted it and it paid for my crimes and now I'm living happily without the burden of judgement hanging over me". The answer "Poor number Five, you are probably delusional. Haven't you read your science books? Psychologically speaking people just don't make sacrifices like that and I don't think there will be a final judgement anyhow. ". He mused that even if there were a judgement obeying the first two rules would probably keep the stiff necked Queen off his back. "I love my very rich father and I am being good now, sort of...well, at least better than number three and six!" he was heard to say. "Sorry, that may be so, but the debt is still unpaid for you refused to accept the gift" was heard as the axe fell on his neck.
*Your Ninth sibling was politically connected and relied on some rich relatives to raise the money so he would not have to depend on me. Uncle Mohammed and Aunt Krishna Promised him the full amount and, although they had a lot more rules for claiming the money (which he followed religiously) on execution day they were determined to be bankrupt and were accordingly burned at the stake with sibling Nine.

**Where do you stand number ten.
I am indeed your father. I want to cleanse you of your wrongdoing and clothe you in righteousness.
I Love you and do not want to see you die.
I want you to acknowledge and accept this gift.
I want to give you life and love.
It breaks my heart what has happened to my other children and I want more for you.
The gift is free, No strings other than love attached.

Is loving so hard?

Will you reject me too on equally senseless grounds?
Please come to my mansion and into my compassionate arms!
YOU are LOVED number Ten
The Father

This is a modern day parable for the Plan of Salvation.
The Father is indeed GOD.
The Sacrifice-Infinetely more precious and harder to match than a Billion dollars is The Lord Jesus Christ who died painfully on a cross for Your sins.
The three simple rules remain the same.
The Mansion is Heaven.
The various methods of death represent an eternity in Hell.
The Love is real.

*Number one is an atheist who believes that the complexity of the universe was derived from the chaos of nothingness and people evolved from rocks in direct contravention to the second law of thermodynamics, mathematical probability and common sense in knowing that complex things do not come from simple things without outside intelligent influence.
*Number two believes that there is some higher being out there, but has become confused by societal beliefs in evolution, un-testable theories of origins and modern interpretations of miraculous phenomena. There are many in this world who make their best guess about what happened thousands, millions, or even billions of years ago and then present it as absolute fact. Combine this with the opposition of the Catholic (read organized/political/traditional religion) Church in the past to some known scientific facts (I.E. round world etc...) and you have created a skeptical hearer if they group all Christians or religions into one lump.
*Number three blames GOD for all the problems the sin nature of man creates (I.E. the Inquisition/IRA bombings etc...) and/or personal problems which all men face (financial difficulties, death of loved ones etc...). A perfect Just and Loving God has to allow men the free will to choose Between good and evil, otherwise we would be mere tools or robots incapable of Love, Programmed in all our actions. Unfortunately many men choose to do evil and disobey GOD. This choice of man to do evil is the cause of almost all human suffering. Death and sickness are a natural side effect of the original sin and everybody's health will eventually fail them. Most of our problems can be traced back to some failing on our part or to the failing of another human.
*Number four cannot see that he did anything wrong. He looks around at all the other sinful humans and finds somebody he can compare himself to favorably then pronounces himself as "A good person" who deserves more out of life. Rationalization can cover many different topics: "I may have killed two people in a barroom fight but at least I'm not a serial killer like that guy!", "I cheat a little on my income taxes but I am not an outright thief like him.", " I may tell little white lies but that guy is a pathological liar". All people are capable of finding something they are not as "bad" at when compared to another flawed human. The problem is GOD does not measure us against other humans, but by a GODLY standard. That is why he provided the gift of grace. Acceptance of the sacrifice of the sinless Jesus is the only thing that can bring you up to the standard.
*Number five is the basic believer. Not perfect but forgiven. Not Righteous but cleansed by the righteousness of GOD. Having been delivered from certain death there is a natural desire on their part to share the good news. Often we do not do it well and sometimes we offend. We cannot understand why any would reject this free gift. We have nothing personal to gain by your acceptance of it, we do not get part of your salvation or "billion" as the case may be. It should not be said that you have to give up drinking, smoking, extramarital sex, drugs and gambling to obtain the kingdom of heaven, You do not, although once delivered from a lost condition there are varying degrees of desire to do so. These are just outwardly visible sins that get the most attention from other people. Even believers continue to have inappropriate thoughts and actions, it is just that usually the outward sins are tended to first because of human nature and wanting to "appear" less sinful. The Drug addict male prostitute who has accepted the salvation of Jesus Christ will make it into heaven while the Bishop, Preacher or Pope who has not will find himself in Hell. You just follow the three simple steps provided:Love GODRepent of Your Sins. Strive for sinlessness. (notice I did not say you would be sinless)Appreciate and Believe in the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ as payment for the sins YOU have committed and will commit. Receive him into your heart.
*Number six has many of the same problems as number four. He has also mistakenly condemned and judged all Saved people as being hypocrites and fakes who are "judging him" while ignoring the hypocrisy required for him to make such a judgement. He operates under the delusional concept that all people who go to church are supposed to be, and claim to be, perfect and when they are not perfect he has proven all of Christianity to be fake. In reality the people that are born again believers are drawn from the community at large and as such are representative of that community with the same frailties and tendencies. In some way or another all people are hypocrites. The only difference is; The Saved ones recognized the fact that they were imperfect sinners and have been forgiven and tried to change. It has been said and I agree " I would rather be in Heaven with the Saved hypocrites than in hell with the rest of them". Double standard: A secular president has an affair and the atheist says "So, that's his personal life" but when an Evangelist has an affair they Scream "Lying Hypocrites, They don't practice what they preach" Despite the fact that they were both flawed human beings fighting the same temptations and sexual opportunities that fame causes. The truth is that Pride, greed, Drunkenness and Promiscuity and many other things are wrong and sinful and a Christian should identify them as such, but while we are to hate those sins in ourselves and others we are to love the sinner, since we all fall into that category. The hypocrisy defense is a form of deluded self preservation since it allows the sinner to go on sinning without feeling convicted about it because "The Perfect People" are sinning too. The problem is that just because other people are sinning (all do) it does not excuse the sin you do yourself...Only Jesus can excuse/cleanse that.
*Number seven - Pride has blinded him to the possibility of getting anything so easily. He is trying to work out his own way to heaven. He failed to realize the impossibility of the task. No matter how good he is he can never attain the goal on his own. GOD is a perfect and just GOD who has set down the rules and made them simple so that any person may attain them. GODS perfect justice demands that the price be paid in full and HE has already provided you with a means to pay it asking only love and trust in return. If he allowed any thing less than full payment he would no longer be a perfectly just God and would become a "depends upon the situation" situational ethics sub-god. There are many church going, godly seeming people who have not grasped the basic fact that you have to believe with your heart in all of these three easy steps or all the church functions and charitable giving in the world will not keep them out of Hell. GOD does not grade on a curve. Some have the mistaken impression that there is a large cosmic karma scale where you heap the good deeds on one side and the bad on the other and if the good outweighs the bad you go to Heaven. The problem is in this scenario is that a perfect GOD cannot allow any sin into his perfect Heaven and thus one bad deed would far outweigh a billion good ones. The only way to win in this situation is to have the blood of the sacrificed Christ scrub clean the bad side of the scale, once freed from the counterbalance of evil the good side will float with you on up to Heaven when judgement day comes. The only alternative is that you should consider those tiny un-scrubbed sins as the satanic Mafia's concrete shoes dragging you and your good deeds into the depths.
*Number Eight is pretty much your average citizen who has done a few bad things here and there. He Claims to be a Christian because it's a family tradition and he believes in God, Prays when in trouble and on the appropriate holidays and goes to church when the fancy strikes him. Eight sees the Bible as a good book, maybe a little flawed or mistranslated since it was written by men and figures Jesus must have been a pretty swell guy. On occasion he has felt convicted and almost committed his life to Christ but held back because he might get embarrassed or have to give something up or did not feel worthy or became confused by satans' many pseudoscientific and seemingly logical lies. Be very aware! This one short life you have is neither horseshoes nor hand grenades. Hell is not one degree cooler for the one who squeaks "I Almost didn't deny Christ's sacrifice". If you wait until you clean up your life or drop some bad habits first you'll never make it to heaven. Get saved first and Christ will clean up your life for you if you are willing. Over 50,000 eyewitnesses to the Miracles of Jesus were available by the time he allowed himself to be placed on the Cross. His greatest enemies, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, did not deny his miracles but instead tried to attribute them to the devil. Non Religious historians verify Christ's existence and miracles. Only in the last 300 years has a pervasive and growing secularist science made up of atheists started trying to belittle the facts doggedly and they rely on a gap of 1800-2000 years to blur the lines and make sure their guesses or lies seem credible. Trust your heart not the guesses of other fallible humans. Smart as they are their minds, like yours and mine, cannot grasp infinity of time nor space nor GOD. QUESTION: "Gee Who put all that material out there to blow up in the "Big Bang"? ANSWER: "Uhmn...It was just there" ...."Big Bang" of material that was "just there" makes rocks, rocks make amoebas, amoebas make man! Now that takes a real leap of faith to believe. Talk about a weird religion.
*Number Nine has fallen into the trap sprung by the religious tolerance in America. He believes that tolerance of other religions (which by the way is usually only allowed in predominantly Christian nations) means that they are just as viable as Christianity. They are all fine and dandy except for the fact that chanting on prayer rugs, humming mantras to crystals, wanting to come back as a sacred cow, and communing with trees have absolutely nothing to do with getting in to heaven and in fact distract you from the only true path. GOD is not the author of confusion and he would not make it something that only the well educated, super intelligent, highly focused or ultra dedicated could accomplish. Even a child is capable of understanding what the One true GOD has dictated to us. No special equipment is required. Salvation does not have to take place in a church or on your 13th birthday. You do not have to be circumcised or dunked or have a special bible. Anybody can be saved anywhere at anytime just by following the three steps above...Just by having the right heart condition. The best Part is that if you do it right the first time-It is permanent. No more candles to light, No messy cleanup, no salesmen will call and Surely goodness and mercy shall follow you all of the days of your life. GOD Bless.
Where Do You stand Number Ten?
No matter where you stand, Remember:YOU are LOVED Number Ten!
Robert Todd Johnson
A.K.A. "Number five"

A dark and probing satire of where the left may be taking our Nation

2004-12-03T18:46:00.000-08:00

Scrappleface

Dutch expand List of 'Mercy Killing' Candidates
04-12-03) -- Physicians at Groningen Academic Hospital in the Netherlands today expanded the category of people with "no free will" who qualify for a procedure called "life ending without request," a form of euthanasia which doesn't require the patient's consent.
People who meet the qualifications of the so-called 'Groningen Protocol' are entitled to a lethal dose of muscle relaxant without the hassle of having to request the injection.
"At first our no-free-will category included only infants and the mentally incompetent," said Dr. Eduard Verhagen, clinical director of the hospital's pediatric clinic. "But then we realized there are others who lack free will on a situational basis--like prison inmates, children under the age of consent, especially orphans, people completely dependent upon government programs for their survival and certain fundamentalist religious types who believe that God has ordained everything that comes to pass."
The new, "less discriminatory" Groningen Protocol was immediately hailed as "a quantum leap in the field of health care and a civil rights landmark" by the Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG).
"Finally, the Dutch will be known for something more than tulips, windmills and wooden shoes," said an unnamed KNMG spokesman. "The Groningen Protocol will simplify all of our lives, end the overpopulation crisis and purify the human gene pool. When you think about it, it's really the ultimate solution."

I find this to be disturbing to say the least. The actual murder of several POST-born infants has already taken place in a "death by elitist consensus" drama in which the learned situational ethics spouting experts determined the viability of a human being and terminated his/her existence based upon their view of the persons worth/contribution/drain on society and the amount of pain they projected/guessed that life would have to endure. This is in contradiction to their own law which states that:

Under the rules established by KNMG and the Dutch courts, the patient's decision must be freely made, well-considered and persistent; there must be unbearable suffering;

Nobody has been prosecuted for these unlawful murders which points to the fact that;

1). The morality and potential non-prosecution of murder charges is proportional to what the elite believe is true.

2). The "free will" of the victim of murder is subjected to the interpretation of more capable, educated and non superstitious people.

3). mentally incompetent people (as defined by whomever) ,such as Spina Bifida babies (or maybe in the future the elderly), are disposable

4). The Dutch courts are powerless or unwilling to enforce the vague and/or variably interpretable portions of their own liberal law. This is a law they are now trying to expand to make these decisions legal so they will not have to.

5). Many years of state sponsorsed abortion and promiscuity have desensitized the liberals among the Dutch to see human life as a financial or pragmatic issue rather than a moralistic or a merciful concept.

I personally find it morally reprehensible that the social egoists of our times are capable of breaking the law, getting away with it, and not being decried as murderers by at least a good percentage of the world. Even if it is made legal it is not right. The angle that situational ethics and smart people working in concert can act as judge, jury, and executioner of other human beings is not a right angle, it is an acute angle of convenience and hedonism.

Deus es Semper Fideles

A Link to a wonderful site

2004-11-29T16:59:00.000-08:00

http://marinecorpsmoms.com/archives/week_2004_11_21.html#000404

Another 2nd LAR update from the front. It's an awesome retelling of bravery and brotherhood.
24 November 2004
I have started this letter 100 times in my mind. Inadequacy on my own part is the best answer I can come up with to express my emotions about our experiences here. They say war is the highest of highs and lowest of lows and it happens in a moments notice. I can say without question it is true.
We departed Camp Baharia about a month ago now to do our part in the fight for Fallujah. People said this would be our Hue City, our Guadalcanal, or compared it to numerous other epic battles that the Marine Corps has endured. Was it? I don't know. Who am I to make that statement? I think all of us want to believe that our time is historic and that our life has meaning. Ronald Reagan once said that many of us want to know if we made a difference in this world but the US Marines don't have that problem. I can not say how this battle will be defined in the history books but I can tell you besides the birth of my children and my marriage, it will probably be the most meaningful event of my life. How do you adequately define heroism, espirit de corps, patriotism? Words almost belittle their true definition.
As many of you saw on the news, Apache Company was definitely involved in the fight. We took our share of licks, delivered a disproportional amount more on the enemy, but more importantly we are all still here to talk about it and in the true Marine way of dealing with it - we laugh about it. A Purple Heart is not a medal anyone really wants to earn but it sure is a special person who wears that badge of honor.
All the Marines and Sailors of this company are heroes. They always have been even before we arrived. But now without question, for one shining moment in all of our lives, my Marines were heroes in the truest sense of the word.
They fought like brothers fighting to protect and defend their families. While I believe wholeheartedly in the mission, I do not preach about fighting for the greater glory of God, country or Corps because in the end, we fight for one another. And that is what they did. I have been blessed with the greatest collection of men ever assembled and I knew it from day one. I knew this company had a destiny and we would write our own chapter. It is indescribable to visit a Marine at the field hospital who was just wounded and he doesn't even talk about himself. To the man the first three questions were always about the status of the other Marines, did we beat the enemy and can I stay in the country with the company. I stand by their side and wonder why I do I deserve to be surrounded by such men. To the parents, guardians, grandparents who raised these kids, my hat is off to you. If you ever wondered if you made a difference in this world, I can tell you if your son is over here, the world is a better place because of you.
I have talked to some Iraqis throughout my time here and it is sad because many do not believe that life will get better. Some even say it was better under Saddam. Now that may be a tough pill to swallow for many Americans because of the sacrifices so many families have endured but I would argue just the opposite. I think that statement should make you even prouder to be an American. We are over here fighting for the success of this mission. My Marines are selflessly fighting for people they will never know. They are fighting for some who don't even appreciate the sacrifices they endure. I can not think of a more honorable act. We believe in the mission, even while some here don't because we live the miracle that is the United States of America. It is an awesome sight to see.
The support from our families and sponsors has been overwhelming. Overwhelming in two ways - one, physically and two, emotionally. We got back to Camp Baharia today and it looked like the Post Office went on strike. We had stacks of boxes and bags of letters. More than one person has told me (to which I completely empathize) that we feel guilty that we cannot respond in a timely manner, if at all. It is hard for us to know that some great American spent their time and their money to send us a package or a letter, or a newspaper and we can not get enough down time to write a thank you. It feels almost shameful. So I offer on behalf of the company, once, an offer of appreciation. Please do not feel that since we are unable to respond that we do not appreciate what you are doing for us. To go down a long laundry list of people, we would inevitably fail to mention one person or company and that would be worse than not mentioning anyone specifically at all. It is humbling to see the outpouring of support from our families and sponsors. We are indebted to you.
We are off again tomorrow on a new mission. Well, same mission, new place. As it has been for the past few weeks, we will not have internet or phone access. In fact we will not have electricity or running water. We thought Baharia was austere. You should have seen the camp we lived in for two weeks or see this next place we are going to tomorrow. Camp Baharia is a thriving metropolis with all the comforts of home compared to the new place. It looks like we will be occupying this place for some time. But in a few short days, the new digs will be home and we will be fine. I will try to cycle Marines back to Camp Baharia but please understand that those basic services that are available back home are almost privileged services here. I say this not out of some request for pity but again out of a sense of responsibility to all of you who support us. I see two Marines in a fighting position at night in the cold, frying up one slice of spam at a time in a canteen cup, with an MRE sleeve to block the wind, alternating piece for piece and offering a hot slice to any Marine in the area, and my only thought is - this is what makes our country great. Here are these two Marines, 8000 miles from home, sitting in a filthy hole, taking care of each other with a can of food that some great citizen back home sent them. It doesn't get any better than that.
I will leave it to the platoon commanders to write updates about the individual Marines. But I will offer this one story before I sign off about a Marine named Brooks. Ol' Brooksy was one of the first wounded in action we had in the company. It happened on the night of 30 September. He has been making tremendous gains and we hope to have him back on full duty within a week or so. Since the night of his attack, he has been doing his part manning the command operations center in Baharia, but more importantly healing from his wounds. His story is one to be told because he exemplifies what makes this company great. He never once complained about his lot in life and he never once complained about the job he now fulfills. He is doing his part and that is honorable. He is generally a quiet Marine but always very pleasant and enjoyable to talk with. As other guys were wounded, he would in his own way, let them know that he was there for them if they wanted to talk about it. For those of us who have not been wounded, we really do not know what it is like. But instead of feeling sorry for himself, he does his job and looks out for his brothers. It was not until 3 November that his Purple Heart award had come in and we invited the regimental commander to award him, and the other Marines their badge of honor. I will never forget watching Brooksy get his award. I think I was prouder that day to be a Marine and to serve along side another Marine than ever before. Brooksy was still walking tenderly. But when it came time for the ceremony, he marched completely erect, made all his facing movements as we were trained in boot camp and basically on shear physical courage alone, muscled his way through the whole ceremony to march and execute the drill movements precisely. I could see it on his face that he was in pain but he didn't yield to it. In that one moment in time, it hit home to me how special being a Marine really is. There was young PFC Brooks ensuring he lived up to the standards that others have set before him, standards that have been beat into us from day one, to ensure he did not let the Corps down and to represent himself well. As if the weight of the whole Corps' reputation was on his shoulders that day, he ensured he did not fail. Would anyone have blamed him if he didn't execute his about face properly? Not at all. But Brooksy wouldn't give them that chance. These are the men I serve with. Be proud. These are the men who serve in your defense.
Until next time, Semper Fidelis and pray for peace.
Apache 6 - out.
Semper Fidelis,
Capt John F. GriffinApache Company2d LAR Bn RCT-1Fallujah, Iraq

Patience

2004-11-19T18:39:00.000-08:00

Okay,
I am working on my next post but my 6 year old is sick (rash, Fifths disease?) and my 14 year old is suffering from headaches which are causing heart arythmyia, dizziness and nauseu. I love you folks but I love my family much more, sorry.

Deus es Semper Fideles

Blogger Breaking News:

2004-11-16T19:55:00.000-08:00

When viewing the video of the Marine shooting an "apparently" unarmed militant if you look real close There is a bulge in the back of the terrorists' jacket. you can tell there is a pistol or something taped there. The dead terrorist, speaking through a medium at a liberal séance, claims that the bulge in his back was not a pistol but was merely a "badly tailored burkha". The democraticunderground says it is obviously a yank handle of the type found on bulletproof vests similar to the ones they mailed to the anti-coalition freedom fighters in Iraq. Al Jizzera has denied claims that the bulge was a communications device through which the doomed terrorist could be fed answers in the leadslinging debate in order to counter the fact that his opponents were more accurate, intelligent and likable.

Jesu es Semper Fidelis

Lord Please Bless this sacrifice laid on the altar of freedom

2004-11-14T08:13:00.000-08:00

Bless and comfort the families and friends in this time of mourning.
The latest Department of Defense identifications of casualties in Iraq (1week):
? Marine 2nd Lt. James P. Blecksmith, 24, of San Marino, Calif., died Nov. 11 by enemy action in Al Anbar Province.
? Lance Cpl. Kyle W. Burns, 20, of Laramie, Wyo., died Nov. 11 by enemy action in Al Anbar.
? Marine Staff Sgt. Theodore S. Holder II, 27, of Littleton, Colo., died Nov. 11 by enemy action in Al Anbar.
? Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Julian Woods, 22, of Jacksonville, Fla., died Nov. 10 by hostile fire in Fallujah.
? Marine Cpl. Theodore A. Bowling, 25, of Casselberry, Fla., died Nov. 11 by enemy action in Al Anbar.
? Army Staff Sgt. Sean P. Huey, 28, of Fredericktown, Pa., died Nov. 11 in Habbaniyah when a car bomb detonated near his vehicle.
? Army Staff Sgt. Michael C. Ottolini, 45, of Sebastopol, Calif., died Nov. 10 in Balad when a bomb detonated near his vehicle.
? Marine Cpl. Joshua D. Palmer, 24, of Blandinsville, Ill., died Nov. 8 by a nonhostile vehicle incident in Al Anbar.
? Army Spc. Thomas K. Doerflinger, 20, of Silver Spring, Md., died Nov. 11 in Mosul by small-arms fire.
? Marine Cpl. Peter J. Giannopoulos, 22, of Inverness, Ill., died Nov. 11 by enemy action in Babil Province.
? Marine Cpl. Romulo J. Jimenez II, 21, of Miami, died Nov. 10 by enemy action in Al Anbar.
? Army Pfc. Dennis J. Miller Jr., 21, of La Salle, Mich., died Nov. 10 in Ar Ramadi in an enemy attack when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his tank.
? Marine Lance Cpl. Abraham Simpson, 19, Chino, Calif., died Nov. 9 by enemy action in Al Anbar.
? Marine Lance Cpl. Justin D. Reppuhn, 20, of Hemlock, Mich., was killed Nov. 11 by enemy action in Al Anbar.
? Marine Lance Cpl. Aaron C. Pickering, 20, of Marion, Ill., died Nov. 10 in Al Anbar.
? Marine Staff Sgt. Gene Ramirez, 28, of San Antonio, died Nov. 10 in Al Anbar.
? Marine Lance Cpl. Erick J. Hodges, 21, of Bay Point, Calif., died Nov. 10 in Al Anbar.
? Marine 1st Lt. Dan T. Malcom Jr., 25, of Brinson, Ga., died Nov. 10 in Al Anbar.
? Marine Sgt. David M. Caruso, 25, of Naperville, Ill., was killed Nov. 9 by enemy action in Al Anbar.
? Army Spc. Travis A. Babbitt, 24, of Uvalde, Texas, died Nov. 9 when his Baghdad patrol was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and small-arms fire.
? Army Sgt. John B. Trotter, 25, of Marble Falls, Texas, died Nov. 9 in Ramadi when his patrol was hit by small-arms fire.
? Army Staff Sgt. Todd R. Cornell , 38, of West Bend, Wis., died Nov. 9 in Fallujah while acting in an advisory support capacity when his Iraqi unit came under attack.
? Marine Staff Sgt. Russell L. Slay, 28, of Humble, Texas, died Nov. 9 in Al Anbar.
? Marine Cpl. William C. James, 24, of Huntington Beach, Calif., died Nov. 9 in Al Anbar.
? Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas D. Larson, 19, of Wheaton, Ill., died Nov. 9 in Al Anbar.
? Marine Lance Cpl. Nathan R. Wood, 19, of Kirkland, Wash., died Nov. 9 in Al Anbar.
? Marine Lance Cpl. Juan E. Segura, 26, of Homestead, Fla., died Nov. 9 in Al Anbar.
? Marine Sgt. Lonny D. Wells, 29, of Vandergrift, Pa., died Nov. 9 in Al Anbar.
? Army Command Sgt. Maj. Steven W. Faulkenburg, 45, of Huntingburg, Ind., was killed Nov. 9 by small-arms fire in Fallujah while conducting combat operations.
? Air Force Master Sgt. Steven E. Auchman, 37, of Waterloo, N.Y., died Nov. 9 from wounds sustained when multiple rocket-propelled grenades struck his Mosul location.
? Marine Cpl. Robert P. Warns II, 23, of Waukesha, Wis., died Nov. 8 as a result of enemy action in Babil Province.
? Marine Lance Cpl. Thomas J. Zapp, 20, of Houston, was killed Nov. 8 by enemy action in Al Anbar.
? Marine Lance Cpl. Branden P. Ramey, 22, of Boone, Ill., died Nov. 8 as a result of enemy action in Babil.
? Marine Staff Sgt. David G. Ries, 29, of Clark, Wash., died Nov. 8 as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar.
? Army Staff Sgt. Clinton L. Wisdom, 39, of Atchison, Kan., died Nov. 8 in Baghdad when a car bomb hit his convoy.
? Army Spc. Don A. Clary, 21, of Troy, Kan., also was killed by the Nov. 8 car bomb in Baghdad.
? Marine Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Lam, 22, of Queens, N.Y., died Nov. 8 in a nonhostile vehicle incident in Al Anbar.
? Army Spc. Bryan L. Freeman, 31, of Lumberton, N.J., died Nov. 8 in Baghdad from small-arms wounds suffered while conducting a vehicle search.
? Marine Cpl. Nathaniel T. Hammond, 24, of Tulsa, Okla., was killed Nov. 8 by enemy action in Babil Province.
? Marine Lance Cpl. Shane K. O'Donnell, 24, of DeForest, Wis., also was killed Nov. 8 in Babil.
? Army Spc. Quoc Binh Tran, 26, of Mission Viejo, Calif., died Nov. 7 in Baghdad of wounds from a roadside bomb detonated near his military vehicle on convoy.
? Army Spc. Brian K. Baker, 27, of West Seneca, N.Y., was killed Nov. 7 by a car bomb near his security patrol in Baghdad.
? Marine Lance Cpl. Sean M. Langley, 20, of Lexington, Ky., died Nov. 7 as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar.

Let us pause to honor one of the youngest.
Nineteen-year-old Marine Lance Corporal Nicholas Larson was killed Tuesday during street battles against insurgents in Iraq. Larson was a graduate of Wheaton North High School, where he was remembered by students Thursday.
"He was focused, determined. He had his vision, you could tell he was going to follow that," said assistant principal Jason Stipp. "Knowing the dangers, he was aware of them but he was adamant, that's what he saw in himself," said school counselor Kim Szymkowiak.The school has been in crisis mode since students learned Wednesday that a 2003 graduate had been killed fighting in Fallujah. Students already have talked with school counselors about their sorrow. "He does have a sister," Szymkowiak said. "Her friends are very distraught. The whole school is having an extremely hard time with it."It's the first time Wheaton schools have had classes on Veterans Day. Larson's parents declined to be interviewed, but a family spokesman says they received an upbeat e-mail from their son last week. They say Larson was proud of the work he was doing in Iraq and expected to come home in a couple of months.

Nicholas may the Lord have mercy upon your brave soul and touch a healing hand to your family.
Those who dare great things such as joining the Marine Corps expect to be put in harms way and face the potential for meeting a violent end. He joined knowing the dangers at a time when the media was hyping the danger even more. Death comes to us all, but it is how we spend the life that the Lord gives us that matters. Nicholas' death was not in vain, it was not for oil, it was not premature in Gods plan. This mans life and death were a glorious testament of self sacrifice while participating in a just cause. This is something that many who are primarily concerned with their own safety will never experience. Freedom comes with a cost that so few of the freed are willing to pay. Those who pay that cost are to be honored and respected. We will justify your sacrifice by defeating the cause of the terrorists who killed you.

Lance Corporal Larson I salute you.
Semper Fi and farewell Marine.

Deus es Semper Fideles

Outstanding job Marines

2004-11-13T13:19:00.000-08:00

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,138471,00.html
FOX News' Bret Baier and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Saturday, November 13, 2004.
FALLUJAH, Iraq' U.S. troops have "occupied" the entire city of Fallujah, leading Iraqi officials to declare on Saturday the mission "accomplished." ....

...Fallujah militants fought Marines to a standstill last April during a three-week siege, which the Bush administration called off amid public criticism over civilian casualties

A fairly straightforward story on the outside.
Appearances can be deceiving.
Observe the placing of quote marks and other misinformation.
Mr. Baier seen fit to include the quote marks that the biased AP "reporter" added when he was writing his story from a safe Baghdad compound.
For those of you who are unaware "quote marks" in modern english pretty much mean: "Yeah right!", or "So they say"

Reread it as: US troops claim, but I doubt it, that they hold the city proper.
or: Iraqi officials claim that what the forces set out to do they have accomplished to this point....Yeah Right...ROFLMBO.

How did this crud get past the Fox news editors? because they seen it pretty much came off the AP! I must insist that all editors (but especially Fox news) stop taking direct quotes from the AP & Reuters. Most of the time the people with the Baghdad tagline are no better informed than someone receiving the same Military or government statements back here in the states. They sit back in hotel compounds and wait for press releases or hired locals to bring them the news.

The real insult to our Marines is saying that the fallujah militants (read terrorists) FOUGHT Marines to a standstill. This is simply ridiculous. They were ordered to stand down while diplomats attempted a Najaf style peace (not hearing much from Al Sadr lately so that is no longer news). Here is a quote from a Marine that was there:

"If they let us, the Marines will cut right through that city. I believe that because of the spirit of the Marines who are seething because they have been ordered to stop and still are eager to "finish the job."" From: Bellon, Maj David G. Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2004 5:10 PM http://www.thegreenside.com/story.asp?ContentID=8891

And a quote from the same Marine on Nov. 3rd, 2004:
"For eight months, we have been on our chain. The enemy has fooled itself misinterpreting our humanity and restraint for lack of will and courage.........
Now, their own ignorance and arrogance will be their undoing. They believe that they can hold Fallujah. In fact, they have come from all over to be part of its glorious defense. I cannot describe the atmosphere that exists in the Regiment right now. Of course the men are nervous but I think they are more nervous that we will not be allowed to clean the rats nest out and instead will be forced to continue operating as is. "

This is from a man who is there. I think I will trust him more than Bret Baier typing away while sipping his Starbucks coffee.

I am sending up a special prayer for the families, friends and comrades of those Marine and Iraqi forces who gave their lives in this cause of freedom.

Jesu es Semper Fidelis

Annoying Annan Appeals

2004-11-12T20:35:00.000-08:00

The United Nations is truly a mixed blessing. Mr. Kofi Annan keeps popping up with his unwanted , advice This is the same Secretary-General who will not provide congress with requested documents which might implicate himself and French elitists in the oil for food scandal. It is the same international diplomat who has (sorta) considered sanctions against the United States while balking at doing so for just about every terrorist nation in the world.
The UN is merely a tool from a realistic secularist standpoint (Revelations to be addressed later but not by me-One world government and currency will have to come from somewhere). It is like a our computer with Microsoft Windows x?x?x? loaded, we might kick it and mash the qwertyasdfjkl; keys mercilessly when it does not do what we want it to but it also apparently has some uses which is why we keep it around. Just like the Windows OS it eats up too much of our assets, is bogged down in code/worthless features, crashes without warning, gives us messages we do not want to hear, performs actions against our will and is generally annoying and incomprehensible. Fortunately for us there are a bunch of Information Technology types in our government who can keep it running, manipulate the system, adjust the registry and allow us to accomplish certain useful things with it despite the fact that Gates/Annan seem to be out of control and manipulative. There are other operating systems out there but they have very limited access to the overall world of programs/governments. Please also excuse the Virii, Worms and Spybots in the system.
The UN is now a massive bureaucracy but it really does semi-effectively address some areas that are wrong with the world, albeit at great cost in capital, but at least not in overly disproportionate levels to the US of A. While the UN is made up of a huge number of disparate, selfish and sometimes downright evil members it is still a wonderful little framework for us to manipulate in a lot of the situations, and the US government is good at it. An additional benefit is that it is completely harmless when censuring the permanent members. Why do you think Russia still participates? When they agree with our aims it makes things easy to accomplish, When they don't, hey no great loss we would have assimilated the cost anyhow. We cannot dismiss world opinion completely and when the UN actually does solve a Kosovo/Bosnia Herzegovina/Yugoslavia situation then Kudos to them/us. Let us treat our tools well where we can and not throw them away when Mr. Clippy (the MS word paperclip advisor) pops up on our screen unbidden. I think I will start referring to whomever the current UN Secretary-General is as Mr. Clippy.

Hmmmmmm. "Mr. Clippy Annan"

Mr. Clippy Annan says:

It appears you are trying to write a document on how to conduct the War on Terrorism
May I suggest:
1). A new resolution document that will allow corrupt UN members to delay acting on your behalf.
2). A complete reformatting of your Executive and Legislative branches of government.
3). A template that includes international consensus building bureaucracy suggestions.
4). A preformatted letter of apology to the UN.
5). No thanks, continue using MS/UN word.
A friend suggested that just like with Windows, choosing one of the help functions from the UN seldom is the best choice.

Deus es Semper Fidelis

From a scrappleface post I made:

2004-11-05T23:18:00.000-08:00

France has been a glorious country with the grandeur and beauty of the age of Louis th XIV to the military and economic might of Napoleon. They have been at times the envy of the world and everybody in polite societies from Russia To the United States imititated French dances, fashion, language and art. They had the best of cuisine, wines, and cheeses. That was the 18th century and now they are just whiny and cheesy. They are vilified and remembered for their opportunistic imperialist domination of the world which lasted into the 1970's and have been identified as a nasty little country of elitists who are trying to milk their former glory while looking down their effete unwashed noses at the rest of the world. Their jealousy and hatred regarding their lost status will naturally be transferred to the nation that is now being imitated throughout the world in their stead. Pauvre Jacques! The world does not despise you, it is just we individuals who detest your national actions while admiring your history just as we admire Italy and its grand contribution to our world. I have been around the world myself and I must say that while ugly Americans are ridiculed, pushy Frenchies are detested. I would like to apologize to 25-35% of good french citizens who appreciate America, stand for conservatism and are forced to live in a socialist leaning state.
Deus es Semper Fideles
Le Couer a ses raisons que raison ne connait point.

Senator Daschle plans to Filibuster the appointment of Senator elect Thune

2004-11-04T16:11:00.000-08:00

S.D. voters elect John Thune to Senate; Daschle pledges to keep fighting for state

Daschle, 56, became the first Senate leader to be unseated since 1952, when Barry Goldwater of Arizona turned Senate Majority Leader Ernest McFarland out of office.

"This will not stand" Said Daschle in a brief speech to several hundred supporters, many of whom sobbed as they cheered and waved campaign signs. " I will fill the month of Jaunuary with a continuous litany while reading the minutes of the Sturgis, SD Harley Hogg convention. It is just not proper that the people of South Dakota be repressed by a conservative, anti abortion Senator.

A filibuster is allowed because the Constitution gives each house of Congress the right to "determine the Rules of its Proceedings." That means the Senate can run itself however it sees fit. With one short-lived exception, the Senate had no rule until 1917 to halt discussion on anything?reflecting the body's long-standing commitment to unlimited debate. A single senator thus had the power to hold the entire body hostage on an issue, so long as he was prepared to keep talking about it. Hence the term "filibuster," derived from the Spanish filibustero, or freebooter, meaning "pirate." (That word ultimately goes back to a pair of Dutch words that mean "free" and "booty"?which may or may not be relevant to goings-on in the Senate.)

Daschle went on to state that "Just because fillibustering lost me my senate seat does not make it wrong. I will ask to be recognized at Thunes inauguration and then speak for the next two years. I realize that my Filibustering of Bushes appointees held up the business of the senate and caused this country to be weaker but, darn it this country does not deserve strength if it plans on protecting the life of unborn children when our women rely on Roe~v~Wade to provide birth control. I plan on being fitted with a colostamy bag and catheter and getting fortified milk/water while speaking during the 2004-2006 period."

Pundits are debating whether or not the fortified milk/water will be equal to sustaining the lame duck senator during his 21 month filibuster.

Deus es Semper Fideles

Due to a case of mistaken Identity Johns Kerry and Edwards filed suit today in Federal court.satire

2004-10-31T11:25:00.000-08:00

The following is a seditious quote speaking out against the constitution made by a Harvard educated liberal from Massachusetts, Senator Gerry who held secret negotiations in Paris, France:
"My principal objections to the plan (constitution) are, that there is no adequate provision for a representation of the people; that they have no security for the right of election; that some of the powers of the legislature are ambiguous, and others indefinite and dangerous; that the executive is blended with, and will have an undue influence over, the legislature; that the judicial department will be oppressive; that treaties of the highest importance may be formed by the president, with the advice of two thirds of a quorum of the senate; and that the system is without the security of a bill of rights. These are objections which are not local, but apply equally to all the states."

"I have never spoken out against the constitution and this is made up libelous slander from the vast right wing conspiracy" Said John Kerry a Professional Vietnam Veteran and Presidential candidate. "They quoted me out of context. Sure I may have said some of these things but I was tired from the campaign and off my game that day. I now have my eye back on the ball and can say definitively that I would never call our current Judicial branch oppressive and there is no way it will be in the future once I have stacked it with liber-er....with unlabeled, like minded, litmus tested Justices. I would also like to clear up the record and state that we do indeed have a Bill of Rights!,... don't we?."

At a stump speech in Pittsburgh Mr. Kerry, who is also intermittently a US Senator, expanded on the subject. "I will pursue this lawsuit against the Allentown Gazette to the fullest extent of the law and John Edwards shady trial lawyer abilities. These charges will not stand. I do not pander to external influences. There is no such thing as Kerrypandering. How could they make these accusations against a war hero, Do they know who I am? "

When asked for comment at the Allentown Gazette several employees gave a statement on speakerphone intermittently interrupted with giggles and snorts :

First off we sincerely, giggle, Apologize that our ancient typesetting machine makes a G look a little like a K.
As you know we are redistricting the electorate here in Pennsylvania so the article was about Gerrymandering and the quote was just to add context to its' creator Elbridge Gerry who just happened to be an Ivy league educated liberal senator from Massachusetts who held secret negotiations in Paris, France IN THE YEAR 1798!snicker. Did anybody bother reading the rest of the article that concentrated on redistricting?
KerryPandering?.....Mwahhaaahaa (people heard falling from chairs and slapping knees in background)
Thats priceless!! ...
(click)

When confronted with the facts Senator Kerry denied them. " I do not make condemnations without having all the facts- I have 3 purple hearts and integrity, integrity....integrity. The Allentown Gazzete rushed off the piece without a plan to win the legal war I am about to unleash. I have experts who will testify that the 1970's era typesetters they have are quite capable of making a legible 'G'. The damage to my impeccable character has already been done since they sent those 377 tons of dangerous newspapers out into the hands of the illiterate masses. They were of no potential danger as long as the evil newspaper elite held on to them. "

President Bush when asked to comment on the story during a speech in North Philly had this to say. " Kerrypandering? so what else is new...Oh Gerrymandering- isn't that when you go out and gig those little wet lizards?, Next question."

Story made up with nods and style acknowledgements to my mentor (unknown to him) Scott Ott at scrappleface.

Deus es Semper Fideles

Just a link

2004-10-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

http://www.georgewbush.com/911families/

Love is universal

2004-10-29T17:08:00.000-07:00

To qualify my post below, I have mixed blood in my ancestory, In the Marine Corps we are brothers in arms and just varying shades of Green, And I have two nephews whom I love dearly who are blessed to be African American. Do not try to tell me I have no perspective on the issue. I have another nephew of the same ethnicity who was aborted and though I love my sister dearly I was outraged that this occurred. She is now equally dismayed that she fell for the arguments of the left when she was younger. Read the blog below to learn the truth.

God bless
Deus es Semper Fideles

2004-10-25T06:08:00.000-07:00

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ? Former Vice President Al Gore on Sunday told blacks embittered by his narrow loss in the 2000 presidential election that "it doesn't have to be this way" and urged them to turn anger into energy at the polls.
"Don't turn it into angry acts or angry words," Gore said at one stop during a tour of mostly black churches.

Do not let evil into your congregation
Observe the fruits of their actions
Do not wish Godspeed to the wicked!

How could a Church that is Christ centered allow someone to come in and preach a political message when they know that person is in favor of killing babies. Why do so many African American Christians blindly support a political party who's stated platform includes Pro-Choice.

*In America today, more African-American children are aborted than are born.
*A black baby is now more than three times as likely to bemurdered in the womb than a white baby.
*Since 1973, abortion has reduced the black population by over 25 percent.
*Twice as many African-Americans have died from abortion than have died fromAIDS, accidents, violent crimes, cancer, and heart disease combined.
*Every three days, more African-Americans are killed by abortion than have been killed by the Ku Klux Klan in its entire history.

Pro-Choice is homicidal to the Black community as can be seen at this site:
http://blackgenocide.org/planned.html
If you support them you are participating in MURDER!

Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in America. 78% of their clinics are in minority communities. Blacks make up 12% of the population, but 35% of the abortions in America. Are we being targeted? Isn't that genocide? We are the only minority in America that is on the decline in population. If the current trend continues, by 2038 the black vote will be insignificant. Did you know that the founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, was a devout racist who created the Negro Project designed to sterilize unknowing black women and others she deemed as undesirables of society? The founder of Planned Parenthood said, "Colored people are like human weeds and are to be exterminated." Is her vision being fulfilled today?

And this

http://www.citizenreviewonline.org/special_issues/population/the_negro_project.htm

Al Gore supports Planned Parenthood as do Johns Kerry & Edwards. Nationally, Planned Parenthood receives more than one hundred and eighty million of our tax dollars every year. Their net assets now total $536.3 million. All that money sitting in their coffers, and yet Planned Parenthood continues to demand that Congress increase what they receive every year and Liberals in the congress like John Kerry continue to vote their support. Our tax dollars should not be used to support this murder. Do not participate in it. Do not support it. Do not add to the millions of innocent who will be calling for justice.

God Bless
Jesu es Semper Fidelis

Should Memory Fade.

2004-10-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

Surfing the web I ran across an entry at http://www.angelfire.com/nj3/jmark/page15.html
Although it lost a little in the translation it is still stirring. Our liberal counterparts and the main stream media seem to need reminding of what we are about. Our unity, momentum and purpose are being sacrificed by a few militant radicals who have the public ear and are turning our nation away from the one real issue-elimination and suppression of the most threatining elements.

Editorial from a Romanian newspaper:

Why are Americans so united?
They don't resemble one another even if you paint them!
They speak all the languages of the world
and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations.
Some of them are nearly extinct,
others are incompatible with one another,
and in matters of religious beliefs,
not even God can count how many they are.
Still, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House,the army, the secret services that they are only a bunch of losers.
Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts.
Nobody rushed on the streets nearby to gape about.
The Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand.
After the first moments of panic,
they raised the flag on the smoking ruins,
putting on T-shirts, caps and ties
in the colours of the national flag.
They placed flags on buildings and cars
as if in every place and on every car a minister or the president was passing.
On every occasion they started singing their traditional song:
"God Bless America!".
Silent as a rock, I watched the charity concert broadcast on Saturday
once, twice, three times, on different tv channels.
There were Clint Eastwood, Willie Nelson,
Robert de Niro, Julia Roberts, Cassius Clay,
Jack Nicholson, Bruce Springsteen, Silvester Stalone, James Woods,
and many others whom no film or producers could ever bring together.
The American's solidarity spirit turned them into a choir.
Actually, choir is not the word.
What you could hear was the heavy artillery of the American soul.
What neither George W. Bush, nor Bill Clinton,
nor Colin Powell could say without facing the risk of stumbling over words and sounds,
was being heard in a great and unmistakable way in this charity concert.
I don't know how it happened
that all this obsessive singing of America didn't sound croaky, nationalist, or ostentatious!
It made you green with envy
because you weren't able to sing for your country without running the risk of being considered chauvinist, ridiculous, or suspected of who-knows-what mean interests.
I watched the live broadcast
and the rerun of its rerun for hours
listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair
without knowing who she was,
or of the Californian hockey player,
who fought with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that would have killed other hundreds of thousands of people.
How on earth were they able to bow before a fellow human?
Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note,
the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes.
And with every phone call,
millions and millions of dollars were put in a collection aimed at rewarding
not a man or a family, but a spirit which nothing can buy.
What on earth can unite the Americans in such a way?
Their land?
Their galloping history?
Their economic power?
Money?
I tried for hours to find an answer,
humming songs and murmuring phrases which risk of sounding like commonplaces.
I thought things over,
but I reached only one conclusion.
Only freedom can work such miracles!

God Bless the families and friends of those lost in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The George Bush of September 14th, 2001 has not changed his position at all.
The John Kerry of September 14, 2001 no longer exists. He was become one of those radicals who must prove through any means available that everything has gone wrong since then in order to grasp for political power.

What is wrong with me?

2004-10-23T18:20:00.000-07:00

I just read this story:

At least 16 Iraqi policemen were killed and 40 others were wounded when a suicide driver detonated his car at a police station near a U.S. Marine base in Khan al-Baghdadi, 140 miles west of the capital, according to police. No Americans were hurt in the 7 a.m. attack, the U.S. military said.

My automatic response was "Thank God no Americans were killed". This was wrong of me. Upon reflection it is not that I have fallen into the trap of American lives are better than those foreign lives. I believe subconciously that I am not wanting the liberals to have any more spin points on American deaths which seem to be the only thing that matters to them in a "More US deaths=bad administration and military" sort of way. I am now taking the time to pray for those brave Iraqi citizens who gave their lives in this atrocity.

GOD bless

Jesu es Semper Fidelis

Facts are relevant and relative

2004-10-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, The wonderful thing about writing a blog is you don't really have to have all your facts straight. After all it is just somebody sitting around in their pajamas (PJahadist, Pajamahudeen, Pajamajihadist etc..) typing in whatever they are thinking and generally referring to a huge number of articles on the web (if it is in print it must be true...right) in order to support their positions. It turns out the 7% figure (of casualties compared to Saddam) I quoted does not accurately reflect suspected terrorists and allied losses. It is only verified innocents and a massive guess at that, but still much less than Pre-war levels. I also took some poetic license in including Jordan among the Whipped dog's. Apparently our relations with them are so friendly that we are not exerting enough pressure politically to necessitate them taking any drastic action. I am free to accept more correction as necessary.

2004-10-22T17:14:00.001-07:00

I notice the Top headline in the news:

Video Shows CARE Director Pleading for Life

For some reason this is the top news. I feel for her, I pray for her, I would risk my own life to deliver her from the evil filth who are exploiting her if I were in a position to do so. This is an example of what we are in Iraq to stop. Unfortunately it will take time to substantially decrease this type of activity- probably a decade or more. In the meantime examples of the types of incidents that are currently not happening in Iraq are being ignored.

For example:
Another not so high profile story on the news:

"BAGHDAD, Iraq- The images were shocking.
A trench with piles of clothed bodies packed tightly together. Men, women, little children. Even unborn children. Some blindfolded. Some with their hands bound. All slaughtered in cold blood by the henchmen of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein"

This type of incident is not occuring in Iraq today because of our just presence. Were these people less worthy of life just because they are not British or American? The women were probably crying and pleading for their lives and those of their children as they were brutally murdered. Were their cries of less worth than those of a westerner? Is it not wonderful that so many are living safe from such government sponsored terror and the ragtag remnants of that government can only accomplish this type of evil in ones or twos now.
These type facts have been discovered and reported many times over. These were people, just like the ones down the block. They had dreams aspirations and a desire to live in peace, but according to many Westerners they were beneath notice. They will mutter sure it is terrible, but that is their problem, why should America get involved? after all what are they doing in Sudan, Rwanda, Chile and a hundred other places that the USA has not projected force? Many in the Liberal left seem to scream that we should either solve all the worlds problems or none at all, especially if the country who's problems we are solving happens to have oil...that is the only reason we are there 'cause the DNC says so. Set aside for the moment the potential causes for the war (WMD's, sponsoring & harboring terrorism, Firing at American aircraft enforcing the no fly zones, Defying sanctions, etc...) and imagine that our sole reason for being there was to prevent the repetitive recurrance of the above mentioned atrocities. Would that not, in and of itself, be sufficient justification for being there. The allied and terrorists actions are causing casualties too! spouts the leftist. Yes, they are, but the per annum ratio is less than 7% of what the average human extinction was under Saddams regime and at least it gets reported and is not isolated to the most innocent of the population. To the left winger who also shouts " You greedy capitalist war mongers are just there for the oil and are not helping anyone else who does not have oil and there are 60 other nations with Al queda cells---- I say:
1. Sudan has oil, More current production than Iraq.
2. The U.S delayed through 13 years of violated sanctions and intensive diplomacy prior to attacking Iraq.
3. By the lefts own political position we are engaged in each of those situations through the United Nations and normal diplomatic channels trying to resolve them.
4. There are only 58 other nations with Al-Queda cells now. Pakistan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Libya are rolling over like whipped dogs to try and oust them. Many nations infiltrated are already our allies and as for the rest....Watch out, your next if you do not take action.
5. If there were a natural disaster and I were to help my friend next door while another dozen neighbors shouted that I was just doing it for money and not helping the person 2 blocks over while doing nothing to help on their own I would ignore them as hypocritical idiots. The fact is I cannot unilatterally help everybody, it is enough that we are there now helping, we are saving lives, and we are creating a better place for the populace. History will show the justice of our actions.

The poorest 1% of America has more opportunity and support than the average person in Iraq. For those selfish isolationists here who insist on taking care of our own before we worry about the rest of the world I maintain that we already have. If one wants to dismiss the citizens of Iraq as being sub-human and not worth risking American lives to preserve then I can dismiss them as being self-centered and unworthy of consideration in the debate.

Deus es Semper Fideles

2004-10-21T16:18:00.000-07:00

A close personal friend of mine wrote this article a few years ago:

From the Clarion Ledger
Jackson Ms.
September 6th, 2001

This Quadriplegic doesn't want cure at expense of unborn

This is the first time I have ever written a letter to an editor, but the gravity of the debate on stem cell research strikes me to the core, both physically and ethically.

I was diagnosed with spinal cord tumors 21 years ago and have been a quadriplegic for 16 years. Despite my disability, I still work a full-time job as an electrical engineer and thus am still a taxpayer. I am married and the father of a 7-year-old boy and a 2- year-old girl.

In the 20 years that I?ve fought my disease, I have seen such "exciting research" come and go. It is with this history that I watch the current batch of scientists envision great cures and then request federal grant money.

We cannot let this hope and dream cloud the ethical nightmare embryonic stem cell research entails. It is no better than the pragmatic rationalization of accepting gold from the teeth of Holocaust victims.

With all my heart I hope stem cell research finds the cure for my disease and that of others.

My wife and I struggle for two hours every morning to get me ready to work. I push through the pains and frustrations encountered daily to keep on working and being productive.

My heart is broken every time my daughter falls down and I can't pick her up to comfort her, when I can't play catch with my son, when I want to take a walk with my wife and can't hold her hand.

I know the cost only too well that my family and would have to bear, but I would not be able to accept a cure to my paralysis or cancer if the cure is a result of the death of another human being.

I must insist that my tax money not fund embryonic stem cell research. I cannot stand on the bones of the unborn.

David S. Roudebush

I feel for Christopher Reeves' family and pray for them. Mr. Reeve was not a bad person but he did allow his own selfish desires to blind him to the barbarity of the murdering of innocent children in the name of science. I hope that his memory is not abused to advance a cause which has no place in the Truth, Justice, And The American Way that Superman stood for. There is no Justice in sawing up a pre-born baby.

Liberals are not keeping their eye on the ball!

2004-10-19T21:44:00.000-07:00

Those who never serve liberty are the first to ridicule those who preserve it. From their safe cocoon they belittle those that make the tough decisions. Most of our resident liberals have never done military time, they never have had to go hungry, they never had to make a life and death decision. From the very shield of safety we provide them they sit back and condemn our CIC and officer corps for the cost of providing that cocoon as if maintaining liberty and safety were bloodless. The 20/20 hindsight of the liberal armchair generals is not reality. They may have done something differently but in the uncertainty of war it would have just resulted in a different set of circumstances that others would sit back and criticize. Paraphrasing a source I cannot remember "War is just a string of catastrophes which ends with one side winning" or something to that effect. 1000 deaths is just a spin number for the liberals and they hope it grows exponentially to bolster their anti-war arguments. Have they done anything about their horror at these deaths? Have they sent a letter of condolence, a care package, a monetary gift to a grieving family or lonely soldier? No! instead they blindly throw their full support behind a liberal with an undefined plan (yes I have read what there was of it). With no conscience and no concept of war fighting or the dynamics of strategy they insist on sacrificing additional lives by replacing the leadership in the midst of the battle. How do I know this to be fact? Because I have been there, done that, and spent my time reading of war and history while they were reading Marx and Voltaire. 90% of the rest of the military who's lives they are playing with agree with me as well. The liberals are not the experts on this subject, all they can do is sit on the sidelines and quote the sound bites that the DNC party throws out. John Kerry took time out in the debates to tick off all the Generals that support him, All on one hand. There are 880 General Officers on Active duty almost all of whom support the current administration. This is not to mention the Reserve and Retired General officers a very few of whom Mr. Kerry named. Do these Generals know more about the War on Terror than most liberals and Kerry's campaign staff?, Of course. John Kerry and his pandering to external opinion and indecisiveness will cost more lives in the long run. Terrorists, unlike Massachusetts voters, can sense weakness and willingness to compromise lives for political points. The use of military force was the result of failed diplomacy. Whose diplomacy failed? To start with the first Bush administration but they barely had time to adjust the scales and start weighing options before Perot unseated them. The Clinton administration bears most of the burden with the ineffectual foreign policy over a period of 8 years as Saddam continued to violate article after article of the UN resolutions including firing repeatedly on our aircraft. Personally I recall how lame our response was in 1995 when Clinton cancelled my trip to "La bois de la brigade de Marines" in France in order to sail across the Mediterranean Sea in an aircraft carrier the squids were driving for me and watch our escorts launch a few ineffective cruise missiles. How long does failing diplomacy have to be tried? By the time Bush was elected and tried to recover the situation it was already untenable. The 3-5 year cost of taking down the regime and installing a Democracy was far less than the continued cost of the "No fly zones", the threat of state supported terrorism, and maintenance of troops in Saudi Arabia for an indefinite period of time (10-20 Years). There were other reasons for war as well such as WMDs which may or may not have been transported to Iran , Syria, and Jordan but were secondary to our strategic concerns. It is a sensationalist media who has hyped up this one element the most. The majority of the Senate (John Kerry included) thought he had them as well after reading the same intelligence reports. Although this was one of our reasons for going to war it was not the only one. More important was the ability and desire to finance and support the terrorists networks who might use one of these weapons, or even chop down a tree in the US to derail a Hazardous Material handling train in a populated area. Iraq is not the end of the War On Terror it is merely the current focal point. I would rather fight them there in concentrated masses than here in America at every crossroads. Buckle up America it is a long ride. Lets Roll.

Number 10

2004-10-17T19:41:00.000-07:00

Beloved Number Ten:
I am a multi-billionaire and You are my headstrong child. You and your 9 brothers/sisters have gone out and stolen the crown jewels from the queen mother, sold them and frittered away the money in various sinful ways. Subsequently you were all caught and the government of the United Kingdom worked a deal where they would not execute you if the sum of a Billion dollars in reparations were paid for each of you. You have been released on your own recognizance but have been made well aware of the fact that a judgement day is coming at some point in the future?
My sacrifice was given At the New York Stock Exchange when I publicly set up 10 irrevocable trust accounts with a Billion dollars in each then laid out some simple rules for claiming the money:
You must acknowledge the FACT that I am your father and love me accordingly.
You must realize the FACT that what you?ve done was wrong and STRIVE to change for the better.
You must acknowledge and receive my sacrifice and be thankful for it.

The Money was a free gift already paid and not refundable yet statistically so far 90% of the money goes unclaimed for some very strange and convoluted reasons.
*Your first sibling denied the fact that I even existed despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Maybe the delusion was comforting up until the time they strapped him into the chair and pulled the switch.
*Your second sibling acknowledged I existed but thought she had come about by an accident with the Primordial Pool guy or an alien Mailman. This in and of itself did not disqualify her as long as she recognized my hand in raising her but it caused her to have terrible problems grasping rules 2 and 3. Seemed a shame to see her scream her way into the gas chamber because of misguided guesses and suspicions about her heritage.
*Your third sibling knew I was her father but Hated me for some wrong her siblings did and falsely claimed I put them up to. I loved her so and it was difficult to hear the gruesome details of her hanging.
*Your fourth sibling knew that I was his father and loved me greatly, but had rationalized his actions and could not see where he had done anything wrong. Those stuffy Brits never used those jewels anyhow and it is unfair how everyone was getting between him and the pleasure he deserved. The firing squad shot him as he extolled the unfairness of it all.
*Your fifth sibling accepted the offer willingly, paid the Billion dollars and, when judgement day arrived, he received a full pardon for his transgressions and came to live happily with me at my mansion. You probably find him extremely annoying because he tries to sell you on doing the same thing and sometimes makes you feel self-conscious because of his naiveté in Striving to change for the better clashes with your own lifestyle which is more mainstream.
*Your sixth sibling Found your fifth sibling utterly annoying because he knew five was not perfect and continued to make mistakes and seemed to be just plain "holier-than-thou". "Sure I drink my Liquor, lie, cheat and steal, but at least I don't condemn other people like that nasty hypocrite--I would rather die than live like that fake" .....He did.
*Your Seventh sibling was prideful, had a good job and decided he wouldn't accept this charity. He determined that he would work the off the debt himself. The $137,423 dollars he came up with was a bit short of the Billion required but he figured he might be able to cut some sort of deal. He rehashed his thinking as they were giving him the lethal injection, but it was too late.
*Sibling Eight acknowledged me as the father and loved me accordingly. Eight was a generally upstanding and moral citizen give or take the crown jewels thing and a little greed, pride and envy. He realized that what he did was wrong and had no problem with the "Strive to do better" concept. His only problem was that he doubted whether or not there was a billion dollars there. He doubted that the sacrifice had occurred, after all there were only a few thousand eyewitnesses there at the stock exchange at the time and since he was not there himself he could only rely on the secondhand and written accounts of the occurrence. There were even a lot of highly educated and intelligent people writing about how it was all a fake. Why would his father do this for him? Why should He waste his time attempting to claim this gift which to his mind probably did not exist. Once he actually pulled up outside the NY stock exchange but changed his mind at the last second. Would it not be totally embarrassing to walk down the aisle at the stock exchange with all those people watching? Number Five told him "Trust me it?s there. I accepted it and it paid for my crimes and now I'm living happily without the burden of judgement hanging over me". The answer "Poor number Five, you are probably delusional. Haven't you read your science books? Psychologically speaking people just don't make sacrifices like that and I don't think there will be a final judgement anyhow. ". He mused that even if there were a judgement obeying the first two rules would probably keep the stiff necked Queen off his back. "I love my very rich father and I am being good now, sort of...well, at least better than number three and six!" he was heard to say. "Sorry, that may be so, but the debt is still unpaid for you refused to accept the gift" was heard as the axe fell on his neck.
*Your Ninth sibling was politically connected and relied on some rich relatives to raise the money so he would not have to depend on me. Uncle Mohammed and Aunt Krishna Promised him the full amount and, although they had a lot more rules for claiming the money (which he followed religiously) on execution day they were determined to be bankrupt and were accordingly burned at the stake with sibling Nine.
**Where do you stand number ten. I am indeed your father. I want to cleanse you of your wrongdoing and clothe you in righteousness. I Love you and do not want to see you die. I want you to acknowledge and accept this gift. I want to give you life and love. It breaks my heart what has happened to my other children and I want more for you. The gift is free, No strings other than love attached. Is loving so hard? Will you reject me too on equally senseless grounds? Please come to my mansion and into my compassionate arms!
YOU are LOVED number Ten
The Father

This is a modern day parable for the Plan of Salvation.
The Father is indeed GOD.
The Sacrifice-Infinetely more precious and harder to match than a Billion dollars is The Lord Jesus Christ who died painfully on a cross for Your sins.
The three simple rules remain the same.
The Mansion is Heaven.
The various methods of death represent an eternity in Hell.
The Love is real.

*Number one is an atheist who believes that the complexity of the universe was derived from the chaos of nothingness and people evolved from rocks in direct contravention to the second law of thermodynamics, mathematical probability and common sense in knowing that complex things do not come from simple things without outside intelligent influence.

*Number two believes that there is some higher being out there, but has become confused by societal beliefs in evolution, un-testable theories of origins and modern interpretations of miraculous phenomena. There are many in this world who make their best guess about what happened thousands, millions, or even billions of years ago and then present it as absolute fact. Combine this with the opposition of the Catholic (read organized/political/traditional religion) Church in the past to some known scientific facts (I.E. round world etc...) and you have created a skeptical hearer if they group all Christians or religions into one lump.

*Number three blames GOD for all the problems the sin nature of man creates (I.E. the Inquisition/IRA bombings etc...) and/or personal problems which all men face (financial difficulties, death of loved ones etc...). A perfect Just and Loving God has to allow men the free will to choose Between good and evil, otherwise we would be mere tools or robots incapable of Love, Programmed in all our actions. Unfortunately many men choose to do evil and disobey GOD. This choice of man to do evil is the cause of almost all human suffering. Death and sickness are a natural side effect of the original sin and everybody's health will eventually fail them. Most of our problems can be traced back to some failing on our part or to the failing of another human.
*Number four cannot see that he did anything wrong. He looks around at all the other sinful humans and finds somebody he can compare himself to favorably then pronounces himself as "A good person" who deserves more out of life. Rationalization can cover many different topics: "I may have killed two people in a barroom fight but at least I'm not a serial killer like that guy!", "I cheat a little on my income taxes but I am not an outright thief like him.", " I may tell little white lies but that guy is a pathological liar". All people are capable of finding something they are not as "bad" at when compared to another flawed human. The problem is GOD does not measure us against other humans, but by a GODLY standard. That is why he provided the gift of grace. Acceptance of the sacrifice of the sinless Jesus is the only thing that can bring you up to the standard.

*Number five is the basic believer. Not perfect but forgiven. Not Righteous but cleansed by the righteousness of GOD. Having been delivered from certain death there is a natural desire on their part to share the good news. Often we do not do it well and sometimes we offend. We cannot understand why any would reject this free gift. We have nothing personal to gain by your acceptance of it, we do not get part of your salvation or "billion" as the case may be. It should not be said that you have to give up drinking, smoking, extramarital sex, drugs and gambling to obtain the kingdom of heaven, You do not, although once delivered from a lost condition there are varying degrees of desire to do so. These are just outwardly visible sins that get the most attention from other people. Even believers continue to have inappropriate thoughts and actions, it is just that usually the outward sins are tended to first because of human nature and wanting to "appear" less sinful. The Drug addict male prostitute who has accepted the salvation of Jesus Christ will make it into heaven while the Bishop, Preacher or Pope who has not will find himself in Hell. You just follow the three simple steps provided:
Love GOD
Repent of Your Sins. Strive for sinlessness. (notice I did not say you would be sinless)
Appreciate and Believe in the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ as payment for the sins YOU have committed and will commit. Receive him into your heart.

*Number six has many of the same problems as number four. He has also mistakenly condemned and judged all Saved people as being hypocrites and fakes who are "judging him" while ignoring the hypocrisy required for him to make such a judgement. He operates under the delusional concept that people who go to church are supposed to be, and claim to be, perfect and when they are not perfect he has proven all of Christianity to be fake. In reality the people that are born again believers are drawn from the community at large and as such are representative of that community with the same frailties and tendencies. In some way or another all people are hypocrites. The only difference is; The Saved ones recognized the fact that they were imperfect sinners and have been forgiven and tried to change. It has been said and I agree " I would rather be in Heaven with the Saved hypocrites than in hell with the rest of them". Double standard: A secular president has an affair and the atheist says "So, that's his personal life" but when an Evangelist has an affair they Scream "Lying Hypocrites, They don't practice what they preach" Despite the fact that they were both flawed human beings fighting the same temptations and sexual opportunities that fame causes. The truth is that Pride, greed, Drunkenness and Promiscuity and many other things are wrong and sinful and a Christian should identify them as such, but while we are to hate those sins in ourselves and others we are to love the sinner, since we all fall into that category. The hypocrisy defense is a form of deluded self preservation since it allows the sinner to go on sinning without feeling convicted about it because "The Perfect People" are sinning to. The problem is it doesn't work since the defensiveness of the person involved is a way of dealing with guilt that is already there causing a wound that only GOD can heal..

*Number seven - Pride has blinded him to the possibility of getting anything so easily. He is trying to work out his own way to heaven. He failed to realize the impossibility of the task. No matter how good he is he can never attain the goal on his own. GOD is a perfect and just GOD who has set down the rules and made them simple so that any person may attain them. GODS perfect justice demands that the price be paid in full and HE has already provided you with a means to pay it asking only love and trust in return. If he allowed any thing less than full payment he would no longer be a perfectly just God and would become a "depends upon the situation" situational ethics sub-god. There are many church going, godly seeming people who have not grasped the basic fact that you have to believe with your heart in all of these three easy steps or all the church functions and charitable giving in the world will not keep them out of Hell. GOD does not grade on a curve. Some have the mistaken impression that there is a large cosmic karma scale where you heap the good deeds on one side and the bad on the other and if the good outweighs the bad you go to Heaven. The problem is in this scenario is that a perfect GOD cannot allow any sin into his perfect Heaven and thus one bad deed would far outweigh a billion good ones. The only way to win in this situation is to have the blood of the sacrificed Christ scrub clean the bad side of the scale, once freed from the counterbalance of evil the good side will float with you on up to Heaven when judgement day comes. The only alternative is that you should consider those tiny un-scrubbed sins as the satanic Mafia's concrete shoes dragging you and your good deeds into the depths.

*Number Eight is pretty much your average citizen who has done a few bad things here and there. He Claims to be a Christian because it's a family tradition and he believes in God, Prays when in trouble and on the appropriate holidays and goes to church when the fancy strikes him. Eight sees the Bible as a good book, maybe a little flawed or mistranslated since it was written by men and figures Jesus must have been a pretty swell guy. On occasion he has felt convicted and almost committed his life to Christ but held back because he might get embarrassed or have to give something up or did not feel worthy or became confused by satans' many pseudoscientific and seemingly logical lies. Be very aware! This one short life you have is neither horseshoes nor hand grenades. Hell is not one degree cooler for the one who squeaks "I Almost didn't deny Christ's sacrifice". If you wait until you clean up your life or drop some bad habits first you'll never make it to heaven. Get saved first and Christ will clean up your life for you if you are willing. Over 50,000 eyewitnesses to the Miracles of Jesus were available by the time he allowed himself to be placed on the Cross. His greatest enemies, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, did not deny his miracles but instead tried to attribute them to the devil. Non Religious historians verify Christ's existence and miracles. Only in the last 300 years has a pervasive and growing secularist science made up of atheists started trying to belittle the facts doggedly and they rely on a gap of 1800-2000 years to blur the lines and make sure their guesses or lies seem credible. Trust your heart not the guesses of other fallible humans. Smart as they are their minds, like yours and mine, cannot grasp infinity of time nor space nor GOD. QUESTION: "Gee Who put all that material out there to blow up in the "Big Bang"? ANSWER: "Uhmn...It was just there" ...."Big Bang" of material that was "just there" makes rocks, rocks make amoebas, amoebas make man! Now that takes a real leap of faith to believe. Talk about a weird religion.

*Number Nine has fallen into the trap sprung by the religious tolerance in America. He believes that tolerance of other religions (which by the way is usually only allowed in predominantly Christian nations) means that they are just as viable as Christianity. They are all fine and dandy except for the fact that chanting on prayer rugs, humming mantras to crystals, wanting to come back as a sacred cow, and communing with trees have absolutely nothing to do with getting in to heaven and in fact distract you from the only true path. GOD is not the author of confusion and he would not make it something that only the well educated, super intelligent, highly focused or ultra dedicated could accomplish. Even a child is capable of understanding what the One true GOD has dictated to us. No special equipment is required. Salvation does not have to take place in a church or on your 13th birthday. You do not have to be circumcised or dunked or have a special bible. Anybody can be saved anywhere at anytime just by following the three steps above...Just by having the right heart condition. The best Part is that if you do it right the first time-It is permanent. No more candles to light, No messy cleanup, no salesmen will call and Surely goodness and mercy shall follow you all of the days of your life. GOD Bless.

Where Do You stand Number Ten?
No matter where you stand, Remember:
YOU are LOVED Number Ten!
Robert Todd Johnson
A.K.A. "Number five"

2004-10-16T15:21:00.000-07:00

One of my prime reasons for supporting the War on Terror

Iraq, The center of history. Biblical and otherwise

2004-10-16T09:54:00.000-07:00

I am posting a comment a friend left on another Blog that I found interesting:

Holy Scripture and Iraq
1. The garden of Eden was in Iraq.
2. Mesopotamia, which is now Iraq, was the cradle of civilization!
3. Noah built the ark in Iraq.
4. The Tower of Babel was in Iraq.
5. Abraham was from Ur, which is in Southern Iraq!
6. Isaac's wife Rebekah is from Nahor, which is in Iraq.
7. Jacob met Rachel in Iraq.
8. Jonah preached in Nineveh - which is in Iraq.
9. Assyria, which is in Iraq, conquered the ten tribes of Israel.
10. Amos cried out in Iraq!
11. Babylon, which is in Iraq, destroyed Jerusalem.
12. Daniel was in the lion's den in Iraq!
13. The three Hebrew children were in the fire in Iraq (Jesus had beenin Iraq also as the fourth person in the fiery furnace!)
14. Belshazzar, the King of Babylon saw the "writing on the wall" inIraq.
15. Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, carried the Jews captive into Iraq.
16. Ezekiel preached in Iraq.
17. The wise men were from Iraq.
18. Peter preached in Iraq.
19. The "Empire of Man" described in Revelation is called Babylon, which was a city in Iraq!

And you have probably seen this one. Israel is the nation most oftenmentioned in the Bible. But do you know which nation is second? It isIraq! However, that is not the name that is used in the Bible. The namesused in the Bible are Babylon, Land of Shinar, and Mesopotamia. The wordMesopotamia means between the two rivers, more exactly between theTigris and Euphrates Rivers. The name Iraq, means country with deeproots.
Indeed Iraq is a country with deep roots and is a very significant country in the Bible.
No other nation, except Israel, has more history and prophecy associatedit than Iraq.
And also... This is something to think about! Since America is typically represented by an eagle. Saddam should have read up on his Muslim passages...

The following verse is from the Koran, (the Islamic Bible)
Koran (9:11) - For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle. The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced; for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands ofAllah; and there was peace.
(Note the verse number!) Hmmmmmmm?!

May Jesus Christ Graceously Choose Us Over Islam

Posted by: Fred Sinclair, Heirborn Ranger at October 16, 2004 11:17 AM

I would like to point out that although the Koran is not an accurate source of prophecy The Lord could have inspired this one verse, after all he even used an ass to speak to Balaam! NUM 22: 28-30. I have since discovered that the Koran quote is a hoax. Disregard that portion.

John Kerry Doll commercial

2004-10-15T17:55:00.000-07:00

This is a modified version of a post I made to Scrappleface:

Tired of the same old toys, Want to try something different? Looking for something to perk you up? Good then get this signature series limited edition super duper over the top Ultra-lib Kerry doll. Yes sir! You heard me right, the Kerry doll highly sought after in gay bars and quagmires throughout the world. Don't be fooled by cheap imitations. The Kerry doll is painstakingly hand crafted by liberal spoiling parents over a period of 22 years in a Godless state-of-the art hedonistic cannabis factory. They begin with only the highest quality amalgam of Bovine excrement and waffle mix which is pressed in a selfishness mold under huge amounts of disillusioned teen pear pressure. The pressed in glass eyes practically radiate an imbecilic evil glee as if he imagined himself fooling all of the people all of the time and gaining the power of the presidency for his very own . It comes with the Kerry "I want the girlie man vote" hairpiece. The lovingly detailed paint is applied first with a layer of whitewash (made from distilled DNC rhetoric oil) then a triple coat of insta-Tan cheetoh lacquer. You will marvel in the detailed semi-botox treated worry and frown lines around the eyes and mouth that actually seem to bring to life the miserable existence of an Ultra-lib as utopia eludes him and he sickens with guilt at having been born in a privileged, powerful and rich society. He is attired in the very epitome of lib fashion, Spandex biking shorts with flowers and peace symbols. Press his distended belly button to hear gloriously repeating quotes like "Bush lied" and "Wrong wartimeplace" and the ever famous "Saddam used to be a threat but in hindsight maybe not" . There were only 90 million of these collector quality items made so get yours today before supplies run out.

And as a special offer if you call in your order in the next ten minutes you will get one of these two special prizes. Your choice:

1. A deluxe Kerry size passport, some KY jelly and 78 Franc airmail postage to France all in neat package addressed to Jacque Chirac who will be thrilled to have Kerrys' head literally up his butt instead of just figuratively.
2. Bus Fare to New York city, a lighter and 3 ounces of gasoline so you can light your Ultra-lib Kerry doll on fire and throw him off the Twin Towers memorial building as a symbolic gesture/reminder as to why most true Americans don't give a crap about short term cost, other nations' sovereignty, or Frances' petulance. We are going to get the terrorists one way or another despite what petty governments may stand in the way. Can we provide solid proof they were linked to 9/11---Never to a libs satisfaction but who cares as long as we have a healthy suspicion.

[contains small parts keep out of reach of children under 28, not for undecided voters, keep 3' away from open flame or electrical devices, Has been proven to cause brain cancer in lab rats and other liberals. If you are Jacque Chirac and experience anal problems consult a physician. Not responsible for damage caused to Chiracs butt or innocent bystanders at the TT memorial building. May cause headaches if you watch bobble headed flip flops too closely. Do not eat. If ingested induce vomiting by talking truth, logic, and consistency to the victim. Stop using if you notice the following symptoms: verbal diarrhea, talking out of your butt, Swift Boat vets mentioning you on their website, lengthening of the nose or face, gangrene of the brain, herpes, mispronouncing Jenghis Khan, Jane Fonda apologizing for you, involuntary muscle spasms or medal throwing, uncontrollable urge to say lesbian, testicular atrophy, Global test addiction, inability to put forth a coherent plan, gall stones, scurvy, derision for common people, speaking French, anal warts, Turrets syndrome which causes you to put down allies, hemorrhoids, Senatorial voting record evasion etc....]

Too much of a good thing

2004-10-14T20:15:00.000-07:00

Dare I say it?
Liberals are a necessary evil.
Phew! Nobody threw anything. Fine then Iâ€™ll continue.

If only conservatives had ever existed in America:
There would be no Whales, Sequoias, big game, spotted owls, banded red Geckos, or those stupid ugly condors left in America.
There would be no welfare, social security, unions, old age homes or frivolous lawsuits since conservatives are independent, like small Government, and are individualistic on taking care of themselves and their families. Take care of your own or notâ€¦your choice.
The only large part of the government would be a huge intelligence service and a standing active duty force of 25 million equipped with everything 20% of the GNP could buy. The rest of the world would be really nervousâ€¦..or a colony of oursâ€¦.or a parking lot.

We conservatives are like the men of the nation always wanting to Build bigger and better, clear land, make something new, achieve higher production, and protect the family by having the biggest stick and using it on perceived threats. This is a good thing. But must be kept somewhat in check.

These things are worth havingâ€¦well except for the scavengers; condors, frivolous lawyers , and unions. (which have already served their purpose)
That is where the Liberals come in.
They act to counterbalance us sort of like the women (traditionally speaking) of the house. They keep us from spanking too hard, buying that too expensive gun, cutting down all the trees out of the yard in order to make it more expedient to mow, consistently withholding allowances to punish for laziness etcâ€¦
It is precisely this that makes our nation great. The checks and balances of viewpoints. When we lean somewhat to the right things are very good. When we lean slightly to the left we weaken a little in the world. If Kerry wins he will be counterbalanced by a conservative senate so we will only weaken a little at a time unless he stacks the Judicial branch.

If only Liberals had ever existed in America:
We would be part of Mexico...

Deus es Semper Fideles

Scrappleface is extremely amusing

2004-10-06T18:30:00.000-07:00

ScrappleFace: Kerry Protests Dig At Tomb of Genghis Khan: "Kerry Protests Dig At Tomb of Genghis Khan
(2004-10-06) -- John Forbes Kerry today accused Japanese and Mongolian archeologists of trying to 'plunder the tomb of Ghengis Khan in a fashion reminiscent of...well...Genghis Khan.''Genghis Khan was a role model to me during my service in Vietnam,' said Mr. Kerry, who is also a U.S. Senator. 'I implore the archeologists in Mongolia to leave the tomb, and thus the soul of its guardian, undisturbed.'During his 1971 testimony before the Senate foreign relations committee, John Kerry referred to the late Mr. Khan as a kind of mentor.'As a young man, I defended America in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan,' he said today. 'And when I'm president of the United States, I will defend America against Usama bin Laden with the wrath of Khan.'Asked to respond to Mr. Kerry's remarks, President George Bush said, 'Genghis Khan? Isn't that a gum disease? Next question.'

SGT USMC 1ea Blog one

2004-10-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

I found this on Indepundit and found it strangely disconcerting. I am not used to well written, researched, and logical arguments coming from Trolls on conservative blogs. Usually the arguments are emotion based and illogical when it comes to attacking GWB. There is not a single liberal mantra in the entry. I can respect this individual who seems to be honest and one of the few actual "moderates" in the US. On the other hand his world view seems to be Main stream media influenced, hence to the left of center. After careful thought I had to enter my few disagreements below the entry:

At 16:57, opining said...
Froggy,Just a few questions, and for the record, I'm a noob at blogging so please forgive any blogging indiscretions. I agreee with some of what you said Froggy, but I do digress on a number of issues. A bit of background on me: While I am not a high speed ex-Navy SEAL, I do have 8 years of service under my belt in the Army Reserve and have a good "grunt" level understanding of combat issues. i.e.-when you do/don't engage the enemy, leadership responsibilities, etc.First: What is unclear about the notion that Bush, did in fact ignore the vast majority of our allies? Isn't this what Kerry is talking about in regard to leading more coalition building? Honestly, I think that Bush knows if he goes back to the really hardline he was toeing before he made the decision to invade he'd be chasing away our allies, which have likely joined in helping us more out of their good common sense and compassion for Iraq as a country than anything Bush's leadership has inspired in them. IMHO Bush's comments about letting other nations determine the welfare of the US were a well chosen spin on Kerry's comments. The whole issue at hand is Iraq and decisions regarding the war on terror. Invading Iraq was a mistake imo, in so far as we had better things to be doing with our military and foreign policy (like Afghanistan, Palistan, N. Korea, Iran, etc). Kerry was clear, to me at least, on saying that the president should always have the power of pre-emptive strikes AND, said that such power was used poorly by Bush. I mean really, a better strategic country to target would have been Pakistan during the same time that Al-qaeda members were flocking over the border, but oh yeah, they're our "allies", who actually pardoned A.Q. Khan (who is walking about freely in said country), and oh yeah they already have nukes don't they? Ironically a criticism of Kerry actually speaks to Bush's "eye-off-the-ball" problems and validates what I'm getting at. A Bush supporter on CNN actually critiqued Kerry for having said that UBL was in Afghanistan, when in fact he was more likely in Pakistan. So he's a stone's throw away, how bout we invade Iran next?Second: Is Kerry's criticism disdainful of the SOF servicemen because he asks questions about the administration's choices in strategy and deployment? I agree with you Froggy that your fellow SOF members are no doubt doing/have done an exceptional job in Afghanistan and Iraq. I understand where your gut reaction comes from when you heard what Kerry said. I also think it's important to look at choices in strategy and deployment in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Afghanistan's strategy is just plain terrible, if you consider what our original goals were supposed to be. I remember, putting my faith in the CIC when he promised me that UBL would be hunted down and killed at any expense. And as you might potentially react to that comment I'd ask you to think about the possibility that the US's overthrow of the Taliban can be successful and that the overall strategy to terrorist-hunt can be poorly supported. (It's kind of a both-and possibility instead of an either-or one.) It is a country which the former USSR tried and failed to dominate for years. It is also the country we targeted as being the source of our terrorist problems in the US. A worthy and just target right? So worthy that we dedicated everything we had to our utmost cause right? Why then did we send so few troups to a landmass 5 times the size of Bosnia in our efforts to "smoke out" our greatest enemy? As the Boston Globe notes,"The initial peacekeeping force came into Bosnia in massive numbers, more than 60,000 troops -- including 20,000 US soldiers -- or roughly one soldier for every 58 citizens in this country of 3.5 million.In Afghanistan, with a population of 28.7 million, there are 5,500 peacekeepers, who operate in and near the capital, Kabul. In Iraq, with a population of 24.6 million, there are 140,000 troops, or about one for every 175 citizens."Can we do links here? I guess I'll find out.http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2003/10/12/bosnia_offers_lesson_in_nation_building?mode=PFSo I guess what I'm trying to say Froggy, is that I again respect and admire the work that you and yours have done and will continue to do for this country. I know at least a sliver of what it means having been in the service myself. So to speak to some of your concerns regarding Kerry... Are all of the SOF efforts less painstaking, less precise, less of a sacrifice because of those comments? I don't think so. I for one at least believe that in no way shape or form did the SOF "outsource" in THEIR personal energies and efforts to track down the enemies in the mountains, and I believe that those very efforts have been done an incredible disservice, and I would even dare say denigration, by this administration's lack of foresight and prioritization for those troups that are working so brilliantly in the field. There should have been, (and I'd argue, should still be) a greater number of troops combing those mountains from day one. If the administration's priorities had been lined up from the start this likely wouldn't even be an issue to discuss. General Franks did the best he could do with what he was given, and where he was told to direct his attentions, no doubt. Therein lies the issue however, with what he was given and where he was told to direct his attentions. I know his policies favor smaller more mobile efforts, but if we haven't gotten the message yet that the Powell doctrine would have been a better choice, I don't know what it will take. No doubt, Franks' policies dovetailed nicely with Bush's views on spending, while those in his administration who advocated for a larger, and I believe more secure, force, seem to have been systematically dismissed. If the administration had said, "Franks you've got great ideas but we want to be really sure and so we're going to alot 5x the troops for Afghanistan and 2-3x for Iraq, make your plans accordingly" he would have done so.In any case, I hope I've made some sense and that I haven't been beating my proverbial head against a brick wall. If we can dialogue, great, I look forward to it.

First: What is unclear about the notion that Bush, did in fact ignore the vast majority of our allies?
This depends on who in the current world situation over the past 10 years or so you consider our allies to be. I believe our author has bought into the United Nations concept. We would all love to have a UN that is as at least as effective as our own Democracy. All 50 states agreeing upon most basic tenants of civilization. The utopian thought of this is wonderful, policing the world, resolving disputes, leveling the playing field between nations and much much more. Unfortunately The UN is not a large grouping of people similar to Americans. We are pretty much all alike wanting to live in peace, raise our families, enjoy the fruits of our labors, and not kill anyone or cause harm. The UN on the other hand is so diverse that it is ineffective. The many individual nations that make up its body politic range from totalitarian and despotic (Syria) to ultra-liberal (Denmark). There is very little common ground when the voting body assembles. Many of the members ignore the will of the people and vote whatever the tyrant in charge feels at the moment. Others are so afraid of public opinion in their nations that they always vote the path of least resistance. Whereas Voters in America generally have the nations best interest at heart, voters in the UN have very disparate, selfish and nationalistic interests in play. The US does not run the UN and in fact has very little influence in the assembly given the power, technology and wealth it shares with the world. We have one vote in five of the permanent members so China and the Soviet Union are an automatic counterbalance to any voice we have on most issues. I am not saying we should not try but the different world view of these governments is so disconvergent as to make it almost impossible to make progress through this venue. To await action from such a body when our Nation is in danger is irresponsible especially when that same body had its hands deep into the pockets of Saddam Hussein. What other allies this author may be talking about is beyond me. Maybe he was referring to the French and the Germans to which I refer you to the last 10 years or so comment above, Think back even 20 years to when the French denied us overflight rights when we were challenging Libya.

Invading Iraq was a mistake imo, in so far as we had better things to be doing with our military and foreign policy (like Afghanistan, Palistan(Palestine) , N. Korea, Iran, etc).
This is an honest difference of opinion but John Kerry himself advocated this, at least through rhetoric, up until 2 months ago...After having read (as a committee member) all of the same intelligence reports. He voted to authorize the POTUS to go to war. Let us reduce this argument to a city government level:

Counselman Kerry (CK): I vote Yes on the giving the Mayor the go ahead to close the Illicit pharmaceutical distribution establishment on main street. I vote this way because I have read the same intelligence as the mayor and I know the man has drugs and guns, beats his prostitutes to death and makes child porn.

Mayor Bush (W): Since the resolution passed, on March 1st I will send in the Police force, along with the Police force from cities A,B,C and D to close the Crackhouse if the primary dealer does not come clean, exit, and close the establishment as he as been ordered to for the last ten years by the state government. This will be a long hard struggle. cities E-H are against us performing this action but in the best interest of our city, which is being attacked on a regular basis by druggies supported by crackhead, I am authorizing this.

CK: Harumph! Just like I've been saying, The man has drugs and guns and beats his prostitutes to death and makes child porn!

W: As of 3:30 AM The arrest has begun.

CK: I still agree with getting rid of crackhead.

W: Most of the crackhouse has been secured. We have more rooms to clear but the women and children are out of most of the immediate danger. The major combat is over. There is mass evidence of child porn, guns and dead prostitutes. We are still searching for drugs.

CK: I am running for mayor and crackhead was a threat we needed to secure. Anybody who says we are not better off without crackhead does not deserve to be mayor. So there THPPPTTT!! To all you guys who want to compete with me for my parties slot in the race. I am a Vietnam vet!!!!!!!

W: The house has a new owner who was a former occupant. We are rebuilding parts of the house , the former occupants are jubilant and many are helping to clear the house of crackheads former loyalists.

CK: As a mayoral candidate and Vietnam veteran I want to know where the drugs are.

W: As of yet we have found no drugs but the amount of illegal guns is astounding. The Child pornography is despicable and the dead prostitutes are all over the place.

CK: Where are the drugs, you lied to us. Liar Liar Liar!!!!! Knowing what I know now I still would have gone to war but you misled us. I know your friends uncles cousin got a contract to clean the gutters on the crackhouse. I cry foul. (Insert local agitator Michael Mooron documentary here)

W: Everything is going well. The town economy is improving. The crackhouse is shaping up slowly into well organized housing unit.

CK: I'm starting to lose in the polls. Dan Blather used to be my friend but now he's an idiot. We should have had cities E-H on board before we started. You failed the "GLOBAL TEST". W stands for wrong. Wrong crackhouse, wrong place, wrong time. 10 years was not enough we should have given the state more time. You diverted our police from the other crackhouse (which is already secure) on third street and ignored every other place on the planet because you wanted to run crackheads prostitution business for yourself. I voted to give you authorization to take down the crackhouse but I did not think you would actually do it without 99% backing from the rest of the cities (many of whom were profiting from the crackhouse). Help I'm turning orange...Aaarrrrrrrgggghghhhh!!!!

I mean really, a better strategic country to target would have been Pakistan during the same time that Al-qaeda members were flocking over the border

Well, Can't say that I disagree with you there. I have to bow out pseudo-gracefully and say that the politics of the situation took precedent. I do not know much about high level diplomacy since my experience is as a mere enlisted man. IMO President Pervez Musharraf crapped his pants when we invaded Afghanistan because he knew if he did not turn a 180 he was next. That hindered our ability to go in and do the job we needed to. A prancing, stupid and defiant Iraq was much more politically approachable target than a fawning Pakistan. All the same Musharraf seems to have netted some results while barely managing to stay alive. Dozens of Al-Queda and Taliban members have attained a 0 bpm pulse in Pakistan over the last two years.

There should have been, (and I'd argue, should still be) a greater number of troops combing those mountains from day one. If the administration's priorities had been lined up from the start this likely wouldn't even be an issue to discuss. General Franks did the best he could do with what he was given

This would have been much easier to attain if Democrats had not insisted on dismantling the evil military machine immediately after the Reagan/Bush1 administrations. The drawdowns in numbers of troops, the base closings, The people like Kerry voting against just about EVERY defense appropriation request on the table has nearly crippled us. We are rebuilding but it took a 9/11 to give the congress the impetus. If you review the tactical situation the heavy army divisions are practically useless in the mountainous terrain and the diminished ability of our light troops due to budget cuts hurt us bad. That is changing under Bush but it has been and will take time.

If the administration had said, "Franks you've got great ideas but we want to be really sure and so we're going to a lot 5x the troops for Afghanistan and 2-3x for Iraq, make your plans accordingly" he would have done so.

You are operating on a broad assumption as to troop availability, applicability and arrivability. Given the situation they worked with what they had. Neither of us can comment on the inner workings of Gen Franks mind or the complicated situation he faced. Suffice it to say that we did what most considered impossible; conquering Afghanistan...And we did it in a relatively short time. Why? minimum footprint, maximum leverage and diplomatic agility IMO.

Overall, this Gentleman makes a good hindsight general, But let me tell you I knew General Franks, General Franks was a very very very distant friend of mine and Opiner, you are no General Franks.

2004-10-02T07:47:00.000-07:00

Testing 1.2.3.