Pic of the Day
| Quote of the Day MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION "Unfortunately, demagoguery has led to 'profits' becoming a dirty word. Nonprofit is seen as more righteous, particularly when people pompously stand before us and declare, 'We're a nonprofit organization.' . . . Here's a little test. Which entities produce greater consumer satisfaction: for-profit enterprises such as supermarkets, computer makers and clothing stores, or nonprofit entities such as public schools, post offices and motor vehicle departments?" - Columnist Walter Williams |
| TIDBITS The train was quite crowded, so a U. S. Marine walked the entire length looking for a seat, but the only seat left was taken by a well dressed, middle-aged, French woman's poodle. The war-weary Marine asked, "Ma'am, may I have that seat?" The French woman just sniffed and said to no one in particular,"Americans are so rude. My little Fifi is using that seat." The Marine walked the entire train again, but the only seat left was under that dog. "Please, ma'am. May I sit down? I'm very tired." She snorted, "Not only are you Americans rude, you are also arrogant!" This time the Marine didn't say a word; he just picked up the little dog, tossed it out the train window, and sat down. The woman shrieked, "Someone must defend my honor! Put this American in his place!" An English gentleman sitting nearby spoke up, "Sir, you Americans often seem to have a penchant for doing the wrong thing. You hold the fork in the wrong hand. You drive your autos on the wrong side of the road. And now, sir, you seem to have thrown the wrong bitch out the window." |
| Web Site Worth the Visit A new perspective on the U.S. presidency. For love him or hate him, he is the president and he's got a whole lot on his mind. Pray for the President. |
War on Terror Good News:Teach Them Capitalism
It's one step at a time to bring a country from virtually no government into this modern era of central governments and an international community. Of course the U.S. government needs Afghani contractors. So teach them how to do it, show them the paperwork, be a national mentor.
Every time yon reader sees or hears the Lamestream screeching about this IED or that insurgency, know that behind the scenes, each and every day, quietly and with little fanfare, dedicated Americans are inviting our former enemies of Iraq and Afghanistan to join the international market.
They won't stop that lucrative poppy growing overnight. The Lamestream doesn't get this. The Lamestream expects to undo hundreds of years of tribal rule and tyrannical governments within its specified media time period.
From Defenselink.mil:
KABUL, Afghanistan, May 21, 2006 - The second annual Combined Forces Command Afghanistan Vendor Day was held May 17 at the Serena Hotel here.
Contracting officers from Camp Eggers, Camp Phoenix and Bagram Air Base were there to inform and educate the Kabul business community on U.S. procurement practices.
Going Around Hamas in Palestine
I watched Israel's new Prime Minister Olmert with my own eyes this past Tuesday 5/23/06 during a press conference with President Bush. Olmert proudly proclaimed that Israel would be supplying medicines and hospital supplies directly to hospitals in Palestine. This way the corrupt Palestinians don't get their hands on it first.
In fact, this seems to be the route the international community is taking as regards the greedy terrorists the Palestinians have elected as their leader. The idea is to go AROUND this organization to pay the salaries of the hospital workers and other needed Palestinian institutions to maintain the public good.
The Palestinian plan was to thumb its nose at the international community, elect terrorists to run their country, then dare Israel and the rest to withhold money needed to keep the citizens healthy and out of chaos.
Well you get what you elect. Palestine is the country where the rest of the Islamofascist world sends their terrorists to attack Israel. To keep the population roiled, Islamofascist schools teach Palestinian children hatred of the Jews and the glories of suicide.
So the international community will simply have to go around the elected terrorist government and it seems to be working.
From Seattlepi:
Israel to give medicines to Palestinians.
Quartet - EU, Russia, UN, and United States - to pay the salaries of some 160,000 Palestinian employees without giving the money to the Hamas-led government.
But as Olmert said to Wolf Blitzer on Sunday May 21 2006, there is no "humanitarian crisis", but a question of salaries to the Hamas (terror organization's parliament) guys...
Meanwhile, on Friday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri was detained by forces loyal to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas at the Rafah crossing after he attempted to smuggle €639,000 in cash into Gaza from Egypt.
What Happened at Haditha?
Haditha is an Iraqi town not at all friendly to the coalition forces. According to the article from Time magazine, marines regularly found bombs around their base near the little town near the Euphrates River.
The story of Haditha as published by the loyal American Time magazine, is very disturbing.
Click on the link below to read the story of Haditha as told to Time magazine. There are some strange things about the tale.
For now, know that the America-hating PA congress critter, John Murtha, was on a recent Chris Matthews' Hardball, an America-hating TV pundit show. Murtha could hardly wait or contain his glee that American marines were involved in another "My Lai". My Lai, for those who might not remember (I remember it well) was a massacre of Vietnamese civilians that occurred during that war. Civilians were murdered, allegedly in cold blood. Although I caution, during that era the Lamestream media had a solid grip on American news and as I have bitterly learned, much of what they reported was an outright lie.
With the Lamestream media still obsessed with keeping their power to mold public opinion and thought, they must have wet dreams over another My Lai in Iraq. Well before any investigation into the incident is complete, there's an American congress critter out and about and reporting about Haditha. And Chris Matthews, a guy who has trouble controlling his spit at any rate, was practically salivating when he got to utter the words "My Lai" in response to America-hating Murtha's report. I bet ole Chris had an erection at the thought of those glory days of lying about everything as was done during the Carter and Nixon administration.
I read the report linked below and I'll point out some strange things I noted. Plus, with the understanding that I am NOT a unbiased journalist like the Lamestream guys pretend to be, some of my thoughts on the matter. I urge yon reader to read the entire article lest my opinions/speculation cloud the matter.
How it came down, a unit of marines and some Iraqi army trainees were making a foray into the small town of Haditha. An IED (Improvised Explosive Device) went off and killed the driver of the marine unit. It was a particularly horrific explosion in that the IED was jerry-rigged up to some sort of propane tank.
According to the marine report of the incident, the unit was then under gunfire from nearby houses. What happened in response to this gunfire is still confusing.
Supposedly both Iraqi soldiers and American marines followed the source of the gunfire and determined it was coming from a nearby house. At this point, the Time story is based mostly on the story told by a young child. Said young child states she saw the whole thing while hiding in the corner trying to protect her younger sibling.
Right here we have a problem because how much weight should be put into the testimony of a child, a child telling a story of what happened when all hell broke lose? Another oddity, the younger sibling will not talk because he/she is too traumatized by the incident to talk about it.
The child providing these details is nine years old. The brother she was trying to protect is eight. Why is only one child talking about it? If a nine year old recalls enough to describe what happened, couldn't her eight year old brother verify it? I know, I know. The brother is too traumatized. Or could it be younger brother Abdul has a different version of events? I certainly do not know if this is the case but keep this possibility in mind.
The child, Eman Waleed, says Iraq soldiers carried her out of the house along with her brother. When she asked why her grandparents were shot and killed, Eman says the Iraqi soldiers told her "The Americans did it".
Interestingly, the gunfire was reported to be coming from the Waleed house. According to Eman, all her family was doing was gathering in their parlor to read the Koran. She says this is how her family reacts when they hear explosives going off.
A really odd thing for a family to do when rockets and IED's are going boom in the vicinity. You'd think Eman's grandparents would get the children to safety or some such, maybe even get to safety themselves. Instead the family gathers in a room, a handy room with a window I remind, to read the Koran.
While the marines were inside of Eman's house, they allege they heard a sound they believed to be the racking of an AKA-47. As Time magazine reports, heh, Eman and "relatives not inside the house" allege there were no guns in the house. Seven people were killed inside the Waleed house. Two people escaped. A man and a woman ran from the house. Marines chased them and shot and killed the man.
The marines reported that a second house began firing on them and they threw a grenade inside the house. The grenade hit a propane tank in the home's kitchen and this caused, as one might imagine, a huge explosion. Eight people were killed in this house, allegedly from marine gunfire but I'm thinking that propane explosion could have killed a few. The marines report that there was no military gunfire in this house, that a marine was left to guard the house, assumedly after the propane explosion.
The marines then raided a third house, it's not clear why. I'm guessing, and it's only a guess, that the marines threw the grenade into the house where they THOUGHT the gunfire was coming from and the propane explosion occurred. Perhaps the gunfire kept on coming thus the marines realized they had grenaded the wrong house so went to yet another house from where the gunfire was coming. This house belonged to man named Ahmed Ayed and his son, Yousif, lived next door. Yousif says he heard gunfire and ran next door to his father's house. He says that Iraqi soldiers were guarding the house and warned him not to go in or the "Americans will kill you too".
There's an awful lot of reports here about Iraqi soldiers pointing the finger at Americans. Please take note of this.
Yousif says he could tell by the blood tracks on the floor of his father's house that the "Americans" had dragged his four brothers across the floor and shot them in a nearby closet. Marines allowed entry into the house the following day and this is when we must assume Yousif did his sturdy detective work.
First, folks, why on earth would the marines bother to drag four men into a closet to shoot them? The first child, Eman, says the marines shot her grandmother and grandfather in front of her eyes. So why would the marines bother with the closet? Or could the brave four brothers have been HIDING in the closet?
Time magazine does include the following quote:
The available evidence does not provide conclusive proof that the Marines deliberately killed innocents in Haditha. But the accounts of human-rights groups that investigated the incident and survivors and local officials who spoke to Time do raise questions about whether the extent of force used by the Marines was justified-and whether the Marines were initially candid about what took place.
Well this is an understatement. Of course available evidence provides no conclusive proof that marines deliberately killed innocents. Because they DID NOT. The marines were taking gunfire and they were trying to stop it. They threw grenades, they broke into homes where the gunfire was coming from. In one of the homes the victims were huddled up and reading the Koran as explosions and gunfire raged around them. Yeah, right.
The victims of the Haditha episode were taken to a nearby hospital morgue where the story gets even murkier. A doctor at one of the hospitals reported that the victims the marines reported as being killed by the propane explosion all had gunshot wounds. A rookie journalist then shows up on the scene and begins taking pictures of the dead bodies. A human rights group, the Hammurabi Human Rights Group (wow, THIS sounds like an impartial group) gets a hold of the pictures and video and reports the incident to the American military. In January of this year the military launches an investigation into the incident.
Here we are in late spring 2006 and whoever's trying to make this Haditha incident into another My Lai are on the job. Time magazine and John Murtha are declaring it to be a massacre by the military with hardly any evidence but the testimony of a nine year old girl and the brother of the four brothers shot in the closet, heh. By the way, two AKA-47's were recovered from this house so why did this family need these things?
I might also point out that the Iraqi soldiers were very eager to keep mentioning American soldiers as doing the killing. Iraqi soldiers would be way more knowledgeable about families in the area. I'm thinking this Haditha was a hotbed of insurgents and the Iraqi soldiers as well as the marines knew it. Don't forget that these insurgents think nothing of keeping women and children around during their ersatz "battles" as protection against the enemy American soldiers who don't really like killing women and children. Indeed a few women and children escaped when, what with all that shooting going on, they could have easily killed them.
It's possible that the Iraqi soldiers did the "collateral damage" in Haditha but are desperate to blame Americans.
So what's with those bloody pictures? Bloody pictures of Iraqi victims are a dime a dozen. The pictures are of the victims of the Haditha episode AFTER they were killed. Somebody, perhaps that doctor alleging bullet wounds instead of burns from propane tank explosions and such, let this "human rights" group in to take pictures of the bodies in the morgue. It's not like the marines hid the bodies or anything.
What's more damning, is how quick an American congress critter was to point a finger at our soldiers and accusing them or participating in another My Lai. This based on very, very questionable evidence.
Soon enough the military will produce a report. I suspect Haditha was a hotbed of insurgency and the marines and Iraqi soldiers knew it. I suspect that the brave insurgents surrounded themselves with family, including women and children, and when the shots were fired and continued, the marines did what an army has to do. It's possible a grenade was thrown into the wrong house to stop the endless gunfire endangering our troops. I don't want to shrug but hey, somebody was firing on American and Iraqi troops from nearby houses. Somebody set up an explosive IED that killed an American marine. Something was going on in Haditha and it had to be stopped. The history of violence in Haditha was well known when this foray into the deadly town began. If you had a precious family living in a place where military fights were an ongoing thing, wouldn't you move them to someplace safer?
Again, I can't get mad at the insurgents in Haditha. THEY are fighting a war after all. I am damn angry at an American congress critter who hates America all ready to declare our soldiers as murderers when I know down to the last cell in my body, that Murtha knows the truth.
How despicable.
Before reading the article, I did just a wee bit of research on Haditha. It would turn out that Haditha residents had been warned to leave the town as far back as October of 2005.
A few more tidbits to note before reading the article.
From Health-now.org:
BAGHDAD, 6 October (IRIN) - Nearly 1,000 families have fled their homes in Haditha in western Iraq following the launch of a US-led military operation to hunt down in insurgents in the town in the Euphrates river valley, according to residents in the area.
From the same article:
Residents in the district, which is mainly inhabited by Sunni Muslims opposed to the US-backed government in Baghdad, said people had been fleeing from Haditha and the nearby towns of Haqlaniyah and Barwana, following repeated air strikes.
From Yahoo.com:
Twenty Marines and an Iraqi interpreter were killed in Haditha in an ambush and roadside bomb on Aug. 1 and Aug 3. Last spring, a suicide car bombing wrecked Haditha General Hospital, the region's largest. The U.S. military has said that Iraq's most-wanted terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, head of Al-Qaida in Iraq, once had a home in Haditha.
The same article above also details concerns by the military that the Haditha hospital is a hiding place for insurgents and, indeed, two doctors were arrested from that same hospital by the Iraqi security forces.
Much more on Haditha can be foundHERE.
Now on to the Time article.
From Time.com:
. On the morning of Nov. 19, 2005, a roadside bomb struck a humvee carrying Marines from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, on a road near Haditha, a restive town in western Iraq. The bomb killed Lance Corporal Miguel (T.J.) Terrazas, 20, from El Paso, Texas. The next day a Marine communique from Camp Blue Diamond in Ramadi reported that Terrazas and 15 Iraqi civilians were killed by the blast and that "gunmen attacked the convoy with small-arms fire," prompting the Marines to return fire, killing eight insurgents and wounding one other.
The Snarky Senate
Okay, it's not an outright fist fight. But Arlen Specter, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee got into a snarky snipe fest with Russ Feingold. Russ, a RINO (Republican In Name Only), left the committee meeting in a snit and a comment that he preferred the constitution and was leaving that meeting on legalizing gay marriage.
From Yahoo.com:
A Senate committee approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage Thursday, after a shouting match that ended when one Democrat strode out and the Republican chairman bid him "good riddance."
"I don't need to be lectured by you. You are no more a protector of the Constitution than am I," Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., shouted after Sen. Russ Feingold (news, bio, voting record) declared his opposition to the amendment, his affinity for the Constitution and his intention to leave the meeting.
"If you want to leave, good riddance," Specter finished.
"I've enjoyed your lecture, too, Mr. Chairman," replied Feingold, D-Wis., who is considering a run for president in 2008. "See ya."
Heh.
He's on Video Taking Cash, on Audio Arranging the Deal, and the Cash Was Found in His Freezer.
But beware. As Louisiana congress critter warns, there are two sides of the story.
From Yahoo.com:
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A congressman under investigation for bribery was caught on videotape accepting $100,000 in $100 bills from an FBI informant whose conversations with the lawmaker also were recorded, according to a court document released Sunday. Agents later found the cash hidden in his freezer.
Congressman William Jefferson, Democrat, Louisiana, got himself all involved with a Nigerian telecommunication company. So much involved that even while other New Orleans' residents waited on rooftops for rescue, the man hijacked a National Guard vehicle to take him to his house. This incident was covered on this blog HERE almost right after Hurricane Katrina struck. National Guardsmen report that Jefferson came out of his house with what appeared to be a small refrigerator or freezer.
Now there may be, I caution yon readers, a very logical reason why Congress critter Jefferson, Democrat Louisiana, was so desperate to save his refrigerator during Hurricane Katrina. There may also be a logical reason for him to be making a deal with a Nigerian telecom company when he should be working for the citizens of his district. Perhaps he was working on the purchase of a more effective communications system for Louisiana.
As for the cold cash in his freezer, since Jefferson can't comment why he had so much cash on hand due to restraints from his attorneys, let us compile the Top Five Reasons Had Over $90,000 in Cash in His Freezer:Hand to God, he thought it was monopoly money.
Jefferson Should Follow McKinney's Example
Because of the videos, recordings and cash in his freezer, William Jefferson, Democrat Louisiana, was asked by House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi to resign from his chair on the House Ways and Means Committee. Jefferson, citing the aforementioned two sides to every story, refused.
Cynthia McKinney, congress critter, Democrat, Alabama, got herself into trouble by slapping a capitol hill cop with her cell phone as he stopped her from entering the hallowed halls of congress without any identification.
Now we hear, from The Hill, that McKinney is signing on to a bill congratulating the capitol hill cops for their fine job performance.
Of course perhaps McKinney wants to congratulate the capitol hill cops for driving Patrick Kennedy home when he was caught driving impaired all around the watering holes of D.C. THAT's the way a congress critter should be treated, McKinney might reason.
Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.), who could face criminal charges for striking a Capitol Police officer at a security checkpoint in March, has signed on to a resolution commending the police force for its "courage and professionalism."
We're Not Done With Corrupt Congress Critters Yet
Remember the Torch? Yea the infamous Robert Torricelli of New Jersey, who sent his source of many funds and endless gifts to jail while he got to resign into obscurity.
Hold on a minute! You mean the Torch was involved with Saddam's oil-for-palaces scam? Say it ain't so.
From Northjersey.com:
A pair of prominent former New Jersey officials - Robert G. Torricelli and James Courter -- are under investigation for allegedly aiding a Bergen County businessman's efforts to land lucrative contracts in Iraq.
In the past year, investigators with the United Nations have questioned the actions of Torricelli and Courter during both men's private meetings with key Iraqi and U.N. officials, according to a source with knowledge of the probe.
Torricelli, the source said, was seeking contracts for Cresskill commodities trader David Chang from the U.N.'s controversial oil-for-food program, a $60 billion humanitarian effort launched in 1996 to aid the Iraqi people suffering under dictator Saddam Hussein.
An Award for Murtha
Okay, so Murtha is ready to condemn our soldiers laboring in 100 plus degree heat, risking their lives, based on scanty and suspect evidence re Haditha as delineated above. It takes a brave and courageous man to do such a thing.
At least as the "Profiles in Courage" committee sees it. For the lovely Murtha has been awarded a John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award.
JFK, of PT 109 fame, must be rolling in his grave.
From KDKA.com:
On Monday, Murtha is to be awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in Boston for his bold pronouncement that U.S. troops should be pulled out of Iraq.
By the way, Murtha is running for re-election this year. It's very unlikely his constituency will unseat him as he has dutifully brought home plenty of bacon over his many years in the House. But if you want to help unseat this nasty man, here is his opponent's web site.
Oops. Hillary Meant That All Other Young People Don't Like Hard Work...Except Chelsea
Chelsea Clinton landed herself a 6 figure salary as a consultant in 2003. Something that happens to all college graduates shortly after graduation.
What with the hard work involved with Chelsea lending her name to McKinsey & Co., Chelsea phoned up her Mom to complain about her comments at a Chamber of Commerce gathering.
From CNN.com:
After telling an audience that young people today "think work is a four-letter word," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said she apologized to her daughter.
"I said, 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to convey the impression that you don't work hard,"' Clinton said Sunday in a commencement address at Long Island University. "I just want to set the bar high, because we are in a competition for the future."
The senator said that her daughter, Chelsea, phoned to complain after learning about the comments. The 26-year-old was hired in 2003 by McKinsey & Co. as a consultant, reportedly for a six-figure salary. She received a master's degree from Oxford University after graduating from Stanford University in 2001.
"She called and she said, 'Mom, I do work hard and my friends work hard,"' Clinton said Sunday.
By the way, I did a little browsing at McKinsey & Co's web site. There's a lot of words throughout the site but allow me to summarize. McKinsey & Co. is a company set up to essentially get American money into other countries.
Against the Fence
Americans, silly me, understand such as fences. Indeed many of us minions out here in la-la land quite like fences and we have a common sense saying that fences make good neighbors.
Let the record show the following congress critters voted AGAINST the fence between the United States and Mexico.
All Democrats. All liberal Democrats.
Akaka (D-HI)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Dodd (D-CT)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Murray (D-WA)
Obama (D-IL)
Reed (D-RI)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Merryland "Fixing" Their Election System
My home state of Maryland, whose senator voted AGAINST the border fence, see above, is going to have a six day election "day" this year. Though some have problems with this system and how vote fraud is going to be avoided.
Merryland congress critters have been in a real tizzy over the election of Governor Ehrlich and that silly man's intent to purge the state and Baltimore city of do-nothing political appointees.
One can understand how this guy has got to go. And if you can't beat them by a fair election, then do the next best thing. CHEAT.
It should not take six days to cast a vote and we understand this out here in la-la land. We see millions vote in a four hour period after the last American Idol competition and hey, someone tell Merryland Democrats we have computers now.
Even more intriguing is the following comment by Merryland's State Board of Election Administrator:
After the meeting, Mrs. Lamone told reporters that if some persons vote more than once, all of their votes still would be counted in the final results, adding that multiple votes were counted in past elections. 'It's a secret ballot,' she said. 'How can we avoid it.'" - The Washington Times, "Ehrlich Warns of Election Lawsuit," May 18, 2006
A Refreshing and Fighting Honesty
If yon reader is tired of this country's corrupt politicians, their questionable party loyalty and the politicos' constant attempts to protect their incumbency, we end with this picture of two Czechoslovakian politicians duking it out.
Perhaps Arlen should have just punched Feingold in the nose. It would be the most original action the American House of Lords has taken in years.
From BBC.com:
More Political Tidbits HERE
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