Mamamontezz's Mental Rumpus Room

Get Well, please?

Our prayers and good thoughts go to Darth Monkeybone at Sithmonkey, and Jeff Goldstein at Protein Wisdom. We hate to see smartasses under the weather. There's been entirely too much of that lately.

So go on over to their blogs and show them some Linky Lovin's. Jeff is back and posting, and Darth's is on Blog-Support with guest posters.

And Darth, that sammich ain't gonna keep forever. And I just hate to put good, home made Ewok barbeque in the freezer.

Waffles for Everyone

To this point, I had not gotten in on the entire Waffle meme, but this one was just too good to let go.

On Lucianne today, just a few posts apart, we find these:

Kerry Opposes Driver's Licenses for Illegal Immigrants

Amnesty Eyed for Illegal Aliens

Seriously. Not more than a dozen posts apart.

I love this country.

What does she expect?

What part of "We're at war" don't some people get?

What part of "We need to defend ourselves" is so difficult to understand?

If your home is being attacked by some thugs who live next door, and suddenly a known friend and supporter of that thug shows up at your front door demanding entry, do you really think for a minute that you'd entertain the thought of opening the door and offering him tea? You would be irresponsible and idiotic to do something like that.

But this fool expects Israel to do that just because she says she's no threat.

I imagine that she also believes that someone stating that they are a member of Al Qaida should not preclude their open-armed welcome into the US.

Israel, keep her in your airport. We don't need her here. Better yet, hand her over to her political buddies and those who hold their leashes.

Jack's Links!

Ever diligent in his pursuit of excellent linkage, Jack strikes again!

Army to Call Up Retired and Discharged Troops

Now, when they start asking for fat, old, halfblind, crippled up women with their own rifle, I'll be ready.

Child porn ok'd

No, Porn is not political speech, and yes, I'm tired of having to go through my 9 year old daughter's inbox every time she logs on because of the links in her emails.

Turkey Belongs in the European Union, Bush Says

In oh, so many ways. Give Ch-Iraq a run for his francs, er, euros, er, bloodmoney from Iraq... you know what I mean.

Thanks, Jack. And thanks for the kind words too.

Haiku Perversion

I
Helen Thomas moans,
Ecstatic in Passion's throes.
Inflatable Love.

II
Madeline Albright
screams in fevered fantasy
clutching sweat-drenched sheets.

And my week?

I've looked at my email a hundred times today,
like a child watching for Santa,
waiting for my fears to be put to rest,
my sadness banished,
all betrayal disproved, and
all fears allayed.

But it remains empty.

My heart hangs suspended,
cold and heavy,
steel on a daisy chain,
it spins and swings uncomfortably.
Still I keep checking,
a hopeless optimist,
for one brave response to many small pleas.
____________________________________________

No, it hasn't been the best week so far. How could you tell?

Work has been tedious and the tension there is palpable. It's the end of the fiscal year, and reviews are due. Core competencies are also due, and it's a mad scramble for some to get them done.

Sunday's a holiday, but quite a few of the non-patient areas will parlay that into three-day weekends. Hopefully things will calm down after that.

Not again...

It appears they are at it again. First a journalist, then a communications worker, then a helicopter tech, then a foreign national.

Now they have captured and are threatening a Marine. A young Marine. I don't know uniforms or insignia so I have no clue about that, but from the grainy pic you can't tell much anyway.

From the look of the ID from the screen save from Al Jazeera, he's the real deal.

According to CNN:

A speaker on the tape said the man was lured from his base and captured. Al-Jazeera said the group threatened to kill the man unless U.S. military authorities release Iraqi prisoners.

The video also showed Marine identification papers. CNN is not releasing the man's name until his family has been notified.

Not doing a very good job of it. His name is clearly visible in the photo, Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, if I am reading this correctly.

Keep him and his family in your prayers.
______________________________________

And just because The Press has continually showed their collective asses in the handling and dissemination of information they either gather or have presented to them on platters, this piece from Korea Times.

Can you blame them for being upset? Was Kim Sun Il interviewed while a captive by the AP? Did they know what was happening, but chose to hold the tape until it was "big news"?

The media sickens me more and more every day. Let's hope that they haven't done the same crappy thing with information surrounding the current hostages.

Little Bits

I don't know about you, but I could do with a piece of Chocolate right now. Yes, a nice, rich, creamy chocolate.

Imported chocolate. Perhaps English.

Don't you think a nice bit of chocolate would be good right now?

_____________________________________

Sorry, but wouldn't this be a bit like drinking your bong water?

_____________________________________

Think it's safe to go to the movies? Think again.

And this guy didn't like W. Imagine what would have happened if he had said he was a Republican, Conservative, NeoCon, take your pick. And they call us the Brownshirts. You'll find, if you read any history at all, that this is a typical tactic taken straight from the playbook in 1930's Germany.

But we're the evil ones. Go figure.

What perfect baby?

I can't speak to this personally. I'm one of the apparent majority of people who has never become acquainted with a person with Downs Syndrome. My entire experience with it can be summed up in a visit with a geneticist while I was pregnant with Anna.

As a 36 year old prima gravis married to a man who's older daugher was born with a combination of cardiac malformations, I was told repeatedly that it was imperative that I be tested. No, not the simple blood test that can show the markers of 7 different genetic disorders. They insisted on the Big A, Amniocentisis, an experience which I can honestly say was potentially the worst, most painful experience of my life.

When it was all said and done, and I was sent home, I began to have symptoms of a miscarriage. The doctor who performed the procedure had not followed the most desirable protocol, and had done multiple perforations of the uterus. It was a terrifying several days. I somehow knew this was my final opportunity to have a child, and I believed that I was going to be robbed of this precious life.

The symptoms eased. I was able to go back to work. And the day came that the phone call came from the hospital with the results of my test.

Everything was absolutely normal and within acceptable parameters. Oh, and it's a girl.

It was only then, after weeks of worry and pain, that I asked them why they insisted on the amnio when the blood test would have given them most of what they wanted.

"Why, because at your age, the chance of producing a Downs baby is so much higher and this would give you the opportunity to terminate your pregnancy."

Even if the baby had tested positive, I wouldn't have done that. If that was the only real reason for this, why wasn't I told this weeks ago?

"Well, (pause while she considered my stone-age mentality) if you chose not to do anything about it, I guess this would have given you an opportunity to make any arrangements you may need before it gets here."

Yes, "it" instead of "your baby" was pretty much the way my baby was looked at by these "caregivers" at that hospital.

Well, it has gotten worse. In this commentary by Beverly Beckham, guest columnist at the Metro West Daily News, the quest for Baby Perfection has rampaged unchecked over the last 10 years. Even if you are a Pro-Choice individual, you owe it to yourself to read this piece.

She's right. It's beyond murder in the sense that it's the taking of a life. It it genocide. And the Downs children are not alone.

"Buycott"

From AlphaPatriot, a good reason to send your home improvement supplies business to HomeDepot.

A Million Dollars worth of reasons. And I like your term, "Buycott." I'll be keeping that one myself.

Something new

Feel like talking? Looking for someplace new to hide out in? Agree to keep your shoes off the table and your ashes in the proper recepticle?

Well, then by all means, just drop on in! Anytime!

There's a link in the gutter over there under the picture of that big old woman, too, incase you forget to bookmark this.

Thursday Housekeeping.

I was looking at my referrals this afternoon and I found a couple of things that I want to address. Ill just take a moment now while it's all still fresh in my mind.

First, if you are here looking for a video of Kim Sun-Il being murdered by pustulant porcine progeny of pockmarked primates with pre-historic principles, you're come to the wrong place.

You won't find it here now, nor shall you ever. Not that I have a problem with people wanting to see it. Sometimes we need to be shocked and sickened by something like this to refuel the fire in our bellies. And sometimes even a morbid curiousity can be excused as long as a person learns from what they find.

Second, I have a few words for a completely different little group of people who have turned up in my referral list today. At this point, there were 21 or so of you.

If you're here as the result of a Yahoo Search for "Scream Queen Kim Sun Il" and you think you're going to find some like-minded reprobate with whom to smirk and giggle at the expense of a dead man, not only are you in the wrong place, but shame on every single one of you. Funny is funny; this is irresponsible, disgusting, and depraved. "Sick" isn't a strong enough word for the diseased minds that would type that into a search engine. You people probably also plugged in "Saddam Hussain Prisoner Shredder Video" and "Saddam Hussain Rape Room Video" recently, too. Haven't you?

Go find your own kind at the DU. Leave a steaming heap in the comments and you'll be deleted AND your IP banned. I have no time for Trolls.

Now back to the real world. For the rest of you, stick around and read. My thanks to LaShawn Barber for the link in her post on why people blog. She's a wonderful Lady with a thoughtful and perceptive way of seeing things, not to mention a delightful read.

Also, I encourage you to check out Jack's list of links, posted fresh and warm this morning. Jack, you are so good at finding great links. That offer still holds. Say the word.

DarthMonkeybone, answer your email. I have a sammich waiting.

Update: Well, I have found the source of the plague of sick searches. I had noticed that a disproportionate amount of them were from Asian Yahoo sites, and now I know why. Go take a look at that. And if any of you can find a link to the original site where it was posted, I'd like a link please. I haven't been successful.

Oh, and the count is now 31 hits from that disgusting search. At least now I understand why these people are searching for it. They're probably angrier than I am. They're looking for that sick joker too. I hope they find him. No, not his blog. Him.

A Letter from Jack

Found this Poem by Pastor Martin Niemoller

In Germany they first came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

Keep up the good works.

Here's some light reading about our "friends" the Saudi's

Moments Before the Execution
Mahmood Ahmad, Arab News staff

A Christian ex-pat Indian national, was arrested by the Muttawa (religious
police) on the streets of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Carey speech on Islam in full
Address given by Lord Carey of Clifton at the Gregorian University, Rome,
on Thursday, March 25 in which he criticised Islamic culture and regimes.

Saudi police 'stopped' fire rescue

Reforms to Suit Saudi Needs
Abdul Wahab Bashir, Arab News

Thanks, Jack. You're the best.

Brit Sailors in Iran

Okay, let's discuss how this is an actual violation of the oft cited Geneva Convention.

The government's attempts to resolve a deepening diplomatic row with Iran over the capture of British sailors and marines were poised on a knife edge last night after a day in which two of the men appeared in blindfolds on Iranian television and apologised for entering the country's territorial waters. (emphasis mine)

Okay. It is against the Geneva Convention to do this. The State, in this situation the Government of Iran, has placed two of these men on display in a State Sanctioned program for the purpose of propoganda.

Earlier, pictures on Iran's main state-run channel, showed the men sitting silently on chairs and a sofa. Three of them were in British military uniform; five others wore military trousers and civilian T-shirts.

By placing these men in civilian T-shirts, they open the possibility for a trial of these men as spies or infiltrators. By changing their mode of dress, they remove them from the pervue of the military and all of the protections afforded them by the Geneva Convention.

Now let's see what the real reason for this act of aggression is.

While Tehran welcomed the end of Saddam Hussein's regime, it is deeply worried about the continuing presence of US troops in Iraq. It is also embroiled in a dispute with the US, the EU, and the UN over its nuclear programme

Ah. They are deeply worried scared spitless that the continued presence of the coalition in Iraq will bring something resembling a representative republic to the region, right next door for that matter, and give their own population even more reason to rebel and revolt against the Mullahs and their pet regime.

They are also concerned freaking out that their plans for regional nuclear domination could be squashed by the proximity of coalition troops.

The question now is whether or not Tony Blair will be a Reagan or a Carter.

Who are the martyrs?

Kim Sun-Il was murdered by faceless cowardly criminals (WAR criminals) today, in spite of the fact that these lying sons of pigs had agreed to an extended deadline for the purpose of negotiating with the South Korean government and the president of the corporation for which Mr. Kim worked.

Kim Sun-Il joins the list of true martyrs of this war. Daniel Pearl, Nick Berg, Paul Johnson, our men and women in uniform who died while performing acts of kindness and charity for the Iraqi people, and now Kim Sun-Il. These are the men and women who died for their beliefs, who died horribly at the hands of those hairless monkeys.

The criminals who strap bombs to themselves, who shoot into armed columns of military personnel from behind children, who plant booby-traps along the road to kill little girls on school buses: these brutes are not martyrs. They make martyrs of others, of people who are murdered because they follow a different religion or belief system, or who give aid to coalition troops, or pass out candy and toys and clothes and shoes to children who have none.

I don't want to hear any more that we're losing the war by people who point to the tragic murders of Pearl, Berg, Johnson and Kim as evidence. We're winning the war, which is precisely why these men were martyred. They where martyred because those turbaned Nazis knew that their deaths would strengthen the resolve of those who would tuck their tails and run and call it diplomacy. They were killed to give the anti-war movement more ammo to use against the administration not only here, but in every country counted among the coalition.

Yet these fools don't realize it. These fools, idiots useful only as the fifth column of Al Quaida, don't even realize that they are being played by the very people who would just as gladly remove their heads if given the chance.

911 commission considering new evidence?

Excuse my language, but it's about fucking time.

Where have these people been over the last several hundred hours of testimony? What were they thinking as they poured over reams of documents, acres of photographs, and miles of video and audio tape?

John F. Lehman, a Reagan-era GOP defense official told NBC's "Meet the Press" that documents captured in Iraq "indicate that there is at least one officer of Saddam's Fedayeen, a lieutenant colonel, who was a very prominent member of al Qaida."

Oh? Really? Are you sure? I mean, this is counter to what both of those fine and upstanding gentlemen, currently guests of the US, stated to you previously. Are you saying they may have *gasp* Lied?

"Shakir is a pretty common name," said terrorism analyst and author Peter Bergen, "and even if the two names refer to the same person, there might be a number of other explanations. Perhaps al-Qaida had penetrated Saddam's security apparatus."

The rest of this needs to be read to be believed. I'm just too pissed and too tired to deal with it tonight. I'm sick of the spinning, sick of the refusal to look at the facts, sick of people dashing lemming-like into the abyss of self-loathing at the expense of the truth, and sick of the "Blame ME" crowd.

Yeah, I blame you. Not the euphamistic you that includes us all as citizens of America. You personally, for your comtempt of those who try to protect your sorry, worthless lives, and do so because that's what people do for each other. You personally, because you spew lies and half-truths for no other reason than vanity and avarice, class envy and standard, run of the mill jealousy.

Not to mention because you give voice to all that is repugnant and vile with your constant little digs and dirty tricks. You think the Nixon era Whitehouse was the epicenter of Dirty Tricks? You haven't been watching network news lately, or read the NYTimes.

Here's a corker:

Commission Vice Chairman Lee H. Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana, played down the differences between the commission's view and that of the administration. "When you begin to use words like 'relationship' and 'ties' and 'connections' and 'contacts,'" he told ABC's "This Week," "everybody has a little different view of what those words mean. But if you look at the core statements that we made ... I don't think there's a difference of opinion with regard to those statements.

"If there is, it has to be spelled out to me. "

Kinda like trying to decide exactly what the definition of "is" is.

Go follow this link and read this for yourself. Grandstanding to the end. An embarrassment to us all.

Private aside to the Commission: Don't you fools realize that your audience, the one that really counts, is not the domestic audience? Don't you have half a clue that your purpose is not to play patty-fingers with each other, but to get at the facts of September 11, 2001? Last time I checked, as of that date there was no Al Quaida link to either the Republican or Democrat party, so politics should have been officially off the table. Today, however, I could almost prove a link. And you, Ladies and Gentlemen, provided your own self incrimination.

WooHoo!

Congratulations, SlagleRock. You do a Blogmama proud!

Saudi-Free Gas

Don't know how true this is. Too much of what we find on the internet just isn't verifyable, but here goes.

We were able to secure the statistics from the U.S. Department of Energy for various oil companies for calendar Year 2000:

Shell purchased 3,611,000 barrels from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia
BP purchased none from the Middle East.
Chevron purchased 14,724,000 from the Middle East.
Citgo-None from the Middle East.
Amoco purchased 3,611,000 barrels from the Middle East.
Exxon-Mobil combined purchased 13,273,000 barrels from the Middle East.
Marathon purchased 10,710,000 in Middle Eastern oil.
Sunoco purchased none from the Middle East.
Conoco purchased 523,000 from the Middle East.
Sinclair-We didn't find any figures.
Phillips-We didn't find any Middle Eastern purchases.

This from an item at TruthOrFiction. So BP is okay, at least according to the year 2000 report.

Anyone find anything more timely, pop it into comments or my email. Until then, it's no more Shell or Marathon. Pity, too. The Marathon station is just so damned convenient.

Your Assignment

I'm for real on this whole Divestiture thing. I'll never knowingly purchase another gallon of Saudi oil when I can get it from elsewhere.

I have seen the chain-letter about which oil companies do and which do not use Saudi oil, but I don't know how accurate this is. Consider the source. How accurate is most of the unsolicited stuff we find in our inboxes every day, even from well intentioned friends and family?

I want to know where I can buy my gas. I want to know who sells domestically produced gas, gas of occidental hemisphere origin, or just non-Middle Eastern gas.

It was my understanding that BP (British Petroleum) did not import from Saudi Arabia, but that may or may not be accurate.

I have half a tank left. It will be gone by Wednesday. And I don't think I'm alone in this.

It's the first step in divesting myself of all things and all dependencies Saud.

It's a mystery.

In the AP Breaking News this morning we see that investigators just don't know what to make of three bodies, an adult and two children tethered at the waist, that washed up on the shore of Lake Michigan on Saturday.

The discovery of three bodies lashed together on the shore of Lake Michigan baffled officials who had no reports of missing people or any word of a boat in distress.

Gee, let me get my Junior G-Man Decoder Ring and my official Homeland Security Action Pack and see what I can figure out on my own.

People who were never reported as missing. Hmm. Perhaps because the people who may have missed them didn't because they didn't realize they were missing? Perhaps this was the sum total of the family group that was vacationing together and they weren't reported as missing because Mom didn't expect them back in another week and knew they were beyond cellphone reach? Sound plausible?

"If you were in a boating accident, the adult would tie the children to the adult, so they would not get away from the adult," said Pleasant Prairie Fire Chief Paul Guilbert Jr.

Thank You, Paul, for this insight. I wonder, would you include in your list of Boating Accidents a hijacking? Piracy? Being pitched out miles from shore to fend for yourself because they needed the boat for ferrying personnel, ordnance, supplies to and fro?

There were no reports of missing boats on Lake Michigan in the past three weeks, and a Coast Guard helicopter sent out Saturday to scan the water found nothing, Riley said.

No word of a boat in distress. Let's see. If drug traffickers or smugglers or even terrorists wanted a boat, don't you think they'd know how to get it without giving the persons on board an opportunity to call for help? And this happened where again? Lake Michigan? As in close proximity to Canada, Refuge of the Foreign Terrorist Peaceful Foreign Dissenter?

Perhaps we need to send our law enforcement minions in Pleasant Praire, Wisconsin their own official Homeland Security Action Pack.

Divestiture Now!

You are all intelligent people. Now I ask you, did any of you really doubt for a minute that hostage Paul Johnson was going to be murdered? I have my doubts that he survived more than a few hours after the first tape was made. I believe they made both videos at about the same time and just sat on the pix until after the body had been dumped.

There was no sane or rational reason for this man to be murdered. Nor is there any sane or rational reason for any foreign national to continue to work in that place, providing support and skilled labor to a country who's own population will not or can not provide it for themselves.

It is at this point in time that all foreign corporations should be required to pull their workforces out and shutter their offices. Now. Immediately.

The world screamed "Divestiture" when South Africa would not denounce the policy of Apartheid. The liberals screamed "Divestiture" when Israel defended herself from terrorists. I scream "Divestiture" now! It is time for the all sane people to demand divestiture of all corporations supporting the current state of all nations which harbor, train, and invest in terrorist groups.

When the LLL screech "No Blood for Oil" it should take on new meaning, a much more accurate meaning than their original anti-war protests.

Yes, let there be no more innocent civilian blood shed by any of the six million ex-pat workers currently in Saudi Arabia to prop up their crappy economy by pumping their oil.

No more money for madrasas. No more money for perfumed princes who slither about on U.S. universities. No more money for men who demand their women be circumsised and stripped of all personal freedom and dignity. No more money for the women who will not stand up and fight this mysogynist regime. No more money for a government that persecutes on the basis of religious beliefs.

No more men lured with the opportunity of a good paycheck, only to have their lives cut short because of home grown and governmentally approved terrorists. No more field workers, clerical staffs, managers, directors, food service personnel, or their defenseless families.

Open the valves and let them swim in it. I'll support it no more.

A letter from a good reader.

I get the most wonderful and informative e-mails from Jack, who comments frequently and always brings his smarts to the table with him. Today I got such a good one, I decided to share it in it's entirety instead of cherry-picking for a post.

******************************

An example of the religion of peace, never saw or heard of it in the media, must not have been important like Abu Ghraib.

SAUDI ARABIA : SAUDI ARABIA JAILS INDIAN NATIONAL
Religious police tortured expatriate for ‘spreading Christianity.

******************************

Here you go, Hanoi John's buddies are cleaning up his favored country.

VIET NAM : POLICE ARREST NGUYEN HONG QUANG
Activist pastor targeted for championing religious rights and ethnic minorities

******************************

And the U.N. is going to look the other way while this honorable nation goes nuclear!

IRAN (ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF) : POLICE ARREST CHRISTIAN PASTOR
Wife and teenage children also jailed.

******************************

Women's rights in the land of enchantment.

Dialogue Forum Ends Amid Heated Debate
Maha Akeel, Arab News

JEDDAH, 15 June 2004 — The Third National Dialogue Forum wrapped up three days of session yesterday in Madinah amid heated arguments about previously taboo topics.

Some 70 participants, including 35 women, from all parts of the Kingdom took part in the discussion on women’s issues.

******************************

Thanks, Jack. These things need to be made known.

Reading Assignment.

From a comment in the post about Nicole Kidman we find the following observation/statement from Bob:

Off the subject, if your blog subtitle is true (The musings, rantings, and general blitherings of a stressed-out housewife and working mother in Indianapolis.), maybe you need to reduce the on-line time and take care of your children instead.

Just a suggestion.

I want you all to read this and think about it. I'll have something to say about it tonight after I've worked my 8 hours as the sole support of my small family and come home to my currently disabled husband and my precocious daughter.

Time is up. Please place your pencils on your desks and close your workbooks.

You know, I find it amazing that what little problems I've ever had with Trolls or Trollish Behavior have always come typed above some derivative of the name Robert. I've had encounters with the "Robert McClelland Impersonator," with someone who claims to be the real Robert McClelland, and now, since all those IPs are banned, with an anonymous Bob. Interesting, to say the least.

So to begin with, we have yet another banned IP on the ever growing list. If this affects any of the truly good people who come over here to read, please let me know. My email is posted in the gutter. I'd hate to think that this would affect someone who did not behave in this manner.

Now, back to his general statement. Let me insert it here:

Off the subject, if your blog subtitle is true (The musings, rantings, and general blitherings of a stressed-out housewife and working mother in Indianapolis.), maybe you need to reduce the on-line time and take care of your children instead.

Just a suggestion.

I was going to break this down and justify the time I spend online, the time at work, the time with my elderly parents, the time with my 9 yr old daughter who cannot go to a day program this summer because of cash-flow problems, and the time I spend with my husband. But I see absolutely no reason to legitimize his feeble attempt at superiority by justifying the manner in which I choose to spend my little bit of free time.

The same question could be made of this "Bob" and it would be a legitimate question. Why are you so obviously wasting your time cruising the blogs of persons you apparently feel are inferior to you, to your intelligence, and to your capacity for the dispensing of Wise and Sage Advice? Have you been driven from your regular chats by persons tired of your smug attitude? Will no one acknowledge your Witty and Worldly IMs any longer, choosing instead to list you as "never contact" with their IM providers? Doesn't that sphincter get a little tight on your neck? How do you manage to find trousers cut amply enough to accommodate the massive balls you apparently possess? No, I shouldn't stoop to that level. Forget I ever said you had balls of any consequence at all. I'm sure you don't.

Don't flatter yourself that I spent much time on this, "Bob." Five hundred words isn't even enough to get me warmed up, and seldom takes more than a few minutes, even when distracted by my wifely, motherly, daughterly, or work related duties.

And as an aside to Jack, Elizabeth, Pam, Aaron, Darth and the rest of you souls both good and kind, Thank You. If you ever find yourselves pinned down in a Troll Crossfire please remember, I have your six.

Welcome to the Coalition

Tonga, a small nation in the South Pacific, has sent 44 troops to join US and coalition forces in Iraq.

The Tongan Government says the Kingdom's contribution to the effort to bring peace and stability to Iraq is relative to what the country can afford.

I looked up a few sites on Google about Tonga, and I'm ready to go. Soon as that lottery pays off. Take all the regulars. Don't hold your breath, though. We all know just how fickle the Finger of Fate can be.

I think it's time to add Tonga's flag to Misha's "Flags of the Coalition" display. And welcome to the Coalition, Tonga.

She's off my Christmas list.

Tell me this is just some faked-up publicity stunt to sell advance tickets with controversy.

Nicole Kidman, naked, in a bathtub with a 10 year old boy, making out. Liplock and Oral Appendectomy. With a minor. Not just a regular, run of the mill, teen-aged minor. A 10 year old.

The movie is called Birth, and a release date hasn't been announced yet. I'd bet it's tentatively scheduled for that Christmas Season rush to make Oscar eligibility. Yep, all the kids are on vacation, hanging at the mall, and watching Nicole Kidman in a sex scene with a child.

Where were his parents? Who signed that Permission Slip?

We give permission for our son, (name)__________________, to participate in gratuitous nude scenes with Nicole Kidman, and to have his toncils swabbed with her tongue as many times as is necessary to get the footage the director requires. We also allow the director to place him in scenes which constitute nothing less than soft-core pedophile porn as long as it advances the plot of this film, Birth.

Signed, _________________________date_________

And don't give me "We did it for Art" crap, either. You did it for money. You prostituted your child for money. No, not much money now, because there are laws protecting his funds. But Things and Events and Social Status, like damned near every other stage parent I've ever encountered.

Where's CPS in a case like this? Probably logged into Moviephone to get advance tickets. Or will his parents be sending comps?

Just an update: Seems the press has begun to pick up on this, and the studio is playing a "maybe, maybe not" game.

Reverend Newdow?

Newdow holds medical and legal degrees, and says he is an ordained minister. He argued his own case at the court in March.

Wait a minute! Hold on! Let me catch up! I don't think I got that. I certainly must have misread that. Say that again!

Newdow holds medical and legal degrees, and says he is an ordained minister. He argued his own case at the court in March.

An Ordained Minister. I did read that right. The man who sued to remove the word God from the Pledge of Allegiance, the man who's atheism was threatened by three letters and what they represent, the man who holds us all in contempt for our beliefs...is an ordained minister?

Well, it looks like the Supreme Court called him on his right to have ever filed a suit today. This is only going to get more interesting as time goes on, regardless of your stand on this issue.

The day after the day after...

The Copenhagen Consensus report should be required reading for the eight world leaders gathered this week in Georgia. It's time for the Europeans, especially, to admit that, on the critical question of global welfare, George Bush has got it right.

James Glassman's TechCentralStation post, "What to Do First to Save the World" is something the media will completely ignore, and what a sham shame that is.

Activists, Globalists, self-appointed saviors of the weak and oppressed have either fogotten or never learned that resources are finite, even monitary resources in economies as large as the one we enjoy. It is this denial of limits, coupled with unfettered envy that cripples what should be successful and noble campaigns to better living conditions, eradicate hunger and disease, and abolish the enslavement of humans by each other, by political movements, and by fear.

Ah, but that doesn't fit the agenda. And so rather than abandon the false deities of Greenpeace, Kyoto, and the UN, they allow millions to suffer needless hunger, pain, and ultimately, death.

Welcome to the Blogosphere

Enter Michelle Malkin. Beautiful, smart, eloquent, and a tough cookie, too.

I don't know who designed your site, but that's beautiful. Very reader-friendly and it loads nice and quick, always a plus.

Glad to have you among us. Consider yourself linked. And don't listen to Misha. Trust me, I'm absolutely positive he doesn't really think you're a Poopy-head, but it certainly will make for some interesting Google searches.

Just wait until one of his more acrimonious trolls starts that google-bomb at the DU.

Caged Rats

I want you to look at the list of Breaking News items found on the AP wire at 8am this morning and see if you are snagged by the same perception:

AP Breaking News:

• 06/13 08:08 am John R.T. Davies, Jazz Record Restorer, Dies at 77

• 06/13 07:08 am Race for President May Define Serbia's Future

• 06/13 06:57 am Second Senior Iraqi Official Assassinated; at Least 12 Killed in Car Bombing in Baghdad

• 06/13 06:25 am Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Assassinated in Capital

• 06/13 06:19 am Missing American Held by Same Militants Who Killed Another American the Day Before

• 06/13 05:56 am Prominent Kurdish Cleric Slain by Gunmen in Northern Oil Center

• 06/13 05:53 am Car Bomb Explodes Near U.S. Military Camp in Baghdad

• 06/13 05:31 am Europeans Vote in Final Day of Balloting for EU Parliament

You see it? Do you see the pattern?

These are the acts of desperation, the clawing, biting death-throes of a failing movement. These are the beserker charge, the fearful snarls and bared teeth of a cornered curr as the rifle is raised and aim is taken.

There are those who will point at this as an indication of failure on the part of the Coalition, and will claim that it signifies impending doom. These are the same people who state that there are no evil people. They will insist that we honor a culture of death, racism, and religious bigotry because all cultures are inherently good, and then condem our own uniquely blended culture as evil and intolerant.

We cannot do this. We have to be able to look at this and see it for what it is. Every day, you can read the journals and weblogs of those who are there or have recently returned and find more examples of how the millions in Iraq stand with the Coalition against the thousands who would plunge them back into an isolated tyranny.

We as a nation cannot abandon these millions of people because of the screeching of contrarians, safe within their walled enclaves and trust-fund condos, who's words are more about self-promotion than about what is right.

Observations

Over this last week, I've watched as much of the Reagan funeral coverage as has been possible. Yes, as I've stated in a previous post, I admired President Reagan, what he accomplished and what he stood for personally, professionally, and politically.

But this was more than morbid curiosity or hero worship. This was history, no more or less than the grand state funeral of either JFK or LBJ, and it was compelling.

My husband, my parents and I sat in the livingroom of the Palatial Parental Estate and watched hours of the almost silent, Talking-Heads-Free coverage on C-Span. What a relief that was, not having to listen to the constant drone of people who's love of the sounds of their own voices superceeds anything remotely resembling respect, knowldge, or wisdom.

I just want to make a couple of observations about the week. Nothing grand or earth-shattering, just a couple of things I wanted to make note of here.

The first is about the tall, gentle, and elegant general who guided and watched over Mrs. Reagan during all of her public appearances over this funerial period. He was attentive and from all indications extremely kind to her as he lent her his support across runways, into limosines, up airplane stairs, and beside the flag-draped casket of her life's partner. Major General Galen Jackman by his actions was a beautiful, tender example of that side of our fighting men and women that many simply refuse to see and acknowledge.

Second, perhaps it is just the paranoia of the time, but I waited on tenterhooks for what I truly believed was the inevitable interuption of some aspect of the funeral, either by raging domestic moonbats or by some manner of terrorism, whether actual or threatened. I was so very relieved that any incident that may have been threatened was squashed, and that someone convinced the lunatic fringe into maintaining relative invisibility on the various motorcade routes. No thrown eggs, no profane or obscene signs, no insults hurled at the grieving as they passed utterly exposed and vulnerable; from motorcade to service to rotunda and back I saw nothing but respect.

Oh, and a third: Whomever it is that selects and trains the members of the ceremonial units of the five branches needs to be thanked for their outstanding accomplishment in what has to be a difficult and thankless job. The results of their work over the last week was breathtaking. The artillery units, the rifle units, the various members of each colorguard, all of the men and women who served as honor guards and pall bearers perservered. They each did their jobs with precision under the great weight of not only a mahogany casket, but also the weight of responsibility for the remains of a man who was once considered the most powerful man in the world.

How any American could watch and not be filled with pride in these men and women is beyond all of my ability to reason. From the Joint Chiefs of Staff, down to the Airman First Class who stood at the foot of the flag-draped casket, they all deserve our thanks and appreciation.

WMD's? Here?

Noooooo!

No, no no!

No Weapons of Mass Destruction here!

Nope! Nada! Nyet! Non! Nein!

Not here! Never were!

Can't believe you'd ask!

How Ignorant can People Be?

These are all real questions I have gotten while working at a Catholic hospital:

1. "Do you all do abortions?"

No, but we possibly should have done one when your mother asked that same question.

2. "Is there a place in your hospital where I can donate my eggs and get money?"

Only if they're absolutely fresh and you have a full dozen in that teeny tiney little styrofoam carton

3. "Can I come in to your ER and get a 'Morning After' pill?"

Sorry, the only 'Morning After' pill we have here is an asprin for your hangover.

4. "Do you have some sperm donors there?"

Not officially, but we do have some single men in the residency program who are looking for dates pretty much all the time.

5. "Can I come to be a sperm donor at your hospital?"

Gee, sir, I'm a married woman!

6. "I need to ask your nurse how come it hurts when I pee."

Why don't you just let me give you the number to the VD clinic at the public health department, Casanova?

7. "Y'all have nuns there?"

Not so's you'd notice. And no, none of them looks like 'The Penguin' in the Blues Brothers.

8. "Can I come there even if I'm not Catholic?"

You mean there are actually folks who aren't Catholic? Perish the thought!

9. "What do you mean, I can't have my doctor's home phone number?"

And perhaps then you can pay for his number change and all of the resulting paperwork, not to mention cover my lost wages while I look for a job? No?

Things that hurt my brain

Has anyone ever named a town Cognito, just to confuse the tourists?

Is there any such thing as the Catdays of Winter?

Do we have Christmas in July because Memorial Day is the All Souls Day of May?

Is it just me, or did anyone else's opinion of Alan Colmes improve after the way he conducted himself with Ted Rall last night?

Can Protein Wisdom be gained through online osmosis, or do I have to get it as a supplement at GNC?

If bigots aren't born but have to be raised, why are they still so low?

Final Journey

I remember seeing BlackJack in the funeral cortege for President Kennedy in 1963. I remember seeing the riderless mount who followed the caisson when President Johnson was borne to his rest 10 years later.

Strange how some things just stick with a person. With me, it was the horse drawn caisson and the riderless mount.

Tomorrow, when President Reagan again returns to Washington, DC for one final time, his riding boots will sit in the stirrups of the sleek, black standardbred with the gleaming black tack.

I almost wish his big white horse could have been the one to carry those boots, and his memory, back to the Capitol.

Catching Up

After a long weekend of slothy behavior, I decided it was time to do a little catch-up.

Blackjack at The Holecard is offering up an opportunity to gain a special place of prominence on his blogroll. Feel up to the duties of Queen of Clubs? Go tell him why you think you deserve that or any of the other available titles. You just never know. You might just snag one.

Arklahomboy has gained a spot in the Big Honking Macho Types section of my blogroll. I understand it's a dubious distinction at best, but don't tell him that. Welcome to the gang.

I finally decided to join the Milblogs ring. Yes, I know. In the eyes of some I'm only a spineless, screeching Chickenhawk. I don't count because I never wore the uniform. My opinions don't matter because I never earned a medal, no, ribbon, no, medal, that I could pitch over a wall like so much trash.

To that I have but one thing to say: So What? I was overweight and had crappy eyesight that was well outside the acceptable range. I'd have given anything to have been able to walk into the recruiters' office and raise my right hand. I may never have had the privilege of being a true Milblogger, but dammit, I certainly consider myselft a friend. So go over there once in a while and "Random" yourself through a few sites. And to Greyhawk at the Mudville Gazette, thanks for even considering a mouthy old brat such as me.

Apologies to all for the sporadic blogging. It's not easy to blog from the Palatial Parental Estate on the antique laptop. I realize this is no excuse, but that's pretty much the reason for the thin and mundane postings as of late. I'm hoping this will change soon. In the meantime, at least be thankful that I haven't resorted to Cat-blogging just to fill up some space. Not that I couldn't. Better bloggers than I have Cat-blogged.

Oh, and thanks for all the kind words about my submission to the Blackfive D-Day Project. I have placed a button in the gutter with a link to the original post so that you can continue to read all the great posts people did to commemorate the day. On some future slow blog day, take advantage of it and gift yourself with some excellent reading.

Take the time...

...to read beyond the D-Day post.

Blogging has continued in the nether-regions below. Please slide on down and check out Thank You, on why the passing of Ronald Reagan affected me deeply, and Deport Soros Now, on just why we need not tolerate his attempt at manipulating our political process.

D-Day

Update: The list of posters in Blackfive's D-Day blogging project has grown substantially. These posts are touching, enlightening, and informative, and each and every one honors those who are fallen and whose dwindling few who remain. Take the time to read these wonderful works by the best of the blogosphere. I am humbled in their presence, and honored to be included in even this small way by people who's service overshadows anything I have done in my life.

Red Surf

Red flows the water
that caresses Utah beach,
bringing gifts of sacrifice
with every touch.

It murmurs gentle sighs
into ears which do not hear
the sharp retort and whine
of hostile missiles.

The tears of God
swell up and lift each man
to rest upon the shore,
each in turn.

His mercies are not sweet
to the abbreviated men
cradled in the arms
of the reddening sea,
or nestled in the sand
stained with their life.

Some cry out to their NCOs
seeking their strength.
Others plead for their mothers
to ease their fear and pain.
Some seek their wives and lovers
for the comfort of a final touch
a final word,
a final kiss
goodbye.

Youth, no longer tender,
take stock of their brothers,
and move on
in their stead,
blooded,
grizzled,
scarred,
veterans at 19 years old.

Free men fight
to free a land
which holds no claim
to their loyalties.
Free man struggle
to free a people
languishing in fear,
in bigotry,
in hatred,
in hunger,
in the darkness of evil.

Red flows the water
that flows to Utah beach,
bringing gifts of sacrifice
with every touch.

*******************************************

Our heartfelt thanks to the men who approached the beaches of Normandy in LST's, on ships of war, in gliders and bombers, and offered their skills and their lives and their honor to the world.

God rest the souls of all the heroes who passed that day and since.

Please take the time and go to Blackfive for links to wonderful posts honoring the fallen and the survivors of D-Day, all of them heroes.

Thank You.

I believe the tears are gone for now. Watching the same few video clips over and over again while a handful of talking heads supposed and surmised served first to overwhelm, and then to numb the ache in my heart.

Some will read that first paragraph and shake their heads and cluck their tongues at what they will call "misplaced," "inappropriate" or "disproportionate" grief. I will argue that, as no one can know what is in my heart or why except, ocaissionally, me.

I was born in 1957, at the last frayed edge of the Baby Boom, a child without a generation. I spent my defining years in the company of the families of men who served their country bravely and selflessly in uniforms of deep, abiding blue. The Pledge of Allegience was a part of my daily routine before the Lord's Prayer.

I was a dinosaur, even as a child, the antithesis of everything I walked into when, after the retirement of my father, we moved away from the structure and safety of the military and into civilian life in Indiana. It was 1968, and what had been relatively small movement of rebellion confined to college campuses and larger cities was suddenly made glamorous and "In" by movie stars, musicians, and glossy and prestigeous news magazines. A person wasn't "Cool" if they didn't show distain for the flag, the country, or the people who fought to defend and protect us through their protection of them.

But I knew better. I had lived with these people all of my life, and I knew that what was being said against these people was wrong, dead wrong. I had never met a "baby killer" in uniform, and I knew that even the atrocities that made the news in lurid detail were singularities, isolated events, blips on a screen and not the status quo. But I was just a child, an adolescent, a young teen. And I had been "tainted" by my parents, their values, their contributions, and the upbringing they had "inflicted" upon me.

The 1976 presidential election was the first election in which I could legally cast a ballot, and I did. I was 19 years old, and already jaded and bitter by a process I saw as corrupted by the fancy and folly of idiots and panderers, naive idealists and mercenary PACs with no vision beyond their immediate political gratification.

But then, in 1980, there was a candidate that didn't deride my values. He held in honor the sacrifices of our military. He wanted young families to be able to have their own homes without having to save for years to be able to afford the down payment, and without having to pay mortgage rates that were rapidly approaching 20%. He wanted wage earners to be able to keep more of their money every week to better the living standards of their families. And he loved the country unapologetically, just like my parents did, just like they had taught me to love my home.

The 1980 election was the first election in which I was truly vested. I was certainly never politically active, and remain that way today. But this man and his obvious love for his country, his countrymen, and his family, spoke to me much the way John Kennedy spoke to my sainted grandmother in 1960.

Ronald Reagan spoke to me in ways that no politician had spoken to me before, or has spoken to me since. I owe a great deal to that man, things I could never repay. He gave me back my pride. He legitmized my patriotism. He taught me that not only can you hold people to a higher standard, you are obligated to do so, and that you cannot do so without setting your own standard even higher. And he taught me that you cannot take yourself so seriously that you cannot see the grace and humor in others.

I am a better person today because of his presidency. I say that and I absolutely believe it. I am no longer the cultural dinosaur that I was lead to believe that I was by the dithering throngs throughout my adolesence and teen years.

Thank You, Presidient Reagan, for your contribution to the geo-political make-up of the world, to the slow return to sanity in this country, and to this one woman's life.

Update: For the thoughts of many others, travel to the Politburo. The Commissar has set up what could only be called a "Condolence Book" post.

Ronald Reagan, Rest in Peace.

It is over. Ron, Jr., Patti, and Michael were with their mother. They were in the home with him when he passed.

I hope you found your "Shining City on the Hill."

Deathwatch

Today, The Drudge Report says it this way:

Reagan aide said that the former President has taken a turn for the worse. They don't think the end is imminent (not tomorrow). Staffers are being told to go about their business, to go on vacation if scheduled, DRUDGE has learned...

After Reagan dies, streets near the house in Belair will be closed. There will be NO announcement of death from the house. Someone will call the news wires and announce where there will be an on-camera statement... Networks are preparing obits... MORE...

Undoubtedly, those who were his supporters as well as those who were his detractors are busily scouring their archives and seeking out suitable Talking Heads for the inevitable round of Media Autopsies.

I also have no doubt that the Big Dogs of Journalism have already begun their calls to the family home, to offer assistance, to give comfort, and to wiggle their way in, to stand near the death bed and be a part of the story.

Well, you know what? There is no story here. The story has been lost to us for as long as this disease ravaged first his mind and then his body. The story was lost to us when he ceased to be news and was relegated to Newsdoms Back Burner. The story was lost to us all when the media took it upon themselves to re-write his presidency and present him and his accomplishments as less then they were.

The media be damned.

But to his family, I send my hopes that his suffering and yours will end soon, quietly, painlessly, privately. I imagine Maureen is with him now, waiting to take his hand and lead him to where life is eternal and those who abide there are forever young and vibrant in the presence of God.

I want to believe that he will live with those who's lives touched and formed his, and with those who's lives he touched and made better. I want to believe that forever he will be as Baron von Lind portrayed him in the portrait below, with he sun on his face, the wind in his hair, comfortable with himself and one with the world he knew.

God Bless, President Reagan. I hope you are aware, if even just by some tiny measure, of how you are loved before you leave us all.

Deport Soros Now.

"The war on terror, as conducted by this administration, has claimed more innocent victims than the original attack itself."

The time has come for each and every one of us to demand that the government declare George Soros an undesirable alien and deport his money-grubbing, market manipulating, un-American, New World Order, MoveOn.Ass back across our borders and into one of the many countries struggling to overcome the economic collapse his "Business Tactics" brought to them.

George Soros in his arrogance has woven a web of deceit second only to that woven by the propoganda machines of the Iron Curtain Empire that spawned him and his covert quest for power and domination. We forget too soon the imperial designs that the Soviet Union had for the world before western solidarity and perserverence proved itself by establishing the environment that ultimately brought down "The Wall." We deny that these designs still exist in the hearts of many who's tactics come straight from the Marx-Lenin-Stalin playbook, albeit disguised as Capitalism and Free Trade.

This viper has found refuge at the breast of those whom Theodore Roosevelt so correctly called the "Lunatic Fringe," taking nourishment from their fervor and poisoning them in return. His unlimited funds and his unabashed hatred of America make him an enemy of this country the likes of which we have never seen because he does so from within.

I demand any claims of citizenship he has in this country be revoked, and that he be deported from this country and tried in the World Court as a Criminal against Humanity for his actions against the economies and governments of every small country he has destroyed in his zeal for control over the world currency market. I demand he be charged with crimes against humanity for every death caused by the resultant unrest in these countries and their destabilized neighboring countries.

I demand that all corporations and organizations funded by him be examined by the Justice Department under the same guidelines used for investigating terrorist front operations, and that any found to be such be disbanded and their funds frozen until such time as they can be used to bring stability to those damaged nations and to reduce their debts to the world.

Roundup

Battle Haiku

I've been rather affected by Memorial Day this year, quite likely because I've cultivated some World Wide Web friendships with some men either currently in the sandbox, recently home from serving there, or veterans of wars over the last few decades.

I can think of no other reason for sitting down and writing Haiku, a poetry form I've never been terribly good at, and consequently one I tend to avoid. Like the plague. Or a butt-ugly drunk.

But I sat last night at my parents' home and watched The Longest Daywith them, and strangely enough these darned Haiku kept buzzing about in my consciousness like big, black attic flies in the kitchen window on a warm winter day. They wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote them down.

So indulge me. I had to do something with them. It was me or them.

I
NCO becomes
Second Lieutenant.
Officer now lost.

II
Damp and sticky sand
grows bright crimson and amorphus.
Sea slowly disburses.

III
Claymore no longer
a blade wielded with honor.
Hot shrapnel horror.

IV
Strangers by birth,
they break down all dif'rences.
Brothers to the end.

V
Canopy reduced
to fluttering silk ribbon.
"Beautiful Streamer."

Hacked Off

I strongly suggest you head over to Dok Russia's Bloodletting and give a read to his recent post. Particularly the Novak Nonsense at the end.

Yes, another "Journalist Pundit" becomes a hack propagandist against our troops, from the least experienced private to the Commander in Chief. People like that disgust me.

Go ahead, read it.

Hacked Off, Redux

And While I'm on a major piss-off, go read this from Poisoning Pigeons. There is nothing to add without causing undue stress to my cardio-vascular and neurological systems.

Bikers Give Respect

Rolling Thunder. What an understatement that has to be. Just imagine the roar of all those bikes as they pulled into the White House drive. I bet it makes the hair on the backs of a person's arms raise right up.

But as awesome as the trip to meet the president must have been, that was not the reason for the trip. It never has been, not in the 17 years that Rolling Thunder has existed.

They were there to give their respect and their thanks for fallen brothers in arms. They were there for the memories of those who passed before them.

HUA, Rolling Thunder. God Bless.