About

Welcome to Licentia Loquendi, founded January 2009. L2 is a team blog that focuses primarily on political, military and Constitutional issues with a Conservative Christian slant. We are two college students, a Navy corpsman, an Army sniper and a Vietnam era Army veteran.

Each writer has free reign over postings. One writer's views are not necessarily the views of all writers.

29 August 2009

Sloppin' The Hogs

Thinking of retirement? Have I got a new deal for you, you pay me $300 a paycheck until you’re sixty five and then I’ll give you $150 a month until you die. Sounds very good. You probably jumped right through the screen to talk to me. Yeah, this is what you are doing every day, paying money into something that you will never get equal or greater money out of. This makes no sense when you are putting money aside for your retirement, so why do we do it? Because we have to!
Social security was a bad idea from the start, people pay into it, the population grows and there isn’t enough money to go around. So guess what? You’ve been screwed by another democrat! It takes up 37% of government expenditures that could be better used on something else. Even though you’ve been paying into this scheme for years you still aren’t guaranteed to get your share, in the 1960 Supreme Court case Fleming v. Nestor, the court ruled that nobody was entitled to Social Security benefits; it is not a contractual right. Yet we are still forced to pay this unjust tax. Of course this is not mandatory on paper, but you can’t file your taxes without it, that is your serial number in the military. For the most part you are at a disadvantage if you don’t have a social security number, because as you know, the I.R.S. will get their money.
For all intensive purposes your SSN is the mark of the beast, try to get a loan or credit card without one. Part of the downfall of this is where the funds go. The Federal Reserve is existing under the façade of being a federal entity, but it is actually a private bank. For whatever reason money keeps disappearing from them and nobody knows where it went. $5 trillion of bailout money just up and vanished! This happens with social security money all the time. They are responsible for the Great Depression and the current economic crisis, it is their job to prevent this but ever since Woodrow Wilson signed them in they have failed us. They control interest rates, mortgage rates, and inflation. They do all of this to keep our economy thriving and they can’t do it.
When the stock market crashed in 1929, the Federal Reserve bankrolled the nation, but since at the time we couldn’t pay them bank they pushed the debt onto all future generations through social security. If you don’t believe me look it up. If you watch The Obama Deception on YouTube they explain much better.
Different times I have been told that social security was designed as a supplement to retirement. That is not what all the documentation and surrounding statements from the time state. One argument back then was that more jobs would be created because older people could retire. So that shoots that in the foot. Don’t you think that if that was the case those people would have already retired? No, it is a plain and simple Marxist principle, redistributing wealth. So if they really wanted to make this our retirement plan, then why don’t they make it better? A town in Texas did an experiment and invested the same money in private groups and made something like six times what they invested.
Social security is just that; socialism, it’s right there in the name. We have people that are out there scamming to get unemployment benefits, and then get the retirement benefits when they are old enough. These people can work, but they are looking “for a job” at the bottom of a bottle. We pay them to sit and be lazy, while we toil and slave to put food on the table. A great example is the film Million Dollar Baby, the daughter buys her mom a house and the mom goes nuts because they will cut her welfare benefits. So what she’ll have to be like the rest of us and work and contribute to society. What they are breeding here is dependence on the government. That is what the liberals want, America to be a bunch of piglets suckling themselves off the teats of the government. That of course contributes to why social security will go bankrupt because we have people collecting the money before retirement and never paying into it, so those that do end up getting screwed because more is being given out than went in.
We need to stop paying people to sit around and do nothing. This whole they owe me mentality is destructive. We need to stop paying into a flawed socialist system. Why don’t they stop taking it from us, or use it to lower the deficit. The whole number being your identity thing is a bit crazy to, its like prison, you’re a number not a name. This madness needs to come to an end.

Cybersecurity Act of 2009

The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 may, if effected, "offer President Obama emergency control of the Internet and may give him a 'kill switch' to shut down online traffic by seizing private networks" (FNC). Originally, the wording of the bill would have given Obama power "'to essentially turn off the Internet in the case of a cyber-emergency,'" (FNC). An edited version was released Thursday, and "allows the president to 'declare a cybersecurity emergency' relating to 'non-governmental' computer networks and make a plan to respond to the danger . . . that rights experts worry would give the president 'amorphous powers' over private users" (FNC). The Cybersecurity Act "would centralize regulations for an industry that is too varied to fall under the control of a single set of rules without endangering the economy and security" (FNC).

Would someone please define a "cyber-emergency?" They compare this bill to Bush's grounding of all aircraft on September 11. In my opinion, taking control of private networks is nothing like grounding aircraft following a devastating terrorist attack. Perhaps it would be different in a cyber-emergency, but considering the fact that no one seems to know what that is in the first place, this just seems to be another power grab to me.

27 August 2009

The Great Groundhog Hunt (2009)

Dad: 153

Tim: 170

Mike: 5

Eun: 5 (+1 hit by a Jeep)

Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead

Ted Kennedy has kicked the bucket. It’s about time, there wasn’t much material left to my voodoo doll. The “Lion” has let loose his death roar, and now they want his name on it. It is people like this that remind us of why abortion remains legal; all of this could have been prevented. Mary Jo Kopechne might still even be alive.
He is not going to go away. They will continue to try to honor him by doing a large amount of ridiculous things. Hopefully this will take “That’s Ignorant” Michael Jackson who has croaked forever ago; off of the news. Things like this are like the times when you poop a portrait of the Mona Lisa; you call everyone in to see it, then you flush it down and forget it happened. But since he was a bureaucrat, a member of “America’s Royal Family” and a liberal, they will be making documentaries on the legacy of the lion, or some other pathetic name.
First off, our founding fathers never intended for there to be royalty, we are supposed to be equal. But because of who he was, he got away with murder, fleeing the scene of a crime, and a DUI. On top of that when they convicted him of fleeing the scene, he never served a day of his sentence. He should have been convicted of treason and hung, but that’s a separate issue.
This man made a career of being a senator. That is not right. We need new people and new ideas. Instead we have people continue to try and force down our gullets the same crap we threw right back to them before, only for them to try and put it back on the plate. Nothing gets done this way. Teddy probably didn’t remember creating HMO’s yet he was against what he created in earlier in his career. This makes me wonder, if they were so concerned with Reagan possibly having Alzheimer’s disease while he was in office, (he started at age 70) what if Teddy had it? He died at age 77; if he didn’t have it he was at least old and senile.
This man who did more to make America communist; a system proven not to work; is going to be paraded around and speeches will be made in his honor. It is this attitude that someone so destructive to American ideals that will bring us down. This drunk was nothing worth honoring yet they will, I’m wondering who else could get drunk, rape a girl, kill her, drive the car with her body in it off a bridge, and flee the scene could put forth such a successful attempt to mess this great country. So to you Teddy I thumb my nose at you, and fart in your general direction.

A Few Good Writers

Lately, there have been a few changes around L2. L2 is welcoming two new writers to the team -- Xavier Brightside and Mad Dog 20/20.

Brightside is a soldier with the U.S. Army, OIF VII/VIII veteran and the friend of a friend.

Mad Dog 20/20 is a Conservative Christian, former U.S. soldier and Vietnam era veteran.

L2 is currently looking for more writers to add to the team, since some write more consistently than others and I would prefer to have new material on a fairly regular basis. We would prefer writers who:
  • are fairly knowledgeable about current events and politics (depending on what you choose to write about).
  • share Conservative values.
  • have a decent grasp of the English language (I will proofread if you'd prefer).
[EDITED 8/29]

Questions Asked

Why is it that the people that are crying the loudest for free health care are the same ones that wouldn't think of giving up their tobacco, giving up their alcohol, giving up their cable tv or their cell phone, trips to McDonald's, movies and other things they probably could be saving money on. Why is that?

Why is it they test people in the military for drugs, and police for drugs, and government officials for drugs, but they don't test welfare recipients for drugs?

I can't tell you how many times I had to pee in a bottle when I was in the military. By giving these people welfare checks and not guaranteeing that it isn't being spent on food and other necessities, we're supporting a lot of people's drug habits.

Written by Mad Dog 20/20. Posted by Eun.

25 August 2009

Honey I'm Not Stopping For Directions

So as the national deficit reaches an all time high, I think it is time to ask, why? As of 1355 today, or for you army types, Mickey’s big hand is on the…. Anyhow, the national debt is at $11,734,241,780,087.89. With an estimated population in the U.S. of 306,799,737 every man, woman, and child would have to shell out $38,247.24 to make us even. The last I had heard was in the spring of ’07 and the debt was nine trillion something, and it would cost everyone $27,000 to get us out of this slump. Since September 28 2007 the national debt has risen $3.9 billion a day! I recall the messiah saying something about lowering it, yet as of yesterday I was hearing claims that it will go up an additional 2 trillion. Now today I heard that it might go up another 11 trillion!
Of course those are just rough figures, but why are we here? Have they not heard of a sound financial principle that if you don’t have it you can’t spend it? But what do they care; it is only the tax payers money. Roosevelt made the same promise during his first presidential campaign he promised to lower government spending by 25%; instead he increased spending by 83%! During the Great Depression he pulled this crap. Now at what is the worst economic crisis since then, we have another savior trying to do the same thing that has been proven not to work. So since they can’t seem to do their jobs I’ll help out and all they have to do is vote for them.
Eliminate all luxuries for inmates. They screwed up, they wronged. They broke the law. Yet they get to call people for free. I am in the military and I have to pay to use the phone. They get cable TV, I don’t even have a TV and I haven’t killed anyone. Do you know that they get steak and lobster? While our troops are eating freeze dried, dehydrated slop and getting blown up, the scum of the earth, the dregs of society are eating steak and lobster. They get Christmas presents that you I pay for while we have people that can’t even buy food for their families. I thought prison was supposed to be hard time not a vacation. There are inmates that get released and go right back into prison because they don’t have to do anything and live well. My dad has seen this; I hear stories all the time about it. So I even know how we can fix it, and stop prison violence and the spread of AIDS and drugs in the prison system.
The inmate is in a cell all by their lonesome, with a bed, a toilet and a sink. They are fed essentially bread and water. Once a week they can do laundry, and get a shower. They can only receive one screened letter consisting of one page a month and they are given the opportunity to write their family once a month. Once a month they get to spend some more quality alone time in an open area for one hour to exercise. The rest of the time they are in their cell, so that they can reflect on how they did wrong. That will make that pervert think twice before going into the park and telling little kids he has a lollipop. To save more money we can use the death penalty more often so that there is more room, and more incentive to stay on the straight and narrow. For lesser risk criminals we can use them to do jobs that are dangerous or that nobody wants to do, like clean up along the roadside. Also they wouldn’t be getting paid.
Another way to save money is to cut down on luxuries for politian’s. In 1996 at the cost of $50,000 Air Force One, was equipped with a deck of gold embossed playing cards. Apparently they didn’t realize that you could get a deck for a dollar at a gas station, or if you’re in a good mood a buck fifty for Aviators. We pay congress, presidents, all those people for the rest of their lives. What are they doing that serves the people that is worth that money when they no longer hold their position? Nothing! Do you pay the plumber if he doesn’t come by and fix anything? No, why would anyone pay for a service that you aren’t using? It doesn’t make sense. They live in the lap of luxury, not following the rules that they pass down to us, while collecting a pretty good paycheck. Then continue to get that paycheck until they finally push up daisies. (If only some would do it faster) Most are already wealthy, so why do they need the money? A large amount were lawyers, they must have sucked at that or else they’d still be doing that because there is more money in it. No they are already wealthy, they should get paid while doing their job, then get out and do whatever it is they did before without the people having to pay them for getting fat and continuing to annoy.
On your tax form that you usually fill out around April 14th every year there is a box asking you if you want a dollar of your taxes to go the presidential campaign. That should be removed. Why is it necessary that the taxpayers pay for another puppet of the communist party to run a smear campaign against someone that could probably do a great job without taxing the living snot out of everyone? They don’t need it, it isn’t a concern of the people that the Blair Witch Hillary can’t come up with the funds to do a fake safari to try and get the hunters support. It is a waste.
So there. I just saved loads of money by thinking logically. We don’t need to raise taxes we can keep them the same and still lower the deficit, or lower taxes, maybe both when we get out of the U.N. But we just have to let it work for a year or so. But this makes me wonder, why don’t we the people say anything about this? Are we just zombies that pay taxes and don’t care what they do with our hard earned money? It is our money, our government that is supposed to be benefitting us, so why do we let this happen all of the time? It is time for us to put or collective feet down, and them in Washington that we are tired of their stupid little games. Checkmate, you pinko!

24 August 2009

This Is the "Change" Leftover From the New Deal

The way we were taught in school, and the way the history books are written today would have you think that we were led by this great god fearing, red blooded American named Franklin Delano Roosevelt out of the Great Depression. But that is what they want you to think, in reality it was a man from across the pond as they say, that really got us out of that mess instead of making it last much longer. He was a Bavarian (amazing donut filling) paper hanger; his name has been thrown around a lot on the news lately, maybe you heard of him? His name was Adolph Hitler.
At this point in time there are probably alarms sounding off somewhere, with babies crying as their mothers clutch them closer to their bosoms, there are probably crowds gathering outside my door with torches, and pitchforks screaming. “Racist!” “Bigot!” “Anti- Semitic monster!” But that is really how it happened. I’ll break it down for you probably in a demeaning manner that will illustrate my point.
When the depression struck it affect the entire planet, and countries like Germany, and Italy were still trying to get back to their former glories after WWI. Some the depression hit them hardest and quickest, it is from these ashes of burnt out countries that raised some strange folk. Lenin came to power much earlier, because Russia couldn’t handle the war and was already at an economic low. He promised the people “Change.” So did Hitler, Mussolini, and RuskyRoosevelt, when their countries were at the worst time in known history. They promised to change all of these things that caused the depression in the first place. They preyed on the bad times and hardship that plagued their countries, placing the blame on whomever they felt the people would believe caused it. We all know the stories of Hitler and Lenin, but let’s review our American history.
In his 1933 campaign he promised to reduce the national by cutting government spending by twenty five percent, (pay attention to the date, you could almost substitute 2008 in here) in his first year in office he proposed a budget of ten billion dollars with only three billion dollars revenue. In the years 1933 – 1936 government expenditures went up 83%. In order to “help” reverse the tides of the depression Roosevelt implemented a plan called The New Deal. (Sounds original) When he came into office there were 11,586,000 unemployed, in 1939 there were still 11,369,000 without jobs, and yeah he really helped us out. In 1935 the Supreme Court said that the National Recovery Administration was unconstitutional. So what does he do? In 1937 he proposes to appoint six new justices to the Supreme Court, so that it may finally rule in his favor.
Eventually Roosevelt figured that he was losing the peoples affection over his New Deal scheme, so he went off and regrouped creating the New New Deal. It was failing so bad that Winston Churchill said: "The Washington administration has waged so ruthless a war on private enterprise that the US...is actually...leading the world back into the trough of depression."
Another plan of his was the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, which forced people to plow their crops under, and slaughtered their livestock, at a cost of $700,000,000 over a period of two years; in 1936 the Supreme Court ruled that the AAA was unconstitutional stating that the AAA was: "a central government exercising uncontrolled police power in every state of the union." As a result of the under plowing we had to import 30 million bushels of corn from other countries.
Here are the 10 planks of the Communist Manifesto which should be engraved on every statue of FDR, every school named after him, and every book about FDR:
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes. (FERA acquired 25 million dollars of land by mid-1935; the Resettlement Administration later bought many millions of Acres; FDR called for national land redistribution in his 1st inaugural)
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax. ("...the duty rests upon the government to restrict such incomes by very high taxes." FDR, PPA 1935:274; 1935 Wealth Tax Act; FDR imposed a 90 percent rate on corporations and issued a decree that no one could make more than $25,000 after taxes - overridden by Congress.)
3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance. (1935 Wealth Tax Act with its confiscatory inheritance taxes)
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels. (cf. 117,000 Americans of Japanese descent 1941 which the ACLU calls "the worst single wholesale violation of civil rights of American citizens in our history." FDR wanted to put ethnic Germans in concentration camps too, but there were too many.)
5. Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly. (Banking Act of 1935, gold confiscation by Proclamation 2039 in March 1933 and formalized in the 1934 Gold Reserve Act, etc.)
6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state. (Federal Communications Act of 1934, Railroad Coordination Act, ICC, FTC; FDR put private air mail carriers out of business and had the Army deliver mail in '34)
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan. (TVA (FDR proposed 7 other TVA-like projects), Rural Electrification; the NRA was business and industrial planning; on 8/14/41 the House rejected FDR's Property Seizure Bill passed by the Senate which would have given him dictatorial power over all business and industry as well as confiscated all private arms; Resettlement Administration)
8. Equal obligation of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture. (CCC, CWA, PWA, WPA, etc)
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country. (Subsistence Homestead Division, Rural Rehabilitation Division of FERA, and the Resettlement Administration)
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc. (NRA)
What about forcing social security on people? Well it’s a good thing, blah, blah…. Will you shut up already!? When you pay into a retirement plan that you get way less out of than you put in and are forced to contribute, when in reality it only encourages people not to work and contribute to society; you might as well not pay into it! This is a true communistic ideal, if you can’t comprehend that now I’ll let it sit awhile until I finish my socialist security fund post.
Today is very much like the thirties; someone preys on the fears of the people and the current times during an economic crisis, and emerges as a tyrant. You elected him, I definitely did not. Now once again, you let yourselves become pawns, by not educating yourselves, and now history will repeat itself.

22 August 2009

Horse Hockey In Coat Tails

Remember when the news media was up in arms about the government wiretapping to catch terrorists? How about the use of water boarding on terrorists to save American lives? They complained. They made a big deal about something that had vast potential to save your miserable pathetic life. Yet these were evils of the most terrible sort. Yet now we have a government sponsored spy on your neighbor website, and death panels.
Who died from water boarding? Who died from a wiretap? Yet the news media is silent about this. They try to make us out to be Nazis and yet they try to sneak in a bill a way to kill people. What hypocrisy! I guess they forget about the six million plus that were killed in concentration camps throughout Europe when they try to compare us to Nazis, yet they try to emulate their healthcare.
Big brother is watching. It is not someone on a government payroll necessarily though. But when you least expect it, expect it. Currently you can report people who are “misinforming” people about this whole socialist healthcare plot. Now my question is why? The official statement is something about keeping people informed about the “truth”. Shortly after this started, people started getting emails from a man at the White House named David Axelrod. The people have not had any correspondence with the White House for any reason, yet they have their email. Now under law they are required to keep these correspondences, which later become public record. Now every wacko that wants to can send you a picture of himself wearing what you assume is a Speedo but can’t tell from the blubber that is pouring over top of it. Here is a clip from Fox news of Megyn Kelly and Deputy White House Press Secretary Bill Burton:
KELLY: "Bill Hemmer complains about health care and he has a message and I forward you Bill Hemmer's e-mail to me, saying, 'You know, Bill is saying there are death panels.' So I forward Bill's e-mail to you, and you get my e-mail," Megyn Kelly's e-mail, "you get Bill Hemmer's e-mail. You're deleting Hemmer's e-mail address, right? Do you purge and delete the name of the complainant?"BURTON: I understand your question, but do not confuse your viewers into thinking that we are keeping a list of the opponents of reform. KELLY: You've already said that three times, Bill. BURTON: We're not. We're just trying to go out and answer the --KELLY: Please just answer my question.BURTON: I know, but it -- but -- KELLY: Are you purging and deleting those e-mails or aren't you? BURTON: Apparently it is not clear to you.KELLY: It's not, because you're not answering.BURTON: If it's not clear to you, it's because you keep (sputtering). Megyn, you're flabbergasting, I gotta say. We're not keeping an enemies list. We're answering people's questions, and the fact that you guys keep talking about this so much is confusing people, I think, because we're not keeping any list.
KELLY: You're not keeping an enemies list, you said.BURTON: About what's going on.KELLY: I hear you. You've made that point three times. Now if you will just please answer my question. Are you purging --BURTON: I think it was four times.KELLY: -- or deleting -- BURTON: I think it was four times.KELLY: -- the actual... Are you purging or deleting the e-mails of the citizens who have raised complaints?BURTON: Right. I appreciate that question. We're not altering their e-mails in any way. We're just answering the person who e-mails us with the facts.KELLY: I'm saying, do you delete --BURTON: Megyn, I really want you to stop confusing your viewers --KELLY: This is an important question, sir.

BURTON: -- because you're not doing a service to the American people you're not doing a service to the American people by confusing them about whether or not there's an enemies list.KELLY: Bill, you're being unfair, because you and I both know -- BURTON: I'm not being unfair.
KELLY: "Listen, Bill, you're being unfair you and I both know there's a federal law and it's called the Presidential Records Act and it prohibits you from deleting the e-mails in the records that are received by the White House. So in the example I just gave you you're not deleting Bill Hemmer's e-mail because you will have it and you will maintain it for years and then at some point it will become publicly available and this is why some people say you requesting the people forward their neighbors' or other people's complaints, which will include e-mails in many instances, will have a chilling effect on free speech."BURTON: I think the reason why people are confused is because journalists, not unlike you, are saying things like our knowing that the Presidential Records Act suggests that, uh, we keep records here. But none of that -- none of that information is made public for a very long time and we are not keeping a list because that is ludicrous. We are just answering questions that people have about, uh, legitimate concerns that they have and answering is some of the real myths that are out there that get, uh, propagated by leaders of anti-reform movement and are sometimes, uh, often talked about on cable news networks.
KELLY: "Look, you have the Speaker of the House referring to these people at swastika-wearing. You have another Democrat calling them Nazis. You have the president calling complaints about health care smears saying he's going to fight them. Then the White House comes out and says send us the e-mails those of us behind the e-mails may feel a little reluctant to engage in such speech in the future, and that's the complaint not just cable news has about it, Bill Burton, but the ACLU as come out and said: We have a serious problem with what you're doing."BURTON: Well, for starters, I don't think Speaker Pelosi was just claiming that people were wearing swastikas. People are showing up at events with swastikas, dressed up as Hitler, with signs invoking Nazi Germany. So that's not something that's being made up.
Really? Let me see the pictures of the “brown shirts”, that might give you some of your credibility. This entire racist ploy is just an attempt to make people feel guilty about not falling for their trap. I don’t think it’s working comrade Pelosi.
Of course the news media doesn’t saying anything about this because it looks bad for the whole liberal movement, but when it’s a republican, they are sooo so EVIL! they must be stopped, let’s make them look bad and blow everything out of proportion. Why doesn’t the media complain that Obama reinstated a plan to end veterans lives while under care at the VA? Remember that next time you decide to vote and do a little research yourself, because the media is only telling you what they want you to know.

21 August 2009

Glenn Beck Loses Sponsorships

As of Tuesday, twenty corporations, "classified as either responsible corporate citizens or easily bullied cowards," (AOL) dropped their sponsorship of Glenn Beck due to the fact that he called Obama "racist." For expressing his personal opinion, his licentia loquendi (freedom of speech), Beck has been punished. In my opinion, regardless of how one feels about Beck's opinion, he should still be allowed to state it.

The list includes Wal-Mart, Travelocity, Best Buy, Geico, CVS, Radio Shack, Men's Wearhouse, Procter & Gamble, State Farm Insurance, GMAC Financial Services, ConAgra, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, Sargento, Lawyers.com and Progressive Insurance (I'm still searching for the others).

I believe that Bowflex, Nutrisystem, Gerber, UPS, Vonage, Ameritrade and Verizon Wireless still sponsor Beck.

MIL101

I meant to post this in January. I was reorganizing the post tags when I noticed that this was still in draft form.

Trust in Obama and War Waning

Despite President Obama's attempts to prepare the American people for rising casualties in Afghanistan, a new poll shows most Americans see the war as a wasted effort.

Congressional lawmakers say this is a sign the president needs to make the war in Afghanistan a front-burner issue in his public addresses and do a better job explaining the stakes to the American public.

Though the war in Afghanistan is a clear priority for the president, the push for health care reform has dominated his public appeals. And when he does address Afghanistan, some lawmakers say, Obama is telling more than explaining.

"You can't just say it's the good war and trust me, because actually his trust factor is dropping. He's going to have to build a case for it," said Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee.

The Washington Post-ABC News poll showed 51 percent of people say the war is not worth fighting. That sentiment was particularly high among members of the president's own party, with seven in 10 Democrats saying the war is not worth its costs.

Imagine that -- the American people aren't willing to trust a man with no military experience with a war, a war in which many of our brave men and women are sacrificing their lives (July saw the most casualties since the war began), a war that the Democrats, of all people, don't support. I would like to know how many Democrats have loved ones fighting this war.
I believe that healthcare, privatized healthcare, is an important issue. But I also feel that our current system is working, and we might want to turn our attention to something more pressing. Like a war. I would also like to see that poll conducted on Fox News or something other than WaPo and ABC.

18 August 2009

Assault On Weapon

First off what is an assault weapon? Let’s break it down Barney style, Webster’s says: a threat or attempt to inflict offensive physical contact or bodily harm on a person (as by lifting a fist in a threatening manner) that puts the person in immediate danger of or in apprehension of such harm or contact. Now weapon: something (as a club, knife, or gun) used to injure, defeat, or destroy. Pretty straight forward I’d say, so the true essence of the word is anything threatening that could cause bodily harm. Well that could be my truck when I run some idiot off the road. It could also be my entire body that I have learned to utilize through MCMAP. It could also be the spoon that I use to disembowel you with. Or maybe Janet Reno’s teeth that she uses to eat small children. (She prefers before they’re weaned she says it’s like veal.)What about the internet? How some forty year sitting in front of his computer in his tighty whiteys, poising as some teenage girl to lure boys in to meeting up. How about the whole hacking thing that allows a total stranger to look at those embarrassing photos of you trying to fit into B cup when you thought no one was watching, but you should know better, man boobs that big are at least a D.
The internet is just as threatening as a firearm. But the real reason that they make such a big deal about firearms is because they know that we won’t stand for tyranny, we wouldn’t let it happen before, and I know I would do everything in my power to prevent it from happening now. The whole purpose for the second amendment was so that the people always had a way of defeating tyranny. That was how we beat the British, by the average citizen rising to arms against a common enemy. The whole militia part was because they realized the importance of the people knowing how to use a firearm.
There was a time when the government realized that having the people know how to use a firearm was in no way a bad thing. The Civilian Marksmanship Program was started because they noticed that the people who already knew how to use a firearm were that much easier to train. A good example would be in some long forgotten text in your attic, be careful when you blow the dust off you don’t want to aggravate your allergies. During the Civil War the southern troops were well known for their accurate rifle fire. Why? Because they already knew how to use a firearm, and if they didn’t they didn’t eat, while the Union troops couldn’t hit a barn while standing inside it because they were prim and proper city slickers. If you turn a hand full of pages you will come to the chapter on WWI. In this chapter you will find the story of a long forgotten national hero, named Alvin York. Who single handedly captured thirty two machine gun nests, killed twenty eight Germans, and captured one hundred and thirty two more. By himself! For this courageous act he received the Congressional Medal of Honor. The reason he was so effective was that he knew how to shoot. In a later interview he said that on the numerous attempts that they charged him he would shoot the man in the back of line and continue working his way forward. Just like when he was shooting ducks, because if you shot the one in the front the ones behind would see and then fly away. So at this point some of you, (especially from the west coast) are wondering what this has to do with civilians and guns. Well for starters he was the local deadeye, he would travel all over when shooting competitions, and on occasion they would call him up, he would lick his thumb and rub it on the muzzle then bring his rifle to shoulder and blow Sputnik out of the sky! Yes Rio Linda California that is called sarcasm, but those ducks he shot out of the air back home was done with a .22. For those that are from the west coast this means that only one projectile leaves the barrel meaning that he had to be very good to hit something the size of a duck while flying. Carlos Hathcock is probably the best known sniper to ever live, and he learned how to shoot as a little kid. So the proof is in the pudding as they say.
The CMP was funded by the government as a way to allow people to learn the fundamentals of marksmanship and gun safety making for a better military and less accidents with firearms. Today the CMP still exists, but does not receive a dime from the government, because guns are evil. Oooh I think I soiled myself from all this talk on guns.
They say it’s for our own safety, for the safety of children. Oh really, than why don’t they allow the National Rifle Association’s Eddie the Eagle program into schools nationwide? Here is an excerpt from the NRA’s website: Eddie Eagle is never shown touching a firearm, and he does not promote firearm ownership or use. The program prohibits the use of Eddie Eagle mascots anywhere that guns are present. The Eddie Eagle Program has no agenda other than accident prevention -- ensuring that children stay safe should they encounter a gun. The program never mentions the NRA. Nor does it encourage children to buy guns or to become NRA members. The NRA does not receive any appropriations from Congress, nor is it a trade organization. It is not affiliated with any firearm or ammunition manufacturers or with any businesses that deal in guns and ammunition.
Teaching children like this does not force a pro gun agenda on them, does not teach them how to use a gun, but how to be safe around a gun. That is how you prevent accidents, through education. They say the streets will be safer once they get all the guns off the streets. Oh really? Firearm registration is rather new and there are millions of guns that are legally not registered that I would like to see be taken off the streets. The fact is you aren’t going to get firearms off the streets ever, and by taking them away from law abiding citizens, you are robbing them of the ability to defend themselves from the criminal that still has a gun. If you look at countries that have banned firearms such as South Africa, the medieval weapons manufacturers are bringing in big bucks, because that is the only way they can defend themselves now. Personally I would rather be shot and die quickly than be hacked apart by a claymore, but that’s just me. So safety; that just doesn’t fly. Remember Hitler, Stalin all those guys, guess what they did? They used legislation to ban firearms and take them from the people. Hitler did that very early on, and after that began to really take control of Germany. I don’t want that happening here, but that is the dark truth behind this madness.
I apologize for going off, but it couldn’t be helped. When I read the words assault weapon in Betsy’s post today I went psycho for a second then regained my composure and let go of a random passerby’s throat, and straitened by his collar for him, then sat down and started this. But using the term assault weapon gives a negative connotation to something that shouldn’t have one. A firearm is not to be feared, but respected. I don’t see what is so shocking about someone having a gun in public or at any time, I probably would’ve suggested something with a little more oomph than a .223 but whatever. If anything more people should carry guns, remember Virginia Tech? If one person had a gun, there would be one dead or wounded instead of having numerous families grieving the loss of their children. Now comes the cold, hard, reality, what’s worth more, one dead psycho crazy guy, or two other lives?
Now as I let that sink in I’ll leave with this important message, from my cold dead hands.

Armed Protesters at Obama Speech

About a dozen people carrying guns, including one with a military-style [AR-15] rifle, milled among protesters outside the convention center where President Barack Obama was giving a speech Monday -- the latest incident in which protesters have openly displayed firearms near the president.

Gun-rights advocates say they're exercising their constitutional right to bear arms and protest, while those who argue for more gun control say it could be a disaster waiting to happen.

Phoenix police said the gun-toters . . . didn't need permits. No crimes were committed, and no one was arrested.

The man with the [AR-15] . . . told The Arizona Republic that he was carrying the assault weapon because he could. "In Arizona, I still have some freedoms," he said.

In spite of the fact that I completely support the Second Amendment and firmly believe that Americans should exercise their rights (or otherwise lose them), the fact that people are bringing guns (loaded or otherwise) to a presidential event is slightly disconcerting. Considering the pre-existing tensions and disputes over the current administration, throwing guns into the mix would not, in my opinion, calm the situation.
On the other hand, props to those gun-toters for fearlessly exercising their rights. I also highly suggest reading the article in its entirety.

17 August 2009

Who me? (looking behind)

So, I guess I’m racist, at least that is what comrade Pelosi would like you to think. Hmmmm, which party opposed slavery? Which party was for slavery? This happened how long ago? But now we are racist. I find that a bit strange. I think we should look somewhere other than the republican party for racism.
What about Rev. Wright? Remember this is Obama’s preacher of twenty plus years. Let’s see what he has to say: Jesus was a poor black man who lived in a country and who lived in a culture, that was controlled by rich white people! The Romans were rich. The Romans were Italians, which means they were European, which means they were white -- and the Romans ran everything in Jesus' country. It just came to me within the past few weeks, y'all, why so many folk are hatin' on Barack Obama. He doesn't fit the model! CONGREGATION: Right!WRIGHT: He ain't white, he ain't rich, and he ain't privileged.WRIGHT: Hillary never had to worry about being pulled over in her car as a black man driving in the wrong! I am sick of Negroes who just do not get it! Hillary was not a black boy raised in a single parent home! Barack was. Barack knows what it means to be a black man living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people! Hillary can never know that! Hillary ain't never been called a nigger! Hillary has never had her people defined as nonpersons! Hillary ain't had to work twice as hard just to get accepted by the rich white folk who run everything, or to get a passing grade when you know you are smarter than their C-students sitting in the White House. Hillary ain't never had her own people say she wasn't white enough!
WRIGHT: The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law, and then wants us to sing God bless America? No, no, no! Not God bless America! God damn America! (cheers) -- it's in the Bible -- for killing innocent people! (cheers) God damn America for treating her citizens as less than human!
That’s right he said god damn America. Now when you pick a church, you pick a church because it goes with your beliefs.
WRIGHT: We bombed Hiroshima! We bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye. We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians, and black South Africans, and now we are indignant (cheers) because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back into our own front yards! (cheers and applause) America's chickens are coming home...to roost.
This is the same church where is children go and their young impressionable minds are being filled with this nonsense. So as a conservative I’m racist, but I haven’t been exposed to anything like that in my entire life, let alone force it on children. Twenty years of this I think it would have rubbed off at least a little. Look at what he is saying, whites and jews are bad. Because that is the only “state terrorism” against the Palestinians that we participated in was the preservation of Israel. Let’s hear what Obama says.

OBAMA: Jeremiah Wright, who was my pastor in the past, has said some things that are considered controversial because he's considered that part of his social gospel.
Contraversal?! He has bullet proof glass surrounding the pulpit! I’m just going to go out on a limb and say that he knows what he is saying is controversial.
"I don't think my church is actually particularly controversial." He said Rev. Wright "is like an old uncle who says things I don't always agree with," This guy married the Obama’s and even helped him come up with the title the Audacity of Hope. Hope? Change? Horse hockey!

"The violence of 9/11 was inexcusable and without justification, it sounds like he was trying to be provocative," Obama says this after claiming not to have been there that Sunday. Provocative? Lies. Pure and simple lies. This guy believes this otherwise he wouldn’t be saying it in the first place. Obama must believe this too, since he has been listening to this for the past twenty years. Wright even denounces black conservatives calling them lower than the sea. I guess he is still upset about not getting his forty acres and a mule.

So comrade Pelosi why don’t look in your own backyard before pointing the figure, and remember there are four more fingers pointing back to you.

16 August 2009

Beating A Dead Horse

Now is a great time to remember the phrase beating a dead horse. Every time I get something to eat at the galley Communist News Network is talking about one of two things: Michael Jackson, or town hall meetings. I am sick and tired of hearing about Jackson, he died how long ago now, over a month ago and they are still talking about it. He is planted; the worms are eating into his brain, that is one thing less for little boys to worry about, the boogeyman, eating vegetables, and Michael Jackson that one is over. So why is it still a big deal? Then the town hall meetings, isn’t there something else for the news media to cover?
I think by now we get the picture, enough people left their brains covered with lime at the bottom of the outhouse this past November and now realize the error. Now that we see what type of shenanigans he is trying to pull, we naturally want to complain, which is fine by all means, it is only right we should since he is supposed to be representing our ideals, and there isn’t a chapter on this in Communist Manifesto, so he needs a little help. But that is all they want to talk about, it’s ridiculous. Now somewhere there is a meeting with the democratic committee to make America communist gathering around a table scratching their heads wondering how their timeline is off, and thinking about maybe in ten years we can try this again with success.
What does every president want? A second term. So they do what would be the least controversial in their first term, in hopes that they don’t upset enough people to cost them the next election. If you aren’t happy this time around be smart and vote for a republican. (Which you should have done in the first place. Then we never would have had this problem to begin with.) But if this is what he thinks is the least controversial , what does he have planned for his second term. This thought has kept me up for countless hours, pondering what types of evil he might have conjured up. If this thought isn’t scary you either forgot to dust the lime off your brain, forgot to pull your brain out of the outhouse, or you never had one had to start with.
Norman Thomas a six time presidential candidate for the socialist party once said: “The American people would never vote for socialism, but under the name liberalism the American people would adopt every fragment of the socialist program.” Most people don’t realize how true this statement is, but it is how we have what we have now, and for the next couple years we are stuck with it. So next time you see somebody driving along in their little hybrid, with an Obama sticker on it, take your .2 mpg SUV and run them over, they deserve it.

15 August 2009

Heard at the Coffee Shop

DJ: He lost his credibility.
DG: But he gained it back when he admitted he was in error. You wouldn't do that!
DJ: I don't usually make mistakes!

DJ: In 2010 they're gonna put a trailer hitch on the Prius because of their towing capabilities.
BH: Yeah, except they're puttin' it on the front.
DJ: You wouldn't know, you've never ridden in a Prius.
BH: That's because I'm askeared of it.

14 August 2009

Welcome, Brian!

Brian, whom I've known since we were in Enrichment together in elementary school, has decided to join the team as a guest/part-time writer. Brian is currently at college in Florida, and his views are also right of me. Far right.

I'm really excited about having both Ike and Brian on the team. At the very least, I know things will never be dull.

13 August 2009

What? What?

I have a busy next couple of days ahead of me so I figured I leave you some food for thought. Also it should (hopefully) give me some interesting comments to read when I get the chance.
Long live Ronald Reagan!

I Told You So

I started this a while back and finished it today and it kind of ties into my McCarthy post. If you are reading what I writing, please leave a comment so that I have a rough idea of my readers, you don’t need to put anything, or you can even call me an idiot for all I care but then of course that might hurt my feelings in this ultra sensitive society.
The other day I was sitting at the chow hall eating lunch with some friends, for whatever reason, the TV’s in all Marine galleys are tuned to CNN. On this particular day, Obama was announcing that he was looking for ideas to better America’s health care, and people that had any ideas should feel free to share them with him. I looked at my one buddy and told him flat out that this was Obama’s way of trying to get socialized medicine. He said something along the lines of he’s just trying to get ideas of how to better health care. I said wait and see. Not too long after that day it seems that the Obama administration wasted five minutes of my time by telling me that they wanted ideas but seem to be that eager to screw up America that they didn’t even wait for the mailman to show up. Needless to say I told Bolser I told you so.
Now, unless he can’t think for himself, he had the whole socialized thing on his agenda for awhile now. With the economy the way it is, I’m pretty sure socializing anything is going to help get us out of this slump. When Lenin came into power the first thing he did was use capitalism to boost the economy, because it works, if it didn’t then how this great country has lasted two hundred and thirty three years and the Soviet Union didn’t last the twentieth century? Socialized medicine is not free, who is going to change bed pans, get peed on, potentially catch something like AIDS for free, raise a family, have a house etc? Few if any. Their current campaign commercial tries to make it look like if we don’t do implement socialized medicine now the poor are going to die off. Well if that is the case why didn’t they try to pass it earlier? At the same time, who is going to pay for this trillion plus dollar enterprise? The poor are going to have to cough up more tax dollars to pay for this just like everyone else, making them poorer. Now is not the time to even attempt to start something like that because the higher taxes are going to hurt the people even more and cause them to spend less. Another great example would be raising the taxes on tobacco, a multi- billion dollar industry, now I’m not saying it is right or wrong, but if we are in such a crisis as they are claiming why are they going to raise the taxes on something that people will quit buying as a result? That will only cause more people to be without a job. Now is not the time to be trying any of thing of the sort. Who buys tobacco? Usually the people that don’t have as much money to spend, so you are hurting them by raising the taxes on those people so that they can’t afford them and quit and this puts the tobacco companies out of business making more people look for jobs. Isn’t that rather self defeating?
Look at Canada a country that the left seems to want to emulate with a similar health care system because it is so good. Then why do the rich Canadians come to America for their medical care? Because they don’t have to wait in line and since it’s a free market there is competition which makes for better doctors. So instead of good health care we will have free health care. Imagine going into a doctor’s office and having to wait in line because there is a crowd of hypochondriacs that have paper cuts and you have a femoral bleed and are going to die in under a minute. As a corpsman I see everyday what free medical care does to people, they show up for stupid stuff that if you had half a brain could take care of at home for less than it costs to drive to the hospital but since its free they are going to go.
What about the whole pull the plug on someone that still has a chance because it’s more cost effective scheme? If you’ve ever had a loved one on life support I think you’d understand. Then of course you have to consider what else they will do to cut costs, like reuse things that you wouldn’t normally reuse. Or declaring what they will treat, like AIDS, if you got it why treat it? It’s a death warrant, so what justifies giving you the treatment to enjoy a few more days with the living? They will probably also justify more abortions, since if you take a vacuum cleaner to their brains now, you don’t have to treat them for cancer, and that broken bone from a bicycle accident later, this will save the government billions of dollars. Who cares that we might have killed the kid that discovers a cure for AIDS or a longer lasting light bulb? We are saving money that we can use to kill more unborn children! Or sponsor more eugenics research!
When will people learn that conservatism is called right wing because we are right? Maybe we should have them sterilized and breed all this Marxist horse hockey out of the gene pool.

Oh Senator McCarthy Where Are You When We Need You?

A title like this is more than likely going to cause someone to at least raise an eyebrow or two, I could care less. Not too long ago everyone realized communism for what it was, evil. Not too long ago the American people elected numerous people that years earlier would’ve been accused of being a communist. Now everywhere I go, every time I turn the radio on, or try to find out what’s happening in the world, all that is on is town hall meetings. If the American people would have been smart in the first place this never would have happened.
Now people are up in arms about socialized medicine, and wondering how we even got here. Guess what? You did it to yourselves. Because you decided it was time for “change” and tired of the last administration, you let whatever was fundamentally different get elected. Now you got your panties in a bunch because you never saw this coming. How bout next time you decide to vote you read the fine print and make an educated decision on who you vote for.
Now since apparently regular healthcare seems to be the cause of the drop in our economy let’s see what we can do besides implementing socialized medicine. What if we made it harder to sue people? Part of the reason that your medical bill is so high is because you are helping to pay for the doctor’s malpractice insurance. In todays sue happy get rich quick by lawsuit world the doctors have to cover their own butts because nobody wants to earn an honest living. Granted some doctors do drive sports cars and have four million dollar yachts, but chances are that doctor actually knows what he is doing. That’s a rather simple fix to something that wasn’t a problem until Obama came into office. Granted it isn’t going to make medical care free or pennies but it’ll help, a lot.
Now I predicted this while Obama was still running that he would try to create socialized medicine here. Sure enough he did. Here’s food for thought: What if the whole swine flu thing was just a way to try and get more support behind the socialist agenda? Prior to Obama getting elected there was no mention of swine flu, now that he is trying to push a socialized medicine bill down our throats swine flu magically becomes a pandemic. Seems at least a little odd doesn’t it? What is the big deal with H1N1? It is the flu! Who does the flu pose a threat to? The extremely old, the really young, and those that are already sick. Even then according to AARP.org the elderly may actually be immune to it! So the entire planet is going to get wiped out because this flu thing doesn’t have a cure. That is what they want you to think. In reality there is nothing to worry about like it is Ebola. The flu comes around every year and nobody makes that big of a deal over the regular flu. Sure there isn’t a vaccine for it, but even when you do get inoculated you can still get the flu! The flu mist or flu shot does not cover all types of flu, a group of doctors decides every year what types of flu are going to be in the vaccine and that changes every year. Now you would’ve thought someone would’ve have pointed this out before in the government, but why would they if they were using as an excuse to help push their agenda?
The clinic at Camp Geiger so far is the only place to have confirmed cases of H1N1 on Camp Lejeune, and all we did to treat them was quarantine and monitor them, that’s it. So why are we making such a big deal over nothing? Of course the drive by, liberal media is going to play along with this conspiracy.

Is It Change, Or Just A Waste Of Time?

For some strange reason there seems to be a lot discussion about revising the don’t ask, don’t tell policy for the DoD. The great comrade appeaser said that he was going to change the policy throughout his campaign. Now to those that aren’t aware of the ways things are currently in the military, if this policy was changed, it wouldn’t really matter anyhow.
If I have to sit through another required lecture on diversity and equal opportunity I will go postal. The other day I had another one of those long boring lectures, about how America is a melting pot, and we should all be friends, hold hands, and expand our minds or some hippy garbage like that, and the subject of don’t ask, don’t tell was brought up, and it was mentioned that our “savior” was in the process of changing it to do tell. This would not accomplish anything except just maybe get him a few more votes. The unwritten current policy is don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t drop the soap. Basically it doesn’t matter if you are homosexual or not, and even if you are, they will have a very difficult time separating you. The way it was explained to me was basically: viewing homosexual type pornography, or having it does not count, neither does going to a gay bar. As long as it is off base and you can cross-dress and pick up people of the same sex providing your airborne tattoo doesn’t peak out of your corset. Pretty much the only way to get the boot is for someone to bring in a newspaper clipping from the Boston Tribune that says newlyweds and has a picture of you and your same sex partner, or if your roommate walks in with a camcorder while you corn hole each other. You could walk up to the CO and tell him that you are gay and even then they will probably keep you.
So what is the big deal? Why is this so important that when there are other more important issues that we need to worry about? Even if openly gay people were allowed to be in the military they still wouldn’t be able to hold hands while walking to the PX or to do whatever it is they do in the barracks. Of course they would have to change numerous articles such as article 125: (a) Any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the offense. (b) Any person found guilty of sodomy shall by punished as a court-martial may direct.
According to FOXNews.com there are numerous people in the gay community that want the policy changed. Why? So, you’re telling me if we let powder puffs in the military that our ranks will swell? I doubt it. Granted this is a stereotype but most stereotypes are rooted in some truth, as an upside the “flaming”, femmy, types could be used for interior decorating of those ugly drab tents, and design new pink ribbons and uniforms that will spruce up our appearance.
Rumor has it that our “savior” is dragging his feet (the sound resembles that of nails on a chalkboard) because one of Ole Romancer himself Clinton’s first things in office was the don’t ask don’t tell policy, and as a result spent more time defending his actions than completing his leftist agenda.
The current or former policy has not prevented homosexuals from being in the military, Oliver Sipple was a decorated Vietnam combat veteran he saved President Gerald Ford’s life in the 1975 assignation attempt, was openly gay and a gay rights activist in San Francisco. (The location isn’t surprising) A first class I worked with had to treat a guy in Iraq for gonorrhea in his rectum. So they are here already. Rewording the rules isn’t going to amount to a fart in a windstorm.
Others worry about discrimination against homosexuals if officially allowed in. It happens now, it won’t ever stop. The discrimination for whatever reason will always be there in some form, example: they needed someone from my command to deploy with the army, I volunteered. I got turned down because the good Lord endowed me with male genitalia. What job in the military is only a female capable? I’ve heard numerous stories of what happens if they catch you doing things the normal person would call “homo”, it happens.
This is beyond ridiculous. If this is going to accomplish anything why wasn’t it done before? Oh but of course somebody probably from California is going to say it’s a sign that we are moving into the twenty first century and everybody is equal and we are enlightened, and cultured, its only the rednecks that have a problem with it blah, blah, blah, blah, whatever. If this is going to make any worthwhile change in our military will somebody please tell me what’s going to change and how it will be better.

12 August 2009

Greetings Comrades!

It seems that by some twist of fate that I was asked to contribute to this blog. SO BE WARNED! My views differ in some ways from the other contributors. I am rude, politically incorrect, and will tell you how it is without sugar coating it so as to lose its meaning. More than likely I will be rather controversial, you may find yourself mildly amused.
In the next couple posts I plan to prove that the anti-Christ is probably here among us and explain why the following persons are likely candidates: Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, and of course, comrade Pelosi. Also, I will keep you up to date on the “messiah’s” pinko agenda.
So you’ve been warned, if you are of the red menace mindset you might want to never again read any of my posts because I’m making it my sole purpose on here to prove that you are just plain stupid.
I will close with a quote from the great Bocephus himself, Hank Williams Jr. : “I’ll keep my freedom, my guns, my money, my religion, and you can keep the “CHANGE”

Welcome Aboard, Isaac!

Lately, I've been searching for a few good men (or women) to add to the team. . . .

Devil Doc and I graduated in the same class and grew up about a mile from one another. He is currently serving in the US Navy as a corpsman, and when I sent out a request for help with Licentia Loquendi, Devil Doc was the first to respond. Devil Doc's views also tend to make me look like a bleeding heart liberal.

As of now, I am uncertain how often he will be able to post, but he will be a great help, nevertheless. I am very excited to have him on the team, and I know that he will definitely add a new perspective to Licentia Loquendi!

Town Hall Meeting

In spite of the heat, over an hour before the town hall meeting was scheduled to begin well over 200 concerned citizens had lined up across the courtyard and along the buildings of Bucknell University. Aside from proponents of Clean Energy for America, local news stations and the county sheriff also made an appearance. The line, which eventually ran down the stairs and along the street, buzzed with activity. Some people carried signs. Several carried cameras. Many had papers, excerpts of the healthcare bill, guaranteed to be longer than Specter's attention span when he'd "read" the bill.
At first advanced upon by supporters of healthcare reform, we listened patiently while a man handed out packets of information regarding the bill. However, when the Clean Energy for America woman found herself chatting with someone who'd worked with the USDA for years and someone who'd intensely studied the environment, she quickly wished us a good day and continued down the line.
The line soon included over 1,000 Democrats and Republicans, though party affiliation no longer seemed to matter. The pressing issue was healthcare, and speaking with Arlen Specter. However, five minutes prior to the scheduled commencement time, the line was cut off, and I was left standing mere feet away from the entrance to the auditorium. The rest of us were herded off to a separate building to watch the meeting from a screen. As we crammed into the auditorium, spilling into the aisles, I couldn't help but notice how many young people were in attendance. Several college students, some who proved to be conservative throughout the course of the town hall meeting, speckled the audience here and there, their young faces standing out in the crowd of primarily middle-aged and senior citizen attendees.
As the screen turned on and Specter began to speak, calls for quiet silenced anyone who was talking. Everyone collectively focused on the screen, and one by one, the majority of the thirty questioners began handing Specter his head.

"All It's Lacking Is A Spark"

"Right-wing militias, people ideologically against paying taxes and so-called 'sovereign citizens'" (FNC) similar to those formed during the 1990s are once again springing up across the country and "are concentrated in the Midwest, Pacific Northwest and the Deep South, according to Mark Potok, [a Southern Poverty Law Center] staff director" (FNC). "The stress of a poor economy and a liberal administration led by a black president" (FNC) are acting as contributing factors to the "recruiting videos and other outreach on the Internet . . . and researchers from [the SPLC] found at least 50 new groups in the last few months" (FNC).

11 August 2009

PA House 2010

District 5: Glenn Thompson (R)
District 6: Jim Gerlach (R)
District 9: Bill Shuster (R)
District 12: Tim Burns (R), William Russell (R)
District 13: Damian Dachowski (R)
District 15: Charlie Dent (R)
District 16: Joe Pitts (R)
District 18: Tim Murphy (R)
District 19: Todd Platts (R)

PA Senate 2010

The following Republicans are running for Specter's job next year:

Peg Luksik, Larry Murphy, Pat Toomey and Robert Townsend.

Speaking of Specter, I'll post a blog regarding the town hall either later tonight or tomorrow.

Combat Paper

The young vets mixed the jigsaw pieces with water and beat them into pulp to make sheets of paper — blank canvasses on which they could write, paint or screen images to tell their personal war stories. . . .

The Combat Paper Project, a Vermont-based collective of combat vets who became artists after leaving the military, has spent the past year holding coast-to-coast workshops aimed at teaching former service members to help themselves by recycling fatigues into artwork.

Drew Cameron, who became opposed to the Iraq war after serving in an Army artillery unit during the 2003 invasion, started the group after moving to Burlington, Vt., where he learned paper making from a local artist while also becoming active with Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Cameron, 27, saw it as a way reach out to other Iraq veterans haunted by memories of friends slain in battle and men they had killed, wounded physically and psychologically by bomb and mortar explosions, and struggling to direct their own lives after years of being told what to do by the military.

08 August 2009

Are You Paying Attention Now?

Video found in part at Gateway Pundit.

Healthcare Reform & Town Halls

Loud outbursts, hot tempers and pleas for civility at town hall meetings around the country Saturday foreshadowed a long, hot August as Democratic lawmakers returning home faced resistance to proposals to reform the nation's costly health care system. . . .

Similar exchanges have recently taken place at town halls nationwide, as Democratic lawmakers return home for the August recess to rally support for President Obama's top domestic priority -- revamping a costly health care system that leaves millions without insurance.

The episodes have drawn widespread media attention, and Republicans have seized on them as well as polls showing a decline in support for President Barack Obama and his agenda as evidence that public support is lacking for his signature legislation.

Pushing back, Democrats have accused Republicans of sanctioning mob tactics and trying to sabotage the democratic process.

The Republican Party has said it's not behind the protests, but some conservative groups have encouraged people to show up at the meetings and let the lawmakers know about their opposition.

Top White House officials counseled Democratic senators Thursday on coping with disruptions at public events on health care this summer, officials said, and promised the party and allies would respond with twice the force if any individual lawmaker is criticized in television advertising. . . .

Messina, the deputy White House chief of staff, also said any advertising attack would be met with a bigger response, these officials said.

"If you get hit, we will punch back twice as hard," Messina told senators, according to two people in the room.

I, for one, am very much looking forward to Tuesday.

And, to find a town hall near you: GOP & DEM.

In Recent News

It seems to me that every time I'm away from my laptop, news breaks consistently.

Sonia Sotomayor is to be sworn in as high court justice.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee have been freed.

The Islamic Saudi Academy I mentioned a while ago has been expanded.

03 August 2009

Operation Helmet

Operation Helmet is a volunteer-run organization led by veterans to send shock-absorbing helmet pad kits to our deployed troops. The military currently issues the cheapest pads, which often lead to discomfort and fitting issues, and can jeopardize a mission or a military personnel's life if he has a headache and cannot focus on the mission, or if his helmet is too lose and falls off in case of an explosion. These "non-standard loose chin straps allows the helmet to be blown backward or forward and [act] as a 'scoop' for a blast wave, concentrating it inside the helmet with disastrous results on the brain" (OpHelm).
Operation Helmet has been able to send over 44,000 helmet upgrade kits, potentially saving thousands of lives and lowering the risk of TBI.

For the month of August, 10% of my income plus donations will be donated to Operation Helmet.

Michelle Malkin & Culture of Corruption

I really want her book. As well as An Inconvenient Book (Glenn Beck) and Glenn Beck's Common Sense.

Military Times . . .

. . . I'm ashamed of you.

From the Halls of Montezuma . . . to the Coffee Shop

Seven men just broke out into song, singing the Marine Corps Hymn.

"That's borderline sacrilege." -RS, a former Marine.

"Were you in TriPOli?" -BH, to RS.

"Never let your face show how hard your a** is being kicked." -BH.

[EDITED 9:46PM]

One Year From Tonight

Iran has perfected the technology to create and detonate a nuclear warhead and is merely awaiting the word from its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to produce its first bomb, Western intelligence sources have told The Times of London.

The sources said that Iran completed a research programme to create weaponised uranium in the summer of 2003 and that it could feasibly make a bomb within a year of an order from its Supreme Leader.

Considering the fact that Iran sent scientists to North Korea a few months ago, and shortly thereafter a successful launch was made, I can believe that Iran could have a nuclear warhead within twelve months. However, some part of me still thinks that Iran is well aware of the fact that Israel would decimate the country if Iran attacked Israel. Also, if I recall correctly, Iran depends greatly on its economic ties with Great Britain. It would be foolish to risk that. And we all know what would happen if Iran would attack us. We'd apologize for whatever we'd done to anger the Iranians.

Hot Zone

An outbreak of pneumonic plague in Ziketan, a town in China's northwest Qinghai province, has "prompted authorities to lock down [the] town where about a dozen people were infected with the highly contagious deadly lung disease" (FNC). Thus far, two men have died.

"A new strain of the virus that causes AIDS was discovered in a woman from the African nation of Cameroon, [which] differs from the three known strains of [HIV] and appears to be closely related to a form of simian virus recently discovered in wild gorillas . . . 'highlight[ing] the continuing need to watch closely for the emergence for new HIV variants, particularly in western central Africa,' said the researchers. . . . How widespread this strain is remains to be determined. Researches said it could be circulating unnoticed in Cameroon or elsewhere. The virus' rapid replication indicates that it is adapted to human cells, the researchers reported. . . . A separate paper . . . reports that people with genital herpes remain at increased risk of HIV infection even after the herpes sores have healed and the skin appears normal" (FNC).

02 August 2009

Helping the Homeless

New York City major Michael Bloomberg has instated a "city program to send homeless families out of New York on planes, trains and buses . . . [which] 'saves the taxpayers of New York City an enormous amount of money' (NYT). Mr. Bloomberg admitted that he didn't "'know, when they get to other places, whether they find jobs. . . . It may be an easier place for them. If we don't [send them] -- we either have two choices. We can do this program or pay an enormous amount of money daily to provide housing'" (NYT). "It costs the city about $36,000 a year to provide shelter for a homeless family. The average stay in a shelter is about nine months" (NYT). Mr. Bloomberg also said, "'The average cost is trivial. . . . Most go by bus. Very few go overseas, very few go long distances. Bus is the normal way we pay for transportation, rather than air'" (NYC). Apparently Mr. Bloomberg has a math issue. "'In fact, the most common mode of travel for families is air, not bus. Forty-eight percent travel by airplane; 37 percent by bus; and 15 percent by train, according to city data" (NYT). Also, although "very few go overseas," the homeless "are flown to Paris ($6,322), Orlando ($858.40), Johannesberg ($2,550.70), or most frequently, San Juan ($484.20)" (NYT).

If approximately 74 people travel to San Juan, the cost of their tickets is equal to the amount of money used to run the shelter system. If the average family consists of four people, eighteen families traveling to San Juan is equal to the amount of money required to run the shelters. Fourteen flights to Johannesberg would rack up the cost to the yearly cost of shelters, and only slightly fewer than six flights to Paris equal the yearly cost. Considering the fact that this program has been in use since 2007, I have the feeling that more than 74 people yearly have taken advantage of traveling to San Juan.
Also, in Africa cities round up the homeless on buses and ship them out to the middle of nowhere. At least, that's what "Xala" taught me.

01 August 2009

Extraordinary Heroism

Eight years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq. About 4,000 members of the U.S. military killed in action. More than 34,000 wounded. Just six considered worthy of America's highest military award for battlefield valor. . . .

Pentagon officials say the nature of war has changed. Laser-guided missiles destroy enemy positions without putting soldiers in harm's way. Insurgents deploy roadside bombs rather than engage in firefights they're certain to lose.

Those explanations don't tell the whole story, said Rep. Duncan Hunter, a first-term lawmaker who served combat tours as a Marine in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has sponsored legislation that directs the defense secretary to review current trends in awarding the Medal of Honor to determine what's behind the low count.

I realize that this is the highest military decoration and is typically awarded posthumously, but I still feel that more than six people have committed worthy deeds throughout combat. Including Sgt. Peralta, whom I still feel deserves a medal.