First Thing We Do...

This is just too great an opportunity! All those lawyers fleeing the country! Of course, I do not ever wish such tragedy on fellow servicemen... yeas, all those lawyers... it would be a shame if someone were to... set fire to them...

All kidding asside. I'm in favor of due process, but recall who these people are down there attracting the scumsuckers lawyers in the first place... remember what they tried to do and have done to you and to your countrymen... It is my sincerest hope that not one of these lawyers is down there with intention of trying to let any of those terorists go free... I can only hope that they are there to be sure that justice is served and that these enemies do not get away with what they have done... Yeah... worth a try...

...Or Could It Be That He's Genuine?

Washington, no, our very lives are filled with so many artificial people that whena real one comes along, many are confused. Our President is one such person, I believe. There is much that I do not like about the man, mostly to do with the borders (too damn porous), taexes (still too high), judges (action, anyone?), and Social Security (get rid of it already)... but say what i will, the man is genuine, he is who he is and no more. All the 'nuance' that Kerry and others inside the Beltway loves so much (read 'deception') is not present in The President.

This reprsents some of the confusion, I found it by way of Drudge.

The Balance

On one side, we have the U.S. Military. Hardworking, vigilant, selfless, and unbelievably effective. The gatekeepers, the protectors...
On the other side, you have many groups of people that contribute nothing but the odd bump in crime statistcs: the various recipients of govenment 'entitlements', a term that makes my blood boil.

We, as a country, are apparently short cash, and apprently, to save money, rather than cut entitlements, we decide to cut military quality of life. That's right. We are giving illegal aliens free educations and health care and we giving money to the terrorists over at the Palestinian Authority, but we issue letters to all commanders telling them to cut all they can, starting with quality of life elements... this at a time when recruiting is falling short in all services and also at a time when retention is problem.

I will not be going anywhere, I'm not in this for the money or the perks... but isn't this a GRAVE misalignment of priorities? Have any of you been on an Army post lately? Isn't what we in the military do a little more important than paying for illegal immigrants or terrorism against our people and the people of our allies?

I was just told to prepare for some tighter times as a member of the Air Force. I'll do whatever it takes, but I do not have to be cheerful about it, especially when I see money going to worthless and even harmful people and elements.

For Crying out Loud...

What three-year-old came up with THIS load of grade AA male bovine excrement?
Oh yeah... Doctors... just like the ones at the CDC that are trying to ban guns while failing to quarantine AIDS/HIV...
IDIOTS!
Anyone who thinks that this will work, please report to the nearest European soccer game.

Some ARE Animals

I found a rather interesting article by way of Drudge... Here it is.

It's about a teacher who wrote an essay about why he hates his job and then had his class read and comment on it as an assignment. One parent, at least, expressed 'outrage'. Firstly, 'outrage' is an over- and miss-used word today. Secondly, is this really so far out of line? Is trying to get kids to behave at all out of line? I've seen some of the animals that the teacher speaks of. There is so little discipline in today's schools, nearly no discipline in today's children. Now, I don't see that many kids these days, but I'd say that of the ones I do see, about three quarters are behaving in ways that would have left my but in a sling. I can understand where this teacher is coming from. ANYTHING to get children to learn restaint and respect... I've seen what happens when these kids grow up... You must get 'em while they are still young. I say give this teacher a hand. He's doing a service... and far from hating kids, as one parent accused him, truly he loves them more this dereliction of a parent if he is willing to come with so creative a way to get kids to behave.

It gets better...

Well, yet another criminal is an illegal alien... Read all about it! (hat tip, Michelle Malkin.)

Now then, it is not correct to say that all illegal aliens do this, but keep in mind that they are already disposed to crime by nature. They are here illegally, after all.
What this latest outrage shows is yet another of so many reminders of why we need to make our borders non-porous.
The one good thing about this whole thing is that authorities are going to try this piece of garbage as an adult. I hope they decide to end him.

This is how liberty ends...

...with the sound of thunderous applause.

So says Padmé in Star Wars Episode III, and rarely have truer words been spoken on film.
It is a spectacular movie, even if there are some akward dialogues (mostly from Aniken, surprise, surprise) and a lot of the battles could have been more drawn out.
I loved it. I will more than likely be seeing it again if I can find the time.

Playing the World's Smallest Violin

There's all kinds of ironic news out there. Let's kick it off with this.
You have got to be kidding me. An Afghan leader shocked by abuse? HA! I'll give him one thing, he's a good actor. Do I have to remind anyone of how people are treated there? This is much like the UN human rights commision, the dark chamber of The Sudan, Cuba, Libya... yeah. Let's not also forget that we don't abuse prisoners. We treat them better than the Taliban did. As I said, you have got to be kidding.

Somebody over at the UN is not too happy with how we are keeping Sadam. Well, He is living better that many of our soldiers. Let's also remeber who this man is and what He did. I'd be for keeping in a 9x9 cell with one hour a day outside in a vacant basketball court. Oh, and he doesn't need a garden.

I still have yet to see Star Wars III... too much work. All that merchandising I complained about must be paying off, though...

Star Wars III: Revenge of the Mass Marketers

Could we perhaps have a movie that is just a movie? Dark chocolate M&Ms are a divine inspiration, but do we really need to be drinking slurpees out of Darth Vader's head? All this Star Wars garbage makes me sick... garbage not in the sense that Star Wars is garbage, it's one of my all time favorites, but garbage in the piles of merchandise. It was bad the last time around and with Lord of the Rings, but this display this time is downright sickening to me. I can't stand to go into Wal Mart and see all the Star Wars shirts, baby gear, toys, books, posters, candy, cereal, pop tarts, towels, toilet paper, flame throwers, and other made in China crap, I feel that it is an obscene display of opulence and cheapness, not mention a selling out of both soul and principles... I have not been to Wal Mart in a while, incidentally... This from a man who once wore Star Wars tee shirts, no less... It's simply too much this time.

As if this is not bad enough, Move On.org (go find the website yourself... I will not stain myself by linking to them) has begun to politicize the movie by comparing Bush to Palpatine on CNN comercials and leaflets.

ENOUGH ALREADY! Let's all sit down and enjoy what is going to be a totally awesome movie and then go discuss it over coffee... or just say 'that was COOL' to our buddies and then go outside to play.
For crying out loud, let's let the movie be the movie and NOTHING ELSE!

May the Yoda Mountain Dew be with you...

About Time!

It's about time!
If we don't, the Chinese will! Since the militarization of space is inevitable, it is best that those weapons belong to a mostly moral and benevolent nation... If I were not so worn out, I'd do a proper rant on this... so I'll save it for later.

New Blog

This is one of the best descriptions of the Palestinians that I have ever seen! It was posted on a blog, Silent Running, that I discovered through the venerable Israellycool.

Cool Movie

Hotel Rwanda...

I saw it after National Review revied it a few weeks back.

It's about a hotel manager in Rwanda (surprise, surprise) who is sucked into sheltering about a thousand refugees during one of the many uprisings (mass murders is a bit more accurate) in the '90s.

I was riveted to the screen... it was spectacular.
When you see the film, check out the Canadians. Isn't that entirely typical? They get a crappy job, they do it with excelence, and they get hardly a mention... been that way for years.

Oh, that is IT

So what's all this about border patrol agents getting ordered not to arrest illegal immigants?

Pardon while I go find someplace or my head to explode. I don't want to be on brain detail... there are not words to express my anger.

At the same time, we find out that the cop-killer in Denver is an illegal alien!!!

BEAM ME UP!
There are not words... no sense... wtf...

EDIT: Raul Garcia-Gomez was arrested in Mexico. The Mexican Government may not give him up to us... so how hard would it be to send some people from 'Christians In Action' down there and, well... you know...

ROFLMAO!

I nearly fell out of my chair! Click here... unless the idea of crunchy underwear is offensive to you, in which case you are a loser and you need to go jump in a lake.

Hat tip: IMAO

...and now for something completely different...

I had a random thought the other day that is just now making it to paper... binary?

Movie critics: What's up with them? For the most part, they are a reasonably reliable lot, but sometimes I wonder about just how they arrive at their findings.

My thought was this: do some critics give bad reviews to good movies and good reviews to bad movies because they think that doing so will make them appear more intelligent? Do they think that by making a review that countermands general thinking that us mortals will assume that we missed something? I'm firing from the hip here...
hmm...
Is this at all related to the phenomenon of those who praise Stalin (rot in hell) for being 'nuanced'?

Base Closures

It seems that there will be some military bases shutting down, but no word yet on whice ones. The Department of Defense has found that we are still geared a bit too much to the Cold War and not enough towards more immediate threats. To remedy this, all of the Armed Forces are re-examining their priorities, capabilities, and methods of operation.
For what it's worth, all of the service heads (Adm. Vern Clark, Gen. John P. Jumper, Gen. Michael W. Hagee, Gen. Richard A. Cody) agree on the closure list, a fact that I find somwhat encouraging.

I can actually think of some bases that we could do without, but I have no idea how much it would cost to move their missions... I'll leave it to the Generals...
As long as whatever happens makes our military stronger and our nation safer, I'm for it.

Dr. Rice & Gun Control

... or the lack thereof...

Dr. Rice spoke up about some of the many reasons that gun control is a bad idea. She was being interviewed by Larry King at the time.

Among other things, she highlighted the fact that one can't pick what they do and don't want from our Constitution. How right! Our Constitution here is an all or nothing deal, all being for those that choose to live here and none being for those who choose not to. It is most certainly not a living document, but a binding law that limits what the government may do. If it was mutable, it would not be worth the paper it was printed on.

Back to gun control:
Dr. Rice described how her father had been able to defend her family from the White Knights and how registration likely would have kept her father and other oppressed people in the area from defending themselves.
That's one of the reasons that we have a second amendment, so that nobody can legislate away your right to defend yourself.

Burn in Hell...

I was about to sign off when I checked just one more blog... I Love Jet Noise.

I read the first post and was instantly seeing a red that would strike fear into the staunchest Communist.

Read this.

I had better never meet this puke. Do I really need to elaborate on just how wrong he is? This kind of thing is unexcusable. This sort of person is unacceptable.

Overpaid?
Punks?
Miserable excuses for men?
Stupid?
Scumbags?
Incapable of working elsewhere?

Oh, it gets better:
"Despite common opinion, we are not a hate group to the degree that we do not (officially) condone acts of violence, or any illegal acts towards military facilities or personnel."
Uh-huh... How am I supposed to take this gracefully?

You don't have to like the military, soldiers, or the current war, but you have to appreciate two things:
First, the military is how your interests are secured. This should be obvious, but if it isn't, just imagine how far you'd get by yourself against a Soviet ICBM's payload of nuclear goodness. Second, how can you call the liberation from tyranny of anyone anything less than good? Do you think you deserve more than others or some such?

Michael Crook, please leave the country as soon as humanly possible. I suggest Iran or Cuba as a destination.

By the way, I'm a bit puzzled by the notion of Metallica as a pro-military band... I mean they're cool and all (or were until some point in the past ten years than fans have yet to agree on)... Actually, a quick look around the net would indicate that Lars Ulrich (drummer) in particular seems petty upset with the military, if only for using Metallica tunes without permission as a way of stressing prisoners...

On that final note, if you want to break a prisoner, I suggest anything from American Idol. Oh, wait, we need them to talk... you need a brain for that... yeah, Metallica will work just fine.

HAHAHA!

Over at Israelity, I found this post and it just cracked me up, the bit about four-way stops. I just had to laugh, especially after driving around on an Air Force Base... You see, we love four way stops in the Air Force. They slow traffic and are a very fair way of managing an intersection. Here's the funny part: We treat them exactly opposite of the Israelis. If more than one person arrives at a four way on base, there is usually a furious exchange of hand gestures all aimed at getting the other guy to go first. It's even funnier if one of the cars is an SF vehicle: I've never seen them go ahead of ANYONE unless it's an emergency.

Back to Israel, I love that traffic light sceme of theirs. That is so cool. Imagine if we could implement that! That would help a great deal, I think, especially since Colorado drivers seem to think RED means that there is still time for three more cars to go...

Movies that suck

I came across a New York Times article that spotlights some sort of downturn in movie attendance. There are some good points in there, mostly about rising costs (you can almost buy a movie for what it costs to see it in a theater), but also about content: When was the last REALLY good movie that came out? If not really good, what about original? I see more and more movies that have already been made getting re-made.

Look at all the sequels that come out that have no place, this is part of the trouble. XXX, for example, needed no sequel. Somebody saw that the first one made money, so instead of coming with a new story for a new movie that might actually be better than XXX (not hard), the producers pushed through more of the same without even trying for inspiration.

I suppose that if movies were more inspired, more inspiring, and maybe if so many of them did not suck, this downturn would not be there.

On a somewhat related tangent...
Top Ten Things in Movies that REALLY Bug Me:

1. Bullets are not even capable of making sparks. I'll forgive Stargate SG-1.


2. I want EXPLOSIONS, not fireballs. Fireballs are a REALLY lame substitute for an explosion.


3. Suppressors (silencers to the movie world) are not musical: A suppressed gun sounds much like a normal one, but quieter.


4. When things work out for a character despite doing everything wrong.


5. The renegade loner cop archtype.


6. Things that make sound in space.


7. When actors don't even try to salute properly.


8. When actors back up in a tactical situation.


9. Squealing tires on dirt roads.

Last but not least:

10. Actors using an accent to convey a foreign language.

My biggest peve is when a screenwriter does not even attempt to follow the storyline of a book, but this should go without saying.

Victory is mine!

I passed my PT test for this year... I was not impressed with the results, but I have no room to complain as all I've done since the end of the Ironman was some bike riding.
It's time to swim now and start getting know the mountain bike trails better. No running for a while... running sucks... but I can't stop, I always go back to it.

The cold snap finally broke, and about time, too. Even as recently as Monday, it was snowing, at least it was where I was shooting in Colorado Springs. It's perfect now, though. Just yesterday, I had breakfast with some guys from my unit on an outdoor patio and it was perfect shorts weather.

Head on over...

Anne Coulter has a new one up... it's pretty cool...

She's talking about how the Left needs to be fought, specifically, how the Left can not survive truth, but how the Right must stop harping on how the Left lies... because the Left nearly always lies when it come to the Right. We have to drag the debate out into the light and keep latched on to our message, not occupied with combating accusations or retort.

Why I now like the F/A-22 Raptor

For the longest time, I believed that the super sexy aircraft to the left was an unneccessary waste of time and money, even if it was awesome. I changed my mind recently, and in a big way.

Before, I believed that the F-15 platform was just fine for air dominance and with good reason. The F-15 has a flawless combat record and is an incredible machine on it's own. Combine it with an AWACS and JSTARS platform, some AIM-120 air to air missiles, and you have a real party on your hands. You can kill anything as soon as it moves, pretty much. It's sweet.

Now, modern air forces, at least in opposing nations, did not seem that advanced to me. We turned Saddam's finest into lawn darts or demolished them on the ground... that is, if we didn't deny them the ability to get airborn through the destruction of facilities. The Israelis have taken the F-15 against the MiG-29 and they still won.

The F-15 is aging, but one of my crazy ideas was to arm C-135s with spools of long range missiles and team them with AWACS/JSTARS for targeting and F-16s for emergency defense. Our newest 'fighter' is a 747 with a laser in it, so why not, right?

Time has not stood still. As the F-4 was put out to pasture in face of more advanced aircraft like the F-15, so the F-15 now will yield. I didn't think that we needed to advance... FOOLISH! If you can advance, you should, but there is more to it than that. You see, the Bear has not been sleeping and the Dragon is growing restless. It was easy to overrun the Iraqis. It was easy to buzz around Bosnia, though they spanked us a few times, mostly due to foolishness on our part. Done, over with. We move on.

There are new SAM systems out there, developed by the Russians and exported. The Chinese have been refining their SAMs as well. Too, the Russians never went out of the fighter business. An Su-37 could be bad news for an aircrew... Neither did the Chinese. They have a new fighter, the J-10, that is very much a threat to our aircraft.

These new threats require technology that can get our aircraft into the battle and defy enemy tracking systems. I realised how important this was when I began to become aware of the dispute over the Diaoyutai (Dee-ow-yoo-ty, say it with me) islands. The Taiwan situation is an example of where the F-22 could really be a lifesaver.

Let's review some of the advantages it has over the F-15:

• 50% of the support cost
  
• twice the mission frequency capability
  
• twice the reliability
  
• 50% of the maintanence man-hours per flight hour
  
• 66% quicker turnaround time between sorties
  
• 50% less airlift required to support a deployment
  
• can track MANY more targets, some pilots say that on F-22 can take on ten F-15s at once and win...
  

Other random goodies include multipurpose maintanence components (tools that do many things), a new computerized diagnostic system that can also order new parts (neat, huh?) and a modular avionics system that lets one module do many things... in such a way that a working module can take over funtions from others that become damaged in combat!
Weapons are stored internally, alowing for more efficient flight and a radar cross section like an anorexic sparrow. IR signature is reduced. The plane is hard to see in the air, though that technology was developed on the F-15. Last, but not least, it is the only aircraft in the world that can cruise supersonic. This not only uses less fuel without giving up speed, but nearly eliminates the possibility of a radar return from the exhaust plume and reduces significantly the chance of IR detection.

All this adds up to a system that will meet the Chinese and destroy them should they decide to attempt any further imperialistic excursions. It will reduce costs, allow us to project more power with fewer aircraft, and give us a way to dominate SAM threatened airspace.

To sum up:

• Maneuverability and speed that keeps abreast of modern fighters
  
• Simplified maintanence
  
• Reduced visibility
  
• Quicker to deploy
  
• Easier to fly
  
• Mechanically more robust
  
• Superior to eveything, not just equal
  

The only downside:

• 256.8 million dollars a copy... don't worry, once geared up for production, that drops to 133.3 million.

Yes, that F-15, she's still a sexy and deadly bird, but life can't be static. She is pushing 30, after all. A lot has changed since 1975.

Farewell, old friend. You raised the bar higher than ever.

Michelle Malkin RULES!

This may well be the last time I link to Michelle Malkin for a while. Why? If I don't simply say, 'use the link over yonder --> to read Michelle Malkin as soon as you are done reading me', I'll be linking to her nearly every day... So now, I'll only do it when she just totally blows me away, like, for example, today.

It's totally absurd to claim that the enforcement of immigration law is racist. There is nothing racist about national security. There is nothing racist about denying benefits to those who are not citizens. There is nothing racist about keeping our citizens safe from harm. How did race even enter into this debate? In this sense, race is a non-issue in this nation. Racism is dying, it's last stronghold being the people who would try to turn a debate about security into a racial issue. If you are not a racist, why bring up race where it is does not concern anything?
Think about this logically: how is border security connected to race? If you say that it is tantamount to trying to exclude hispanics, I would say that NOBODY is stopping people in general, including hispanics, from coming here. All I and the sort who are Minutemen ask is that those who come here do it LEGALLY and that our border be a real border. We want to be safe, we want to know who is here. Is that so bad? If somebody can't be honest about who they are and why they are here, we not only don't need them, but they should be expelled.

I am so grateful for other voices that are speaking the truth, but it gets better. She hit three in a row OUT of the park... The next one below the Minuteman post is about reporterette and dirty rotten communist Giuliana Sgrena. The post highlights evidence that totally blows away the claims of the Italians... as if I, and I hope you, would trust any socialists more than the U.S. Army.
Next up, she lays down some words on voter fraud... Just go over there and read it, and if you have not bookmarked her page, DO IT NOW!