Wednesday, December 30, 2009

WTF!!! Part 2

The Christmas and New Years holiday has been a busy one for America and I am sure people have been too busy to follow. So here are some WTF moments. 

- Man goes into US Embassy and tells them that his son has gone missing and he fears his son has let his Islamic Fanaticism push him into Al Qaida’s hands. He gives them his name and picture. Those promptly are placed on a desk in Washington where they sit for 5 weeks. It isn't until said son attempts to blow a plane up with a diaper full of explosives. The CIA is trying to figure out why the information was not passed to all agencies and the son's name was not put on a no fly list. I thought we had fixed this shit after 9/11? I thought that was what the position of Home Land Security was supposed to do, coordinate all intelligence agencies and make sure they communicate. So much for government efficiency an oxy moron if I ever heard one, WTF?
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/29/obama-systemic-failure-allowed-terror-suspect-board-flight/

- My wife came home one day and asked me if I had heard about Obama ordering an attack on Yemen soil. I thought WTF??? and immediately went to the computer. I was shocked and ultimately proud that Obama had the balls to go after terrorists in a country not currently in the news. I was equally relieved to read that Yemen's Government had approved the strike. Now Yemen is central point in the War on Terror and so far it looks like Yemen is taking it seriously, but time will tell. Don't forget Yemen was the location of the USS Cole attack and where terrorist prisoners escaped from jail.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,581467,00.html

- New Orleans was the site of a hurricane that displaced thousands and saw a tragic mishandling of emergency services. The local officials got off with out scratch as all fingers pointed to the federal government for the failures. My belief is that the blame falls on the Mayor of New Orleans, the Governor of Louisiana, and then on the people who lived there, with the federal government coming in last in blame. What I do blame the Federal Government for is the confiscation of law abiding citizen's guns. Some were taken at gun point by US Federal Marshalls. If this wasn't bad enough, the NRA had to file a lawsuit in order to have the guns be returned to the citizens 5 years later. WTF???? This whole thing stinks and the bad part is that I do not remember this on the news. Nor do I remember hearing much talk of the rape, murder, or thefts of private property. Sure I remember the looting and the scandal with the pictures of the white people vs black people one saying the whites where trying to survive while the others were looting. This is what scares me, the moment of truth if you will. If I am asked to turn over my gun regardless of what is going on in the world, WILL I COMPLY? My answer, while all cosy and safe, is no I will not. But will I have the back bone to resist when I have federal officers pointing guns at me? WTF, it is sad I even have to imagine such a scenario. 

-Got the mini series, John Adams, right before Christmas and am currently watching. I had not read the book but had read, 1776, by the same author. It is amazing what we do not learn in school. We are taught that a group of men known as the Founding Fathers got together, declared Independence, fought the British, Washington crossed the Delaware, won the war, the constitution was written, Washington became our First President and we all lived happily ever after. What we are not taught is that not everyone wanted Independence only representation. We are not taught that Washington had a hard time getting troops and supplies. We are all led to believe that the people who lived in America all put down their farm equipment, grabbed their muskets and beat the British. We do not think about the fact that they still had to provide for their families, choose there loyalties, and face annihilation. I recommend these books and the mini series to anyone who really wants a clear picture of what it took to found this nation and the fragility that this great experiment over came to become the super power it currently is. The WTF??? goes out to our education system for teaching us only the bright and shiny past instead of the truthful down and dirty past.
-My personal WTF??? moment came when my wife and I were at the book store and were looking for some history books to add to our new found education on the Revolution and the founding of our country. We found a book on the Federalist Papers and were talking amongst ourselves about what they were. This man over heard us and told us what they were. A very nice gesture on his part and he also recommended some other books to us. The embarrassing part of the whole exchange was that the man had a strong accent and most certainly was not born in America. My guess would be United Kingdom or Australia. I consider myself a history buff, but obviously do not know everything and would say I have focused more on world history than I have American history. My greatest shame is that I was taught my own countries history by a foreigner. I will work diligently to make sure I never have to bear that shame again.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Terrorism

This Christmas was a blurr and with it came a terrorist attempt. Another idiot pawn sent out to perform a simple plan but unable to pull it off. It makes me wonder if 9/11 wasn't an inside job for the simple fact that none of the terrorists since have been able to pull of a task much simpler. I make that statement in jest of course, maybe Al Quida simply used their smartest in the first go.

When did Yemen become the new Afghanistan? They were never innocent since the USS Cole was hit from Yemen, but all of the sudden there is a lot of Yemen in the news. I was shocked to hear Obama okayed a strike there last week and hurried to find the article. Yemen's government okayed that strike so I was suprisingly proud of our Commander and Chief. Given his attempts to calm relations between America and Islam, I wonder how he plans to hand this current situation. Will he be the Dove we all expect or a Hawk that goes in for the kill.

Regardless of how you feel on Obama's socialist home agenda, lets all hope and pray that his international agenda is the right one.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Left, Right, Center

It is a crazy time in American politics. The country is divided pretty much down the middle which gives the power to those who can swing back and forth from left to right. That is apparent with the current situation we are seeing in the senate. Those centrist Democrats and Republicans are making some big bucks for their states and who knows what other sweat deals they are making behind closed doors. I am currently worried that what may have started out by them voting for what their constituents wanted, has now turned into them taking bribes. I do not know how this is legal nor do I know how this can be done without a vote.

It seems to me our democratic system is going down the drain, there will be repercussions, and who knows what will come out of the ashes. What closely as our politians continue to make sneaky deals and shit on the constitution.


Monday, December 21, 2009

1am - Who do you want making votes? NO ONE!!!

Some times you just know you are being bent over and screwed. Voting at 1am, back room deals, bills that no one has read, this is not right and I fear it is the beginning of the end. We are in serious trouble.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Celebrating Failure

Climate Summit is a huge fail and I am happy.

Health Care Bill looks to fail or be nothing substanial if passed and I am exstatic.

Why am I happy about these failures?

Because they threatened the American way of life I was "Raised" to believe in or should I say I raised myself to believe in. Capitalism is in danger and along with it our freedom. Make no mistake that the hanky stomping leftists want nothing more than to run every facit of your life. WHY? Because they know better than you do. They know who should live, who should die, and when it should all happen. They know how to best spend your money so there is no need for you to keep any of it. You are just being selfish for wanting to keep what you worked for anyway. Anyone with money is stingy and anyone without it is a victim of those with money. Of course, they get to keep their own money. They just want to spend yours.

What about debate? Can't we talk about it?

NO, NO we can not. We can no more talk about socialism as we could talk about communism. Sure the merits of them could be debated outside of our congress but they have no place inside. America is based on free men and women working hard and succeeding or failing on the merit of the work they performed. We have already moved too far away from that and toward socialism. Don't think so? Free lunch in schools, access, welfare, food stamps, public housing, medicare, Medicaid, social security, unemployement, etc.

These are just the ones I know off the top of my head. I am sure there are many more that I am unaware of. I, personally, have experience with all of those. My mother and therefore my sister and I were using them when I was a child and my Grand Mother used SS and Medicare.

You have all heard me say it before, I used to be one of the poor people we all need to help because we are blessed and they poor at no fault of their own. Bullshit, I was poor because my mother chose for us to be poor. We may not have been rich at one point but we had a roof over our head and food. I was very proud of her then, she worked hard and we were a very close family. She then met a man who would take her down a dark path that I will not get into. I will say that he hardly ever worked, was in and out of jail, and my mother lost her job. All because of her decision to be with him. Now mind you, my father was paying child support this whole time so we should never have been without the basics right? I do not know the full amount of the child support but I believe it was enough to at least pay rent and possibly utilities. This means my mother's income was available for all other expenses.

Instead, my mother signed my sister and I up for free lunches, we got food stamps, cheap housing, and other hand outs. My mother would skim through the phone book looking for companies to list on her unemployment form she had to turn in monthly to show she was looking for work. When my mom did work, my eventual step father sat at home all day. Their biggest day of the month was the day my fathers child support check came in. We usually wouldn't see them the rest of that weekend.

My experience with church was limited to those times we needed food and had to sit through a sermon in order to shop in the hand out store.

I was a part of the socialism system and might not have survived without it. But I would not have blamed anyone but my mother for our situation. I escaped that cycle and have made it into the middle class world. My mother and sister still live in that other world I never care to return too. The horrible thing about it is this, I blazed a trail that my sister could have chosen to follow. Instead she followed my mother. She blames everyone but herself for her current situation and it truly saddens me. My mother, fortunately, got rid of the man who took her down the dark path, unfortunately, she has not been able to recover and find her way back to prosperity.

I wonder if those who want to pass laws that force the country to support people, like my mother, have any clue what these people are like? They see them on the news, they see their houses of squalor, but do they see that they are in that situation because they were either born into it or put themselves into it. Either way, life is tough and only you control your destiny. Yes rich people have a head start and the poor have to work  a hell of a lot harder to make it to the top. But truth be told, making it to the middle is not hard at all.

So while I celebrate failure of politicians to fundimentally change America, I encourage everyone to work hard and strive to escalate your position in life. No one will do it for you!!!

If you have a rags to middle class or greater story, please post a comment.

Friday, December 18, 2009

MILBLOGS GO SILENT FOR FELLOW BLOGGER

DATE:  15 DECEMBER 2009

MILBLOGS GO SILENT FOR FELLOW BLOGGER

Milblogs Go Silent
On Wednesday 16 December 2009, many milblogs -- including This Ain't Hell, From My Position, Blackfive, Miss Ladybug, Boston Maggie, Grim's Hall, and those participating in the Wednesday Hero program -- are going silent for the day.  Some are choosing to go silent for a longer period of time.

The reason for this is two-fold.  First, milblogs are facing an increasingly hostile environment from within the military.  While senior leadership has embraced blogging and social media, many field grade officers and senior NCOs do not embrace the concept.  From general apathy in not wanting to deal with the issue to outright hositility to it, many commands are not only failing to support such activities, but are aggressively acting against active duty milbloggers, milspouses, and others.  The number of such incidents appears to be growing, with milbloggers receiving reprimands, verbal and written, not only for their activities but those of spouses and supporters.

The catalyst has been the treatment of milblogger C.J. Grisham of A Soldier's Perspective (http://www.soldiersperspective.us/).  C.J. has earned accolades and respect, from the White House on down for his honest, and sometimes blunt, discussion of issues -- particularly PTSD.  In the last few months, C.J. has seen an issue with a local school taken to his command who failed to back him, and has even seen his effort to deal with PTSD, and lead his men in same by example, used against him as a part of this.  Ultimately, C.J. has had to sell his blog to help raise funds for his defense in this matter.

An excellent story on the situation with C.J. can be found at Military Times:
http://www.armytimes.com/offduty/technology/offduty_blogger_120809/
While there have been new developments, the core problem remains, and C.J. is having to raise funds to cover legal expenses to protect both his good name and his career.

One need only look at the number of blogs by active duty military in combat zones and compare it to just a few years ago to see the chilling effect that is taking place.

Milblogs have been a vital link in getting accurate news and information about the military, and military operations, to the public.  They have provided vital context and analysis on issues critical to operations and to the informed electorate critical to the Republic.

On Wednesday 16 December, readers will have the chance to imagine a world without milblogs, and to do something about it.  Those participating are urging their readers to contact their elected representatives in Congress, and to let their opinions be known to them and to other leaders in Washington.

Some milblogs will remain silent for several days; some just for the day.  All have agreed to keep the post about the silence and C.J. at the top of their blogs until Friday 18 December.
The issues go beyond C.J., and deserve careful consideration and discussion.  We hope that you will cover this event, and explore the issues that lie at the heart of the matter.  Contact the milbloggers in your area or that you know, and hear the story that lies within.
A Partial List of Participating Blogs:

Drunken Wisdom  http://beerbrains.com/

Grisham Legal Fund
c/o Redstone Federal Credit Union
220 Wynn Drive
Huntsville, AL 35893
Please write "Grisham Legal Fund" in the memo line if you use this option.

Milblogs have been a vital link in getting accurate news and information about the military, and military operations, to you.  Today, many milblogs are gone and others are under attack from within and without.  Today, you have the chance to imagine a world without milblogs, and to do something about it.  Make your voice heard by writing your congressional representatives and others, and by making donations as you see fit.

The battle for freedom of speech and the marketplace of ideas is fought on many fronts and in many ways.   Without your help, the battle may well be lost.

Mr Wolf
Blackfive.net

Monday, December 14, 2009

Another Reason To ALWAYS be Armed.

This is long so if you are short on time just skip to the end. But you really need to watch it all to get an idea of how stupid these rednecks are.

What would they have done if this guy was not armed? Beat him up? Raped his girl? Raped him?

Fortunately, we will never know because it was stopped by a responsible gun owner.


Hating America - Funny Stuff

There is a lot of American bashing coming from within. This is a funny video about it.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

News story in California about citizens carrying openly

This is funny stuff. Pay attention to both the stupid questions asked and the statements by the Police Chief. The guy being interviewed could have been a lot more convincing, but he was not horrible.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

WTF?!?!?! Part 1

I am in another one of my funks. I can not seem to focus my thoughts and have no clue what is going on in the world. So much has happened in the past two weeks but I can not dicipher their meaning or their cause. Sure I could turn on Fox News or CNN or MSNBC and be told what to think but that is not my style. So instead I am stuck. So to do something constructive and possibly get you guys to help me, I am going to post some of the big news stories over the past month and give you my initial reaction.

- Four Cops Shot in Washington: This just goes to show you that our way of justice is not working. We have prison over crowding so we let people out instead of putting a bullet in their head. WTF???? I am still waiting for the reports to come out that the cop who killed the dirt bag didn't need to kill him and did it out of vengence. Just wait for it and then scream WTF???

-Terrorists tried in NYC: Should have been a military tribunal followed by an execution consisting of being hog tied and fed to wild pigs. Fitting end to worthless trash. But no, we CIVILIZED peoples must complicate things and make a grand showing of doing the proper thing. Brad Thor wrote a book about terrorists hitting multiple targets in NYC in small groups with the main mission being to free a high profile terrorist. (I believe the terrorist in the book might have been the 93 world trade center bomber) The real terrorists can use it as a play book to free these assholes. WTF!!!

-Hikers lost in Iran: This is older than a month but it keeps popping up on the news. WTF were you doing hiking in IRAQ near the IRANIAN border. Either you are shitty spies or mentally challenged. Just like the two reporters caught in North Korea you had to know what you were getting into so suffer the consiquences. Those sailors caught in the Gulf and recently freed were a completely different story. They had a reason to be in the gulf, the gulf is small so when they had an engin malfunction I can understand them floating into Iranian waters. I am not sure what international law states but considering the gulf is so narrow it is hard to believe that any of it is not in one country or the other.

- Cop breaks glass with dirtbags face at train station: Dirtbag had it coming. Didn't look to me that the cop had intended on beating the guy, he was just doing what you see cops do all the time and that is dominate the perp by slamming him against something until he gets him handcuffed. Unfortunately, this time the something was weak and broke making it look like the cop was trying to force the guy through the wall. To the glass I have to say WTF??? why you got to make the popo look bad?

- Sarah Palin: I am back and forth on this lady. When I hear about her work in Alaska I am impressed. Especially her taking on members of her own party and actually getting them thrown in jail. That is impressive. But her image on TV drives me nuts. She does not come off as intelligent and sounds like a giddy school girl. I can not have a president that says "Golly".  WTF??? I also do not like people who complain about everything but never give their own fix.

-Sarah Palin's haters: You idiots who say Palin has no experience are all sheep and need to be stuffed in a closet. Regardless of my reasons for not liking her for president she has more experience than our current president. WTF??? SHE RAN A FRIGGIN STATE. You can not say that a person who never ran anything but a campaign is qualified for president and a year later complain that a person who ran a state is not.

- Out of context: I am SO friggin sick of people taking sound bites and using them out of context. This is not aimed at anyone in particular because everyone is doing it. From this blog you could take a clip of my writing and make me sound like I am a liberal hippie if you wanted to. I am sick of having to go find the whole story or the whole video clip to find out the context of why someone said something or other. 9 times out of 10 the words on their own are damning but in the full context of the conversation they either make sense or don't sound as bad. You people who are editing know what you are doing so WTF??? is your problem?

- Global Warming: I am so torn with this because the information was stolen by criminals, but these criminals have possibly released a global scam of epic proportions. Whether this info shows that global warming is not as serious as stated by Al "MANBEARPIG" GORE or not, we all have to realize that this planet is not here for our amusement. We are sembiant with it and if we abuse it unabated we will surely all die.

To be continued....

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Trial and Error

It is fun to day dream and plan out scenarios in your head. I often play out scenarios as I see them possibly happening ranging from the hilarious to the extreme. For the funny example, what would happen if this guy with the crazy mullet could hear my thoughts and turned to confront me. Would my joke be so witty that he laughed and got a hair cut or get pissed off and try to punch me? For the extreme example, sitting in my car and playing out a scenario of getting car jacked. Would I be able to draw my gun while removing the seat belt? Should I just let him take it? Etc.

Reality is so much tougher than your imagination. Most of the time, unless you are thinking about what could go wrong, you are thinking things through as if they were to happen smoothly. It is not until you actually try and do what you have been thinking about that you realize that A: you can't do it or B: you need a lot of practice or C: you are too out of shape to get it done.

This weekend I went out to the Mogollon Rim near Payson, Arizona with three friends. We decided to punch our man cards and see if we could survive over night with just our Survival Bags. We were not stupid and brought some extra emergency gear just in case.

Here is what we learned:

-Starting a fire with two sticks is hard and not at all pleasant. We did not succeed. Bring extra matches and lighters.

-We are all way out of shape. I believe this caused the lack of patience in trying to start a fire with two sticks.

-No matter how much you plan you are going to forget something. The good thing is that you increase the odds of the group having at least one of something when everyone is supposed to bring the same thing. Example: Four guys = One first aid kit (luckily we did not need one) Four guys = One roll of toilet paper (this was number one on my packing list)

-Gloves make handling a fire arm difficult. The warmer the gloves; the harder it is to handle the weapon.

-Spam is good.

-Nine hours in a sack on the ground is equivalent to 1 hour in your bed at home.

-Snow is cold, it is wet, and it comes down very quickly.

These are just a few of the lessons learned and only from my perspective. I am sure the others have lessons of their own. The biggest lesson is that no matter how much you think things through, plan things out, or research a product, you never know how you or the product will perform or react in the field.

You also might surprise yourself and fair a lot better than you expected.

The key is to not get discouraged and to learn from your experience. Didn't succeed this time? Figure out why and work out the problem. Get back out there and do it right.

There is always more to learn and once something is learned you then have to master it. So stop day dreaming and start actually doing it.