My Book to Help America By Murno Leaf. HT Iowahawk here.With our allies, we're keeping the pressure on the enemy. We're keeping him on the move. We're fighting them everywhere they make their stand -- from the mountains of Afghanistan, to the deserts of Iraq, to the islands of Southeast Asia and the Horn of Africa. On every battlefront, we're on the offense. We're keeping constant pressure. And in this war on terror we will not rest, or retreat, or withdraw from the fight until this threat to civilization has been removed.
SAN'A, Yemen - Yemen has set free one of the al-Qaida masterminds of the USS Cole bombing in 2000 that killed 17 American sailors, a senior security official said Thursday.
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Jamal al-Badawi, who is wanted by the FBI, was convicted in 2004 of plotting, preparing and helping carry out the USS Cole bombing and received a death sentence that was commuted to 15 years in prison.
He and 22 others, mostly al-Qaida fighters, escaped from prison in 2004. But al-Badawi was granted his freedom after turning himself in 15 days ago and pledging loyalty to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
While progress has been made, the war on terror is being undercut by leaks of operational secrets, Allen says.
“Any time you give aid and comfort to the enemy, or talk about counter measures the United States may be taking or measures that are out there to disrupt or defeat al-Qaida, it’s devastating to the United States,” he says.
Most of all, Americans must not lose their will in what will be a long battle.
“We Americans have to be strong, we have to be resilient,” Allen says. “We’ve got to be very, very tough.”
Just so everyone knows, these are the names of the U.S. personnel killed aboard the USS Cole:
1. Electronics Technician 1st Class Richard Costelow
2. Mess Management Specialist Lakina Francis
3. Information Systems Technician Tim Guana
4. Signalman Seaman Recruit Cherone Gunn
5. Seaman James McDaniels
6. Engineman 2nd Class Mark Nieto
7. Electronics Warfare Technician 3rd Class Ronald Owens
8. Seaman Recruit Lakiba Parker
9. Engineman Fireman Joshua Parlett
10. Fireman Apprentice Patrick Roy
11. Electronics Warfare Technician Kevin Rux
12. Petty Officer 3rd Class Ron Santiago
13. Operations Special 2nd Class Timothy Sanders
14. Fireman Gary Swenchonis Jr
15. Ensign Andrew Triplett
16. Seaman Apprentice Craig Wibberly
Fair winds and Following Seas to these brave sailors who put it out there on the line for us. God Bless them for serving and God Bless their surviving families.
Bill of Rights: Amemdment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday he was not asking for talks with the United States, but they would be possible if Washington changed its policy toward Teheran, Iran's official Web site reported.
Referring to last week's comment by US President George W. Bush regarding Washington's willingness to negotiate with Iran if it suspended its nuclear program, Ahmadinejad responded: "We firstly say that we never asked for negotiations with the United States. Negotiations with the US will happen when the US government applies basic changes in its behavior and attitude."
"Setting conditions is our right since we have been worrying about your atomic bombs as well as the warmongers standing beside them," Ahmadinejad was quoted by the Web site as saying.
He reiterated that Iran was ready to negotiate with any individual and country except its arch foe, Israel.
Regarding Iran's disputed nuclear activities, Ahmadinejad said his country was ready for negotiation over mutual cooperation, "but we do consider it meaningless to talk over nuclear rights of the Iranian nation."
Ahmadinejad is not interested in convincing the US government or even the majority of Americans to convert to Islam. He is interested in convincing adherents of totalitarian Islam and potential converts to the cause that they are on the winning side. He is interested in demoralizing foes of totalitarian Islam within the Islamic world and so causing them to give up any thoughts of struggle. In this goal he is no different from any of his Sunni counterparts in Saudi Arabia, al-Qaida, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas or their sister organizations throughout the Islamic world and indeed throughout the West.
Throughout the world, Islamic ideologues are aggressively spreading their message of global domination. In mosques, on the Internet, on television, in schools, hospitals and prisons, Islamic preachers can be found propagating the cause of Islamic domination. And aside from Iran, no regime, including the Saudi regime, is immune from the pressures of the message.
The Real Che
Che CorneliusTwo children of Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara are visiting Iran and are due to meet with top officials, the student ISNA news agency reported.
Aleida, 47, and her brother, Camilo, 45, are to meet with Culture Minister Mohammad Hossein Safar Harandi, as well as with a deputy minister of foreign affairs and several lawmakers, the agency said.
The two children of the Argentine-born hero of the Cuban revolution started their trip by visiting the shrine of Iran's late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini just outside Tehran, AFP noted.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has moved to expand ties with the leftist governments that have won power in Latin America in recent years, finding common ground in a mutual distrust of the United States.
Beginning on October 22, student groups across the nation will hold Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week on their campuses. These protest weeks will feature a series of events designed to bring a message to these academic communities that challenges most of what students are taught about the so-called War on Terror both in the classroom and on the quad.
The Week’s events will include speeches about Islamo-Fascism by prominent figures, including former Senator Rick Santorum (Penn State, Temple and UPenn), Sean Hannity (Columbia), Ann Coulter (Tulane and USC), Dennis Prager (UC Santa Barbara), Robert Spencer (Brown, Dartmouth, University of Rhode Island, and DePaul), Daniel Pipes (Northeastern and UPenn), David Horowitz (Columbia, Emory, Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin), Michael Ledeen (Maryland), Nonie Darwish (UCLA and Berkeley), Wafa Sultan (Stanford) and radio talk show hosts Melanie Morgan (San Francisco State), Michael Medved (University of Washington), Martha Zoeller (Georgia Tech), Alan Nathan (George Mason), Mark Larson (to be named) and many others.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is a policy that you have been ordered to implement by the president. And you have been made the de facto spokesman for what many of us believe to be a failed policy. Despite what I view as your rather extraordinary efforts in your testimony both yesterday and today, I think that the reports that you provide to us really require the willing suspension of disbelief.
Update*** Here is Rudy's AD on YOUTube:
Wind at Ground ZeroIn Iraq, our troops are taking the fight to the extremists and radicals and murderers all throughout the country. Our troops have killed or captured an average of more than 1,500 al Qaeda terrorists and other extremists every month since January of this year. (Applause.) We're in the fight. Today our troops are carrying out a surge that is helping bring former Sunni insurgents into the fight against the extremists and radicals, into the fight against al Qaeda, into the fight against the enemy that would do us harm. They're clearing out the terrorists out of population centers, they're giving families in liberated Iraqi cities a look at a decent and hopeful life.
Our troops are seeing this progress that is being made on the ground. And as they take the initiative from the enemy, they have a question: Will their elected leaders in Washington pull the rug out from under them just as they're gaining momentum and changing the dynamic on the ground in Iraq? Here's my answer is clear: We'll support our troops, we'll support our commanders, and we will give them everything they need to succeed. (Applause.)
Rep. Ed Royce of California, ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs terrorism and nonproliferation subcommittee, said the DEA document substantiates information that his committee has been given in the past year.
"Hearings I held in Laredo [Texas] last year and this DEA report show that our southern border is a terrorist risk," Mr. Royce said. "Law enforcement has warned that people from Arab countries have crossed the border and adopted Hispanic surnames. The drug cartels have highly sophisticated smuggling and money-laundering networks, which terrorists could access."
"An appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that is left us. But we shall not fight our battle alone. There is a just God that presides over the destinies of nations. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone. Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death."
Al Qaeda is in Iraq, intentionally inflaming sectarian hostilities, deliberately pushing for full scale civil war. They do this by launching attacks against Shia, Sunni, Kurds and coalition forces. To ensure the attacks provoke counterattacks, they make them particularly gruesome.
Five weeks ago, I came into a village near Baqubah with American and Iraqi soldiers. Al Qaeda had openly stated Baqubah was their worldwide headquarters — indeed, Al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed just a short drive away.
Behind the village was a palm grove. I stood there, amid the crushing stench of death, and photographed the remains of decapitated children and murdered adults. I can still smell the rotting corpses of those children.
Clearly, not every terrorist in Iraq is Al Qaeda, but it is Al Qaeda that has been intentionally, openly, brazenly trying to stoke a civil war. As Al Qaeda is now being chased out of regions it once held without serious challenge, their tactics are tinged with desperation.
This may be the greatest miscalculation they've made in their otherwise sophisticated battle for the hearts and minds of locals, and it is one we must exploit.
I35W under construction in 1967The Interstate Hwy. 35W bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed during the evening rush hour Wednesday, dumping an estimated 50 vehicles into the water and onto the land below, creating a horrific scene of damage, fire, smoke, injuries, frantic rescuers and bloody, terrified motorists.
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said at a news conference tonight that six people had died.
As of 7:30, one construction worker was unaccounted for and three injured.
One death was reported by Dr. Joseph Clinton of the Hennepin County Medical Center. Clinton added that HCMC had admitted 22 serious but non-critical patients.
"It's obviously a catastrophe," said Gov. Tim Pawlenty. "We want to make sure we can do all we can to help those in need.
"Our thoughts and prayers" are with the families of all the victims.
Family members of victims are asked to go to the Holidy Inn Metrodome.
Be Not Afraid
You shall cross the barren desert, but you shall not die of thirst. You shall wander far in safety though you do not know the way. You shall speak your words in foreign lands and all will understand. You shall see the face of God and live.
Be not afraid.
I go before you always;
Come follow me, and I will give you rest.
Monday’s first deadline was issued by the Taliban leadership council, led by elusive Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar, giving the threat to kill the hostages more weight than several other deadlines that have passed without incident.
Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration’s miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily “victory” but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with.
Nearly six years after the 9/11 attacks, America remains a nation at war. The terrorist network that attacked us that day is determined to strike our country again, and we must do everything in our power to stop them. A key lesson of September the 11th is that the best way to protect America is to go on the offense, to fight the terrorists overseas so we don't have to face them here at home. And that is exactly what our men and women in uniform are doing across the world.
You might wonder why some in Washington insist on making this distinction about the enemy in Iraq. It's because they know that if they can convince America we're not fighting bin Laden's al Qaida there, they can paint the battle in Iraq as a distraction from the real war on terror. If we're not fighting bin Laden's al Qaida, they can argue that our nation can pull out of Iraq and not undermine our efforts in the war on terror. The problem they have is with the facts. We are fighting bin Laden's al Qaida in Iraq; Iraq is central to the war on terror; and against this enemy, America can accept nothing less than complete victory.
Our top commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, has said that al Qaida is "public enemy number one" in Iraq. Fellow citizens, these people have sworn allegiance to the man who ordered the death of nearly 3,000 people on our soil. Al Qaida is public enemy number one for the Iraqi people; al Qaida is public enemy number one for the American people. And that is why, for the security of our country, we will stay on the hunt, we'll deny them safe haven, and we will defeat them where they have made their stand.Hopefully, it will be A-Q's last stand!
I think J.K. Rowling, the creator of the Potter series of books, has created a timeless and classic collection of stories, one that will be enjoyed by children and adults for decades to come. I also find part of the genius of her creation to be that she has taken into account the advancing years of the original fans of the series. In the beginning, with �Harry Potter and the Sorcerer�s Stone,� the story and adventures were for children. As each book was written, and each film produced, the stories have taken on an increasingly more adult tone, so much so that "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is rated PG-13. It also means that the films are now more appealing to an older audience.
Confronted with a generation-defining conflict, the cold war, the Boomers--those, at any rate, who came to be emblematic of their generation--took the opposite path from their parents during World War II. Sadly, the excesses of Woodstock became the face of the Boomers' response to their moment of challenge. War protests where agitated youths derided American soldiers as baby-killers added no luster to their image.Bill Kristol says of the 9/11's:
Few of the leading lights of that generation joined the military. Most calculated how they could avoid military service, and their attitude rippled through the rest of the century. In the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, military service didn't occur to most young people as an option, let alone a duty.
But now, once again, history is calling. Fortunately, the present generation appears more reminiscent of their grandparents than their parents.
Having turned against a war that some of them supported, the left is now turning against the troops they claim still to support. They sense that history is progressing away from them--that these soldiers, fighting courageously in a just cause, could still win the war, that they are proud of their service, and that they will be future leaders of this country. They are not "Shock Troops." They are our best and bravest, fighting for all of us against a brutal enemy in a difficult and frustrating war. They are the 9/11 generation. The left slanders them. We support them. More than that, we admire them.
But we believe that the best chance for getting at the truth is likely to come from the combined efforts of the blogosphere, which has, in the past, proven adept at determining the reliability of such claims. To that end we'd encourage the milblogging community to do some digging of their own, and individual soldiers and veterans to come forward with relevant information--either about the specific events or their plausibility in general.
Does anyone who has served at FOB Falcon remember hearing about or seeing the humiliation of this woman? Do they know her name and how we might get in contact with her to confirm the author's account of the events that day?
Is anyone familiar with a combat outpost a few miles south of the Baghdad airport where a mass grave of Iraqi children was discovered? What about the other parts of the story? And does anyone else know of Bradleys careening wildly through the streets of Baghdad?
The U.S. command said Wednesday the highest-ranking Iraqi in the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq has been arrested, adding that information from him indicates the group's foreign-based leadership wields considerable influence over the Iraqi chapter.
Khaled Abdul-Fattah Dawoud Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, also known as Abu Shahid, was captured in Mosul on July 4, said Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a military spokesman.
1) We have the support of numerous other vets organizations -— American Legion, Troops Need You, Gathering of Eagles, Appeal for Courage, Move America Forward, Troop Talk, and more.
2) If we do this right, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans —- and the blog and talk radio communities -- could transform the Iraq war debate, much like they did for immigration. And this event could be a starting point.
3) We need vets to show up -— despite time constraints and financial constraints...it’s too important.
HH: Now yesterday, Harry Reid said on the floor of the Senate that the surge has failed. Do you think there’s any factual basis for making that assertion, Michael Yon, from what you’ve seen in Iraq over the last many months?
MY: He’s wrong, he’s wrong. It has absolutely not failed, and in fact, I’m finally willing to say it in public. I feel like it’s starting to succeed. And you know, I’m kind of stretching a little bit, because we haven’t gone too far into it, but I can see it from my travels around, for instance, in Anbar and out here in Diyala Province as well. Baghdad’s still very problematic. But there’s other areas where you can clearly see that there is a positive effect. And the first and foremost thing we have to do is knock down al Qaeda. And with them alienating so many Iraqis, I mean, they’re almost doing it for us. I mean, yeah, it takes military might to finally like wipe them out of Baquba, but it’s working. I mean, I sense that the surge is working. Reid is just wrong.
Despite their unconvincing protests to the contrary, it's painfully obvious liberals just don't believe in our cause in Iraq. Their behavior cannot be explained any other way. They're clearly rooting against, indeed trying to preempt the surge and otherwise thwart our mission.
If they wanted the surge to work, they wouldn't be declaring it a failure prior to the date Commander David Petraeus set for fairly evaluating our progress -- especially considering that many signs are pointing to the surge's success.
Reports coming out of Iraq indicate that our new strategy of rooting out terrorists and holding the areas is working. Evidence is accumulating that even if our homegrown liberals aren't, the Iraqi people are increasingly turning against Al Qaeda, largely because of their brutality. Sectarian violence, for now, is declining.
Bush does not plan any major changes in war strategy despite increased calls from Republican lawmakers to begin a drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq.
"Congress oughta wait for General Petraeus to come back and give us his assessment before they make any decisions," Bush told the crowd in Cleveland.
In a brief statement earlier there, Bush said, "Troop levels will be decided by our commanders on the ground, not by political figures in Washington, D.C."
MANAMA (Reuters) - The U.S. navy has sent a third aircraft carrier to its Fifth Fleet area of operations, which includes Gulf waters close to Iran, the navy said on Tuesday.
"Enterprise (aircraft carrier) provides navy power to counter the assertive, disruptive and coercive behaviour of some countries, as well as support our soldiers and marines in Iraq and Afghanistan," a U.S. Navy statement said.
The move comes weeks after a flotilla of U.S. warships sailed through the narrowest point in the Gulf to hold exercises off Iran's coast in a major show of force.
Tension over Tehran's nuclear ambitions has raised regional fears of a military confrontation. Recent U.S. naval presence in the Gulf has been the largest since the 2003 Iraq war.
The Fifth Fleet area of operations includes the Arabian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean.
Ken Johnston Sr., a former test pilot for NASA who said he helped train astronauts during the Apollo era, has now found a new calling in dressing as Dumbledore. The Belen, New Mexico, resident put his alter ego to use when he helped auction a signed copy of a Harry Potter book on his eBay store to benefit a local library. The buyers came down from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Belen to claim their book, and they were greeted by Johnston in full costume. He was accompanied by a local cub scout dressed as Harry Potter.
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He said he has attended past film openings wearing his outfit and was making plans to attend the latest film opening in character.
At 870 pages, this is JK Rowling's longest book, and by consensus, it's not her best. Director David Yates and screenwriter Michael Goldenberg (Peter Pan) have been more ruthless with the red ink than their predecessors, for which movie fans should certainly be grateful. In fact, at 138 minutes this is the shortest of the Potter movies to date.
The whole point of the Surge is to address this particular problem. It is six months in the making, if you count from the start of the buildup. If the politicos in Washington set goals that Iraq could not realize, that is their own fault. It is the fault of those whose goals were set without bothering to take any account of military reality.
We've got people who are risking their lives every day to give Iraq the chance embodied by the Surge. There are 25 million people in Iraq whose lives depend on the outcome. These games in DC and among the press, they are beyond reprehensible. Real lives are at stake here -- better lives than the ones lived by these politicians and journalists.
The Chewbacca impersonator was wanted on suspicion of grabbing the Monroe impersonator's hand and placing it on his groin about four weeks ago, said Sgt. David Torres, spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollywood Division.
The Monroe look-alike called police on Sunday after complaining of a separate incident that day between the two impersonators, Torres said.
The brown, hairy Wookiee fled just as police arrived at about 12:30 p.m. on Hollywood and Highland boulevards.
50 Stars“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
The Declaration Of Independence
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Our National Anthem
Support the Troops here:
America Supports You
Send your e-mail to the Badgers RCT-6 here.
From Mudville Gazette on why Freedom is Not Free:
The Fourth of July is a special time to celebrate the freedoms we have, hard fought and won at a great cost. Well we all should enjoy this day, and every day we have to live free, for to do less would be to waste the high price paid that we might.
Robert Stokely
The United States government has a responsibility to use all instruments at its disposal to stop these terrorist attacks against our soldiers and allies in Iraq—including keeping open the possibility of using military force against the terrorist infrastructure inside Iran.
Although no one desires a conflict with Iran, the fact is that the Iranian government by its actions has declared war on us. And while I sincerely hope that diplomacy alone can convince the Iranian government to stop these attacks, our diplomatic efforts are only likely to succeed if backed by a credible threat of force.
At the very least, I hope that these latest revelations about Iran’s terrorism in Iraq will prompt some of my colleagues in Congress to reconsider their demand that U.S. forces withdraw from Iraq.
Iran’s purpose in sponsoring these attacks against our soldiers is clear. The Iranian government wants to push the United States out of Iraq. For Congress to mandate a retreat from Iraq will give the Iranians exactly what they want most. A retreat would not only represent a catastrophic defeat for the United States, but an epic victory for Iran, Hezbollah, and the forces of Islamist terrorism.”
"I'm not happy with Congress, either," Pelosi, of San Francisco, conceded.
She pinned the blame on "the obstructionism of the Republicans in the United States Senate."
Immigration has joined Iraq, stem cell research, Medicare drug pricing, the 9/11 Commission's recommendations and other promises in the dustbin of the current Congress. Heading into a July Fourth recess after a bruising failure on immigration, Congress has a public approval rating in the mid-20s, lower than Bush's and no better than Republicans' ratings on the eve of their catastrophic election defeat in November, when the GOP lost control of the Senate and the House.
So little has been achieved that Reid threatened to hold the Senate in session during the August recess, the congressional equivalent of torture.
"The 9-year-old girl needed four stitches," said Sheriff's Capt. Thomas Martin of the Malibu/Lost Hills station.
Sheriff's officials said they believe two teenagers on Kenny G's property — neither related to the saxophonist — hurled the objects. But it's unclear what was thrown. Martin said they could have been rocks — or candy and energy bars.
The musician's attorney said Kenny G's wife paid the medical bill for the girl, but he said no rocks were thrown. Instead, the attorney said, Hershey's Kisses and a PowerBar energy bar were thrown.
"I have been informed a PowerBar hit the girl accidentally on the head," said attorney Lee Blackman, who added that the cliffs have signs warning of falling rocks. "It was just an accident."
The best vote count now has 33 no votes plus the non-vote of the ill Sen. Tim Johnson. Assuming this count is accurate, only seven more are needed to stop amnesty.
Those votes are available from a bipartisan group of senators who say they oppose the amnesty bill. They are Sens. Kit Bond, Sam Brownback, Richard Burr, Thad Cochran, Norm Coleman, John Ensign, and Jim Webb. If any of these senators votes to revive the bill, his professions of opposition to amnesty should no longer be taken seriously. He will have done his crucial bit, when the amnesty bill was most vulnerable, to help shepherd it to passage. We know how senators who claim to oppose amnesty will try to explain away a vote to revive the bill. They will rely on procedural obfuscation: They didn’t want to obstruct the process, they wanted to get a vote on an amendment, etc. But amnesty is staying in the bill — no amendment to strike the bill’s central features has any chance of passage — and it deserves to be obstructed.
Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okl, claims he overheard Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, and Barbara Boxer, D-Calf, chatting about how out of control talk radio had become.
"They said we've got to do something about this," Inhofe told a talk radio host. (KFI's John Zigler) "That 'these are nothing but far right wing extremists, we've got to have a balance, there's got to be a legislative fix to this.'"
I'm still waiting for comment from Clinton's and Boxer's offices….but this comes on the heels of a new study by a liberal group (LINK) that claims that in Spring 2007 "of the 257 news/talk stations owned by the top five commercial station owners, 91 percent of the total weekday talk radio programming was conservative."
"Senator Boxer told me that either her friend Senator Inhofe needs new glasses or he needs to have his hearing checked, because that conversation never happened," says Natalie Ravitz, the communications director for Boxer.
"Jim Inhofe is wrong," says Philippe Reines, Clinton's press secretary. "This supposed conversation never happened - not in his presence or anywhere else."
The truth is the entire nightmare can be traced back to the liberal democratic policies of the leftist Jimmy Carter, who created a firestorm that destabilized our greatest ally in the Muslim world, the shah of Iran, in favor of a religious fanatic, the ayatollah Khomeini.
Carter viewed Khomeini as more of a religious holy man in a grassroots revolution than a founding father of modern terrorism. Carter's ambassador to the UN, Andrew Young, said "Khomeini will eventually be hailed as a saint." Carter's Iranian ambassador, William Sullivan, said, "Khomeini is a Gandhi-like figure." Carter adviser James Bill proclaimed in a Newsweek interview on February 12, 1979 that Khomeini was not a mad mujahid, but a man of "impeccable integrity and honesty."
The shah was terrified of Carter. He told his personal confidant, "Who knows what sort of calamity he [Carter] may unleash on the world?"
The "Drivers' Ten Commandments," as listed by the document, are:
1. You shall not kill.
2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.
3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.
4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.
5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.
6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.
7. Support the families of accident victims.
8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.
9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.
10. Feel responsible toward others.
There is an Illinois employer that over five years filed 131,991 inaccurate documents with the Internal Revenue Service. That's right: 131,991.
Now, you might think law enforcement would be swarming all over this employer. You would be wrong, however.
You see, the 131,991 false documents were W-2 forms reporting taxes paid on behalf of workers whose names and Social Security Numbers (SSNs) did not match. The Social Security Administration (SSA) inspector general has told Congress that illegal-alien workers are "the primary cause" cause for this type of "non-match" W-2.
According to an October 2004 report by the SSA inspector general ("Employers With the Most Suspended Wage Items in the 5-Year Period 1997 Through 2001"), the Illinois employer with 131,991 "non-match" W-2s was the national champion for that period. But there were other employers in the same league.
LGFis down with a failed disc drive! The Hamsters are on strike! Power to the Hamsters!
And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment — let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.
There are already hopes that actual tactical surprise has been attained, and we hope to furnish the enemy with a succession of surprises during the course of the fighting. The battle that has now begun will grow constantly in scale and in intensity for many weeks to come, and I shall not attempt to speculate upon its course. This I may say, however. Complete unity prevails throughout the Allied Armies. There is a brotherhood in arms between us and our friends of the United States. There is complete confidence in the supreme commander, General Eisenhower, and his lieutenants, and also in the commander of the Expeditionary Force, General Montgomery. The ardour and spirit of the troops, as I saw myself, embarking in these last few days was splendid to witness. Nothing that equipment, science or forethought could do has been neglected, and the whole process of opening this great new front will be pursued with the utmost resolution both by the commanders and by the United States and British Governments whom they serve.
Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Forces:
You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.
Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well-trained, well-equipped, and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.
My older daughter is in Special Day Class (Special Ed) and we knew she would benefit from it. Its just the school district never lets you know what your options are. Now that I have my younger one all set we want to get my older one into more mainstreaming and then full inclusion in junior high and high school. We have to change schools again but the teacher is very good and will get my older daughter ready for middle school. Her reading has really picked up to three grade levels and next year she'll be on grade level! Her math is still behind but if I can get her to general math (she has + and - but * and / is next) thats ok. If she can reconcile a checking account and handle money that's what she needs to live independently. That's the goal and she is determined to get there.
Just a little background on what's going on in the NavyFamily this spring. I hope to be back in the posting action. The main focus is supporting the troops and their mission and fighting the immigration bill. Hey President Bush why are you stepping on your base? What do you not understand? You're selling us out to the Democrats. Uncle Ted wants to destroy the Republican party. And you're helping him! Now I'm fired up and ready to roll!
Would they?"The most devastating conclusion that I reached this morning, however, was that Casey did indeed die for nothing," she said in reference to her son, who was killed in Iraq in April 2004.
"I have tried every (day) since he died to make his sacrifice meaningful. Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives.
"It is so painful to me to know that I bought into this system for so many years and Casey paid the price for that allegiance. I failed my boy and that hurts the most."
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to others, and I require the same from them" (The Shootist).
“I was very disappointed to see Senator Obama and Senator Clinton embrace the policy of surrender by voting against funds to support our brave men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan,” McCain, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination, said. “This vote may win favor with MoveOn and liberal primary voters, but it’s the equivalent of waving a white flag to al Qaeda.”
"I think the handwriting is on the wall that we are going in a different direction in the fall and I think the president is going to lead it," he said.
McConnell said he expects Bush announce his intentions on his own timetable.
The legislation that cleared Congress late Thursday night marked the end of a struggle in which Bush rejected an earlier bill because it contained a troop withdrawal timetable.
The White House said it expected to receive the replacement measure Friday afternoon and that Bush would sign it — privately, with no fanfare other than a written announcement — as soon as it arrived from Capitol Hill.
Washington, May 17 - The Senate bill will provide amnesty to those here illegally, no matter how the Senators "spin" the issue. Amnesty failed in 1986, as it prompted a massive increase in illegal immigration with the anticipation of future clemency. Amnesty says that individuals need not respect our laws, it awards people who break the law and flout our sovereignty
The1986 amnesty provided legal status for undocumented aliens already present in the country. It was passed with the promise of tougher enforcement, which was never realized. The law required illegal immigrants to wait, pay a monetary fine, and learn English. Does that sound familiar to today’s backslapping by the Senators and Administration?
Black’s Law Dictionary classifies the 1986 law as an amnesty. Because of that law we saw an immediate spike in illegal immigration. The ‘86 law was touted as the solution to our illegal immigration problem. They were wrong then and they are wrong now. The consequences for this country are potentially catastrophic.
HT 
From Maj. Ed Dames site
HT 
Is Ron's shirt reflecting the terrorist plot?
HT from Military Motivator
