From DefenseLink:
More Than 1,100 Troops in Iraq to Re-enlist in Independence Day Ceremony
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press ServiceWASHINGTON, July 3, 2008 – More than 1,100 servicemembers stationed in Iraq will celebrate the nation’s birthday tomorrow by re-enlisting, the senior enlisted leader for Multinational Force Iraq said today.
Army Command Sgt. Maj. Marvin L. Hill said 1,157 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines will re-enlist at the Al Faw Palace at Camp Victory, in Baghdad. This may be the largest re-enlistment ceremony since the all-volunteer force began in 1973, Hill said via phone from Baghdad.
This is becoming an annual blockbuster event for the command. Last year, 588 servicemembers re-enlisted.
“We are extremely proud of the accomplishments we have made in security on the ground as well as proud of all of our great warriors for the work they are doing since they arrived in theater,” Hill said. “We recognize the sacrifices they make and the sacrifices their families and communities make as they serve in Iraq.”
These servicemembers know the cost of war and they are still re-enlisting, Hill said. Some serve in “the most austere conditions — meaning they are in patrol bases and combat outposts,” he noted. Some of the re-enlisting servicemembers are in places where the troops “hot-bunk it” — that is, they take turns using limited sleeping space — and burn human waste because they lack plumbing. Others are based in more comfortable surroundings.
The vast majority of the servicemembers tell Hill and others that they are re-enlisting because “they are doing what they joined the military to do,” he said.
“If they joined to be a rifleman, they’re doing it in combat,” the sergeant major said. “If they joined to fix helicopters, they’re doing it and doing it in combat.”
Often in years past, he said, some warriors probably felt they weren’t doing what they joined the military to do, he said.
“Now, since we’ve been fighting this global war on terrorism … these warriors are doing what they joined to do,” he explained. “They can see the fruit of their labor and see the fruit of the sacrifices of those who have gone before them. It makes them feel good about what they are doing.”
The ceremony will be broadcast on the Pentagon Channel, Hill said. Multinational Force Iraq Commander Army Gen. David H. Petraeus will preside. Hill and Petraeus will speak at the ceremony, then Petraeus will administer the oath of enlistment.
A 50-gun salute will honor of the nation’s birthday, and then all will sing “God Bless America.” The ceremony will end with a medley of service songs.
All components of the military are represented in the ceremony. Officials said 738 active-duty soldiers, 188 National Guard soldiers, and 122 Army Reserve soldiers are re-enlisting, along with 54 Marines, 39 sailors and 16 airmen.
“…to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America…”
Commitment in capital letters, with 1,100 raised right hands taking an solemn oath.
Update 7/4/2008 later in the day: Early this AM, when posted, this was what was to be. Today, it is now part of history and 115 more service members came to the event, for a total 0f 1215 re-enlistees in the combat zone, while the Nation is at war, while many of use are preparing for friends and family to come over and sit without worry, to watch fireworks displays. Wow…just wow. How can we thank them?
Said xformed @ 10:35 am Comments (0) | Permalink
…but I think they are excellent reminders of what has become:
The parchment is aged and water stained, the ink faded and behind the thick, bullet prof glass it is difficult to discern. And yet — and yet the power of those words have shaken empires to their very roots and given hope to generations. The future they but dimly perceived, we live today. This is what it means to risk it all - in the hope, fear and prayer that the course you are charting will mean a better tomorrow; to know that there is no out, no “Plan B”…
By way of the one who “pens” his tales of technology and the Navy, old and new, and still serves today, albeit without a uniform required daily: SteelJaw Scribe.
Words, just words, worthy of meditating upon this anniversary of the American experiment.
Said xformed @ 10:29 am Comments (0) | Permalink
BUT….if you have your fingers in your ears and are yelling “LALALALALALALALALALALALA!!!!!” for all you’re worth, you still won’t ever gain knowledge:
BTW, the Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less” petiton is up to 1,259,246 signatures. Short of the 3M, but moving that direction smartly!
I really like his statement:
It shows that is you’re a Congress dominated by trial lawyers, you know what the answer is to everything is: It’s a law suit, you just don’t know what the topic is yet.
As I drove into work today, scanning the gas price chages on my route, I realized how lawyers, for the sake of ever expanding their ability to make money, have become the catalyst for the great divisions in society, and…as I explore this topic further, I submit, in the World, but that’s a real essay in the percolator right now.
Sign the petiton today. Press Congress to act for the good of the survival of our economy, and that of ther rest of the World, too.
Said xformed @ 11:25 am Comments (0) | Permalink
He stands for death, but then again, pregnancies are “mistakes” to him. I wonder if his daughters will one day realize just what he said.
Oh, yes, listen to the interview with a nurse, Jill Santek on Bill Bennett’s show. She worked in a hospital in Chicago and testified before the State Senator. You will be shocked at his position, which surpasses abortion, but becomes infanticide.
Jill is launching a 527: bornalivetruth.org.
Said xformed @ 9:05 pm Comments (0) | Permalink
John Edwards was right, or at least half right, anyway.
There are two Americas fighting for dominance in this country and they aren’t the America of the wealthy and the America of the downtrodden. If the wrong America wins it will be just that and then John Edwards will look like a seer.
The first of the two Americas I speak of is Classic America, the one most folks on the Right think of when they think of America. It’s the one we are fighting so hard to keep from slipping into the dustbin of history.
It is the America of John Wayne, Audie Murphy, Frank Sinatra and countless other Real Men who knew honest work was a good thing for a man’s soul, and that accepting or relying on charity, no matter how freely given, lessened a man. Men used to do everything they could to avoid having to accept charity.
It is the America of June Cleaver and the stay at home mom, the America of women who knew their highest calling was to raise the kids and take care of the house and her husband. Generations of women just like this raised up generations of great men and women. They were the women that raised the children that went on to beat the Brits in the Revolution, save the Republic in the Civil War and beat down Hitler and Tojo in WW2. It was women such as this who raised the men that built this country into the greatest country yet seen on this little blue globe.
It is the America of the self made man and The Buck Stops Here instead of the America of begging for the governments help for each little bump and bruise and blaming everyone and everything for all of the ills that befall you in life.
Life Is Not Fair, and to steal a great quote from a famous flick, anyone that tells you differently is trying to sell you something.
Now we have another America vying to BE America and all she stands for.
This New America, or America Lite, is represented by folks such as Sean Penn, Janeane Garafalo, Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama and countless other empty headed cretins that push a socialist agenda on this country using false, unearned guilt.
It is an America where the government takes care of all your needs, instead of you taking care of yourself.
It is an America where the Government controls your access to healthcare, instead of you deciding which healthcare you wish to buy, or if at all.
It is an America where the government regulates everything: the emissions from your car, what kind of paint a store can sell and how you must act as an adult by forcing you to wear helmets and seat belts.
There once was a time when this country was filled with citizens who understood that you reap what you sow, you get what you earn, good or bad, that actions had consequences and you paid the price for them either way.
Die in a motorcycle accident from not wearing a helmet?
Sorry you’re dead, but dude, you asked for it.
End up crippled because of that accident? It’s the responsibility of you and your family to take care of you, not the government’s (i.e. everybody else)
As a result of this, people acted more responsibly, because they knew there were consequences to be paid for their actions.
Get a girl pregnant? You will suddenly find yourself with a wife. Not to mention in-laws who probably don’t think much of you and probably won’t for many years but you took responsibility for your actions and stuck it out and you raised your children into good citizens because that’s what was expected of you.
In America Lite dads leave without a second thought. This situation has gotten so bad that deadbeat dad laws will utterly destroy a man’s life if his children’s mother decides to go the easy route and take welfare and he doesn’t take responsibility by paying for his progeny.
Once upon a time in this country men did the right thing because it was the right thing to do, not because the law threatened to destroy their ability to make a living.
Now, when something bad happens to somebody the questions immediately fly about “Why wasn’t something done to avoid this?” and “Where was the government?” when the questions that should be asked are “What can I do to help this poor soul?” and “What was that person thinking?” and maybe even “Did you see what happened to that dumbass? He sure got what he had coming, huh?”
The America I know and love, the America whose return MUST occur, is in a pitched battle with the America Lite, which is a country that sports the Stars and Stripes but whose Faith, Patriotism and Freedom rings hollow to this mans ears. America Lite chooses instead a socialist path that steals Liberty and crushes the greatness of the Human Spirit, making away with the Rights granted by our Creator like a thief in the night. The end result of this vileness is a population who are simply wards of the state, children to be taken care of at each turn, from cradle to grave.
The America I know and love, Classic America, the America where a man is known for his actions, where he takes pride in his work and his word, where he chooses the most menial work if that’s all that is there instead of demanding to be taken care of by his fellow man by threat of government force is slowly dying off. As each succeeding generation is brought up in a school system that teaches them a test, skims the great history of this country and pounds guilt for being a citizen of the best country ever into their little mush filled skulls, we get people so empty headed as to follow the most inexperienced, liberal, anti-American person to ever run for the White House on a major party ticket as if he is the second coming of the Christ.
Is there hope?
Maybe.
If that American Spirit can be brought back to full bloom, If people once again are taught that having pride in themselves and taking responsibility for their lives is the way to success in life. If people are once again taught that success is not measured by how large a house one has, or how expensive your car or clothes are, but rather how you live your life and how you treat other people.
The theft of my liberty for your comfort, no matter how necessary that comfort may be, is still the theft of my liberty. Three generations of Americans don’t seem to understand that, and they demand that our government do more for them, never realizing that with each thing the government does, someone’s liberty has been stolen in their name and vice versa.
These are the Two Americas.
In November you get to choose which America you want to have. Classic America, the America that Saved the World (twice at least) and is mostly responsible for the current amenities and freedoms the world enjoys or America Lite, a pale and ugly shadow that is bound to failure and the destruction of True Freedom and the Greatness of Man.
It is that simple.
Choose wisely, my friends. If you remember the scene in Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail where the American chose the wrong Grail and instantly withered away to dust, then you get an idea of what will happen if you choose poorly.
We are that man, and we are standing in front of two cups, but only one can bring us back to the greatness we once knew, the Freedom we once would fight to defend, the Pride in simply BEING an AMERICAN. The other will certainly cause us to whither away to dust.
As I said, choose wisely.
Said Kender @ 2:08 pm Comments (0) | Permalink
“The fanatic is incorruptible: if he kills for an idea, he can just as well get himself killed for one; in either case, tyrant or martyr, he is a monster.”
— E. M. Cioran
Said xformed @ 8:24 am Comments (0) | Permalink
Criminals do not obey the law. In fact that’s the definition of a criminal, a law breaker. Here’s the definition:
- criminal
noun
a person who has committed a crime : these men are dangerous criminals.
adjective
of or relating to a crime : he is charged with conspiracy to commit criminal damage.
• Law of or relating to crime as opposed to civil matters : a criminal court.
• informal (of an action or situation) deplorable and shocking : he may never fulfill his potential, and that would be a criminal waste.
.
So today a decision was finally reached in the case of the D.C. handgun ban, and it was deemed unconstitutional. I’d like to say, “Thank Christ,” but really the thanks go to the five judges who have no problem understanding what it means to have and defend our individual rights.
What is deplorable and shocking is that the vote was so close. For a reminder of the Second Amendment and what it says, like it needs any clarification, here it is:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Not surprisingly, the four who are more than happy to see our individual liberties eroded while they sit on the bench are, John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer.
I remember a former friend of mine commenting, with an outraged voice during the Gore/Bush fiasco in November 2000, “It’s about the supreme court. Whoever gets elected gets to nominate supreme court justices!”
Her primary concern was the woman’s right to do with her body whatever she pleases; you know, the Pro-Abortion versus Pro-Life debate. (yes, I phrased that properly)
Somehow the socialists in this country have no problem being concerned with individual rights while the right in question is the right to kill the unborn, but these very same socialists want to get rid of the death penalty and remove the right to defend ourselves.
The four who voted to uphold the D.C. handgun ban, the dissenters, were also in the majority when it came to taking away someone else’s private property in the Kelo vs. City of New London eminent domain case of 2005, which sadly was more about economic development and displacing a private owner from their property instead of what I thought eminent domain was about, government confiscation of private property in exchange for just compensation, for the public good.
Every day, and with each new socialist that rises through the ranks of the judicial system, and the socialist politicos who appoint them in hopes of seeking more and more power, and with each new attack on the constitution of our once-great country, we lose more and more of our individual freedoms.
On second thought, I am going to thank Christ for today’s vote, because I think it was divine intervention that I get to keep this one individual liberty a little while longer. I’d also like to thank John Adams for such a clearly written amendment, even if you did have to use four commas in that sentence. It’s beautiful, man, it’s beautiful.
And to those criminals who might ever get a bug up their wazoo to invade my home and attack my family, I still have the law on my side, so don’t even think about it!
I am Uncle Jack
Source: Justices Rule for Individual Gun Rights
Said Uncle Jack @ 8:26 pm Comments (0) | Permalink
I got the most devastingly dumb comment in my comments section at CB on a post about Raila Odinga, Obama and Jihad, I just had to share.
Conservatives are so afraid that the capitalist systems that favor the rich will be lessened, that they will not even stop to think about those who have been suppressed for hundreds of years. Like in Kenya, where the Muslim minority is suppressed, and the government was ruled by, as you said yourself, a “dictator”. The pact signed seems to be an attempt to help those who are not having a voice be heard, and who are we to judge which morals are correct for all humankind! there are countless minority groups around the world that have been exploited and used for the benefit of those in power. It’s definitely not okay for groups to use violence to regain control, against anyone, even if they have been treated unfairly, but as far as judging other countries goes, we have no right. How can we possibly read all of the literature and understand it ALL, moreso, what about all of the undocumented information about history in countries around the world. All I’m saying is this, we all need to find a way to overcome violence, because it only perpetuates more violence, as seen by the chain reactions of generations of fighting in the name of religion. The US is very much at fault for it’s own share of unjust violence, just as much as the revolutionary groups fighting for equality. Maybe if people would stop to take a look from the other side they might be able to see things more clearly, and unemotionally. A president who can take pieces of Marxism to change our country to look towards the betterment of those who have been suppressed is not a bad thing. Marxism theories are about equality and the struggles of classes, not just communism. And lastly, just because those are his family members, it doesn’t mean that he will secretly fund them and provide terrorists with aid. But maybe conservatives think he will be able to accomplish all of this without Americans knowing, and against our Christian majority in America because Bush has been very successful at exactly this type of thing. What’s scarier than Obama using marxist methods to help the poor is the thought of MacCain inheriting the presidency and causing our nation’s ruin with his bullheaded tactless techniques. We will never be able to bomb people into submission, because there is too large of a Muslim population, and terrorist network. It’s silly to think that we will succeed without cooperating with EVERYONE in the global society. Oh, and are Oprah and her viewers and all the voters who chose Obama practicing takeyya also?
Said Cao @ 3:06 pm Comments (0) | Permalink
Can we? PLEEEZ??? CAN WE AND NOW?
Funny. The Dems want us to act like the rest of the world. More crap cover. The trend towards country leaders supportive of Ameica in Europe should be a trend for the own head of our country….nope..can’t have that.
BUT…how about fingerprinting all foreign visitors to stop the influx of ‘illegal immigrants?’ Can we do that? PRETTY PLEASE Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Ried? (”Honorable” titling purposely left out, btw)
Yeah, Democrats…start acting like the EU…and know your borders are yours to protect.
Scary…maybe we do have to pay more attention to how “they” do it to bail us out…
Said xformed @ 3:29 pm Comments (0) | Permalink
Yep…yeah, nope…nothing to see here…move along…and, don’t forget: “BUSH LIED!!!! NO TERRORIST IN IRAQ!!!”
or did he:
It seems Saddam Hussien was working with the AQ bubbas.
The letter, which appeared on the paper’s front page, was published by the intelligence apparatus of the Iraqi presidency and discussed an intention to meet with Ayman Al-Zawahiri in order to examine a plan drawn up by the Iraqi presidency to carry out a “revenge operation” in Saudi Arabia.
I’m sure thinking people (which seem to becoming increasingly few and far between in the MSM) would realize that by the time a discussion is being held at this level, there has been plenty of coordination work done in advance, most likely to include a nod on the part of the “big guy” when first asked verbally if he’d like to investigate the possibility of this type of meeting in the first place. “Revenge operation?” sure…no big deal. Governments do little informal meeting on conducting terror operations in other sovereign nations like all the time, you know…
But the Democrats are so invested in the hatred of George W. Bush that they will make sure you are lied to, and in doing so, will let this country become the laughing stock of the World community, while they act like they are doing some extreme makeover on our culture.
What a complete crock of crap, and that’s keeping it PG13. The efforts of the Democrat Party will lead to nothing but a short term, flash in the pan, moment of glory for themselves, as the flame of the economic engine of the planet is snuffed out. A little study of history will help you understand they are headed for a Pyrrhic victory. The party of self-esteem as the penultimate goal of each person around the world is really all about smashing the individual into subjugation, so they can have power.
Sad when a newspaper from the very country of the executed dictator, user of wood chippers, acid baths, rape, torture, chemical weaponry, bullets and bludgeons on his own people lays out some evidence of a direct link between Saddam and Al-Zawahiri (and therefore the al Qaeda organization as a whole) and will be ignored by the very people who have feed us a diet of how our President is worse than Hitler. Once more, I will observe there is a short supply of thinking people these days.
H/T: Doug Ross Journal
Sometimes, we had the word passed on the General Announcing System (1MC) “Standby for heavy rolls while the ship is coming about.” My warning to you: “Standby for heavy rolls while the Country is coming about.” The smart sailor (citizen) next grabs something firm and makes sure the items surrounding them are properly secured, least bad things happen because of inattention, despite the warnings issued…What are you doing right now? More thoughts are percolating…and in due time, will arrive on this blog.
Said xformed @ 3:29 pm Comments (0) | Permalink
Via LGF: Wow, just wow.
Foreign policy architects could benefit from studying Winnie the Pooh and Star Wars, according to a Barack Obama adviser who is set to attend a meeting of the Democratic candidate’s national security work group Wednesday.
Richard Danzig, former Navy secretary under President Clinton, drew several creative and unusual analogies to explain the challenges America faces overseas during a foreign policy conference in Washington, D.C., last week, according to an article in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
In arguing that the country should back off a policy that causes too much pain, Danzig said, “”Winnie the Pooh seems to me to be a fundamental text on national security.”
The fact the guy worked for Clinton explains a lot. The fact he now works for Obama, should scare the crap out of you.
Our enemies talk about ending Western Civilization and killing anyone who does not fall into line.
And we’re in the middle of an election year talking about f*$cking Winnie the Pooh!!!
Thanks a lot Dems, now I know how Osama bin Laden came up with the idea that Americans are wusses.
Said jcrue @ 7:03 pm Comments (0) | Permalink
Said Cao @ 5:59 pm Comments (0) | Permalink
