November 07, 2009
Thank you Sgt Kim Munley ~ American Hero!!!!
Sgt Kim Munley has been hailed a heroine after taking on the lone gunman who went on a shooting spree at a huge military base in Texas, killing 13 people and wounding 30 others.
Texas police officer is a hero for shooting Fort Hood killer Nidan Hasan 4 times during his killing rampage.
A police officer who intervened to stop a shooting spree at America’s biggest military base was hailed today a heroine as she received treatment for the wounds received in a shoot-out with the gunman.
Major Nidal Hasan, an army psychiatrist due to be posted to Afghanistan, shot dead 13 people and wounded 30 others after opening fire with two handguns at Fort Hood yesterday afternoon.
But the death toll from the rampage could have been far worse had it not been for the actions of Sergeant Kimberly Munley, a civilian police officer stationed at the base who was the first on the scene as Major Hasan picked off his victims.
Sergeant Munley managed to hit Major Hasan four times but was herself hit by a bullet that passed through both her legs, according to witnesses.
Fort Hood shooting: Kim Munley hailed for bravery in shooting Hasan
Mrs Munley was one of the "first responders" who returned fire after army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan went on the rampage at the sprawling Fort Hood base in Texas.
She shot Hasan four times but was herself wounded in the gun battle. Her condition is now stable, according to military officials.
"They both exchanged fire and both were wounded," said Col John Rossi during a press conference at the giant base. "Her efforts were superb." The colonel also praised "the heroic efforts of our great soldiers at the scene".
The police officer has been praised for her bravery and for preventing what could have been an even worse massacre.
Hasan, who was about to be posted to Afghanistan, was found alive and taken under armed guard to a nearby hospital.
He was in a serious but stable condition and not in imminent danger of dying. He was unconscious and on a ventilator.
Mrs Munley is married to Matthew Munley, a staff seargeant who has done two tours of Iraq, and they have a three-year-old daughter Jayden.
The family home, on a street near Fort Hood, has many empty homes because those who live there have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Her brother-in-law Bryan Munley said: “There’s nothing that stands in her way. It completely makes sense that she did what she did. Without her, there would have been a lot more people killed. She is definitely a tough woman.”
Neighbours recalled that she thwarted burglars who tried to break into her house last year, telling them: “If you come in I’m going to shoot.”
Erin Houston said: “I just felt more protected knowing she was on my street.”
Her father Dennis Barbour and stepmother Wanda Barbour run a fishing tackle shop in Carolina Beach, North Carolina.
Wild Thing's comment........
Thank you Sgt. Kim Munley, for saving more lives at Fort Hood, being courageous enough to incapacitate the perpetrator Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, while being wounded. Our entire and very grateful nation is extremely proud of you, Sergeant Munley.
You Muslim's a woman shot your unclean brother like the rodent he is!
Bush would have already hailed her as a hero … Obama is to busy saying I, I, I to acknowledge anyone else as a possible spotlight center.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 AM | Letters to the Editor (0) | Trackback URL | (0)
Fort Hood Survivors and More On TERRORIST Nidal Malik Hasan
.
The 13 people killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, included a pregnant woman who was preparing to return home and a newlywed who had served in Iraq.
.
Fort Worth soldier was hero in Fort Hood rampage
Pfc. Marquest Smith, a former Fort Worth resident who joined the Army just over a year ago, was in a small cubicle inside the Soldier Readiness Center when he heard popping sounds. A bullet tore through the cubicle wall and lodged in the heel of his boot.
Within 15 minutes, the 21-year-old soldier was rushing through the chaos in the huge processing center to pull four wounded victims to safety and help take them to the hospital. The gunman fired toward him from across the room as Smith was fleeing the building.
Other tales of heroism spread throughout this grief-stricken base Friday as it struggled with the aftermath of the worst attack ever at a U.S. military installation. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey, who arrived at Fort Hood with new Army Secretary John McHugh, called it "a kick in the gut."***
Eight of the wounded were treated and released, and of the 30 originally hospitalized, 23 — including the alleged gunman — remained in hospitals late Friday. Thirteen flag-draped coffins were placed aboard a C-17 and flown to a military installation in Dover, Del., for final funeral preparations.
McHugh, who succeeded Pete Geren of Fort Worth as army secretary Sept. 21, told reporters that the FBI and Defense Department are conducting a joint investigation into Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who was felled in an exchange of gunfire with a civilian policewoman.***
Hasan, who sustained at least four gunshot wounds, was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio at mid-afternoon, the Army said Friday night.***
Col. John Rossi, at mid-evening Friday, said Hasan apparently fired more than 100 rounds of ammunition from his two handguns, a 5.7 mm semiautomatic and an older model Smith & Wesson .357-caliber revolver.
.
Bernie Goldberg saying that if Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan was a "White Male Christian" instead of a Muslim, his religion would be the top story in the mainstream media. But because he is Muslim, most of the mainstream media refuse to even consider that his Islamic beliefs are central to his commit a terrorist act.
Shooter advised Obama transition
Fort Hood triggerman aided team on Homeland Security task force
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the alleged shooter in yesterday's massacre at Fort Hood, played a homeland security advisory role in President Barack Obama's transition into the White House, according to a key university policy institute document.
The Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University published a document May 19, entitled "Thinking Anew – Security Priorities for the Next Administration: Proceedings Report of the HSPI Presidential Transition Task Force, April 2008 – January 2009," in which Hasan of the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine is listed on page 29 of the document as a Task Force Event Participant.
Hasan received his medical degree from the military's Uniformed Services University School in Bethesda, Md., in 2001.
Noting that the Obama administration transition was proceeding, the GWU Homeland Security Policy Institute report described on the first page the role of the Presidential Transition Task Force as including "representatives from past Administrations, State government, Fortune 500 companies, academia, research institutions and non-governmental organizations with global reach."
While the GWU task force participants included several members of government, including representatives of the Department of Justice and the U.S Department of Homeland Security, there is no indication in the document that the group played any formal role in the official Obama transition, other than to serve in a university-based advisory capacity.
Daniel Kaniewski, deputy director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University affirmed to WND in a telephone interview this morning that the Nidal Hasan listed as attending the meetings of the HSPI Presidential Transition Task Force was the same person as the alleged shooter in the Fort Hood massacre.
Kaniewski said Hasan attended the meetings in his capacity as a member of the faculty of the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine, not as a member of the HSPI Presidential Task Force.
Kaniewski believed Hasan applied on the institute's website to attend the meeting and was accepted because of his professional credentials.
Kaniewski could not tell WND whether or not Hasan made comments from the audience that influenced the task force recommendations or not.
He further confirmed Hasan had attended several meetings held by the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University and that the institute is currently searching conference records to see if it is possible to determine what additional institute conferences he attended.
.
Obama didn't wait long after Tuesday's devastating elections to give critics another reason to question his leadership, but this time the subject matter was more grim than a pair of governorships.
After news broke out of the shooting at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas, the nation watched in horror as the toll of dead and injured climbed. The White House was notified immediately and by late afternoon, word went out that the president would speak about the incident prior to a previously scheduled appearance. At about 5 p.m., cable stations went to the president. The situation called for not only his trademark eloquence, but also grace and perspective.
But instead of a somber chief executive offering reassuring words and expressions of sympathy and compassion, viewers saw a wildly disconnected and inappropriately light president making introductory remarks. At the event, a Tribal Nations Conference hosted by the Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian affairs, the president thanked various staffers and offered a "shout-out" to "Dr. Joe Medicine Crow -- that Congressional Medal of Honor winner." Three minutes in, the president spoke about the shooting, in measured and appropriate terms. Who is advising him?
Anyone at home aware of the major news story of the previous hours had to have been stunned. An incident like this requires a scrapping of the early light banter. The president should apologize for the tone of his remarks, explain what has happened, express sympathy for those slain and appeal for calm and patience until all the facts are in. That's the least that should occur.
Indeed, an argument could be made that Obama should have canceled the Indian event, out of respect for people having been murdered at an Army post a few hours before. That would have prevented any sort of jarring emotional switch at the event.
Did the president's team not realize what sort of image they were presenting to the country at this moment? The disconnect between what Americans at home knew had been going on -- and the initial words coming out of their president's mouth was jolting, if not disturbing.
It must have been disappointing for many politically aware Democrats, still reeling from the election two days before. The New Jersey gubernatorial vote had already demonstrated that the president and his political team couldn't produce a winning outcome in a state very friendly to Democrats (and where the president won by 15 points one year ago). And now this? Congressional Democrats must wonder if a White House that has burdened them with a too-heavy policy agenda over the last year has a strong enough political operation to help push that agenda through.
If the president's communications apparatus can't inform -- and protect -- their boss during tense moments when the country needs to see a focused commander-in-chief and a compassionate head of state, it has disastrous consequences for that president's party and supporters.
All the president's men (and women) fell down on the job Thursday. And Democrats across the country have real reason to panic.
Wild Thing's comment........
Amazing ithat a Chiacgo nbc wrote the article about Obama. Good for them. I posted this video the other day and we all commented on it. But this article is good and really points out what a total FAILURE Obama and how he could care less. He should not even need a team of people to tell him to "act" sorry or sad or outraged. Damn HIM!
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:50 AM | Letters to the Editor (0) | Trackback URL | (0)
Obama and Pelsoi's DESTROY America Health Care Bill
Rep. Steve King (R-IA): Again Saturday Health Care Rally At The Capitol
I REALLY Like this guy King. ~ Wild Thing
House Democrats clear impasse on health bill
House Democrats acknowledged they don’t yet have the votes to pass a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s health care system, and signaled they may push back the vote until Sunday or early next week.
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters in a conference call Friday that the make-or-break vote on President Barack Obama’s top priority that had been set for Saturday could face delay.
The apparent problem: Democrats have yet to resolve intraparty disputes over abortion funding and illegal immigrants’ access to health care.
What the Pelosi Health-Care Bill Really Says
Taken from .....
http://www.defendyourhealthcare.us
The health bill that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is bringing to a vote (H.R. 3962) is 1,990 pages. Here are some of the details you need to know.
What the government will require you to do:
•Sec. 202 (p. 91-92) of the bill requires you to enroll in a "qualified plan." If you get your insurance at work, your employer will have a "grace period" to switch you to a "qualified plan," meaning a plan designed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. If you buy your own insurance, there's no grace period. You'll have to enroll in a qualified plan as soon as any term in your contract changes, such as the co-pay, deductible or benefit.
•Sec. 224 (p. 118) provides that 18 months after the bill becomes law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services will decide what a "qualified plan" covers and how much you'll be legally required to pay for it. That's like a banker telling you to sign the loan agreement now, then filling in the interest rate and repayment terms 18 months later.
On Nov. 2, the Congressional Budget Office estimated what the plans will likely cost. An individual earning $44,000 before taxes who purchases his own insurance will have to pay a $5,300 premium and an estimated $2,000 in out-of-pocket expenses, for a total of $7,300 a year, which is 17% of his pre-tax income. A family earning $102,100 a year before taxes will have to pay a $15,000 premium plus an estimated $5,300 out-of-pocket, for a $20,300 total, or 20% of its pre-tax income. Individuals and families earning less than these amounts will be eligible for subsidies paid directly to their insurer.
• Sec. 303 (pp. 167-168) makes it clear that, although the "qualified plan" is not yet designed, it will be of the "one size fits all" variety. The bill claims to offer choice—basic, enhanced and premium levels—but the benefits are the same. Only the co-pays and deductibles differ. You will have to enroll in the same plan, whether the government is paying for it or you and your employer are footing the bill.
• Sec. 59b (pp. 297-299) says that when you file your taxes, you must include proof that you are in a qualified plan. If not, you will be fined thousands of dollars. Illegal immigrants are exempt from this requirement.
• Sec. 412 (p. 272) says that employers must provide a "qualified plan" for their employees and pay 72.5% of the cost, and a smaller share of family coverage, or incur an 8% payroll tax. Small businesses, with payrolls from $500,000 to $750,000, are fined less.
Eviscerating Medicare
In addition to reducing future Medicare funding by an estimated $500 billion, the bill fundamentally changes how Medicare pays doctors and hospitals, permitting the government to dictate treatment decisions.
• Sec. 1302 (pp. 672-692) moves Medicare from a fee-for-service payment system, in which patients choose which doctors to see and doctors are paid for each service they provide, toward what's called a "medical home."
The medical home is this decade's version of HMO-restrictions on care. A primary-care provider manages access to costly specialists and diagnostic tests for a flat monthly fee. The bill specifies that patients may have to settle for a nurse practitioner rather than a physician as the primary-care provider. Medical homes begin with demonstration projects, but the HHS secretary is authorized to "disseminate this approach rapidly on a national basis."
A December 2008 Congressional Budget Office report noted that "medical homes" were likely to resemble the unpopular gatekeepers of 20 years ago if cost control was a priority.
• Sec. 1114 (pp. 391-393) replaces physicians with physician assistants in overseeing care for hospice patients.
• Secs. 1158-1160 (pp. 499-520) initiates programs to reduce payments for patient care to what it costs in the lowest cost regions of the country. This will reduce payments for care (and by implication the standard of care) for hospital patients in higher cost areas such as New York and Florida.
• Sec. 1161 (pp. 520-545) cuts payments to Medicare Advantage plans (used by 20% of seniors). Advantage plans have warned this will result in reductions in optional benefits such as vision and dental care.
• Sec. 1402 (p. 756) says that the results of comparative effectiveness research conducted by the government will be delivered to doctors electronically to guide their use of "medical items and services."
Questionable Priorities:
While the bill will slash Medicare funding, it will also direct billions of dollars to numerous inner-city social work and diversity programs with vague standards of accountability.
• Sec. 399V (p. 1422) provides for grants to community "entities" with no required qualifications except having "documented community activity and experience with community healthcare workers" to "educate, guide, and provide experiential learning opportunities" aimed at drug abuse, poor nutrition, smoking and obesity. "Each community health worker program receiving funds under the grant will provide services in the cultural context most appropriate for the individual served by the program."
These programs will "enhance the capacity of individuals to utilize health services and health related social services under Federal, State and local programs by assisting individuals in establishing eligibility . . . and in receiving services and other benefits" including transportation and translation services.
• Sec. 222 (p. 617) provides reimbursement for culturally and linguistically appropriate services. This program will train health-care workers to inform Medicare beneficiaries of their "right" to have an interpreter at all times and with no co-pays for language services.
• Secs. 2521 and 2533 (pp. 1379 and 1437) establishes racial and ethnic preferences in awarding grants for training nurses and creating secondary-school health science programs. For example, grants for nursing schools should "give preference to programs that provide for improving the diversity of new nurse graduates to reflect changes in the demographics of the patient population." And secondary-school grants should go to schools "graduating students from disadvantaged backgrounds including racial and ethnic minorities."
• Sec. 305 (p. 189) Provides for automatic Medicaid enrollment of newborns who do not otherwise have insurance.
• Secs. 1158-1160 (pp. 499-520) initiates programs to reduce payments for patient care to what it costs in the lowest cost regions of the country."
On Nov. 2, the Congressional Budget Office estimated what the plans will likely cost. An individual earning $44,000 before taxes who purchases his own insurance will have to pay a $5,300 premium and an estimated $2,000 in out-of-pocket expenses, for a total of $7,300 a year, which is 17% of his pre-tax income. A family earning $102,100 a year before taxes will have to pay a $15,000 premium plus an estimated $5,300 out-of-pocket, for a $20,300 total, or 20% of its pre-tax income. Individuals and families earning less than these amounts will be eligible for
• Sec. 303 (pp. 167-168) makes it clear that, although the “qualified plan” is not yet designed, it will be of the “one size fits all” variety. The bill claims to offer choice—basic, enhanced and premium levels—but the benefits are the same. Only the co-pays and deductibles differ. You will have to enroll in the same plan, whether the government is paying for it or you and your employer are footing the bill.
• Sec. 59b (pp. 297-299) says that when you file your taxes, you must include proof that you are in a qualified plan. If not, you will be fined thousands of dollars. Illegal immigrants are exempt from this requirement.
(ILLEGALS ARE EXCEMPT!)
• Sec. 412 (p. 272) says that employers must provide a “qualified plan” for their employees and pay 72.5% of the cost, and a smaller share of family coverage, or incur an 8% payroll tax. Small businesses, with payrolls from $500,000 to $750,000, are fined less.
• Sec. 1302 (pp. 672-692) moves Medicare from a fee-for-service payment system, in which patients choose which doctors to see and doctors are paid for each service they provide, toward what’s called a “medical home.”
A December 2008 Congressional Budget Office report noted that “medical homes” were likely to resemble the unpopular gatekeepers of 20 years ago if cost control was a priority.
• Sec. 1114 (pp. 391-393) replaces physicians with physician assistants in overseeing care for hospice patients.
• Secs. 1158-1160 (pp. 499-520) initiates programs to reduce payments for patient care to what it costs in the lowest cost regions of the country. This will reduce payments for care (and by implication the standard of care) for hospital patients in higher cost areas such as New York and Florida.
• Sec. 1161 (pp. 520-545) cuts payments to Medicare Advantage plans (used by 20% of seniors). Advantage plans have warned this will result in reductions in optional benefits such as vision and dental care.
• Sec. 1402 (p. 756) says that the results of comparative effectiveness research conducted by the government will be delivered to doctors electronically to guide their use of “medical items and services.”
• Sec. 399V (p. 1422) provides for grants to community “entities” with no required qualifications except having “documented community activity and experience with community healthcare workers” to “educate, guide, and provide experiential learning opportunities” aimed at drug abuse, poor nutrition, smoking and obesity. “Each community health worker program receiving funds under the grant will provide services in the cultural context most appropriate for the individual served by the program.”
• Sec. 222 (p. 617) provides reimbursement for culturally and linguistically appropriate services. This program will train health-care workers to inform Medicare beneficiaries of their “right” to have an interpreter at all times and with no co-pays for language services.
• Secs. 2521 and 2533 (pp. 1379 and 1437) establishes racial and ethnic preferences in awarding grants for training nurses and creating secondary-school health science programs. For example, grants for nursing schools should “give preference to programs that provide for improving the diversity of new nurse graduates to reflect changes in the demographics of the patient population.” And secondary-school grants should go to schools “graduating students from disadvantaged backgrounds including racial and ethnic minorities.”
• Sec. 305 (p. 189) Provides for automatic Medicaid enrollment of newborns who do not otherwise have insurance.
For the text of the bill with page numbers, see www.defendyourhealthcare.us
Ms. McCaughey is chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths and a former Lt. Governor of New York state.
AMA's Endorsement of House Health Care Bill Sparks Internal Uprising
Some AMA members are outraged that the group's trustees made the endorsement without the formal approval of the organization's House of Delegates.
The American Medical Association's much-touted endorsement of the House health care reform bill has triggered a revolt among some members who want the endorsement withdrawn.
Some members are outraged that the group's trustees made the endorsement without the formal approval of the organization's House of Delegates.
On Monday, delegates will vote on a resolution offered by some members that, if approved, will withdraw the AMA’s endorsement of the bill.
President Obama cited the endorsement of the influential AMA, along with AARP's, in a surprise appearance Thursday in the White House briefing room as he attempted to beat back criticism that the bill would gut Medicare.
"They're endorsing this bill because they know it will strengthen Medicare, not jeopardize it," he told reporters. "They know it will protect the benefits our seniors receive, not cut them."
"So I want everyone to remember that the next time you hear the same tired arguments to the contrary from insurance companies and their lobbyists and remember this endorsement the next time you see a bunch of misleading ads on television," he added.
Committee Confirms: Comply With Pelosi-Care Or Go To jail
Today, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail. The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose not to pay the bill’s new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.
n response to the JCT letter, Camp said: “This is the ultimate example of the Democrats’ command-and-control style of governing – buy what we tell you or go to jail. It is outrageous and it should be stopped immediately.”
Key excerpts from the JCT letter appear below:
“H.R. 3962 provides that an individual (or a husband and wife in the case of a joint return) who does not, at any time during the taxable year, maintain acceptable health insurance coverage for himself or herself and each of his or her qualifying children is subject to an additional tax.” [page 1]
“If the government determines that the taxpayer’s unpaid tax liability results from willful behavior, the following penalties could apply…” [page 2]
“Criminal penalties
Prosecution is authorized under the Code for a variety of offenses. Depending on the level of the noncompliance, the following penalties could apply to an individual:
• Section 7203 – misdemeanor willful failure to pay is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.
• Section 7201 – felony willful evasion is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years.” [page 3]
When confronted with this same issue during its consideration of a similar individual mandate tax, the Senate Finance Committee worked on a bipartisan basis to include language in its bill that shielded Americans from civil and criminal penalties. The Pelosi bill, however, contains no similar language protecting American citizens from civil and criminal tax penalties that could include a $250,000 fine and five years in jail.
“The Senate Finance Committee had the good sense to eliminate the extreme penalty of incarceration. Speaker Pelosi’s decision to leave in the jail time provision is a threat to every family who cannot afford the $15,000 premium her plan creates. Fortunately, Republicans have an alternative that will lower health insurance costs without raising taxes or cutting Medicare,” said Camp.
According to the Congressional Budget Office the lowest cost family non-group plan under the Speaker’s bill would cost $15,000 in 2016.
Wild Thing's comment.......... This Bill is soooo SICK! WTH???? PELOSI: Buy a $15,000 Policy or Go to Jail; Failure to Comply, 5 Years in Prison... They throw around the American peoples money like it’s monopoly money.I feel like I live in a COMMUNIST country. The idiots in the Congress have no conception of the firestorm they will unleash. Obama and the US Congress has declared war against the American people. I am absolutely furious over this and it hasn’t even passed yet. Just the fact that they are considering passing this crap is unbelievable. We’ve written, called, rallied and yelled from the top of our lungs that we don’t want this. The power-hungry crooks aren’t listening and don't even care. This is the government our forefathers warned us about. Doing this post, I sat here and cried, just for a little bit because I love America so much and to see this happening, that it might happen breaks my heart. Then I felt sick totally sick to my stomach. We can fight. Remember our forfathers were fighting the British Empire. The Democrats for this are hardly even close to a viable adversary. Americans love peace and family and the wonderful system and country GOD has given us. UPDATE:....This below MIGHT mean they still do not have the votes. Just got this writing in an e from Rep. Marsha Blackburn: As I write this, Members are being informed that the health care debate is likely to extend through the weekend. A final vote may not come until Tuesday. The Rules Committee, the body that decides what amendments will and not be considered on H.R. 3962 is meeting now. I am waiting my turn to offer a series of amendments that would make H.R. 3962 a better bill. Perhaps the most important amendment prevents unfunded mandates from being passed on to the states. This bill expands Medicaid to 150% of the Federal Poverty Level and then sticks Tennessee with part of the bill in the out years. That means that Tennessee would have to find another $1.4 billion by 2019. That's money we just don't have. I have listed my other amendments at the end of this note. This morning I was on C-Span's Washington Journal. The host asked me if I agreed with Leader Boehner's assessment that this health care bill is a threat to our freedom. As I answered on C-Span: "I think people are looking at what has transpired since the first of the year, the philosophical change where there is more government control of most sectors , whether it is investment banking, whether it is consumer credit, whether it is auto manufacturing, student loans, health care. They’re looking at what is happening with energy, when we talk about having cap and tax. They’re looking at what is happening with communication, with what I call 'fairness doctrine for the Internet' They call it net neutrality. It’s not very neutral. People are growing deeply concerned about the shifting of philosophy in this government.” Yesterday, dozens of Tennesseans were in Washington to express their outrage at this bill. I was inspired by their sacrifice. They know, as do I, that there is a better way, and there are far better bills to fix health care in this country. My Best, Mark Posted by Wild Thing at 05:47 AM
| Letters to the Editor (0) |
Trackback URL |
(0)
Jihad at Fort Hood by Robert Spencer Yet there was, and what’s more, Major Hasan’s motive was perfectly clear — but it was one that the forces of political correctness and the Islamic advocacy groups in the United States have been working for years to obscure. So it is that now that another major jihad terror attack has taken place on American soil, authorities and the mainstream media are at a loss to explain why it happened – and the abundant evidence that it was a jihad attack is ignored. *** He is a graduate of Virginia Tech and has a doctorate in psychiatry from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. While there, NPR reports, Hasan was “put on probation early in his postgraduate work” and was “disciplined for proselytizing about his Muslim faith with patients and colleagues.” *** While at Walter Reed, he was a “very devout” member of and daily visitor to the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring. Faizul Khan, a former imam at the Center, expressed puzzlement over Hasan’s murders: “To know something like this happened, I don’t know what got into his mind. There was nothing extremist in his questions. He never showed any frustration….He never showed any remorse or wish for vengeance on anybody.” So he identified himself as Palestinian and was a devout Muslim – so what? These things, of course, have no significance if one assumes that Islam is a Religion of Peace and that when a devout Muslim reads the Koran’s many injunctions to wage war against unbelievers, he knows that they have no force or applicability for today’s world. Unfortunately, all too many Muslims around the world demonstrate in both their words and their deeds that they take such injunctions quite seriously. And Nidal Hasan gave some indications that he may have been among them. *** On May 20, 2009, a man giving his name as “NidalHasan” posted this defense of suicide bombing (all spelling and grammar as it is in the original): *** Of course, it may not be the same Nidal Hasan. But there is more. One of his former colleagues, Col. Terry Lee, recalled Hasan saying statements to the effect of “Muslims have the right to rise up against the U.S. military”; “Muslims have a right to stand up against the aggressors”; and even speaking favorably about people who “strap bombs on themselves and go into Times Square.” Maybe he just snapped, perhaps under the pressure of his imminent deployment to Iraq. But it’s noteworthy that if he did, he snapped in exactly the same way that several other Muslims in the U.S. military have snapped in the past. In April 2005, a Muslim serving in the U.S. Army, Hasan Akbar, was convicted of murder for killing two American soldiers and wounding fourteen in a grenade attack in Kuwait. AP reported: “Prosecutors say Akbar told investigators he launched the attack because he was concerned U.S. troops would kill fellow Muslims in Iraq. They said he coolly carried out the attack to achieve ‘maximum carnage’ on his comrades in the 101st Airborne Division.” And Hasan’s murderous rampage resembles one that five Muslim men in New Jersey tried to carry out at Fort Dix in New Jersey in 2007, when they plotted to enter the U.S. Army base and murder as many soldiers as they could. That was a jihad plot. One of the plotters, Serdar Tatar, told an FBI informant late in 2006: “I’m gonna do it….It doesn’t matter to me, whether I get locked up, arrested, or get taken away, it doesn’t matter. Or I die, doesn’t matter, I’m doing it in the name of Allah.” Another plotter, Mohamad Shnewer, was caught on tape saying, “They are the ones, we are going to put bullets in their heads, Allah willing.” Nidal Hasan’s statements about Muslims rising up against the U.S. military aren’t too far from that, albeit less graphic. The effect of ignoring or downplaying the role that Islamic beliefs and assumptions may have played in his murders only ensures that – once again – nothing will be done to prevent the eventual advent of the next Nidal Hasan. Wild Thing's comment......... When other people snap on the eve of deployment, they go to Canada. Normal people who disagree with a deployment resign and accept prosecution. Or get a lawyer and try to find some loophole. They don’t slaughter their countrymen. The shocking thing about this case is that he made his beliefs known on several occasions and no one did anything about it. It didn’t occur to anyone that a major who sided with the enemy ought to be booted out of the Army altogether. Mark Posted by Wild Thing at 05:45 AM
| Letters to the Editor (0) |
Trackback URL |
(0)
Muslim in Sheep's Clothing by Col Pappas Those watching events at Fort Hood have come face to face with the reality of Islamic jihad in America. No doubt excuses will explode with every possible defense of the indefensible, they tell us that Hasan was a patriotic American who because of harassment by some in the Army was forced to kill a dozen unsuspecting soldiers; and was therefore justified in his evil behavior. Those idiots are as evil and full of hatred as “terrorist” Hasan is. Patriotic?! Barbra Streisand! About as patriotic as Jane Fonda and John Kerry.
"Islamic jihad in America."......that is exactly what it was at Fort Hood. There should be more people forinstance in the media saying this.
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:40 AM
| Letters to the Editor (0) |
Trackback URL |
(0)
.
Marsha
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Jihad at Fort Hood – by Robert Spencer
Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S. Army psychiatrist, murdered twelve people and wounded twenty-one inside Fort Hood in Texas yesterday, while, according to eyewitnesses, “shouting something in Arabic while he was shooting.” Investigators are scratching their heads and expressing puzzlement about why he did it. According to NPR, “the motive behind the shootings was not immediately clear, officials said.” The Washington Post agreed: “The motive remains unclear, although some sources reported the suspect is opposed to U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq and upset about an imminent deployment.” The Huffington Post spun faster, asserting that “there is no concrete reporting as to whether Nidal Malik Hasan was in fact a Muslim or an Arab.”
*** Nidal Malik Hasan was born in Virginia but didn’t think of himself as an American: on a form he filled out at the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, he gave his nationality not as “American” but as “Palestinian.” A mosque official found that curious, saying: “I don’t know why he listed Palestinian. He was not born in Palestine.”"There was a grenade thrown amongs a group of American soldiers. One of the soldiers, feeling that it was to late for everyone to flee jumped on the grave with the intention of saving his comrades. Indeed he saved them. He inentionally took his life (suicide) for a noble cause i.e. saving the lives of his soldier. To say that this soldier committed suicide is inappropriate. Its more appropriate to say he is a brave hero that sacrificed his life for a more noble cause. Scholars have paralled this to suicide bombers whose intention, by sacrificing their lives, is to help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers. If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard that would be considered a strategic victory. Their intention is not to die because of some despair. The same can be said for the Kamikazees in Japan. They died (via crashing their planes into ships) to kill the enemies for the homeland. You can call them crazy i you want but their act was not one of suicide that is despised by Islam. So the scholars main point is that “IT SEEMS AS THOUGH YOUR INTENTION IS THE MAIN ISSUE” and Allah (SWT) knows best."
Like the video says with Fred Thompson. PC is destroying everything and has no place in our military.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Muslim in Sheep's Clothing by Col Pappas
It should come as no surprise that arguments of that ilk will emanate from the political left. All the while Obama tries to spin it as GW Bush's fault, notwithstanding it was likely his “dithering” about Afghanistan that pushed Hasan over the top, one way or the other.
If memory serves one correctly, and it should, Obama apologized to the world for America's vigorous defense of itself. In that context, Hasan's expectations were evidently elevated to unrealistic heights and he subsequently felt betrayed that Muslim apologist and sympathizer Obama had not followed through on timely delivery of his oft stated pledge to immediately withdraw U.S. forces from the Republic of Iraq, to ostensibly focus on the “overseas contingency operation” in Afghanistan. A major but never mentioned issue for Islamists is the presence of foreign infidels in their “holy” lands. It was for that reason that the late (in my opinion) Osama bin Laden and his “friendly” band of jihadists opened the “holy” war against the “infidel,” “the great Satan” in the first place. Hasan is merely one of Osama’s mindless lemmings, and Obama a sympathizer, given Obama’s naturally spoken, “Muslim faith.”
Obama's “dithering” as it has been put, should come as no surprise given that he is likely stalling until after he receives the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to announce his decision, which incidentally may or may not be to increase force levels in Afghanistan. Consider this: how would it come across for Obama to commit additional forces to Afghanistan shortly before or at the same time he steps up to ‘kiss the rings” of the blithering idiots who awarded him the Prize?
In baseball parlance, Hasan’s was American jihadists' “strike one” in the “Ubeturass,” World Series
Semper Fidelis
Wild Thing's comment......
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
November 06, 2009
Ft. Hood Primary Shooter ( JIHAD ) Major Malik Nadal Hasan Is Still Alive
Fort Hood Press Conference -- Primary Shooter Major Malik Nadal Hasan Is Still Alive -- FOX News
The gunman, first said to have been killed, was wounded but alive in a hospital under military guard, said Lt. Gen. Bob Cone at Fort Hood. He was shot four times, and was on a ventilator and unconscious, according to military officials. "I would say his death is not imminent," Cone said.
The man was identified as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a 39-year-old from Virginia.
The suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, was on a ventilator and unconscious in a hospital after being shot four times during the shootings at the Army's sprawling Fort Hood, post officials said. In the early chaos after the shootings, authorities believed they had killed him, only to discover later that he had survived.
Information on Fort Hood Terrorist Malik Nadal Hasan
Military officials say the suspected shooter is not dead, as was originally reported. He is alive, and has been treated for his wounds.
Military officials say the suspected shooter at Fort Hood was a psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for six years before being transferred to the Texas base in July.
The officials had access to Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan's military record. They said he received a poor performance evaluation while at Walter Reed.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because military records are confidential.
Federal law enforcement officials say the Hasan came to their attention at least six months ago because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats.
The Virginia-born soldier was single with no children. He was 39 years old.
He is a graduate of Virginia Tech University, where he was a member of the ROTC and earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry in 1997. He received his medical degree from the military's Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., in 2001. At Walter Reed, he did his internship, residency and a fellowship.
Colleague Terry Lee on Fort Hood Shooter Malik Nadal Hasan -- He Wanted Muslims to "Stand Up"
Below is complete video of the Press Conference, including the questions from the media:
.
MUSLIM DENIAL......again ! ~ Wild Thing
Al Siddiq, president of the Islamic Center of Waco, followed the unfolding news of the Fort Hood tragedy anxiously, as a veteran of the U.S. Army himself, as a friend of some Muslim soldiers currently stationed at the Central Texas post and as a Muslim who has become wary of backlash.
Siddiq said the Muslim Islamic community is very concerned that the shooter on Fort Hood was a Muslim because Muslims tend to get all thrown into the same category. Since 9/11, Siddiq said, when an individual Muslim acts stupid, it affects the entire Islamic community. The concern is backlash against other Muslims, he said.
“We’ve been very fortunate in Waco,” Siddiq said. “But there’s always a backlash.” Siddiq said he had a great experience in the U.S. Army, both in Korea and stationed at Fort Campbell.
“That’s what hurts me the most,” he said. “The Army has accommodated Muslims. Not any other Army can offer what the U.S. Army offers.”
Siddiq said what he has heard is that the Fort Hood shooter may be a convert to Islam. He said he thinks the problem some converts have is not based on the Islam religion, but on the resentment toward the U.S. government that they bring to their faith.
Malik attended prayer services nearly every day in Silver Spring for several years. Six months ago Hasan came to the attention of the FBI because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings.
After lauding a Muslim U.S. Army soldier who killed comrades in Kuwait in 2003, Hasan wrote in an online posting, “If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers … that would be considered a strategic victory.”
At Fort Hood, Hasan exhibited a troubled state of mind. Retired Col. Terry Lee, who worked with Hasan at the psych ward at Fort Hood, told Fox News that about six months ago he heard Hasan say, "Maybe the Muslims should rise up and fight against the aggressor," in Iraq and Afghanistan -- referring to the U.S. Army
Authorities said the gunman was shot but was not killed. Two other soldiers suspected in what appears to be the worst mass shooting at a U.S. military base were also apprehended, officials said.
Tom Hunt, himself a former Army sergeant who was stationed at Fort Hood, said his son called about an hour after the shooting to tell him he was safe.
James Hunt, 27, serving with the 510th Combat Engineers, was with his platoon at the base’s Soldier Readiness Center where soldiers who are about to be deployed undergo medical screening. He is scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan in January.
But because James had broken his foot several weeks ago, he was sent outside and told to get some extra paperwork that would clear him for deployment. James was waiting in the parking lot of the center when the shooting started, his father said.
“Everybody started running and shouting, and he saw the wounded come out,” Tom Hunt said. “He didn’t hear the shooting, but he said it was ‘a bloody mess.’”
Hunt said his son told him he loaded up many of the wounded and drove them to the hospital. The wounded relayed what they saw inside when the shooting happened.
“They were telling him that one guy was shouting something in Arabic while he was shooting,” Tom Hunt said. “He couldn’t say much more than that.”
.
Wild Thing's comment.......
This is an outrage against our Servicemen on OUR soil.....this person is a terrorist.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:55 AM | Letters to the Editor (19) | Trackback URL | (0)
Barbara Boxer ( D-Calif) Passes Climate Bill Without GOP
Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) discussed the outrageous move by the democrats
Senator Barbara Boxer Breaks Senate Committee Rules. The liberal California senator passed the dem’s cap-&-tax legislation out of committee without a single GOP member in attendance. This is against the rules and the first time it has ever happened.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved climate change legislation Thursday with no Republicans voting for the bill or even participating in the process.
With Republican boycotting the proceedings, Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) relied on a little used interpretation of committee rules to move the legislation. Traditionally, two minority members are required to conduct committee business.
Boxer said that she passed the bill “in full accordance with long-standing committee and Senate rules.”
“This is not a procedure we wanted; it’s a procedure that’s available to us,” said Boxer. “The majority has to be able to do its work…otherwise the whole Senate could come to a screeching halt.”
Republicans called Boxer’s move the “nuclear option,” warning that it violated decades of committee precedent.
“I am here to appeal to you and the members of the committee,” Sen. Jim Inhofe, the top Republican on the committee, said in a brief statement. “In the history of this committee, we have not been able to find a time when the bill has been marked up without minority.”
Eleven Democrats voted for the bill, enough to give the legislation a majority of the 19 members on the committee.
Montana Sen. Max Baucus was the only Democratic to vote against the bill, citing concerns about the agriculture provisions included in the legislation.
But Baucus vowed to use his post as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee to pass a climate bill.
“I’m going to work to get climate change legislation that gets 60 votes through the U.S. Senate and signed into law,” he said.
Republicans asked Boxer to delay the hearing by several weeks to allow the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct an additional study on the economic ramifications of the bill.
Boxer and committee Democrats dismissed the request as a delay tactic, saying that the agency had already completed sufficient analysis of the bill. On Tuesday, a top EPA official came to a hearing to answer questions from committee members. No Republicans attended.
“The absence of the Republicans during the EPA’s presentation was a clear message that their criticism of the EPA analysis was not a substantive one,” said Boxer.
Wild Thing's comment.......
Rep. Barbara Boxer, chairman of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee, moved quickly to pass the bill, which for the first time would set mandatory limits on heat-trapping gases, without any of the seven GOP senators on the panel present.
So much for bipartisanship! The rino's and left have put tyrants in charge of our gov't. The communists takeover of America is still going on full force. Some day the public will realize that the Democratic Party is really the communists party and they have been taken in.
Cap and Trade, AND Health Care are only about P-O-W-E-R for the Left. America IS the most powerful Nation on this Earth, and IS therefore their most important target to control. They must be defeated, and their aggressive organization rendered useless.
America is a country where the politicians might want to rethink doing things like this. There are over 200,000,000 firearms in this country. The last year has seen ammunition and weapons flying off the shelf.
The line is getting crossed and they ought to start looking in history books at what happens to fascist dictators when the people get enough fill.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:50 AM | Letters to the Editor (10) | Trackback URL | (0)
Yesterday's Rally of 20,000 Washington DC. Against the Health Care Bill of Speaker Pelosi
20,000 to 40,000 people Against the Health Care Bill of Speaker Pelosi. November 5, 2009. View from atop the Dome
.
Republicans Rally Resistance to Health Care Bill, as House Vote Nears
Republicans host a rally against Democrats' health care reform, calling on those who attend to track down their elected representatives in Congress and put pressure on them to think twice about voting for the more than $1 trillion health care overhaul.
As a crowd of protesters shouted "kill the bill," House Republicans on Thursday rallied opposition against the Democrats' health care legislation, decrying the bill on the steps of Congress in a last-ditch bid to derail or at least delay the legislation heading toward a possible vote Saturday.Thousands of protesters arrived by bus for the rally, which the GOP is calling an emergency "House Call." The event drew the conservative "tea party" activists but unlike past rallies was officially sanctioned by House Republicans.
Republicans want those who attend to track down their elected representatives in Congress and put pressure on them to think twice about voting for the more than $1 trillion health care overhaul pushed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
"They're going to listen," said Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., who originally called for the rally. "The biggest voice in the United States is your voice."
Voight: "His agenda is not for the poor it is for his political gain, the lies and propaganda are all very blatant as shown to us by those who exposed ACORN which is as corrupt as all the President's Czars, and Obama is to deny his connection to ACORN claiming no awareness of ACORN's support from all our tax dollars, this country is showing signs of his failed stimulus programs.
His only success in his one year term as President is taking America apart piece by piece. Could it be he has had 20 years of subconsious programming by Reverend Wright to damn America?
Mark Levin Speech At Health Care Tea Party Washington D.C.
"You see that building, you own that building...they are taking a wrecking ball to this magnificent society and that's just the first 9 months"
Wild Thing's comment.......
Fantastic! That was a great turnout, for something during the week and only planned for ONE week. wow!
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:49 AM | Letters to the Editor (4) | Trackback URL | (0)
Clinic Cat MAX On Orders to Luke Air Force Base
Max, a 21-pound gray tabby cat, is on official Army orders to the Luke Air Force Base Veterinary Clinic in Glendale, Ariz. Not only does he increase the morale of the staff and visitors to the clinic, he also officially provides "Fat Cat Security and Pest Control" as stated in his orders
Clinic cat on orders to Luke Air Force Base
56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFNS)
During the past ten years, the Luke Air Force Base Veterinary Clinic has seen six civilian and military veterinarians come and go, as well as countless veterinary technicians and other workers. But there has been one constant, and his name is Max.
Max, a 21-pound gray tabby cat, was brought into the vet clinic in July of 1999 after he was discovered in a gutter.
"He was a six-week-old kitten when he arrived," said Joan Seifert, 56th Force Support Squadron veterinary clinic office clerk. "Nobody called and said they were missing a kitten, so he hung out here and we decided to make him our clinic cat. We got him neutered and declawed in the front, and he has been living here for the past ten years."
When Max first started his duties as clinic cat, he would roam the office all day, interacting with pets and their owners. He even helped the staff with some of their more difficult patients.
"We had a chihuahua in here one day, and we were trying to get him into a cardboard carrier," Ms. Seifert said. "Every time we tried to put him in the box, the chihuahua would try to bite us. Max must have heard us struggling, so he came running around the corner and batted the chihuahua in the face. The dog was so baffled, we were able to close the carrier."
Max isn't concerned with size, either. Big or small, he takes on all comers.
"Earlier this year, I was outside just before the sun came up," Ms. Seifert recalled. "I was looking for Max and started to walk out toward the parking lot when I saw what I thought was a dog trotting toward me. All of a sudden, as the 'dog' got close, I saw it was a coyote. I started backing up toward the door. By that time, Max had spotted the coyote. He let out a shriek, puffed up and took off after him. I screamed, 'No, Max, no!,' but he just took off after it and came in a few minutes later looking like, 'It's ok, I took care of it.'"
But, Max is just doing his job. He is on official Army orders to Luke to provide "fat cat security and pest control." He also searches out lizards, spiders or any other pests that are brave enough to roam in or around the clinic.
"He is on a calorie-controlled diet, but he supplements it pretty good with all the lizards he catches and eats," Ms. Seifert said.
Though Max is a perfect bodyguard and exterminator at the clinic, he also plays an important role in base public relations. At least once a week, an Airman, family member or civilian will come to the clinic asking if the staff still has "that big cat."
"We had a colonel from the Aerospace Medical Squadron call up and ask if Max was available because he wanted to bring his family over to see him," Ms. Seifert said. "I told him I would check his schedule and of course Max was free. The colonel brought his family over to see him."
The vet staff also recalled a little girl who lived on base. Her family didn't have pets, so her father would bring her to the clinic to play with Max. Other Luke members bring their cameras and snap photos of him.
"He plays into it when he knows he is getting attention or when people come and take photos," said Michaela Debelius, 56th FSS veterinary technician. "He loves it."
Debelius' husband, Staff Sgt. Ralph Debelius, 56th Equipment Maintenance Squadron Air Ground Equipment mobility manager, visits Max every day.
"I am a big cat person and he increases my morale on a daily basis," Sergeant Debelius said. "He is really friendly, and he has this kind of feisty attitude. He has a lot of personality and is great for a good laugh."
Max's charm isn't reserved only for humans, either. He's also made friends with a few of the military working dogs who are housed right next to the kennel. When one of them, Kisma, comes over for an appointment, Max will jump up on the table right beside him and cuddle up.
Kisma's handler, Senior Airman Steven Bruner, 56th Security Forces Squadron MWD handler, says he has never seen anything like it before.
"They told me before I came over here for the first time, that Kisma was pretty friendly with the cat," he said. "I was surprised."
Max has grown and changed with the clinic over the years. Now, instead of roaming the clinic freely, Max has a large, fenced area in the back of the building where he can hang out.
"If we have him out on a clinic day, when customers start to come in I say 'OK Max, come on in the back,' and he comes," Seifert said. "Cats are trainable. It takes a lot of patience and they have to want to do it, but he listens better than a lot of people's dogs do."
Max would be offended if he knew he was compared to a dog, but he does seem quite canine-like as he sits at the front door of the clinic waiting to be let in.
"He sits there and meows until you let him in," Mrs. Debelius said. "And he meets us every day at the door to say good morning."
And ready to protect the clinic's staff from coyotes and lizards alike.
Wild Thing's comment.......
Love this story. The Vet we go to for Sebastian and Missy has his cat at work each day. There are also a lot of soldiers and Air Force from McDill Air Force Base here that go to the Vet we go to.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:48 AM | Letters to the Editor (4) | Trackback URL | (0)
Make Mine Freedom
This 1948 Cold War-era cartoon uses humor to tout the dangers of Communism and the benefits of capitalism.
Wild Thing's comment........
Cartoonists wouldn't be allowed to make a cartoon lilke this today. That is so sad too. America has changed so much. I wonder if somehow we can one day go back to the NON PC world we all grew up in.
Great cartoon ! I agree, make mine FREEDOM too.
.... Thank you Jim for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:47 AM | Letters to the Editor (2) | Trackback URL | (0)
Afghanistan ~ The Soldiers Speak
From The Washington Times
Special forces for special Afghan rescues
Dangerous missions to save severely wounded
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan | A cool wind rushed through the open back doors of the Black Hawk, rattling the ventilators, IV tubes and defibrillators as the rescue helicopter banked sharply and rose into the sky.
It was headed for a site on Kandahar's Highway 1, dubbed "Death Highway" by coalition troops, where a powerful improvised explosive device had just struck a U.S. convoy.
The mission - to pick up the dead and wounded - was all too familiar for the members of the Air Force's 55th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron, better known as the Guardian Angels, based at Kandahar Air Field.
"This is the toughest thing we do, but we bring everyone home and we leave no one behind," said Capt. Steve Colletti, director of operations, before donning his gear and boarding the HH 60G Pave Hawk, a modified Black Hawk helicopter.
"Every time we pick up injured troops, it hits us deep in the heart," he said. "We've become the 911 response for southern Afghanistan - whether that's our troops or Afghan citizens."
The past week has brought plenty of heartache for the medical combat specialists, considered the "special forces" of the Air Force. A day earlier, they had spent an afternoon airlifting 17 severely wounded members of the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team to the trauma center at Kandahar Air Field. One American and one Afghan soldier were killed in that IED attack.
For the nearly 68,000 already here, the debate is not academic.
It "was a pretty bad day," said Maj. Ben Conde, from Denver, who flew the missions to rescue the 17 injured troops and bring home the two killed in action. "It was a day we never wish would happen again."
"These aren't numbers, these are our family, our brothers, sisters, husbands, wives and children," said Pararescueman Vincent Eckert, from Tucson, Ariz. "We've kind of become a jack of all trades. These are the things we do so that others may live. We're not bomb droppers - our mission is to save lives."
The members of the squadron are called pararescuemen or parajumpers - PJs. All are trained trauma medical technicians who can perform battlefield surgery - including amputations - under enemy fire.
If necessary, the PJs parachute to their victims. Trained to work in almost any weather, they are physically fit enough to perform rescues deep underwater or high in the mountains.
During the Vietnam War, PJs recovered downed pilots in enemy territory and developed a tradition of getting two green feet tattooed on their bodies, representing the mark the helicopters leave on the ground.
In Afghanistan, the group rescues troops, brings sick Afghans from remote locations to big field hospitals and helps others in need of medical treatment.
On Saturday, members of one unit lingered after finishing a shift. Some worked out in a makeshift outdoor gym, while a second shift prepared for the long night ahead.
Staff Sgt. Matthew Schollard, 28, a pararescueman from Tuscon, played his guitar and joked with his buddy, Staff Sgt. Scott Dowd, 27, also a pararescueman from Tuscon.
Only 45 minutes after the second shift arrived, pagers went off.
Immediately the flight engineers, gunners and medics grabbed their M-4 carbines and medical gear and rushed to two helicopters.
On one Black Hawk, Capt. Colletti sat on one side and Senior Airman Lucas Ferrari sat across from him. They clutched their weapons closely to their chests and flung their feet out through the open doors as they watched the ground below, flying over Kandahar's mountains and above the red desert that would lead them to the casualties.
Kandahar city disappeared in the distance.
A billowing cloud of pink smoke rose into the sky from a road near a small farming compound.
Capt. Colletti and Airman Ferrari pointed below and put their thumbs up.
"We're here," Capt. Colletti wrote down on his notepad, which he kept in his ballistic vest. He pointed his weapon down toward the fields where insurgents were still firing on the Army convoy as the rescuers arrived.
The Black Hawk circled strategically, banking sharply, with the wreckage below framed through the open door. Smoke billowed from the site of the explosion.
The rescuers jumped off the second helicopter before it landed on a ravine, kicking up dust and dry grass.
Senior Master Sgt. David Swan, 42, from Corning, N.Y., and Staff Sgt. Joshua Keyes, 30, of Alturas, Calif., rushed to a wounded soldier without hesitation. The soldier, nestled in the litter, was stabilized on the helicopter by the medical team.
The helicopters flew back to Kandahar Air Field's trauma hospital.
The soldier, although severely wounded, survived. The Washington Times is withholding his name until his relatives can be notified.
A second flight was even more difficult. The rescue unit was flying back to retrieve the remains of a dead soldier, whose name The Times is also withholding.
The squadron placed the young man's remains in a small black bag, carried the bag on board the chopper and draped it with a U.S. flag, then lifted off from the highway where he had taken his last breath. There was silence on the flight back.
From the sky, the villages and farmland looked benign, even beautiful. Some Pashtun villagers circled the area where the convoy was struck. A small group cheered as the body was loaded onto the craft. Others watched silently.
"It never gets easy," said Master Sgt. Swan, after the group had returned back to base. "This past month has been hard on our troops. We do our job and we never leave anyone - not anyone behind."
Wild Thing's comment.......
I don't understand how Obama and those like him can sleep at night, knowing their indecision is costing the lives of our warriors our heroes. There must be a special place in hell for people like that.
Prayers for the friends and families of the fallen and wounded.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:45 AM | Letters to the Editor (2) | Trackback URL | (0)
A Warning To All Americans by Naval Aviator, Commander Jerry Wilson
From Naval Aviator, Commander Jerry Wilson
We lived in California during the winters of 2007 and 2008. We became addicted to Fox News and watched O'Reilly and Hannity and Colmes every night. When we got back home, we upgraded our cable to get Fox. I watched the Presidential campaign very closely. Initially because I thought the Democrats would nominate Hillary Clinton and then in astonishment when they chose an even more hard-left candidate. All of last year I told everyone I could that Obama was not a Democrat, he was a Marxist. He is far to the left of any European leader and even our far left party, the NDP.
I read Saul Alinsky when I was in University. I studied him and his writing carefully. When Bill Ayers and his idiot wife were bombing and killing people at random in the Weather Underground. Weather Underground and the Black Panthers were closely allied. I read David Horowitz's account of changing from a Marxist to a conservative after seeing that the government was afraid to prosecute members of the Panthers for murdering his personal assistant. He suddenly understood the evil that Marxism really was.
After the student radicals failed in creating a Marxist revolution in the United States by violent means, they embraced Alinsky. You would be wise to read "Rules for Radicals" because it outlines how Hillary and Obama planned to get into power, and what they intended to do when they got it.
Socialism is not the correct descriptor for what Obama and the Democrats are doing. They are going to be much more far reaching than anything Sweden has ever been able to do. Obama is following Alinsky's plans, those set out in "Rules for Radicals" and his other writing. The Democrats are attempting to create one party rule in the U.S. and in achieving that, will create crisis after crisis by their own actions and use those crisis to nationalize the means of production in the U.S. You are in the middle of a communist revolution and few in the U.S. . can actually see it for what it truly is.
The U..S. is now on the path of financial destruction. The Constitution has been shredded and individual human rights are being trampled. In less than 8 months Obama has used a recession to take over the two largest industries in the U.S. He will debase the Dollar and is on the road to creating an incredible energy shortage that will allow him and Congress to take over the energy industry.
But by and large I think that by the 2010 elections, the Democrats will have gerrymandered electoral districts to the point that it will be impossible for them to lose control of both houses of Congress. The incredible increase in the money supply is going to create Zimbabwe and Venezuela style inflation, and with it, controls on the currency and the amount of money that can be taken out of the country.
I love America , I cannot believe how the ignorance of the American public has created a situation whereby they are going to lose their Republic and slip into an age of repression and tyranny.
I may be nuts, but so far I have been 100% in my predictions of what Obama was going to do, because I merely had to look at "Rules for Radicals" to see what was coming next.
I read Glenn Beck's book, "Common Sense" and in it re-read Thomas Paines pamphlet with the same name. I recommend the book.
When the storm finally hits (and it will), those of you who supported the Obama administration will be affected as well. It won't just be us gun owners or Flat-Taxers, or Pro-Lifers that get hit. You'll be right there next to us.
You all thought the Conservatives were nut cases. You know, all of us who believe in God, small government, the Second Amendment, etc. You thought you could just go back to sleep after the election was over. In your world, America will continue as before. You'll still have the same rights, the same nice house, the same big screen television. After all, your high school football team won and the other team lost - go team! Even if you have bothered to look up from the daily grind since Nov 4th, you dismissed everything that has occurred as "politics as usual-the same old stuff".
In the end, it'll all be OK won't it? Not this time.
There are a growing number of citizens in the US that are ready to fight to shut down the government's grab of personal freedom, it's blatant abuse of the constitution, and it's attempt to replace the American way of life with socialism. You have to listen carefully to hear them, but they are there. I won't start that fight, but when it goes down I will join it.
As for you, why, you'll be shocked because you didn't see it coming. And eventually you'll be saddened when you see that we have truly lost the way of life with which you grew up. You'll be saddened that your children and grandchildren live in a socialist, government-controlled gulag where their every movement from cradle to grave is tracked by the government. But most of all, you'll be saddened by the death of friends and relatives who are brave enough to fight and die for something they believe in.
You know, McCain wasn't much of a candidate. I'll give you that. He was the lesser of two evils for most of us. I don't blame you for not voting for him since, at the time, you didn't know what we all know now. But at least John McCain was an American. He was a supporter of the American way of life and he understood that you can't negotiate with terrorists. He understood and appreciated the sacrifice made by my father and other members of the Greatest Generation.
Mark my words friends. All across America groups are forming. They are forming out of anger and out of desperation at the thought of losing America .
They're not militia groups, terrorists as the Department of Homeland security would have you believe; they are Americans, loyal to the constitution. They are mothers and fathers and grandparents. They belong to groups like the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps, the Peaceful Resistance, the Constitution Party, the Young Conservatives, the 9/12 Project, and Grassfire. Right now they are fragmented, each focused on their own cause.
But sometime in the next two years, our government is going to do something really stupid and these groups will come together. Watch for it, wait for it-get ready. It will happen.
When that event happens, whatever "it" is, our great country is going to plunge into chaos for a while.. I pray to God that we make it through that time and emerge a stronger, smarter country.
Naval Aviator, Commander
Jerry Wilson
Live Free or Die Fighting
Wild Thing's comment.......
We saw it so clearly that we couldn't believe that the rest of America couldn't see it too. And still there are so many blind to what is going on . don't understand is why people couldn't see it in these people before they voted for him and his buddies?? It was so evident that it was like a red flag waving before a bull.
Obama's every action has been to destroy the free market and republican principles of this nation. His every foreign policy move has weakened us.
It is his intent...it is all part of his fundamental change. He is a marxist ideologue and he, his adherants, and his handlers mean to destroy American as we have known it.
....Thank you Horace for sending this to me.
Horace
U.S.Army
Horace Smith, Pvt. E-1, USAR
1956-1964
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:40 AM | Letters to the Editor (3) | Trackback URL | (0)
November 05, 2009
Deadly Mass Shooting At Fort Hood Army Base In Texas
At least 7 are dead and 30 were injured after 3 gunmen opened fire on a crowd at Fort Hood in Texas.
Reuters reported:
At least seven people were killed and 12 wounded in a shooting at the Fort Hood, Texas, U.S. Army base Thursday, local media reported.
One gunman was in custody and another was on the loose at the military base, one of the largest military installations in the world, local media reported. There could be a third shooter involved, MSNBC reported.
Via FOX News– The FBI says terrorism was not involved. The shootings began about 1:30 p.m. Thursday at a personnel and medical processing center at Ft. Hood. 6 of the 7 victims were military.
The base is still on lockdown.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) reports on MSNBC that there may be 30 wounded.
McClatchey reports that the shooters used M-16 rifles.
KCEN-TV in Waco
KCEN-TV reports that about '500 military personnel are moving sacross the base' in order to secure it. Two suspects now in custody.
KWTX-TV and CNN reporting nine dead.
KCEN-TV is now reporting that there are two additional areas reporting shots fired. This is unconfirmed.
Reporting - 12 dead and 31 wounded.
UPDATE:
SNIPPET: “KILLEEN, Texas - Officials at the Fort Hood Army Base in Killeen say 12 people are dead and about 30 are wounded in a mass shooting on the Fort property.
WATCH LIVE COVERAGE NOW
According to officials, a soldier carrying two handguns opened fire at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the Soldier Readiness Center at the post in Killeen, Texas.
“It would be an environment that would be very susceptible to casualties or injuries,” Killeen City Manager Connie Green said.
Officials said the gunman was shot and killed after quick response from security officers.
At least two other soldiers were taken into custody.
Army personnel said a civilian police officer was among the deceased. At least six of the wounded were military.
“We’re praying that those who are injured … are not seriously injured,” Green said.
The Fort Hood public affairs spokesman said the Army has set up a special operations center to handle the response.
The official base Web site posted a message that it is on lock down and in an emergency situation. It also urged people to stay indoors.
Nine schools on the base — seven elementary and two middle — are included in the lock down.
.
.
Military Major Malik Hassan, a convert to Islam, originally from Virginia, is the Prime Suspect and now dead, killed by two PD Ofc
The shooter was killed and two other suspects, who are also soldiers, have been apprehended, Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone said.
The general said there were "eyewitness accounts of more than one shooter," and the others were tracked to an adjacent facility.
Cone said that a gunman entered a facility known as the Soldier Readiness Facility, where soldiers who are preparing to deploy go for last minute medical check ups and dental treatment. Sources told ABC News that the soldiers gathered there were getting ready to deploy to Iraq.
The gunman used two handguns, Cone said. He wasn't sure if the shooter reloaded the weapons during the attack.
"The gunman opened fire and essentially due to the quick respond of the police forces was killed," said Cone.
The shooter was killed by civilian law enforcement and one police officer died in the shootout, Cone said.
The gunman's suspected accomplices were taken into custody in an adjacent facility known as the old SportsDome Complex.
.
OMG...OMG....Fort Barack Obama Gives "Shout-Out" Before He Comments on Shooting -- FOX News
Wild Thing's comment......
Prayers for the victims and their families. I will update as things come on the news.
I am not positive , but I think this is the Facebook for the shooter that was shot.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Malik-Hassan-Malik/1008970609
He is convert no less; the most dangerous type of jihadi. In a sane version of America, all madrassas and mosques would be shut down immediately !! And also when anyone in our military converts to Islam they should be kicked OUT asap!!!!!! Isalm is not religion, it is a LAW they follow, it is dangerous to our troops and to all of us. This was a TERRORIST ATTACK! Like the Muslim convert grenade thrower in Kuwait. He didn’t want to fight against his Muslim brethren.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:55 PM | Letters to the Editor (21) | Trackback URL | (0)
Kerry and Graham Whip Up Compromise on Global Warming / Cap and Trade
Kerry and Graham whip up compromise on global warming
Even as a Senate global-warming bill remained in limbo with Democrats refusing to delay a committee vote until an economic analysis was completed, hopes rose for a potential bipartisan compromise.
The Senate, meanwhile, appears to be moving away from the bill, authored by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., which would require a 20 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2020 and would have the government sell the right to emit carbon dioxide.
Even as Boxer conducted an unusual one-sided hearing on her bill in the Environment and Public Works Committee, Kerry, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., held a news conference to announce they are working on a compromise that might attract GOP votes and has earned a tentative endorsement from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Boxer supports this separate effort and made note of it during the hearing. She said the chamber's endorsement was "a game changer."
Kerry, Lieberman and Graham released few details about the new bill, but said it would include a cap and trade proposal. They said it would also address increasing nuclear energy, more drilling and clean coal technology, all initiatives that are high on the wish list of Republicans willing to work on a climate change compromise.
Kerry said he and Graham have already had meetings about the new proposal with White House officials, including Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
The compromise effort increases the chances that a global warming bill could pass the Senate sometime in the next year or two, as the original Kerry-Boxer bill had little GOP support and lots of moderate Democratic opposition.
Boxer, meanwhile, plans to push forward Thursday on the original bill, despite a letter sent late Wednesday from moderate Republicans, including Graham, asking the EPA for an in-depth analysis before proceeding.
Republicans said if Boxer proceeded to vote on amendments or on passing the bill out of committee this week, it would violate rules requiring at least two Republican senators to be present and would kill any chance of bipartisan compromise on climate change legislation.
"Choosing to set aside the committee's longstanding rules would jeopardize our ability to work together on other issues,' " The committee's top Republican, James Inhofe, R-Okla, warned Boxer, before walking out.
Boxer allowed Democratic members to speak Wednesday, and she and other lawmakers interviewed Democratic committee staff about the bill. She said Republicans are simply trying to stall climate change legislation and should be satisfied with information on the bill the EPA has already provided.
"We are here to fill the record with why we feel it is so important to move forward," said Boxer. "And why the Republican reason for not showing up is totally without merit."
Lindsey Graham warns GOP against going too far right
The morning after Republicans lost an upstate New York House seat, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) warned that conservative activists will bring destruction to the Republican Party if they drive out moderate candidates across the country.
“To those people who are pursuing purity, you’ll become a club not a party,” Graham told POLITICO in the Capitol Wednesday. “Those people who are trying to embrace conservatism in a thoughtful way that fits the region and the state and the district are going to do well. Conservativism is an asset. Blind ideology is not.”
Graham, who has sparred with his party’s right wing on issues ranging from climate change to Guantanamo Bay to Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination, warned that those concerned about the state of the GOP should help find candidates who are electable — not ones who adhere to a particular type of ideology. And he said that both the GOP nominee, Dede Scozzafava and the conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman were both out of the mainstream of the upstate New York district – which lead to the victory of Democrat Bill Owens Tuesday night.
“If your goal is to make everybody just like you in terms of ideology, that’s a self-centered approach to politics,” Graham said.
.
Wild Thing's comment......
I am so sick of these turncoat mole politicians with an R beside their name voting for the liberal bills giving the Dems their precious “bipartisan”.
He’s been in DC since 1995.
Hey Twinkle Toes........YOU and your ilk are whats wrong with the Republican Party! Conservatives will make it their life’s work to unseat you in the next election!
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:55 AM | Letters to the Editor (9) | Trackback URL | (0)
Newt Gingrich on Hoffman, Scozzafava, and NY-23
Newt Gingrich on Sean Hannity's show "explaining" why he endorsed Scozzafava and saying that he "deeply regrets" she was chosen by the 11 local county chairs.
When asked what he would say to Conservatives that are angry at him Newt answered "they have every right to be angry, I don't blame them," he went on to say "I think she was the wrong nominee and I think it was a terrible position."
Wild Thing's comment........
LOL Newt won't say HE himself was wrong. He didn't actually admit to a mistake of himself. I heard him say that the Liberal woman was picked by a panel of 11 Republicans on the local level and he, being an outsider, felt that he should not go against their wishes. In other words, he would not stand on the right thing to do but stand on party lines. Big mistake Newt.
He is going to learn another lesson too. We remember all the things he has done to hurt Conservatives.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:50 AM | Letters to the Editor (10) | Trackback URL | (0)
Project Valour-IT Marines Making a Difference!
Marine Corps Field Artillery ..... Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
.
Project Valour-IT helps provide voice-controlled/adaptive laptop computers and other technology to support Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand wounds and other severe injuries. Items supplied include:
*Voice-controlled Laptops – Operated by speaking into a microphone or using other adaptive technologies, they allow the wounded to maintain connections with the rest of the world during recovery.
*Wii Video Game Systems – Whole-body game systems increase motivation and speed recovery when used under the guidance of physical therapists in therapy sessions (donated only to medical facilities).
*Personal GPS – Handheld GPS devices build self-confidence and independence by compensating for short-term memory loss and organizational challenges related to severe TBI and severe PTSD.
Make a donation PLEASE CLICK HERE
.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:47 AM | Letters to the Editor (2) | Trackback URL | (0)
Proclaim Liberty - Ring the Liberty Bell!
The Nation’s only traveling working Liberty Bell carries on in the tradition of the original sacred icon of 1753.
The purpose of this traveling replica Liberty Bell is to carry on the work of America’s most recognizable icon. This is a working Bell, traveling throughout the land, ringing for Liberty and tolling to honor Our American Heroes.Today, the need to motivate men to rise to protect our inalienable freedoms is equally urgent. Sustaining this great nation requires the same dedication of sacrifice. The original Liberty Bell cracked because of the demands of Liberty – another Bell has come to ring the sound of freedom. This exact replica Liberty Bell is carrying on the task and duties of Liberty today. This Bell tolls today for FREEDOM.
It is important to never forget the high price of Liberty and those patriots who have given their lives to protect it.
Wild Thing"s comment.........
Awesome tribute to our warriors and to our freedom and liberty.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:45 AM | Letters to the Editor (5) | Trackback URL | (0)
Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) Admits Pelosi Health Care Bill Will RAISE Taxes
Yarmuth (D-KY) saying, “Yeah – everyone knows healthcare costs are going to go up. We never said they weren’t. We’re just trying to make them go up SLOWER.”
Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) admitted to Fox News today that Speaker Pelosi's government takeover of health care won't lower costs for families and small businesses, saying, "Nobody ever believes we can actually bring costs down..." Speaker Pelosi has claimed that her bill which radically increases government spending and imposes crippling tax hikes on families and small businesses is focused on "lowering health care costs for all of us."
Kentucky Congressman John Yarmuth (D) was just on Fox News. In an exchange with Trace Gallagher he admitted that the Democrats never intended for the healthcare legislation to cut cost. Here are the quotes:
Trace: "But I thought the idea was to lower cost."
Yarmuth: "Nobody ever said we were ever going to bring the cost down."
Later in the exchange:
Yarmuth: "Nobody ever believed we could actually bring cost down."
Wild Thing's comment......
LOL oh dear, Obama and Pelosi and the rest of the enemy within are not going to like this Democrat saying that about Taxes. hahahaha The enemy within has been saying no new taxes for this, but all of you know that isi not true. Your all awesome I love all your input on things, thank you so much.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:40 AM | Letters to the Editor (5) | Trackback URL | (0)
November 04, 2009
CIC Obama Offers Taliban 6 Provinces for 8 Bases ~ Taliban Says NO
Mullah Zaeef, a former envoy to Pakistan, reportedly represented the Taliban side in the recent talks.
When Obama stated that he was going to reach out to the Islamic world, he was not kidding. The weakness of Obama has lead to the Taliban getting stronger. He has even given the Taliban the OK to participate in the future political landscape of Afghanistan. Apparently none of this was enough though, and now Obama is willing to share power in Afghanistan with the Taliban .
US Offers Taliban 6 Provinces for 8 Bases
By Aamir Latif
The emboldened Taliban movement in Afghanistan turned down an American offer of power-sharing in exchange for accepting the presence of foreign troops, Afghan government sources confirmed.
"US negotiators had offered the Taliban leadership through Mullah Wakil Ahmed Mutawakkil (former Taliban foreign minister) that if they accept the presence of NATO troops in Afghanistan, they would be given the governorship of six provinces in the south and northeast," a senior Afghan Foreign Ministry official told IslamOnline.net requesting anonymity for not being authorized to talk about the sensitive issue with the media.
He said the talks, brokered by Saudi Arabia and Turkey, continued for weeks at different locations including the Afghan capital Kabul.
Saudi Arabia, along with Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, were the only states to recognize the Taliban regime which ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
Turkish Prime Minister Reccap Erodgan has reportedly been active in brokering talks between the two sides.
His emissaries are in contact with Hizb-e-Islami (of former prime minister Gulbadin Hikmatyar) too because he is an important factor in northeastern Afghanistan."
A Taliban spokesman admitted indirect talks with the US.
"Yes, there were some indirect talks, but they did not work," Yousaf Ahmedi, the Taliban spokesman in southern Afghanistan, told IOL from an unknown location via satellite phone.
"There are some people who are conveying each others’ (Taliban and US) messages. But there were no direct talks between us and America," he explained.
Afghan and Taliban sources said Mutawakkil and Mullah Mohammad Zaeef, a former envoy to Pakistan who had taken part in previous talks, represented the Taliban side in the recent talks.
The US Embassy in Kabul denied any such talks.
"No, we are not holding any talks with Taliban," embassy spokeswoman Cathaline Haydan told IOL from Kabul.
Asked whether the US has offered any power-sharing formula to Taliban, she said she was not aware of any such offer.
"I don't know about any specific talks and the case you are reporting is not true."
Provinces for Bases
Source say that for the first time the American negotiators did not insist on the "minus-Mullah Omer" formula, which had been the main hurdle in previous talks between the two sides.
The Americans reportedly offered Taliban a form of power-sharing in return for accepting the presence of foreign troops.
"America wants 8 army and air force bases in different parts of Afghanistan in order to tackle the possible regrouping of Al-Qaeda network," the senior official said.
He named the possible hosts of the bases as Mazar-e-Sharif and Badakshan in north, Kandahar in south, Kabul, Herat in west, Jalalabad in northeast and Ghazni and Faryab in central Afghanistan.
In exchange, the US offered Taliban the governorship of the southern provinces of Kandahar, Zabul, Hilmand and Orazgan as well as the northeastern provinces of Nooristan and Kunar.
These provinces are the epicenter of resistance against the US-led foreign forces and are considered the strongholds of Taliban.
Orazgan and Hilmand are the home provinces of Taliban Supreme Commander Mullah Omer and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
"But Taliban did not agree on that," said the senior official.
"Their demand was that America must give a deadline for its pull out if it wants negotiations to go on."
Wild Thing's comment.......
President of the United States begging the Taliban thugs for a deal!! We shouldn't be offering the Taliban anything other than bullets lubed with pork lard?
And there are Afghans who have risked their lives, and their families lives, to support us. Obama sold them out too along with our troops. Good luck getting any more support from them.
How about we exchange Obama for our troops and let Obama stay over there with his favorite terrorists the Taliban. He would fit right in and wouldn't even have to learn their language.
The Taliban would be crazy to accept this proposal. If they wait, they can have it all. If they wait long enough Obama will give them all they want over there and heck over here too. The Taliban already said no. They are ruthless but not stupid.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:55 AM | Letters to the Editor (11) | Trackback URL | (0)
Election Results
TRENTON, N.J.
Republican Chris Christie took an early lead in a tight New Jersey governor's race against Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine, with an Associated Press exit poll showing independent voters strongly favoring the GOP candidate.
With 44 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday night, Christie had 49 percent of the vote and Corzine about 44. Independent candidate Chris Daggett, originally feared as a potential spoiler, had about 5 percent.
Republicans surged to victory in governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey on Tuesday, wresting control from Democrats in both states as independents who swept Barack Obama to a historic 2008 victory broke big for the GOP. It was a troubling sign for the president and his party heading into an important midterm election year.
Conservative Republican Bob McDonnell’s victory in the Virginia governor’s race over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds and moderate Republican Chris Christie’s ouster of unpopular New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine was a double-barreled triumph for a party looking to rebuild after being booted from power in national elections in 2006 and 2008.
The outcomes were sure to feed discussion about the state of the electorate, the status of the diverse coalition that sent Obama to the White House and the limits of the president’s influence—on the party’s base of support and on moderate current lawmakers he needs to advance his legislative priorities.
His signature issue of health care reform was dealt a blow hours before polls closed when Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid signaled that Congress may not complete health care legislation this year, missing Obama’s deadline and pushing debate into a congressional election year.
.
Republican Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell’s victory in Virginia over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds was a triumph for a GOP looking to rebuild after being booted from power in national elections in 2006 and 2008. It also was a setback for the White House in a swing state that was a crucial part of Obama’s electoral landslide just a year ago. The president had personally campaigned for Deeds.
Bob McDonnell Virginia Governor's Race Victory Speech
Republican Bob McDonnell easily won the Virginia governor's race Tuesday as independent voters who helped deliver the state to President Barack Obama handed the party a victory. McDonnell will be the state's first GOP governor in eight years.
.
Foxnews Projects Democrat Bill Owens Wins NY 23
.
Wild Thing's comment.......
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:50 AM | Letters to the Editor (8) | Trackback URL | (0)
Our Awesome Marines and Vaklour IT....Come and Meet Lava from "From Baghdad With Love"
When Marines enter an abandoned house in Fallujah, Iraq, and hear a suspicious noise, they clench their weapons, edge around the corner, and prepare to open fire.
What they find during the U.S. led attack on the "most dangerous city on Earth," however, is not an insurgent bent on revenge, but a tiny puppy left behind when most of the city's population fled before the bombing. Despite military law that forbids the keeping of pets, the Marines de-flea the pup with kerosene, de-worm him with chewing tobacco, and fill him up on Meals Ready to Eat.
Thus begins the dramatic rescue attempt of a dog named Lava and Lava's rescue of at least one Marine, Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman, from the emotional ravages of war.
From Marines to war-time journalists to endangered Iraqi citizens, From Baghdad, With Love tells an unforgettable true story of an unlikely band of heroes who learn unexpected lessons about life, death, and war from a mangy little flea-ridden refugee.
The book "From Baghdad With Love" is a wonderful book.
.
Special Thanks to Maj. Mike Corrado who wrote this awesome song that perfectly describes why our Marines serve. So many people have asked us why the Marines do what they do...here you are.
.
Make a donation PLEASE CLICK HERE
.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:49 AM | Letters to the Editor (6) | Trackback URL | (0)
List of Where SOME of the Money Went In Obama's February Stimulus Bill ~ Good Grief!
After a flurry of stimulus spending, questionable projects pile up
Sources: Office of the Senate Minority Leader, Office of Sen. Tom Coburn
By: Susan Ferrechio
The $787 billion stimulus bill was passed in February and was promised as a job saver and economy booster. Here is where some of the money went:
- $300,000 for a GPS-equipped helicopter to hunt for radioactive rabbit droppings at the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state.
- $30 million for a spring training baseball complex for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.
- $11 million for Microsoft to build a bridge connecting its two headquarter campuses in Redmond, Wash., which are separated by a highway.
- $430,000 to repair a bridge in Iowa County, Wis., that carries 10 or fewer cars per day.
- $800,000 for the John Murtha Airport in Johnstown, Pa., serving about 20 passengers per day, to build a backup runway.
- $219,000 for Syracuse University to study the sex lives of freshmen women.
- $2.3 million for the U.S. Forest Service to rear large numbers of arthropods, including the Asian longhorned beetle, the nun moth and the woolly adelgid.
- $3.4 million for a 13-foot tunnel for turtles and other wildlife attempting to cross U.S. 27 in Lake Jackson, Fla.
- $1.15 million to install a guardrail for a persistently dry lake bed in Guymon, Okla.
- $9.38 million to renovate a century-old train depot in Lancaster County, Pa., that has not been used for three decades.
- $2.5 million in stimulus checks sent to the deceased.
- $6 million for a snow-making facility in Duluth, Minn.
- $173,834 to weatherize eight pickup trucks in Madison County, Ill.
- $20,000 for a fish sperm freezer at the Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery in South Dakota.
- $380,000 to spay and neuter pets in Wichita, Kan.
- $300 apiece for thousands of signs at road construction sites across the country announcing that the projects are funded by stimulus money.
- $1.5 million for a fence to block would-be jumpers from leaping off the All-American Bridge in Akron, Ohio.
- $1 million to study the health effects of environmentally friendly public housing on 300 people in Chicago.
- $356,000 for Indiana University to study childhood comprehension of foreign accents compared with native speech.
- $983,952 for street beautification in Ann Arbor, Mich., including decorative lighting, trees, benches and bike paths.
- $148,438 for Washington State University to analyze the use of marijuana in conjunction with medications like morphine.
- $462,000 to purchase 22 concrete toilets for use in the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri
- $3.1 million to transform a canal barge into a floating museum that will travel the Erie Canal in New York state.
- $1.3 million on government arts jobs in Maine, including $30,000 for basket makers, $20,000 for storytelling and $12,500 for a music festival.
- $71,000 for a hybrid car to be used by student drivers in Colchester, Vt., as well as a plug-in hybrid for town workers decked out with a sign touting the vehicle's energy efficiency.
- $1 million for Portland, Ore., to replace 100 aging bike lockers and build a garage that would house 250 bicycles
Wild Thing's comment......
ALL of them are insane, I only highlighted a few of them. LOL
There is only one item on that list worth funding. The US Forest Service Asian Longhorn Beetle study.
That beetle has the potential to devastate US forests, which would have a major impact on the US economy. There is no effective way to kill the beetle.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:48 AM | Letters to the Editor (8) | Trackback URL | (0)
Rep. Michele Bachmann, Mark Levin Thursday at High Noon, East Steps of Capitol
Washington News Observer sat down with Rep. Michele Bachmann to discuss the latest twist and turns in the health care debate. Rep. Bachmann has taken the lead in calling for citizens concerned about a government take over of health care to rally at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, November 5th and make “house calls” on their members of Congress. Info on that event can be found .....HERE....Renew America!
Talk radio host and best selling author Mark Levin will join with Michelle Bachmann on the Capital Steps on Thursday at noon. Concerned Americans will join the top conservatives to protest the Pelosi nationalized health care disaster.
From the Representative Bachmann’s website:
Bachmann Calls on the American People to Bring the Town Hall To Washington “This is the deciding moment and the people need to make sure their representatives know where they stand.”
Washington, D.C.
WHAT: Health Care “House Call” on Washington Press Conference
WHO: Republican Members of Congress Americans concerned about our health care future Other Guests – TBA
WHEN: Thursday, November 5, 2009 from 12:00-1
WHERE: East Front Steps of the U.S. Capitol (House Side)
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann released the following statement as the House of Representatives approaches a vote on the Democrats’ health care reform proposal:
“The American people spoke loud and clear at town hall meetings all across the country throughout August. But, it would appear that Congress didn’t hear a word they had to say. The Democrats’ latest health care proposal unveiled late last week may be packaged a little differently, but it’s the same old bad bill as before.
“This bill is a trillion-dollar, budget-busting, government takeover of our health care system. It will put bureaucrats between people and their health care. It will lead to rationed care, hurting the most vulnerable amongst us first. It will break the bank, leaving our children to pay the bill with diminished freedoms and dwindling prosperity.
“The American people need to stand up again and make sure that Congress hears them this time. Speaker Pelosi is putting her bill on fast track to a vote – and it remains to be seen if the House will even get a chance to vote on the commonsense Republican alternatives. The people need to make a House Call on Washington this week and tell their Representatives to vote no to a government take-over of one-fifth of our economy. This is gangster government at its worst.
“I urge all Americans to come to Washington this Thursday. Come and meet up with your Representative and tell them that you want to control your health care.”
Bachmann believes this is one of the last chances to stop Pelosi’s push to bring Socialized Medicine to America:
“The American people need to stand up again and make sure that Congress hears them this time. Speaker Pelosi is putting her bill on fast track to a vote – and it remains to be seen if the House will even get a chance to vote on the commonsense Republican alternatives. The people need to make a House Call on Washington this week and tell their Representatives to vote no to a government take-over of one-fifth of our economy. This is gangster government at its worst.”
Wild Thing's comment..........
Actor Jon Voight will also be giving a speech at the rally. He is a Troop loving patriot and a strong Conservative. Great to see he's going to be there too.
.... Thank you Jim for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:47 AM | Letters to the Editor (3) | Trackback URL | (0)
In Country With the Our US Army and US Air Force
.
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Stephen Barnes continues with his mission even thought the crotch of his pants were ripped off during a dismounted patrol across the Tangi Valley in the Wardak Province of Afghanistan Aug. 29, 2009. Barnes is a squad leader assigned to 1st Platoon, Apache Company, 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Teddy Wade /Photo Released) 10/29/2009
.
U.S Army Spc. David Oliver, of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, is enjoys his last cigarette before going out on a mission at Forward Operating Base Lane in Zabul province, Afghanistan, Oct. 11, 2009. The 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, U.S. Army Europe is deployed throughout southern Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Tia P. Sokimson/Released) 10/30/2009
.
.
.
.
U.S. Air Force explosive ordnance and disposal technicians, and U.S. Army Sgt. Zachary Cleland, a combat engineer assigned to Alpha Company, Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, talk after finding an improvised explosive device during a patrol in the streets of the Tangi Valley in the Wardak Province of Afghanistan, Aug. 28, 2009. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Teddy Wade / Released) 10/29/2009
.
An Mi-35 Hind helicopter fires its 12.9mm gatling gun during a training sortie over southern Afghanistan . U.S. Airmen with the 438th Air Expeditionary Training Group use the helicopter to train Afghan aviators while deployed to Kandahar Air Field. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Angelita Lawrence/Released)
[The Gatling gun, lower left pointing upward, is inactive here.]
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:45 AM | Letters to the Editor (7) | Trackback URL | (0)
North Houston Tea Party HUGE Turnout TEA Party at the Sam Houston Race Track
Houston Tea Party rally draws more than 10,000
More than 10,000 people turned out Monday night for a North Houston Tea Party Patriots gathering to protest proposed health care reform and what they called big government spending and overzealous government leadership, according to preliminary attendance figures.
Under clear skies and a perfect moon, crowds packed the field at the Sam Houston Race Park and cheered loudly as speakers called for the people to take control of the American government. Wearing slogans that said “Don't Tread on Me” and T-shirts stating, “I am a Tea Party Patriot — I will defend our Constitution,” those attending the event enthusiastically showed support for more constraints on the government and more personal freedom.
“This isn't about ‘I can't stand Barack Obama' — this is about ‘I can't stand a government that will tread on me,' ” said Houston radio talk show host and TV anchor Joe “Pags” Pagliarulo to a rousing burst of applause from the audience.
“Taxes are going up because we have to pay for health care for people who are here illegally,” Pagliarulo said. “We have to pay for health care for people who don't want health care ... We've got a government that's run amok — we've got a government that doesn't care about you or me. It cares about power, it cares about control.”
More than 10,000 people gathered at Sam Houston Race Park Monday night to make a political statement. Organizers believe it was the largest tea party in Houston.
Joe Pags was the MC. He did a fine job through out the entire event.
Apostle Claver gave the Invocation. It was really awesome! Later on, Claver came out and gave a talk that only he can do; He spoke and it was just magical. He mentioned at the end that he would like to see a TEA Party on MLK day because, MLK was Conservative.
If you have not seen Apostle Claver speak in public, seek him out! Really! You will not be sorry.
A taped message from Glenn Beck was played. It was somewhat of a pep talk.
Outlaw Dave came up next. That guy really believes in the 2nd Amendment.
Walton or Johnson (I’m not sure which one) was next. The guy that did speak said he was “the radical one”.
Lord Monckton, the Keynote Speaker, was next. Lord Monckton is a fascinating guy. He speaks out against Manmade Global Warming because not only is the science faulty (his opinion), but because it will take our freedom away. He also spoke about how the President will be signing the Copenhagen Treaty in December and that will give a good bit of our freedoms away.
The last speaker was Mattress Mack. He spoke about the recent fire at his business, Gallery Furniture, and how the brave firefighters were there to help everyone and put out the fire. He gave that as an example of good government. But then he got up the next day and started rebuilding. Of course he did not get nor ask for a government bailout. He did have an interesting twist on things: He believes that unless we are able to work and have the fruits of our own labor, we are not truly free.
Wild Thing's comment.......
Bravo Houston!
....Thank you Horace for sending this to me.
Horace
U.S.Army
Horace Smith, Pvt. E-1, USAR
1956-1964
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:40 AM | Letters to the Editor (2) | Trackback URL | (0)
“When we get people who are more concerned about reading the rights to an Al Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans, then I worry,” - VP Dick Cheney
A toast to each of you 
