Theodore's World

America Supports You: Americans Can Text ‘Thanks’ to Troops
DOD
For those seeking a quick way to show appreciation for the troops’ service far from home this holiday season, look no further than “Giving Thanks,” a new initiative from the Defense Department’s America Supports You program.
America Supports You connects citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.
“This is a simple way to connect our citizens to our soldiers using modern technology,” Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of defense for internal communications and public liaison, said of the text messaging program.
The program, which already has received nearly 4,000 messages, officially kicks off at 6 a.m. EST Nov. 17 and concludes at midnight PST Nov. 22.
Between those times, people wishing to express gratitude to the troops for their service can text a brief message to 89279. Each text message sent will receive a response from an active-duty servicemember in return.
Major mobile wireless providers, including AT&T, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile, will provide access to the Giving Thanks text messaging program.
“We know that thousands of families will be sitting down for Thanksgiving dinner and thinking about loved ones who are far away from home serving their country,” Barber said. “We are counting on other American families to take a moment during their holiday celebration to think of those families and their family members who are serving and say, ‘Thanks.’
“The reassurance that others are thinking about them will mean a lot to our troops,” Barber added.
Those who send a message during the six days of the Giving Thanks program also will be directed to the America Supports You Web site. There, they’ll find a sampling of messages from the public and a running tally of how many messages have been received. They’ll also be able to read messages from the troops.
Some servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan already have sent messages thanking the public for the support. Angie, an airman serving in Iraq, wrote: “Your support means so much, especially during the holidays. God Bless.”
Troops of Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan also wrote to express their appreciation for the continued support they receive: “To all the great Americans who go out of their way to support all the Soldiers of the Combined Security Transition Command in Afghanistan — Thank You.”

Click here for more information……………….

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Wild Thing’s comment…….
I have no idea how to Text message, but I think this is an awesome idea. I wanted to make sure the word got out about this. God bless our Troops and keep them safe.

In my sidebar on the right side of this blog there is a counter graphic of the number of Islamic attacks, that can be clicked on. I am sure you have all seen it at many of the other blogs as well.

It has a counter of the attacks by the followers of Islam and updated regularly. Today I clicked on it to go to their page and see the information that our news media keeps from us. We all know too that if our media told us of these attacks to them it would be choosing sides and God forbid if they did that. sheesh
Here are just a few of the latest from the so called Religion of Peace:
11/15/2007 (Paktia, Afghanistan) – Taliban militants shot dead a teenage boy in south-eastern Afghanistan for teaching English to his classmates, police said on Thursday.
11/14/2007 (Nazran, Ingushetia) – A police officer is assassinated by Muslim separatists as he leaves his home.
11/14/2007 (Saidu Sharif, Pakistan) – Two civilians are among four killed when Islamic militants fire rockets into an airport.
11/14/2007 (Dushanbe, Tajikistan) – A street-sweeper is killed by a bomb planted outside a government building.
11/14/2007 (Hilla, Iraq) – Two people are killed by a Fedayeen suicide attack on a home.
11/14/2007 (Iskandariya, Iraq) – A suicide bomber kills two Iraqis at a tribal chiefs meeting.
And there is this at their site as well:
Monthly Jihad Report October 2007
Jihad Attacks: 242
Countries: 19
Religions: 5
Dead Bodies: 1252
Critically Injured: 2287
When someone says they can sit down and discourse with these people they are not only kidding themselves but I seriously wonder about their sanity. People like Harry Reid, Nany Pelosi or anyone else…..insane!!

Goooooood Morning Baghdad!
Thank ALLAH – It’s Friday!
The infidels in the land of the Great Satan need to know that Ali Jaafar was an infamous Iraqi sports caster during the reign of beloved Saddam Hussein. Iraqis love sports and especially soccer, rugby and boxing. Ali Jaafar was famous, especially when he was assassinated!
Also, today we have good news and bad news. The good news is that the soccer game between FC Baghdad and the Green Zone Generals has not been cancelled. The bad news there has been IED’s discovered on one end of the soccer field, so the coin toss prior to the match will be very important!
Heads or Tails ? As you infidels like to say ” Good luck”.
And to the infidel that thought it was cute to send me a box of chocolate covered pork rinds, Ramadan Rosie is not laughing.
Peace my brothers and sisters and all one has to do is convert to Islam, the 72 virgins await you.
Allah Ackbar
Ramadan Rosie
This is co-posting by Darth and Wild Thing.

Army Pfc. Zachary Wierman, in black t-shirt, a signal support system specialist, passes on a bayonet decorated with the national colors to Army Pfc. Brian Fitzsimons, an automated logistical specialist during a 24-hour running race Nov. 8. Both Soldiers are in Co. B, 173rd Brigade Support Battalion, deployed to Forward Operating Base Fenty, Afghanistan

Unit Honors Vietnam Veterans With Run in Afghanistan
Jalalabad, Afghanistan
By 2nd Lt. Monika Comeaux
173rd Brigade Support Battalion
American Forces Press Service
FORWARD OPERATING BASE FENTY, Afghanistan
“On the 8th of November, the angels were crying as they carried his brothers away. … There were few men left standing that day,” sings the country duo Big & Rich in their ballad commemorating the fall of 48 American Soldiers from 173rd Airborne Brigade in 1965 in Operation Hump in Vietnam.
Forty-two years later, members of 173rd Airborne Brigade, other Service members and civilians deployed honored the fallen Soldiers of Operation Hump by participating in a 24-hour relay.
The event celebrated unit cohesion, teamwork and esprit de corps, officials said. Participants ran along a nearly three-and-a-half mile route lined by miniature American flags and passed a bayonet, which is depicted on the unit patch of the 173rd ABCT, to one another in lieu of a baton. The event was made even more special by having a Vietnam veteran, Rick Petersen from the Facility Engineer Team, participate.

“I think it is a great idea. I think it is great that everybody is going to come out here and support one another. It is great for camaraderie,” said 2nd Lt. Kate Fullenkamp, a quartermaster officer and platoon leader in Company A, 173rd Brigade Support Battalion (Airborne).

Her platoon of 40 entered with two seven-person teams. There would have been more volunteers, but mission requirements did not allow all of her Soldiers to participate, she said.

“We had more than seven people who wanted to do this, but we picked the best seven,” said Pfc. Ikechuku Odi, a combat engineer with Road Clearance Patrol 4, Company A, 70th Engineer Battalion, deployed from Fort Riley, Kan.
Ever since they found out about the race, the engineers ran two laps every day when they didn’t go outside the wire, in preparation for the challenging race. When Odi heard about the race, he thought, “We are going to win this,” he said.

“Our tactic is simple: run as fast as you can,” he said, after completing his first lap in a little over 22 minutes.

“Some people are out here for the physical aspect, … but there are people that are out here because it is fun and you enjoy it and you will always remember it, for sure,” Fullenkamp said.

The rules of the run were pretty simple. “Basically it is a 24-hour relay with seven-man teams. One runner must be running at all times,” said 1st. Sgt. Drake F. Sladky, Company C, 173rd Brigade Support Battalion. An avid sportsman, he was one of the masterminds behind the event.

Sladky said many in the 173rd Airborne liked the idea of organizing another run after running a 10-kilometer race shortly after the unit’s arrival in Afghanistan. Originally they were aiming for New Year’s Day, but then they received a disk containing the music video, “8th of November,” from James Bradley, a member of the 173rd Association. “We knew that we had to do some sort of race in commemoration of that date,” Sladky explained.

“Everybody in the company helped out, mostly by getting sponsors for the race day and organizing the registration,” Sladky said. As a result, a total of 21 teams signed up.

“We were really lucky; we started early and got sponsors. … The 173rd Association sent the race T-shirts. Niles Harris (the Vietnam veteran who was the inspiration for the country song and was himself injured on Nov. 8, 1965) sent about 200 autographed T-shirts,” Sladky said.

Some of the shirts ended up as prizes, but the majority were sent out to subordinate units of the 173rd who are deployed to other forward operating bases and weren’t able to participate in the run. Prizes included name-brand golf clubs, shirts, hats and a multitude of other things. No team went home empty-handed.
Odi was right when he said he thought his team was going to win. On the 9th of November, 2007, perhaps the angels were smiling a little as his team carried their prizes away.
The winning team completed a total of 51 laps, covering, fittingly, just over 173 miles in the 24-hour period, and consisted of: Staff Sgt. Luis D. Rivera, Pfc. Ikechuku Odi, Pfc. Vincent A. Fiorillo, Pfc. Joshua M. Contryman, Sgt. Eric E. Chappel, Sgt. Bradley J. Edmonds, and Spc. Tin T. Tran — all combat engineers.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
This is so special, I love this. God bless our troops and the Brotherhood that is beyond a lifetime between our troops today and our Veterans.

All Military Components Meet, Exceed Recruiting Goals
DOD
American Forces Press Service
The first month of fiscal 2008 was a success for all active and reserve military components.
In a meeting with Pentagon reporters today, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said all components met or exceeded their recruiting goals for October.
On the active-duty side, the Army made 101 percent of its goal of 4,500, with 4,564 recruits. The Navy made 100 percent of its goal of 2,788 recruits. The Marine Corps made 102 percent of its goal of 2,720, with 2,788 enlisting. The Air Force made 100 percent of its goal of 2,656.
The Guard and reserve components “did very well” in October, Whitman said. The Air National Guard made 134 percent of its goal of 609 accessions, actually signing up 818 airmen. The Army National Guard also had a very good month, signing up 123 percent of its goal of 4,311 soldiers. The Army Guard signed up 5,305 men and women.
The Navy Reserve made 112 percent of its goal of 818, signing up 918 sailors, and the Army Reserve made 104 percent of goal, signing up 3,297 against 3,169. The Marine Corps Reserve and Air Force Reserve both made 100 percent of their goals of 890 and 681, respectively.

The services’ monthly goals are not constant. “The goal numbers go up and down based on what they have to achieve at the end of the year,” Whitman said.

Recruiting officials set goals, and military training personnel set class seats based on historic data showing when Americans traditionally enlist. For example, there are higher goals and more class seats for June, when most high school seniors graduate.

But the turnout is encouraging, Whitman said. “This is good news,” he said. “In the first month of this fiscal year, in terms of recruiting in active duty and reserve-component forces, it looks pretty good right now.”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Was it Murtha or Reid that said our Military is BROKEN beyond repair! The idiot dems continue to try and undermine our fine young military force for their political agenda but I think most Americans are awake to the threat and are patriotic.
God Blees our great military and the brave soliders who defend our lives and liberties.

A Concerned Local Citizens group found a buried weapons cache in Arab Jabour, Nov. 12. The cache was so large it took three controlled detonations to destroy it. Photo courtesy of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs.

Concerned Local Citizens Group Turns in Large Weapons Cache
FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU
A Concerned Local Citizens (CLC) group found a large weapons cache in Arab Jabour, Nov. 12.
The cache was so large that three controlled detonations were needed to destroy it.
A CLC reported a buried weapons cache to Company A, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. The CLC led Company A Soldiers to the location of the cache where several barrels containing the munitions were buried.
The cache consisted of (24) 60mm rounds, (25) 82 mm mortar rounds, two 120 mm mortar rounds, three 122 mm projectiles, three rifle grenades, one 60 mm mortar tube, (20) bundles of propellant, (20) pounds of homemade explosives, (40) feet of detonation cord and an anti-tank mine.
After assessing the cache, an explosive ordnance disposal team was called to destroy it.
Throughout Iraq, the CLC groups have made a noticeable impact on the insurgency. The information they provide results in more weapons found and terrorists captured every day. These brave volunteers are taking a stand for the stability, safety and development of their country.

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Pop Smoke
U.S. Army cavalry scouts from Alpha Troop, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division are clouded with green smoke as they await to be picked up by UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters during operations in Sheik Abraheim, Iraq, . U.S. Army photo by Spc. Bradley J. Clark.

Blitzer: No Campaign Has Pressured Me on Debate Questions
(CNSNews.com)
CNN Anchor Wolf Blitzer told Cybercast News Service Wednesday that no presidential campaign of either party has tried to pressure him to influence his questioning in CNN-hosted presidential debates.
The issue arose on Tuesday when the Drudge Report reported – under the banner headline “Wolf Warned: No Ganging Up on Hillary in Vegas”- that “Wolf Blitzer has been warned not to focus Thursday’s Dem debate on Hillary.”
The report quoted an unnamed “top Clinton insider” who said: “This campaign is about issues, not on who we can bring down and destroy. … Blitzer should not go down to the levels of character attack and pull ‘a Russert.'”
On Tuesday afternoon’s edition of CNN’s “The Situation Room,” where this writer was making a regular weekly appearance as a guest commentator, Blitzer refuted the report.

“Not true,” Blitzer said, when asked about the Drudge piece by his CNN colleague Jack Cafferty. “No one has pressured me, no one has threatened me. No one is trying to intimidate me.”

Blitzer added, “No one has even called me to try to pressure me or anything like that.”

On Wednesday, Blitzer was asked by Cybercast News Service whether Mrs. Clinton’s campaign had attempted to influence the questioning in the debate he will moderate Thursday night in Las Vegas, or whether any Republican campaign had attempted to influence his questioning in the GOP presidential debates he has moderated.

“Nobody from Senator Clinton’s campaign put any pressure on me, or threatened me in any way,” Blitzer said. “No other Democratic campaign has tried to pressure me about my questions. Likewise, no Republican campaign has ever tried to pressure me before a Republican debate.”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Um, well it IS the Clinton News Network afterall. And Wolf may be a leftie but he is not wanting to be the next Vince Foster either. hahahahaha Or Ron Brown or Colby or any of the other DEAD people associated with the Clinton’s on their last time in power.
Words mean something and notice that Blitzer never said that that anyone in the Clinton campaign had spoken to him…
Just that he had not been threatened and/or warned.

American Muslim Demographic Facts
Please CLICK HERE to see the chart
You will see all kinds of information, from population, to cars they drive to all sorts of things. It is very interesting and infomative.
found the following statistic to be interesting too:
“Increase in number of mosques since 1994: 25 percent”
That’s a huge increase since ‘94.
And rememebr how America’s first Muslim congressman compared President George W Bush to Adolf Hitler.

Clinton Says No to Licenses for Illegals
WASHINGTON
(AP)
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday came out against granting driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, after weeks of pressure in the presidential race to take a position on a now-failed ID plan from her home state governor.
Clinton has faced criticism from candidates in both parties for her noncommittal answers on New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s attempt to allow illegal immigrants in his state to receive driver’s licenses. Spitzer abandoned the effort Wednesday.

“I support Governor Spitzer’s decision today to withdraw his proposal,” Clinton said in a statement.

“As president, I will not support driver’s licenses for undocumented people and will press for comprehensive immigration reform that deals with all of the issues around illegal immigration including border security and
fixing our broken system.”

Clinton stumbled when asked about the issue during a Democratic debate two weeks ago, and her new position comes the day before another debate where opponents are expected to raise the issue again.
Spitzer met with New York lawmakers in Washington on Wednesday, and conceded that there was too much public opposition to his plan. Clinton did not attend the meeting.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
We knew she would do this and the day before the debate tonight. hahahahahaha
Oh Lord give us strength. LOL If a Repub;lican did this baloney on flip flopping they would be hung out to dry.
I was against it before I was for it.
Wait, I am against it, and always have been.
Wait, Bill, they’re picking on me.
Oh, darn!
ClintonSpeak for, “I never said what I said. You can’t prove I said it. Even if you can prove I said it, it’s old news. Let’s move on.”

Muslim prayer time new legal issue at Swift plant
Lubbock online
AMARILLO
The dispute over prayer breaks for Muslim employees at the Swift & Co. plant in Cactus is a two-sided legal issue, an Amarillo attorney said this week.
At least 54 plant employees, all Muslims of African descent, walked off the job last week, citing the company’s refusal to allow them two prayer breaks and female employees adequate time to wash after using the restroom, a strict requirement of the religion.

Vicki Wilmarth, an attorney specializing in employment law, said, “The basic rule is, an employer has to reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs and practices, but only if the employee can do so without undo hardship to the employer’s business.

“So it’s a balancing act. It requires the employer and employees to determine what a reasonable accommodation would be.”

Wilmarth said the federal statute governing religious discrimination in the workplace is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the state statute is Texas Labor Code section 21.051.

“Although neither statute says that employers have to reasonably accommodate religion, the courts have implied that and the regulations enforce that.”

Muslim workers pray five times a day and are asking Swift to grant two breaks a day: one at 4 p.m. and one at sunset.

“Breaks have to be paid if they are less than 30 minutes, but the law doesn’t say how many there have to be,” Wilmarth said.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
The poor things are being Swift-planted! heh heh The answer is simple, the moral of this story is don’t hire muslims!
This is weird too, I mean the Swift Plant producse and packages meat products there, many of them PORK. And the reason why muzzies want to work around pork is what, exactly?
Remember when Bill Clinton brought 95,000 Somalis into the U.S. and gave them legal status. He also signed an executive order directing taxpayer monies for interpreters, job-training services and family/healthcare services for them.