Theodore's World

A-10 pilot awarded Mackay Trophy – Capt. Scott L. Markle was presented the Clarence Mackay Trophy during a ceremony Oct. 29 in Arlington, Va. Captain Markle, an A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot with the 81st Fighter Squadron at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, received the award for his actions while supporting troops in contact with the enemy along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
He is credited with destroying three machine gun nests and killing forty Taliban fighters. His actions saved the lives of 15 soldiers who were outnumbered three to one by the enemy. (Air Force Photo/Andy Morataya)

.

Wild Thing…….Holy Moly! How tall is that? ….OH wait I just found out here it is……it is 3 Feet tall. HERE

According to the award citation submitted to General T. Michael Moseley, United States Air Force Chief of Staff, Markle’s support mission was re-tasked on takeoff to support a U.S. Special Forces team in contact with Taliban fighters along the Afghanistan- Pakistan border. “Captain Markle arrived on scene to find the team engaged in hand-to-hand combat and expecting to be overrun by the enemy,” according to the citation.
“Unable to employ weapons due to the close proximity of the team, he flew a dangerously low pass over the enemy while dispensing self protection flares. After the ground controller noted the effectiveness of the pass in momentarily ceasing the enemy’s fire, Captain Markle performed three additional passes, allowing the team to pull back farther each time.”
Under Captain Markle’s protection, the entire Special Forces team – outnumbered on the ground by three to one – egressed the “kill zone” with zero casualties.
“The distinctive accomplishments of Captain Markle reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force,” as stated in the citation. Using a 30-millimeter gattling gun at danger-close range, Captain Markle is credited with destroying three machine gun nests and killing 40 Taliban fighters during the flight which was confirmed during a battle damage assessment survey the next day.
According to the nomination narrative, the ground commander and his team personally thanked Captain Markle and credited him for saving the lives of the 15 members of the U.S. Special Forces team involved in a pre-planned Taliban ambush.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Thank you Capt. Scott L. Markle for your service and for all you have done in this war.

Nader ponders run, calls Clinton ‘coward’
Politico …for complete article
by Roger Simon
Ralph Nader says he is seriously considering running for president in 2008 because he foresees another Tweedledum-Tweedledee election that offers little real choice to voters.

“You know the two parties are still converging — they don’t even debate the military budget anymore,” Nader said in a 30-minute interview. “I really think there needs to be more competition from outside the two parties.”

Even the possible entry of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg into the race as an independent might not dissuade Nader.

“He is interesting (but) unpredictable,” Nader said of Bloomberg. “I really like the stand he took against smoking, but he goes along with corporate welfare in New York and tax-funded stadiums. So he is unfinished in that way.”

Nader would have little or no chance of winning the presidency should he run, but he doesn’t need to win to affect the outcome: Many Democrats still blame Nader for draining enough votes away from Al Gore in Florida in 2000 to elect George W. Bush.
And while Nader, 73, realizes he might once again be accused of being a “spoiler” candidate, he says the Democrats could win in 2008, unless they spoil things for themselves.
Democrats have become, over the years, very good at electing very bad Republicans,” Nader said. “Democrats always know how to implode, how to be ambiguous, how to waver, how not to be authentic.”
While Nader praised two candidates who have almost no chance of winning their party’s nomination — Republican Ron Paul and Democrat Mike Gravel — he was severe in his criticism of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

“She is a political coward,” Nader said. “She goes around pandering to powerful interest groups on the one hand and flattering general audiences on the other. She doesn’t even have the minimal political fortitude of her husband.”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
LOL this is so funny and if he does run, he probably won’t, but if he did, the dems would truly hate it. heh heh

Miss Utah- Sgt. Jill Stevens

Sgt. Jill Stevens, Utah National Guard member and the 2007 Miss Utah, smiles after crossing the finish line at the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., Oct. 28, 2007. Photo by Staff Sgt. Mary K. Flynn, USA

Miss Utah Gives Back as National Guard Soldier
By Staff Sgt. Mary Flynn, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service
The 2007 Miss Utah is no stranger to the physical and mental discipline required to knock out 26.2 miles. She ran the Marine Corps Marathon here on Oct. 28, finishing in about 3.5 hours.

It’s the third marathon she’s run since winning the pageant title in June. “I love challenges,” she said. “That’s why I joined the military.”

No, that’s not a misprint. For one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer, Miss Utah becomes Army Sgt. Jill Stevens of the Utah National Guard. She trades in her high heels and gown for combat boots and combat uniforms, her bouquet of roses for a combat medic aid bag, and her sparkling tiara for a beret or patrol cap.

Wearing the uniform, she said, feels more natural to her. “I’m first-off a soldier, always,” said Stevens, who had originally laughed at the idea of participating in a pageant. “I don’t do heels. I didn’t even know where to buy them!”

Having deployed as a combat medic with 1st Battalion, 211th Aviation Group, in April 2004 to Afghanistan, Steven’s lifestyle isn’t what one would expect of the typical pageant winner.

The 25-year-old previously shared the same opinion of pageant contestants that many people hold. “I thought that all these girls do is wave their hand, look pretty and do nothing,” she said. “I didn’t want to be associated with that.”

She soon discovered, however, that the organization actually had a lot in common with the military. The Miss America program promotes education and teaches leadership, she said. It also promotes fitness and well-being, while focusing on bringing out one’s best.

“I saw a great opportunity that would open doors,” she said, referring to the titleholder’s position as a chance to start organizations or pass bills to create change. “(These women) can move people to action and really make a difference.”

One way Stevens has chosen to make a difference is by raising funds and awareness for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing a support network for families of those who have died in service. TAPS offers peer support and assists survivors through a wide variety of programs, including programs for youths.

“I’m running for my battle buddies and their families, people who have lost loved ones over there,” she said.

While in Washington for the marathon, Stevens met with families and visited soldiers recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. “I thought of them along this run,” she said. “I’m doing this for them.”

Stevens said she intends to participate in more marathons before her reign as Miss Utah is over. In each one, she will run for TAPS.

Stevens was first exposed to the National Guard when recruiters set up a booth in her high school. Beyond the tuition assistance and hands-on medical experience she would receive as a combat medic, she said she was drawn to the challenge that being a soldier presented. “I wondered, ‘Can I hack that?’” she recalled.

Today, the recent graduate of Southern Utah University has a bachelor’s degree in nursing, 12 marathons under her belt, six years as a combat medic in the Utah National Guard, and she’s just applied for a direct commission to become an Army nurse.
Stevens said she attributes much of her success to her experiences in the Guard.

“The military has really, truly provided me with a lot of opportunity” in addition to teaching her to make the best of a difficult situation, she said. “I turned Afghanistan into a positive experience, an incredible experience, and I’m able to share it.”

Since her return from Afghanistan in April 2005, Stevens frequently has been invited to give talks on her experiences. She said it’s an opportunity to give back, one that has only been fueled since her venture into pageantry

.
Her schedule is packed with speaking engagements at junior high and elementary schools, where she discusses her platform: “Ready When Disaster Strikes: Emergency Preparedness for Everyone.” She also teaches the importance of living life to the fullest.

“I love giving back,” she said, citing her opportunities as a soldier, a medic, a nurse and now, a titleholder. “It gives me the best feeling in life; it’s my passion.”

Stevens will compete for the Miss America crown in January.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
I am so very proud of all our service men and women. This is a great story and how neat it is , because if young girls saw this, read it and would get motivated to also serve our country from the inspiration of seeing others like Jill doing this………….well I think it is awesome.
Our media wil NOT tell great stories about our troops. They should because there are tons of these great stories out there.
One thing else too, our troops are not just numbers to us like they are to our sick media and the horrible lefties. They all have a story why they joined, who they are as a person, their reasons for joining and why they want to make a difference. I am honored to be able to share them when I see them because you are all so awesome too in so many ways and you all know the sacrifices our troops make and their families and loved ones as well.

Kansas church liable in Marine funeral protest
BALTIMORE (Reuters)
A jury on Wednesday ordered an anti-gay Kansas church to pay $10.9 million in damages to relatives of a U.S. Marine who died in Iraq after church members cheered his death at his funeral.
Church members said Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder’s death was God’s punishment of America for tolerating homosexuality, and they attended his 2006 funeral in Maryland with signs saying “You’re going to hell” and “God hates you.”
The federal jury determined the Westboro Baptist Church, based in Topeka, and three of its principals invaded the privacy of the dead man’s family and inflicted emotional distress.
Albert Snyder, the Marine’s father, testified that his son was not gay, but the church targeted the military as a symbol of America’s tolerance of gays. Matthew Snyder died in combat in Iraq in March 2006.
The jury awarded Snyder’s family $2.9 million in compensatory damages plus $8 million in punitive damages in the first civil suit against the church, which has demonstrated at some 300 military funerals the past two years.
The lawsuit said church Web sites vilified U.S. soldiers, accusing them of being indoctrinated by “fag propaganda.”

“I hope it’s enough to deter them from doing this to other families. It was not about the money. It was about getting them to stop,” said Snyder, of York, Pennsylvania.

The church, which is unaffiliated with any major denomination, is headed by Rev. Fred Phelps, who has led a campaign against homosexuality for years. Most of the estimated 70 members of the church belong to his extended family.

“It will take the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals a few minutes to reverse this silly thing,” Phelps said.

His daughter and co-defendant, Shirley Phelps-Roper, vowed to continue protesting military funerals and called the court’s decision a blow against free speech.
Outside court on Wednesday, Phelps and his children waved placards with slogans such as “Pray for more dead kids” and “God hates fag enablers,” while passing drivers and pedestrians shouted abuse at them.
Defense attorney Jonathan Katz urged jurors not to award punitive damages because the $2.9 million in compensatory damages was already three times the defendants’ net worth.

“It’s enough already to bankrupt them and financially destroy them,” Katz said.

Craig Trebilcock, an attorney for Snyder, said jurors should award sufficient punitive damages to deter Westboro from repeating its actions.
.

Reaction of Fred Phelps on CNN over the Snyder verdict

.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
This is from one of the Patriot Guards :

“Being in the Patriot Guard, I have personally witnessed this so-called “distance” where they don’t disrupt things. One funeral was for SGT Fuga in Independence, MO. The Westboro Baptist Church was placed 300 feet from the services. But that placed them around the parking lot of where the family parked, easily an ear shout distance from the family. Shirley Phelps and the gang sing SO loudly (things like God Hates America or the Marine Corps song with the lyrics that “Marine Corps fags coming home in body bags”) that you can hear them for blocks.
When this does start to occur at the funerals, the Patriot Guard will place their motorcycles in front of them to drown out their voices. If they were so far away and not disruptive, I guarantee you that the Patriot Guard would NEVER get to close to them. We’d rather keep our distance.
At the funeral for Kevin Ziegler in Kansas City, they were on the busy intersection where the family would pass to get to the funeral. As the family passed, they yelled out to the family that Kevin was in hell. I heard that, and I was at least 150 feet away at the time.”

Dress Like a Muslim
Daily Mail.co.uk
Teachers at a primary school have been ordered to dress up as Muslims to promote multi-culturalism.
The West Midlands school is belatedly celebrating the Muslim festival of Eid and told its pupils and teachers to don traditional Muslim dress for the day.
All 257 pupils, most of whom are Christians, and 41 teachers – two of whom are Muslims – dressed up.
Teachers were told to dress as Muslims to promote diversity at a primary school
A morning assembly was held to mark the event and an afternoon party was strictly for women only, because Muslim husbands object to wives mixing with other men.

Sally Bloomer, head of Rufford primary school in Lye, West Midlands, told The Sun: “I have not heard of any complaints. It’s all part of a diversity project to promote multi-culturalism.”

But a relative of one of the staff reportedly said: “Who would put their job on the line? They have been told they have to embrace the day to show their diversity. But they are not all happy.”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
So it is just another day in merry old England.
For the boy’s in class I wonder if it includes the suicide belt and AK-47?
The appeasers are sucking up to the enemy once again! Can you imagine the outrage if schools ordered their teachers to dress up as SS troops during WW2?

All of us here at Theodore’s World support our troops. Each branch of the service is represented in my family, and I am so very proud of each one that served. It is very hard to pick just one so I went with the Marines since we have been proudly honored with the name Team Theodore by LPCL Alex who is in Iraq on his 2nd Tour. I have not heard from him in awhile so extra prayers he is doing ok and just really busy killing the bad guys. God be with you Alex.
3rd annual Valour-IT Fundraiser

Project Valour-IT, in memory of SFC William V. Ziegenfuss, helps provide voice-controlled and adaptive laptop computers to wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand wounds and other severe injuries at major military medical centers. Operating laptops by speaking into a microphone or using other adaptive technologies, our wounded heroes are able to send and receive messages from friends and loved ones, surf the ‘Net, and communicate with buddies still in the field. The experience of MAJ Charles “Chuck” Ziegenfuss, a partner in the project who suffered serious hand wounds while serving in Iraq, illustrates how important these laptops can be to a wounded service member’s recovery.
WHAT: Friendly fundraising competition for Valour-IT.
WHEN: October 29th through Veterans Day, November 11th .
WHERE: Based in the blogosphere, spreading everywhere else.
WHY: Because giving wounded warriors with hand and arm injuries access to a computer supports their healing and puts them back in touch with the world.
HOW: Blogger teams will be divided along military branches, with civilians “up for grabs.”

The various teams are below:
Marines will be led by Holly Aho
Air Force will be led by Mrs. Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette
Navy will be led by Chaotic Synaptic Activity.
Army led by Matt and Jim of Blackfive

New Congress at war over everything
Politico
In a closed-door meeting before the last vote on the children’s health care bill, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer appealed for the support of about 30 wavering Republican lawmakers. What he got instead was a tongue-lashing, participants said.
The GOP lawmakers, all of whom had expressed interest in a bipartisan deal on the SCHIP legislation, were furious that the Democratic leader from Maryland had not reached out to them in a more serious way early on. They also criticized him and Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel of Illinois for failing to stop his allies outside Congress from running attack ads in their districts, while they were discussing a bipartisan deal.
The result was a predictable one for this bitterly divided Congress. The House vote for a second SCHIP bill was a healthy majority, but not the two-thirds needed to override another veto vowed by President Bush. Only one Republican switched his vote — to oppose the measure.

Democrats accused Republicans of hurting kids. Republicans howled about a heavy-handed, uncompromising Democratic majority. And another chance at bipartisan consensus slipped away.

“They spent $1.5 million through their various shill outreach groups attacking me and a handful of my colleagues,” Rep. Ric Keller (R-Fla.) said before the Hoyer meeting, “but they did not spend five minutes to approach me to ask for my vote.”

This us-against-them mentality has been an ongoing storyline of the new Democratic­-controlled Congress. On the big items — Iraq, health care and spending — party leaders have shunned compromise.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
For the Demorats, bipartisan consensus means “My way or the highway.” Even if you do it their way, you still get bashed. I doubt if the Republican leadership have learned their lesson yet, but it looks as if a few rank-and-file congressman have. Thanks heavens for small favors.

Sgt. Richard Miller, from Floresville, Texas, a military policeman with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Inf. Div., encourages his specialized search dog, Gabriel, before a search exercise at Forward Operating Base Hammer Oct. 24. Miller uses Gabriel in cordon and searches, cordon and knocks, raids, route sanitation and route clearance missions to sniff out explosives, munitions, weapons and ammunition. Photo by Spc. Ben Hutto, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER
By Spc. Ben Hutto
3rd Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs
The German shepherd trots from rock to rock, ears pricked upward and nose pointed towards the earth, intent on his mission.
Several feet away, his handler, Sgt. Richard Miller, from Floresville, Texas, a military policeman with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, silently watches as the dog gets closer to the C4 explosive he has hidden under some rubble.
The specialized off-leash search dog looks back at his handler and sits down beside the hidden explosive.

“Good boy,” Miller says, walking toward Gabriel. “Good job, Gabe.”

The dog’s tail swings back and forth as his trainer approaches. His mission accomplished, the dog eagerly awaits his reward.
Miller focuses the dog on the explosive while he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a worn-out orange cong. He tosses it in front of the dog and watches as he snatches it up and runs back to his handler.
The next few moments are filled with praise as Miller tosses the cong and Gabriel retrieves it.

“That’s the whole reason the dog does what he does,” explains Sgt. Timothy Kinsey, from Pueblo, Colo., a military policeman with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team. “We work to get paid. The dogs work for their reward. Gabriel is very focused on his reward. He’ll do anything for those congs.”

The 3rd BCT has three working dogs and they’ve been extremely busy since their arrival at Forward Operating Base Hammer.

“They are doing a good job,” said Sgt. 1st Class Tommy Jamison, from Elmira, Ore., the provost sergeant for the 3rd BCT. “I’ve had to learn about them, but they have been great assets.”

Jamison explained that the battalions in the 3rd BCT had to learn how to use the dogs on combat missions.

“They were skeptical at first,” Jamison said. “The Soldiers had their TTPs (techniques, tactics, and procedures) and those needed to be changed to accommodate the dogs, so that caused some friction. It was hard to explain to leaders that the dogs needed air conditioned vehicles and tents to rest, but once they saw the benefits, everyone accommodated them.”

Kinsey explained that there are limits to what the dogs can do.

“Some Soldiers have a hard time understanding that the dogs have the mentality of a four year old,” Kinsey said. “When a dog is tired, they are tired. I can’t tell them to suck it up and drive on. They love what they do, but they have limits.”

The dog’s sense of smell makes them perfect for detecting hidden contraband that Soldiers can overlook.
Miller explained that a dog can register and discern 10,000 – 40,000 scents at one time.

“The best way I can explain it is that if you were to walk into a fast food place you would smell the meat cooking on the grill and the mop bucket they are using to clean up a spill,” Miller said. “A dog will smell the fat in the burger charring, the meat cooking, the sesame seeds on the buns, the pickle juice, the type of perfume the cashier is wearing and a thousand different other scents all at the same time.”

That sense of smell allows dogs like Gabriel and Jim to smell a coil of detonation cord under a pile of rubble from 10 feet away.

“It takes a lot of luck and good information for the dogs to be effective,” Miller said. “We have to be in an area where there is something. Sometimes things can be buried too deep or they have been moved, but the dogs are very accurate if something is there.”

The accuracy of the dog’s ability can be directly attributed to the training that the handlers give them on a daily basis.

“Every day is a training day,” Miller said. “We conduct training as often as possible. It keeps the dogs sharp and helps us maintain our rapport with them.”

That rapport is critical out in the field.

“The main thing between a trainer and a dog is their rapport,” Kinsey said. “We have to notice the dog’s behavior and make decisions based on that. A dog’s normal temperature is between 101 and 103 degrees. If its body temperature gets up to 106, the dog starts shutting down and begins to die. Out here in the desert, that is a big risk we have to monitor.”

Miller throws Gabriel’s cong around a few more times before calling an end to the training session. The handler roughly shakes the dog and encourages him.

“Normally, specialized off-leash search dogs stay with the same handler their entire military career so we should be together a while,” Miller said.

The 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, from Fort Benning, Ga., has been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since March.

.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
I love reading about the dogs that help our soldiers. I love the team work and the bonding that goes on.

Non-English Speakers Charge Bias in Prescription Labeling
NYT
Pharmacies across the city routinely fail to help non-English speakers understand their prescriptions, raising the chances that customers could harm themselves by taking medicines incorrectly, immigrant advocacy groups charge in a discrimination complaint that they plan to file today with the New York attorney general’s office.
The complaint names 16 pharmacies in Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island, most of them operated by chains. It argues that federal civil rights law and state health regulations require pharmacies to provide linguistic help to guarantee that people who speak little or no English receive equal access to health care. That assistance should include interpreters at pharmacies and written translations of medication instructions, the advocates say.
Nisha Agarwal, a lawyer for one of the groups filing the complaint, said the attorney general’s office had already issued subpoenas to several pharmacies listed in an earlier version of the complaint filed in July. The new version names more pharmacies, and an accompanying report includes more examples of comprehension problems non-English speakers have had.

“The idea is that people should not be placed in danger by not understanding their medication regimen,” said Andrew Friedman, an executive director of Make the Road New York, one of the groups filing the complaint, along with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and the New York Immigration Coalition.

Jeffrey Lerner, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office, said only, “We have an ongoing investigation.”

The pharmacies named include six operated by Rite Aid, three CVS stores, three Duane Reade stores, a Walgreens and a Wal-Mart. CVS said it was cooperating with the attorney general. The other companies declined to comment on the pending legal matter, but said they were trying to provide good service for diverse populations.

Tiffani Bruce, a spokeswoman for Walgreens, said the chain provided medication labels in 14 languages and kept a nationwide database of its pharmacists who speak other languages, enabling a pharmacist to call a colleague who can talk to a customer.

CVS said it provided telephone interpreters in 150 languages, and Rite Aid said it tried to hire bilingual pharmacists and provided labels in 12 languages.

The advocacy groups provided The New York Times with a copy of the complaint and the accompanying report.
The report chronicles the stories of more than a dozen New Yorkers who said they struggled to understand their prescriptions at local pharmacies. Reyita Rivera, 47, for example, who speaks and reads only Spanish, said she could not understand the printed instructions that came with her antidepressant medication, and ended up taking too much. She said she had to be admitted to a Queens hospital after the medication caused a racing heartbeat.

“That experience scared me a lot. I felt very bad — I thought I was just going crazy,” Mrs. Rivera, a Dominican immigrant, said in an interview, speaking through an interpreter.

She said she could not communicate with the staff at her pharmacy in Ridgewood, Queens, and received no printed explanation of the medication in Spanish.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
What has happened to people wanting to learn English? My grandparents, Nick’s parents and others that came to our country many of them had to learn English, and wanted to. Nick’s Dad even had some funny stories about when he was trying to learn the English. There was a wonderful pride in being an American and a strong desire to want to better oneself and be a part of their new homeland.
It’s so easy for politicians and “activists” to mandate that businesses do XYZ, but where is the money coming from? If pharmacies operating in areas requiring translators charge more, get ready for the next story saying that Pharmacies are gouging immigrants.

You can get your Halloween name here
www.deadname.com
Mine is:
Necrotic Obsession
LOL whatever that means. hahahahaa