Theodore's World

Hero performed by Michael Israel in New York
HERO explores commitment to an ideal. It asks the question: What endeavor would you undertake knowing full well that the odds are you will fail? What would you give your all to knowing it’s likely you will be severely injured or even die trying? What is the greatest possible reward and in that thought, what is the most valuable and priceless thing on earth?

Paul and Chrissie are a young couple, in their twenties, and have started a new family.
Story as told by Chrissie

I’ll never forget that day. My husband Paul didn’t even eat breakfast, he was excited and wanted to get to the fire station early. It was his first week on the job. And there at the door, he stood he stood waiting for a hug from Jessie our adorable 3 year old. When Paul told that her he loved her, Jessie’s face lit up with a big smile and in her tiny voice she said “Daddy, will you play with me when you get home?”
Paul smiled and said “Of course.”
I hated that we both had to work, but I was glad that Jessie could go to Gail’s apartment to play her daughter Jen. When we got there Jessie and Jen started playing with dolls right away. And then on my way out the door I heard Jessie tell Jen that her daddy is a fireman. She sounded so proud. I left feeling happy and proud of both Jessie and Paul.
I didn’t know that that day would change my life forever.
They tell me that Jessie got up to go to the bathroom. Right after she closed the door there was huge explosion, the entire building shook. Gail said the apartment filled with smoke. Without even thinking Gail grabbed Jen and ran out.
Frantically she found the fire chief and told him that there was another little girl trapped in her apartment. But, the chief told her there was no way he could send anyone into that collapsing old building.
The Gail heard Paul’s voice on the radio saying he was on the second floor.
The chief told Paul to get out… that he had a family to think about, but Paul’s voice came back on the radio and said that he wouldn’t leave until he knew everyone was safe.
He said he heard there was a little girl trapped in one of the apartments. Little did he know…
The chief was yelling at him: “Are you insane, GET OUT OF THERE before the building collapses”, but Paul refused.
When I got there I didn’t see Jessie and just went crazy. I was going to go in there and get her myself. The chief had to grab me to stop me.
When he realized who I was he told me Paul was already in there. But when I asked him if they were OK, he just looked at me.
Then I heard Paul’s voice on the radio. It was broken up, but I heard him say he it was really bad. He said he was going to try to get the child and make it to a window. He told the chief “You’d better call my wife. Tell Chrissie I love her and tell her to take good care of Jessie, and…” The radio went dead.
I screamed! All I could do was scream. “Paul, its Jessie! IT’S JESSIE! God, he doesn’t know!”
In my heart, I imagined he found her… That he hugged her and at least for a moment everything was OK.
There was another huge explosion, the ground shook more violently than ever and fire blew out the windows. I just fell to my knees. “Noooooo!”
The chief tied to tell me what a hero Paul was and that he went in there with good reason that day. I felt like someone had just punched me in the stomach. I was shaking, delirious about what had just happened. I started thinking “Oh my God, my life is over. Did I say the right things, did I do the right things? Did I tell them I love them?”
And then all of a sudden there they were jumping out of the fourth floor window. It was like a dream. There was Paul hanging on to Jessie with her arms wrapped around his neck.
Paul stood still holding Jessie, his head bowed in a silent pray of thanks. Jessie was hugging him, her head turned back with tear filled eyes watching as the rest of the building collapsed. She said “Mommy, I wasn’t scared. I knew Daddy would come. He’s my hero, isn’t he?”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
This story and the video really got to me. We lost 11 of our friends (firefighters) on 9-11, friends that we met though one of our nephews that is a firefighter in New York City. In reading the story told by Chrissie (not me another Chrissie) it touched my heart so much.
….Thank you John (VN 89-70) for sending this video to me.

When you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please include the following:

A Recovering American soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue,NW
Washington,D.C. 20307-5001

….Thank you Jack. I love it. hahaha
And the bear is so cute!! Jack’s blog is Conservative Insurgent.

U.S. commanders in Iraq say a recent raid produced an intelligence bonanza that could lead to future successes in the battle against Al-Qeada.

U.S. soldiers and Iraqi National Police officers talk to students at the Yarmook Girls School in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood during a visit to the school to see improvements made during a recent renovation effort sponsored by the Iraqi government, Iraqi police, and the U.S. military.
From left to right: Army Capt. Alex Carter, a civil affairs team chief attached to 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division; an Iraqi police officer; Brig. Gen. Ali Ibrahim Daboun, commander of 8th Brigade, 2nd INP Division; Army Staff Sgt. Brandon Lantz, a civil affairs linguist; and Army Lt. Col. Dan Barnett, commander of 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment. Photo by Sgt. Mike Pryor, USA

BAGHDAD
Oct. 24, 2007
DOD
When students at the Yarmook Girls’ School in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood returned from summer vacation last month, they found that their school had received an extreme makeover thanks to the government of Iraq and the U.S. Army.
U.S. soldiers and Iraqi National Police visited the recently renovated school Oct. 22 to see the improvements and hand out backpacks and soccer balls to the students.
The renovations to the school totaled $200,000 of improvements, including a new roof, a new lighting system, repairs to cracks in the pavement and stairs, and a paint job, said Glen Allen, Va., native Capt. Alex Carter, a U.S. Army civil affairs team chief who helped oversee the project.

“Nine other schools in Sadr City also have been renovated over the past few months, as part of the same program that refurbished the Yarmook Girl’s School, “Carter said.

“The school improvement program was made possible by cooperation among the Ministry of Education, the local neighborhood councils, school officials, the Iraqi National Police, and the U.S. Army’s 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, which operates in the Sadr City area,” he said.

“What makes this special to me is that this really validates how effective we are working with the Iraqi police in Sadr City,” Carter said.

The top Iraqi police official present at the school visit, Brig. Gen. Ali Ibrahim Daboun, commander of 8th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police Division, said he also was pleased by cooperation between the Iraqi government, the Iraqi security forces, and the U.S. military.

He said he hopes that the school improvement program would show the 2.5 million residents of Sadr City that they are a priority of the Iraqi government.

“In the past, they were neglected, but the new government will serve them,” he said.

(Army Sgt. Mike Pryor is assigned to 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.)

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Of course our media doesn’t want us to know about this. God bless our troops and keep them safe. I am so proud of them, they are truly amazing.

( Illegal) Immigration Plan Fails Senate Test Vote
WASHINGTON (AP)
Legislation to give children of illegal immigrants a path toward legality failed a crucial test vote in the Senate Wednesday, likely putting a final stamp on major immigration measures for the year.
Supporters needed to get 60 votes to advance the DREAM Act, which would have allowed illegal immigrants who plan to attend college or join the military, and who came to the United States with their families before they turned 16, to move toward legality.
The final vote was 52-44.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Just an update as to what happened with the vote yesterday.
Yep once again it failed. Now we get a breather till the next time whenever that will be, because we all know they are not going to give up. They will try again. It will be some type of stealth maneuver. I hope Americans remember who the traitors are and kick them out of Congress when their terms are up.
U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes
Here are the Republicans that should be ashamed of themselves:
YEAs -—52
Bennett (R-UT)
Brownback (R-KS)……….yep the guy that WAS running for President
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Craig (R-ID)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)-Hutchinson wants to be governor of Texas- this won’t sit well with the American citizens of TX
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
Snowe (R-ME)

UPDATE on Islamo-Fascism Week

newsmax
A week-long series of forums discussing Islamic fundamentalism’s ties to human rights abuses and terrorism has sparked protests and charges of hate speech on college campuses nationwide.
Students on more than 100 college campuses nationwide are participating in Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, which organizers say is designed to “rally American students to defend their country.” Events are scheduled at schools including Princeton, UCLA, Columbia University, and Penn State.
Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week is the creation of Terrorism Awareness Project (TAP), a student offshoot of the David Horowitz Freedom Center. Its mission, according to its Web site, is to counteract the “blame America first” crowd that dominates America’s universities. The group aims to educate students and other Americans about the “cadre of Islamic terrorists” who “have declared Holy War on the U.S.,” according to organizers.

“We are trying to arm students with the truth that they aren’t getting from the left on college campuses,” TAP President Stephen Miller tells Newsmax. “America cannot defend herself without the support of her people. If the citizens of this country don’t understand this deadly threat — its resources, its aims, its capabilities — they won’t be able to protect her and defeat our enemy.”

Even Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Islamic Republic News Agency is getting into the fray, issuing two press releases to help students at Columbia University protest Horowitz’s appearance at his alma mater later this week.
Protesters went so far as to plaster the campus of George Washington University with phony fliers reading, “Hate Muslims? So Do We!!!” The posters purported to promote the Islamo-Fascism Awareness event and appeared to be signed by the conservative student group GWU Young America’s Foundation.

“We did not put up those posters,” YAF chapter president Sergio Gor, a senior, tells the Washington Post. “Someone took our name and used it. It was hateful. It’s clear when you look at the flier that this is an obvious attack from the left.”

“The only thing people should be afraid of is ignorance of the threat facing our nation,” says Miller. “We’re drawing a big distinction between Islam and Islamo-fascists. In fact, Muslims should join us. [Islamo-fascsists] killed, raped, tortured, and maimed people, and anyone who is an advocate of human rights should support us.

“Our opponents have demanded we abandon the term Islamo-fascism and instead use only vague terms like terrorism. That is ridiculous — and dangerous,” Miller says. “It’s hard to defeat an enemy you’re not permitted to describe. One of the points of this week is to get rid of the political correctness that handcuffs us when we talk about the threat.

“We’re not going to back down an inch to the leftist bullies. We are going to continue this fight,” he says.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
LOL this is too funny.
Good grief, here they let, invited… whatever Ahmadinejad to speak at a University here in America, and now he is one of the leftie activists even though he is far away. What the heck will be next, making Ahmadinejad a Professor. Ahmadinejad getting a Nobel Prize, let’s see maybe he can become Jimmy Carter’s PR man too. They do have so much in common after all.

Additional 550 Marines from Camp Pendleton are preparing to deploy to the fire area
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.
Marines here joined disaster-relief efforts for California wildfires Monday night by supplying food, water and hundreds of cots to residents on the base and in surrounding communities.
Paul McHale, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, said that 12 Defense Department camp pendleton fire fighting teams, with 12 engines, are already working the blazes and more than 17,000 National Guardsmen are potentially available if needed.
In addition, he said, 550 Marines from camp pendleton are preparing to deploy to the camp pendleton fire area.
Wildfires have destroyed much of Southern California, forcing mass evacuations and burning hundreds of homes. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency for seven counties including San Diego County Monday.
Camp Pendleton has allowed 20,000-23,000 civilian vehicles to travel through to the greater San Diego area, said Col. J.B. Seaton III, commanding officer of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

“We feared what we would have to face,” said Abby Deloach, a Fallbrook resident who sought refuge with her husband. “We guessed there would be something here. Even if we had to sleep in our car we would feel safer (on base) anyway.”

Within two hours of notification, Marines stocked the field house with food, water and beds.
Camp Pendleton’s Paige Field House was utilized to house the refugees looking for shelter.
The field house will shelter and supply people in need for as long as the resources are needed, said Kerri Latimore, manager of Paige Field House.
The Paige Field House was on standby, waiting for the call telling them their facility would soon become an evacuation center.

“We need to take a bigger part in the community,” said Sgt. Fernando J. Urena, 27, from Los Angeles. “It makes me glad that Marines rose to the occasion.”

Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton has also offered its resources for refueling civilian and government aircraft. Marine Corps Air Station Miramar remains on standby to assist with firefighting efforts.
The Marine Corps is not only looking after displaced civilians, but also service members who need assistance.

“The Navy Marine Corps Relief Society is offering financial assistance for any military service member who has been evacuated and might need money for food or gas,” said Roxanne Clouse, the Deputy Director of the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society here.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
This fire has to be the worst in history for Calif. Just guessing but it is worse then the two that Nick and I survived when we lived in Malibu. I know what it feels like to have choppers over our house, flames over 100 feet right next to our home and kerchiefs on our faces so we could breath. Being told to leave, not wanting to but knowing you have to go and getting our animals in a safe place. Going back to see if we can see our home if it is OK or not…….all of it a feeling I would not wish on anyone and will never forget.
Prayers for all in the wake of this horrible fire and for those that have been effected by this fire. Prayers too for the safety of those fighting this fire.

Wednesday Cloture Vote Set For DREAM Act Amnesty Bill
(October 23)
Numbers USA
Last night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) filed to invoke cloture on S. 2205, Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin’s (D-Ill.) new stand-alone DREAM Act amnesty bill.
The cloture vote, for which 60 YES votes are necessary to prevent a filibuster on the measure, is set for Wednesday, October 24. Reid is attempting to bring this nightmarish amnesty bill to the floor under Senate Rule XIV without it ever having been debated in committee.
Some of the text:

By Mr. DURBIN (for himself,
Mr.HAGEL, and Mr. LUGAR):
S. 2205. A bill to authorize the cancellation
of removal and adjustment of
status of certain alien students who
are long-term United States residents
and who entered the United States as
children, and for other purposes; read
the first time.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that the text of the
bill be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the text of
the bill was ordered to be placed in the
RECORD, as follows:
S. 2205
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in
Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Development,
Relief, and Education for Alien Minors
Act of 2007’’ or the ‘‘DREAM Act of 2007’’.

The Senators listed below have made a firm commitment to vote NO on the DREAM Act amnesty under any circumstances.
Anti-Amnesty Champions
Alabama: Sessions; Shelby
Colorado: Allard
Georgia: Chambliss; Isakson
Kansas: Roberts
Kentucky: Bunning; McConnell
Louisiana: Vitter
Mississippi: Lott
Missouri: Bond
North Carolina: Burr; Dole
Oklahoma: Coburn; Inhofe
South Carolina: DeMint
South Dakota: Thune
Tennessee: Alexander; Corker
Wyoming: Barrasso; Enzi
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Representative Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) today released a statement regarding an event Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) reportedly plans to hold in conjunction with discussion of the DREAM ACT – an event that will be attended by several illegal aliens.

“I call on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency to detain any illegal aliens at this press conference. Just because these illegal aliens are being used for political gain doesn’t mean they get immunity from the law.”

“If we can’t enforce our laws inside the building where American laws are made, where can we enforce them?”

Tancredo alerted the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency earlier today regarding Durbin’s 3:00 PM meeting.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
I am so sick and tired of this, they just keep at it. With short breaks in between and won’t give up favoring the illeglas.
At least he is pointing out what kind of law-breaking is going on in OUR buildings. I just wonder what it will take to move these people to represent the U.S. of A. and the legal citizens.
The co-sponsors are Lugar and Hagel and if it passes a republican president will sign it. Let’s be honest, this is a bipartisan effort to sell out the country.
As Jeff Sessions pointed out, it’s not just 1 million and something that will get amnesty. Once they become citizens, they can bring in all the currently illegal family members. So you see, it’s not just a question of innocent children who were brought here by their parents. This bill would reward the illegal parents via chain migration!
They are the illegal children that their illegal parents brought to our country. These ‘children’ (as defined in the Dream Act to age 30) need to address the consequences of their parents’ actions with their parents who broke the law. I owe them nothing. Not one damn thing. We need to remember not all of these ‘children’ were brought here — some came on their own initiative.