Theodore's World

Stamp honors James Stewart (decorated World War II bomber pilot and actor)
(AP)
Lots of actors play war heroes on the screen. James Stewart was one in real life.
A decorated World War II bomber pilot who returned from battle to star in “It’s A Wonderful Life,” Stewart will be commemorated on a new 41-cent postage stamp being released Friday.
Stewart flew 20 bombing missions over Germany, including one over Berlin, after wrangling combat duty when commanders would have preferred to use a movie star for morale building work at home.
As a squadron commander, Stewart flew many dangerous missions when he could have sent others instead, recalled Robbie Robinson, a sergeant who was an engineer-gunner in Stewart’s B-24 squadron.
But while Stewart rose to colonel during the war and later retired as a brigadier general in the reserves, he didn’t stand on ceremony.
Robinson, of Collierville, Tenn., recalled one time when a creative tail gunner managed to “liberate” a keg of beer from the officer’s club.

That evening, Stewart wandered into a hut where some men were resting, picked up a cup, walked over to the “hidden” keg, poured himself a beer and sat back and drank it slowly, relaxing in a chair.
“We were shaking in our boots,” Robinson said.
But Stewart merely got up, wiped out the cup, asked the men to keep an eye out for a missing keg of beer, and left.

Another time, Robinson recalled in a telephone interview, his plane landed behind another that was stuck on the end of the runway, nearly clipping it’s tail.

After watching this Stewart rubbed his chin and commented: “Ye Gods, sergeant, somebody’s going to get hurt in one of these things.”
“Once in your lifetime someone crosses your path you can never forget, and that was Jimmy Stewart,” Robinson concluded.

This is the 13th stamp in the “Legends of Hollywood” series and will be dedicated in ceremonies at Universal Studios, Hollywood, Calif.

“It’s our privilege to pay tribute to James Stewart, a fantastic actor, a great gentleman, a brave soldier, and an inspirational human being who truly led a wonderful life,” Alan C. Kessler, vice chairman of the postal governing board, said in a statement.

Other highlights from Stewart’s career include the movies “Rear Window,” “Vertigo” and “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” all directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Stewart played a country lawyer in “Anatomy of a Murder” and played a lawyer again in “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” a Western released in 1962.
He won an Oscar for best actor in “Philadelphia Story” in 1940.
Stewart died on July 2, 1997.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
One of my favorite actors and a great patriot and one of my favorite Pennsylvanians. He also flew at least one sortie over Vietnam in a B-52.
I was fortunate to be able to meet Jimmy Stewart. He was truly a gracious gentleman.

Dutch Reject Call to Ban Koran But Worry About Islam
CNSNews.com
Three out of four citizens of the Netherlands reject a populist lawmaker’s call for the Koran to be banned, according to a poll that also indicates a deep level of concern about the role of Islam in their country. The poll indicates there is steadily growing support for the controversial politician’s party.
Geert Wilders of the anti-immigration Freedom Party (PVV) last week called publicly for the Koran to be banned. The subject continues to stir debate, and the Dutch ANP news agency reported that authorities have received “scores” of complaints from around the country.

In an open letter published in a Dutch newspaper, Wilders said some of the text’s verses instruct Muslims “to oppress, persecute or kill Christians, Jews, dissidents and non-believers, to beat and rape women and to establish an Islamic state by force.”

Meanwhile, Wilders says he plans to press criminal charges against a Dutch-Moroccan rapper who calls himself Appa, after the rapper told a newspaper that “if someone were to put a bullet in his [Wilders’] head, I wouldn’t mind.”
Appa’s latest song/video is laced with expletives and features images depicting violence, assaults and an abduction. He wears a t-shirt bearing the word “terrorist” and handles knives and axes and other weapons.
In 2004, a Dutch-Moroccan extremist murdered Theo Van Gogh, a controversial filmmaker critical of extremist Islam. Another high-profile critic, Somalia-born lawmaker Ayaan Hirsi Ali, had worked with Van Gogh on a documentary about the oppression of women under Islam. She too faced death threats and later moved to the United States, where she is now a resident fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

Wild Thing’s comment………
Awhile back I received an email from someone that I knew when I lived in California. She is a strong conservative and feels as we do about our troops, the war and politics. She had just gone on her first trip out of the USA and had this to say about Amsterdam.
When I say this article I thought of her email to me that I had saved……………..

” I just got back from Amsterdam; I had never been there before and I came away with some mind blowing data, heretofore unknown by me:
A) All those deadly, steep stairs my friends warned me about really do exist – they would never pass OSHA standards
B) They really do sell pot in the coffeehouses, and the quality is so high it makes aforementioned stairs nearly impassable
C) The place is crawling with rude, surly muslims who looked at me with murder in their eyes, although, in my defense, I may have been a bit paranoid at the time.
But really, who would go to the Anne Frank House and laugh and goof off the entire time, as if were Disneyland?
Answer: muslims, from what I saw.”

Syrian missile buildup continues, Israel calls situation ‘tense’
TEL AVIV
Syria continues to deploy missiles supplied by Russia and has established an anti-aircraft umbrella around Damascus and the Golan Heights.
Israel’s military has reported that the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad deployed a range of surface-to-air missile assets in southern Syria. The military said the assets were purchased over the last year from Russia and financed by Iran.
“The situation is tense,” a senior Israeli officer said.
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi met at the military’s Northern Command headquarters near the Lebanese border. The three men, on the first anniversary of the conclusion of the 34-day war with Hizbullah, received briefings on Syrian military preparations.

“I don’t think it is in Syria’s interest to start a war,” Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said. “It is not in our interests to start war. This tension is unnecessary.”

Military sources said Syria has been deploying short- and medium-range missiles and rockets in southern and central Syria. They said the Assad regime has been engaged in accelerated deployment of the Scud C and D missiles, with ranges of 550 and 700 kilometers, respectively.

“There are more than 100 mobile Syrian launchers in the Golan Heights,” a source said. “This means that within an hour, they can fire at least 400 missiles into Israel.”

The Syrian military has also accelerated training in commando and anti-tank weapons tactics. The sources said Syrian commando units have been receiving Russian-origin AT-14 Kornet anti-tank missiles.
The Syrian procurement included the Pantsir-S1 air defense system, also ordered by the United Arab Emirates. Damascus has also upgraded its SA-3 and SA-6 systems and plans to purchase the S-300.
The military sources said Iran plans to fund huge Syrian weapons purchases over the next year. The sources said Damascus has already ordered a large quantity of SAMs and anti-tank missiles, most of which have not been delivered.

“They will arrive over the next six to 12 months,” a military source said.

…..
Wild Thing’s comment……..
Yes it is tense, but it has been tense for longer then just now. I hope the Israelis get some REAL leadership before the shooting starts.
Just two years ago, Israel evacuated all 9,000 Israelis living in Gaza and four northern West Bank communities in an effort to pave the way for peace and a future Palestinian state. During the disengagement, Israel uprooted entire communities including schools, businesses, places of worship and the only Jewish cemetery there.
I say ENOUGH! I pray for strong leadership in Israel, for the IDF.
It may have the worlds best anti-air defenses now, thanks to Iran and Russia, but it does not have anti-missile defense systems like Israel has with the THEL and Arrow/Patriot systems..

Padilla convicted of terrorism support
yahoo news ……for complete article
Miami
Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant, was convicted Thursday of helping Islamic extremists and plotting overseas attacks in a case that came to symbolize the Bush administration’s zeal to clamp down on terrorism.
U.S. officials say Padilla admitted a much deeper involvement with al-Qaida — including exploring the “dirty bomb” plot — during his incarceration in a Navy brig in Charleston, S.C. But none of that evidence could be used at trial because he was interrogated without being advised of his legal rights and because he had no access to a lawyer.
Instead, after a three-month trial and only a day and a half of deliberations, the 36-year-old Padilla and his foreign-born co-defendants were convicted of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim people and two counts of providing material support to terrorists.
Padilla showed no emotion and stared straight ahead as he heard the verdict that could bring him a life prison sentence. One person in the family section started to sob.
The three were accused of being part of a North American support cell that provided supplies, money and recruits to groups of Islamic extremists. The defense contended they were trying to help persecuted Muslims in war zones with relief and humanitarian aid.
The White House thanked the jury for a “just” verdict.

“We commend the jury for its work in this trial and thank it for upholding a core American principle of impartial justice for all,” said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House. “Jose Padilla received a fair trial and a just verdict.”

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales called the verdict “a significant victory in our efforts to fight the threat posed by terrorists and their supporters.”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
After the verdict came down, the CNN website had enemy combatant in quotation marks. Anything to undermine this victory for America. They have sine removed it. hahaha What jerks to have put it that way to begin with.

The Bush administration is reported to be ready to declare Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps a “specially designated global terrorist” organization.
If the move goes forward, it would be the first time the United States has added an armed forces unit of any sovereign government to its list of terrorist groups. The designation allows the U.S. to freeze any assets the group, its members, or subsidiaries may have in the U.S.
According to the reports published late Tuesday on the web sites of the Washington Post and the New York Times, the move reflects escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s nuclear activities and U.S. allegations of Iranian support for insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Tehran denies all U.S. allegations and says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, senior administration officials say a final decision has not yet been made, and that there still is an internal debate whether to target the entire Iranian corps or only its al-Quds force wing.
In recent weeks, U.S. officials have complained of growing involvement of the al-Quds force in providing support for insurgents.
Iran has been on the U.S. State department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism since May 1984.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Why “consider” it???? Just do it. Stop playing nice with people. I hope it’s not just talk. I think a confrontation with Iran is unavoidable…I’d rather see it on our terms and schedule.

Iraqi officials: Truck bombings killed at least 500
Baghdad
Rescuers used bare hands and shovels Wednesday to claw through clay houses shattered by an onslaught of suicide bombings that killed at least 250 and possibly as many as 500 members of an ancient religious sect in the deadliest attack of the Iraq war.
Four trucks approached two areas in the northern town of Qahataniya, 75 miles west of Mosul, and exploded within minutes of each other on Tuesday night.
The bombs contained cargos of pebbles which made them even more deadly.
In scenes resembling an earthquake, bodies lay in the street covered in blankets amid the shattered ruins of clay-built houses.
The U.S. military blamed al-Qaida in Iraq, and an American commander called the assault an “act of ethnic cleansing.”
The victims of Tuesday night’s coordinated attack by four suicide bombers were Yazidis, a small Kurdish-speaking sect that has been targeted by Muslim extremists who consider its members to be blasphemers.
The blasts in two villages near the Syrian border crumbled buildings, trapping entire families beneath mud bricks and other wreckage. Entire neighborhoods were flattened.

“This is an act of ethnic cleansing, if you will, almost genocide,” Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq, told CNN. He said that was evident from the fact Yazidis live in a remote part of Ninevah province that has been far from Iraq’s conflict.

Al Qaeda sympathisers recently handed out leaflets to residents near the scene of the tragedy warning that an attack was coming because Yazidis are “anti-Islamic”.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
And the left wants to have sit downs with people like this. Senator Biden insists this is a civil war.

Take a look at this

Listed at this website are the mosques in Florida.
You can put your own Zip code in the box and it will bring up the ones in your State. Or if there are even more then what Florida has it will bring up the mosques showing how many miles from the zip code you enter.
http://islamicvalley.com/prod/entitySearch.php/t/09L/s/fl

Please click
image above to here song, thank you.

Obama: U.S. Troops in Afghanistan Must Do More Than Kill Civilians
Fox News
The senator from Illinois made the comment Monday at a campaign stop in Nashua, New Hampshire.
Barack Obama quote from Tuesday, and his saying that U.S. troops in Afghanistan are…….

“just air-raiding villages and killing civilians.”

“We’ve got to get the job done there,” he said of Afghanistan. “And that requires us to have enough troops so that we’re not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there.”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Obama will end up being no more than footnote in political history. But meanwhile he is a dangerous man and oh how I wish someone could duct tape his mouth shut.

A Muslim ‘Mafia’?
Investors Business Daily
Homeland Security: Forget everything you’ve been told about “moderate” Muslim groups in America. New evidence that U.S. prosecutors have revealed at a major terror trial exposes the facade
Exhibit No. 003-0085 is the most chilling. Translated from Arabic by federal investigators in the case against the Holy Land Foundation, an alleged Hamas front, the secret document outlines a full-blown conspiracy by the major Muslim groups in America — all of which are considered “mainstream” by the media.
In fact, they are part of the “Ikhwan,” or Muslim Brotherhood, the parent organization of Hamas, al-Qaida and other major Islamic terror groups. They have conspired to infiltrate American society with the purpose of undermining it and turning it into an Islamic state.
Check out this quote from Page 7 of the 1991 document:

“The Ikwhan must understand that all their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging their miserable house by the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and Allah’s religion is made victorious over all religions.”

Sounds like the latest screed from Osama bin Laden. But it comes from the Muslim establishment in America.
The secret plan lists several Saudi-backed Muslim groups as “friends” of the conspiracy.
They include the Islamic Society of North America — the umbrella organization — and the North American Islamic Trust, which controls most of the mosques in America and is the forerunner to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, this country’s most visible Muslim-rights group.
All three have been cited as unindicted co-conspirators in the case, with all three sharing membership in the Muslim Brotherhood. Yet all have claimed, in the wake of 9/11, to be moderate, even patriotic.
Another exhibit reveals their plan to create innocuous-sounding “front groups” to hide their radical agenda.
Many in the media and politics have fallen for their deception and helped bring them into the mainstream.
Now everyone knows the truth.
The Muslim establishment that publicly decries the radical fringe — represented by Hamas and al-Qaida — may actually be a part of it. The only difference is that they use words and money instead of bombs to accomplish their subversive goals.
Over the past two decades they have constructed, with Saudi money, an elaborate infrastructure of support for the bad guys — right under our noses.
They even brag about putting “beehives” (Islamic centers) in every major city.
These exhibits — which so far have been ignored by major media outside the Dallas area, where the trial is under way — completely blow the mainstream Muslim NGOs’ cover as pro-American moderates. Many, if not most, aren’t.
This is their real agenda, spelled out in black and white. It should help investigators build a RICO case to dismantle the entire terror-support network in America.
Many have suspected it, but now we have proof that there is a secret underworld operating inside America under the cover of fronts with legitimate-sounding names.
It even uses charities to launder money for violent hits on enemies. It’s highly organized, with its own internal bylaws and security to avoid monitoring from law enforcement.
Sounds like the Mafia.
But unlike the mob, this syndicate is religious in nature and protected by political correctness.
More evidence like this should put an end to such nonsense.

Wild Thing’s comment……..

This effort to prosecute and dismantle the terror cells within the US will be pushed under the carpet if Hillary becomes President. Or it will disappear like the FBI files and be locked in Hillary’s attic for the duration.
A Muslim becomes moderate when he takes his dirt nap. I wouldn’t trust a single one of ‘em.
Reportedly the Saudis are buying influence in American media. It’s curious what can get shelved when someone else is paying the bills.
“In fact, they are part of the “Ikhwan,” or Muslim Brotherhood, the parent organization of Hamas, al-Qaida and other major Islamic terror groups. They have conspired to infiltrate American society with the purpose of undermining it and turning it into an Islamic state.”
None so blind as those who will not see. If a person can’t believe the enemy’s own words, a fatal death wish is the only explanation. They call it “tolerance” and “multiculturalism”.
They include the Islamic Society of North America — the umbrella organization — and the North American Islamic Trust, which controls most of the mosques in America and is the forerunner to (CAIR) the Council on American-Islamic Relations,”
Financed, I might add, exclusively by Saudi Arabia.
Lord Alexander Fraser Woodhouselee once said that ~ “The average age of the world’s great civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back again to bondage.”
Can you imagine Franklin D. Roosevelt and the State Department in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, that they would be donning kimonos and yukatas as they flitted around from sushi bar to teahouse shouting “kampai” and sipping sake and green tea.
Surely none of us could ever imagine our President at the time profusely and tirelessly professing the glorious wonders of Shintoism as he removed his shoes and dedicated a plethora of new Shinto shrines around the country. Or allowing special foot baths to be built at airports to accommodate Japanese travelers? Well that was then and this is 2007 and how times have changed in those who lead (???) our country. Secure our borders ( not) and stick with who is the axis of evil and make no exceptions.

Hurricane Closes Big Island Schools, Parks yahoo news

We urge people on the Big Island to heed the warnings, avoid remote or exposed areas, and to take precautions for protection of life and property. We will reopen these areas on the Big Island as soon as the weather improves, and we can assess them for safe conditions,” DLNR interim chairperson Laura H. Thielen said.
DLNR said it also urges boaters on the Big Island to have a plan when around the Big Island. They suggested going into Honokohau, Kawaihae and Wailoa small boat harbors.
Hurricane Flossie dropped to a Category 3 hurricane on Monday. However, forecasters at the National Weather Service said that the storm is still dangerous and could create severe weather conditions on the Big Island as it passes south of the state.

And now I see this has happened as well.
5.4 magnitude earthquake – Island of Hawaii
This is pretty amazing since they have a hurricane headed that way too.

Wild Thing’s comment……….
A few things actually. I have not posted about the miners, I was filled with hope that they would be found eartly and all would be ok. Almost trying to do massive positive thinking and not posting about it instead. But so far they are not freed and the concerns grow deeper each day for them. Please say a prayer for them and for their families and loved ones. Thank you.
Also, Theodore’s World has readers from all over the world, which is wonderful. I hear from places I never heard of as well as places familiar to all of us. We have a lot of readers in Hawaii and there is a Hurrican headed their way.
Here is an email from Melissa, she lives in Hawaii and is one of the regular readers of TW blog. Her husband is serving in Iraq, it is his second tour. Prayers for a good outcome Melissa. Aloha

” In the next few days that were have a hurricane warning here in Hawaii. It is suppose to come real close to the islands on Tuesday. So far it is not going to hit us directly but it still has time to change directions.So I am going to be getting more supplies for our hurricane kit just in case we get hit and the power is off> I have to get some cooking feul, charcoal and bottled water and maybe a few other things to be on the safe side.
There is also a 1000 acre fire burning off to the north west of where I live and so far they havent got it under control.It is starting to go up the mountain range and is on the other side of the road from where we live.
Please tell your commenters I enjoy their comments. I only have a computer at work and am unable to post from my job.
Mahalo
Melissa”

Update: email came in late afternoon on Tuesday

The 5.4 earthquake was on the Big Island and we didn’t feel it here on Oahu. The only ones we’ve felt here was the ones last year that were the big one a 7+ and the smaller 6+ aftershocks. The big Island is getting hit hard tho as Hurricane Flossie is going to hit it’s south shore sometime this afternoon. They are expecting high winds, 10+ inches of rain and 20 foot surf. We are several islands away and will prob get wind, rain and some higher surf but no where near what the big island is expecting.
The windfire is still burning and has crossed one of the roads on the land that I can see from our house but it is still 8-10 miles from us if not more.
Last it heard it had burned over 3500 acres they’ve been fighting it since Sunday afternoon
I hope they get it under control soon if it keeps going east it will eventually get close to Schofield Barricks.
That I know of no one has lost their life just lost land and maybe a few crops like bananas, mangos ect
If you all want to know more you can got our local news channel KHNL News 8 as they update the web site about every hour or so
I can tell we are going to be getting some winds and cool weather cause the air is cool and the tradewinds havent stopped blowing all morning. I will keep you all updated tho as to whats going on here on my little floating lava rock lol
I will be so glad to get back to the mainland lol
Thank you everyone for your prayers.
Mahalo
Melissa