my 25cents and more

My new baby

M70AB2. Shoots like a dream. I put 300 rounds thru it today and love it. I already ordered new furniture for it.

Downtown Baghdad

The view from my roof top, looking west towards the IZ.

How can you tell there is a terrorist at the airport?

Treason, Sedition and the price of ignoring it

Two stories got my crow today. I read Larry “I know better than the elected representatives of the people” Wilkerson’s op-ed and read the media take on the firing of Mary “I gave 7500 dollars in campaign contributions to Kerry and the DNC” McCarthy for leaking classified information and became physically ill. Is not their actions, as repulsive as they were, that made me sick. Nor their lionization by the MSM. Is the complete lack of testosterone on the part of the justice department. They have allowed these two, who have admitted sedition, treason and espionage, in a time of war, to get away with it. And please don’t discount my words as those of a kook. The charges I make are severe, but so are their actions. Larry Wilkerson, formerly second in command at the state department, admits openly that while he was at the state department he worked against the policies of the elected representatives of this nation. That is treason and sedition. Mary McCarthy, who disagreed with the CIA foreign detention camps, released information of their existence in order to force them to close. That is treason and espionage. But lets say we forget those two. After all, the damage is already done and this spineless administration does nor want to look “mean”. The problem is that this is not about Democrats, it is about our democracy. If we allow sedition, espionage and treason to be swept under the rug in order to “foster dialog and debate”, more people will commit treason espionage and sedition.

A great example of this is the 6 generals. Before Weasely Clark retired and started speaking against the elected representatives, no general, retired or active duty, would have thought of bad mouthing the elected civilian representatives. Now any retired general with a bone to pick can say whatever he wishes. What next, active duty generals opposing the orders and policies of elected leadership? After all, been retired does not mean you are not covered by regulations. You are placed on the retired roles but are still a general. Only by resigning can you be free of military regulations. So technically, future active duty generals are free to publicly tell elected officials to go to hell, as long as the officials are republicans that is.

I understand that this president is not a conservative but a Republican. His goal is to advance the power of the party, even if the conservative agenda takes a hit (see no child left behind, prescription drug benefit and lack of border enforcement). But this is much more than a Republican thing, it’s a republic thing. Our republic can not stand if we refuse to defend her against all enemies, foreign or domestic, for political expediency.

Why we win

One of the many bloggers that I read daily has a recurring feature named “why we win”. When I saw this today, I thought of that feature. Only someone raised with the western innovation and thought process would come up with this.

This building suffered massive bomb damage (4 JDAMS) and is unusable. Well, not quite. Some inventive warriors have found use for a wicked incline and installed a climbing kit.

A-fragging-mazing

Blogging from an undisclosed location

Well here I am kiddies, blogging from an undisclosed location. Back to the land of the crescent moon and downtown…well undisclosed. The company for whom I work for does a lot of business with the military. My job, as geek for hire, entails occasional travel to exotic locations. This been my second time here, was much less surprising than my first trip. OK off to the details. After landing in the modern KICA I was transported by bus to a tent city in the sand known as AAS. 25 hours later I was on board a C130 to BIAP. A fascinating flight I must say. One of the interpreters flying with us, named Mani, but looking more like a Jassim, had some bladder control issues, He kept on trying to go to the back of the C130 to relieve himself and the crew chief, a young man whose mama probably named Jesus Esteban, but looks like he goes by Steve, kept on trying to explain that relieving himself in the tube while still at the tarmac was not a polite thing to do. After achieving altitude “Steve” finally let the poor man back there. Good thing too. I thought he was ready to piss his pants. A quick road trip later, I found myself stuck in FOB L. And when I say stuck I mean stuck, I could not get thru the skulls of the people scheduling my helicopter flight that my 4 month stay in my final destination would require more than a carry on bag. Finally I was able to leave my counterpart behind and use his seat for my bags. Very polite of him I must say. After an eternity on the slow helicopter ride from hell, I finally arrived at my current undisclosed location. Is a good thing that Al (my counterpart) missed his flight. The company moved him to a different FOB 2 days later. Ce’este la vie. My new home, is a 3 bedroom apartment shared by 5 geeks. Interesting place. I will be posting more in the coming days.

Marvel Comics Does Right

Do you remember the days when the entertainment industry was patriotic? You don’t? Well don’t fret. There is someone outside of country music (Dixie chicks and Tim Mcgraw excluded) that gives a shit about the troops. I picked this up today while doing SRP (Soldier’s Readiness Program). It was freely available to all soldiers (and old civilians like me). So enjoy the cover.

They really believe this crap!!!!

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Conferences, told Javier Solane, EUs foreign policy chief, that:

"In Europe unfortunately Muslims have taken the place of Jews during World War II:

Really mehli???? Well lets review and contrast:

Jews during WWII