Halloween at Work

Here are some pics of me at work in my Greek Goddess costume. The girl in the purple baby outfit won Best Costume. Her Mom made her outfit. I got a few votes myself which I was happy about since I wasn't expecting to get any votes.

Election Day: T - 2Days and Counting

I know when I started this week-long countdown to the Presidential Elections, I stated that I was going to post a quote every day from a balanced and informed source showing reasons to re-elect the President and support him; I stated that I would be using sources from the book "FahrenHYPE 9/11" because I felt that it was a very fairly written resource. However, I have found another, better source; though maybe not "balanced" it is certainly, I think, HONEST: www.thetruthaboutiraq.org -- it is created by a Republican, political consultant Steven Moore (any relation to Michael???) -- he was the advisor to Ambassador Paul Bremer and spent considerable time in Iraq. When he returned to the U.S., he was surprised by the negative views on Iraq held by average Americans. His site is GREAT: it address common "myths vs. facts" on key issues such as: We are just forcing democracy on Iraqis, Iraqis want the coalition forces to leave immediately, the insurgency is a popular uprising, among others; for example, did you know that only about 40% of Iraqis want the coalition forces to leave??? Or that among Iraqis only 6% consider the issue of coalition forces leaving Iraq to be the most pressing issue???

He goes on to explain that the reason we see things so negatively here in the U.S. is because there are some key figures of the media reporting in Iraq that are slanting their coverage, among them are some that are doing it purely for political motives:

I don't want to take anything away from the majority of journalists who, as I have said, are extremely brave and doing work under extremely adverse circumstances. However, some percentage - ten percent, twenty percent, thirty percent€ it is difficult to say - is actively slanting their coverage.

For instance, I was at a party one night, chatting with a producer from one of the major networks who I had just met. After about five minutes of normal, mundane conversation, it came out that I am a Republican. She said "You Nazi!" and proceeded to go off on me for about twenty minutes.

Of course, this doesn't color her reporting.

Another woman at that same party, a freelancer for several major magazines, said "The entire goal of my reporting here is to make sure George W. Bush is not re-elected."

Get the facts of how IRAQIs feel and how the war is actually going... visit www.thetruthaboutiraq.org

Election Day: T - 3Days and Counting

"It didn't start with 9/11. That was the most spectacular attack within America's borders on American soil, but this has been going on for 20 years. I mean, I don't know what you say to [people who claim that there is no terrorist threat]. It's like someone saying "the sun rises in the west and sets in the east". It's been attack, attack, attack. The Khobar Towers, the embassy bombings, the attacks on our troops in Saudi Arabia, the West Berlin discotheque, the two attacks on the World Trade Center. Although we don't know much publicly about what's been happening, the Bush administration has been rounding up terrorist groups in this country... [but] when a president makes a prediction about the future that turns out to be untrue, that's not a lie, that's making an incorrect prediction... [and] when liberals look at war, they want to run and hide. It does make you wonder, can America ever fight a war if liberals have their way? I mean, the Battle of Iwo Jima took 17,000 men over a few weeks. 17,000 men -- that's a SINGLE battle. And the country went on and won the war... we know we can flatten any city in 10 minutes. The Pentagon can call that in. What's amazing about this war is how this military can go in strategically, protect mosques, protect civilians, at risk to itself, and the bravery of our troops -- it's an amazing war. And if, if this is what liberals are going to quit over, then there's no war we can EVER fight... even if liberals will deny the numerous connections between Al Qaida and Iraq, the point is that without a serious, adult, quasi-democratic government in these countries you have lunatics like Osama bin Laden running wild. Actually, a war in Afghanistan is less justifiable in some ways than Iraq. It's not like that was always Osama's home. He had just moved there from the Sudan. He's a lunatic moving from country to country. We need to create an Arab Israel, and that's what we're doing in Iraq... a government that we can deal with."

-- Ann Coulter, New York attorney and political author; previously worked for the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Center for Individual Rights.

Election Day: T - 4Days and Counting

"I have a tape of the head of The Muslim Brotherhood openly saying that Islam will reign supreme throughout the world, will reconquer Europe, reconquer. Speaking to Islamic groups in Ohio. And in fact his agenda was clearly there for us to see. It was a 1995 speech. I have it on videotape. And he also says Islam will take over the United States. I have footage of Michael Moore's speech when he received an award from the Muslim Public Affairs Committee in Los Angeles in October of 2003. He lavishly praised this group, a group which has rationalized the killing of Americans in Beirut, and on its website has refused to condemn Hezbollah or Hamas, or even the issue of Saudi Wahhabism. I dare that if a Republican Party official spoke before the Institute for Historical Revisionism, a Holocaust denial group, or before a David Duke convention, the event would be widely criticized. But to the extent that Michael Moore and others have spoken before these terror-supporting groups and legitimized them, I think this is a clear and present danger to our national security. This is the reason why 9/11 happened... anybody who focuses only on the threat posed by Osama or Al Qaida is in denial or misleading the American public. The larger threat is of Islamic extremism. PERIOD."

-- Steve Emerson, America's leading terrorism and national security expert, and Executive Director of The Investigative Project. Also, wrote "American Jihad" and created an award-winning documentary film exposing the clandestine operations of Islamic terrorists operating on American soil. Quote taken from the book "FahrenHYPE 9/11" (emphasis is mine).

What happens when people don't receive enough love as children...

[DISCLAIMER: Let me just state, for the record, that I lived in Brasil for 2 years and LOVED the Brasilian people and thoroughly enjoyed the country, it's a great place!]

"[Brasilian] Federal congressman Reinaldo Santos e Silva proposed the law after psychologists suggested that some children may get depressed when they learn they share their first name with someone's pet... If the law is passed, pet stores and veterinary clinics would be required to display a sign noting the prohibition of human first names for pets... Brazilians who break the law would be subject to fines or community service."

The entire article can be found here.

Linux: Mandrake 10.1 (Official) Released!

If you have been contemplating trying out Linux, the time has never been better! And Mandrake is among the easiest distributions to launch a Windows-lover into Linux land! You can download the entire O/S for free, burn it to CD's, and boot it from CD and install it! You can even download the "Move" version of Mandrake, which is an entire version of Linux on one CD, boot from the CD and run the whole system from the CD while never touching your hard drive... that way you can "test drive" Linux without running the risk of ruining your comfortable Windows.

And what's even better is that the newest version, 10.1, just came out and it's got lots of kewl features! (Did I mention that it runs FASTER than Windows too???)

Election Day: T - 5Days and Counting

"I'm not in the habit of rooting against America, and that seems to be Michael Moore's core principle, regardless of where he goes in the world... He's a movie-maker that can manipulate images. You give me enough footage on a subject, and I can put together a film and have you believe anything I want. It all depends on how you put it together, the use of truths and half truths... I didn't find a single frame [in his movie] that was honest. Take the way he put the 2000 election together. All the analyses afterwards with CNN, with the Washington Post, with everybody, said that Bush would have won the election regardless of how small the margin was. And any injustices that may or may not have happened were actually on the other side, because the networks made calls that Gore won Florida before the panhandle was closed. That's a Republican area, and some people have estimated that 10,000 Bush voters did not even stand in line or go to the polls because they thought the election was already done. You see footage, and you assume that it's victory footage. You assume that Gore had won and they're celebrating. And Ben Affleck was there and Stevie Wonder, and the music was going, and they had the banner up. And Moore makes it seem like this all had to be withdrawn, this all had to be taken back after the shenanigans supposedly went on. What he failed to mention is, that footage was of a rally from before and it was not a celebration party. The whole movie is rife with that stuff... There is some funny stuff in Fahrenheit 9/11. He got a lot of mileage out of the President reading My Pet Goat. But seriously, thank God he didn't jump up and scare everyone... I liked what the President projected... I thought it was a very adult, calm projection of leadership... a lot of how he responded to it was truly courageous, rigorous leadership. It's been consistent. And most important, the enemy knows it. That's what's terribly important, because a lot of people mistake honesty for arrogance. A lot of people mistake consistency for rigidity. A lot of people mistake clarity for simplicity. And a lot of people mistake courage for stupidity. I don't. And unlike Michael and other people who said we should have gone in with overwhelming force, I think Bush understood from the Russian experience in Afghanistan that there was a better way to do it... [and] the central issue of our times is terror, and terrorist groups having access to weapons of mass destruction. There is no other issue in this election for me, and I don't think there should be for anybody. The threat is too catastrophic to even contemplate. And if we're wrong, if we don't do it right, the costs are incalculable, and history will not forgive us... Bush chose not to be surprised by the inevitable. Bush chose to stop them because it's only a matter of time before there's a nuclear weapon used on a major city with millions of people. If it never happens, great. But the odds have run too high. I'm not trusting myself or my children's safety, or our nation's safety in the hands of Michael Moore's perspective on how to protect us. I think they're in danger of being horribly wrong when the history books are written... I actually trust the President. This may shock some people, but I think this is a man of faith. I think on 9/11 he felt that he needed to do something to protect the American people. I think going on the offense is the appropriate response in this world... the Democratic leadership [has been] embracing the commercial film [of Moore's] with so many -- to be kind -- flaws. It degrades the political conversation. Because if the Democratic Party -- of which I'm a member -- finds that film acceptable, we're even more unhinged from reality in our political campaigns. So, I was very, very disappointed."

-- Ron Silver, an accomplished actor and Democratic liberal activist who believes that after 9/11 we must put national security before ideology. Quote taken from the book "FahrenHYPE 9/11" (emphasis is mine).

Halloween Carnival

Hello Everyone,

It's been a while since I've put up a post. I finally have something to put on here and I even have pictures from it.
Tuesday night our ward had a Halloween Carnival. It was mainly for the little kids but the whole ward was invited. For the first hour or so there was a carnival for the kids and then they had dinner for the whole ward and then the kids "Trick or Treated" around the church building. People signed up to decorate a door and they would hand out candy at the door to the kids at their door. I signed up with my buddy Candace and we decorated a door together. We also dressed up as Greek Goddesses together. It was only appropriate since we are goddesses anyways. :) Well, here's the pics of our Greek Goddess outfits.

Election Day: T - 6Days and Counting

"... I live at lower 5th Avenue, and I would say it's about a mile and a half from point zero. And you could smell death in the air for months... and then everybody else knows somebody who was killed... [and] it was all brought home to me when there were services a year later and I was asked to read some of the names of the dead. And I was sitting next to the father of one of the young women who was killd. He was from Wisconsin. He saw it all happening. He was called on the phone by neighbors, and his daughter was in that building at that particular moment, and as he related it to me, I began to weep. It was just aweful... I believe [the Bush administration is] doing a good job, but there's a lot more that has to be done. There's no question that the examination of the container ships is not yet adequate. But they're getting there. I've never voted for a Republican president. I think of myself as a good Democrat. And I tried to bring the party closer to the center, because I'm a centrist myself. I describe myself as a liberal with sanity. And I think it's a description that most Democrats would apply to themselves. But regrettably, the party is oftentimes taken over by the radicals on the left, the McGovern people, the Dean people. And you have to stand up and fight 'em. And I have decided that's exactly what I'm going to do. Because we're at war! And these people want to kill us... and, well, I'd rather kill them, and I'd rather it be done in other countries before they come here... I think [Bush] is a good president. He has enunciated a rule of law which I think rivals the Monroe Doctrine and the Truman Doctrine. The Bush Doctrine is, "We will go after terrorists, and the countries that harbor them." You think John Kerry's going to do that? I don't think so. I know his supporters don't want that."

-- Ed Koch, 105th Mayor of New York City for three terms from 1978 to 1989, also a previous Congressman and member of the New York City Council. A lifelong Democrat and lawyer, columnist, and radio personality. Quote taken from the book "FahrenHYPE 9/11" (emphasis is mine).

Woohoo: I *SMOKED* the PFA!

Ok, truthfully I didn't "smoke" it, but compared to my previous performance over the years, I just completed my BEST EVER PFA. The PFA is the Navy-Wide Physical Fitness Assessment, generally held every 6 months. It is comprised of several events and service members are required to pass each event individually in order to pass collectively. The events are Body Fat Composition (your bodyweight is compared against your height and, if needed, you are measured with a tape, in order to determine if you overweight), Situps and Pushups (do as many of each as you can in 2 minutes, take a 2-5 minute rest period and then do the other exercise in the same fashion), and then run 1-1/2 miles.

I am by no means "the tip of spear" when it comes to fitness levels in the Navy, but I am just so happy that I have set a new all-time personal record, and it shows that my lifestyle changes MUST be having a true effect for the better!

Upon graduation from BootCamp (a little over 4-1/2 years ago!) my best time on the run was 11 minutes and 15 seconds. I don't remember my pushups and situps, but they have never been a problem for me.

Today I ran that mile-and-a-half in 10 minutes and 49 seconds and seriously still had enough left in me that I regret not having pushed myself a little harder in the last 2 laps!

And another thing, I almost always finish the PFA and get almost physically sick, very light-headed and feel like passing out. Today I got done, and besides a slight amount of light-headedness and mildly heavy breathing, I was feeling fine... GREAT, actually! Now, 2 hours later, I feel like about a MILLION BUCKS!!!

Yeah, I'm pretty happy with myself right now... but, seriously, I hope someone can feel my excitement and energy in this post and take it on-board to help motivate themselves... those who know me know that deep down inside all I have ever been is a sit-in-front-of-the-computer type of guy and a fast-food-junkie... so, with a little discipline over a long-time, you can truly make BIG changes!!!

Interview With Richard Miniter, author of "Shadow War"

An excerpt from the interview; when asked whether or not there have been victories in The War on Terror that haven't been reported in the mainstream press, Mr. Miniter responds:

"The US captured the "al Qaeda Admiral" on the island of Umm Qassar. Abdul Rahim al-Nasheri commanded a fleet of 15 cargo ships used to transport terrorists and bombs. His ships supplied the bombs of the US embassy bombings in East Africa on Aug. 7, 1998--which killed hundreds of Africans and 12 American diplomats. He was the mastermind of the USS Cole attack, which killed or wounded 44 American sailors. And, he was planning an attack on the US Navy's Fifth fleet when he was captured. One of his ships was stopped off the coast of Greece with enough high explosives in the hold to create a blast bigger than the Hiroshima bomb. That's a victory that should have made front-page news. Instead, only a few wire services picked it up."

Interesting to note something here: the "al Qaeda Admiral" was captured on the island of Umm Qassar; now, many people may not realize it, but Umm Qassar is in IRAQ! I know this because it was my ship (USS Valley Forge, CG-50) that was responsible for securing the port in Umm Qassar. But wait a minute... aren't we being told that there was no link between al Qaeda and Iraq???

You can read the rest of the interview here.

Election Day: T - 7Days and Counting

With the Nov. 2nd election just 7 days away, there is bound to be a lot of people giving a lot of serious last-minute thought to who to vote for. I have not hidden the fact that I am very supportive of Pres. Bush and will be voting for him. However, I want to provide some balanced representation that is supportive of WHY I am voting for Pres. Bush. Every day I plan on posting a different quote, each taken from several well-respected and well-known American citizens. I will be drawing my quotes from the book "Fahrenhype 9/11" which is a BALANCED response to Michael Moore's movie "Fahrenheit 9/11". Some of the people that co-authored this book are the likes of Dick Morris (Bill Clinton's Political Advisor), Zell Miller (Democratic Senator from Georgia), and Peter King (Republican Congressman from Long Island), among others on both sides of the political aisle.

So, without further ado, here is the entry for T-7 Days to Election Day:

* * * * * * * * * *

"... Look, I don't understand why [some] people hate Bush. I just don't get it. In fact, I've been reading a lot of books lately to try to give me a handle on it, because I'm supposed to be a political analyst, and it's not good if you don't understand what's going on. Me, I feel sheltered, protected and all that by him, because I'm a New Yorker... I voted for Gore in 2000, but when I saw [Pres. Bush] step up after 9/11 -- and I had been urging Clinton to do just that -- at that moment he became MY President... I was a very active participant in the anti-Vietnam war movement because the war was a mistake. But those men and women who are dying in Afghanistan, or Iraq -- that is no mistake. They are dying because we were attacked and we will be attacked again, and they are protecting their loved ones, every day and every hour that they're there... When I worked for President Clinton, something always came before fighting terror... something always came before the priority of fighting terrorism. And that environment has changed under Bush, and I'm very concerned that if Bush is defeated, we're going to go back to the time when everything else comes first."

-- Dick Morris, Political Consultant to both Republicans and Democrats for 25 years. Political Advisor to Bill Clinton and helped formulate White House policy. Quote taken from the book "FahrenHYPE 9/11" (emphasis is mine).

[UPDATED] Michael Moore: Find out the TRUTH!

Don't just blindly believe all the hype behind Michael Moore's "crapumentary"... the guy is the biggest famous dirtbag on the planet! You can't believe anything this guy says. Don't believe me??? I challenge you to get a copy of THIS video and watch it... FIND OUT THE TRUTH YOURSELF and then tell me I'm wrong and why...

BTW, I have just finished watching this video and am now reading the companion book... look for a more detailed 'review' from me soon... but don't just take my word for it... if you honestly believe that there might be at least SOME truth behind Moore's claims, you NEED to see THIS video... so much so, that if you are a friend or family member of mine and don't want to spend your money on what you think might be "Pro-Bush Propaganda"... here's the deal that I will make with you:

Promise that you will go rent a copy of Moore's video "Fahrenheit 911" and watch it objectively. Promise that you will watch the counter-video, "Fahrenhype 911" objectively. I will personally BUY YOU A COPY OF FAHRENHYPE 911 so that you don't have to spend a dime of your own money on it! How's that for a deal??? Just email me and let me know you want one and it'll be in the mail the next day!

Oh yeah, and just to re-emphasize, if you aren't a friend or family member, please don't ask me to mail you a copy of this video... I don't have the money to send everyone in the country free videos, sorry... ;)

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[26OCT04 UPDATE]: Well I've finally had a chance to get a copy of Moore's movie from the local video store. I am not going to go into some lengthy post explaining all of the counter-views to every aspect of his movie. What I am going to say is that I saw his movie "Bowling for Columbine" a couple of years ago. And both of these movies were very similar, just with different topics. They were both VERY, VERY WELL DONE, with a lot of VERY CONVINCING ARGUMENTS, backed with quite a bit of data that "seems" pretty up-front and factual; honestly, the way he spins his movies is admirable... as a work of ART, not as a documentary. In both movies he doesn't show the WHOLE TRUTH... what he does is pick and choose which parts of the "facts" that he wants to use and discards the rest... he carefully weaves his story, made out of pieces of facts, intertwined with subtle hints based on his ideas, and ultimately what he gives you is a web of fabrication! His movies are among some of the VERY BEST pieces of entertainment made in Hollywood, but that does NOT make them true. We've all seen the movie "The Net" (Sandra Bullock). We all remember the first time we watched it how the whole "conspiracy theory" of it itched a whole lot of fear and suspicion inside of us and made us uncomfortable. And at the end of the movie, we walked out of the theater into the fresh air of real life and realized that while SOME of the things in that movie are true, most of it is false and doesn't correctly represent the internet or reality. That is what Moore does with his movies. They wind you up in fear and suspicion and then point the finger of blame at their target. I knew, after watching and analyzing "Bowling for Columbine" that Moore was one of the least-trustable people around, and his new movie has simply confirmed that for me. He constantly accuses his targets of doing the things that they do "for money", but in truth he is playing the role of the devil because the truth is that he is in the business of spreading falsehood, hate, and discontent just in order to make himself extremely rich!

9/11 Commission Showed Iraq-al Qaeda link...

This FOX News story recounts how even though the 9/11 Commission didn't find hard links between Iraq and Sept. 11th, 2001, there definitely was business conducted between Iraq and al Qaeda:

"The report says bin Laden had nowhere near the money to fund Al Qaeda's $30-million-a-year budget. So where did Al Qaeda get the money? The Sept. 11 commission doesn’t know... the Sept. 11 report reveals that Iraq and Al Qaeda started communicating after the United States kicked Saddam out of Kuwait in the first Gulf War in 1991. Bin Laden "himself met with a senior Iraqi intelligence officer" in Sudan in 1994 or 1995, the report says. In 1996, the report says that bin Laden began having serious money problems that required him to cut back spending. Bin Laden sent out a number of feelers to the Iraqi regime in 1997, offering some cooperation. The next year, two Al Qaeda members reportedly went to Iraq to meet with Iraqi intelligence, and an Iraqi delegation traveled to Afghanistan to meet with bin Laden. It was also in 1998 that... bin Laden called "for the murder of any American, anywhere on Earth." Suddenly, according to the Sept. 11 report, "Bin Laden had become the rich man of the jihad movement"... [and] that was the year the Oil-for-Food program really started pumping billions into Saddam's secret accounts..."

... hrrmmmm... sounds like there was a bit more behind the claims of Pres. Bush than has been widely claimed in the mainstream up to now, eh???

I have been watching a story that Fox News is presenting tonight, called "U.N. Blood Money: Oil-for-Food Program"... it's really laying a lot of info. out up-front... after watching this program, I am happier than ever that the President decided to go into Iraq.

New Feature Added: Easier reading of "comments"!

We've added a new feature that should make reading our blog a bit easier. At the bottom of each post you see an entry that says "3 Comments" or something along those lines and you normally would click on it in order to read the comments and/or leave your own. Doing so would take you to a whole new page, thus taking time to load the new page. Well, now if you click on the comments link, the comments just auto-expand underneath the post... click again, and they auto-collapse and hide away again! Try it out! Hope everyone likes it!

Microchip Implants... in the U.S.???

For years now we have all read articles of microchip implants being tested in "far away places" that didn't seem to directly threaten US here in America. It started out with implants in our pets (which I think is a good idea). It progressed to the idea of using them in children to track them in schools and to be able to more easily locate them if they are abducted or lost. For some reason I have never seen that actually implemented, however a recent story broke a while back about schools in Japan using a similar technology but attaching the device to a child's backpack or shoes (an idea I also would generally support, in a vaccuum). The technology just got another huge push forward, and unfortunately it's right here on U.S. soil:

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A computer chip that is implanted under the skin won U.S. approval on Wednesday for use in helping doctors quickly access a patient's medical history... The VeriChip... is placed in the upper arm in a painless procedure that takes minutes... about the size of a grain of rice, the chip contains a patient's identification number that corresponds to health information in a computer database. A handheld scanner can retrieve the patient's number from the chip, which emits radio waves when activated."

The danger, of course, is that once you have an ID number implanted into you (for health information reasons), there is nothing preventing it for being used for OTHER tracking purposes... the possibilities are almost endless! One can imagine it could be used by greedy corporations trying to gleen as much market data as they can, by overzealous employers to track (and control) their employee's every minute, or by an out-of-line official such as a Police Officer utilizing their now much easier access to your private data for their personal benefit or pleasure.

I think this is just a BAD idea that while fixing a few problems today will only create MORE problems in the future... problems that are bigger and harder to solve...

Saddam: Murderer of 300,000 people...

Recently someone I know made the comment, in response to one of the charges of invading Iraq: to end Saddam's killing spree, "oh c'mon, it's not like he was killing people every day!"

Oh, how naive some people are! Mass graves have just been discovered in Iraq. Here is an excerpt from a recent CNN article covering the issue:

Human rights groups believe about 300,000 people were killed during Saddam's 24-year rule, which ended when U.S.-led forces toppled his regime in 2003.

Let's just do some math here, and put this in perspective:

300,000 murders divided by 24 years = 12,500 murders PER YEAR!
12,500 murders per year divided by 365 days per year = over 34 murders PER DAY!

Now that is a LOT of murders by anyone's standard... people should really educate themselves more about obviously polarized issues... after all, issues are usually only polarized because there are educated points on both sides of an issue...

Vietnam Re-Visited: The Public Feast of the Military

Today a new CNN story broke... and as we know, CNN stories get played over and over and over again, literally pounding the issue into our heads... the stories usually get re-played about every 30-60min. for at least 24 hours... don't get me wrong, I myself love the CNN format... but for all it's good points, it has one really big drawback: INDOCTRINATION.

This new story I speak of is about an unofficially released military video shot from the perspective of a pilot of a fighter jet, called in by U.S. ground forces to drop a precision-targeted bomb onto a group of insurgents that were fighting the U.S. ground forces. The video, obviously shot from the sky, shows a very large group of people moving down a street, spread out across the whole street and filling the width of it almost entirely... from my observation, I would guesstimate the total number of people to be 100-200 people. After the pilot was positioned over top of the crowd, he radioed down to his contact on the ground. I forget the specific title of that person's role (for all you Army grunts out there, please forgive my lack of understanding of your MOS's)... it was something like Combat Engineer or something along those lines... CNN explained that the soldier was located WITH the ground forces and his job entails visually confirming what the situation is on the ground before giving the "OK" to the pilots to drop the munitions. This particular soldier was queried by the pilot and was asked to confirm that the large group of people in front of them were the hostiles and to give the "OK" to take them out. The soldier on the ground gave his confirmation and approval. A few seconds later you hear the pilot tell the soldier, "10 seconds to detonate"... and roughly 10 seconds later, the bomb exploded exactly on top of the crowd.

Now here's the twist that is just being put out now in the media: the "experts" are asking things like "where was the 'Combat Engineer', was he on the ground with the forces or was he removed in some base??? How do WE know that those people were indeed threats??? Why would a large group of insurgents just gather in some big mass easy target in the street???" And other such questions are being asked by similiar so called "experts"... but the questions themselves aren't what I find so upsetting... it is the FORUM that these questions are being asked/presented in that I have a problem with.

You'd think we would have learned from Vietnam: we should NOT nit-pick and tear apart our military members in public forums... it doesn't contribute to anything except the morale decline of service members across all branches. In our societ, we have a duty to ask questions and debate issues, and military strategies should really be no exception... however, it is best to leave those debates to our nation's 'think tanks", our Congressional meetings, our Defense meetings, and other similar forums that are more or less "closed door"... and NOT put on the national and international news! The average American simply cannot understand the issues because the average American has never been in war, or even simulated war, and thus can't know what it's like to be in such a position that you feel calling in air support is your only choice. I have to a few combat fire simulators, and even though I knew that the sting of a bullet hitting me would only be temporary because it was actually just paint, being overwhelmed by the "enemy" really got the blood going! The average American is just too distanced from such a situation and really has no real perception of what it's like to be down there... to put such stories in front of them is just going to cause the public's support of our troops to decline to the low points of the Vietnam War. I believe it's irresponsible, unpatriotic, and yes, immoral.

Now, I don't pretend to have more weight and experience than these "experts"... after all, I don't know any of their backgrounds and my experience of combat was limited to being on a naval ship in the middle of the Persian Gulf and nothing even close to being a grunt. But, in support of those grunts, here's my two-cents on the issue: CNN confirmed that the Combat Engineer WAS INDEED on the ground WITH the forces under assault. They stated that that was normal procedure and that the job of the Combat Engineer is to be a set of eyes on the ground to provide visual verification of the situation at hand before giving authorization for air support. Now let me see if I get this right: This is this man's JOB... and he was there on the ground PERSONALLY WITNESSING what was going on... WHY ARE WE QUESTIONING HIM??? I mean, honestly... are we accusing him of LYING or being uncapable of doing his job??? What gives us, the American public, the right to question his integrity or his expertise??? ARE YOU A COMBAT ENGINEER??? Do you know ANYTHING about being a Combat Engineer??? No. So we have no grounds to question him, IN A PUBLIC FORUM... now, the experts have every right and duty to bring these things up in 'closed' forums (not necessarily closed, but it shouldn't be in the news).

Another one they asked: "Why would a large group of insurgents amass in the street with no cover and just walk down the street, open to getting gunned down???" Oh c'mon... are we really that naive??? I thought EVERYONE saw "Black Hawk Down"... yknow, in Mogadishu when the helicopter had crashed and huge large groups of violent citizens amassed in large groups in the streets without taking cover and began to travel down the streets towards the helicopter??? Put it another way... here's this large mass of people... and the U.S. ground forces are reporting that they are taking fire and call in air support... while waiting for air support to show up, certainly the ground forces are firing back in an effort to slow the advancing group... now, if this were a 'peaceful' group, wouldn't they all have ran, dispersed, and taken cover??? Of course they would have! This could more likely be an example that the 'trained' insurgents have suffered serious casualties and that they just don't have the numbers they used to... perhaps they are taking in large groups of 'untrained' recruits and just sending them on suicide missions that stand no chance of actual success... it wouldn't be the first time that this tactic has been tried in the Middle East... the Iran-Iraq war saw Iran utilizing this technique AS DE FACTO STRATEGY... Iran had a vastly larger population that Iraq and so could afford to send wave after wave of suicide marches against Iraq. That's another interesting parallel... the idea has been broached that these 'insurgents' are being created by Iran, and now we see an Iranian strategy possibly being utilized... but, I digress...

To sum it up: To bring these sorts of questioning attacks and levy them against our service members will only serve to demoralize them, and to instill anger in the American public against our military members. It serves NO other purpose. These sorts of questions should NOT be brought up the public media, as the "public" is not qualified to discuss these types of issues... it is wholly unfair to our men and women in uniform who are on the ground and whose lives are at risk 24 hours of the day every day... I believe those troops were indeed threatened and did what they felt had to be done to defend themselves. From the CNN report, it was apparent that they were not questioning whether or not established protocols had been followed. It is fair to question PROTOCOLS at whatever level, but not the specific actions of a unit under fire... it just isn't fair.

If as a Nation we don't refuse to entertain this line of thinking immediately, we will quickly decline and find ourselves in those dark days of the post-Vietnam era when G.I.'s were equated in many people's minds as "baby killers" and "warmongerers"...

Tazzy Hiding

Hello Everyone,

I just had to add these cute pics of Tazzy. This weekend I was housesitting for a friend and I got back today. I hadn't unpacked Tazzy's crate yet and I was in the other room for a while. I came out and found Tazzy in her bed in her crate. She couldn't wait for it to be unpacked. She really likes her "new" room.
I love my little doggy!!

Debate #3: Pres. Bush Shines!

The results of a CNN poll of who was the perceived winner of the 3rd debate; this sample was taken just a little less than 24hours after the debate. Pres. Bush is in red (58%) while Sen. Kerry is in orange (41%) -- as you can see, the President came away the clear winner!


The 2nd debate between the President and Sen. Kerry was a definite win for the President! While Kerry came through with more "facts" and "numbers", the President stood out as a true statesman... full of energy, full of commitment, filled with vision and a clear purpose... as a good friend of mine summed it up so eloquently: Sen. Kerry is obviously a politician, someone who decides what he believes based on polls... Pres. Bush on the other hand is obviously a statesman, someone who knows what he believes regardless of polls...

And here's my angle on this:

The American Public is wishy-washy; we are bigger flip-flops than Sen. Kerry is... the media can get on TV, present something with a strong slant on how THEY want it portrayed and voila, in short order the American Public begins to change their mind. If someone like Sen. Kerry were President then American Policy would CHANGE EVERY DAY right along with public opinion... obviously, that is no way to run a country.

Here's what is being said about the President's performace at this debate:

NBC’s Tom Brokaw: “Well, I Think That The President Stepped Up His Game Tonight, And I Think That He Came With A Game Plan In Mind, And Tried To Execute It On That Stage.” (MSNBC’s “Hardball,” 10/8/04)

NBC's Andrea Mitchell: "Bush Came To Play Tonight." (MSNBC's "Hardball Special Debate Edition," 10/8/04)

ABC's George Stephanopoulos: "I Think President Bush Was Most Effective, Is When He Brought People Into The Oval Office, Talked About Meeting With The Iraqi Finance Minister, Talking About Going To The Situation Room And Talking To General Tommy Franks, And Then, Finally, Also, Bringing Up Senator Kerry's Senate Record. But You Did See, I Think, A Lot Of Skill Out There Tonight." (ABC's "Special Coverage," 10/8/04)

Charles Franklin, University Of Wisconsin: “Kerry Was Way Too Wordy And Bush Was Folksy, Feisty.” (Ron Fournier, “Bush Fights Against Emotion, Scowls In Testy, Personal Debate With Kerry,” The Associated Press, 10/8/04)

MSNBC's Chris Matthews: "The President Did Well" And Exuded An "Air Of Confidence." (MSNBC's "Hardball," 10/8/04)

Fox News' Chris Wallace Says "George W. Bush Came To Play." (Fox News' "Special Coverage," 10/8/04)

MSNBC Analyst Pat Buchanan: "The Guys In Western Pennsylvania, Working Class Guys In West Virginia, Ohio, These Guys Who Are Concerned About Their Lost Jobs, They Like A Tough Customer As President, And The President Came Off As Tough, Assertive, Confident, Even Defiant." (MSNBC's "Hardball Special Debate Edition," 10/8/04)

Flip-Flopping Kerry: His Actual Words

I am getting sick and tired of seeing Kerry talking about the war in Iraq as though he based the entire decision on something that Bush said and now that it turns out that Iraq didn't have WMD, it's somehow all Bush's fault. Sen. Kerry has supported military action against Iraq since well-BEFORE President Bush was even elected into office!

Here are just a FEW samples of Kerry's views on Iraq from the past and up to more recent times... read them, then consider what he says now and decide for yourself:

Dec. 1997: "The Security Council should authorize a strong UN military response that will materially damage, if not totally destroy, as much as possible of the suspected infrastructure for developing and manufacturing weapons of mass destruction... [of] Saddam Hussein..." ("US Lawmakers Threaten Military Action Against Iraq," Agence France Presse, 12/12/97)

Dec. 1998: "Americans need to really understand the gravity and legitimacy of what is happening with Saddam Hussein. He has been given every opportunity in the world to comply. The president does not control the schedule of UNSCOM. The president did not withdraw the UNSCOM inspectors. Saddam Hussein has not complied. Saddam Hussein is pursuing a program to build weapons of mass destruction." (Sen. John Kerry, Press Conference, 12/16/98)

Jan. 2003: "If You Don’t Believe Saddam Hussein Is A Threat With Nuclear Weapons, Then You Shouldn’t Vote For Me." (Ronald Brownstein, "On Iraq, Kerry Appears Either Torn Or Shrewd," Los Angeles Times, 1/31/03)

Mar. 2003: Glen Johnson reported that: "Senator John F. Kerry … had lambasted Bush’s diplomatic efforts, despite voting last fall in support of a congressional resolution authorizing military action to disarm Iraq of any weapons of mass destruction. ‘It appears that with the deadline for exile come and gone, Saddam Hussein has chosen to make military force the ultimate weapons inspections enforcement mechanism,’ Kerry said." (Glen Johnson, "Critics Of Bush Voice Support For The Troops," The Boston Globe, 3/20/03)

And just in case you have heard Kerry's other story about his Iraq views... the one where he explains that he is *FOR* the war, but just not how the President conducted it... well, there have been times that he said the war, outright was completely wrong as well:

Oct. 2004: “But the president just arbitrarily brought the hammer down and said nope, sorry, time for diplomacy is over, we’re going.” (Sen. John Kerry, Second Presidential Debate, St. Louis, MO, 10/8/04)

Sep. 2004: "Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry on Monday called the invasion of Iraq 'the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time'..." (Patricia Wilson, ABCNews, quoting Sen. John Kerry on Sep. 6, 2004)

Oh yeah, and in case you've been mislead into thinking that Kerry believed the President's judgement because the President somehow had access to intel that Kerry didn't... in Kerry's own words, he had access to the intel:

Aug. 2003: NBC's Tim Russert asked, "[Y]ou had access to the intelligence. You had access to the national intelligence estimate …" -- To which, Sen. John Kerry replied, "Absolutely." (NBC's "Meet The Press," 8/31/03)

Cooper Financial Solutions: A Great Research Tool!

This site is a great *FREE* research tool for all of your financial questions covering a broad range of financial topics such as: Estates & Trusts, Retirement, Tax Planning, Investing, Cash Management, and Risk Management. It is chock full of mini-articles, there are regular newsletters covering a litany of topics, and a plethora of financial calculators. There is a Financial Glossary that explains all of those oftentimes confusing financial terms, and a utility to get stock-market quotes on all of your favorite holdings! There are even a small handful of E-Seminars that you can watch, all without spending a dime!

Why am I posting about this site??? For one thing, I believe one of the greatest weaknesses in American society, closely following moral decline, is the lack of financial education and responsibility. It is my personal belief that if the average American were taught at an early age to develop and follow a life of good sound morals, and follow that up with a good firm education of financial responsibilities, America would NEVER have gotten in the unbalanced place that it finds itself today.

Perhaps most important to you, the reader, is that this site and it's company is operated by a very good personal friend of mine, Jacob Cooper. We have been friends for about 4 years now, where we met at our local church. When I found out what he did for a living, I asked for a little financial guidance. He has helped to explain many important subjects to me and given me lots of good advice over those years on how to best proceed with saving and investing for my future as well as helping us to realize one of our life's dreams: to buy our own home (which is no small miracle in real-estate-hungry San Diego!). Jac also serves on the Board of Directors for The Society of Financial Awareness (a non-profit organization).

I highly reccommend utilizing his site to help answer any of your financial questions and get a little more direction in your financial life! As I have said, I think it is the second most important part of a healthy life: being financially educated and responsible!

If you are lucky enough to live in the Southern Californian area, Jac comes with my highest personal reccomendation: we've all seen those BIG financial companies advertisements that show the agent sitting on the beach with the couple and planning their future and implying that the agent knows them personally. I have never found that to be true, have you??? With Jac, that IS the type of relationship we have with him! Call and set up an appointment with him TODAY so that you can get the education to enjoy the best TOMORROW!

A Little Humor!

Debate #2: The Veep's go Toe-to-Toe!

WOW!!!

This debate went EXTREMELY well for Vice-President Cheney! Despite what the Dems are willing to admit in public... while I was watching the debate I was just amazed at how quickly Vice-President Cheney can think on his feet, how much raw data he had on the tip of his brain, how composed he was capable of being... be