I live in the socialist Northeast where any slightly critical remark that could be remotely interpreted as possibly applying to a specific culture or race is totally and extremely offensive — unless, of course, you’re poking fun at rednecks/Southerners (which to ignorant Northeasters are the same people), or Christians. Oh yes… up in the Northeast you can rip any folks with a Southern twang, and any Christians who actually believe what they say they believe, up one side and down the other… and it’s okay!?

Specifically, there are these so-called redneck jokes. These little gems get passed around in email just as much by fellow rednecks (getting a chuckle laughing at themselves) as by ignorant urban bigots sipping their pansy lattes. I think it says a lot about a race or culture when they can laugh at themselves, and I guess that means it says a lot about a race or culture that CANNOT laugh at themselves [you know who you are].

Anyways… in the vein of the proto-typical “You might be a redneck if…” I actually just received an email that put a new spin on this format. I’m repeating it here with my own personal touches and a few sharper barbs. Here goes…

You might be a redneck if…

• it never occurred to you to be offended by the phrase “one nation, under God”… or by seeing the 10 Commandments posted in public places… or by hearing “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Winter Holiday”
• you bow your head when someone prays, and you don’t feel uncomfortable or ashamed when you they get to the “In Jesus’ name… Amen” part
• your music talks about hard work, being honest, and fighting for your country… more than it talks about selling drugs, hitting women, and committing murder
• you stand up straight (if able), remove your hat, and place your hand over your heart when you hear the National Anthem
• you treat our armed forces veterans with great respect, and always have
• you’ve never burned an American flag, never picketed a military recruiting center, and never shouted into the face of a policeman
• you know what you believe and you aren’t afraid to say so, no matter how many leftist censors are listening
• you raised your kids to respect their elders, say please and thank you, and own up to their own mistakes
• you’d give your last dollar to a friend… or drive your pickup over to help a neighbor… or deliver a veterans’ widow some dry firewood on a cold winter day… or fight a raging fire inside a stranger’s home

The truth of the matter is that if the United States had twice the rednecks it does… it’d be ten times the country it is.

Which reminds me of another redneck joke I received that I feel paints an accurate picture of that culture:

The Pentagon announced TODAY the formation of a new 500-man elite fighting unit called the United States Redneck Special Forces (USRSF).

[insert picture of rednecks holding ridiculously sized rifles]

These boys will be dropped off in Iraq and given only the following info on terrorists:

1. The season opened today
2. There is no limit
3. They taste just like chicken
4. They don’t like beer, pickups, country music or Jesus
5. They are directly responsible for the death of Dale Earnhardt

Heston was the quintessential iconic male… using his rugged face and deep voice to play all manner of heroes and leaders - Marc Antony, John the Baptist, Moses, Ben-Hur to name a few. Of course, Heston was better in known later in life as being a staunch supporter of the right to bear arms as granted by the Constitution of the United States of America. He was president of the Nation Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003.

What you’ll see from the life of someone like Heston is somebody who’ll stand up for what he thinks is right, period. Indeed it seems he chose the correct side of every issue he addressed. He was marching for civil rights, as he says, “long before Hollywood found it fashionable.” He stood for racial equality and against affirmative action, which is the only stance on those issues that make sense together - but the logic of which still seem to escape the left-leaning elite. He was against infant-murder for any reason, let alone convenience sake. He faced opposition by those who would render American citizens helpless to government tyranny - the crazy left-leaning gun-prohibition lobby and its cronies like Michael Moore and George Clooney, but that never deterred Heston who always seemed to maintain an air of class in the face of Hollywood idiots.

Indeed Heston was a man’s man… a conservative’s conservative. America has lost a patriot.

Parting words from Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice President of the NRA:

Today, my heart is heavy with the loss of Charlton Heston. America has lost a great patriot. The Second Amendment has lost a faithful friend. So have I, and so have four million NRA members and eighty million gun owners. And so has every American who cares about the Bill of Rights, individual liberty, and Freedom.

My heart is heavy, but not without a sense of pride. Pride in a man who devoted his life to his profession with grace and dignity. Pride in an American who devoted himself to civil rights, to correcting injustices around him, and to standing up for what he knew was right. Pride in a friend who stood with me and stood with fellow NRA members to preserve our freedom for future generations. Pride in a patriot who believed with every fiber of his being that our Bill of Rights is the foundation of our freedom that makes Americans singular among the masses of nations.

And now, Charlton Heston has passed that duty to us - the next generation. I am as proud to continue his cause as I am to have known him as my friend.

But today, my thoughts cannot leave the Heston family. They have always had my utmost respect and admiration and, today, they have my deepest sympathy and most earnest prayers, And they will always have my friendship.

Charlton Heston, rest in peace.

So the Dutch politician Geert Wilders demonstrates some sac - and a little thing called free speech - by releasing a short-film titled Fitna, which means “division among peoples”. The film is a montage. It includes verses from the Qur’an (Koran, Currahn, Cor-anne, Quho’ron, Koh-ron’n???) that could be taken out of context to incite violence against non-Muslims. Interspersed with these verses are scenes from the media that you’d have to be a cave troll to have missed… cowardly acts of Islamist terrorism (September 11 attacks, Madrid train bombings, etc.)… Muslim children calling Jews “pigs”… Muslim clerics calling for death to Jews and Westerners… you get the idea - just the usual. [please don't confuse the clerics with Barack Obama's pastor... although they're close]

So I watched the film. The premise - that the Qur’an is being used (to some extent) in fueling hatred and violence in the name of Islam - seemed to be well demonstrated (proven?). Indeed, the point seems grossly obvious to anyone with a television. Sadly the point is in dispute. Violently in dispute. Violently in dispute?! Isn’t that a double-negative or a oxy-contradiction? Fortunately I didn’t need the film to see that Islam isn’t always very… umm… “peaceful”? And where would I get that idea?

Remember the cartoons? Remember the Pope’s remarks? This recent brouhaha over Fitna has firmly established a grave pattern… that the very right to free speech can be removed - under threat from an extremist mob - when you have pansies in leadership.

From a Reuters article:

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday condemned as “offensively anti-Islamic” a Dutch lawmaker’s film that accuses the Koran of inciting violence.

Ban acknowledged efforts by the government of the Netherlands to stop the broadcast of the film, which was launched by Islam critic Geert Wilders over the Internet, and appealed for calm to those “understandably offended by it.”

“There is no justification for hate speech or incitement to violence,” Ban said in a statement. “The right of free expression is not at stake here.”

Did you read that? The UN Figurehead says that “The right of free expression is not at stake here”!? That there is no justification for this? How about no justification for answering an insult with violence? How about no justification for responding to a cartoon with killings? You see… the UN Figurehead knows that there are a small number of Muslims who are wild extremist animals - unfortunately a small percentage of a billion people is still A LOT OF PEOPLE! So instead of acknowledging the problem he jumps down the throat of the guy revealing the problem. Isn’t that just like today’s world leadership?

From a Breitbart article:

An Internet site said Saturday it had removed anti-Islam film “Fitna” by far-right Dutch MP Geert Wilders after receiving threats to its staff amid protests by Muslim nations and the UN chief.

The Britain-based Liveleak.com said it pulled down the video, which can still be seen on other websites, including youtube.com. The film was posted to the Internet on Thursday.

“Following threats to our staff of a very serious nature, and some ill informed reports from certain corners of the British media that could directly lead to the harm of some of our staff, Liveleak.com has been left with no other choice but to remove ‘Fitna’ from our servers,” the site said in a statement.

“This is a sad day for freedom of speech on the net but we have to place the safety and well being of our staff above all else,” the online statement said.

Wilders said it was “terrible that these threats deal a serious blow to freedom of expression,” but he told Dutch news agency ANP that he understood the decision to withdraw the short film.

So here’s the ploy… threaten the providers of the medium, and scare them into silence. Fortunately, in this case, LiveLeak.com ended up putting the video back up - I give them points for that. And really, this is what it takes. It takes standing up to the threats and the violence. It takes standing strong and saying that being offended is okay… you’ll survive.

I would be remiss here not to mention that although there are a small percentage of Muslims who are Satan incarnate, there are also a small percentage who are disgusted by the sickening and irrational animal displays of the former group. These are the Free Muslims, and you should read more about them.

And actually, another Muslim group that watches extremists - Islam Watch - recently uncovered some extremism that was just covered here in this FoxNews article:

A report posted on Islam Watch, a site run by Muslims who oppose intolerant teachings and hatred for unbelievers, exposes a prominent Islamic cleric and lawyer who support extreme punishment for non-Muslims — including killing and rape.

A question-and-answer session with Imam Abdul Makin in an East London mosque asks why Allah would tell Muslims to kill and rape innocent non-Muslims, including their wives and daughters, according to Islam Watch.

“Because non-Muslims are never innocent, they are guilty of denying Allah and his prophet,” the Imam says, according to the report. “If you don’t believe me, here is the legal authority, the top Muslim lawyer of Britain.”

The lawyer, Anjem Choudary, backs up the Imam’s position, saying that all Muslims are innocent.

Click here to watch the interview with Islamic lawyer Anjem Choudary.

“You are innocent if you are a Muslim,” Choudary tells the BBC. “Then you are innocent in the eyes of God. If you are not a Muslim, then you are guilty of not believing in God.”

Choudary said he would not condemn a Muslim for any action.

Anyways… without further prattle… here’s the Fitna short-film (courtesy of LiveLink courtesy of Google Video):

What does this say? Perhaps the type of parents that use the mall as a proxy childcare service for their school kids are of sufficiently lower class and intelligence that they are more likely to raise ignorant kids. Perhaps the schools themselves could have helped by preempting the previous Friday’s tolerance-and-sensitivity (read muzzle-straight-males) assembly to instead spend an entire day learning how every freedom we in the US enjoy (including holding ridiculous school assemblies) is only because of the American soldier and sailor (and their supporting cast). Perhaps the kids have simply succumb to parentally enabled self-absorption in sufficient quantities to preclude any comprehension apart from instant messages and ringtones.

I say that if you’re a teenager and you don’t know why your off from school on Veteran’s Day, then you should have to show up for school anyway… and clean erasers or something. And, so help you, if you’re a school kid who has been brainwashed by the leftist adults in your life, and you think soldiers are “murdering, savage, terrorist butchers”, and you don’t think the entire country owes every freedom it has to our military heroes past and present… then I have a special treat for you - you will spend the entire 24 hours of Veteran’s Day (observed) reporting to every American Legion post in your area to clean their toilets with a toothbrush.

I may be a little hardcore in my patriotism… but really, is there such a thing? True patriotism (not nationalism or imperialism) is the lifeblood of a safe and healthy nation. We can either protect what we have, knowing how much it cost us, or we can sit back and watch it erode in a sea of historical ignorance and lost perspective.

I recently enjoyed dinner with a good friend… we were former classmates, cadets, and then Army officers. He spent over a year in the sandbox. I shared with him how I had just heard that a fellow classmate we graduated with and was commissioned with (and who had reached the rank of Major) was recently murdered by a roadside bomb. It’s a reality that military personnel and families know well… but that snotty school-kid peace activists know nothing about the significance of.

But today, the fact is that many World War 2 vets are passing away every day. I’ve played taps at their funerals. I’ve heard the rifles salute the fallen. These are citizens who take with them to the grave more wisdom and perspective than I can imagine. I can only hope that we as a nation absorb as much as we can from this dying generation of heroes.

Happy Veteran’s Day. Find a vet near you who may not have many years left and thank them from the bottom of your heart.

Flying out of Albany International Airport has become a real treat. Newly renovated and clean airport. Fast lines. Not crowded. Efficient even at its busiest. Smaller airports are just that much better post-9/11. However, my iPod nano earned me a wanding and a frisking after I forgot it in my pants going through the detectors (my fault).

One thing that really bugs me about the uppity security these days is the incomprehensibly insane use of “randomness” to spot-check travelers with extra measures. Most TSA workers will let travelers who fall into the terrorist-typical demographic just pass by - usually for fear of legal reprisals instigated by Islamic defense foundations… while little old white men in wheel chairs who can barely walk are made to struggle to their feet for a wanding and frisking - all in the name of “not singling anybody out”.

Now, the fact is - not all Muslim men aged 17-33 are terrorists… not even half are… not even 1% percent are (I don’t think). BUT, almost all terrorists have been Muslim men aged 17-33. Doesn’t that tell us something about how we should protect ourselves? I mean… do we really have to jerk around the poor old man in the wheelchair just to feel good about how “fair” and “sensitive” we are?

Okay, so Tami and I walked the National Mall… which to my dismay was not a place to shop. The monuments were handsome and dignified. The memorials were plentiful and truly moving… I especially enjoyed the World War II memorial (always makes me want to watch Band of Brothers again… but that’ll be discussion for another post).

View the full gallery of Washington, DC pictures here.

While at the World War II memorial I could see a few scattered vets recounting battles, scars and lost friends to their families or even to strangers - whoever would listen. I was listening. A quote inscribed onto a granite wall says it best:

OUR DEBT TO THE HEROIC MEN AND VALIANT WOMEN IN THE SERVICE OF OUR COUNTRY CAN NEVER BE REPAID. THEY HAVE EARNED OUR UNDYING GRATITUDE. AMERICA WILL NEVER FORGET THEIR SACRIFICES.

President Harry S. Truman

Yet, an inescapable incongruence gnawed at my gut as I stood at the World War II memorial. You see, we often hear the phrase “Support Our Troops” - mostly justified, but perhaps tossed about too flippantly at times… much like the American Flags purchased on September 12, 2001, that by September 20 were sitting atop their owners’ trash heaps. However, even more curious to me is the phrase “I support the troops, but I don’t support the war.” I don’t question the patriotism of this phrase’s speaker simply because of the phrase… but it seems that many of this phrase’s speakers actively disregard, dismiss and even loathe the military. I personally know a few of the exceptions… but the rule prevails easily. As I stood at these war memorials - and the feeling of national sacrifice and diligence stirred my insides - the inescapable incongruence gnawed at me. How can you “support the troops” while you are holding rallies “against the war” and calling out American soldiers as rapists and murderers? How can you “support the troops” when all your activism is geared towards raising money for partisan political organizations and for “impeaching Bush”?

I would be remiss not to mention the DC rail system - the Metro. I am spoiled with NYC’s subway system that is a flat $2 fee no matter where you go. The DC Metro fee system was nearly incomprehensible. I started laughing when I saw it… each stop has it’s own individual charge!? Check out the picture of the kiosk below to see what I mean.

And alas, while flying out of Albany is a pleasure, flying out of BWI is painful… very painful. The lines at security were retardedly and unnecessarily long. One guy got sick of waiting and started cutting in front of huge groups of people. The TSA checker nearest me saw the man doing this (mostly because a few justifiably angered travelers spoke up) and ordered him to stop and stand fast - but he told her “no” and said if she didn’t like it she could call her supervisor. She did, and her supervisor came over… and did NOTHING!? I could overhear him say that because the guy was really mad about the long line that they’ll just leave it be. Wait a minute - this guy can cut in front of people, swear at the people who object, disobey the lawful orders of a uniformed TSA worker… and TSA security does nothing? Whiskey tango foxtrot?

Anyways… I hope all my fellow Americans are having a great July 4th, and I just want to leave you with this Independence Day speech from July 4, 1946, given by a young John F. Kennedy (excerpted from his full speech as found in the JFK Presidential Library).

The informing spirit of the American character has always been a deep religious sense.

Throughout the years, down to the present, a devotion to fundamental religious principles has characterized American thought and action.

Our government was founded on the essential religious idea of integrity of the individual. It was this religious sense which inspired the authors of the Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.”

Our earliest legislation was inspired by this deep religious sense:
“Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion.”

Our first leader, Washington, was inspired by this deep religious sense:
“Of all of the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”

Lincoln was inspired by this deep religious sense:
“That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

Our late, lamented President was inspired by this deep religious sense:
“We shall win this war, and in victory we shall seek not vengeance, but the establishment of an international order in which the spirit of Christ shall rule the hearts of men and nations.”

Thus we see that this nation has ever been inspired by essential religious ideas. The doctrine of slavery which challenged these ideas within our own country was destroyed.

Recently, the philosophy of racism, which threatened to overwhelm them by attacks from abroad, was also met and destroyed.

Today these basic religious ideas are challenged by atheism and materialism: at home in the cynical philosophy of many of our intellectuals, abroad in the doctrine of collectivism, which sets up the twin pillars of atheism and materialism as the official philosophical establishment of the State.

Inspired by a deeply religious sense, this country, which has ever been devoted to the dignity of man, which has ever fostered the growth of the human spirit, has always met and hurled back the challenge of those deathly philosophies of hate and despair. We have defeated them in the past; we will always defeat them.

How well, then, has DeTocqueville said: “You may talk of the people and their majesty, but where there is no respect for God can there be much for man? You may talk of the supremacy of the ballot, respect for order, denounce riot, secession–unless religion is the first link, all is vain.”

Last night I whisked my wife (whom I married Biblically in one-man/one-woman matrimony) off to a local shooting range where we celebrated the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Local marksman Bernie Gansle generously offered his instruments of freedom for us to send heavy metal downrange. The AR-15 was very much like my old friend, the M-16… but I also made a new friend, the Colt 45 semi-automatic. And by the way, this was my wife’s first shoot, and she did VERY well.

Afterwards we enjoyed some delicious Sam Adams Seasonal Summer Ale at a local eatery while watching the Red Sox play the Yankees. In between refreshing sips of ale I enjoyed steak smothered in caramelized onions paired with garlic-mashed potatoes. MMMmmmm.

Rifle / pistol shooting - Major League Baseball - steak and potatoes - Boston-brewed ale… and THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is how it’s done!

This day is not “just another day”. Many will tritely dismiss this as an unnecessary formality. Many will claim that they can “honor the fallen” any day they wish and choosing a particular day doesn’t make it more real. I respect that remembering the sacrifices of our servicemen and women can be an “everyday” affair… but in the hustle and bustle of our personal rat races it helps to have a special day set aside.

This sounds cliché, but most folks don’t know how lucky they are to live in a free country like the United States. Indeed, being born here is akin to winning the cosmic lottery. This country, filled with wealth and opportunity, was forged by courage and washed in the blood of the brave. We should never take for granted what was paid for at so dear a price, lest we lose it.

So today, I’ll remember why I’m free to type whatever I want here on my blog without fear of state-sponsored beatings and reprisals. I will probably pause when my eye catches the waving of one of the many American flags flying today. Perhaps I’ll even have the privilege of hearing the Star-Spangled Banner. I say “privilege” because that’s what it is… it’s a rare jewel to have a national anthem sincerely representing one’s hard-fought freedom.

And, yes, I question the patriotism of all the cynical fools who would besmirch the flag of this nation, or what it stands for. I have family and friends who have given their lives to defend the flag, and I will gladly hit Google Maps to help someone navigate from the US to a place that flies a flag they like better.

Not only is today Memorial Day, but May is National Military Appreciation month. May 19 was Armed Forces Day. May 23 was National Military Spouse Day. I suggest honoring the fallen by also honoring those serving right now, and their families… and here’s a few easy online ways how:
Sponsor care packages // Send some coffee // Send a letter // Support the USO

America, and all it’s people, were attacked by gutless pigs… Islamo-fascist cowards. They wanted fathers to be crushed. They wanted little girls to burn alive. They wanted elderly to be broken into pieces. They are evil. They validate that evil exists in our time. Never forget that evil exists. Never forget that with evil afoot your duty is to protect your friends, family, and country with your life. Never forget that evil knows no reason, nor mercy. Evil cannot be rehabilitated, nor reeducated. Either fight evil or surrender to it… and since they have professed that they will not stop until the entire United States converts to Islam that kinda narrows down the choices.

Thousands of people fled those burning towers, while hundreds of police, firemen, and emergency workers ran INTO the doomed buildings. That’s courage. Those are heroes. Don’t let politically correct pussification bind us, blind us, muzzle us, desensitize us, and dull our minds. Don’t listen to Hollywood idiots who can’t figure out why we’re “harping” on this event.

Our friends and family are being targeted by Islamo-crazies as we speak… 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Keep living free, and keep vigilant. Support out troops, and support the fight against evil. Find a fireman or cop you know (or mayber even one you don’t) and thank them… and when they say that they’re just “doing their job” you tell them that their job is a hero’s job and you’re thanking them for their courage. And then find your politicians and ask them why elderly wheelchair-bound Asian women are being frisked at the airport in response to a terror threat from young, male, Middle-Eastern, Muslim extremists. And then find your family and hold them close… because life is the frailest of things.

Most of all… never forget.

The folks at Boca Java Gourmet Coffee & Tea have put together Blogger’s Fuel.com devoted to their blogging coffee fans and the fans’ favorite blends. Now, what I think really sets these guys apart is not just great coffee (at good prices even for the internet) but that they use people’s passion for coffee to channel passion towards rising up for various worthy causes (like fighting cancer and fighting evil). You can see how this thought pattern resonates well with bloggers as a whole.

The coffee… is great and fresh. My personal favorite? Definitely the “Bloggers Pajama Passion” which is kinda a gay name, but is flavored with hints of vanilla, caramel, and kahlua. MMmmmm…. It hits the spot with me, especially with a bit ‘o the creme. I’ve always been a fan of flavored coffees (unlike some of my more ‘purist’ associates) and this stuff does not disappoint. I suck it down and I feel great like the caffeinated epicurean I am! If you don’t like flavored they have an ample mix of regular blends from the richest coffee fields on this rock.

Now I am most impressed with their commitment to the troops. As a former officer myself I know the importance of having coffee out in the field… both for keeping me sane and keeping my troops going strong. They started an effort called Operation Million Cup whose goal it was to get coffee in the mugs of our troops. They let you buy a bag of coffee at production cost that they’ll send to the troops… and then they match your donation one for one with a bag of their own! Recently they just tipped a million cups donated, but they’re still going for as long as we have men and women out there busting their hump serving this country - so check it out: www.OperationMillionCup.com.

• Let beggars be choosers. Let those who don’t have a job get to spend other people’s money if there aren’t any “desirable” jobs they feel like doing. Do this even if there are those who have willingly worked those same “undesirable” jobs for years to make ends meet and feed their families. In fact, in a show of utter idiocy, make those workers doing the “undesirable” jobs give spending money to those who feel “too good” to do those same “undesirable” jobs. And keep raising that minimum wage because you have to have the latest IM-capable cellphones, you know.

• Value esteem over excellence. Don’t speak any truth that will possibly offend anyone, ever. Never imply that anyone is better at anything than anyone else. Don’t fall prey to the twisted notion that there are absolutes. Standardized tests are evil devices designed to artificially lift up those who are good at learning information and applying that information under pressure… and this is bad because nowhere in life will you ever have to know any information, nor will you ever be under any pressure, so these tests are all unrealistic and divisive. In fact, all tests, grades, scores, and ratings are evil and divisive.

• Take money from the few to buy votes from the many. Since most of the wealth in the US is in the hands of just a few at the top… take their money, label this theft as “fair”, and use the money to buy the votes from the much larger number of people at the other end of the economic spectrum. Be sure to hide the fact that they, at the lower end, are still wealthier than most of the rest of the world… and don’t tell them that if they are fat, have cellphones, wear gold chains, and watch multiple TVs in the apartment then they probably are doing well enough. Oh yeah… also fudge the numbers so that nobody realizes money taken from the top hurts job growth and economic development in the middle and the bottom. In fact, burn every economic book you can find… then buy yourself some votes while you dine for $125 a plate and smoke Cubans in your jet.

• Offer free health care. Especially offer free health care to those who prefer to spend their money on chips, cellphones, gold chains, and TVs. Make sure that there is no incentive to stay healthy. And in the spirit of “beggars being choosers” let them demand the most expensive pharmaceuticals that they see commercials for while watching soaps on their multiple TVs during what we would call the “working hours” of the day because there are no “desirable jobs” for them. Of course… not everyone would get free health care… I mean, it’d be free on the surface, but you’d have to tax the heck out of everyone to pull it off. And pay no attention to the politicians paying big bucks to go to private hospitals to see private doctors… the Canadians don’t. After all, nobody pays attention to US politicians sending their kids to private schools while trumpeting the value of public schools.

• Judge by emotion. If someone was killed, they’re dead. They’re gone. Don’t dwell on ghosts… but show compassion to the poor murdering rapist who now must suffer with that guilt. Not only do they have to suffer the guilt of knowing they stabbed and raped twelve pre-teen girls… but then you want to further torment them by locking them in what amounts to an animal cage… to be mocked and taunted by REAL animals like crooked CEOs. Pay no attention to that middle finger the court camera caught them pointing at the victims’ families… that’s just their guilt and pain cruelly bubbling to the surface. You need to understand the society that drove them, against their will, to that unfortunate end… otherwise you’ll lose fact that they have rights and dirty cops want to take those rights away. Thank goddess for the ACLU that protects the rights of murdering rapists because who knows what this country would be like if we got medieval on them.

• Maintain two political parties. Only two. First of all, you’ll only have to make sure that there’s more people who like you than like only one other person. That’s pretty easy… and you can always make up good stuff that you’ll do if you need a boost to your likability. And with just two parties, when one loses, the other wins… and vice versa. This ensures that you don’t have to stand FOR anything as long as you can stand AGAINST what the other guy is for… then if you win you won’t have to DO anything… you just have to NOT DO what the other guy was going to. How joyous for you that you get to WIN and NOT DO anything!

Memorial Day was this week and provided yet another reminder of how fortunate we are to live in a country this great and free. The things we complain about (gas prices, spotty cellphone coverage, slow computers) are - relatively - totally insignificant. I wonder how many people are being tortured around the world as you read this? Oops… sorry… I forgot we don’t trouble ourselves with such negative thoughts… after all, those are other people’s problems, not ours.

So here are a couple good wallpaper reminders to myself of how good I have it. The one on the left is a great Memorial Day wallpaper compliments of the US Air Force. The one in the right is compliments of yours truly and is the view of the beach from our Cancun resort hotel room we stayed in recently.

When your fortune improves, the columns on your house appear crooked.
-Armenian proverb

This blog entry will have no jokes, no fluff, and its links may lead to unsettling content… so if you’d like to continue your happy existence without the burden of other people’s suffering then please… by all means, click here instead.

If you go to one site today, let it be this: TheForgotten.org

Here’s the short version. Between 1915 and 1917 the Ottoman Turks (modern-day Turkey) killed 1,500,000 Armenians with military force and starvation through forced deportation death marches into the desert. The accounts of torture and rape are unspeakable. This is known as the Armenian Genocide. My grandfather was the only one of eleven kids to make it out of Armenia alive.

Most people have no clue about any of this… it is very possible that you, the reader, are saying to yourself you’ve never even heard of this. The reasons are legion why this genocide is so obscure in most circles… politics, mostly. Don’t feel too bad, though, because it was mostly forgotten by Hitler’s day… unfortunately for the Jews.

The United States hasn’t officially recognized the Armenian Genocide as a nation, but 39 of the 50 states have. And the following countries officially recognize the genocide: Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, Vatican City and Venezuela. Notice that Lebanon (which faced Turkish murder as well) is the only Muslim nation on the list. That’s mostly because the Ottoman Turks and modern-day Turkey are Muslim and the Armenians are Christian. Even to this day radical Turk Muslims will desecrate the memorials to the genocide because they either refuse to believe it happened or don’t believe it is wrong to kill Christians.

Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?
- Adolf Hitler… while persuading his generals that a Jewish holocaust would be tolerated by the West

…the Armenian massacre was the greatest crime of the war, and the failure to act against Turkey is to condone it … the failure to deal radically with the Turkish horror means that all talk of guaranteeing the future peace of the world is mischievous nonsense.
- Theodore Roosevelt… in a May 11, 1918, letter to Cleveland Hoadley Dodge

I am confident that the whole history of the human race contains no such horrible episode as this. The great massacres and persecutions of the past seem almost insignificant when compared to the sufferings of the Armenian race in 1915.
- Henry Morgenthau, Sr. US Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire

On this day, we pause in remembrance of one of the most horrible tragedies of the 20th century, the annihilation of as many as 1.5 million Armenians through forced exile and murder at the end of the Ottoman Empire. This terrible event remains a source of pain for people in Armenia and Turkey and for all those who believe in freedom, tolerance, and the dignity of every human life. I join with my fellow Americans and the Armenian community in the United States and around the world in mourning this loss of life.
- George W. Bush, April 24, 2004

never-again.com
april24.info
Armenian-Genocide.org
Armeniapedia.org/Armenian_Genocide
24april1915.com

UPDATE: Here is a picture from a Turkish rally in New York City this past Saturday protesting any recognition of the Armenian Genocide. The protester in the picture is holding a sign that says “Genocide Soccer Match : Turkey, one… Armenian Hate Merchants, zero.”

Nice, huh?

Of course, in the media you heard a cold tale in the days after the collision. If word choice was any matter (and as long as we’re human… it is) you’d think that the submarine purposely charged into the Japanese boat in a reckless unexplainable convulsion. At least, that’s how it came off on the news. The Japanese news was ready to have Scott Waddle’s head on a Ginsu knife (a cheap Japanese knock-off of a Cutco knife). Oh yes, the world saw an accident… with victims… and was more than ready to castigate Waddle.

The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him.
- Proverbs 18:17 NIV

Of course, I may have felt the same way as the rest of our boob-tube zombie society… and then I read Waddle’s book. Indeed, the first party to present a side of a story seems correct… until another side comes forward with a different version of the same story. What a difference hearing both sides makes… it doesn’t always change my mind, but it happens more often than I like to admit. This was one of those times.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a former military officer so I know a commander’s responsibility. I also know that accidents sometimes happen despite a leader’s best efforts, which doesn’t exonerate the leader but should be considered in the end. And I also know that Pentagon brass are more career conscious than morally conscious… mastering the art of military politics at the cost of being completely out of touch with the soldiers, sailors, NCOs, and junior officers that run the REAL show (I’ve seen this first hand). And if selling an officer down the river will help the brass save face with an ally like Japan they’ll do it… and they did. Waddle, however, for his part did The Right Thing after the incident. You’ll have to read the book to learn more.

The captain of the U.S.S. “Greeneville” reveals the untold story of the deadly collision of the nuclear submarine with a Japanese fishing vessel. His accountability, integrity, and religious conviction provides an inspiring challenge to anyone who is facing difficult choices in any area of life.
- Ken Abraham, The Right Thing

You’ll read that this is a choice between enforcement or reform… but if you’re also paying close attention you’ll notice that the protesters don’t want either reform or enforcment… they want us to do NOTHING. You can’t make this stuff up. I’m just glad Congress is addressing the issue, because either reform or enforcement is a big improvement.

I won’t try to bore you with my eloquent and loquacious analysis… I haven’t the time and this issue is so clear that if you don’t get it I can’t help you get it (if you have three brain cells to rub together you’re already good). But let me leave you with analysis by Michelle Malkin, a brilliant mind and writer, and her stellar article in the JewishWorldReview about this very issue. [linked here] She says it better than anyone and if you only read one thing today, let that be it. Also, I have included a couple cute cartoons in here, too.