Toys for Tots

Tonight my local radio station in Melbourne, Florida reported that the USMC Tots for Tots program had turned down 4000 talking Jesus dolls. The company that manufactures these dolls also makes, according to the news broadcast, Mary, Joseph and Noah dolls that also talk.

The doll company reported the USMC response to their offer of free dolls was basically:
"As a government entity, they could not allow these dolls to be given inadvertently to Jewish or Muslim families."

HOW ABOUT THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From a USMC Sergeant

John Kerry said, "You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well, and if you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq”

So I wrote him a letter:

I am a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. I am currently on my second tour in Iraq, a tour in which I volunteered for. I speak Arabic and Spanish and I plan to tackle Persian Farsi soon. I have a Bachelors and an Associates Degree and between deployments I am pursuing an M.B.A. In college I was a member of several academic honor societies, including the Golden Key Honor Society. I am not unique among the enlisted troops. Many of my enlisted colleagues include lawyers, teachers, mechanics, engineers, musicians and artists just to name a few. You say that your comments were directed towards the President and not us. If we were stupid Senator Kerry, we might have believed you.

I am not a victim of President Bush. I proudly serve him because he is my Commander and Chief. If it was you who was President, I would serve you just as faithfully. I serve America Senator Kerry, and I am also providing a service to the good people of Iraq. I have not terrorized them in the middle of the night, raped them or murdered them as you have accused me of before. I am doing my part to help them rebuild. My role is a simple one, but important. You see Senator Kerry, like it or not, we came here and removed a tyrant (who terrorized Iraqis in the middle of the night, and raped them and murdered them). And we have a responsibility to see to it that another one doesn’t take his place. The people of Iraq are recovering from an abusive relationship with a terrible government and it’s going to take some time to help them recover from that. We can’t treat this conflict like a microwave dinner and throw a temper tantrum because we feel like it’s taking too long.

Senator Kerry, you don’t have to agree with this war. You don’t have to say nice things about those of us who choose to make sacrifices for the rights of every American rather than sit back and simply feel entitled to it. But please Senator Kerry, if you’re going to call me a stupid murdering rapist, stick by what you say. Don’t tell me that I misunderstood or that you would never insult a veteran because you’re one too. Having been there and done that does not give you a free pass to insult me.

My suggestion for you, Senator Kerry, is to remember that your speeches are recorded, and broadcast to us simpletons over here. You may want to write down what you want to say before you say it, maybe have somebody look at it before you say it and tell you what others might hear. Remember that we can’t read your mind, if there are any misinterpretations in what you say, it’s because you didn’t communicate clearly.

Good luck to you Senator Kerry, if nothing else it’s always entertaining to watch you try and climb out of the holes that you constantly dig for yourself.

Sincerely,
Somebody who is watching his daughter grow up in photographs so that you can have the right to say whatever you want about him.

This was copied from my daughter's blog @ http://www.jacquibeepink.blogspot.com/

Immigration

After a lot of thought I have decided that immigration amnesty is not the way to go. I really do not care how many immigrants we let in legally with proper registration, finger prints, etc. However, those who come in illegal need to be sent back to the end of the line with some form of punishment.

I do not support providing multiple signs in all the various languages of the world. As child in the 1950's I remember the Hungarian revolution where the Hungarian tried to throw out the Russians and the Russian supported Hungarian government. Many of those who escaped Hungary came to the US. Some even came to upstate New York where I grew up. But the had to mix and mingle in English to get ahead.

I am happy to welcome new folks who want to be US citizens to this country. I am not interested in adding 2 million Mexicans who feel that California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas really belong to Mexico.

So for those legals who come here, "Welcome Aboard." For the ILLEGALs, my vote will get you some time in jail and more time added to your inprocessing.

Our laws need to be changed and enforced to ensure the safety of this country and neither political party seems to really care about our internal security as long as they can pander for more votes.

History Channels Show on the Waffen SS

The History Channel has a series of shows titled "SS". This series is on the Waffen SS units of WWII. Should you watch any of these shows, particularly the ones concerning Himmler or Heydrich look for any parallels between their beliefs and behaviors and those of the Muslim zealots that exist today. Another show deals with lower ranked individuals, the gophers if you will, all of whom killed people they believed to be "less than" themselves. This "less than" was the official party line of the German Nazi Party and it was not limited to Jews only.

If you notice any similarity between Nazi's and fanatic (or as they say, devout) Muslims you might want to ask the following questions:

1. Is Muslim-American really an oxymoron?

2. Can a devout Muslim be an American patriot and a loyal citizen.

And you might consider checking out this website:

www.bible.ca/islam/islam-kills-oxymoron.htm

Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson and I differ on many things; one being the Second Amendment and another his possible feelings about Jews. However, the man was drunk. After serving in the US Navy for 30 years and being in law enforcement for another 15 years full-time plus a few years part-time I have interacted with more than my fair share of drunks. I can also admit that sometimes I was the drunk.

Drunks embarrass themselves, their famly and friends. Their tongues may be a little looser and their inhibitions fall by the wayside.

During my last five years in the US Navy, I was assigned to the Department of Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI). At DEOMI we interacted with males, females, enlisteds, and officers of all of the miltary services plus the US Coast guard. Although their were only token Marines because they tried to convince everyone they only saw Marine green.

This was a school that had started as the Race Relations Institute back in the early 1970s if I am correct on the time. I arrived in early 1987. During this period that school with all of those fine instructors could not teach anyone to like another person of the same or different race, gender or religion. In fact, by the time I arrived that was no longer their goal. The goal was to put facts in front of people that caused those people internal dissonance. Once the seeds of dissonance were sowed and the facts were conflicting with their thoughts it was up to them to decide how they wanted to handle what they had experienced.

They left knowing the military rules and regulations that governed their behavior.

In my opinion, many folks went completely through the course and neither understood nor agreed with anything put forward to them. However, they knew what was required of them if they wanted to complete their military careers. These folks retained their pre-DEOMI beliefs and basically went underground.

Another smaller group understood some of the topics better than others, perhaps racism but not sexism. These folks were making efforts to comply and tried to learn how to understand their internal dissonance and grow by challenging some of their previously held beliefs. I often visualize many of thse folks, two or even three years later, going: "Aha, now I understand what they were trying to tell or show me in%2

Thanks Brian Williams, NBC News, for your interpretation

Tonight, while listening to Brian Williams, NBC News I heard him say there were 335 casualties in Lebanon, most of whom were civilian. After having served a career in the military I thought all Hezbollah personnel were civilian.

As a submarine sailor I have never participated in a war. However, I have been watching wars in or on the news all of my life. The History Channel continually shows bombings of Germany during WWII and pictures exhibit miles of desolate territory throughout Germany, Russia, Japan, etc. During those bombings the civilian populace were targeted much as Hezbollah is targeting Israel.

If Israel was targeting Lebanese civilians the death tolls would be a hell of a lot higher than 335. Hezbollah aims their weapons using a somewhat basic point and shoot method like oldtime chinese rockets. Israel aims their weapons using modern ballistics.

Brian Williams may want to come up with a new term other than "civilians" to identify the Hezbollah thugs and their supporters who are dying in Lebanon.

Rules for a Gun Fight

1. Have a gun. Preferably one you have demonstrated skill with and bring as many of your other guns as possible. If possible, bring all of your friends and their guns.

2. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting multiple times, ammo is cheap but life is not.

3. Only hits count. You can't miss fast enough to win. (Front sight & trigger squeeze!)

4. If your shooting stance is good, you're probably not moving fast enough or using cover correctly.

5. Move away from your attacker, distance is your friend. Try to move both laterally and diagonally if at all possible.

6. If you have the opportunity to choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a long gun. Bring as many as possible of your friends with their long guns.

7. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. Those that remember will only remember who lived.

8. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading, and/or running.

9. Accuracy is relative, more combat shooting standards are dependent on "pucker factor" then the built in accuracy of the gun. Long barrel guns are inherently more accurate than short barrel guns due to multiple factors.

10. It is much more important to use a gun that WORKS EVERY TIME. It is imperative that you know how to operate the gun under adverse conditions. Although all skills are in vain when an Angel blows the powder from the pan of your musket.

11. Someday it is possible someone may kill you with your own gun, However, they should have to beat you to death with it because it will be empty.

12. Always cheat, always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.

13. Have a plan and a have a back-up plan or two, because your first plan can and will go to sh*t in a heartbeat.

14. Know the difference between cover and concealment and use both to your advantage as much as possible.

15. Flank your adversary whenever possible but ensure you cover yours.

16. Don't drop your guard. Be prepared.

17. Always tactically reload and threat scan 360 degrees.

18. Watch their hands. Hands kill but so can feet. Be very alert when giving commands that require hand and/or foot movements.

19. Decide to be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.

20. The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.

21. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet.

22. Be courteous to everyone, friendly to no one.

23. Your number one option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.

24. Your number two option for personal security is lifelong training and preparation for when your number one option fails.

25. Do not knowingly attend a gun fight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with anything smaller then "4". Rule #1: Have a gun may sometimes trump this rule.

The Mastermind

The following letter of mine appeared in the Florida Today on 01-25-05:

Graner unpersuasive as abuse mastermind

As a retired U. S. Navy master chief petty officer, I can only imagine that those people who believe Army Specialist Charles A Graner Jr. was the ringleader in hte Abu Ghraib abuse scandal will also believe this;

That CBS newscaster Dan Rather was taken in by his underlings in the now discredited story of President Bush's National Guard Service.

I am not saying Graner was not involved. But his grade as a specialist is very low on the military food chain.

Some questions that might spring from this situation are:

Where was his leadership? What was his chain of command? Whether his chain of command knew or not, they should have been held responsible for his behavior.

Ringleader my eye.

**********************************************************************************

Now almost a year later, I still wonder about that chain of command. What type punishments were handed out to the senior non-commissioned officers as well as the junior and senior grade officers above Spec4 Graner.

I did see recently that LtGen Sanchez (3 star) who was in total charge during this incident has decided to retire rather than be promoted to General ($ star) and go through Senate hearings on his leadership during the Abu Ghraib scandal.

Perhaps if he had actually been leading and properly investigated the situation and handed out appropriate discipline to those involved he could have enjoyed the rank he most surely earned for his service.