Wednesday - March 29, 2006

Execute Pedophiles?

You’re damn right! This is one piece of legislation that I hope goes through and stands up under appeal. I doubt that it will however because the Liberals in this country will never allow it. Personally, I feel that the first time a pedophile rapes a child under 11, they should be fried. Waiting until they do it a second time is absurd.

South Carolina Approves Seeking Death for Pedophiles
_{March 28, 2006, 9:50 PM EST}

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)

The state Senate on Tuesday endorsed making repeat child rapists eligible for the death penalty, setting aside arguments the move might be unconstitutional. “What we’ve got to do today is vote our conviction,” said Republican Sen. Larry Martin.

The proposal allows prosecutors to seek the death penalty for sex offenders who are convicted twice of raping a child younger than 11. Currently in South Carolina, murder is the only crime eligible for the death penalty.

The proposal was approved as part of a larger bill that sets minimum sentences and lifetime electronic monitoring for some sex offenders. The bill requires a third reading before moving to the House. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 1977 Georgia case involving an adult victim that sentencing someone to death for rape was unconstitutional.

A Louisiana law lets prosecutors seek the death penalty for rapists of children younger than 12, and the Louisiana Supreme Court found it constitutional because the U.S. Supreme Court ruling did not address the rape of a child. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the statute.

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/29/2006 at 09:16 AM   
Filed Under: • Crime •  
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Cutting In Line

_{Mike Lester—Rome (GA) News-Tribune}

- CBS: “Spanish Media Organized Nationwide Mass Protests”

- San Francisco Chronicle: “Debate’s Tone Worries Legal Immigrants”

- Los Angeles Daily News: “Immigration A Likely Election Issue”

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/29/2006 at 08:55 AM   
Filed Under: • Illegal-Aliens and Immigration •  
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   Tuesday - March 28, 2006

Wild Blue Yonder

“US Air Force B-17 Pilots”
US Air Force Celebrates Women’s History Month

These four female pilots leaving their ship at the four engine school at Lockbourne are members of a group of WASPS who have been trained to ferry the B-17 Flying Fortresses in 1944.

In the United States, with the support of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who called them a “weapon waiting to be used,” record-breaking pilot Jacqueline Cochran tried to use her influence to form a woman’s squadron, but seeing that it was hopeless, she took a group of women pilots to England to fly with the British ATA. During her absence, the U.S. Army organized the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps in 1941 (WAAC) (changed to the Women’s Army Corps (WACs) when the group was militarized in 1943). The WACs were assigned to non-flying aviation positions such as Link trainer instructors, radio operators, mechanics, photo interpreters and parachute riggers. The Navy established the WAVES (Women Appointed for Volunteer Emergency Service) in 1942 to perform the same assignments as the WACs, as well as become control tower operators, a controversial decision since detractors worried that women could not handle the multiple tasks required. But the women excelled and the only problem was that the WAVES uniform skirt was too snug for climbing the ladders into the towers.

The U.S. Air Transport Command had been investigating, through pilot Nancy Love, using women to ferry planes from the factories to stateside military bases. Although U.S. Army Air Force Chief of Staff Henry “Hap” Arnold had promised Jacqueline Cochran and the White House that Cochran would have command of any women’s unit, that was not to pass. Military politics led to the announcement on September 10, 1942 of the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS), under the command of Love. The first WAFS group arrived, after an intensive screening process, at New Castle Air Base in October. Although civilians, they began flying military planes in the contiguous United States.

As a peace offering to the angry Cochran, Arnold organized the Women’s Flying Training Detachment (WFTD) to train pilots. The WFTD training school was at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas, where 1,074 women were taught to fly “the Army way” while living the military lifestyle with uniforms, drills, regulations, and morning reveille. Although never officially made members of the military, the women still behaved as if they had been.

In August 1943 the two women’s groups were merged, under Cochran’s command and renamed the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs). The WASPs accumulated an amazing record. They flew every airplane in the USAAF’s inventory, including half of all pursuit planes delivered during the war. When male pilots were afraid to fly the new B-29 Superfortress because of mechanical difficulties experienced during testing, two WASPs took one, Ladybird, on a tour of air bases to show the men how safe the plane was. And the women’s duties increased beyond ferrying. They towed targets for aerial gunnery practice, simulated strafing, served as flight instructors, and ran check flights for recently repaired aircraft. And Ann Baumgartner worked as a test pilot at Wright Field where she became the first woman to fly the YP-59 jet. Thirty-eight WASPs were killed performing their duties. In total, the female pilots logged 60 million miles flying their planes.

- More at the US Centennial Of Flight Commission ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/28/2006 at 05:22 PM   
Filed Under: • War-Stories •  
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Which Is It: Guest Worker Or Criminal?

The Senate judiciary committee has split with with the Senate leadership which has split with the House which has split with the President over ... illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, across the country millions of illegal aliens and their supporters are marching through the streets. This is starting to really tick me off. If you catch a burglar breaking into your house do you: (a) call the cops and have him arrested, or (b) invite him to stay and give him the guest bedroom? What part of that formula does Congress not get ... ?

Senators Back Guest Workers
_{Tuesday, March 28, 2006}
(WASHINGTON POST)

A key Senate panel broke with the House’s get-tough approach to illegal immigration yesterday and sent to the floor a broad revision of the nation’s immigration laws that would provide lawful employment to millions of undocumented workers while offering work visas to hundreds of thousands of new immigrants every year.

With bipartisan support, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12 to 6 to side with President Bush’s general approach to an immigration issue that is dividing the country, fracturing the Republican Party and ripening into one of the biggest political debates of this election year. Conservatives have loudly demanded that the government tighten control of U.S. borders and begin deporting illegal immigrants. But in recent weeks, the immigrant community has risen up in protest, marching by the hundreds of thousands to denounce what they see as draconian measures under consideration in Washington.

“There is no issue outside of civil rights that brings out the kind of emotions we have seen,” said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), one of the bill’s primary sponsors, who called the controversy “a defining issue of our times.”

Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) rushed committee members to complete their work to meet a midnight deadline imposed by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), who favors a tougher approach more in line with the version passed by the House last December. But once the committee had acted, Frist declined to say last night whether he would substitute the committee’s legislation for his own, which includes no guest-worker program.

Frist’s efforts to wrest control of the issue from the Judiciary Committee could produce a power struggle among Republicans once the majority leader brings up the issue for debate and votes in the full Senate, probably this week. Specter and the other committee leaders may have to muscle their bill through as an amendment if Frist refuses to back down.

- There’s more to this crap at the WAPO ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/28/2006 at 09:41 AM   
Filed Under: • Illegal-Aliens and Immigration •  
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Religious Tolerance

“Keeping Up Appearances” by Cox & Forkum

- Stop The ACLU: “Abdul Rahman Seeks Asylum”

- Michelle Malkin: “Save Abdul Rahman”

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/28/2006 at 09:23 AM   
Filed Under: • Religion • RoPMA •  
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   Monday - March 27, 2006

Republican Party Death Watch

Republicans On The Run
As midterm campaigns gear up, Bush’s party fears a
backlash that could end its 12-year hold on the House
_{Monday - March 27, 2006}

TIME MAGAZINE—Considering that Vice President Dick Cheney had come a long way to help Florida Congressman Ric Keller raise $250,000 last week, the reception he got in the Sunshine State could have been a bit warmer. After extolling Cheney as “one of the most effective Vice Presidents in the history of the U.S.,” Keller launched into all the times he had recently opposed the Bush Administration, including the deal to allow a Dubai company to manage operations at several U.S. ports. And then Keller went right for the punch line: “‘Don’t be too hasty,’” he claimed the Vice President had pleaded with him. “‘Let’s go hunting. We’ll talk about it.’”

As the campaign season kicks into gear, Republican incumbents are having a hard time figuring out how close they want to be to the White House. Voters have plenty to take out on Republican candidates this year--ethics scandals, the G.O.P.’S failure to curb spending, the government’s inept response to Hurricane Katrina, a confusing new prescription-drug program for seniors and, more than anything else, an unpopular President who is fighting an unpopular war. Iraq could make a vulnerability of the Republicans’ greatest asset, the security issue.

Iraq is driving nearly all the big indicators the wrong way for Republicans. In a TIME poll conducted last week, Bush’s job approval rating was mired at 39%; 3 in 5 Americans said the country is headed in the wrong direction, and when those surveyed were given the choice between a generic Republican and a generic Democrat for Congress, the nameless Democrat won, 50% to 41%. The signs suggest an anti-Republican wave is building, says nonpartisan electoral handicapper Stuart Rothenberg, whose Rothenberg Political Report is closely followed in Washington. “The only question is how high, how big, how much force it will have. I think it will be considerable.”

Few strategists in either party think a Democratic takeover of the Senate is likely, but many agree that the party’s playing offense rather than defense is a remarkable turnaround, given that Democrats have more incumbents (18) fighting to keep their seats than Republicans do (15). But the G.O.P. failed to recruit strong challengers for the North Dakota, Nebraska and Florida seats that had been considered their best opportunities. “There was a chance for us to get damn close to [a filibuster-proof] 60 votes,” says G.O.P. activist Grover Norquist. “We gave away three sure things.”

If there’s any good news for Republicans, it’s that the elections are still seven months off. There is time in which any number of possible events--the capture of Osama bin Laden, for instance, or positive developments out of Iraq--could sweeten the nation’s mood. Gingrich says Republicans badly need accomplishments to tell voters about. “The country actually expects the majority to implement,” he says. “They hire you to govern, not just to tell them why you are right.”

- Dearly Beloved, you may gather at TIME to read the rest of the eulogy and obituary ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/27/2006 at 01:46 PM   
Filed Under: • Politics •  
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Most Ridiculous Headline Of The Day (so far)

“Sharon Stone: Hillary Clinton ‘Too Sexy’ to Run for President”
- The National Ledger: March 27, 2006

“I think Hillary Clinton is fantastic. But I think it is too soon for her to run. This may sound odd, but a woman should be past her sexuality when she runs. Hillary still has sexual power, and I don’t think people will accept that. It’s too threatening,” Stone says in the new issue of Hollywood Life magazine.

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/27/2006 at 06:42 AM   
Filed Under: • Hildabeast • Stoopid-People •  
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Culture Clash

I suppose if you’re going to take on the task of bringing morals and family values back to America you might as well start at Ground Zero: San Francisco. Only don’t be surprised if you are faced with an official condemnation from the city council and a protest by none other than .... the “Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence”. 

“They’re loud, they’re obnoxious, they’re disgusting, and they should get out of San Francisco”, according to Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco. He was referring to the Christian youth of course ... not the ... uh ... “Sisters”.

_{Sister Mary Timothy of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence shouts at evangelical Christian youths rallying outside City Hall
Photo by Paul Chin, SF Chronicle}

---

Evangelical Teens Rally In San Francisco
_{Saturday, March 25, 2006}

More than 25,000 evangelical Christian youth landed Friday in San Francisco for a two-day rally at AT&T Park against “the virtue terrorism” of popular culture, and they were greeted by an official city condemnation and a clutch of protesters who said their event amounted to a “fascist mega-pep rally.”

“Battle Cry for a Generation” is led by a 44-year-old Concord native, Ron Luce, who wants “God’s instruction book” to guide young people away from the corrupting influence of popular culture. Luce, whose Teen Mania organization is based in Texas, kicked off a three-city “reverse rebellion” tour Friday night intended to counter a popular culture that he says glamorizes violence and sex. The $55 advance tickets for two days of musical performances and speeches were sold out, but walk-up admission was available for $199.

After stops in Detroit and Philadelphia in the next few weeks, Luce wants to unleash a “blitz” of youth pastors into the communities to do everything from work with the homeless to find new ways to bring others to Christ. He challenged youth leaders to double the size of their groups in the next year. And then he plans to return to San Francisco next year to chart their progress.

That’s bad news to Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, who told counterprotesters at City Hall on Friday that while such fundamentalists may be small in number, “they’re loud, they’re obnoxious, they’re disgusting, and they should get out of San Francisco.”

Luce didn’t flinch in the face of the counterprotest. The author, host of the “Acquire the Fire TV” cable television program and a President Bush appointee to a federal anti-drug-abuse commission, wants teens to find Bible-based solutions for the spread of sexually transmitted disease, teen pregnancy, drug abuse and suicide.

The villains, Luce said, range from the promiscuity and “sexualization” of young people on MTV and the popular online meeting hub MySpace.com to a corporate culture that spends millions trying to woo the under-21 crowd.

- More on this story in the San Francisco Chronicle ...

- On The Net: Battle Cry’s Official Web Site

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/27/2006 at 05:59 AM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Religion •  
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Crossfire

John Darkow—Columbia (Missouri) Daily Tribune

- Boston Globe: “Senators, In Iraq, Quarrel Over War”

- The Utah Spectrum: “Debate Continues To Rage Over Progress Made During Iraq War”

- USA Today: “U.S. Troop Morale Steady As Iraq War Enters Fourth Year”

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/27/2006 at 05:34 AM   
Filed Under: • Military • Politics •  
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Weekend Wrap-Up

“Sequoia National Forest”
<sub>(Click image for larger 1024x768 image in popup window)

Photo Courtesy Of: Jon Sulllivan</sub>

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/27/2006 at 12:34 AM   
Filed Under: • Art-Photography •  
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   Sunday - March 26, 2006

Freedom Of Blog

Hooray! Let my peoples go! Bloggers now officially have the right to call John Kerry a goober-butt without having to provide equal time to goober-butt for a re-butt-al. I’m still waiting on my first check from the Republican National Committee though. Hey, Terry! Send payment through PayPal to ....

Proposed FEC Rules Would Exempt Most Political Activity on Internet
_{Saturday, March 25, 2006}

(WASHINGTON POST)—The Federal Election Commission last night released proposed new rules that leave almost all Internet political activity unregulated except for the purchase of campaign ads on Web sites. “My key goal in this rule-making has been to make sure that the commission establish clear rules to exempt individuals who engage in online politics from campaign finance laws,” said Chairman Michael E. Toner, a Republican.

“We tried to craft a regulation that would allow the maximum amount of freedom for people as possible,” said Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub, a Democrat. Most bloggers, individual Web users, and such Web sites as Drudge Report and Salon.com are exempted from regulation and will be free to support and attack federal candidates, much as newspapers are allowed.

For the most part, leading advocates of the blogger community welcomed the proposed rules. “As a whole, these are rules that I think those who have been fighting regulations are going to be cheering,” said Richard L. Hasen, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, who runs the Election Law blog. The rules provide “broad exemptions for most political activity on the Internet, and expand the media exemption to the Internet,” he said.

Hasen and others noted that as technology advances, the regulations will have to be modified. In particular, Hasen said, “as the Internet and TV converge, the FEC or Congress will eventually need to rethink these rules to see if they make sense.” “Generally, it’s in line with what I think bloggers ask for,” said Jerome Armstrong, the founder of the liberal blog MyDD, an adviser to the Howard Dean for president campaign in 2004 and currently an adviser to former Virginia governor Mark R. Warner’s political action committee. “They give bloggers the media exemption.”

Armstrong voiced concern, however, over potential difficulties that could result from a requirement that campaign ads have disclaimers. “The size of a Web ad and the size of blog ad is so small that having to put a disclaimer on it is going to take up all the space,” he said. The House last week put off consideration of a bill that would have similarly left online political activity largely unregulated. Mike Krempasky, who runs the conservative blog RedState, called the proposed rules “a complex legal and regulatory scheme” and called on Congress to pass legislation sponsored by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.).

Since 2000, the Internet has grown geometrically as a force shaping virtually every aspect of politics from fundraising to get-out-the-vote drives. The Democratic and Republican national committees are attempting to amass millions of e-mail addresses of supporters and contributors, and candidates at all levels are building lists.In a two-page summary of the 90-page set of rules, Weintraub and Vice Chairman Robert D. Lenhard stressed that the proposals “explicitly exempt from regulation the Internet activities of unpaid individuals or groups of individuals” and “bloggers will not be regulated.” A blogger who gets paid by a campaign will not have to report the money to the FEC, but the campaign will separately have to disclose the expenditures, under the proposed rules.

- More on blog freedom here ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/26/2006 at 07:00 PM   
Filed Under: •   
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Up In Smoke

Before anyone gets the wrong idea let me state up front: (1) I do not use marijuana nor do I condone its use, (2) I do not believe it is within the powers granted to the US government by the people to criminalize the cultivation or possession of marijuana. The stupidest argument I have ever heard is from the US attorney below.

Mankind has a fundamental right to grow crops and every plant has its uses. Even the poppy plant can contribute to mankind’s suffering by providing morphine in addition to the bad things it can be made into like heroin. Even the miserable coca plant has its uses in producing a pleasant soft drink and we all know things go better with Coke.

So why do we have these Draconian drug laws? All they do is fill our prisons with people who just wanted a little mental relief from the stress of everyday life. Is there a medical downside to marijuana use? Probably, as it is inhaled smoke just like a cigarette which has well documented dangers. But do marijuana smokers light up one after the other like cigarette smokers do? I doubt it.

Based on my one experience with marijuana in the late 60’s, we would toke a joint until we were mellow then it was a fight over the twinkies and chips as the “munchies” set in. I don’t recall anyone in the campus “drug culture” that toked more than two or three joints a day, at most. I guess that’s what I hate about the current drug laws. The government is robbing us of personal choice in a matter that involves no one but the individual.

I believe the government has some right to protect us from ourselves by prohibiting murder, robbery and other acts that impact society as a whole but where do we draw the line and say to the government, “back off!” We tried this once before by prohibiting alcohol. All that produced was a nation of criminals and an entire crime industry.

Today alcohol is legal and societal rules manage its consumption. The same needs to happen to marijuana. Think about it: (1) alcohol is taxed and produces millions of dollars in revenue for government, (2) penalties are provided for criminal use of alcohol such as drunk driving, (3) alcohol is prohibited to underage minors who simply cannot handle it in a mature manner, (4) employers and other institutions you interact with on a daily basis have rules in place punishing you for alcohol use where it is inappropriate like the workplace.

Do you notice a pattern in all the above. Use of alcohol is punished - but only if it is misused. Government and society rely on you to make good personal choices. Why is marijuana use different? That is a question I have never heard a reasonable answer to yet. Someone enlighten me. What say you?

Medical Marijuana Issue Returns to Court
_{March 26, 2006, 11:46 AM EST}

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)—Each time the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on medical marijuana, the justices have come down against allowing the sick and dying to use the drug to ease their symptoms and possibly prolong life.

However, the door has never been fully closed, and now a federal appeals court is set to hear arguments in the latest round of legal wrangling over the issue. The case to be argued Monday before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco narrows the matter to the so-called right to life theory: that marijuana should be allowed if it is the only viable option to keep a patient alive or free of excruciating pain.

It would apply only to the sickest patients and their suppliers, regardless of whether they live in one of the 11 mostly Western states that allow medical marijuana. “A victory would affect people who are very seriously ill, facing death or great physical suffering,” said Randy Barnett, a Boston University law school professor working on the case.

The case was brought by Angel Raich, a 40-year-old mother of two from Oakland who suffers from scoliosis, a brain tumor, chronic nausea and other ailments. She uses marijuana every couple of hours to ease her pain and bolster her appetite. “She’d probably be dead without marijuana,” said her doctor, Frank Lucido, who has recommended marijuana for some 3,000 patients. “Nothing else works.”

The Bush administration says the lawsuit is without merit. ”There is no fundamental right to distribute, cultivate or possess marijuana,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Quinlivan, the government’s lead medical marijuana attorney, wrote to the appeals court.

- More government legislation insanity here ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/26/2006 at 05:20 PM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine • Judges-Courts-Lawyers •  
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Discount Dukes

Brian Adcock—The Scotland on Sunday

Blair Gave Honours For Loans

LONDON (TIMES)—A millionaire businessman has lifted the lid on how Labour is concealing money given by wealthy backers who are then nominated for peerages. Labour has raised up to £10m from donors but has hidden the payments because they were made as loans, which do not have to be declared. Three of the donors were put forward for peerages by Tony Blair last autumn.

The confidential loan arrangements have been revealed by Chai Patel, chief executive of the Priory healthcare group and a party supporter who has donated £100,000 to Labour. He discloses today that he was asked by a senior Labour fundraiser to provide an unsecured loan even though he was prepared to give a donation.

Within weeks of agreeing to the £1.5m loan, he was told he had been nominated by Blair for a peerage. He was advised by Labour officials that he did not have to disclose the loan. If he had given the money as a donation, it would have had to be declared to the Electoral Commission and published, so exposing Labour to a potential cash-for-honours controversy.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Patel said “there is clearly a history here and a reality of peerages for fundraising. The public has a right to be sceptical.” Patel, 51, said he might have been prepared to convert the loan into a donation at a later date, which means it would not be publicised until long after he had been awarded an honour. Labour introduced the loans scheme last year amid mounting criticism of party supporters being handed honours, including knighthoods and peerages, after giving donations.

- Read more about purchasing pereages at The Times ...

Here’s the full list of most of those who have stayed in the Lincoln Bedroom since President Bill Clinton took office, courtesy of The Associated Press. Some of the interesting names on the list are singer Barbra Streisand, catalogue retailer Lillian Vernon, playwright Neil Simon, film director and producer Steven Spielberg, former Chrysler chairman Lee Iaccoca, the Rev. Billy Graham, Apple Computer co-founder Steven Jobs, nutrition guru Dean Ornish, and, not least, actress Jane Fonda and her husband, CNN honcho Ted Turner.

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/26/2006 at 12:28 PM   
Filed Under: • EUro-peons • Corruption and Greed • Politics •  
• Comments (5) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Friends

Soldier Returns From Iraq To Surprise
_{March 26, 2006}

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP)—An Indiana National Guard soldier who spent a year in Iraq returned home to a big surprise: In his absence, his friends had transformed his rusted 1967 Plymouth Barracuda into a deep blue, chrome-trimmed car lover’s dream.

Spc. Bob Metcalf, who had stored the rusted, hoodless, fenderless Barracuda in his brother’s garage, left for Iraq last year. He had planned to someday fix up the old muscle car.

Friends of the 39-year-old reservist kept their restoration work secret until Friday night. That’s when Metcalf wandered into South Bend’s Joyce Center to see the Cavalcade of Wheels auto show with his pals. Metcalf, who returned recently from Iraq, was incredulous when his friends told him that the gleaming deep blue car with red and white stripes sitting under a spotlight was his old car sporting a new look.

“I don’t believe it. This is incredible,” he said, looking around at the crowd of volunteers and cameras that greeted him at his new ride. Sean Burns, a friend of the Army National Guard soldier, turned over the keys to him. “Why don’t you go start it up?” he told Metcalf.

The hot-rodded Chrysler 318 V-8 under the hood awoke from its slumber with Metcalf’s first turn of the key, settling into a loping rumble. Metcalf’s friends and family had waited a long time to see him sitting in his polished car. Dozens of volunteers had endured six months of busted knuckles, grease and sweat to finish a project they called “one soldier’s dream.”

Metcalf, a veteran of more than 20 years in the service, had shipped out to Mosul, Iraq, last year for what was originally supposed to be two years in Iraq, but was later cut to one.

After he left, Burns and several of Metcalf’s other friends pitched in with work, parts, and cash to make the Barracuda restoration project a reality. They toiled until the early morning hours behind the roll-up steel door in a Mishawaka workshop, fueling up with caffeine and pizza as they worked their magic on every nut and bolt of the old car.

- More on “friends” here ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/26/2006 at 11:11 AM   
Filed Under: • Fun-Stuff • Military •  
• Comments (5) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
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3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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