Saturday - January 20, 2007

Barking Moonbat Hall Of Fame 2006

Winner to be announced on Sunday!

Another year, another list of candidates for the Hall Of Fame. Who will join previous winners Al Gore and John Kerry from this year’s crop of Moonbats? Only you know.

Cast your vote and send one of these fine specimens to immortal fame. Polls will remain open all week. You may vote once each day so spread the love around if you want. The voting will end on Friday evening and the winner will be announced on Sunday.

There are ten candidates - one from each major Moonbat category. If your favorite is not in the list, don’t worry - they’ll make it next year (or the next). Moonbats are persistent if nothing else.

So peruse the list and choose wisely. You are bestowing immortality ....

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/20/2007 at 01:00 AM   
Filed Under: • Awards •  
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   Friday - January 19, 2007

Through The Looking Glass

What better way to wind down a Friday and the end of another work week than a quick glimpse of what the PETA loons are up to now. They have taken their show on the road overseas to Taiwan this week. If you want to have a little fun, add a caption to this picture. What could possibly be going through that nice young Chinese boy’s (girl?) mind right about now?

P.S. Is it just me or does that blond broad in front have what we guys call “crazy eyes”? I’d recommend staying out of her way - just in case.

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/19/2007 at 03:10 PM   
Filed Under: • Animals • Art-Photography •  
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Tempus Fuggit

WARNING: THE SKIPPER IS ABOUT TO GO INTO FOAMING-AT-THE-MOUTH RAMPAGING RAGE MODE! YOU MIGHT WANT TO ASK ALL LITTLE CHILDREN TO LEAVE THE ROOM! HIS DAY JOB IS STARTING TO REALLY SUCK THANKS TO THE GOVERNMENT AND HE ISN’T TAKING IT VERY WELL!

I hate the goobers in Washington with a passion. I’d like to wring every one of their silly little necks. Here’s why they need to have their asses whupped ....

Got all that? A rough translation is that they decided to make Daylight Saving Time last longer by a piddling few weeks and then see if it did any good. If not they will change it back to the old dates. That doesn’t sound too complex does it?

What you good folks (and the asshats in Congress) don’t realize is that there are a bajillion computers out there in the world and ALL OF THEM HAVE TO BE RE-PROGRAMMED! Computers don’t know diddley squat about time other than the little crystal vibrating in their innards somewhere or their connection to a time server in some far off location (which happens to be another computer).

If we miserable humans change the way we observe time we have to tell our dumb computer friends about it. As is stands right now, every freaking computer on the planet is pre-programmed to change the time at the locally observed dates each year. Now the US Guvmint is going to change all that on a whim. I could beat every one of these bureaucrats to death if I could get to them.

This is going to be an even worse mess than the Y2K melodrama a few years ago. The Y2K problem mainly affected several billion lines of old COBOL code in older mainframes. This change to Daylight Saving Time affects EVERY COMPUTER AND EVERY PIECE OF SOFTWARE. Because of this, software vendors have been scrambling since 2005 to create what we call patches or updates and since Daylight Saving Time ended last Fall we have been feverishly pushing these patches out to all the computers we manage.

For the record, this crap affects your Windows and Macintosh computers too. Microsoft has already updated its new operating system, Vista and patches are automatically being downloaded through Windows Update for Windows XP and Windows 2000. No word yet on whether they will patch the older Windows versions like 95, 98 or NT. Apple should be pushing out patches soon too if they haven’t already.

And that’s just the desktop operating systems.

Information Technology professionals like myself have been working a lot of overtime hours lately applying patches to all of our Unix servers and other mid-range servers as well as mainframe big iron.

Which brings us to the software. In addition to telling the operating systems about the change we also have to update all of the applications software. This includes all of our database servers, web servers, e-mail servers. In addition, your e-mail client software along with any other time-sensitive applications also have to be updated.

My database administrator team is currently in the process of patching over 600 Oracle databases - and that’s just for a single client. Multiply that by a gazillion-trillion for all the other major businesses out there and you start to get the picture.

And Congress says that if they don’t see any benefits from this change they will blithely change it all back by waving their magic legislative wand.

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/19/2007 at 01:28 PM   
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Uh-Oh!

I sense a great disturbance in the Force, Obi-Wan. The Chinese Commies are up to no good and we’re all about to be in deep kimchi if they keep this up. It is becoming obvious that the ChiComs want to be the dominant power in Asia and the Pacific. There is an inevitable showdown coming. It’s too bad Bill Clinton sold them all of our military secrets.

It’s time to fall back on Plan B. Begin construction of the Death Star immediately. We have no time to lose. Powerful they have become. I sense the Dark Side in them ...

Chinese Missile Destroys Satellite In Space
_{(TELEGRAPH-UK) - 7:50am GMT 19/01/2007}

The prospect of “Star Wars” between China and the West loomed last night after Beijing used a ballistic missile to destroy a satellite in space. The missile, which hit a 4ft-wide obsolete Chinese weather satellite 530 miles above the Earth, is thought to have been launched from the Xichang space centre in China’s Sichuan province.

It suggests that the Chinese have developed a major new capability that underscores the communist regime’s desire to use its military might as well as burgeoning economic power to expand its influence.

“The US believes China’s development and testing of such weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of co-operation that both countries aspire to in the civil space area,” said Gordon Johndroe, spokes-man for the US National Security Council, yesterday. “We and other countries have expressed our concern regarding this action to the Chinese.” It is understood that Australia and Canada have also protested to China.

The ability to destroy satellites with such precision could undermine the US National Missile Defence programme, a network of rocket interceptors, computers and satellites intended to protect America and its key allies from nuclear attack. It became known as “Son of Star Wars” after President Ronald Reagan’s so-called “Star Wars” programme proposed in the 1980s.

The test heightens tensions between Washington and Beijing, which increasingly see one another as long-term strategic rivals in the Pacific. China’s navy is undergoing massive expansion that could threaten the independence of its neighbour Taiwan, which is backed by the US.

Taiwan was particularly alarmed at yesterday’s announcement because it relies on satellites to monitor cruise missiles pointed towards it from the Chinese mainland. China is seeking to challenge American military strength in the Far East, including its vital trade routes in the South China Sea and Straits of Malacca.

Short- and medium-range ballistic missiles have been developed with the potential to take on American aircraft carriers. There has also been investment in new nuclear submarines. The People’s Liberation Army Navy has launched as many as 60 ships in the past five years and last March announced that it would build an aircraft carrier. Chinese military spending more than doubled between 1997 and 2003 and is now estimated to be second only to the US as a percentage of GDP.

- More ...

_{(Hat tip to Drudge for finding this)}

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/19/2007 at 04:24 AM   
Filed Under: • Commies • Military •  
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Motivational Poster Of The Day

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/19/2007 at 04:09 AM   
Filed Under: • Motorvators •  
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The Adults Of Tomorrow

Those of you who have been reading this blog for the last three years probably know there is one subject that is very important to me ... children. I have an undying hatred of child molesters and would be perfectly content to see every one slowly tortured to death in the most painful way imaginable. The very thought that an organization like NAMBLA even exists creeps me out.

I am a firm believer in protecting the children we bring into this world from the insanity, hatred and perversions of our society until they’re old enough to cope with it. If we give them a beautiful childhood maybe they can create a better tomorrow. At least that’s always been my hope.

Perverts who molest children, sell them into slavery or use and abuse them in any manner whatsoever only pass their evil on to another generation like a cancer spreading through society. We sometimes forget that the children of today are the adults of tomorrow and they will be what we teach them to be.

Every time I see pictures of Palestinian children celebrating jihad with their parents or posing with machine guns I get sick to my stomach. Even worse is when I read of a missing child who has been abducted here in our own country. I wonder and worry what that child is going through. The longer I think about it, the angrier I get.

The recent abduction of Ben Ownby here in Missouri and the subsequent rescue of Ben and the discovery of Shawn Hornbeck, who had been abducted four years ago by the same man really, really bothered me. The fact that it all happened within ten miles of where I live really had me on edge.

Then when I read about a judge setting a child molester free or giving them a gentle slap on the wrist I want to scream. You see, like Michael Reagan talks about below, I had a similar experience when I was a young boy. I know what he is talking about. Maybe one day I’ll work up the courage to tell you what I was never able to tell my mother. Maybe.

For now though, I agree with Mike. Leave the boys alone. Let them heal ... and hang that sonuvabitch who kidnapped them. Nothing would make me happier than to get called to jury duty this week. Count on it.

The Reason Why
• by Michael Reagan

The media is beside itself trying to understand why Shawn Hornbeck, the youngster kidnapped four-and-a-half years ago, remained a captive despite being on his own much of the time.

All the would-be psychologists on TV and in the press have been speculating wildly, coming up with a myriad of reasons such as a case of the Stockholm syndrome, for example, as to why the youngster did not flee his alleged captivity when he had many opportunities to get away from his alleged kidnapper.

None of these people know what they are talking about. They don’t have the vaguest idea of what goes on in the mind of a young boy who has been sexually abused by an adult, as I assume was the case with Shawn.

I do. Only those who have had that horrific experience can understand what undoubtedly happened to Shawn Hornbeck, and I’m one of them.

When I was eight years old I was sexually abused by a man who ran an after-school day camp. And after that first molestation, I was literally blackmailed into silence by him, making it possible for him to continue to molest me for a year without fear of being exposed.

People who wonder why child victims of sexual abuse remain silent about their experiences have to understand that after that first episode the molester takes ownership of the youngster for a variety of reasons including shame and threats to tell his parents their child is a sexual deviant.

In my case the reason why I didn’t run away although this man was molesting me for a year was simply this: he owned me.

As I wrote in my book, “Twice Adopted,” which I urge parents to buy and read carefully for their children’s sake (you can get it at Amazon.com), “It doesn’t matter if you are molested once or a thousand times; it’s the first incident that does the damage. That first act solidifies the molester’s ownership of you.”

Although I have no way of knowing if Shawn allowed himself to be photographed in a compromising situation as I was, if that was the case with him the molester’s ownership was solidly confirmed.

I allowed my abuser to take nude photos of me much against my will. He used those photos to blackmail me into silence by threatening to show them to my mother. That thought terrorized me. And it was enough to keep me silent.

I thought that if my mother saw those pictures she would know that I was what I then believed myself to be—evil. Another hold a molester has over his victim, you see, is his understanding that his victims come to believe that the molestation is their fault, and their deep shame and guilt ensures their silence.

A lot of people who are now speculating about the reason Shawn Hornbeck failed to flee are implying that he could have escaped countless times. They do not understand that his captivity did not involve being physically shackled and chained, but instead he was mentally imprisoned by fear of the exposure of his shame. He would have seen himself not as an innocent victim of sexual molestation, but as his molester’s partner in it.

That feeling of partnership grows out of the victim’s belief that even if they consider that the first sexual act was the abuser’s fault, they share the blame for all the subsequent acts.

And if there were photographs, as there were in my case, the threat of his parents ever seeing them and believing their son was the real guilty party is terrifying.

From my own experience, I know that it’s easier to put a gun in your mouth and pull the trigger than it is to tell your mother or your father what some man has done to you.

My advice to all the amateur psychologists telling us what happened to Shawn is to just plain shut up. If you haven’t been there, yourself, you don’t know what you are talking about. Leave the kid alone, he’s been through enough grief.

---

_{Mike Reagan, the eldest son of the late President Ronald Reagan, is heard on more than 200 talk radio stations nationally as part of the Radio America Network. Look for Mike’s new book, “Twice Adopted.” Order autographed books at http://www.reagan.com. Email comments to mereagan@hotmail.com. ©2007 Mike Reagan.}

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/19/2007 at 03:02 AM   
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Always One In Every Crowd

_{Mike Lester - The Rome News-Tribune (GA)}

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/19/2007 at 02:51 AM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Paleswine •  
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   Thursday - January 18, 2007

Hot Air

It is official now. We’re all going to die. The planet is burning up and it’s all because of gas-guzzling SUV’s. In fact, there is a move afoot to decertify any weatherman or climatologist who disagrees with the concept of glowball warming. Now Nancy Pelosi is going to generate a lot more hot air on the subject. We’re doomed.

I don’t dispute the fact that greenhouse gases are bad and mankind may be responsible for part of the recent increase but there are other forces wt work here that are being completely ignored. That is the big problem I have with the chicken littles out there. They are too focused on what mankind is doing to the planet and ignoring the climate cycles that are being caused by other forces and have been doing so for millennia.

No one is preparing for an increase in temperatures. Everyone is too busy pointing the finger at automobiles and coal-burning electrical plants. Who cares what causes it? The problem is that there IS a problem and it is not going to go away even if you take every automobile off the road and use nothing but nuclear energy to generate power.

Kyoto be damned. Almost none of the countries that signed on to that treaty have met their goals. Meanwhile, countries that are in a high gear of industrialization like China are spewing greenhouse gases in high volumes and no one can stop them. None of the countries in the EU met their goals either. Give it up, people!

Stifling dissent by decertifying anyone who disagrees is NOT the way to go. We need more open discussion and research into how we can cope with rising temperatures. The biggest carbon dioxide “sink” on the planet is the algae in our oceans. What damage is El Nino doing to them and can we do anything about it? Are we in a “hot” part of sunspot cycles? Evidence says we are. How do we cope? Do we stop building close to the oceans for a while until we see how much sea levels may rise?

There are just too many questions to leave it all up to a bunch of blowhards in Washington and we sure as hell don’t need people stifling dissent. Let’s get our heads together and do more research. Spend more money on climatology and less on stem cell research. It won’t matter whether we have Parkinson’s Disease if we’re all extinct for not having prepared for hotter times.

The human race has survived because we’re adaptable. We need to keep that in mind and proceed from there. We need to adapt to change before we start pointing the finger of blame - especially if we don’t fully understand all the factors at work. HELLO! Is anyone out there listening ... ?

Pelosi Turns Up Heat On Global Warming
Speaker Ignoring House Traditions To Force Legislative Action On Climate Change
_{WASHINGTON (AP) - January 18, 2007}

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, intent on putting global warming atop the Democratic agenda, is shaking up traditional committee fiefdoms dominated by some of Congress’ oldest and most powerful members.

She’s moving to create a special committee to recommend legislation for cutting greenhouse gases, most likely to be chaired by Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., a Democratic leadership aide said Wednesday. Markey has advocated raising mileage standards for cars, trucks and SUVs and is one of the House’s biggest critics of oil companies and U.S. automakers,

Pelosi has discussed the proposal with at least two Democratic committee chairmen: fellow Californian Henry Waxman of Oversight and Government Reform, and West Virginia Rep. Nick Rahall, who heads the Natural Resources panel. Pelosi intends to announce the move this week, said the leadership aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because not all of the details have been worked out.

The move, to some degree, would sidestep two of the House’s most powerful Democratic committee bosses, in shaping what’s expected to be at least a yearlong debate on global warming:

• Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell of Michigan, a defender of the auto industry and at 80 the longest serving member of the House.

• New York Rep. Charles Rangel, who as the 76-year-old chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, would have to clear any tax on carbon-based fuels like coal, oil or natural gas, which have been blamed for warming the atmosphere. A chief advocate of such a tax is former Democratic Vice President Al Gore.

Rahall said he had spoken with Pelosi about the idea of a new select committee. Rahall’s panel oversees energy development on public lands, including coal, oil and natural gas as well as cleaner, non-carbon sources such as geothermal and windmills.

“I’ve been assured that no legislative jurisdiction would be taken away from any committee,” Rahall said. “No legislative responsibility would be shifted from any committee.”

As chair of Energy and Commerce, Dingell oversees the Clean Air Act — and would have the most to lose by letting another panel take the lead. The panel’s staff chief, Dennis Fitzgibbons, a former auto company lobbyist, said Dingell was philosophically opposed to Pelosi’s plan.

“He has always been cool to the idea, because it undermines the fundamental idea for establishing committees in the first place, which is to acquire expertise in a certain area,” Fitzgibbons said.

Dingell, asked about the new committee, said, “I have not been officially informed.” Waxman, like Markey a one-time protege of Dingell, said that Pelosi discussed the idea of a special committee with him several days ago. He, too, is a skeptic.

“I believe the existing committees can deal effectively with global warming,” he said Wednesday. “But I can also understand why the speaker believes it’s important to highlight this issue.”

A new committee would give Pelosi a vehicle to push a regulatory scheme for reducing greenhouse gases and pit her against President Bush, who plans to outline his global warming approach in his State of the Union next week. Mr .Bush has repeatedly opposed any mandatory reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, instead advocating voluntary approaches and research on new technologies.

Pelosi has supported mandatory reductions with specific target dates for achieving them. “It’s an issue that the speaker thinks is critical to address,” said Pelosi spokeswoman Jennifer Crider.

- More ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/18/2007 at 03:28 PM   
Filed Under: • Climate-Weather • Politics •  
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Motivational Poster Of The Day

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/18/2007 at 02:29 PM   
Filed Under: • Motorvators •  
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An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Now this is an idea I can really get behind. Give every man, woman and child in Iraq a cheap Chinese ripoff AK-47 and 1,000 rounds of ammo ... and withdraw all American troops into forts or fortified areas. Tell the Iraqis they have exactly one week to settle all old feuds and kill every single foreigner in the country (except our troops).

You gotta admit, for a “Plan B” it does have its good points.

Give Us Guns – And Troops Can Go, Says Iraqi Leader
_{BAGHDAD (TIMES-UK) - January 18, 2007}

America’s refusal to give Baghdad’s security forces sufficient guns and equipment has cost a great number of lives, the Iraqi Prime Minister said yesterday. Nouri al-Maliki said the insurgency had been bloodier and prolonged because Washington had refused to part with equipment. If it released the necessary arms, US forces could “dramatically” cut their numbers in three to six months, he told The Times.

In a sign of the tense relations with Washington, he chided the US for suggesting his Government was living on “borrowed time”. Such criticism boosted Iraq’s extremists, he said, and was more a reflection of “some kind of crisis situation” in Washington after the Republicans’ midterm election losses.

Mr al-Maliki conceded that his administration had made mistakes over the hanging of Saddam Hussein. But he refused to accept all criticism over the execution. When asked about the Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi’s attack on Iraq’s capital punishment laws, Mr al- Maliki cited the Italians’ summary killing of Benito Mussolini and his stringing-up from a lamppost.

Asked how long Iraq would require US troops, Mr al-Maliki said: “If we succeed in implementing the agreement between us to speed up the equipping and providing weapons to our military forces, I think that within three to six months our need for American troops will dramatically go down. That is on condition that there are real, strong efforts to support our military forces and equipping and arming them.”

The US Government is wary of handing over large amounts of military hardware to the Iraqis because it has sometimes ended up in the hands of militias and insurgents. Gordon Johndroe, the White House national security spokesman, conceded that some of Mr al-Maliki’s criticism was “valid”. The training and equipping of Iraqi troops would be speeded up, he said, adding that by “self-admission we have had to redo our training and equipment programme”.

Although Mr al-Maliki’s tone was measured throughout, he is clearly irritated at US criticism that he has failed to curb Shia militias. Robert Gates, the new US Defence Secretary, said that Mr al-Maliki could lose his job if he failed to stop communal bloodshed and Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, gave a warning that he was living on “borrowed time” and that American patience was running out.

Challenged on the point, Mr al-Maliki remarked acidly: “Certain officials are going through a crisis. Secretary Rice is expressing her own point of view if she thinks that the Government is on borrowed time, whether it is borrowed time for the Iraqi Government or American Administration. I don’t think we are on borrowed time.”

He added: “I wish that we could receive strong messages of support from the US so we don’t give some boost to the terrorists and make them feel that they might have achieved success. I believe that such statements give moral boosts to the terrorists and push them towards making an extra effort and making them believe that they have defeated the American Administration, but I can tell you that they haven’t defeated the Iraqi Government.”

- More ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/18/2007 at 12:35 PM   
Filed Under: • Iraq •  
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Up In Smoke

What kind of country do I live in where the all-powerful federal government is tremendously efficient at busting its own citizens but cannot do a damn thing about illegal invaders who bring drugs and crime with them?

What kind of country forces its ailing citizens to purchase expensive drugs for pain and suffering through government managed, taxpayer funded programs but won’t allow those same citizens to grow a simple plant in their garden to get the same relief at little or no cost?

No, I’m not trying to push drugs and I personally don’t use them or need them. I need a clear head for my day job as a database administrator managing corporate data for Fortune 500 companies. But I’m not suffering from terminal cancer either. If I were the story might be different. Pain can do wonders for changing one’s philosophy.

I guess for me it all comes down to personal choices and personal freedom. Restraints on personal freedom should only be legislated at the local level as far as I’m concerned. That makes these restraints more easily defined, regulated and enforced. It also makes it easier to change or revoke those same reatraints if they become oppressive.

We, as a people, are losing more and more personal freedom (and privacy) every day that goes by because we turn over too much responsibility for our actions to the federal government in Washington. We literally have abrogated authority and control over our personal choices to a bunch of deceitful, heavy-handed bureaucrats far away in Washington.

So why is the DEA more concerned about medical marijuana clinics in California that operate out in the open with the consent of the voters in that state but at the same time can’t seem to stop the flow of tons of cocaine, heroin and other seriously threatening drugs into this country every day?

The answer is simple: As Ronald Reagan said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”

DEA Raids Medical Marijuana Clinics
_{LOS ANGELES (AP) - January 18, 2007, 5:16 AM EST}

Federal drug agents raided nearly a dozen medical marijuana clinics, seizing several thousand pounds of processed marijuana, along with weapons and money, authorities said.

Several people were detained, although no arrests were made after five dispensaries in West Hollywood and six others in Venice, Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley were searched Wednesday, said Sarah Pullen, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Pullen declined to provide details of the investigation, saying the search warrants remained under seal. “But obviously we are looking for marijuana and other illegal drugs, marijuana edibles and evidence of ongoing criminal activity and anything from paperwork to documents—you name it,” Pullen said.

City officials in West Hollywood said they were surprised by the action, learning of the raid as it was happening. West Hollywood spokeswoman Helen Goss said the city has a “long-standing commitment” to the use of medical marijuana for people suffering from illnesses like HIV and AIDS.

Agents in bulletproof vests, gloves and face masks left a West Hollywood storefront with boxes and trash bags filled, as about 50 protesters booed and shouted “states’ rights.”

At one dispensary, The Farmacy on Santa Monica Boulevard, amateur videographers and others mobbed officers filling three cars with evidence. California voters approved Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, in 1996. It made marijuana available by prescription for medicinal uses. The DEA, which does not recognize California laws legalizing medical marijuana use, has recently increased its enforcement.

“Today’s enforcement operations show that these establishments are nothing more than drug-trafficking organizations bringing criminal activities to our neighborhoods and drugs near our children and schools,” said Ralph W. Partridge, head of the DEA in Los Angeles.

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/18/2007 at 11:06 AM   
Filed Under: • Crime •  
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   Wednesday - January 17, 2007

The Leftenant Declines

He wasn’t forced to join the Army. He took their money for years and got all that training for free. Now that he is being asked to make good on his promise to “protect and defend” he decides to decline because the “war violates the UN charter”?

Somebody hand me an M14! I will personally shoot this chickenshit sonuvabitch in his lily-livered ass. DAMN!

I sincerely hope he enjoys the next six years in Leavenworth. The guards out there have my permission to make his stay as “pleasurable” as possible. Mealy-mouthed, liberal, scum-sucking ratbag piece of s**t! ARRRRRRRRGGH!

Legality of War Not Valid Reason for Refusing Deployment, Judge Rules
_{FORT LEWIS, Wash. (FOX NEWS) - Wednesday, January 17, 2007}

An Army lieutenant who called the Iraq war illegal and refused to deploy cannot base his court-martial defense on the war’s legality, a military judge has ruled.

Lawyers for 1st Lt. Ehren Watada planned to argue at the Feb. 5 trial that the war was illegal because it violated Army regulations that wars must be waged in accordance with the United Nations charter.

But in a ruling released Tuesday, Lt. Col. John Head said “whether the war is lawful” is a political question that could not be judged in a military court.

Watada, a 28-year-old Hawaiian native, is charged with missing troop movement last year. He is also accused of conduct unbecoming an officer for statements he made to journalists and at a veterans convention. He faces up to six years in prison.

Head also rejected lawyers’ claims that Watada’s First Amendment rights shielded him from charges stemming from his criticism of the war. Head said there are limits to the free-speech rights of military personnel.

“We have been stripped of every defense,” said Eric A. Seitz, Watada’s lawyer. “This is a disciplinary system, not a justice system. Otherwise, we would have been entitled to defend ourselves.”

Army officials said in a statement they had full confidence in the military-justice system to ensure that Watada gets a fair trial.

Watada refused to go to Iraq last June with his unit, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, after conducting research and deciding the war was illegal. He has said he would be willing to serve in Afghanistan or elsewhere.

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/17/2007 at 12:19 PM   
Filed Under: • Military •  
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No Pardon For Border Patrol Agents

WARNING: EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS STORY STINKS!

I’ve been following this story for some time and have yet to understand what is going on. The border patrol agents’ story was kind of flimsy so a jury convicted them, based mainly on the testimony of the illegal alien they shot. Now the President refuses to give them a pardon so at 2:00pm today they will enter the general prison population for 11-12 years. As law enforcement officers they won’t last 11-12 hours in lockup.

Something just ain’t right about this. In fact, nothing is right about this. What say you?

Border Agents Sent To Prison
Angry Republican congressman calls President Bush ‘disgrace’
_{(WORLDNET DAILY) - January 17, 2007 1:00 a.m. Eastern}

Amid protests and a flurry of last-minute efforts by congressmen, two border patrol agents are scheduled today to begin long prison sentences for shooting and wounding a Mexican drug smuggler who was given immunity to testify against them.

In an interview with WND, an angry Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., called President Bush a “disgrace” for refusing to pardon Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio Ramos, who were sentenced to 12 years and 11 years, respectively, in October. With hopes for a presidential pardon dwindling, the lawmakers had requested that Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez assist in a motion to keep the agents free on bond during the appeals process. But late yesterday, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone in El Paso, Texas, ruled the men must surrender to federal marshals at 2 p.m. Central Time today.

“This is the worst betrayal of American defenders I have ever seen,” Rohrabacher said of the president. “It’s shameful this was done by someone who is in the Republican Party. He obviously thinks more about his agreements with Mexico than the lives of American people and backing up his defenders.”

The California lawmaker charged the Bush administration has been playing a “cruel game.” Initially, he said, officials insisted the agents could not be pardoned because they had not filled out the proper paperwork. But Rohrabacher told WND the White House did not explain to the public that the agents were being required – without justification, he contended – to first admit guilt.

Then, last Friday, presidential press secretary Tony Snow addressed the issue for the first time, arguing that prior to the shooting, the agents did not know if the smuggler, Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, was an illegal, and they were unaware he had about 750 pounds of marijuana.

Compean and Ramos say the smuggler had a gun, but no weapon was found. The agents, Snow said, “had received arms training the day before; that said, if you have an incident like this, you must preserve the evidence and you must report it promptly.”

“Instead,” Snow continued, “according to court documents, they went around and picked up the shell casings. Furthermore, they asked one of their colleagues also to help pick up shell casings. They disposed of them.”

Rohrabacher argues that if the men did anything wrong, they should have simply received a reprimand, but instead they are being placed in the general prison population among hardened criminals where their lives may be at risk.

- More ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/17/2007 at 10:02 AM   
Filed Under: • Crime • Illegal-Aliens and Immigration •  
• Comments (7) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Motivational Poster Of The Day

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/17/2007 at 09:30 AM   
Filed Under: • Motorvators •  
• Comments (4) • Trackbacks(1)  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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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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