Friday - September 09, 2005

A Nice Story

I generally don’t like posting anecdotal stories, but this one sounds pretty legit.  Besides, we need some feel-good now and again.

Herc Driver’s Report on Katrina Rescue Ops

I just returned from New Orleans on a hurricane relief mission in the C-130.

Let me just start by saying I was awed. Not in what I saw in destruction and devastation because I had/have already seen enough of that on TV. What really hit me hard was the absolute determination and willingness of all those involved in the relief effort. I just want to quickly tell you what I was a part of and what I witnessed as it just really filled me with pride and reminded me again why we are such an amazing and successful country.

It started when I showed up for the flight in Nashville. Instead of the flight planning I would normally do (the other pilot did it), I was tasked to call all 60 or so of the pilots from the 105th Airlift Squadron (my squadron) and find out their availability to fly hurricane relief missions.

Now, don’t forget these are all Air National Guard men and women and most all have full time jobs outside of flying for the Guard. Almost without exception, every pilot offered whatever assistance was needed. No surprise.

As they say, go read the rest.
(posted on the “Professional Pilots Rumor Network")

Posted by Mr. Christian     on 09/09/2005 at 06:59 AM   
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   Saturday - September 03, 2005

Give!

I have agreed to run a pro bono ad for the next few weeks for Mercy Corps. See link in the right sidebar. I have checked out Mercy Corps and they do good work. Plus they spend 92 cents of every dollar on actual aid.

I have begged in the past for donations from you folks to help support this blog and you always came through like champions. Now I am begging for someone else. Please click over there and donate what you can spare. If not, go to the Salvation Army’s web site. I’ll try to list some other decent organizations to help send aid to the stricken Gulf Coast region. If any of you have links, throw them at me in the comments. I’ll post them up front here.

God bless you all! Thanks!

From Revandryn: There is a site dedicated to monitoring charities and they keep information on how money is spent. Go to http://www.guidestar.org (registration - free - required) to get the best information on where to send donations.

Skipper Update From Tupelo, MS On A Freakin’ Dial-Up Line:

Technorati Flood Aid

Instapundit List Of Bloggers & Charities

Posted by The Skipper     on 09/03/2005 at 04:27 AM   
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   Wednesday - July 27, 2005

Good News Story Of The Day

My, oh my! I find all kinds of good things in this story. Mexican immigrants join the military to give something back to their new country and are rewarded with citizenship - and even better, they get to take the oath of citizenship in one of Saddam Hussein’s grand palaces. There are good Mexicans and there are bad MESS-CANS. The good ones understand how America works and end up like this with full citizenship, an education under the GI Bill, veteran’s benefits and much more. The bad ones end up bringing crime with them, leeching off the system, working crap jobs for dirt cheap wages and eventual deportation. Congratulations to these new citizens. Feel free to prop your feet up on Saddam’s furniture and drink up his beer. You’ve earned it ....

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Omar Hernandez, his combat boots covered in a fine coat of sand from the battle front, had difficulty believing that he took his oath of US citizenship inside one of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces. “It’s like a dream,” said Hernandez, a native of Jalisco, Mexico. Then he gazed around the marble columns in the rotunda hall. “A lot of money was spent on this,” he marveled. On a recent weekday Hernandez and 146 other US military personnel raised their right hand and swore to “support and defend the constitution and laws of the United States of America” in the Al-Faw palace on the outskirts of Baghdad.

The marble-floor rotunda is some 50 meters (yards) in diameter, under a vast crystal chandelier the size of a Volkswagen Beetle that hangs from the dome roof. “Welcome into that exclusive club called American citizenship,” Lieutenant General John Vines told the group at the citizenship ceremony. Three officials from the naturalization branch of the US Department of Homeland Security were also present, along with a 30-man army brass band, complete with trombones, tubas and a large drum.

The personnel—soldiers, sailors, and airmen, along with one marine and a navy medic—were brought in from different parts of Iraq specially for the event. The few civilians not wearing desert camouflage uniforms stood out. Officers and troops, many with M-16 rifles slung over their shoulders, stood in attendance and cheered. Sergeant Jimmy Soto, 29, a native of Guadalajara, Mexico, said he was going to call his parents and surprise them with the news of his citizenship. “This was a very nice ceremony.”

When Soto is out on an urban patrol many Iraqis “are often surprised when I lower my scarf and they see my face,” he said, commenting on his olive skin. Military officials require recruits to be permanent US residents to join the military, but citizenship is not a requirement. There are 45,000 non-US citizens currently serving in the US military, said Linda Dougherty, one of the US government officials at the event.

Those sworn in as US citizens came from 46 countries, with the single largest group born in Mexico (27), followed by the Philippines (15) and Jamaica (nine). Overall 70 of the new US citizens came from Latin American countries, including Nicaragua (eight), Dominican Republic (five), Colombia and Honduras (four each), and even Peru and Cuba. The figures reflect US population trends, where the Hispanic population has reached 41 million people, the largest racial minority among the country’s 296 million residents. Soldiers at the event also came from China, India, Taiwan and Vietnam. There was even one Iraqi-born soldier.

Posted by The Skipper     on 07/27/2005 at 11:41 AM   
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   Monday - July 04, 2005

Happy Fourth !

Posted by The Skipper     on 07/04/2005 at 07:53 AM   
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New Kid In Town

_{Gary Varvel, Indiana—The Indianapolis Star-News}

Posted by The Skipper     on 07/04/2005 at 07:05 AM   
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What July Fourth Means To Me

For one who was born and grew up in the small towns of the Midwest, there is a special kind of nostalgia about the Fourth of July.

I remember it as a day almost as long-anticipated as Christmas. This was helped along by the appearance in store windows of all kinds of fireworks and colorful posters advertising them with vivid pictures.

No later than the third of July – sometimes earlier – Dad would bring home what he felt he could afford to see go up in smoke and flame. We’d count and recount the number of firecrackers, display pieces and other things and go to bed determined to be up with the sun so as to offer the first, thunderous notice of the Fourth of July.

I’m afraid we didn’t give too much thought to the meaning of the day. And, yes, there were tragic accidents to mar it, resulting from careless handling of the fireworks. I’m sure we’re better off today with fireworks largely handled by professionals. Yet there was a thrill never to be forgotten in seeing a tin can blown 30 feet in the air by a giant “cracker” – giant meaning it was about 4 inches long.

But enough of nostalgia. Somewhere in our growing up we began to be aware of the meaning of days and with that awareness came the birth of patriotism. July Fourth is the birthday of our nation. I believed as a boy, and believe even more today, that it is the birthday of the greatest nation on earth.

There is a legend about the day of our nation’s birth in the little hall in Philadelphia, a day on which debate had raged for hours. The men gathered there were honorable men hard-pressed by a king who had flouted the very laws they were willing to obey. Even so, to sign the Declaration of Independence was such an irretrievable act that the walls resounded with the words “treason, the gallows, the headsman’s axe,” and the issue remained in doubt.

The legend says that at that point a man rose and spoke. He is described as not a young man, but one who had to summon all his energy for an impassioned plea. He cited the grievances that had brought them to this moment and finally, his voice falling, he said, “They may turn every tree into a gallows, every hole into a grave, and yet the words of that parchment can never die. To the mechanic in the workshop, they will speak hope; to the slave in the mines, freedom. Sign that parchment. Sign if the next moment the noose is around your neck, for that parchment will be the textbook of freedom, the Bible of the rights of man forever.”

He fell back exhausted. The 56 delegates, swept up by his eloquence, rushed forward and signed that document destined to be as immortal as a work of man can be. When they turned to thank him for his timely oratory, he was not to be found, nor could any be found who knew who he was or how he had come in or gone out through the locked and guarded doors.

Well, that is the legend. But we do know for certain that 56 men, a little band so unique we have never seen their like since, had pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Some gave their lives in the war that followed, most gave their fortunes, and all preserved their sacred honor.

What manner of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists, 11 were merchants and tradesmen, and nine were farmers. They were soft-spoken men of means and education; they were not an unwashed rabble. They had achieved security but valued freedom more. Their stories have not been told nearly enough.

John Hart was driven from the side of his desperately ill wife. For more than a year he lived in the forest and in caves before he returned to find his wife dead, his children vanished, his property destroyed. He died of exhaustion and a broken heart.

Carter Braxton of Virginia lost all his ships, sold his home to pay his debts, and died in rags. And so it was with Ellery, Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Rutledge, Morris, Livingston and Middleton.

Nelson personally urged Washington to fire on his home and destroy it when it became the headquarters for General Cornwallis. Nelson died bankrupt.

But they sired a nation that grew from sea to shining sea. Five million farms, quiet villages, cities that never sleep, 3 million square miles of forest, field, mountain and desert, 227 million people with a pedigree that includes the bloodlines of all the world.

In recent years, however, I’ve come to think of that day as more than just the birthday of a nation.

It also commemorates the only true philosophical revolution in all history.

Oh, there have been revolutions before and since ours. But those revolutions simply exchanged one set of rules for another. Ours was a revolution that changed the very concept of government.

Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people.

We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should.

Happy Fourth of July.

Ronald Reagan
President of the United States
July 4, 1981

Posted by Ronald Reagan's Ghost     on 07/04/2005 at 04:00 AM   
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   Sunday - July 03, 2005

Final Exam

OK, all you American citizens out there. Time to put your money where your mouth is. Here are twenty-five questions that are on the US Citizenship Examination for new immigrants. If you can’t answer at least 60% of them correctly, please pack up your belongings and go back to the country where your ancestors came from. Answers are here ....

• According to the Constitution, a person must meet certain requirements in order to be eligible to become President. Name one of these requirements.
• Why are there 100 Senators in the Senate?
• Who selects the Supreme Court justice?
• How many Supreme Court justice are there?
• Why did the Pilgrims come to America?
• What is the head executive of a state government called?
• What is the head executive of a city government called?
• What holiday was celebrated for the first time by the Americans colonists?
• Who was the main writer of the Declaration of Independence?
• When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
• What is the basic belief of the Declaration of Independence?
• What is the national anthem of the United States?
• Who wrote the Star-Spangled Banner?
• Where does freedom of speech come from?
• What is a minimum voting age in the United States?
• Who signs bills into law?
• What is the highest court in the United States?
• Who was the President during the Civil War?
• What did the Emancipation Declaration do?
• What special group advises the President?
• Which President is called the “Father of our country”?
• What Immigration and Naturalization Service form is used to apply to become a naturalized citizen?
• Who helped the Pilgrims in America?
• What is the name of the ship that brought the Pilgrims to America?
• What are the 13 original states of the U.S. called?
• Name 3 rights of freedom guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.
• Who has the power to declare the war?
• What kind of government does the United States have?
• Which President freed the slaves?
• In what year was the Constitution written?

Note: For ten points extra credit, tell me which four of these questions are boogered up crap inserted by the liberal, historical revisionists at the INS.

Posted by The Skipper     on 07/03/2005 at 04:02 PM   
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   Wednesday - June 29, 2005

Revised Freedom Tower To Be Unveiled Today

It will be 1,776 feet high, which will make it the tallest in the world. I think they finally got it right .... now BUILD THAT SON OF A GUN and be sure to mount the anti-aircraft batteries on all four sides. And hang a sign on the side facing Mecca that reads ”GO AHEAD - MAKE MY DAY.”

The revised design for the Freedom Tower will soar to 1,776 feet in the sky and serve as an inspirational and enduring beacon in the New York City skyline. The Tower’s design evokes classic New York skyscrapers in its elegance and symmetry while also referencing the torch of the Statue of Liberty.

The revised Freedom Tower builds upon the original’s extraordinary level of life safety features and will include other features that will make it unprecedented in terms of life safety and security. In addition, the Freedom Tower will further its distinction as a world-class model of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.

As part of the new design, the tower’s footprint, measuring 200 feet by 200 feet, is the same size as the footprints of the original Twin Towers. As the tower itself rises from its cubic base, its square edges are chamfered back, transforming the square into eight tall isosceles triangles in elevation. At its middle, the tower forms a perfect octagon in plan and then culminates in an observation deck and glass parapet (elevation 1,362 feet and 1,368 feet – the heights of the original Twin Towers). A mast containing an antenna, designed by a collaboration of architects, artists, lighting designers and engineers, and secured by a system of cables, rises from a circular support ring, similar to Liberty’s torch, to a height of 1,776 feet. In keeping with the original design, the entire composition evokes the Statue of Liberty’s torch and will emit light, becoming its own Beacon of Freedom.

Posted by The Skipper     on 06/29/2005 at 08:56 AM   
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   Thursday - June 23, 2005

No More Flag Burning ?

The House passed a Constitutional Amendment yesterday to make flag burning illegal (actually all it does is give Congress the power to prohibit flag burning). The ACLU is already lobbying against it and the Hildabeast thinks flag desecration should be illegal but doesn’t think we need a Constitutional Amendment to do it (waffle-waffle) ....

A constitutional amendment that would allow Congress to ban flag burning passed the House yesterday, and congressional leaders said it has a strong chance to clear the Senate for the first time, sending it to the states for ratification.

The House has passed the measure four times before, but it has always fallen short of the two-thirds vote needed in the Senate. But changes in the Senate’s makeup shifted several votes to the bill’s supporters, and a lobbyist who leads the opposition said the absence of one or two senators could mean that the measure would pass.

“There are too many scenarios where we lose,” said Terri Ann Schroeder, senior lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union. “We’re very concerned.” Schroeder counts 65 solid votes in favor of the amendment of the 67 needed for passage if everyone votes. “We still have a number of folks that have never voted, and we still have a potential problem if 100 members do not vote,” she said.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) favors the measure and plans to hold a hearing shortly after the Fourth of July break, Republican aides said. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) could schedule a floor vote as soon as next month, the aides said.

Specter plans to let Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), a former chairman of the committee and longtime champion of the measure, preside over the hearing. Hatch said he believes the measure will pass and said he is motivated by relatives who have died in combat. “I think acts of flag desecration are offensive conduct we ought to ban in the interest of protecting the greatest symbol of our country,” Hatch said.

Among the new votes for the amendment is Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who pushed the issue in his campaign and helped recruit co-sponsors. “Out in the country, at the grass-roots level, it’s seen as a common man’s practical patriotism,” Thune said.

Another freshman, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), will oppose the measure, aides said.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) said in a statement that she would “support federal legislation that would outlaw flag desecration, much like laws that currently prohibit the burning of crosses, but I don’t believe a constitutional amendment is the answer.”

The House measure passed 286 to 130. Republicans were almost entirely for it, 209 to 12. Democrats were not as united in their opposition, with 117 against the measure and 77 for it. House Judiciary Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) said during the debate that lawmakers “must act with bipartisan dispatch to ensure that this issue is returned to the hands of those most interested in preserving freedom—the people themselves.”

The measure would have to be ratified by 38 states to become part of the Constitution.

109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. J. RES. 10
JOINT RESOLUTION

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States authorizing the Congress to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification:

Article --

‘The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.’.

Passed the House of Representatives June 22, 2005.

Posted by The Skipper     on 06/23/2005 at 09:57 AM   
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   Tuesday - June 14, 2005

Guess What Today Is ….

Posted by The Skipper     on 06/14/2005 at 07:44 AM   
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   Sunday - June 12, 2005

This Is Not A Memorial

This is a cemetary, it is a hideous admission of failure, it is two holes in the ground symbolizing lack of resolve, it is an insult to the families of those who died, it is .... an abomination and a travesty.

What’s really outrageous about this to me is that we will be replacing the two largest phallic symbols in the world with two ugly vagina symbols. The pussification of America continues ....

Posted by The Skipper     on 06/12/2005 at 11:30 AM   
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   Friday - June 10, 2005

Not Everyone Hates America

Paul Edwards, a blogger down in Australia, takes the time to thank America for many things. In doing so, he reminds us all of what America has done for the world over the last century .. and asked nothing in return. Go read it now and feel good about America.

It is a beautiful piece and a wonderful read. In fact, I’m recommending we begin negotiations today with Great Britain to see if we can swap them California for Australia and possibly trade them Massachusetts for New Zealand. Scratch that. No one wants Massachusetts.

(-- thanks to Grumpy Old Man for the tip)

Posted by The Skipper     on 06/10/2005 at 05:08 AM   
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   Thursday - June 09, 2005

Photo Du Jour

oday’s offering is a two-fer-one deal. It is a poem and a picture that I wrote and posted here a year and a half ago. I wrote the poem to go with the picture .... and to force people to just .... remember what once was. Two buildings where over 3,000 people died. Innocent civilians, businessmen, secretaries, janitors, delivery boys and yes .. firemen and policemen. They had all gone to work that morning expecting nothing more than another boring day at the office. Hours later, their lives were abruptly terminated by madmen from overseas. It is now nearly four years later. People have forgotten. Our country is divided. The war against these madmen is ongoing. Are we safe yet?

I intend to keep posting this image over and over and reminding everyone of that tragic day until hell freezes over or .... the last terrorist sonofabitch is dead and the last terrorist-sponsoring country is freed .... whichever comes first. Are you with me or against me?

Posted by The Skipper     on 06/09/2005 at 04:58 PM   
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   Saturday - May 28, 2005

IN OBSERVANCE OF MEMORIAL DAY

Abstracts from FAQ of Society of Honor Guards, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

For more information, visit this website:  http://www.tombguard.org

Posted by Tannenberg     on 05/28/2005 at 10:40 AM   
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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:

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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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