Friday, September 30, 2005

For better and for worse

I am going to break away from political ranting for a moment to talk about my life. You know, the Untitled one...

Yesterday my wife and I celebrated four years of marriage. Next Saturday we commemorate the loss of our twin daughters 1 year ago. Through these last four years I have come to love my wife more every day. We have had some rough patches and gone through excruciating loss but the love lives on. I've said it before and I'll say it again, my wife is the reason I wake up in the morning and the softness that puts me to sleep at night. She makes me sane in a world hellbent on driving me mad. I would walk through hell itself just to taste her kiss. I want the world to know I LOVE MY WIFE! I always have and always will. Happy Anniversary darlin'.

Apocalypse Now

I think we have come to the point where we as Americans know too much about the war. Gone is the era of sterile wartime propaganda. We now see what the soldiers see.

The problem is we see it out of context. We see mangled bodies, but not the reason they are mangled. We try soldiers after the fact when we have the benefit of hindsight while they did not. We can have no idea what feelings of fear, hatred, and stress have driven these men and women to do any of this. War is hell. We as Americans forget that this is still a real war. We are hit with images sent to anger and incite the world against Americans. We want to jail soldiers for shooting unarmed Iraqis even when they were acting with sufficient aggression that had they been in America and acting that way towards Police they would have been shot no matter what their race. The media is quick to show photos of bodies shot by our troops but not schools rebuilt by them. The media will show the terrorists being mistreated by soldiers but not the children fed, clothed, and sheltered by them.

It is time to either pull out the cameras and let our troops do their jobs without fear of retribution from those unable to stomach the horrors of war or it is time to admit defeat and leave. Most of all it is time to stop second guessing our troops. In doing so we put their lives at risk. When a soldier is afraid to use his weapons for fear he might end up in jail it leaves him vulnerable.

I know I seem a bit more aggressive today about the way we should handle Iraq. I was cleaning out my old inbox and came across some mail from guys I trained with at Fort Sill. Their specialties would have put them smack in the middle of this. While I have always known this it really just kind of hit me, my brothers are dying because we are too weak to let them do their job. I know these guys. Every one of them could wipe a town clean of terrorists given the free reign to do so. Given the strict rules of engagement that boil down to, "don't shoot until they do" my brothers in arms are sitting ducks. Either pull them out or pull out the cameras and let them work.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Does this piss anyone else off?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1801869,00.html

The Iraqis are furious that a young girl humiliating terrorist combatants only gets 3 years in prison...This while dusting under the rug the decapitation of innocent unarmed CIVILIANS by these same terrorists. The Iraqi combatants are not uniformed soldiers and Geneva Convention does not apply to them. I understand that what happened at Abu Ghraib was wrong. I understand it humiliated the prisoners there. I also understand that they are combatants set on killing Americans. Given the chance any one of them would cut your head off with a dull knife while you scream for your life. I think putting them on a dog leash was light on the scale of punishments. Instead Anti-Americans looking for someone to roast have turned these cold blooded killers into the poster children for why America is evil. Not once in the article does it mention that no physical harm was done to them.

These poor poor terrorists. The bad bad Americans embarrassed me. Lets see if we can get the world to pressure the United States to ruin their careers and send them to prison, then whine when the sentence isn't death.

THESE SOLDIERS EMBARRASSED KILLERS! THEY PUT UNDERWEAR ON THE HEADS OF TERRORISTS!
STOP BOWING TO THE USELESS, IMPOTENT U.N. GEORGE BUSH! FRAT BOYS ENDURE WORSE AS PLEDGES AND YOU ARE SELLING OUR SOLDIERS UP THE RIVER TO "PROTECT OUR IMAGE"!

Most of the U.N. already hates us either openly or behind closed doors. Ruining the lives of these soldiers will not change that. I agree some punishment is in order but not hard time in federal prison. We should make choices in these matters based on our values, not the world's. Remember, the U.N. would not have a peace keeping force without us. Europe would still be under the reign of Nazi Germany. China would be controlled by Imperial Japan and Africa by an Italian fascist regime. Without us they are nothing. It is time we stood up for ourselves and told those self righteous bigots at the U.N. to go to hell. Open season on Americans is over. Viva la Revolution!

Monday, September 26, 2005

Helluva weekend

So we here in Corpus Christi dodged the bullet with Rita. We had a Mandatory evacuation order on Wednesday but it was pulled back to voluntary on Thursday. I guess we are learning from Katrina. Still need to work on the evacuation technique though. Traffic jams made a 4 hour trip take 24 hours, many ran out of gas in traffic, and most gas stations ran out of gas.

More sympathy must now go out to those in the storm's path. Sadly this must again include New Orleans. Talk about your run of horrible fortune. Is it possible that rebuilding in that exact spot might be a bad idea? At least until they build better, stronger levees and find a way to possibly raise the elevation. Building there now with the levees as weak as they are seems a waste of resources. Shore up the levees and then drain and rebuild. That's just my two bits worth on the matter.

Monday, September 19, 2005

Rough day

It has been kind of a rough morning so I won't be posting much today. Just wanted to get some ideas on the political party name and all the other crap that goes with it. Peace out!

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Let the Revolution Begin!

It is official. I am gunning for the 2012 elections. We have seven years to get the word out for a grass-roots political coup de ta. We have to build a political party, find candidates willing to run on the ticket, and get on the ballot in all 50 states (much harder in some states than others.)

To win this we need name recognition. People won't vote for who they don't know. We should also separate ourselves from the "other" independent parties such as the Green and Libertarian parties. They have already generated an image as extremists. We will be running as and for the common man.

The young vote won't be a problem as I am a member of the MTV generation. The geek vote will also be easy as I am a sys admin. The problems will be the regular voting public that are either Republican or Democrat because their mom and dad were.

We HAVE to shake things up. We could take publicity ideas from those at moveon.org. As much as I disagree with their rhetoric, they have name recognition. At the same time we need more than just a presidential candidate. A president without a voice in Congress is a lame duck, taking fire for the mistakes of Congress and getting no support.

So, where should we start first? Spread the word to your like-minded friends and send them here. Lets get some extra brains in on this and come up with a better game plan.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Reply to JC

The following is a reply to JC's post found here.

First, I am surprised by the number of times I have nodded my head in agreement while reading JC's site considering my proclivity for voting Republican. I guess I am less conservative than I once thought. I sounded much like Kali in my younger days. Then I learned that, shock of all shocks, Rush Limbaugh did not speak for God and Fox News was not owned by Him. I guess you could call me a Republicrat if you must affiliate me with either party (although at this point both are repugnant to me).

As for the vitriol of Archangel, that has no place in any rational discussion. In matters like the disaster of Katrina I don't even think words like liberal or conservative have place. Both liberal and conservative have died here by what insurance companies refer to as "an act of God." Nobody saw this coming. All have responded to aid those harmed. Anyone who uses this disaster as a podium for his political distaste for either party can shut the hell up right now. Members of both parties could have done more to prevent this. The fact is that nobody did and now we have thousands of our brothers and sisters dead and thousands more left with nothing. Don't point any fingers till this is fixed.

For the record, I do think Kali was trolling for flames by posting to a clearly liberal group with her sentiments.

I did read through the posts on Americablog and found myself disgruntled by politics in general. They make the point that Bush is not good for this nation. My point is neither is Kerry, Gore, or anyone else on either side. Both the Republican Party and Democratic Party are disturbingly rich and perpetuate the Oligarchy (to borrow a word from JC).

We need to revolt. Note to militia: I am speaking of political revolt, put down the guns and go back to the bunkers. I am too young to run for president next round but in 2012 I have a shot. Question: Should I form a political party for moderates like myself and run for president on that platform? The premise would be one similar to the true intentions of our founding fathers, by the people, of the people, for the people. The current premise is of the people, for the rich, by the rich and connected. Any for a little "Viva la Revolution"?

P.S. When spell checking this post, Blogger suggests Americablog be spelled unmercifully. ROFLMAO.

Monday, September 12, 2005

AdNONsense

Ok, I am a little hacked off at Google Adsense. The canceled my account for clicking the links on my site. I would click any time a new Google Ad was generated to see what was being offered to my readers. Apparently that is inappropriate. There was over $20 in that account and I highly doubt my clicking a few links generated more than a few cents of that. I used no robots or special programs, I only clicked a few of my links to review the content my site was linking to. A simple warning might have sufficed but they instead cancelled my account and took all of the money in it. Not cool Google... Not cool at all.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

The greatest nation on earth

In this great country of ours I have seen an outpouring of love and brotherhood that makes my heart swell with pride. In my last post I called out for all who can help to do so. I have watched people load huge trucks with water and clothing and others take strangers into their homes. I am proud to be an American.

In this great country we are also free to speak our minds, no matter how low our IQ. On every news channel there are a small vocal few who blame racism, the government, and God for this disaster. They say the response was too slow and had this been a predominantly white community they would have been helped more quickly. New Orleans is a bowl, up to 15 feet below sea level. The City should have prepared itself for this. The federal government has done an exceptional job considering the scope of this disaster. The City Government on the other hand has whined and bitched the whole way. Why was there not a mass mandatory evacuation before the storm? Why did the city not shore up the levy? Why are they expecting everyone else to move faster when they could have staved off some of this through their own preparedness? I know I am barely coherent in this but damn this pisses me off.

I hate that these morons have to point their fingers and say stupid things. But I thank God I live in a country where they have the right to say it and I have the right to call them freaking idiots.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink

I want to let all affected directly by the ravages of Hurricane Katrina know my thoughts and prayers are with you. I also know that thoughts and prayers don't save lives without action to back them up. I spent last night loading trucks of water that Navy C130s were waiting to fly to New Orleans. We expected enough to load one 25 foot U-haul. We ended up loading 2 26 foot U-hauls, a 30 foot delivery truck from the local fitness store, and a 50 foot flatbed semi. It felt so good to know that by my sweat I was helping save lives. This small miracle was organized in a matter of hours by Pastor Bill Cornelius of the Bay Area Fellowship. I urge everyone who reads this to go out and do something RIGHT NOW. The biggest need in the disaster area is water. Call you priest, pastor, rabbi, or Red Cross and find out how you can send water, food, clothing, and money. Or you can use the link below to donate right now:

http://www.redcross.org/donate/donate.html


If the server is slow you can call in your donation at 1-800-HELP-NOW. Please give all you can. If you don't have money, give time. Call you local Red Cross office to find out how you can help. Our brothers and sisters need you RIGHT NOW. Every hour that passes finds another dead of dehydration, drowning, or sickness caused by the rising water. You can make a difference.

I was going to complain about gas prices today (which topped $3.00 a gallon) but rethinking that I realized, to use my voice on the net to whine about filling my tank when I can raise my voice to help save people was just wrong. Help our fellow Americans. Show the world why this is the GREATEST NATION ever to rise. Let us open our hearts, homes, and wallets to help our neighbors. America bless those in need, and God bless America.