Let Them Eat Cake
Some people have so little connection or conception of the life of the Average American, that even when they think they are working towards their best interests, usually without even consulting those they claim to represent, they can do more harm than good.

A case in point is the current Witch hunt against WalMart.

They claim "that the retailer is bad for poor Americans"

We read further in Prog-Mart at Right Thinking From The Left Coast and Wal-Mart -- The Poor American's Greatest Ally? at Right Wing News.

This claim is backward: As Jason Furman of New York University puts it, Wal-Mart is “a progressive success story.” Furman advised John “Benedict Arnold” Kerry in the 2004 campaign and has never received any payment from Wal-Mart; he is no corporate apologist. But he points out that Wal-Mart’s discounting on food alone boosts the welfare of American shoppers by at least $50 billion a year. The savings are possibly five times that much if you count all of Wal-Mart’s products."

But we hear from the pitchfork and torch crowd, Target and Costco are SO superior. They don't mention the fact that.

The average Wal-Mart customer earns $35,000 a year, compared with $50,000 at Target and $74,000 at Costco. Moreover, Wal-Mart’s “every day low prices” make the biggest difference to the poor, since they spend a higher proportion of income on food and other basics. As a force for poverty relief, Wal-Mart’s $200 billion-plus assistance to consumers may rival many federal programs. Those programs are better targeted at the needy, but they are dramatically smaller. Food stamps were worth $33 billion in 2005, and the earned-income tax credit was worth $40 billion.


Now it is no surprise that elitist would think the stores they shop at, which have higher prices are run more progressively. What is surprising is that this much maligned dirty Capitalist Enterprise actually benefits the Working Poor MORE than some of our lauded Government Programs.

And this TRAVESTY MUST STOP!

let's say we accept Dube's calculation that retail workers take home $4.7 billion less per year because Wal-Mart has busted unions and generally been ruthless. That loss to workers would still be dwarfed by the $50 billion-plus that Wal-Mart consumers save on food, never mind the much larger sums that they save altogether. Indeed, Furman points out that the wage suppression is so small that even its "victims" may be better off. Retail workers may take home less pay, but their purchasing power probably still grows thanks to Wal-Mart's low prices."

I ask anyone out there with the slightest modicum of reasoning. Would you spend $4.70 for a coupon that would give you $50 off your next grocery bill or a total of $200 off all of your bills? Would you think you had been "taken advantage" of???

Besides the above interesting bits of information, how do those who protest WalMart treat the people they employ?

Some time back in a Post called What's Wrong With This Picture? I looked at that issue.


The story was of a Union hiring Temp Workers to walk picket lines to protest WalMart's mistreatment of it's workers???

What sticks out to me is that these people are walking long hours in the hot sun for next to nothing for a pittance. They are protesting working conditions that compared to theirs look like paradise.

What happens if they do a REALLY good job? Well then the Union calls the Temp Agency and tells it they do not need these workers anymore, BUT if they can get jobs in a Union shop all by their own efforts?

Why the Union will be HAPPY to represent them and collect their dues.

That was the Story folks, Temp Workers, under conditions that any Union would shout from the rooftops in condemnation, if a corporation were to so shabbily treat their employees. To be sent out into the streets unemployed should they be successful in their picketing?

Let us call a spade a spade they are running a literal sweatshop operation outside in 100+ temperatures and when they no longer need these workers, they will discard them.

The Union justifies their actions with this sentiment

"This is an informational picket line only," Hornbrook said. "We're paying these people. They were out of work before (joining their picket lines). This is an in-between-jobs stop

What do Unions call Corporations if they were to be foolish enough to make the above statements?

These witch hunters know not one blamed thing about how the people with low paying jobs, live, work or shop.

To them all they can say is WalMart is BAD you need to shop Target, Costco, pay more.

The peasants are out of Bread? Let them eat cake.

Prowling the blogverse for kindred spirits I found
kaiser.com who relates his isolation,

"I am tuned in to the Walmart-bashing that's going on because the "Social Action" committee of my congregation is heavily promoting the campaign to bring the giant retailer to heel. Tactics have included protests that enlist children and explicitly liken Walmart's practices to those of inner-city sweatshops of a hundred years ago.

And the thing of it is, even though this is blatant anti-corporatist leftism, many of those involved cannot even imagine that what they advocate is so much as debatable, much less a flawed partisan position.

Let's let him know he is not alone folks. ;-)

Linked to
Those Bastards! at If it's Tuesday, it must be an OTA open trackback day
NIF at The wheels on the bus ...
Don Surber at Bush the Reformer & Open Post
Right Wing Nation at Tuesday Open Trackbacks
The Business of America is Business at OpenTracks: Train Tracks Edition
MacStansbury.org at Middle of the Tuesday Open Trackbacks
The Conservative Cat at Ecosystem

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The New TTLB Rankings
It seems Truth Laid Bear is reconfiguring the Blog Ecosystem, so I am no longer a Large Mammal, but have devolved to a Marauding Marsupial.

Well if I am going to be a Marsupial, then I choose to be one that fits my mood at this outcome.


Meet Kentuckydan Marsupial

The Tazmanian Devil

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Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 9:13 AM CST
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Updated: Tuesday, 29 November 2005 9:20 AM CST

The Lizard Brain

Some say we humans have been pieced together over the eons. Last added, and first in the brain is the frontal cortex our reasoning centers, the spiritual part the Angel Brain, behind that are the portions that sometimes get us in trouble, call them the Monkey Brain.

But at the back base of the skull, resting on the top of the spine, is the Ancient Reptilian Brain, that brain we had in the beginning.

Now the Lizard Brain knows only 3 things how to Feed, Fight and F^$K. If it can figure out how to do these things without being Eaten, it will do them the same way EVERY TIME.

There are those who think that politicians are a form of Reptile, and they do have certain similarities to the Lizard Brain.

We have a group of Politicians who have been using three simple concepts for almost thirty years without getting eaten/not re-elected, so of course they will do everything the Same Way, EVERY TIME.

These concepts are: Any Military Action is Vietnam, The Military is BAD and we could use that money better elsewhere, and America is ALWAYS at Fault.

We can count on this group to react to ANY geo-political situation in the same manner that has worked for so long.

So when I saw. The Afghanistan Effect in Big Lizards after reading about the lies, the distortions and the twisting of the truth I realized in awe I was in the presence of the Lizard Brain.

But evolution doomed the ancient giants of the Reptile era and in like vein the dinosaurs of the Mainstream Media will be eaten alive by the tiny scurrying blogs and troops returning from the Middle East.

"And just as the Afghanistan Effect was the beginning of the downfall of the Soviet Empire, with its Ministry of Truth that told only lies, so too will the Reverse Afghanistan Effect be the beginning of the end of mainstream media hegemony over "the truth." People have already lost confidence in the news media (note how out of synch the media journalists are with the American people in this poll). And in just a few short months, when massive numbers of troops begin returning home, having secured a tremendous victory in the Mesopotamian heart of the Middle East... well, the MSM may never again regain its face."


Can you say Credibility Gap. and we rest at a precise historical cusp today. Along with the troops returning home, as a legacy of the Cold War at this point in time we have about 25 million Veterans in this country. They, their families and their friends are the largets voting block in this country, and they are beginning to realize just how much and for how long they have been lied to. NOT the Bush lied and they died, but the continuous we will play politic, say one thing now and later lie and say the opposite.

It has been true all through the history of this Nation that any prolonged conflict has ushered in a new body of leaders rising out of that conflict.

The simplistic might conclude that military life gives one a taste and a desire for power.

I choose to believe that SERVICE the ultimate service of protecting the Body Politic by placing one's own body between it and danger engenders a nobility and a desire to continue that service.

The Lizard Brains and the Media Dinosaurs of the Vietnam Era do not realize that their time is passed.

There will be a reckoning when the truth emerges from the troops return. The voice of those who were there and not in hotels in the Green Zone will be heard.

It will be answered by those who once stood and pledged.

"I, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

and also by their families and their friends at the polls.

Some realize that the counter balance to Liberty and Freedom is Responsibility and Service, freely offered without coercion. There are those who will never be able to understand this.
But we learn from Protein Wisdom that people are starting to wake up!

"Full disclosure: I am not a pollster, nor am I a licensed statistician?so take my analysis with a grain of salt. But if I?m reading this right, 70% of Americans believe that Democratic party criticism of the war is motivated by partisan political impulses?a desire for power, to put it more forcefully?rather than a desire to help the US win the war in Iraq.

70%?

Similarly, 70% of Americans think that the Democrats? attacks on the war are damaging troop morale, which necessarily creates unnecessary problems in battlefield execution.

70% "

Linked to
Those Bastards! at If it's Tuesday, it must be an OTA open trackback day
NIF at The wheels on the bus ...
Don Surber at Bush the Reformer & Open Post
Right Wing Nation at Tuesday Open Trackbacks

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North Korea: Missile Tests and Regional Impacts
This just in my email box from "Strategic Forecasting, Inc."
By Rodger Baker

North Korea has done it again. A week after it tested seven missiles, including the long-range Taepodong-2, a resolution condemning its actions has stalled in the U.N. Security Council (UNSC), South Korea is criticizing Japan for hyping the launch, Japan is openly discussing changes to its constitutional military restrictions, and the United States is asking China to use its negotiating capabilities to bring some stability to the situation. If North Korea was largely marginalized leading into July, it is now once again the center of attention -- and controversy.

Defying repeated warnings from the United States, Japan, South Korea and even Russia and China, North Korea launched not one but seven missiles, early July 5 local time. Most were short- or medium-range Hwasong or Nodong missiles; the first launch was timed to coincide with the Independence Day launch of space shuttle Discovery in Florida. But it was the third missile, the long-range Taepodong-2 -- believed to be capable of striking Alaska or Hawaii -- that garnered the most attention.

Pyongyang accomplished quite a bit with the July 5 launches. First and foremost, it has shocked the world with multiple tests while managing to avoid a military confrontation with the United States. It has been able to gauge the effectiveness of improvements in its ballistic missile program -- particularly with the short- and medium-range models that pose a more significant threat to regional security than the Taepodong-2. And it has once again exposed and exploited rifts in Washington's Northeast Asian alliance structure.

Moreover, with disagreements stalling any actions against North Korea at the U.N. Security Council, it is China that appears poised to gain the most from Pyongyang's actions.

Taepodong Failure and U.S. Relief

North Korea had placed the Taepodong-2 on its launch platform more than a month prior to the test launch, as if posing it for U.S. spy satellites and reconnaissance aircraft. Several times, Japan or others announced that a launch was imminent, and each time there was a corresponding cry for restraint, and increasingly overt threats from the United States and Japan -- including calls to shoot the missile down in midflight or even strike it before it left the launchpad.

When the Taepodong-2 finally lifted off, at shortly after 5 a.m. local time, it produced more of a fizzle than a bang. The missile didn't fly over Japan. It didn't place a satellite into orbit. It didn't fulfill a bold, unofficial threat by Pyongyang and land off the coast of New York. In fact, it flew within parameters for just 40 seconds, before either breaking up or suffering engine troubles and veering off course. It landed in the waters between North Korea, Japan and Russia a few minutes later.

The failure was quickly labeled by international media, observers and U.S. officials as an embarrassment to the North Korean regime and a demonstration that Pyongyang lacks the wherewithal to pull off a successful test or to threaten the United States. The additional six missiles were written off as little more than upgraded, inaccurate, short-range SCUD missiles. The initial condescension towards North Korea's technical capabilities was coupled with condemnation of the tests and contradictory recommendations for follow-on actions.

But not all the details of the missile's flight path are clear. According to some reports, the missile performed normally for some 40-42 seconds, burned out and fell into the ocean. Other reports suggest a catastrophic failure, fragmentation of the rocket or a fire. Some estimates put the total flight time at around two minutes, while the South Koreans have said total flight time was seven minutes -- during which the missile traveled 499 kilometers from its launch facility.

Given the available information, it is very likely that the missile suffered system damage during the most critical and stressful part of the launch. This is certainly the picture the United States is projecting, and apparently with some relief. In the weeks leading up to the launch, Washington had touted the strengths of the U.S. missile defense system, moved tests forward on the calendar and warned that the option of shooting down the Taepodong-2 was clearly on the table. The failure of North Korea's missile, however, kept Washington from having to make the difficult decision of whether to carry through with that threat and shoot it down in flight.

There were real reservations about acting on those threats. First, while Washington has confidence in the missile defense system, that confidence is not 100 percent. If North Korea had fired its missile and a U.S. intercept failed, it would be the U.S. Defense Department and the Bush administration with pie on its face. More importantly, such a failure could undermine whatever psychological deterrent the missile defense system currently provides.

But perhaps even more troubling for Washington was the prospect that a strike against the North Korean missile would succeed. First, there is a question of where the intercept would take place -- and where the debris would fall. But the second question is how North Korea would respond. Pyongyang has one key consideration in its actions: ensuring regime survival. North Korea structures its defense force and projects a prickly personality in order to dissuade the United States or others from attacking. But Pyongyang knows that its capabilities are limited and that, in a war with the United States, it ultimately would lose.

Though it feels threatened by Washington, the North Korean leadership does not view launching an offensive war as a logical act. North Korea is outgunned and outclassed by the United States; launching an invasion of South Korea or an attack on Japan or the United States would be a surefire way to ensure regime change in Pyongyang. If Washington shot down its missile, however, the North Korean elite might view that as a guarantee of imminent U.S. military action -- and Pyongyang might strike out at its neighbors to inflict as much pain as possible, seeking to disrupt any U.S. invasion or attack plans.

But even barring such a reaction, allowing its missile to be shot out of the sky by the U.S. military would trigger significant stresses for North Korea -- both within the elite and from the broader military and society. The regime would question whether it could maintain cohesion and stability without retaliating. For Washington, then, either a failure or a success of the U.S. missile defense system could lead to open hostilities in Northeast Asia. The best thing Washington could have hoped for was that North Korea's missile would fail -- even before the button would have had to be pushed for the intercept.

And Pyongyang knew this as well.

A Scrubbed Launch?

There is some possibility that North Korea intentionally scrubbed the launch. On the one hand, simply putting the missile away after leaving it on the pad for more than a month would have been viewed as capitulation -- and that could have weakened the internal cohesion of the regime. A launch became necessary practically as soon as the missile was rolled out (unless Washington had given in to Pyongyang's calls for bilateral talks).

But on the other hand, while North Korea has always walked close to the line, it has been very careful not to cross it. A successful Taepodong-2 test could have shifted the strategic calculation of Japan or the United States toward North Korea. Tokyo already had warned that if any part of the Taepodong-2 fell on Japanese territory, it would be considered an act of war. And while Washington has been relatively lax toward North Korea, aside from rhetoric and the occasional economic lever, all bets would be off should North Korea demonstrate the ability to pose a concrete threat to the U.S. mainland.

For Pyongyang, a controlled launch failure presented a better outcome than risking an accident or simply putting away the long-range toy. A picture-perfect satellite launch would have been the best outcome, but it is questionable whether North Korea actually believed it would be able to pull one off. After all, few space programs have ever managed to develop new systems without many failures along the way.

Other Missiles and Regional Tensions

Whether Pyongyang failed to succeed or succeeded to fail, the Taepodong-2 was not the only missile launched that morning. There were many motives behind North Korea's additional launches. First, everyone was already expecting a Taepodong-2 launch; if Pyongyang had launched only that rocket, the psychological impact already would have been discounted. There would be little leverage. Second, if the North Koreans knew they would scrub the Taepodong-2 launch, they would want to demonstrate a variety of capabilities to cover for the failure.

Finally, and more significantly, North Korea is intending again to trade its missile launches for concessions from its neighbors and the United States. If a moratorium on missile tests is coming anyway, this launch represented a final chance to assess improvements to North Korea's missile systems, particularly as the country so rarely tests its ballistic missiles. Testing six short- and intermediate-range Hwasong and Nodong missiles -- the real bulk of North Korea's missile force -- would allow the country's military to learn more in a single day about their own capabilities and upgrades than they had in the entirety of the preceding decade.

It is these overlooked missiles that are the true face of North Korean missile technology. Pyongyang's Nodong missiles have the capability of reaching most of Japan, including U.S. bases in Okinawa. North Korea has more than 100 of these mobile missiles, making them an extremely valuable commodity. And its short-range Hwasong series can strike anywhere in South Korea and potentially parts of Japan.

The combination of short-, medium- and long-range missile tests helps to explain the political intent behind the July 5 launches. Dividing any coalition that forms against it has been a key aspect of North Korean foreign policy. The regime in Pyongyang has played skillfully on the differences in strategic thinking of trilateral allies Japan, South Korea and the United States. The current diplomatic spat between Tokyo and Seoul over the extent to which North Korea's missile tests should be dramatized is a key example of just how easily these rifts are exploited. The time and effort the United States is expending to convince the world that Washington and Seoul are on the same page is another.

Stalled at the Security Council

In the UNSC discussions, Russia is expected to abstain from any resolution to punish North Korea -- but China well might veto one, so Tokyo and Washington are delaying any vote on the issue. But though Moscow is not actively joining in attempts to have North Korea sanctioned, Russian authorities have found it difficult to conceal their frustration with Pyongyang. What is clear from initial statements, particularly about the safety of Russian ships and aircraft in the missile test zone, is that the North Koreans never bothered warning Russia before lobbing missiles off its coast.

Amid all of this, China appears to be the least fazed by the North Korean tests.

But China also may have had prior notice about the launches. Initial comments credited to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill suggest that China was notified about the tests before they occurred. Officials in Beijing have countered that they were told of the launches a few hours before North Korea formally announced them -- but still days after they actually had taken place. Either way, the Chinese once again have found the world turning to them for a solution.

Given the Security Council deadlock, China is the only viable path to negotiations with North Korea. In fact, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Richard Bolton has said the Security Council vote was delayed so that diplomacy through China could continue. Washington and Seoul both have called for Beijing to talk to Pyongyang, and the Chinese already had conveniently arranged for a relatively high-level delegation to visit North Korea.

For China, the missile launches have reinforced Beijing's importance to the United States and even Japan. Neither Washington nor Tokyo is prepared to strike back at North Korea militarily -- over either the missile tests or the ongoing nuclear crisis. Both have opted for sanctions and attempts to isolate North Korea, but these paths require the assistance and participation of South Korea and China. And even if Seoul were fully on board, China would remain as North Korea's primary lifeline. China can undermine any U.S. efforts to isolate or punish Pyongyang -- or it can facilitate dialogue.

In the weeks leading up to the missile tests, Beijing had proposed various ways to restart the stalled six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program -- talks from which both Washington and Pyongyang had basically walked away. As the primary coordinator and host of the talks, Beijing has leverage with all the participants -- but China found few takers (aside from South Korea) for its recent proposals. All of that changed, however, when North Korea actually tested the missiles. Washington sent envoys to Beijing and held out the possibility of bilateral talks with Pyongyang (which North Korea has demanded in order to discuss economic sanctions and frozen assets) on the sidelines of the six-party discussions.

While it is not certain that China facilitated the North Korean missile tests, it does seem that Pyongyang was certain the tests wouldn't trigger China to turn on it. If Beijing were truly upset, it could make that rather clear to North Korea in very painful ways. It hasn't. Rather, the Chinese have called on all parties to return to dialogue -- dialogue facilitated by and benefiting China. Meanwhile, North Korea is sitting back and studying the deadlock at the U.N. Security Council, the cracks in the U.S.-South Korea-Japan alliance, and the fact that the world's attention has again turned back toward Pyongyang.

Conclusion

North Korea considered its 1998 Taepodong-1 launch a brilliant success. Only two years later, Pyongyang had gone from being an international outcast and sidelined nation to the center of diplomatic activity -- with normalized relations across Europe and with Canada and Australia. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il hosted then-South Korean President Kim Dae Jung in Pyongyang for the first ever inter-Korean summit in 2000. North Korea gained economic and diplomatic ties and began to break past the constraints of a relationship that had been based primarily on U.S. pressure and Chinese handouts.

Pyongyang sees the same sorts of benefits in its future this time around. It has grown expert at creating artificial crises, from which it reaps economic and political benefits in exchange for merely maintaining the status quo.

In recent years, Washington has attempted to simply ignore North Korea rather than giving in to its temper fits. After all, if a kid in a toy store holds his breath while demanding that a parent buy a new toy, doing so only encourages the behavior -- whereas waiting for the kid to pass out and then start breathing again puts the kibosh on the temper fits. Or at least, that is the theory.

But North Korea always has an extra ace up its sleeve: geography. If the issue were only between North Korea and the United States, Pyongyang would have been ignored into submission years ago. But while its Taepodong-2 failed, its regional missiles proved quite effective. And neither Seoul nor Tokyo can feel as confident as Washington that North Korea really won't do something too crazy if left to stew in its own isolation. When Washington turns a deaf ear, Pyongyang pokes Tokyo and Seoul -- and when they cry out, the United States is drawn back in.

And until a new option is found to be effective, it seems that Beijing is destined to benefit -- as the only voice that can soothe the savage North Korea.
Send questions or comments on this article to analysis@stratfor.com.







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The Open
Trackback Alliance IV
For Monday
When I first started upon my journey through the blogverse I created a Statement of Purpose
Now upon reading it, one can realize that I did not hold to every detail of that original statement, but from it's basic premise, I have never swayed, in my belief that the Blogs are in fact the Committees of Correspondence of the Second American Revolution.

And that it is a Revolution of Information, no longer can we afford and allow elite gateways to control what we can see, hear and discuss.

One of the most important discoveries I make in those early days was the website of Samantha Burns, which included a unique informal community of bloggers, who not only linked to each other but actually browsed and read the blogs they linked to.

Later I was honored to be allowed to join another more formal blog community. At that time I decided that while I welcomed blogs that wanted to link to me, I was not that interested in simply joining blogrolls to add links. After that I made no more attempts to join any blog alliances. I have been kept busy supporting the linkages I have and at times I feel guilty that I cannot get around to all the websites on my blogroll as I could when it was smaller.

So why do I welcome this recent invitation to join the Open Trackback Alliance? Have I reconsidered my former decision?

No I am posting and joining this Alliance because it is RIGHT for me to do so.

Because it FULFILLS my original Statement of Purpose that the Blogs are indeed the 21st Century Committees of Correspondence, whose duty and honor it is to SHARE information, thoughts, ideas, news and to discuss the same. To diligently search for the truths that lie behind the distortions and half-truths of the Legacy Media.

What the blogs associated with the Samantha Burns site did informally, and without structure, this Alliance only aids and structures. There is in fact no conflict between what I do now, and what I decided to do sometime ago.

For I believe that those bloggers who find their way, here and in particular from the Blogs associated with Sam.

HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY.

Some of us are more Serious, some of us are more lighthearted and some post the common ordinary things that make one smile and recall that Life without the simple things to treasure is meaningless.

And it is important that all have a platform from which to speak.

As I understand this process you can link to this post and trackback to this post on ANY subject or post you think important. It is open. I will repeat this every Monday.

The Committees of Correspondence welcomes your intelligent comments. And also welcomes you to join the

OPEN TRACKBACK ALLIANCE

Blogs that Trackback to this Post:

On Monday
Liberal Common Sense with Mass Extinction of Large Mammal Report
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Y'al come back now, Y'heah? ;-)

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When I was Ten Years Old
When I was ten years old, we lived on an Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It's called Midway Island that fits the location for sure.

Yep I am a Navy Brat, there is no was, you are or you aren't a Service Brat, and if you are, you are always one.

I think it was the machine gunfire that woke me up that night. It turned out they were having exercises, but sometimes ten year old boys are not told these things.

I sat in the window and heard the sounds of the guns and looked at the tracers and the anti-aircraft fire against the night sky and I was AFRAID.

I need to date myself, this was a few years before the Cuban Missile Crisis, but even ten year old boys of that era, knew who the Russians were and at that point in time, that night I just knew they had come.

Like I said I was frozen at that window in total terror, UNTIL, I saw the Marines running towards the beach in full kit.

Then I was all in one instant, no longer afraid. I knew that those big strong men, who played with us kids in the sandlot behind their barracks and my Daddy would not let ANYTHING Bad happen to us.

I knew I was safe because the Marines were between me and danger, I do not recall the slightest bit of doubt.

So some may understand how I felt when I read.

This Is How The Left Supports The Troops? in Common Sense Run Wild

Amanda: Do you not feel guilty that you are helping in the killing of innocent Iraqis - what did they do to deserve what has happened to them? You can always choose not to go. As for prayers and sympathy to your family - forget it! And when you get back and realize all the death and destruction (which you helped to cause) is a complete waste - don't say you have not been warned.

That's one sample of many hostile comments left at the blog of Grey Hawk. She's a 35 year old wife mother and U. S. soldier currently stationed in Iraq with the 101ST Airborne Division.

Someone has also managed to hack Grey Hawk's site and was able to prevent her from posting memorials to her fellow soldiers. It's one thing for the left to question the war, I have no problem with that, but to seek out and attack a member of the military is despicable. How's that for supporting the troops?


Most Americans live safe, tranquil lives. They will never know or experience how it feels to know you are going to die horribly and then upon the mere sight of Americans in uniform running to place themselves between you and danger the instantaneous feeling of "I will be safe, I will be protected".

And maggots like those written about in this story do not DESERVE to live in a country where that is the rule

They deserve to live in the kind of country with the kind of regime that does things like this.

In a society where members of the secret police can come, and do come, to your homes and with total impunity, enter your house and take away a parent to be tortured (the sort of torture where they cut out your tongue or amputate your arm at the shoulder), a mother or sister to be raped, a child to be shot in the neck and his body dumped in an unmarked grave.

That, my friend, was life under Saddam Hussein.

Those words were written in Why We Blog ? It Is Not Fundamentalism, It Is Not Blind Allegiance to the White House; It Is Common Sense by the authors of !No Pasaran!

Had I, my wish, I would place those who try to prey on the emotions of our troops in an alternate universe where all they worked so hard to have continue for the Iraqi people did, and let them experience it.

Common Sense Runs Wild ends its post with this information.

UPDATE: In response to this post I'm already getting hate mail and foul comments. Well save your breath idiots. My blog isn't a free speech zone. If you're polite and courteous you're welcome to stay. If not your comment will be deleted and you'll be banned. If you're desperate to spew your filth do it on your own damn blog.

I would feel honored to get such mail. It would tell me I stand on the side of the Light and not on the side of the Darkness.

Thank a Soldier Week is Dec 19 to 25 don't let it pass without doing something about it.

Linked to
third world county at Riffing Off Dumbledore/Open Post
Stray Dog at Friday OTA Extravaganza - Special Wednesday Edition
Bloggin' Outloud at Special Thanksgiving OTB Party
NIF at Happy Thanksgiving!
Don Surber at Tide Lifting All Boats
MacStansbury.org at BOTA XI
Right Wing Nation at Thanksgiving Weekend Open Trackbacks
Stop the ACLU at Weekend Open Trackbacks

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Jul 21, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Ground Phase - Baker



Jul 20, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Israeli Lull - Baker



Jul 19, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Israel And Hezbollah - Baker



Jul 18, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Israel Holding - Friedman



Jul 17, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Israel Lebanon - Friedman



Jul 14, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Middle East Update - Friedman



Jul 14, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Podcast Alert - Stratfor



Jul 13, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Crisis In Lebanon - Bhalla



Jul 12, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Mumbai Attacks - Bhalla



Jul 11, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Chechnya-Basayev - Baker



Jul 10, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Iraqi Violence - Friedman



Jul 07, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Escalation In Gaza - Bhalla



Jul 06, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Italy Rendition - Burton



Jul 05, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - North Korea - Friedman



Jul 03, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Osamas Tape



Jun 30, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Russias Choice - Zeihan



Jun 29, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Israeli Response - Zeihan



Jun 28, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Hakim on Iran - Friedman



Jun 27, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Crisis Brewing - Friedman



Jun 26, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Iraq - Friedman



Jun 23, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - The Egyptian - Burton



Jun 22, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Turkey Terror - Burton



Jun 21, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - NY Subway - Burton



Jun 20, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Zoellick Quits - Baker



Jun 19, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Korean Missile - Friedman



Jun 16, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - World Cup - Burton



Jun 15, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Basras Struggle - Friedman



Jun 14, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Bush in Iraq - Zeihan



Jun 13, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - World Cup - Burton



Jun 12, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - White Hate - Burton



Jun 09, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Zarqawi's Death - Burton



Jun 08, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Zarqawi's Death - Burton



Jun 07, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Canada-Terrorism - Burton



Jun 06, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Somalia-Islamists - Friedman



Jun 05, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Iraq Settlement - Friedman



Jun 02, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - DHS Funding - Burton



Jun 01, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Russia-Safety - Burton



May 31, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - OBL Omissions - Burton



May 30, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Haditha Investigation - Friedman



May 29, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Australian Deployments - Chapman



May 26, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - US-Mexico Border - Burton



May 25, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - UK-Terrorism Raids - Burton



May 24, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - OBL Tape - Burton



May 23, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - London Attacks - Burton



May 22, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Iraq Settlement - Friedman



May 19, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Palestinian Clashes - Friedman



May 18, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - 9/11 Video - Burton



May 17, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Iran-Nuclear Issue - Friedman



May 16, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - U.S.-Immigration - Friedman



May 15, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Plame Affair - Burton



May 12, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - China Currency - Burton



May 11, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Putin's Speech - Burton



May 10, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Iranian Letter - Baker



May 09, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Iranian Letter - Baker



May 08, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - CIA-Hayden - Friedman



May 05, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Sino-U.S. Relations - Burton



May 04, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Bird Flu - Friedman



May 03, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - China-Tensions - Friedman



May 02, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Iraq Settlement - Friedman



May 01, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Bahrain Unrest - Zeihan



Apr 28, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Iraq-U.S. Commitment - Burton



Apr 27, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Chad Instability - Zeihan



Apr 26, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Israel-Jihadists - Baker



Apr 25, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Sinai Attacks - Bhalla



Apr 24, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Iraq/OBL - Friedman



Apr 21, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - U.S.-Hu - Baker



Apr 20, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Iraq Settlement - Baker



Apr 19, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - U.S.-Hu - Baker



Apr 18, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Administration/Markets - Zeihan



Apr 17, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Israel-Hamas - Baker



Apr 14, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Nepal Unrest - Bhalla



Apr 13, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Italy Elections - Zeihan



Apr 12, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Sleeper Cells - Burton



Apr 11, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Italy Elections - Zeihan



Apr 10, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - U.S.-Iran Tensions - Friedman



Apr 07, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Plame Affair - Friedman



Apr 06, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Ukraine Government - Baker



Apr 05, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Europe Instability - Zeihan



Apr 04, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Sino-U.S. Relations - Baker



Apr 03, 2006 Stratfor Daily Podcast - Iraq Settlement - Friedman



Dr. Friedman on Iran-US



Dr. Friedman on the Uranium Issue



GV Teleconference: Iran Outlook

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What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?
Hat Tip to Peace of Mind at How Do They Know???


Well I have been told I have this effect on others.
fiat justitia, ruat caelum:
let justice be done, even though the heavens fall

Your Blog Should Be Red

Your blog is full of intensity and passion. You are very opinionated - and people love or hate you for it. You have the potential to be both a famous and infamous blogger.

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But I have a Map
I don't need to ask Directions
This just cracked me up. But then I always did like Dilbet and Scott Adams.

Unfair Stereotypes

I’m sick of all the stereotypes found in the news. Maybe you heard the story about the four suicide bombers who planned an attack in Jordan. The three males killed mostly other Muslims. Obviously the men were looking for Israel and refused to stop and ask for directions. And the one woman in the group apparently couldn’t figure out how to operate her suicide belt.

I’m just wondering, how many women heard that story on the news and thought “Crap. Why did it have to be the woman who couldn’t blow herself up?”

I feel it is only fair to point out that Suicide Bombing is a Field in which instruction, cannot be very intensive.

Linked to
TMH's Bacon Bits at Bacon Break ? Happy Thanksgiving
Right Wing Nation at Thanksgiving Open Trackbacks
MacStansbury.org at BOTA X
Don Surber at The Anonymous Open Post
NIF at Damn
The Conservative Cat at Funny Stuff

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The Whistling Pig
I rank this up there with "One Tin Soldier"

"You didn't really drive 4 tanks abreast up to that town playing One Tin Soldier on loudspeakers? Of course we did, ammunition costs money!"

Robert Freeza "A Small Colonial War"

and Thomas Atkins by Kipling

Read first in "A Small Colonial War" I found this online as well at kawaiikunee.com

Excerpts from

The Whistling Pig,

As reported by
Robert Frezza

in the novels
A Small Colonial War, Fire in a Faraway Place & Cain's Land



CHORUS
'We're having a war,
and we want you to come!'
So the pig began to whistle
and to pound upon a drum
'We'll give you a gun,
and we'll give you a hat!'
And the pig began to whistle
when they told the piggies that!

GENERAL VERSES

The pig put on his webbing,
and they marched him up and down
He did it with a whistle,
so they gave him sand to pound
He crossed the burning desert,
and he trekked the arctic night
And they made him do it over
so he'd learn to do it right

The pig cleaned up his webbing,
and he shined his bayonet
Some people started shooting,
so he shot them with regret
He couldn't work an office,
and he couldn't be a clerk
For pigs who like to whistle,
like to whistle while they work

The pig went on vacations,
to places near and far,
For fighting wars on schedule,
makes for very good PR.
The generals love the piggies,
and the natives think them swell,
Or At least they often say so
after putting them through hell.

TOPICAL VERSES

The bombings and the shootings
kept the pig from getting sleep,
But mines are very nice
for keeping wolves away from sheep.
The general got impatient
when the natives tried to play,
But the Piggy cleaned a pistol,
and the problem went away!

Some people dressed in colors
with the money that they had,
The strutted in their costumes
'til they made the piggies mad.
They made themselves a nuisance
when they tried to legislate,
But pigs who like to whistle
also like affairs of state.



ENDING VERSES



Pigs whistle when they lose,
and they whistle when they win,
'Cause when the shooting's over
they scrub off and start again.

Wars are sometimes over
and they debited his pay,
They took away his hat
and then they took his gun away,
They told him they were thankful
and they split him north to south
As they fried him with a whistle
and an apple in his mouth!

The pig had bought a homeland
and he earned it with his sweat,
He filled it full of corpses
just to liquidate the debt.
He taught the people manners
and it didn't take him long
To teach them how to whistle
and to sing The Whistle Song!

The pig came home from warring
and began to sing a song,
"My homeland isn't perfect
but it's closer right than wrong."
He wore a sprig of laurel,
and he waved an olive twig,
And he whistled to the people
so he'd be a whistling pig!

Someday, there won't be fighting,
they'll put the guns away,
Men will love each other,
and join their hands to pray.
Peace will come forever,
people won't get shot and die-

And on that day, the pigs
will spread their wings and fly!

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