I tend not to put too much stock in polls but the activities of this past summer and the accompanying poll numbers have made me pay a little more attention. That's why the latest from Rasmussen made me sit up a little straighter.
Rasmussen Poll Anger at Government
Both parties should be concerned, to put it mildly. There may be virtually no incumbents re-elected in the 2010 elections and I'm ok with that.
The Six
22 September 2009
20 September 2009
Home On The Range
How many ways can I say it? The women are steady kicking butt.
A new addition to my blog list. http://mausersandmuffins.blogspot.com/
Go there and read everything she has written or will ever write, especially "I Am A Shooter."
This woman is something special.
The Six
A new addition to my blog list. http://mausersandmuffins.blogspot.com/
Go there and read everything she has written or will ever write, especially "I Am A Shooter."
This woman is something special.
The Six
19 September 2009
Major Kenneth Webb RIP
Today will be a tough one for The Sarge.
If you will Sarge, allow me today.
On September 19, 2005, near Mosul Iraq, my family lost one of it's loved ones to a suicide bomber. U.S. Army Special Forces Major (Ret) Kenneth Webb.
Ken left behind a wife, 2 kids, mother and father, 3 brothers, 1 sister, a slew of nieces, nephews and cousins and the friends only exceptional people accrue over a life devoted to service to country.
Son, husband, father, brother, uncle, friend and soldier. He had recently retired from the Army and took a job with Blackwater. He was riding herd on a State Department VIP at the time. Ken did his job to the bitter end and went out as what he was, a Hero and a Warrior. Ken did not go softly into that night, he went down fighting. No warrior can ask for a better epitaph.
We grieve for our loss but remember that there was no better soldier, hell there was no better man than Ken.
We will ever hold him in our hearts and minds. Our thoughts go to his family today. I will be taking the day off to spend it with my wife, Ken's sister, and we will remember him. I'll call the Sarge and the DO and we'll cry a little and then we'll go on. The sacrifice of Ken and others just like him have made us free to do so.
His loss leaves a huge and unfillable hole in our lives but such is ever the fate of those who love a warrior. They do not lead lives devoted to self preservation. They seek out and confront evil wherever it may reside and in whatever form it manifests. They and those who love them pay a price, Lord God they do pay a price. The bill will be paid, whether soon or late, and they will be taken from us before we are ready to let them go. As ever, Ken has led the way to a place we dare not follow too soon.
If you are so inclined I would ask you all to remember Ken's family on this day and to keep them in your prayers that they may find peace. While you're at it, please include the families of all our military men and women who have given their 'last true measure of devotion'. And may those still in harms way come home safely to us and their families.
Amen
The Six
If you will Sarge, allow me today.
On September 19, 2005, near Mosul Iraq, my family lost one of it's loved ones to a suicide bomber. U.S. Army Special Forces Major (Ret) Kenneth Webb.
Ken left behind a wife, 2 kids, mother and father, 3 brothers, 1 sister, a slew of nieces, nephews and cousins and the friends only exceptional people accrue over a life devoted to service to country.
Son, husband, father, brother, uncle, friend and soldier. He had recently retired from the Army and took a job with Blackwater. He was riding herd on a State Department VIP at the time. Ken did his job to the bitter end and went out as what he was, a Hero and a Warrior. Ken did not go softly into that night, he went down fighting. No warrior can ask for a better epitaph.
We grieve for our loss but remember that there was no better soldier, hell there was no better man than Ken.
We will ever hold him in our hearts and minds. Our thoughts go to his family today. I will be taking the day off to spend it with my wife, Ken's sister, and we will remember him. I'll call the Sarge and the DO and we'll cry a little and then we'll go on. The sacrifice of Ken and others just like him have made us free to do so.
His loss leaves a huge and unfillable hole in our lives but such is ever the fate of those who love a warrior. They do not lead lives devoted to self preservation. They seek out and confront evil wherever it may reside and in whatever form it manifests. They and those who love them pay a price, Lord God they do pay a price. The bill will be paid, whether soon or late, and they will be taken from us before we are ready to let them go. As ever, Ken has led the way to a place we dare not follow too soon.
If you are so inclined I would ask you all to remember Ken's family on this day and to keep them in your prayers that they may find peace. While you're at it, please include the families of all our military men and women who have given their 'last true measure of devotion'. And may those still in harms way come home safely to us and their families.
Amen
The Six
11 September 2009
Remembering 9/11, DO style
We all remember where we were on the 11th of September 8 years ago. We all have stories to share of calling friends, watching the news, waking up to a changed world; my story is a little different.
I was an Intelligence troop for the Air Force, in England, at an F-15 fighter squadron. It was early afternoon and I had one of my Aircrew come running in asking what I knew about the attack on the Trade Towers.
I scoffed at him.
That was years ago, I commented.
He didn't think I was funny, and so we went and looked it up.
I was in a classified vault with no cable, in a foreign country, thousands of miles from where my country was under attack, with only a slim idea of what was going on. The majority of our Intel was comming from the choppy web updates on CNN and from the wife of one of my coworkers who was at home watching Sky TV. This was not a situation built for strong striking visual memories.
We heard, via a phone conversation relayed to use, that the towers were falling. Pictures were scarce, there was no video.
I didn't see it happen.
My base commander was suppose to fly that day and came running into the vault to talk to his staff via our secure phones. Calm and cool, he set about locking down his base and securing his people. He was an inspiration in his mode of leadership that day.
We went into Delta, meaning where you were was were you were staying; hope you brought lunch. For weeks and months afterwards life was strange. We ramped up security everywhere, doubling and tripling the bodies covering family housing, flightlines, and inspecting vehicles entering the base.
Honestly, my most vivid memory of the 9/11 era was the phone call I got at 5 in the morning on a Saturday calling me in to work. We were going to war. The next day, on my way to the Post Office, I looked up and the entire base stopped. An eerie calm engulfed the entire area as we watched our jets launch, with live missles, and fly to meet the enemy.
We sent them to fight, to defend, to scream our anger, and to rectify a wrong.
I sit here now, a married woman, a mother, and a person a light year from who I was then. I have lost a beloved family member in Iraq, and sent countless friends to Iraq and Afghanistan. I know full well the cost involved in what we are doing. Yet from the view point of a Veteran, a mother, a niece and a spouse, I believe.
I believe.
It's right, it's just and it's our chosen path.
We brought the freedom to disagree to millions. We brought the freedom to throw shoes.
WE did that!
8 years ago the Iraqis didn't have that freedom.
So, yes, you have the right to say how we are warmongers, you have the right to vilify us.
But I have the right to throw a shoe.
-The DO
I was an Intelligence troop for the Air Force, in England, at an F-15 fighter squadron. It was early afternoon and I had one of my Aircrew come running in asking what I knew about the attack on the Trade Towers.
I scoffed at him.
That was years ago, I commented.
He didn't think I was funny, and so we went and looked it up.
I was in a classified vault with no cable, in a foreign country, thousands of miles from where my country was under attack, with only a slim idea of what was going on. The majority of our Intel was comming from the choppy web updates on CNN and from the wife of one of my coworkers who was at home watching Sky TV. This was not a situation built for strong striking visual memories.
We heard, via a phone conversation relayed to use, that the towers were falling. Pictures were scarce, there was no video.
I didn't see it happen.
My base commander was suppose to fly that day and came running into the vault to talk to his staff via our secure phones. Calm and cool, he set about locking down his base and securing his people. He was an inspiration in his mode of leadership that day.
We went into Delta, meaning where you were was were you were staying; hope you brought lunch. For weeks and months afterwards life was strange. We ramped up security everywhere, doubling and tripling the bodies covering family housing, flightlines, and inspecting vehicles entering the base.
Honestly, my most vivid memory of the 9/11 era was the phone call I got at 5 in the morning on a Saturday calling me in to work. We were going to war. The next day, on my way to the Post Office, I looked up and the entire base stopped. An eerie calm engulfed the entire area as we watched our jets launch, with live missles, and fly to meet the enemy.
We sent them to fight, to defend, to scream our anger, and to rectify a wrong.
I sit here now, a married woman, a mother, and a person a light year from who I was then. I have lost a beloved family member in Iraq, and sent countless friends to Iraq and Afghanistan. I know full well the cost involved in what we are doing. Yet from the view point of a Veteran, a mother, a niece and a spouse, I believe.
I believe.
It's right, it's just and it's our chosen path.
We brought the freedom to disagree to millions. We brought the freedom to throw shoes.
WE did that!
8 years ago the Iraqis didn't have that freedom.
So, yes, you have the right to say how we are warmongers, you have the right to vilify us.
But I have the right to throw a shoe.
-The DO
09 September 2009
Sensationalism At It's Worst
Anything and I mean anything to sell news papers. Sensationalism at its lowest. Makes me sick. For the longest time it was one of my greatest fears that they might show footage or pictures of my son when he was killed. I doubt that my wife and family could have stood it. My prayers go to the family of this fallen hero. They should get a Marine and have him shove evey paper that contains this picture straight up Thomas Curley's ass.
No emotion here you can tell.
The Sarge
Gates Objects to News Photo of Dying Marine
Gates Objects to News Photo of Dying Marine
American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2009 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates used the strongest terms in trying to persuade the Associated Press to refrain from running a graphic picture of a Marine taken shortly after the servicemember was wounded in southern Afghanistan, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said here today. Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard later died on the operating table Aug. 14. The Marine's family in New Portland, Maine, asked the Associated Press not to run the photo, which was taken by Julie Jacobson, who was embedded with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, in Afghanistan's Helmand province. The AP put out a series of photographs of the Marine patrol, and Gates objected to one showing Bernard clearly in anguish while being treated. He had just been hit in the legs by a rocket-propelled grenade. When Gates heard the AP was going to send the photo to its subscribers, he called Thomas Curley, president and chief executive officer of the news service, asking him to pull the photo, Morrell said. Morrell quoted the secretary as saying to Curley, "I'm begging you to defer to the wishes of the family. This will cause them great pain." Curley told the secretary he would reconvene his editorial team to re-examine the release. The secretary followed his call with a letter to AP. "I cannot imagine the pain and suffering Lance Corporal Bernard's death has caused his family," the secretary wrote. "Why your organization would purposefully defy the family's wishes knowing full well that it will lead to more anguish is beyond me. Your lack of compassion and common sense in choosing to put this image of their maimed and stricken child on the front page of multiple American newspapers is appalling. The issue here is not law, policy or constitutional right – but judgment and common decency." Curley got back to Morrell later yesterday afternoon and said his crew had "seriously considered the secretary's concerns and the families concerns ... but ultimately decided that they wanted to proceed with pushing out this image to their clients," Morrell said. Morrell said Gates was extremely disappointed that the Associated Press did not adhere to the wishes of the family. The vast majority of news outlets did not run the photo, he added.
No emotion here you can tell.
The Sarge
Gates Objects to News Photo of Dying Marine
Gates Objects to News Photo of Dying Marine
American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2009 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates used the strongest terms in trying to persuade the Associated Press to refrain from running a graphic picture of a Marine taken shortly after the servicemember was wounded in southern Afghanistan, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said here today. Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard later died on the operating table Aug. 14. The Marine's family in New Portland, Maine, asked the Associated Press not to run the photo, which was taken by Julie Jacobson, who was embedded with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, in Afghanistan's Helmand province. The AP put out a series of photographs of the Marine patrol, and Gates objected to one showing Bernard clearly in anguish while being treated. He had just been hit in the legs by a rocket-propelled grenade. When Gates heard the AP was going to send the photo to its subscribers, he called Thomas Curley, president and chief executive officer of the news service, asking him to pull the photo, Morrell said. Morrell quoted the secretary as saying to Curley, "I'm begging you to defer to the wishes of the family. This will cause them great pain." Curley told the secretary he would reconvene his editorial team to re-examine the release. The secretary followed his call with a letter to AP. "I cannot imagine the pain and suffering Lance Corporal Bernard's death has caused his family," the secretary wrote. "Why your organization would purposefully defy the family's wishes knowing full well that it will lead to more anguish is beyond me. Your lack of compassion and common sense in choosing to put this image of their maimed and stricken child on the front page of multiple American newspapers is appalling. The issue here is not law, policy or constitutional right – but judgment and common decency." Curley got back to Morrell later yesterday afternoon and said his crew had "seriously considered the secretary's concerns and the families concerns ... but ultimately decided that they wanted to proceed with pushing out this image to their clients," Morrell said. Morrell said Gates was extremely disappointed that the Associated Press did not adhere to the wishes of the family. The vast majority of news outlets did not run the photo, he added.
Gun Control
Gun History
After reading the following historical facts, read the partabout Switzerland twice.A LITTLE GUN HISTORYIn 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control.. From 1929 to 1953,about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were roundedup and exterminated.
In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1..5 millionArmenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up andexterminated.
Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a totalof 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves wererounded up and exterminated.
China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 millionpolitical dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up andexterminated
Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up andexterminated.
Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up andexterminated
Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one millioneducated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up andexterminated.
Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Centurybecause of gun control: 56 million.
It has now been more than 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced bynew law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by their own Government, a program costing Australia taxpayers more than 500 million dollars. The first year results are now in: List of 7 items:Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2 percent. Australia-wide, assaults are up 8.6 percent. Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent (yes, 44 percent)!
In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up 300percent. Note that while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, thecriminals did not, and criminals still possess their guns! While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease inarmed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in the past 12 months, since criminals now are guaranteed that their prey isunarmed. There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of theELDERLY. Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public safety has decreased, after such monumental effort, and expense wasexpended in successfully ridding Australian society of guns. TheAustralian experience and the other historical facts above prove it.You won't see this data on the US evening news, or hear politiciansdisseminating this information. Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws adversely affect only the law-abiding citizens. Take note my fellow Americans, before it's too late! The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind them of this history lesson.
With guns, we are 'citizens.'
Without them, we are 'subjects'. During WWII the Japanese decided not to invade America because they knew most Americans were ARMED! The purpose of fighting is to win. There is no possible victory indefense. The sword is more important than the shield, and skill is more important than either. The final weapon is the brain. All else is supplemental.
SWITZERLAND ISSUES EVERY HOUSEHOLD A GUN!
SWITZERLAND 'S GOVERNMENT TRAINS EVERY ADULT THEY ISSUE A RIFLE.
SWITZERLAND HAS THE LOWEST GUN RELATED CRIME RATE OF ANY
CIVILIZED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!!!
IT'S A NO BRAINER!
DON'T LET OUR GOVERNMENT WASTE MILLIONS OF OUR TAX DOLLARS
IN AN EFFORT TO MAKE ALL LAW ABIDING CITIZENS AN EASY TARGET. I'm a firm believer of the 2nd Amendment!
Just think how powerful our government is getting!
They think these other countries just didn't do it right.
Learn from history
The Sarge
After reading the following historical facts, read the partabout Switzerland twice.A LITTLE GUN HISTORYIn 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control.. From 1929 to 1953,about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were roundedup and exterminated.
In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1..5 millionArmenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up andexterminated.
Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a totalof 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves wererounded up and exterminated.
China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 millionpolitical dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up andexterminated
Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up andexterminated.
Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up andexterminated
Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one millioneducated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up andexterminated.
Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Centurybecause of gun control: 56 million.
It has now been more than 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced bynew law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by their own Government, a program costing Australia taxpayers more than 500 million dollars. The first year results are now in: List of 7 items:Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2 percent. Australia-wide, assaults are up 8.6 percent. Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent (yes, 44 percent)!
In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up 300percent. Note that while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, thecriminals did not, and criminals still possess their guns! While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease inarmed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in the past 12 months, since criminals now are guaranteed that their prey isunarmed. There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of theELDERLY. Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public safety has decreased, after such monumental effort, and expense wasexpended in successfully ridding Australian society of guns. TheAustralian experience and the other historical facts above prove it.You won't see this data on the US evening news, or hear politiciansdisseminating this information. Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws adversely affect only the law-abiding citizens. Take note my fellow Americans, before it's too late! The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind them of this history lesson.
With guns, we are 'citizens.'
Without them, we are 'subjects'. During WWII the Japanese decided not to invade America because they knew most Americans were ARMED! The purpose of fighting is to win. There is no possible victory indefense. The sword is more important than the shield, and skill is more important than either. The final weapon is the brain. All else is supplemental.
SWITZERLAND ISSUES EVERY HOUSEHOLD A GUN!
SWITZERLAND 'S GOVERNMENT TRAINS EVERY ADULT THEY ISSUE A RIFLE.
SWITZERLAND HAS THE LOWEST GUN RELATED CRIME RATE OF ANY
CIVILIZED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!!!
IT'S A NO BRAINER!
DON'T LET OUR GOVERNMENT WASTE MILLIONS OF OUR TAX DOLLARS
IN AN EFFORT TO MAKE ALL LAW ABIDING CITIZENS AN EASY TARGET. I'm a firm believer of the 2nd Amendment!
Just think how powerful our government is getting!
They think these other countries just didn't do it right.
Learn from history
The Sarge
06 September 2009
Darrel "Shifty" Powers
Received this from a buddy.
Anybody want to remind me who Michael Jackson and Ted Kennedy are? Not a wart on Shifty's ass.
Another hero passes on.
Darrel "Shifty" Powers volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Infantry. If you've seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10 episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.
Shifty served from 1941 to 1945. He made the 5 training jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . He also made a second jump into Holland , into Arnhem .
Shifty died on June 17 after fighting cancer.
There was no parade.
No big event in Staples Center .
No wall to wall back to back 24/7 news coverage.
No weeping fans on television.
Rest in peace, Shifty."
A nation without heroes is nothing."(Roberto Clemente)
Amen from The Warrior Class
Six
Anybody want to remind me who Michael Jackson and Ted Kennedy are? Not a wart on Shifty's ass.
Another hero passes on.
Darrel "Shifty" Powers volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Infantry. If you've seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10 episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.
Shifty served from 1941 to 1945. He made the 5 training jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . He also made a second jump into Holland , into Arnhem .
Shifty died on June 17 after fighting cancer.
There was no parade.
No big event in Staples Center .
No wall to wall back to back 24/7 news coverage.
No weeping fans on television.
Rest in peace, Shifty."
A nation without heroes is nothing."(Roberto Clemente)
Amen from The Warrior Class
Six
Good Bye Green Czar
I've been catching up on some reading and yard work so I haven't had the news on for a couple of days. This morning I checked the Internet and found that the Green Czar Van Jones had resigned. I must say that was like a sip (I do mean sip) of cool water on a hot summer day. Now if obama had resigned with him or if obama had fired him that would have been like a cool drink of water on a hot summer day. A little brighter days ahead I hope.
Sarge
Sarge
02 September 2009
Hardened Hearts
Mrs. Six was reading last night when she came across this in her NIV;
James 1:15
Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
This is the marginal comment;
Temptation entertained today becomes sin tomorrow, then a habit the next day, then death and separation from god forever. To think you could never become this evil is the first step toward a hard heart.
It struck her that this passage could be related to the democratic party, or rather what it's turning into.
Obama has a hard heart and has surrounded himself with those like him. The real problem is they are leading so many of the democrats down the same path. Bad for them and bad for us.
I'm not talking about salvation of the soul or anything religious here. This is strictly a secular argument.
The obama administration does not consider itself as being separate from the American people. Because they still feel that they have a mandate for 'change' they don't see their beliefs and policies as 'sinful'. They want to fundamentally change America. Desire becomes conceived.
Because obama is a gifted orator (at least with the help of totus) he has persuaded so many to follow him and do what he says. He has convinced them that the sin is American Exceptionalism and The Constitution. Sin becomes habit.
It has given birth to the hardening of their hearts. Hardening against everything this country was built on and stands for. They believe the evil of totalinarianism will not come to pass and therefore all who oppose them are the evil ones to be destroyed at all costs. Sin becomes full-grown.
If we continue down this path, Death for the Republic becomes more than a possibility.
It becomes certain.
Six
James 1:15
Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
This is the marginal comment;
Temptation entertained today becomes sin tomorrow, then a habit the next day, then death and separation from god forever. To think you could never become this evil is the first step toward a hard heart.
It struck her that this passage could be related to the democratic party, or rather what it's turning into.
Obama has a hard heart and has surrounded himself with those like him. The real problem is they are leading so many of the democrats down the same path. Bad for them and bad for us.
I'm not talking about salvation of the soul or anything religious here. This is strictly a secular argument.
The obama administration does not consider itself as being separate from the American people. Because they still feel that they have a mandate for 'change' they don't see their beliefs and policies as 'sinful'. They want to fundamentally change America. Desire becomes conceived.
Because obama is a gifted orator (at least with the help of totus) he has persuaded so many to follow him and do what he says. He has convinced them that the sin is American Exceptionalism and The Constitution. Sin becomes habit.
It has given birth to the hardening of their hearts. Hardening against everything this country was built on and stands for. They believe the evil of totalinarianism will not come to pass and therefore all who oppose them are the evil ones to be destroyed at all costs. Sin becomes full-grown.
If we continue down this path, Death for the Republic becomes more than a possibility.
It becomes certain.
Six
01 September 2009
Second Amendment
Click on this link and go vote. Last I saw it was running 97 percent in favor of the Second with over 3 million votes.
USATODAY.com - Quick Question
Six
USATODAY.com - Quick Question
Six
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