Good Morning Campers!!!!  Boy, do we have a great issue for you today!  Laffs, jokes, groaners, funnies, things that make you go hmmm and rants.  Did I mention rants?  There are rants and then there are RANTS!  Today, in the Last Word, we have a tremendous rant from … well, why spoil the surprise.  Why don’t we jump right into the fun and be surprised when we get to the end?
Uh huh…
yup….
those are all good reasons, but since I’m in charge and besides these words are already written if you are reading them now…
wow!
You know, it’s almost like time travel.  I’m writing these words on Friday and you are reading them on Saturday my words are magically traveling into the future!  That is way cool!
anyway….
Where was I?
Oh yeah, since I’m in charge, yada, yada, yada
Let’s have fun!!!

 

Aides to President Obama say they are trying to lower expectations for

the upcoming presidential debates. How can anyone possibly lower expectations for any political debate?

This is very true, but if you think about it, had we done a better job of determining where he was born, we might not have to worry about where he lives now.

A Pakistani protester died after inhaling fumes from an American flag he was burning. Next they will protest the U.S. outsourcing the manufacturing of U.S. flags to China where there are no safeguards against the use of toxic materials.

 

Thanks to our good friend Wheats for this one.  Cracked me up!!!

A golf lobby has asked Senator Marco Rubio to drop jokes about President Obama golf outings. If you have never heard of the “golf lobby” it is pretty much the House, the Senate and Wall Street.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alaskans will get $878 each for their annual oil wealth payout. That just about covers the average heating bill in Alaska for November.

Hey!  That could be MY problem!

Hi Campers, just because our annual plea for funds is over doesn’t mean that you couldn’t donate more if you wanted.  All donations are cheerfully and thankfully accepted and go to bettering our little project.  Dragon and Leprechaun Laffs!

 

Okay, so all the questions were loaded…they were all true.  Hard to believe, I know.

Christian Comedy…laughter with no dirty words!  This guys is great.  Mark Lowry, he makes people with  no sense of humor laugh!  But, as usual, you’ll have to watch it on our web page… http://dragonlaffs.com

Oh, were this only true!!! …

Mitt Romney defended U.S. principles including the right to free speech and free expression despite Muslim anger over an anti-Muslim film. The Muslim Brotherhood is very worried in Egypt. They know that if Mitt Romney becomes president he will spare Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran, and sell off the Arab countries that are losing money.

This is a must watch. What a colorful world we live in which we take for granted every day.
Black and white is dramatic, but color… wow!

I probably have blind spots, but I don’t see them.

I know a guy who wouldn’t go to a Beatles’ concert because he was afraid of insects.

Bigamy: Jack said “I thought it was BIGAMY to make so many women happy.”

If chickens could choose any car at all to be given to them, they would choose a free Range Rover.

When I’m stoned I get a little boulder.

I’ve put my money into a new girlie magazine so I can take accrued interest.

As a bank manager my only interest is to get you a loan and make advances.

If his new secretary isn’t sweet in the daytime and a little tart at night, he’ll saccharin the morning.

What did one tampon say to the other tampon in school?  “I’ll see you next period.”

Some guys go out every Saturday night and sow their wild oats, then go to church on Sunday and pray for crop failure.

The gay burglar couldn’t blow the safe so he went down on the elevator.

My father is Welsh and my mother is Hungarian. That makes me Well-Hung.

A dentist couldn’t get an erection on his wedding night so he used his finger. Wife, “What’s this?” Dentist, “Nothing honey, just a temporary filling.”

Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.

Have you ever notice how groups of lions tend to move on just before autumn? Of course! Pride goeth before the fall.

The Moses film project was abandoned after they’d seen the rushes.

Wedding Ring: A small tourniquet. It cuts off circulation.

They did a sex change because he had a wrongy dongy.

Okay, so the Viagra my boyfriend took was still having an effect hours later. Does that give him the right to go running to the emergency room asking to see the head nurse?

Have you heard about the male and female ventriloquist’s dummies? They screwed their heads off.

 

How come, why and some great advice

Why does it take so little time for a child who is afraid of the dark to become a teenager who wants to stay out all night?

Why is it that the person you sleep with who snores, is the first one to fall asleep ??

Never dance naked because the body has parts that do not stop moving when the music stops.

The road to success is always under construction.

I have to power walk very early in the morning,  before my brain figures out what I’m doing.

Mother to daughter in local department store: “If it has anybody’s name on it, it’s too expensive.”

Set aside an hour every day to do all your worrying; then take a nap during this period.

At the convent, it was storming
Nuns huddled ’round the fire, warming.
Some took their wet clothes
Off, before they froze
Priest prayed it was habit forming.

 

Once upon a time there was a very handsome male camel with two huge
camel humps. He fell in love and married a beautiful female camel who had one perfect camel hump.
As time progressed, they became the proud parents of a wonderful baby camel who had no humps. They contemplated long and hard on what to call their beautiful little boy.
They finally decided on…… You ready for this??? ‘Humphrey’!!!
Oh, stop your whining and groaning!!! It’s a nice story

 

I feel guilty for not having a decent Last Word last week, so for this week, we have a special guest ranter…I’m sure by the time you are done reading this that you will figure out that this is from our own dear Leprechaun.  He has been working on this for the better part of the week, putting more time and effort into this guest rant than either of us put into an entire issue.  Let me tell you right up front that there are parts of it that will offend or upset most of all of you.  But, sometimes, what has to be said, offensive or not, HAS to be said.  We, of course, welcome your comments and thoughts on this and any other part of our issues.

Rest assured I do not make this warning lightly, nor do I post the graphics without good and valid reasons.

What’s  REALLY behind the Middle East riots and how do we stop Americans from dying in them?

This subject has multiple issues/aspects to it so I’m going to do this in sections. Rather than wasting time trying to be cleaver and find segues from one aspect to another if you see a divider it means we’re switching topic to another issue/aspect . I will however attempt to present the information in as coherent a flow as possible

The background

US interests across the world have come under attack by protestors, leaving US ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens dead. The US evacuated all non-essential embassy staff after violent demonstrations in Libya, Tunisia, Indonesia, Sudan, Pakistan, Egypt, Yemen and Afghanistan.

At the centre of the protests is an amateur US film that mocks the Prophet Mohammed, condemned by several Muslim leaders as ‘blasphemous’. But is this is case of freedom of speech versus religion, or are President Obama’s Middle East policies the real reason for the riots?

A gulf between Western and Muslim worlds

http://www.periscopepost.com/2012/09/whats-behind-the-middle-east-riots/

“The West’s failure to understand the Muslim world has been analyzed to the point of exhaustion,” wrote David Blair in The Telegraph. “But the attacks on US and other Western embassies this week have surely demonstrated that the absence of understanding cuts both ways.” Blair pointed out that Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi told President Obama that he was furious over the YouTube film; but this attitude demonstrates a lack of understanding of the importance of free expression in Western countries: “The President of the United States cannot be held responsible for the thoughts, opinions and actions of 300 million Americans. Nor, in a free society, can he ban his citizens from expressing themselves, even if they sometimes do so in crass and offensive ways.”

Most Muslims aren’t protesting

“While the killing of American diplomats and other ongoing violence dominates news of the protests, what is less noted is that most Muslims aren’t protesting. And many Islamic religious leaders are calling for people to protest peacefully, if at all,” pointed out a Christian Science Monitor editorial. According to the editorial, there are signs that freedom of speech and tolerance are spreading around the world: “Last year, the watchdog group Freedom House found the percentage of people living in either a free or partly free country is 65 percent. In the past three decades, the number of countries in those categories has risen to 76 from 61.”

My first inkling that there was more here than met the eye came in a two fold realization. First that the film had been out since roughly the third week of June and it was just now coming to serious light. The second was how many Muslims do you see or hear protesting this film IN THE USA WHERE IT WAS SPONSORED CREATED AND SHOWN? How many outspoken Imams and Clerics do you hear ranting and condemning this 14 minute badly made film or its creator? How much news coverage did it get BEFORE the riots it supposedly caused?

Makes you stop, scratch you chin thoughtfully and go humm…doesn’t it?

OK, now let’s look at the alleged cause of the entire affair a YouTube video entitled the ‘Innocence of Muslims’ which has had over 10 million hits. Allegedly according to protestors it not only supposedly blasphemes Islam & the Koran but commits the unforgivable twins sin of actually depicting Mohammad and not in the best of lights suggesting among other things (and NOT BTW for the first time) that the prophet Muhammad as a sex-obsessed individual who engages in relations with young people and commits acts of sadistic violence.

 

US embassies have been the focus of violent protest across the Middle East and North Africa. Is this really all over a YouTube film? http://theweek.com/article/index/233239/the-obscure-anti-muslim-film-that-sparked-egyptian-and-libyan-riots-a-guide

What is the Innocence of Muslims about?
The movie claims to tell the true story of the Prophet Mohammad, depicting him “as a homosexual son of undetermined patrimony, who rises to advocate child slavery and extramarital sex, for himself, in the name of religion,” say Matt Bradley and Dion Nissenbaum at The Wall Street Journal. Scenes “seem to portray Muslim Egyptian characters, who for some reason all have strong New York accents, as immoral and violent, particularly toward the Christians whom they pursue with near-genocidal fervor,” says Max Fisher at The Atlantic.The movie is, in other words, an intentionally offensive and bigoted takedown of Islam and its most revered prophet.

Who made it?
There is a bit of a mystery on that score. Media outlets first identified the producer as Sam Bacile, an Israeli-American from California who has described Islam as a “cancer” in at least two combative interviews following the riots. However, the man purporting to be Bacile said he was 52 years old in one interview, and 56 in another, and “there was no immediate confirmation in official records of such a person,” says David D. Kirkpatrick at The New York Times. There is no definitive evidence that he is either Jewish or Israeli. It’s possible that “Sam Bacile” is a pseudonym.

READ HERE FOR TRUE IDENITY: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/14/alan-roberts-innocence-of-muslims_n_1885758.html

THEN HERE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/14/innocence-of-muslims-film-filmmaker-sam-bacile-permit-christian-charity_n_1883792.html

AND FINALLY HERE: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/14/media-for-christ-company-allegedly-behind-innocence-of-muslims.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=cheatsheet_afternoon&cid=newsletter%3Bemail%3Bcheatsheet_afternoon&utm_term=Cheat%20Sheet

First off let me say many are making fun of Bette Midler for her social media site comments regarding finding this A-hole First Class and charging him with murder. They point at his right to ‘Free Speech” as his defense. Well it seems pretty clear to me that this guy went out of his way to hide the true nature of the film he was making even from the actors in the film itself, his true identity and then to make sure that not ONLY did Muslims see the film but in their own language. This tells me he knew exactly what he was doing, knew what the probable consequences were and went out of his way to provoke those consequences. To me this smacks of a deliberate premeditated hate crime NOT ‘Free Speech’. Further the right to ‘Free Speech’ does NOT absolve you for the consequences of your self expression. Were the same A-hole First Class to stand up in a crowded theater and scream “FIRE!” absolutely no sane person or legal defense team would even think for a nanosecond of raising the 2nd Amendment as a defense of his actions at his trial for the deaths of anyone who died as a result of his action. So why is this any different? Because he lit the fire here in the US and US citizen died abroad? I’m whiffing that farm yard by-product again in that argument!

Is this A-hole 1st class the SOLE responsible party in this? OH HELLS NOT! He’s one of several but the only one subject to our laws and his actions would seem to be analogous to the guy who rolls a snowball down the side of a mountain which in turn causes an avalanche. Certainly as you see in the timeline below:

“Sam Bacile” talks to the AP and Wall Street Journal, claiming to be an Israeli-American real estate developer funded by Jewish donors.

indicates to me that he was deliberately trying to stir the pot and anger Muslims as much as possible. Adding the Israel and Jewish twist  was akin to throwing aviation fuel on a smoldering fire- not something you do unless you are either incredibly stupid or an arsonist. What I see here is evidence of a deliberate attempt at geopolitical and sociopolitical arson. I will admit the exact reasoning behind the act as well as the timing eludes me, but then I try to stay out of the mind set of idiots and religious fanatics as I have little tolerance for either and get the urge to cure both though exercising my trigger finger vigorously and thereby vastly improving the gene pool

Would there have been rioting in Libya if he had not posted his vitriolic hate filled ‘movie’ to YouTube? Possibly. In truth probably abet for another reason(s). Would it have spread the way it has? Doubtful. did this jerk give them a tool to use for creating the riots that got 4 Americans killed and dragged through the streets? Definitely. Did he go out of his way to provoke such a reaction and deliberately time it for September 11th? Sure as hell seems to be the case. From the time line you’ll find farther down the page it seems as though he was not going to stop until he got the results he wanted which is best summed up by this photo:

Here is our American Ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens, diplomat, father, husband, and American Citizen, being dragged through the streets of Benghazi

I submit to you its those making fun of Bette Midler’s stance that are crazy. The man responsible SHOULD be found put on trail for murder and sued in civil court as well.

The anti-Islam-film riots: A timeline

Additional notations excerpted from other sources and added to this news article by me are in green

The violent protests against the ultra-inflammatory Innocence of Muslims video seem to have sprung out of nowhere. But in truth, they didn’t http://theweek.com/article/index/233454/the-anti-islam-film-riots-a-timeline

June 6th: we announce another Al-Qaida leader got waxed by a drone attack, the embassy compound in Libya got attacked.

June 23: The only known full screening of Innocence of Muslims is held at Hollywood’s Vine Theatre, according to the Los Angeles Times. The L.A. Times‘ source, an unidentified police officer who spoke with The Daily Beast, and Steve Klein, a Christian anti-Islam activist who advised on the film, all agree that almost nobody attended the screening.

June 27: A Los Angeles blogger, John Walsh, sounds the alarm about the film, in a blog post titled “ARE MILITANT ISLAMISTS ABOUT TO GATHER ON HOLLYWOOD BLVD.?” Two days later, at a Los Angeles City Council meeting, he repeats his warning: “A group has rented the Vine Street theater to show a video entitled Innocence of Bin Laden. We have no idea what this group is.”

June 30: A second screening of the movie is planned and, reportedly, aborted. Walsh sayshe tried to buy a ticket but was told the screening was canceled.

July 2: A YouTube user, “Sam Bacile,” uploads “Muhammad Movie Trailer,” the 14-minute clip that is all almost anyone has seen of the movie to date. Nobody pays attention.

Sept. 2: Bacile uploads an Arabic-language version of the movie trailer to YouTube, then deletes it.

Sept. 4: Another Arabic-language version is uploaded by persons unknown. (likely Bacile though an anonymous proxy server in an attempt to continue to hide his identity and actions)

Sept. 5: Morris Sedak, Washington, D.C.-based Coptic Christian and anti-Islam activist, starts promoting the movie trailer to journalists and via social media, timing his pitch to Florida pastor Terry Jones’ “International Judge Muhammad Day” on Sept. 11.

Sept. 8: Egyptian television firebrand Sheik Khaled Abdalla airs part of the the Arabic version of the clip on local channel Al Nas, condemning it harshly. The trailer’s YouTube view-count skyrockets.

Sept. 10: Pastor Jones, known for threatening to burn the Koran on previous Sept. 11 anniversaries, announces that he will show part of the movie at his “Judge Muhammad Day.”

September 11th: the Libyan Leader finally admits & confirms the death of the Al-Qaida leader (he had previously denied this) the compound gets attacked again

Sept 11: Protesters decrying the movie storm the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, scaling the wall and replacing the American flag with a black one inscribed with a Muslim slogan used by militant groups. In Benghazi, Libya, a protest outside the U.S. consulate turns deadly when heavily armed militants, possibly using the protest as cover for a premeditated attack, kill U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other U.S. diplomatic personnel. “Sam Bacile” talks to the AP and Wall Street Journal, claiming to be an Israeli-American real estate developer funded by Jewish donors.

Sept. 12: As protests spread to Tunisia and Morocco, Bacile’s story starts to unravel. AP reporters and other journalists use his cell phone number and other clues to track him to the house of Coptic Christian activist Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, whose criminal history is littered with aliases very similar to “Bacile.” Actors and crew from the movie say they were duped, and condemn the trailer, saying the film they made was a pre-Islam historical action flick, Desert Warrior, that was later poorly overdubbed with anti-Islam language.

Sept. 15: Nakoula is brought in for questioning over probable violations of his parole, which forbade him from using computers and the internet without permission.

Sept. 17: Protests have spread to at least 20 countries, including close U.S. allies like Britain, France, and Australia, and 10 protesters have been killed. In Egypt, al Qaeda–linked jihadist Ahmed Ashoush issues a fatwa against anyone who took part in the film. The blood of the participants, he says on an Islamist militant website, “should be shed, including the producer, the director, and the actors” adding, “their killing is a duty of every capable Muslim.”

We need to understand riot mysteries

Obama and his team handled the crisis very well under trying circumstances, wrote Leslie H. Gelb at The Daily Beast. [noted for its liberal slant and bias] What the administration now needs to do is find out exactly went wrong at the embassies in Libya and Cairo, in order to prevent future attacks. For example, Gelb asked, were Libyan security guards complicit in the attack and did Egyptian security forces do their best to hold back the mob? “Obama, in particular, will have to twist arms to solve the mysteries raised by these awful riots. And he’ll have to go further and crack Libyan and Egyptian heads to get those governments to do what they must to protect American diplomats,” said Gelb.

While not wanting to turn this into an indictment or an Anti Obama rant, I respectfully must disagree with the assertion that this was handled well by not just Obama but the entire administration. To most Americans, this:

is an act of war or at least one requiring immediate, decisive and punishing military retaliation as a response. Obama didn’t even remain in the White House monitoring the situation, instead went to Las Vegas for a fund raiser and to campaign. What sort of message does that send abroad?

On 5 April 1986, (within Regan’s first 100 days in office) Libyan agents bombed “La Belle” nightclub in West Berlin, killing three people and injuring 229 people who were spending the evening there. West Germany and the United States obtained cable transcripts from Libyan agents in East Germany who were involved in the attack. on April 14th & 15th theUnited States at Regan’s order bombed Libya, code-named Operation El Dorado Canyon, it was comprised of joint United States Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps struck five targets at 02:00 on April 15, with the stated objective that their destruction would send a message and reduce Libya’s ability to support and train terrorists. Reagan warned that “if necessary, [they] shall do it again.”

Say what you like about Regan, his gunboat approach to foreign policy was damned effective and we could use some of it now. More on that thought in my summation however.

Obama to blame for failure of leadership

What caused the riots is “a perception of American weakness” wrote Mark A. Thiessen in The Washington Post. “Across the region, people see the United States in retreat. They see Obama pulling all U.S. forces out of Iraq and preparing to do the same in Afghanistan. They see an American ambassador killed in Libya.” And the reason for this perceived weakness lies in Obama’s Middle East policies – a failure to engage with Syria, for example, or to support Egypt’s protestors until it became clear the Mubarak regime was finished. [Lets’ not forget his infamous ‘apology’ for the burning of a Koran] “The failure of Obama’s policies in the Middle East is not the fall of dictators in Cairo and Tripoli; it is the failure of leadership in Washington,” said Thiessen.

The Anti-Islam-Film Riots

It seems pretty clear to me that the Administration could have and SHOULD have immediately increased the security at the Libyan Consulate including more & more heavily armed Marine guards as early on as MAY. I say this because it is pretty clear to  me that the riot over this film was simply cover and misdirection for the true issue here, the premeditated well planned heavily armed assault (RPGs & mortars are NOT generally found at your local Libyan Protest America Supplies & Camel Feed Store along side the baskets of loose rubble for stoning and American flags for burning) on our least secure and able to defend itself Consulate.

This undoubtedly was fought against by the State Department Diplodipshits in Foggy Bottom who think a well cut suit, a Phi Beta Kappa Key, a few cocktails and an open US checkbook can solve any and all international problems if they are given an eternity to accomplish the negations as sending the wrong message to the ‘newly democratic emerging government’.

<coughing to cover the exclamation of “BULLSHIT!”>

If there is ONE thing I am POSITIVE of its that if the Muslim Brotherhood is in charge of the government in Libya the veneer of Democracy is about as thick as the sincerity of a political campaign promise. What I learned early on in my study of US history and World Affairs is the most successful negations are accomplish from a position of strength, intimidation and fear. When it comes to the Mid East this translated to old stick and the carrot approach to getting a donkey to do what you want. In this case the State Department at least has the advantage of the donkey being semi intelligent and fully able to understand our language. However that’s where the diplomats screwed up. They should have sucked the donkey with a lead weighted stick and drove it to its knees then waited for its senses and vision to clear and calmly showed the donkey both the stick and the carrot and asked which it preferred because the diplomat didn’t give a shit one way or the other they WERE going to get what they wanted in the end.

Its clear to basically everyone in the world except for Obama’s supporters that his foreign policy is to have no foreign policy and when forced to deal with a foreign issue adopt one of two strategies, avoidance and procrastination until such time as its is abundantly clear which side will prevail or appeasement and apologies. Both strategies play it safe and both make us lose face and easy marks as this incident has clearly demonstrated.

I’m NOT the only one expressing this point of view either:

Krauthammer to Egyptian Protesters: ‘Go to Hell’

You’ve been warned TWICE now so I will not be entertaining any comments about how you were offended kindly

No One Murdered Because Of This Image

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/14/innocence-of-muslims-film-filmmaker-sam-bacile-permit-christian-charity_n_1883792.html

WASHINGTON—Following the publication of the image above, in which the most cherished figures from multiple religious faiths were depicted engaging in a lascivious sex act of considerable depravity, no one was murdered, beaten, or had their lives threatened, sources reported Thursday. The image of the Hebrew prophet Moses high-fiving Jesus Christ as both are having their erect penises vigorously masturbated by Ganesha, all while the Hindu deity anally penetrates Buddha with his fist, reportedly went online at 6:45 p.m. EDT, after which not a single bomb threat was made against the organization responsible, nor did the person who created the cartoon go home fearing for his life in any way. Though some members of the Jewish, Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist faiths were reportedly offended by the image, sources confirmed that upon seeing it, they simply shook their heads, rolled their eyes, and continued on with their day.

Now I’m not going to debate that the Onion went over the top to make their point with this illustration or try to defend them over it,  that by and large is a matter of personal perspective. However I feel that their point is well and amply made by the illustration’s example.

One count has it that there are more than 730 established Religions in the world which are broken out into more the 3200 different sects. Christianity, for example is 1 of the major religions but has more than 200 sub sects, each with their own unique traditions and interpretations of the bible. [ http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_total_number_of_religion_in_the_world ]  Another simplifies that down to 19 major classifications. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_religious_groups ]. Yet the SINGLE SOLE ‘RELIGION’ who’s adherents’ behave in this manner and are in fact incited, pushed and encouraged to it by their religious hierarchy is Islam, ‘the religion of peace’. 

Personally I think calling it ‘the religion of peace’ is about as truthful and accurate as calling Sydney Biddle Barrows a.k.a. Sheila Devin a.k.a.The Mayflower Madam the Mother Teresa of Escorts. Regardless of how much spin, make up and perfume you put on a pig, it’s STILL a pig. Same thing goes for  the Religion of Islam, it is a racist, sexist  hate spewing,  intolerant and oppressive political ideology Theocracy hiding behind the guise of religion.

South Park is still unable to show its episodes 200 & 201, and a simple pic of Muhammad in an earlier episode, despite its creators’ willingness to show them if allowed by Viacom. Not only that, Muhammad was in an earlier episode that was rerun many times – until the ‘outrage’ over the Danish cartoons, after which the episode was pulled.

This is about nothing but control, sovereignty, oppression of non Islamic religions, view points and freedoms and as long as people are willing to accept oppression though their inactions and/or the inactions of the governments when such outrages occur we’re going to continue to have to deal with it. There should be nothing more offensive to the religion of Islam than the images and videos that have captured their followers murdering and torturing others with delight. Ever wonder about that?

Say what you will about the Ayatollah Khomeini, whom most peg as the father of the Fundamentalist Islamic Movement and modern Jihadism but the man had principles honor and a sense of right & wrong. When Salman Rushdie wrote ‘The Satanic Verses’ and in Khomeini’s narrow fundamentalist mind was guilty of being “against Islam, the Prophet and the Quran.” he didn’t pull an al Qaeda–linked jihadist Ahmed Ashoush and call for blood of the participants, to be shed, including the writer, the publisher, and the editors” adding, “their killing is a duty of every capable Muslim.” Rather Khomeini issued a single fatwa on Salman Rushdie himself and only him. In his day there was none of this “Oh Look! Someone wrinkled their nose at the sight of a Quran! Kill everyone remotely even associated with him!” shit.

In Summation

HEY ISLAM! GET A LOAD OF THESE PHOTOS OF YOUR STINKING PROPHET MUHAMMAD!

I’m awaiting your fatwa and your Muslim Mob Morons at your convenience. I suggest they bring their own burial shrouds and body bags otherwise I have access to this handy PIG FARM next to an Islamic compound for the disposal of their bodies in between the pig races which I PROMISE will be conducted over their mass grave.

OK now that I have the expected Curmudgeonly Indignant Outrage thing out of the way we can get down to the business of talking about what to do about this type of thing and keeping it from happening again.

Cease allowing mob attack on Americans in the Middle East or by Islamics to be an unpunished crime.

We have a host of options ranging from serious diplomatic ones:

with holding foreign aid funds,

with holding humanitarian aid,

refusing to allow entry into the US of citizens of the country where Americans die,

Immediate exportation of those who are in the country on visas, regardless of the reason

confiscating any assets of the responsible country in US banks, deducting the costs of damages incurred to our consulate and turn the rest over to a charity fund for the surviving families of those Americans killed in these incessant Someone Offended Islam We Must Kill an American Protest Mob attacks.

We have another $4.6 Billion dollars in aid set to go to Libya it should be canceled. Why?

 That’s why!

Middle Eastern Countries with Consulates within the US should be put on notice that in the event of attacks on Americans abroad by al Qaeda or Clerically incited mobs that we cannot and will not protect and vouch for the safety of their Diplomats and people in the US.

The government could turn a blind eye to someone like say, Terry Jones decided to burn a Libyan &/or Egyptian Ambassador while crucified over a pile of Korans set ablaze with several gallons of pork fat until it was regrettably too late for the diplomats. THAT ought to get our people better more serious protection and treatment of potential threats by their host governments

They want us to live and die by their Quran in our country, fine tit for tat- we expect them to live and die by our Biblical Old Testament which says in part “an eye for an eye” seems only fair and reasonable. How much you want to bet that their Leader will be FAR more upset, angry and protesting than ours was?

Excessive? Over the top? Lowering ourselves to their level. Meh! I see it as speaking their language. Infidels have no honor, deserve no respect and no mercy in Islam They COUNT on us not playing by these rules and exploit them to their advantage and gain. You think for ONE SECOND that the al Qaeda terrorists that used heavy weapons on the Consulate under the cover and protection of that mob didn’t count on the Libyan Security forces and our Consulate Marines not opening fire on that mob? IF you don’t you’re an idiot and naive in the extreme. You show a bully that you are willing to bully them back and suddenly they will lose interest. The people in those mobs start dying for attacking Americans you’re going to see a LOT more peaceful demonstrations and at a much more respectful distance from our Consulates and Embassies.

Now lets talk about non Diplomatic options for response.

I have already clearly shown my support for the “gun boat diplomacy option”. However its not enough that Obama had 2 US warships steam in that direction. Saber rattling is only effective if you actually draw the saber and cut someone with it thereby demonstrating your willingness and resolve to use the saber. Our saber has been too long in its sheath just rattling. Nobody believes we have the resolve to use it anymore, especially not Obama. The terrorist and camel loving despots are counting on Americans being tired of war after Iraq and Afghanistan. Our failure to retaliate in any manner as simply strengthened this view point among them.

Islam has fatwas. I was shocked to learn you do not have to be an Ayatollah  Imam or Cleric to issue one. ALL you have to be is a scholar of the Quran and be able to cite Surahs of precedent for your fatwa for it to be valid. Al Qaeda and these radical clerics use them as justification in waging this war of Islamic terror and conquest against the US. Fine we have something called Presidential Finding of National Security. Armed with such a finding that for example al Qaeda–linked jihadist Ahmed Ashoush who issued the fatwa calling for bloodshed of Americans over this YouTube video represents a “clear and present danger to the safety and security of Americans abroad and particularly our Diplomats and other high profile government people.  Armed with this finding the US military can legally go hunting for this Terrorist Tango and terminate his ass. How many loud mouths you think are going to open them  to call for American deaths over preceded slights against Islam when they realize that doing so is in effect getting them a US fatwa equivalent?

Terrorists and Islamic extremists operate from an attitude of “if you refuse to accede to my wishes and point of view you must suffer my wraith and pain”. They count on our American values with regard to freedom of religion and respecting religious edifices (a recent development since encountering Mosques, go see how many religious sites were destroyed in WWI, WWII, Korea and Viet Nam) and use that against us. Terrorist will attempt to run and hide in the nearest Mosque when chased, they cache weapons and explosives in them, they snipe, ambush and fight from them knowing we will not attack them.

Its HIGH TIME we fixed this. Place the governments Middle East on notice Mosques are no longer on the forbidden targets list. Shit these people are going to riot against us anyway regardless. They might as well be rioting for legitimate transgressions. Its not like they afford our religious buildings the same courtesy. You’re preaching hatred and harm to Americans from a Mosque count on dying in it Mr. Imam. You’re allowing terrorist to shelter in your Mosque and attack us from it? See how well you can aid and abet terrorism from the smoking smoldering ruins of your post cruise missile hit Mosque.

Weapons carried by the Marines on Embassy protection details are largely small arms side arms rifles a few shotgun. In such potentially hostile regions we need to beef up those arms and seriously reassess the rules of engagement for employing them. I have to tell you, side arm and M-4 versus RPG and Mortar is not even close to a fair fight for our guys. I’m willing to bet that if a pair of HUMVEES with a 50 cal and an M-240 40 MM grenade launcher atop them had been available and employed by those Marines as soon as the compound looked like it was going to be over run the Ambassador and those 3 others would probably still be alive and they guys with the RPGs and mortar would be dead in their places.

Finally counting in the security forces of the host country in places like the Middle East given the two faced tactics with regard to the war on terror they are ALL so famous for (think bin Laden’s compound being down the road form an Afghani military complex for over a year and they “never noticed”) is just plain asinine and ludicrous.

If we make the cost of this behavior high enough ONE TIME I guarantee you just like in 1986 people are not going to want to be a part of something that is going to potentially get them killed when some other idiot in the mob crosses the line and commits the first violent act. We’ve done the high road thing, we’re turned the other cheek so many times and done the bigger thing we’re a nation of bruised swollen faces. I personally try to remember to turn the other cheek as often as I can, but TRUST ME if you slap me on that cheek too I WILL retaliate and when I am done you will NEVER EVER even THINK about slapping me again!

The bottom line is that Americans are no longer safe abroad, especially from Islamic terrorists because we have been too nice, too enlightened and too damned respectful of other cultures to the detriment of our own. NOBODY fears our wraith and retribution let alone gives it a second thought over harming US citizen or government representatives. We will never be safe abroad in the world again until they DO fear us and the consequences of their actions are simply too highly priced to even contemplate. Appeasement and apologies are not the means required to reach this goal. Personally I suggest lead weighting a pipe, painting it to APPEAR a stick and poisoning the damned carrot if we have to use the ‘stick’ first to get their attention. We do that once or twice and these people will either find grounds to reach accommodations or graves but either way Americans will be safe abroad once again.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go check my Inbox for a fatwa I’m expecting and load a few more magazines for the unwelcome company I’m hoping for..

 

 

 Well Impish made it home again from playing soldier and apparently gets to take the weekend off beside after being out of the office all week. Guess what he brought me, his buddy, his pal his partner, his ‘go to guy’! It’s a trick question cause as usual I got zip, zilch, nada, neyt, bupkis. Dragon goes to what is arguably the cheese capitol of the US while I sit here cover for him forgetting to comment on September 11th while, keeping things rolling along smoothly and I don’t even get a lousy single slice of Wisconsin artisan cheese to taste!

SIGH!

It’s ok though, I scored Community Coffee, a brand Impish tried and loved while he was in the DFW area last Year for the ridiculously low price of 2/$8 (I’m drinking it straight uncut now as I write this). Community Coffee has become a key component in my reworked proprietary personal coffee blend now that I have an extremely hard time getting two other key components.

ANYWAY- I didn’t send Impish any or even let him know there was a sale on it and by the time he’s reading this the sale is over. I got no Wisconsin cheese and he gets no Community Coffee…seems fair(er) from where I’m sitting though I doubt (hopefully not anyway) Impish is going to see it like that.

Mean time, I find my cup of from a freshly opened bag a mere minute before brewing Community Coffee With Bailey’s Creamer nearly empty. I should have just about enough to get me back to the vacuum carafe for another fresh piping hot cup. You guys get started without me and I’ll catch up once my cup is full.

[Please note: No buses were in operation within a 2 mile radius and Impish was safely upon the sidewalk when these comments were made and approved by him as not throwing him under said preverbal bus]

 

I’d like to take a minute to point out that the opening line above with which I start each issue is a Quotation in Honor of Todd Morgan Beamer, who was a passenger aboard United Airlines Flight 93 which was hijacked as part of the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Todd Beamer, a passenger on the hijacked United Airlines Flight 93, tried to place a credit card call through a phone located on the back of a plane seat but was routed to a customer-service representative instead, who passed him on to supervisor Lisa Jefferson. Beamer reported that one passenger was killed and, later, that a flight attendant had told him the pilot and co-pilot had been forced from the cockpit and may have been wounded. He was also on the phone when the plane made its turn in a southeasterly direction, a move that had him briefly panicking. Later, he told the operator that some of the plane’s passengers were planning to attack the hijackers and take control of the aircraft. According to Jefferson, Beamer’s last audible words were “Are you guys ready? Let’s roll.”[1] It is widely speculated that Beamer was referring to the passengers using a food cart to try to break the cockpit door open and overpower the hijackers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Beamer

Without this now-famous call to battle, 9/11 would arguably have been less effective in motivating the public to get behind the war on terror. By May 2002, the Washington Post reported, Beamer’s phrase “Let’s roll” had been “Embraced and promoted by President Bush as a patriotic battle cry,” and was “now emblazoned on Air Force fighter planes, city firetrucks, school athletic jerseys, and countless T-shirts, baseball caps and souvenir buttons. It’s also commemorated in popular songs.” The London Evening Standard called Beamer’s final words “a symbol of America’s determination to fight back.”

http://shoestring911.blogspot.com/2007/10/todd-beamers-odd-phone-call-and-silent.html

Those courageous few on flight 93 are in my opinion the unsung heroes of September 11th. They refused to go quietly into that good night. They improvised, adapted, and apparently successfully overcame the terrorist at least in part. At the cost of the entire lives of Flight 92 these largely unsung heroes prevented what was presumably the final crowning attack, the target of which is still debated today but was thought to be the White House or Congress.

It is in their memories and honor that I open every issue of Leprechaun Laughs with those now immortal words.

OK I’m back now, sorry I took so long. I was sniffing the pure Community Coffee I squirreled away before blending the rest.

World’s best latte art

Professional barista Luke Shaffer serves up a latte with artistic designs in the milk foam at 21st Street Coffee and Tea in Pittsburgh’s Strip District.

 

 

 

 

(Yeah like THAT would ever happen!)

Report: New Google search feature calculates ‘degrees of Kevin Bacon’ so you don’t have to

 TIME reports: “Google has just launched a “Bacon number” search feature. Just add those magic words to a celebrity’s name (as in: “Tom Cruise Bacon number”) and get the answer (as in: “Tom Cruise’s Bacon number is 1”) and the reason (A Few Good Men). “We’re always trying to provide users with the best answer for what they’re looking for and as quickly as possible,” explains Google’s Yossi Matias, an engineering director and head of Google’s Israel Engineering Center. And sometimes what you’re looking for is a Bacon Number.”

 

VOODOO MAMA

 

That will teach him to mess with her!!

 

[Apparently Chai one of my cats is for a starter!]

Football season is upon us once again.  College or Pro & irregardless of what team(s) you rout for,  I think we can all agree that munchies make game day even better. One of the top game day munchies is wings. EVERBODY does buffalo wings, so here is a different wing recipe for you, an Asian one.

Mahogany Wings

Marinate: 6 hours
Prep: 30 minutes
Cook: 4 hours

Serves: 18

Many fragrant flavors combine to create slow-cooked wings to please any palate.

Ingredients:

6 pounds chicken wings (about 36 wings)

1 can (10 1/2 ounces) Campbell’s® Condensed Beef Broth

2 bunches green onions, chopped

1 cup soy sauce

1 cup plum sauce

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup light molasses or honey

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Directions:

Cut off the chicken wing ends and discard. Cut the chicken wings in half at the joint.

Stir the broth, onions, soy sauce, plum sauce, garlic, molasses and vinegar in a large nonmetallic bowl. Add the chicken and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

Stir 1/2 cup of the marinade and the cornstarch in a small bowl.  Add the cornstarch and chicken mixture to the cooker.

Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours* or until the chicken is cooked through.

Recipe Tips:

*Or on LOW for 7 to 8 hours.

I like a little 5 Spice Powder, Curry Powder  (heat level of your choice) or Garam Masala added either to the marinade for a more subtle hint or to the marinade & corn starch mixture for a more pronounced flavor just to kick the Asian aspect up a bit and make them say “Oh these are different!”

 

Legal Briefs

Two lawyers got together to negotiate a case. They went around and around for hours and didn’t get anywhere.

“Look,” said one to the other, “let’s be honest with each other.”

“OK, you first,” replied the other.

And that, of course, was the end of the discussion.

—

What do lawyers use for birth control?

Their personalities.

—

Why don’t you ever see lawyers at the beach?

The cats keep covering them up with sand.

—

What do you get when you cross the Godfather with a lawyer?

An offer you can’t understand.

—

Two lawyers are walking down the street and they see a beautiful woman walking towards them.

The first lawyer says, “See that woman? Boy would I love to screw her.”

The second lawyer says, “Out of what?”

—

What’s the difference between a dead skunk in the road and a dead lawyer in the road?

There are skid marks in front of the skunk.

—

Why is a broken nose a common injury among lawyers?

The really dumb ones chase parked ambulances.

New sign at Wal-Mart in Wiggins, Mississippi:

Our society is doomed!

 

Redneck Love Poem

SUSIE LEE DONE FELL IN LOVE; SHE PLANNED TO MARRY JOE.
SHE WAS SO HAPPY ‘BOUT IT ALL, SHE TOLD HER PAPPY SO.

PAPPY TOLD HER, SUSIE GAL, YOU’LL HAVE TO FIND ANOTHER.
I’D JUST AS SOON YO’ MA DON’T KNOW, BUT JOE IS YO’ HALF BROTHER.

SO SUSIE PUT ASIDE HER JOE AND PLANNED TO MARRY WILL,
BUT AFTER TELLING PAPPY THIS, HE SAID, “THERE’S TROUBLE STILL.

YOU CAN’T MARRY WILL, MY GAL, AND PLEASE DON’T TELL YOU’ MOTHER,
BUT WILL AND JOE, AND SEVERAL MO’ I KNOW IS YO’ HALF BROTHER.

BUT MAMA KNEW AND SAID, MY CHILD, JUST DO WHAT MAKES YO’ HAPPY.
MARRY WILL OR MARRY JOE. YOU AIN’T NO KIN TO PAPPY.

 

How to Search Like a Pro

The internet is big, really, really big.  And it keeps growing bigger every day.  If you want to search it effectively you’re going to need to develop a couple of tricks to help you narrow the search.  Here’s a few real easy ones to integrate into your next search:

Using +, – and “ “ (quotes)
to narrow your searches:

Lets say you were looking up apples on Google.com.  If you just type in “apples” you get 22 million returns.  A few more sites than you can check in an afternoon so lets narrow the search down.  Let’s say that what you’re really interested in is green apples.  To see all the apple websites that also have the word “green” on them type this:

Now you will only see those apple sites that also have the word green on them.  Unfortunately we are still getting almost 6 million returned websites: 

To narrow the search even more lets eliminate a word.  For example, some of the websites are also about Apple Computers so lets get rid of them by typing this:

That reduced about 1 million of the returns but we still have about 5 million web pages to check out.  A final way to narrow the search is to use quotes to narrow the search to an exact phrase.  For example if what we’re really interested in is granny smith apples we can add that to the search like this:

Now I will only see websites that have the words “granny smith” on them in that order spelled the way I spelled them.  Using quotes is always a great way to narrow a search and in my example I was able to go from having 22 million web pages returned from my original search for “apples” to around 220,000 by my last example.

A Testament to the Simplicity of Man

This has been “going around” for awhile, but it’s got so much truth in it I can’t resist passing it on.

When I was 25 I found a very stable girl but she was boring. She was totally predictable and never got excited about anything. Life became so dull that I decided I needed a girl with some excitement.

When I was 28 I found an exciting girl, but I couldn’t keep up with her. She rushed from one thing to another, never settling on anything. She did mad impetuous things and flirted with everyone she met. She made me miserable as often as happy. She was great fun initially and very energetic, but directionless. So I decided to find a girl with some ambition.

When I turned 31, I found a smart ambitious girl with her feet planted firmly on the ground and married her. She was so ambitious that she divorced me and took everything I owned.

I am now 54 and am looking for a girl with big boobs.

A Testament to the Simplicity of Woman

Equal time, eh?

When I was 25, I found a very stable guy but he was boring. He was totally predictable and never got excited about anything. Life became so dull that I decided I needed a guy with some excitement.

When I was 28, I found an exciting guy, but I couldn’t keep up with him. He rushed from one thing to another, never settling on anything. He did mad, impetuous things and flirted with everyone he met. He made me miserable as often as happy. He was great fun initially and very energetic, but directionless. So I decided to find a guy with some ambition.

When I turned 31, I found a smart ambitious guy with his feet planted firmly on the ground and married him. He was so ambitious that he divorced me, took everything I owned, and ran off with his young secretary.

I am now 47 and am looking for a guy with a big dick.

 

 

An old Farmer’s Words of Wisdom we could all live by.

The last quote fits everyone…

“Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.”

“Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.”

“Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.”

“A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.”

“Words that soak into your ears are whispered…….not yelled.”

“Meanness don’t just happen overnight.”

“Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads.”

“Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.”

“It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.”

“You cannot unsay a cruel word.”

“Every path has a few puddles.”

“When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.”

“The best sermons are lived, not preached.”

“Most of the stuff people worry about, ain’t never gonna happen anyway.”

“Don’t judge folks by their relatives.

“Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.”

“Live a good and honorable life, then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.

“Don’t interfere with somethin’ that ain’t bothering you none.”

“Timin’ has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.”

“If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.”

“Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

“The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin’.”

“Always drink upstream from the herd.”

“Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.”

“Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in.”

“If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.”

“Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, and leave the rest to God.”

“Don’t pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he’ll just kill you.”

And, finally…………………………………..

“Some days all you can do is smile and wait for some kind soul to come by and pull your ass out of the bind you’ve gotten yourself into”

 

 

 

This one falls someplace between a Talking Tech and a Consumer Warning but since I already Talked Tech this issue…

Are Online “Free” Trials Really Free?

 Updated 9. September 2012 – 18:34 by v.laurie  http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/are-online-free-trials-really-free.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+gizmosbest+%28Gizmo%27s+Best-ever+Freeware%29

Ever been tempted by some online service that looked interesting and offered a free trial? Unfortunately, once you try out many of these services, stopping them without ending up with a bill is often easier said than done.

Trying out a service generally requires giving a credit card number, and once the service has that, they often don’t want to let you go. Various ways are used to make it hard to cancel. In fact, it may be almost impossible to find out how to cancel. A common tactic is to require a telephone call. Signing up online is easy but cancelling may only be available after a long and tedious routine on the phone. And that is if you can figure out how to make contact. Ending up with charges for a service you don’t want is all too easy.

If you do try out an online service, be sure to use a major credit card and not a bank debit card. I don’t know the rules outside the US but American law provides considerable consumer protection for credit cards. Bank debit cards don’t offer the same consumer rights.

A recent article in PCWorld (link here) relates experiences with trials of 40 different online services. The author tells how hard it was for him to escape charges in some cases. He gives charts with the worst offenders as well as listing some services whose trials were not hard to cancel.

So before you decide to check out some promising service with a free trial, you might want to find out what the procedure for cancelling will be.

 

 

 

To be 6 again

A man was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching his wife, who was looking at herself in the mirror. Since her birthday was not far off he asked what she’d like to have for her birthday. ‘I’d like to be six again’, she replied, still looking in the mirror .

On the morning of her birthday, he arose early, made her a nice big bowl of Lucky Charms, and then took her to Six Flags theme park. What a day! He put her on every ride in the park; the Death Slide, the Wall of Fear, the Screaming Roller Coaster, everything there was. Five hours later they staggered out of the theme park. Her head was reeling and her stomach felt upside down.

He then took her to a McDonald’s where he ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a chocolate shake.

Then it was off to a movie, popcorn, a soda pop, and her favorite candy, M&M’s. What a fabulous adventure!

Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed exhausted. He leaned over his wife with a big smile and lovingly asked, ‘Well Dear, what was it like being six again?’

Her eyes slowly opened and her expression suddenly changed. ‘I meant my dress size, you damn retard!!!!’

The moral of the story: Even when a man is listening, he is gonna get it wrong.

Yeah, I’ve had those days.

 

Women in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern areas are now permitted to drive for the first time.

A Power Higher than NASA?

In honor of Neil Armstrong‘s passing & memorial service recently.

I clearly remember the early efforts of the U.S. space program and the many orbital flights where NASA learned to do things like rendezvous, dock, space walk, and the other things they needed to figure out before taking the big step of going to the moon.

During that time, my mother loved to tell a joke that I’ve never heard anyone else tell, or seen online.

It seems that after breaking Earth’s orbit, a crew of astronauts sailing into the heavens had the ultimate experience: they met God!

Well, the news of the meeting certainly caused quite a stir back home. Once they landed they were inundated by reporters — not to mention theologians — wanting an interview, so NASA decided to have a huge press conference where all would be told.

There was a hush when the first question was asked: “What is God like?”

The mission commander pondered that for a moment before answering.

“Well,” he said, “first of all, She’s Irish.”

 

I was supposed to use this for a Parting Shot Rant several weeks ago. Unfortunately I have to weigh careful what I use and when owing in part to only publishing once a week.

Sometimes it’s a pretty tough choice and a balancing act as well. Additionally occasionally because I try to have the edition up and ready not later than the Monday before publication that oft means with a fast moving or developing story by the time I get a Parting Shot written and posted its inaccurate or in need of a complete overhaul to update it.

I had originally had in mind to talk about the atrocity perpetrated by unruly Muslims in Libya this week on our Ambassador and his staff. Owing to the continuing developments there AS WELL AS being able to say what I honestly truly think and feel over the situation and the root causes possibly violating my promise not to wax political or find fault with our current President writing that piece is an order of magnitude harder than usual.

Thus I had the perfect excuse and opportunity to get this off my chest.

Around the First of September (see I was not kidding about this subject being in the queue a long time) I received an e-mail from reader Graciemj which called to my attention a new version of the Star Spangled Banner that had be done by a small I gather relatively new and unknown band because a couple of brain dead unpatriotic assholes exercised their right to free speech by putting down our National Anthem.

One did it for cheap comedic laughs because he’s not witty and cleaver enough to be a true comedian standing on his own merits, the other to create Rush Limbaugh style controversy and sensationalism hoping to there by gain ratings for his talk radio show. The comment leading up to the song by the band were as follows:

some moronic comments by double-digit IQ journalist, Bill Press:
“The Star Spangled Banner is stupid and embarrassing.”
and ‘comedian’ Daniel Tosh: “No one has The Star Spangled Banner on their iPod.”

From the Daily Caller:

http://dailycaller.com/2012/06/05/current-tvs-bill-press-star-spangled-banner-stupid-and-embarrassing/

you can see actual video of this there at the site when he says the following barn yard leavings:

This probably won’t win liberal radio talk show host Bill Press any fans on the right.

On his Tuesday radio show simultcasted on Current TV, Press admitted that he is on a crusade to “get rid” of the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” mostly because it is “un-singable.” But he also admitted that he knew he would be criticized for espousing this view.

“This is a pet-peeve of mine — no, it is more serious than that,” he said. “It’s more than a pet-peeve. It is a major crusade of mine, a major cause of mine and that is, to get rid of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’ Now I know you’re going to say I am not a true American, I’m not patriotic. I don’t think patriotism has anything to do with it. The national anthem is just absolutely monumentally un-singable. I mean — there’s so much wrong with it. I don’t know where to start.”

After giving listeners a brief history of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Press also questioned the truthfulness of its lyrics.

“It’s an abomination,” he continued. “First of all, it ranges two octaves; most people can only do, kind of, one octave. I mean when you think about it, it’s bombs bursting in air, rocket’s red glare — it all kinds of, you know a lot of national anthems are that way too, all kinds of military jargon and the land there’s only one phrase ‘the land of the free’ which is kind of nice and ‘the home of the brave?’ I don’t know.”

And then Press gave the criticism that is likely to be thought of as controversial — how it is “stupid” and how he is “embarrassed” when he hears it.

“Are we the only ones who are brave on the planet?” he said to his producer Peter Ogburn, also of FishbowlDC fame. “I mean all the brave people live here. I mean it’s just stupid, I think. I’m embarrassed — I’m embarrassed every time I hear it.”

Whom ever wrote that line about his stance ‘not winning him any fans on the right’ might have misspoke himself just a bit. I have heard from people I classify as Far Right, Right, Moderately Conservative, Centrist and even Moderately Liberal here in Texas who would all like to invite Bill Press to a Texas style BBQ in his honor. Now I do understand a pillar and some chains might be involved at the speakers podium as well as about 2 cord of mesquite and pinion wood being piled around the speaking platform but hey if there is one thing we Texans know how to do its spit roast and BBQ so no worries there Bill.

As far as your not knowing about ‘the home of the brave’ I’ll be happy to personally arrange for YOU to be deployed to Afghanistan so we can see just how freaking bloody brave you are you ‘60-Minutes-Can-Never-Be’!

Moving on to the other piece of human flotsam to slither out of the un-chlorinated shallow end of the gene pool-

Daniel Tosh making fun of The Star Spangled Banner

For those of you who are asking WTF is Daniel Tosh, well the Gen X Pinheads will tell you he’s one of the top comedians in the country as well as has a ‘hit show’ on Comedy Central. He is the same clown who made a rape joke which was SO epically tasteless as to get ALL political factions united in calling for his head and then spent 3 weeks apologizing for the joke. You’d think that would have been enough of a warning for him right there.

In actuality he stands in front of a video green screen says inane things and makes a great deal of potty related and  junior high school mentality comments about video clips that a support staff puts together. Watch him for five minutes and you can tell that without his teleprompter, a damned good support staff and that green screen he’d be nothing more than a target for rotting produce on that stage.

The pinheads will also give you the much hated by any other generation dismissive ‘whatever’ to your objections and then angrily inform you

Unfortunately, Tosh and others like him have to resort to saying something outrageous or even controversial in order to try to make a name for themselves. It’s the way of the comedy world. He may not even truly feel that way about the Nat. Anthem, but it’s his “act”.

If that is his ‘act” and he has to disrespect our history and the deep meaning behind the National Anthem as well as the memory and honor of every man and woman living or dead that has personally sacrificed for our country, for every person who has stood up when ever it was played and for all it represents to make a name for himself in the “comedy world” then from where I’m standing immediate full time consideration of another line of endeavor might be in order.

A fellow, blogger, Crabbyolfart weighed in on the subject of what passes for humor in the modern age and even though his recollections go back a bit further than mine his thoughts track the same as mine and therefore saved me a lot of typing:

This God Damned Funny Business is No Laughing Matter

It seems to me that one of the best indicators of this nation’s moral decay is the reprehensible nonsense that passes for humor nowadays.

When I was a boy, people didn’t have time for humor. We were too busy wiping the smirk off Hitler’s face to concern ourselves with mindless tittering and idle guffaws. For us, laughter was like shoe laces or smallpox vaccines – nice to have but not a luxury most of us could afford.

And when we did indulge ourselves in some mindless comic diversion we sought out decent, civilized humorists – men who told knock-knock jokes and lamented their wives outrageous spending and disappointing attempts to make pot roast. Men who peppered us with puns and poked fun at the foibles of nagging mothers-in-laws and the dangers of shady foreigners.

Our comics didn’t denigrate our country’s values – they embodied them.

These days though it seems that every flinty reprobate with a dirty mind and a misanthropic axe to grind is parading across the screen of my Magnavox clutching at his genitals, telling off-color jokes and carrying on a like raving fool on a day pass from a home for the criminally profane.

You never heard Bud Abbot calling President Roosevelt a “douchebag” or poking fun at the Lindbergh baby. You never heard Jack Benny talk about smoking amphetamines or “bumpin’ uglies” with the Andrews Sisters. Those men had class – and they understood that if they crossed a line we’d beat them senseless with a sack of righteous indignation faster than you could say Fatty Arbuckle or The First Amendment.

There are no “take my wife” jokes or innocent jabs at those rascally drink-loving Irish anymore. Every degenerate quipster these days has to crack wise about social inequality, political scandal, the female anatomy and every other issue my generation spent years suppressing, denying and working tirelessly to ignore. They’re subversive, they’re crude and they’re undoing our social fabric one HBO special at a time.

If you ask me we’re on a path to damnation – and if we don’t change our comedic stripes soon and return to the simple pleasures of double entendres, amusing pratfalls and adeptly censored one-liners it won’t be long before we get our just desserts and are spending an eternity sitting through an never-ending “open mic night” in the Lenny Bruce Lounge of the Holiday Inn in Hell.

Retuning to Daniel Tosh’s crime against comedy and the U.S.A.- I’d personally be interested in finding out exactly how many iPods/smart phones of Enlisted Personnel, their families as well as Veterans Tosh actually consulted before opening his mouth and making a jackass out of himself in the eyes of those same people. The Star Spangled Banner, America the Beautiful and roughly a dozen other “Patriotic Songs” appear on my iPod while both plus probably a good 1/2 dozen more are on my iPhone and get played upon specific occasions and as well as used for ring tones.

BILL PRESS & DANIEL TOSH: I find that you two are with out a doubt, two of the largest moronic jackasses it has ever been my displeasure to encounter in my entire lifetime. [My sincere apologies to both those who are legitimately morons and the equine jackasses for associating you with these two and thereby demeaning you undeservedly.]

Foreign people (like say berserk American killing Muslim mobs and the shit for brains towel-headed Imams that provoke them) take and twist and distort this type of thing. YOU PERSONALLY are AIDING AND ABETTING our Islamic enemies when you both talk out your asses like that- as you are apparently both wont to do on multiple occasions to further your ‘careers’.

I have a very simple suggestion for you to use a guide for what is and is not acceptable to dribble out those shitholes so prominently featured and often opened on those arses which pass for your heads in both your cases when it comes to our country our national symbols and our women:

If you would not have the balls to say it amidst a bunch of armed soldiers either deploying to or fresh back from a war zone out of fear for their possibly violent reactions then don’t say it period! It is just that bloody simple to decide if your comments are out of bounds!

Fortunately there ARE a FEW young people around who still have a sense of patriotism and pride in our country and all her national symbols. I’m specifically about the band “Madison Rising” and their very unique and quite startlingly beautiful modern rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner”

 

“The Star-Spangled Banner”, Version 2.0

August 27th, 2012 • 00:08 http://www.osaycanyousee.org/2012/08/27/the-star-spangled-banner-version-2-0/

The National Anthem Celebration Foundation teams up with patriotic rock band Madison Rising to achieve one million downloads and promotes a pro American message for the smartphone generations.  O Say Can You Download, Tweet and Share?  Be part of a million Americans in a patriotic effort to experience a new and inspiring rendition of “The Star- Spangled Banner” on your iPod, smartphone and social media outlets.

Baltimore, Maryland – July 23-24, 2012 – In an unprecedented partnership, the National Anthem Celebration Foundation, Inc, (NAC) and Pro American band Madison Rising will unite efforts to honor and celebrate the national song.  Madison Rising, an up and coming band from New York, has recorded and released their passionate, patriotic and uncompromising rendition of the patriotic song in an attempt to achieve one million views and downloads of the song by Election Day November 6, 2012.  The NAC is supportive in this effort and wants to help Madison Rising surpass that goal.

The motivation for the partnership is simple, reverse the thinking of those who are unaware about the history and continued relevance behind “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the negative comments made regarding the anthem.  “The star spangled banner is stupid and embarrassing.”, said Bill Press, a talk radio host, political commentator and author who has admitted the he is on a crusade to  “get rid” of the national anthem.  But Press is not the only dissenting voice, Comedian Daniel Tosh said, “No one has the star spangled banner on their iPod,…it blows.”  The NAC and Madison rising feel differently, and are on a mission to change that thinking.

Lead singer and former U.S. Navy corpsman Dave Bray provides insight as to why the group decided to launch their one million download campaign. “Madison Rising’s music and especially our rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” gives to people especially younger generations a new way of thinking about patriotism.  The sacrifices made by our soldiers and how it is up to us all to create a better future.  It is more than just a song, it tells a story about the defense of this Country.” explains Bray. “We are excited to be partnered with such a great organization like the National Anthem Celebration Foundation and look forward to opportunities with them to promote the anthem and increase awareness and respect for such an important part of our shared American history.”

Dan Esmond, a former Secret Service Agent and the Founder of the National Anthem Celebration Foundation, echo’s Bray’s statements:  “The national anthem pays tribute to our flag and honors those who are brave enough to defend what that flag represents.  Each time we sing it and pay respect to it we remember the sacrifices of our American soldiers past, present and future.”  The NAC and its board of directors believe that this rendition will get new generations of Americans passionate about America and “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Esmond explains, “If we don’t continue to teach and engage younger generations we will lose our history and why our traditions are important.  Esmond says his two daughters 14 and 12 now have Madison Risings rendition on their smartphones, “They love it and more importantly they are sharing it with their friends.”

The National Anthem Celebration Foundation, Inc. has been responsible for increasing public awareness of the anthem by working in cooperation with the Maryland Historical Society, the owners of the original almost 198 year old manuscript and the Maryland War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission, and continues to build alliances to “Teach the Story and Celebrate the Song” as the county approaches the 200^th anniversary of the writing of the anthem in September 2014.

Take the Madison Rising  One Million Star Spangled Banner Challenge

http://starspangledbannerchallenge.com/

Let’s show Press and Tosh – and everyone else – that we still believe in this country and our National Anthem.
Take the Challenge: Help Madison Rising reach 1 million views & downloads by Election Day (November 6th).
Watch the video NOW. If you like what you see, download the song from one of the sites below.

 Join with me, Impish and a host of your fellow American Patriots in showing these two jackasses that their heads are up their arses and that we will not abide people talking shit about our National Anthem. Listen, pass it on, download it today!

As you can see from the header, I’ve been traveling all week.  I’ve been at Volk Field, just outside of Camp Douglas, Wisconsin.  I was here to take part as an instructor for another unit’s exercise.  The following is a bit of a day-by-day synopsis of what happened.  I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed putting it together…
DAY ONE
Friday, 7 Sept 12
Driving….driving and driving and driving.
and rain…and rain and rain and…
BOOM of Thunder at the same time as the lightning strikes a tree on the other side of the road from me!  Shit!  That was close!
After 9 hours on the road, I arrive at the Tomah, WI Hampton Inn to find out that a good part of the rest of my group of inspectors are stuck in Dallas Texas because their flight to Madison, Wisconsin had mechanical difficulties and the flight was canceled.  I did find a note at the front counter that said that all Exercise Evaluation Team (EET) members should be at the first meeting, on base at 0700 hrs on Saturday.  So, I climbed into the rack and called it a day.  Figures, crappy bed to sleep in.
DAY TWO
Saturday, 8 Sept 12
My GAWD! It’s too damn early to be out in the real world.  Spent the day today going over the plan and what we would be doing over the next couple of days.  See, usually these types of exercises have about 12 people in the Emergency Management Field.  (What I do).  Six for each 12 hour shift.  We have 3.  Total.
But hey! We can do this!  It’ll be fun.
Yeah, right.
Spent the day in planning, talking to the EM chief from the group that is doing the exercise and … wonder of wonders…he’s a guy I went to Tech School with!!!  They tell us that it’s a small world and in this career field, it’s even smaller, but that was wild.  Running into Justin after 5 years.  I’m sure he’s going to do a great job!
DAY THREE
Sunday, 9 Sept 12
Got woke up at oh dark hundred by the phone.  Mrs. Dragon couldn’t sleep either.  No, I’m not going to relate the phone conversation here.  Suffice it to say that it was PG-13 in nature and appropriate between a husband and wife who are quite happily and contentedly in love.  Long day today spent planning, planning, planning.  The war starts tomorrow, I’m sure I’ll have more for  you then.
DAY FOUR
Monday, 10 Sept 12
The War Begins…
DAY FIVE
Tuesday, 11 Sept 12
First time I’ve been back to the hotel since we got started.  What the heck does sleep feel like?
DAY SIX?  SEVEN?
I don’t know.  My part of the war is over.  It’s been great fun, but I know I haven’t given you guys much entertainment.  I’ll do my best to fill in some of the blanks…with a couple of pictures to show you some of the things we’ve been doing…
Playing war and sliming folks with nasty chemicals!  God, I love my job!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, I bought a new bus for Lethal.  He seems to be overly concerned about having enough of a bus to run me over with or throw me in front of, that I thought I’d do him a favor.  Actually, this is a bus that my work buddy had.  It was a real, honest to goodness yellow school bus that he was going to use as a church bus.  Well, that ended up being a bust so he sold it and the guy who bought it turned it into a … well … I’m not really sure WHAT this is, but it definitely unusual…

Keeping your mind sharp…
You want to keep Alzheimer’s away?  You want to keep your self mentally strong through out your life?  Then, like any other muscle in your body, you have to exercise your brain to keep it strong and healthy.  Brain Candy is one important way to do just that!

See if you can figure out what these seven words all have in common?

1.. Banana
2. Dresser
3. Grammar
4. Potato
5. Revive
6. Uneven
7. Assess

Give it another try….
Look at each word carefully. You’ll kick yourself when you discover the
answer. This is so cool…..

NOW DON’T LET ME DOWN

No, it is not that they all have at least 2 double letters…. 

Answer is below!

In all of the words listed, if you take the first letter, place it at the end of the word, and then spell the word backwards, it will be the same word. Did you figure it out? No? Then send this to more people and stump them as well. Then, you’ll feel better too….. 

While we were in Wisconsin, I got this great picture of a wood dragon that was stomping around the back woods of Tomah, WI.  He was captured, immobilized and put on a cart so we could transport him.  A really great specimen of a wood dragon.  Might even be one of my relatives.

From our dear friend K².  He has this to say about it…

Just remember…you need to go to our website to view this masterpiece of humor.   Click here: http://dragonlaffs.com
Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

---

Obama To Soldiers Overseas: No Voting For You!
From the Investors.com website, which is run by “Investors Business Daily”

Military: The administration thanks the troops for their service by failing to comply with a law requiring that it help soldiers deployed overseas cast ballots in their home states.

The administration has taken various states to court to block voter ID laws on the grounds it will disenfranchise voters. But it has no qualms about the disenfranchisement of military voters overseas through its failure to comply with and enforce the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act, passed by Congress in 2009 and signed into law by President Barack Obama.

The law acknowledges the difficulties caused by time and distance for deployed soldiers in exercising the right to vote they put their lives on the line to protect. One of the key provisions required each military branch to create an installation voting assistance office (IVAO) for every military base outside an immediate combat zone.

Last week, however, the Pentagon’s inspector general reported that attempts to locate and contact IVAO offices at overseas military installations failed about half the time.

“Results were clear. Our attempts to contact IVAOs failed about 50% of the time,” the inspector general reported. “We concluded the Services had not established all the IVAOs as intended by the MOVE Act because, among other issues, the funding was not available.”

The estimated cost of establishing functioning IVAOs at all overseas military bases not in combat zones is estimated at between $15 million and $20 million a year. We wasted $530 million on Solyndra but can’t afford a relative pittance to ensure our soldiers are not disenfranchised.

An administration that constantly talks about voter disenfranchisement appears unconcerned that a study by the nonpartisan Military Voters Protection Project found that in 2008 less than 20% of 2.5 million military voters successfully voted by absentee ballot. In 2010, that participation shrank to a scandalous 5%. We need to encourage military voting and make it easier.

Is there a method in the administration’s madness, a reason it doesn’t want to make it easier for soldiers to vote? It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the fact that John McCain won 54% of the military vote in 2008 or that a May 2012 Gallup poll showed Mitt Romney pulling 58% to President Obama’s paltry 34%.

The law also requires that states mail absentee ballots to their servicemen 45 days before an election so there’s enough time to return and count them. The Department of Justice can file suit to ensure compliance but in 2010 was content to grant failing states waivers. As a result, about one-third of overseas troops who wanted to vote in 2010 couldn’t, according to testimony at a House committee hearing in February.

So, not only are we allowing dead people to vote, but now we’re keeping G.I.s from voting?  Because we don’t like the way they are going to vote?  This is such bull-shit on so many different levels!  People, how long are going to let this crap go on?
How long are we going to let a few people do whatever the hell they want to do?
This is not the United States of Liberalism!
Or the Obama Nation!
Every single one of us needs to get our asses out there and

Brought to you by our good friends at makeuseof.com.  If you don’t belong to their newsletter….why not?
7 Important Email Security Tips You Should Know About

• September 14, 2012
• By Joel Lee

Internet security is a topic that we all know to be important, but it often sits way back in the recesses of our minds, fooling ourselves into believing that “it won’t happen to me”. Whether it’s the destructive force of the newest virus or just the hacking attempts of a newbie scriptkiddy, we’re always only one click away from dealing with a security mess that we’d rather not confront. Nowhere is this truer than in our emails.

Mat Honan wrote a fascinating article over at Wired about Internet security and about how he became a victim of various online security flaws. In it, he wrote,“[The] security lapses are my fault, and I deeply, deeply regret them”. He hits home on a very serious truth: in most of the cases where we face hiccups in security, we can trace the issue back to our own ignorance and negligence.

Safe online practices are important to keeping your online identity unadulterated and free from viruses, hackers, and all sorts of Internet-based shenanigans. And the best place to start? Your inbox.

Here are some simple yet important security tips you should know in order to keep your email account as secure as possible.

1. Use Separate Email Accounts

If you’re like most people, your email account is probably the centralized hub of your personal activity. All of your Facebook notifications, website registrations, newsletters, messages, etc. get sent to your email box, right? That means you’re putting all of your eggs in one basket – if that basket happens to fall, you’ll lose all your eggs with it.

In other words, if you bring all of your activity into a single email account, what happens when someone breaks into it? I’d say it’s plausible that they would gain access to everything else. This is why you should use multiple email accounts.

Having separate email accounts will not only help boost your security, but also your productivity. Imagine if you could consolidate all of your work emails into a single work account; all of your friends and family communicate with your personal account; you have a recreational account for various websites; and a throwaway account for potential spam links. This way, if someone hacks your work account, all of your personal emails are still safe.

2. Create A Unique Password

Going along with the multiple account idea, you should also have an entirely unique password for each of your email accounts. Even if you decide to keep one “master” email account, make sure that its password is 100% unique.

Using one password for all of your accounts is a rookie-level mistake. Suppose someone didhack into your personal email and they see all of your incoming Facebook notifications, eBay reminders, and more. Any half-wit hacker will test those accounts with the same password as your email account–and in your case, they would succeed.

This is common advice, I know, but so many people still neglect it. Admittedly, for the longest time, I too used the same password for literally every account that I had. When one of my friends figured out my password (without messing with anything, thankfully), I knew it was time to wise up.

3. Beware Of Phishing Scams

When dealing with a particular company or product that requires account information, have you ever seen the following message: “Never give away your personal information. We willneverask you for your password.” When someone sends you an email asking you for your personal information, you know right away that it’s a trick.

But there’s another level to this scam and it’s called “phishing.” Basically, malicious users will imitate and impersonate high-profile websites (e.g., eBay, Amazon, Facebook, etc.) and say that they’re experiencing trouble with your account; all you have to do to fix it is to send them your username and password to verify your authenticity. Sometimes they’ll even link you to a false website that looks exactlylike the real thing.

Be wary. In fact, whenever your personal information is ever brought up in a non-face-to-face capacity, your scam detector should go off loud and clear.

4. Never Click Links In Emails

Phishing brings me to my next point. Whenever you see a link in an email, 99% of the time you should notclick on it. The only exceptions are when you’re expecting a particular email, such as a forum registration link or game account activation email. Things like that.

If you receive a spam email that tries to sell you a particular service or product, never click onanyof the links inside. You never know where they’ll lead you. Sometimes they might be safe; other times they’ll bring you straight to the doors of hell and swarm you with malware and viruses.

If you get an email from your bank or any other service (e.g., bill payments), always visit the website manually. No copy and paste. No direct clicking. You’ll thank yourself later.

5. Do Not Open Unsolicited Attachments

Attachments are a tricky thing when it comes to email. If you’re expecting something from a buddy or an uncle, then sure, go ahead and open the attachment. Have a laugh at the funny photo they sent you. It’s all good when you knowthe person sending the attachment.

But if the email is unsolicited, never open any attachments. Even if the file looks innocent, you could be in for a world of hurt. Filenames can be spoofed. JPEGs could be EXEs in disguise and those EXEs will run as soon as they’re downloaded. And then you’ll have a virus on your hands.

6. Scan For Viruses & Malware

If you open an email and it seems suspicious in any way, go ahead and run a malware and virus scanner. Not every spam email will infect you with a virus and it may seem like overkill to run a malware scanner every time you open a fishy email, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. The one time that you decide to let it go could be the time your computer loads a keylogger.

7. Avoid Public Wi-Fi

And lastly, avoid checking your email when you’re on public Internet. Yes, I know that when you’re waiting for an airplane to reach your gate, it can be tempting to whip out your smartphone or laptop and check for new messages. Unfortunately, public Wi-Fi can be extremely insecure.

There are programs out there called “network sniffers” that run passively in the background of some hacker’s device. The sniffer monitors all of the wireless data flowing through a particular network – and that data can be analyzed for important information. Like your username and password.

It’s strange that as the years go by, security grows tighter in some ways and we remain just as vulnerable as we’ve always been in other ways. Email security comes down to common sense and careful decisions. Don’t let laziness and convenience overshadow your desire for protection and peace.

Image Credits: Email Key Via Shutterstock, Password Via Shutterstock, Phishing Via Shutterstock, Internet Scam Via Shutterstock

Wow, you need to REALLY be careful what you tweet!  While this is ludicrious as hell, it’s also scary!  What do you think?

The FBI spent one billion dollars on a new facial recognition system that can identify U.S. citizens on security video in public places. It breeds a distrust of government. This is why every Barack Obama joke begins the exact same way, by looking over your shoulder.

 

 

Mitt Romney adjusted his promise to repeal ObamaCare. Instead of total repeal he’s agreed to keep its most popular parts. If Mitt Romney changes positions one more time, he’s going to have his own chapter in the next edition of the Kama Sutra.

Hi folks, no Last Word this week.  Frankly, I just didn’t have the time.  I’m very sorry for that, but I hope the funnies made up for it.  If not, well, there ought to be another last word next week.

Have a great weekend my friends.

Yup you know it, while the Dragon is away playing “American’s and Terrorists” the poor old Leprechaun is here toiling away as usual.

To be honest I wouldn’t necessarily mind his being out of the office so damned much but he travels to all these places, gets to eat regional cuisines and sample the regionally known fare, incessantly brags about it to me, expects me to post his pictures and comments about it and he doesn’t send or bring me back a single lousy damned crumb! Not ever! Sniff!

 

There’s something transcendent about a good cup of coffee. It’s perfect for busy mornings, quiet afternoons, and cool evenings. Coffee is one of life’s simple pleasures.

But it’s not that simple is it? There are thousands of combinations of beans, grinds, roasts and brews. You can percolate it, press it, filter it, decaffeinate it, add milk, add flavor, chill it and more. It can be baffling!

Wouldn’t it be great if you had a coffee expert to help you out? Coffee Cup News has you covered.

Its tip section has all the information you need to make the perfect cup, or just expand your knowledge of the coffee world.

There are daily updated videos that review blends and teach you techniques for latte art, maintenance and more.

http://coffeecupnews.org/category/tips/

 

Star Trek: The Original Series 46th Anniversary marked by Google doodle

KS Sandhya Iyer, September 07, 2012

The 46th Anniversary of Star Trek: The Original Series is honored by an interactive Google doodle featuring characters from the iconic science fiction series.
Each of Google’s letters is marked by a Star crew member with a storyline weaved into the doodle taking cues from the episode and the show. The letter ‘G’ in the Google logo is Spock, one if the most memorable character from the series. The first ‘O’ represents the character of Nyota Uhura and the second ‘O’ features Captain James T Kirk, the commanding officer of the USS Enterprise. The letter ‘L’ resembles Hikaru Sulu.
Googlers will have to make their way throughout the doodle to uncover the story. The doodle begins in the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. Clicking on the red door helps ‘O’ and ‘E’ go out to the transporter room. Clicking the main console in the room beams them to an unfriendly planet where they are challenged by an alien.
Users can click on the nearby tree to attack the alien and another object towards the top to completely defeat the extra terrestrial. On defeating the enemy they return to the Enterprise. The doodle ends with the USS starship Enterprise moving past the screen in space and the word Google appearing in yellow, written in pure Star Trek style. The iconic instrumental theme from Star Trek by Alexander Courage plays in the background.
Star Trek: The Original Series is the second television program to be featured in a doodle. September 30, 2010 marked the first doodle from Google to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the popular animated series, The Flintstones.
Do you wish to head to Space: the final frontier? Hop on the starship Enterprise and fulfill ts five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before?

 

 

SPEAKING of diapers…

Social Security combats bullet rumors

Geeze you guys are keeping me busy with exposing the farcical bullshit you insist in burying my Inbox with. I have been tactfully ignoring the following e-mail from several of you Gullible Gus types but you keep insisting on sending to to me 3, 4 & 5 times. Then you give me a load of bovine excrement about how “you are just forwarding on what you got.”

Let me say this plainly and bluntly-

THATS PURE HORSE SHIT AND YOU DAMNED WELL KNOW IT!

Seriously, sometimes I’m as embarrassed for some of you as I am BY you! When you pull that crap you doing exactly what the author of the disinformation wants- spreading innuendo and rumor instead of taking the high road and discarding this steaming pasture pile in the trash if you think it smells or HEAVEN FORBID actually using the internet CONSTRUCTIVELY to do a little research work on the thing, you’ll just “spam it forward” and then try to avoid responsibility for your actions.

OH YEAH! ONE more thing before I debunk this next pile of bunk- Don’t hand me that crap about ‘I was forwarding it for your use’ when you send it to me, Impish or the DragonLaffs owners e-mail sans any comment by you, that turd just don’t fly here.

Now the offending e-mail:

The subject line reads:

MUST READ! Social Security Administration To Purchase 174 Thousand Rounds Of Hollow Point Bullets

Catchy, attention grabbing, eye holding, makes you wonder why and want to learn more. Unfortunately its about the ONLY well done and truthful bit of journalism in this entire incredibly craptacular affair. It then continues:

Social Security Administration To Purchase 174 Thousand Rounds Of Hollow Point Bullets.

I guess they are hunting for something big and hard to take down.

http://www.infowars.com/social-security-administration-to-purchase-174-thousand-rounds-of-hollow-point-bullets/

You can go ahead and read the entire piece of carefully crafted propaganda if you wish. Its a nice example of not only Propaganda but Psychological Warfare as well. For those of you that are not inclined to read it the gist of the piece can be found in the opening paragraphs:

Preparing for civil unrest? Ammunition to be delivered to 41 locations across U.S.

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Wednesday, August 15, 2012

UPDATE: DHS Now Covering Up Ammo Purchases?

First it was the Department of Homeland Security, then it was the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and now the Social Security Administration is set to purchase 174,000 rounds of hollow point bullets that will be delivered to 41 locations across the country.

A solicitation posted by the SSA on the FedBizOpps website asks for contractors to supply 174,000 rounds of “.357 Sig 125 grain bonded jacketed hollow point pistol ammunition.”

An online ammunition retailer describes the bullets as suitable “for peak performance rivaling and sometimes surpassing handloads in many guns,” noting that the ammo is “a great personal defense bullet.”

The synopsis to the solicitation adds that the ammunition is to be shipped to 41 locations within 60 days of purchase. A separate spreadsheet lists those locations, which include the Social Security headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland as well as major cities across the country including Los Angeles, Detroit, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Denver, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Seattle.

Hollow point bullets are designed to expand as they enter the body, causing maximum damage by tearing apart internal organs

It goes on to inquire why the SSA would ever need 174,00 rounds of ammo and makes all sorts of lunatic fringe assumptions and charges. While I’ll admit I WAS wondering at the particular number (why 174,000 as opposed 175,000 which would have been a number that made far more sense to me) I already knew what the purpose of the ammo was and could not believe the lengths these right wing fringe conspiracy nuts will go to to make people scared of the present administration!

They try to make their point seem logical valid and the ONLY possible explanation by then pointing out part of the reason cited from the ammo is Target practice, this right after they jump all over a clerical error by NOAA had their 46,000 rounds being sent to the National Weather Service instead of the Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement. They question why Hollow Points (refer to the last quoted line above regarding hollow point ammo) was needed to shoot at paper targets insinuating that this is somehow a lie and cover up for a hidden agenda.- [probably somehow tied into those evil Executive Orders which didn’t come from Obama we talked about 2 weeks ago]

The answers to these questions are fairly obvious to anyone with half a brain, a little gun knowledge of in possession of a computer and about a half hour’s spare time. However before I explain those finer points lets let the SSA stand up for itself since it has had to waste your and my tax dollars responding to and defending itself against this frivolous bullshit.

Social Security combats bullet rumors

By Lateef Mungin and Michael Pearson, CNN updated 5:41 AM EDT, Wed September 5, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Some question the Social Security Administration’s recent bid request for 174,000 hollow-point bullets
• Bloggers say the agency’s police force is preparing for financial collapse and civil unrest
• The agency characterizes the order as routine and says special agents need them
• “These investigators have full law enforcement authority,” the agency says

OK that SHOULD be enough of an explanation right there, but we’ll continue largely because if I don’t some idiot will be in the comments with a “but..why…” or a “what if it IS true?” and I’ll never stop smelling this digital diarrhea.

(CNN) — Praise the Internet and pass the ammunition: the blogosphere is roiling with conspiracy theories over a Social Security Administration shopping list for 174,000 hollow-point bullets.

Depending on whom you believe, police who protect Social Security Administration officers are either preparing for impending financial doom by purchasing lethal ammo to put down rioting citizens, or they’re just making a standard purchase of ammunition for a federal police agency.

It all began last month when the agency, which is primarily responsible for distributing benefits to the disabled and retired people, posted an announcement seeking bids for 174,000 hollow-point bullets.

Why? cried some bloggers.

Infowars, a website operated by right-wing talk show host Alex Jones, wanted to know if the agency was preparing for “civil unrest.”

Let me pause right there for a moment and make sure your attention is called to the journalistic credentials of the person starting these farcical turd passing on, he’s a right wing talk how host. This nut has fallen from the same tree as Rush Limbaugh who said in an interview that he DELIBERATELY misstates and reaches as far right as he can with his opinions and positions to deliberately cause hype and controversy because that translates into ratings and rating means money in his pocket. Alex Jones’ InfoWars website decries “because there is a war on your mind” and he’s 100% right. After all he ought to know, because he’s obviously blatantly involved in waging it!

THIS is the source of NEWS that you people are all flying into a tizzy over ?! SERIOUSLY? Did you Rubes all just fall of the trump wagon or something? Has the definition of news & hard facts suddenly changed while I was not looking? Is it REALLY any wonder that I am ashamed for and of some of you for passing this kind of crap on?

Let’s continue now to allow the SSA to defend itself but to my mind it is already well off the hook, will skip the reiteration of the baseless accusations of government conspiracy, you can read those later if you wish. I’ll not have them sullying this blog anymore than necessary. Bad enough it is already going to require a good steam cleaning after this post.

In the face of the furor, the Social Security Administration’s public affairs shop — which spends most of its time issuing releases about speeding disability decisions or looking up benefits information — issued a statement explaining that its 295 agents need the bullets for target practice and to protect the agency’s 66 offices across the nation.

“These investigators have full law enforcement authority, including executing search warrants and making arrests,” the agency said in an August post. “Our investigators are similar to your state or local police officers. They use traditional investigative techniques, and they are armed when on official duty.”

Hollow point bullets are standard-issue items for many police agencies, the Social Security Administration said. The bullets expand when they hit a target and can help prevent injuries to bystanders from bullets passing through a body, according to police.

Investigators “use this ammunition during their mandatory quarterly firearms qualifications and other training sessions, to ensure agent and public safety,” the administration added.

This is just the latest in a long history of uniquely American anti-government conspiracy theories, said Kathryn Olmsted, a University of California at Davis history professor and author of “Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories in American Democracy.”

That another one would surface in the midst of a contentious election cycle and continued unease over the nation’s financial future is not all that surprising, Olmsted said Tuesday.

But this one, she said, seems particularly tenuous.

“It strikes me as one of the more extreme conspiracy theories,” Olmsted said. “I’m surprised it has any traction.”

Yet it does.

“You don’t use hollow point bullets for target practice,” one Twitter user posted Tuesday. “Sorry we’re not buying it social security agency. #youarefullofit.”

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/04/us/social-security-bullets/index.html?iref=obinsite

I’ve always maintained that Twitter was aptly named because it was used by and full of twits. The above quote from a ignorant (who should consider adopting that hash tag as his Twitter name) Twitter user just goes to prove my point. I’ve highlighted 3 portions above. The first makes the reason they need so many bullets clear. If you do a little math 174,000 rounds divided by 295 agents comes to less than 600 rounds per agent for an entire year’s worth of target practice, quarterly qualifying with their weapon and to carry while on duty. Shooting is a perishable skill- you have to constantly practice it to hit what you aim at. If you hit or target at the range 100% of the time under pressure under fire you are probably lucky if 25% of your rounds find the mark. If an agent goes through ONLY 100 rounds a month at the range…less than 2 full clips a week by the end of the year he’ll have expanded DOUBLE his ammo allotment and that’s NOT even counting their quarterly qualifications with it!

Suddenly 174,000 rounds doesn’t seem so excessive now DOES it?

I can tell you that when I carried in the military I went weekly to the range. On the average I went through 250 rounds of ammo for my side arm and another 250 for my rifle. When qualifications came up that number doubled as did my number of times a week at the range the week before. That’s a grand total of 13100 round of ammo for EACH weapon a year and I was not even on the street investigating or enforcing laws! These poor guys get a lousy 600 round a year and some right wing whack job out to create mass hysteria for his personal agenda and ratings is going make a federal case of it?

Now I said before I’d mention the reasons that were obvious to me. One is highlighted above, the reason the SSA agents need hollow points which this inciter of idiocy raves about being so brutal to the human body is because that same expanding property that makes such devastating wounds does three other things he conveniently doesn’t bother mentioning.

1. It tends to remain INSIDE the body or wall it hits and not cause collateral damage to bystanders.
2. They are safer to use on the range for the same reason they expend most of their energy in deforming and flattening and there for are significantly less prone to dangerous ricochets.
3. Because they DO make such devastating horrific wounds the likelihood of an agent being harmed by someone he was forced to shoot drops DRASTICALLY.

NOW if those 3 things were not enough, ANYONE who has to carry a weapon for a living and who’s life may well depend upon that weapon will tell you that practice shooting anything other that the ammo you intend on carrying is pretty much pointless. Different ammo has different characteristics, bullet weight, speed, bullet trajectory, effective range, muzzle flash, kick back in the weapon ALL are different with each different brand of ammo. THAT is why you practice with what you carry, because it increases you confidence and knowledge of your weapons capabilities.

Oh yeah one last point before I go get this e-mail scraped off my boots and my lap top steam cleaned- the thing with NOAA shipping their 46,000 rounds to the National Weather Service instead of the Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement? Some times a clerical error is just a clerical error. Mistakes like shit happen.

Just like with last weeks piece regarding the Executive Orders, if we are going to level charges, make election choices or live in fear of our Governments secret army, lets do it for the right reasons folks! As I have said many times if its not truth and fact it don’t get play here. I’m confused then why you would ever think it would get any play then in my Inbox.

With Great Disgust, I Declare This MYTH A BUST!

  See?! What did I tell you? Bird Brains Tweet!

 

9/11 Anniversary 2012: Memorial Foundation Says No Politicians To Speak At This Year’s Event

Yes I KNOW its September 12th. However, Impish didn’t address this in his issue Saturday and I refuse to betray the memory of my friends who lost their lives. Semper Fi to the Fallen! NEVER let them be forgotten!

NEW YORK — Politicians will be excluded from speaking at this year’s Sept. 11 anniversary ceremony at ground zero, following a year in which families have expressed concern that political struggles are hindering progress on a 9/11 museum at the World Trade Center site.

The foundation that controls the 9/11 memorial told family members that this year the reading of victims’ names by relatives will be “the exclusive focus of the program,” according to a letter sent to families Wednesday and shared with The Associated Press.

This year, as in other years, the observance will be broken by six moments of silence, marking the moments in which each World Trade Center tower was hit and fell, and the times of the attacks on the Pentagon and on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville, Pa.

Until now, Rudy Giuliani and George Pataki – the mayor of New York City and governor of New York at the time of the attacks – have always been called upon to speak at the ceremony, along with Bloomberg and the current governors of New York and New Jersey. President Barack Obama read a psalm at last year’s 10th anniversary ceremony, and other past speakers have included then-President George W. Bush, several U.S. senators and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Bloomberg has said he wants to keep the site out of “the political process,” while Cuomo’s office has said the museum shouldn’t be politicized, and a Christie spokesman has said no one wants to politicize the site.

Let us not forget either the First Responders who lost their lives that day.  Everyday these people call walking were any sane man would fear to tread just another day at the office.

From: Chris

Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2012 12:55 AM

To: Dragon Laffs

Subject: message for Lethal

I wanted to post a comment on your blog, but I do not have a word press or twitter account. I am even older than a dragon, I am a dinosaur, and while I have a facebook account, I only use it to track family and don’t post stuff on it. Having said that, I couldn’t leave a comment on issue 157. I had it written, but then couldn’t sign in. Here are my comments

Good issue, I have to comment on two things

As a Navy grad I was starting to take issue with your comments on the game , then you smoothed it nicely by saying they were two of your favorite teams.

On the Executive Orders e mail, I congratulate you on going out of your way to dispel the myth. I knew you wouldn’t spread that type of rumor, but going farther and proving it’s bullshit actually goes well beyond staying away from political discussions and bashing Obama. It is commendatory that you, in effect, defended him from false accusations. Nice job.

Chris

 

Thanks for the comment and kind words. As a USNA grad I sympathize with your umbrage over the ND/Navy game. I suffer it every year and for years I agonized over which team to rout for until I finally realized it was a win/win scenario regardless of what happened for me personally. OF course the up side is that they both pay Army and then in both cases it’s a no brainer.

As far as the Executive Orders thing goes, it’s going to be a LOT harder not to delve into politics for the next 8 weeks than I had anticipated due largely to the election and all the BS being thrown about particular things like the Executive Orders crapola which are just plain blatant lies without a defensible position as a valid point of view.

As I have said before we deal in truth, facts & logic. That basically I guess defines a Centrist’s position. While I will bash ANY politician for his actions or inactions I refuse (knowingly) to bash him with a bag of bullshit or worse yet for or with something that he’s not even said or done and take great pains to avoid it. That’s why some times my comments on a situation are a bit behind the event, fact checking and gathering takes a lot of time, often more so than write the Parting Shot does.

Lastly I would not worry about getting a WordPress account. They cost you nothing, they do not spam you, heck they don’t even e-mail you unless you set up blog follow notifications or won a blog.

As far as being a dinosaur, I don’t even have a Facebook or any other social networking account and never will. So if that is your sole qualification as dinosaur, you’ll have to do way better. However if you are referring in fact to your venerable age, then mayhap you knew one of my ancestors, Uggh McGee?

Depending upon which of the family legends about him you believe he invented any or all the of these- alcohol, the kilt, the first female pick up line and possibly the shillelagh.

 

 

 

Just Googling Around

The internet is big, really, really big, and if you want to use it effectively you have to be familiar with search engines.  Google.com has become the search engine of choice for millions of internet users.  There are others and if the past is any guide there will be a “better than Google” search engine some day, but for now Google seems to be the best.  Part of the reason they are the best is that they keep developing new ways of looking at the internet.  Below are a couple additional features that Google offers that you might want to check out now and in the future as they continue to develop:

http://news.google.com/  Need a current event?  Forget about the newspaper, use the internet like teenagers do to find stories that are only minutes old.

http://images.google.com/  Arguably the best image search engine in the world.  Try finding a picture of something today.

http://www.google.com/products  Looking to make a purchase. Shop and compare prices online first using Google’s Product Search.

http://www.google.com/finance  What to check the stock market, try this website for a quick overview.

http://maps.google.com/   Looking for an up to date map or satellite photo, check out these amazingly easy to manipulate maps and photos.

http://video.google.com/  Google has their own video search engine.  Find an educational video on the internet that you can play for your class

http://scholar.google.com/  Another project that Google is working on is to create a more efficient way to search scholarly papers.

http://books.google.com/  This is a great way to jump into some literature.  Check out a book online, read some passages and find out where you can buy a copy.

 

 

 

 

Education reformers are fond of pointing out that the world has changed since the days when people like me went to school. I’d be foolish to completely disagree, since I spend a fair amount of my time complaining about some of the changes. But before you accept their diagnosis and what schools need to do about it, consider this list:

“Top Ten Changes Affecting Students Since 1960”

(as compiled by the American Association of School Administrators.)

1. The number of dysfunctional families has grown. “Dysfunctional” makes it sound like nobody’s to blame. Power steering pumps are dysfunctional. People are thoughtless, selfish, irresponsible, and violent.
Thirty years ago socio-educational wisdom held that poor “inner city” kids commonly did worse in school because they often came from single-parent families. Since then we’ve populated the country with single-parent middle and upper class families as well.
“Normal” families have problems, and many single mothers and fathers do a fine job. But a society rife with divorce and adolescent parents can’t expect to turn out well-adjusted children who are ready to learn.

2. High technology has influenced school, work, and home life. A century ago Americans were so bombarded with technology’s fruits – trifles like electricity, light bulbs, radios, cars, airplanes, telephones, phonographs, movies, and skyscrapers – that the director of the U.S. Patent Office declared with a straight face that “everything that can be invented has been invented.”
He doesn’t sound any more ridiculous than the procession of experts currently obsessing about the twenty-first century.
The patent director was nearsighted when it came to looking ahead. We’re just as nearsighted, and self-centered, when it comes to remembering the past.

3. Children are threatened by crime, violence, and poverty. This lamentable truth predates poor Oliver Twist by several millennia. If American life has grown more violent over the last forty years, maybe we should reconsider the things we changed forty years ago.

4. Communities are changing, becoming more diverse. This phenomenon is about as new as John Adams and the Alien and Sedition Acts. In case anybody’s forgotten, we’re a nation of immigrants. This makes us a two hundred year old exercise in diversity.

5. The influence of the mass media has tightened its grip on children, giving them more knowledge at an earlier age. Television earned its nickname, the “idiot box,” back in the fifties.

I’m definitely not defending the “mass media,” but a society where parents need password protected menus to keep their kids from watching what they’ve told them not to watch shouldn’t be worried about the grip the media has on their children. The real problem is the grip that mothers and fathers don’t have on their children.

6. Students question authority and shun traditional values and responsibilities. Socrates described the youth of 400 B.C. as “tyrants” that “contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers.”

7. A hurry-up society often lacks a sense of community. Henry Thoreau complained about his “hustle bustle nineteenth century.” If we’re worried about our sense of community, for starters we could stop building shopping malls and regional schools. We could also stop parking our kids in front of video screens. In the name of the virtues of “social networking,” we’re raising a generation that can’t tell the difference between Facebook leeches and actual friends.

8. Changing workplaces create demands for higher levels of literacy. Sometimes they do. But in a world where cash registers sport cheeseburger icons instead of words and numbers, everybody probably doesn’t need to learn calculus. The problem today isn’t getting kids to read better than kids used to read. The problem is getting them to read as well.

9. Knowledge about learning styles demands new kinds of education. The human brain is a fairly traditional organ. We may be a trifle closer to understanding how it works, but the ancients figured out how to teach it a long time ago. Socrates asked questions, the prophets acted lessons out, Jesus told stories, and Moses instructed the Israelites to memorize the law. Good teachers still work the way they did.

10. Peers exert a powerful influence on values. Haven’t these guys ever seen Rebel Without a Cause? Ancient Egyptians probably scolded their kids, “What do you mean all your friends are doing it? If your friends told you to jump off a pyramid, would you jump?”

Like most education reports, this Top Ten is part common sense, part nonsense, and about as earthshaking as NASA announcing that the sky is blue.

Families headed by two original parents are an anomaly. Violence stalks our schools, our homes, and our streets. Incivility is epidemic. Narcissism is rampant. Perseverance is passé.

Schools have made grievous blunders over the last forty years. And regrettably, often in the name of reform, they continue to make them. But distorting how life has changed and then using those distortions to prop up faulty, failed education theories is no way to fix our schools or ourselves.
Besides, even armed with sound policies and practices, all the king’s horses and all the king’s schools can’t put us back together again.

We have to do that.

We should not squander the precious natural resource which is the potential of the next generation of minds in America.

 

Leprechaun here folks~

I’ve found myself on detached field duty as well it seems. I got a call very late Sunday evening asking me to come and speak to a bunch of Military Prep School kids about September 11th and my personal experiences. Seems a few of the kids had expressed some sentiments that indicated they felt dubious about the import and significance of remembering the tragedy. Apparently nobody at the school thought they knew anyone who was involved with or even remotely connected to the terrorist attacks.  I’m spending my day speaking to the 4 different classes relating my experiences, both personal and military regarding the incident and the aftermath.

RELAX there will still be an issue tomorrow, I had it mostly in the can before I left for my 6 hour road trip thru the hell that is incessant highway construction in Texas. I decided as I’m sitting here in the “Instructor’s Lounge” to post this impromptu remembrance since Impish did not remark upon the upcoming event and though I do tomorrow, that’s in the past tense and since I was once again vividly reliving the day it suddenly didn’t feel like enough.

 

Remembering 9/11

In the aftermath of the devastation of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, we swore as a nation that we would never forget. We would never forget the names of the victims.

They were husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. They were firefighters and police officers – heroes in the ultimate sense of the word.

We swore we’d never forget the price we pay for freedom. Our bravest men and women have proudly paid that cost ever since. We swore we would never forget the unity of spirit and of purpose we all felt in the months after that fateful day.

Out of all the things we swore to remember, that has been the hardest. As we reflect on the last 11 years, we feel again the pain of loss we all felt on September 11, 2001. That’s why we should come together again as one nation, united under God.

Please take some time to visit these websites. They are online memorials of one of the most tragic events our country has experienced. Join me in renewing our promise to never forget that day

The September 11 Digital Archive – 911digitalarchive.org

9/11 Memorial – www.911memorial.org

Project 2,996 – project2996.wordpress.com

September 11, 2001 – Day of Infamy –http://photos.newhavenregister.com/2012/09/11/photos-september-11-2001-day-of-infamy/

 

PLEASE take a minute out of your busy day to  pray for the September 11th victims and their families as well as those First Responders who lost their lives in the immediate aftermath. Leave us not forget either those who now protect us against such things but most importantly to remember this cowardly atrocity.

Make the next generation understand why we fight in Afghanistan and places like it, not because Americans love war, but because we love our freedom and security.

SEMPER FEDELIS TO TO FALLEN-