Part II (Continued)

QUIET IN THE RANKS!

Impish they seem a tad hard of hearing, if you’d be so kind please?

<Insert window rattling semi-angry  dragon’s roar here>

That’s better. Thank you Sargent at Arms Dragon, you may continue to flame roast hecklers and the non attentive as before our break as you deem necessary.

OK, you’ve has your smoke break, leg stretch, coffee refill and/or trip to the head now lets settle down and get back to this shall we? Unless that is you want to be eating all those leftover charred left on the grill too long burgers and blackened weenies because this took so long. Oh and you liberals that are still foaming at the moth over my Part I “unkind” comments about Obama and his relationship the military? Have patience, I’ve not forgotten you, nor and I through with Obama, the Last Word is coming up soon.

Everyone still have enough tissues? Good then lets continue.

Sack Lunches

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/lunch.asp

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. ‘I’m glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap,’ I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant. seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. ‘Where are you headed?’ I asked the soldier seated nearest to me. ‘Petawawa. We’ll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we’re being deployed to Afghanistan.

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time… As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. ‘No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn’t be worth five bucks. I’ll wait till we get to base.’ His friend agreed. I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch.

I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. ‘Take a lunch to all those soldiers.’ She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. ‘My son was a soldier in Iraq ; it’s almost like you are doing it for him.’ Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, ‘Which do you like best – beef or chicken?’ ‘Chicken,’ I replied, wondering why she asked.

She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. ‘This is your thanks.’ After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. ‘I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.’ He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand and said, ‘I want to shake your hand.’ Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain’s hand. With a booming voice he said, ‘I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.’ I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm. When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. ‘It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.’

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little.

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to ‘The United States of America ‘ for an amount of ‘up to and including my life.’

That is Honor, that is Responsibility, that is Patriotism, that is Love of Country and there are way too damned many people in this country, on both sides of the political and age fences who no longer understand it or the importance of those qualities.

Repay them by honoring the dead heroes but seek to help the living Veterans who need it as well. Make time to take one to the VA because he doesn’t have transport. Mow the lawn of you wounded or deployed neighbor. Its not JUST the men and women in the Armed forces who contribute to their sacrifice but their families as well. They are defending us at least we can help take care of their families.

I want to talk for a minute about a two different bunches of special men and women who honor our fallen each in a special way and a lot more often than just Flag Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day or Veteran’s Day.

The first is the 136th Airlift Wing Texas Air National Guard based out of NAS Fort Worth Texas.

They are the premier airlift team of choice in the Air National Guard and quite possibly the air Force as well.

Their motto “Nulli Secundus” translates ‘Second to None’ and is surely the truth.

In addition to moving mountains of material in their C-130s, some of which are older than the pilots that fly them, they are also responsible for one of the absolute worst morale jobs in the Armed Services and carry it out with Dignity, Distinction, Respect, Dedication and Pride sufficient to crack the composure of even a Marine. See, they are responsible for making the US Military’s “Angel Flights”…they return our fallen to home soil and their loved ones. Finally someone (Radney Foster) has seen fit has seen fit to honor these men and women and the job they do by immortalizing them and bringing their efforts to National attention thru song.

“Angel Flight” is named after the designation for the Texas Air National Guard C-130 that transports the bodies of service men slain in combat.
It came about partly because Foster’s co-writer on the tune, Darden Smith, and Lt. Col. Jim Nugent, who works for the Texas National Guard Support Foundation, both had a hankering for ice cream from an Austin institution: Amy’s Ice Cream.

“Darden begins a relationship (with Nugent) and begins to start thinking about having talks with the Texas National Guard about songwriting. He’s thinking at this point that it’s to help guys cope with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) issues and re-entry issues,” Foster said in a call to his home outside Nashville.

Smith learned about “Red River 44,” a mission in Iraq in which seven Texas National Guardsmen died when their Chinook helicopter crashed outside Tallil, Iraq. “In the midst of these conversations, the Guard told him about . . . this thing they call ‘Angel Flights.'”
The songwriter bell in Smith’s head went off, and a couple of weeks alter, when he was in Nashville and visiting Foster.

“He tells me the story and says, ‘Are you interested?’ and I said, ‘Oh, my God, are you KIDDING? Absolutely! So we write this song after dinner one night,” Foster said. “Immediately I knew I had to record that song.” The end result is a bare-bones, gut-wrenching, emotional song with poignant but not syrupy lyrics, the kind of song at which Foster excels.

That was my hope,” he admitted. “I wanted you to feel that sense of the last verse: ‘The cockpit’s quiet and the stars are bright / feels kind of church like here tonight.’ And I wanted that feeling through the whole song.”

“All of that is a Guard unit out of Grand Prairie, Texas,” Foster said. “I had the wonderful and yet hard opportunity to sing ‘Angel Flight’ at the service for the dedication of the memorial for the Red River 44,” he said.

“It’s a lightning rod moment for me,” Foster said, quietly. “I watched the general bend down to children my own children’s ages and hand them a folded flag for their father’s memory. I still don’t know how I got through that.”

For those who had too many tears in their eyes during the song to follow the lyrics at the bottom of the screen here they are again:

“Angel Flight” by Radney Foster

All I ever wanted to do was fly
Leave this world and live in the sky
I left the C130 out of Fort Worth town
I go up some days I don’t wanna come down
Well I fly that plane called the Angel Flight
Come on brother you’re with me tonight

Between Heaven and earth you’re never alone
On the Angel Flight
Come on brother I’m taking you home

I love my family and I love this land
But tonight this flight’s for another man
We do what we do because we heard the call
Some gave a little, but he gave it all
I fly that plane called the Angel Flight
Come on brother you’re with me tonight
(Come on brother you’re with me tonight)

Between Heaven and earth you’re never alone
On the Angel Flight
Come on brother I’m taking you home
Come on brother I’m taking you home

Well, the stars are quiet and the stars are bright
Feels kinda like church in here tonight
It don’t matter where we touch down
On the Angel Flight its sacred ground
I fly that plane called the Angel Flight
Gotta hero riding with us tonight

Between Heaven and earth you’re never alone
On the Angel Flight
Come on brother I’m taking you home
Come on brother I’m taking you home
Come on brother I’m taking you home
Come on brother I’m taking you home

Can we get an amen?

The Patriot Guard Riders (PGR) is a motorcycle club whose members attend the funerals of members of the United States armed forces at the invitation of the deceased’s family. Patriot Guard Riders’ representatives state that they are not a chartered motorcycle club, but a group of patriotic individuals.

The group was formed in 2005, to shelter and protect the funerals from protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church, who claim that the deaths of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are divine retribution for American tolerance of homosexuality. PGR members position themselves to physically shield the mourners from the presence of the Westboro protesters by blocking the protesters from view with their motorcade, or by having members hold American flags. The group also drowns out the protesters’ chants by singing patriotic songs or by revving motorcycle engines.

Although initially founded by motorcyclists, the organization is open to anyone, regardless of political affiliation, veteran status, or whether they ride or not. The only prerequisite is “a deep respect for those who serve our country; military, firefighters, or law enforcement”. The Patriot Guard was established in Mulvane, Kansas at American Legion Post 136 in 2005.

The group’s mission quickly expanded to include the funerals of law enforcement officers, fire department personnel, all first responders, and any active duty member or veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces from all previous wars and conflicts and is now largely focused on recognizing and honoring the sacrifices of fallen service members as well as their families and loved ones. As of March 2011, PGR reported over 220,000 members. In addition to their attendance at funerals, the group also greets troops returning from overseas at welcome home celebrations, deployment ceremonies, and perform volunteer work for veteran’s organizations such as Veterans Homes. The group also assists families in financial difficulties with travel and housing arrangements, and also visits military hospitals to encourage and honor wounded service members of the United States Armed Forces.

Culled & Assembled From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Guard_Riders http://www.patriotguard.org/OurHistory/tabid/145/Default.aspx http://www.americanlegionriders.net/protest.shtml

Finally there is one last group that deserves special mention. Their names rank high among our Veterans and Fallen Heroes. We will never know how many of them there are nor is it likely we shall ever learn their names or where they served nor how some of them died. They too served in time of war, in peace and in the Cold War. When they retire they do so into obscurity under a heavy blanket of red tape most of it over their mouths and threatened with charges of treason and violating National Security if they admit publicly to their roles. Should they die in the service of their country, they do not receive a heroes burial with a name engraved upon a headstone in some Veteran’s Cemetery. Rather another simple 5 pointed star gets added to a marble walled memorial inside a building that few ever see the interior of.

To date the passing in the line of duty of 102 of those we should be honoring this day are marked on that wall. As of 2005 less than half their identities appear in the CIA’s Book of Remembrance.

 

SOME GAVE ALL

 

For the last week now, Obamaites and Bush hating liberals have been trying to sell me a load of overly ripe bio-organic fertilizer in an attempt to make Obama look good by making Bush look bad. If you have been keeping score or pay the least bit of attention you’ll know that this tactic has been working out badly for them at every turn. Earlier I made a comment about Obama disrespecting, mistreating and generally distaining our military forces which I’m sure has more than one liberal in a near apocalyptic mouth foaming fit by now waiting for this Last Word and my justification for those comments. Lets continue to compare and contrast Bush and Obama. This time when it comes to the military, starting with their  comments after the capture of Saddam Hussien  for Bush and death of Osama bin Laden for Obama

George W. Bush speech after capture of Saddam:

The success of yesterday’s mission is a tribute to our men and women now serving in Iraq. The operation was based on the superb work of intelligence analysts who found the dictator’s footprints in a vast country. The operation was carried out with skill and precision by a brave fighting force. Our servicemen and women and our coalition allies have faced many dangers in the hunt for members of the fallen regime, and in their effort to bring hope and freedom to the Iraqi people. Their work continues, and so do the risks. Today, on behalf of the nation, I thank the members of our Armed Forces and I congratulate ’em.

Barack Obama speech after killing of bin Laden: (I, I, I, Me, My, Mine )

And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network. Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and I authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice. Today, at MY direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan .

How about we view a little comparison on how the spend their Memorial Day as Commander in Chief of our Armed Forces:

ABC Bashes Bush on Memorial Day

Rick Richman

The ABC News report on the rainout of President Obama’s planned Memorial Day speech in Illinois noted that Obama had been criticized for not staying in Washington to go to Arlington National Cemetery. But ABC provided a ready excuse, subtitling its report “Obama Not First to Skip Arlington on Memorial Day” and asserting that George W. Bush “did not attend in 2001 or 2002.”

ABC was flat-out wrong about 2001, and highly misleading about 2002.

Memorial Day 2001. On May 28, 2001, George W. Bush not only went to Arlington National Cemetery and gave a remarkably eloquent speech after laying a wreath there; he had multiple Memorial Day events before and after.

He began the day at a White House Memorial Day Breakfast, where he spoke in the East Room to a group that included Senators, Members of Congress, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretary of Defense, and a group of veterans and ex-pows.

Then he went to the Oval Office for a bill-signing ceremony on a bill to expedite construction of the World War II memorial, remarking that it was “indeed fitting that this measure becomes law on Memorial Day.”

Then he signed an Executive Order to establish a presidential “Task Force to Improve Health Care Delivery for Our Nation’s Veterans.”

After that, he went to Arlington.

After his speech and wreath-laying at Arlington, Bush flew across the country and spoke at a Memorial Day Commemoration at the Champlin Fighter Aircraft Museum in Mesa Arizona, where he offered these words:

The heroes we remember never really set out to be heroes. Each loved his life as much as we love ours. Each had a place in the world, a family waiting and friends to see again. They thought of the future just as we do, with plans and hopes for a long life. But they left it all behind when they went to war, and parted with it forever when they died. Every Memorial Day we gather at places like this to grasp the extent of their loss and the meaning of the sacrifice. It always seems more than words can cover. In the end, all we can do is be thankful; all we can do is remember, and always appreciate the price that was paid for our own lives and our own freedom.

. . . And we can never measure the value of what was gained in their sacrifice. We live it every day in the comforts of peace and the gifts of freedom. These have all been purchased for us, and we’re grateful for the sacrifice.

Memorial Day 2002. On May 27, 2002, Bush did not go to Arlington National Cemetery because he was in Europe, attending week-long meetings with foreign leaders.

On that Memorial Day, he attended a Memorial Day Service at a church in Sainte Mere-Eglise, France, where he offered some remarks. Then he commemorated Memorial Day at the Normandy American Cemetery, where 9,000 Americans are buried, and spoke eloquently again:

We have gathered on this quiet corner of France as the sun rises on Memorial Day in the United States of America. This is a day our country has set apart to remember what was gained in our wars, and all that was lost.

Our wars have won for us every hour we live in freedom. Our wars have taken from us the men and women we honor today, and every hour of the lifetimes they had hoped to live.

This day of remembrance was first observed to recall the terrible casualties of the war Americans fought against each other. In the nearly 14 decades since, our nation’s battles have all been far from home. Here on the continent of Europe were some of the fiercest of those battles, the heaviest losses, and the greatest victories.

And in all those victories American soldiers came to liberate, not to conquer. The only land we claim as our own are the resting places of our men and women. . . .

The grave markers here all face west, across an ageless and indifferent ocean to the country these men and women served and loved. The thoughts of America on this Memorial Day turn to them and to all their fallen comrades in arms. We think of them with lasting gratitude; we miss them with lasting love; and we pray for them. And we trust in the words of the Almighty God, which are inscribed in the chapel nearby: “I give unto them eternal life, that they shall never perish.”

In neither year was Bush on vacation for Memorial Day. And it is nice that we are able to recall Bush’s eloquence, given the unfortunate circumstances that prevented us from hearing from President Obama this year. http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/06/abc_bashes_bush_on_memorial_da_1.html

One of the liberal tried to say I was not using perspective in my comparisons (actually HE was the one sadly lacking in the perspective as was shown)  Let’s look at the two of them from one more “perspective” shall we? After all that liberal was quite right, perspective IS very important!

Enough said right there I think! 

 

Echo Taps

As you were. Hurry up and find a seat that fits and fill it we have a busy morning ahead and I know you all have celebrations of one form or another to get to so lets settle down and get to business as quick as we can shall we? Impish, if the peanut gallery starts up, you have clearance to roast them and eat them. Same for liberals though I don’t recommend eating them unless you spend at least a day thoroughly flushing the B.S. and the dementia inducing Democratic toxins out of them first.

As you can tell today’s issue is a little different from normal. No moaning about how its Monday, no coffee worshiping graphics and these remarks will not conclude with the usual invitation to to join me in laughter and merriment. In fact today’s issue is largely devoid of either. While the voice and writing style you are hearing may be that of the Lethal Leprechaun rest assured that the graphics, words and sentiments are both of ours, so clearly the statement in the header that this issue is a collaborative effort is more than just lip service.

See today’s issue is dedicated to Memorial Day,  the day we salute the brave men and women who served and protected our country. May we always remember their strength, courage, and sacrifice. This day with us is just NOT a laughing matter, nor should it be with you.

Packages of travel sized tissues are being passed around for those of you easily moved to emotional displays as some of what will be presented will tug heart strings. Permission to weep, sob and sniffle is granted if you feel the need. Now lets get down to it shall we?

RENDER HONORS!

What Exactly IS Memorial Day? When Did It Come Into Being? Why Do We Celebrate it?

I’m glad you asked, and with minimal prompting too!

Traditionally, Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer and a weekend full of parades, hamburgers and long road trips. Most importantly, it’s a day to remember those who have died in defense of this country, although the holiday had a rocky start in this regard. Despite its status as a national holiday, the origins of what was once known as “Decoration Day” are shrouded in incomplete historical records and the division between the North and the South caused by the Civil War.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. It was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 – 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis’ birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.

There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women’s groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, “Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping” by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication “To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead”. While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it’s difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860’s tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

In 1915, inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields,” Moina Michael conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial Day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the United States and learned of this new custom started by Ms.Michael and when she returned to France, made artificial red poppies to raise money for war orphaned children and widowed women. This tradition spread to other countries. In 1921, the Franco-American Children’s League sold poppies nationally to benefit war orphans of France and Belgium. The League disbanded a year later and Madam Guerin approached the VFW for help.

Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans’ organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years later their “Buddy” Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans.

In 1948 the US Post Office honored Ms Michael for her role in founding the National Poppy movement by issuing a red 3 cent postage stamp with her likeness on it.

In 1971, the U.S. Congress officially made Memorial Day a federal holiday. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades. Memorial Day often marks the start of the summer vacation season, (dragons trying to look slimmer by wearing white) and Labor Day its end. It also became a long weekend increasingly devoted to shopping, family gatherings, fireworks, trips to the beach, and national media events such as the Indianapolis 500 (since 1911) and the Coca-Cola 600 (since 1960) auto races. The Memorial Tournament golf event has been held on or close to the Memorial Day weekend since 1976. The National Memorial Day Concert takes place on the west lawn of the United States Capitol the Sunday before Memorial Day. The concert is broadcast on PBS and NPR. Music is performed, and respect is paid to the men and women who died in war.

http://www.pbs.org/memorialdayconcert/concert/

On Memorial Day the flag is raised briskly to the top of the staff and then solemnly lowered to the half-staff position, where it remains only until noon. It is then raised to full-staff for the remainder of the day.

The half-staff position remembers the more than one million men and women who gave their lives in service of their country. At noon their memory is raised by the living, who resolve not to let their sacrifice be in vain, but to rise up in their stead and continue the fight for liberty and justice for all.

Traditional observance of Memorial day has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. (But Impish and I are going to fix that for some of you) At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country.

There are a few notable exceptions. Since the late 50’s on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day. More recently, beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye’s Heights (the Luminaria Program). And in 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years.

To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the “National Moment of Remembrance” resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans “To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to ‘Taps.”

The Moment of Remembrance is a step in the right direction to returning the meaning back to the day. What is needed is a full return to the original day of observance. Set aside one day out of the year for the nation to get together to remember, reflect and honor those who have given their all in service to their country.

But what may be needed to return the solemn, and even sacred, spirit back to Memorial Day is for a return to its traditional day of observance. Many feel that when Congress made the day into a three-day weekend in with the National Holiday Act of 1971, it made it all the easier for people to be distracted from the spirit and meaning of the day. As the VFW stated in its 2002 Memorial Day address: “Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general public’s nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.”

Culled & Assembled From:
http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html
http://weston-ct.patch.com/articles/the-history-of-memorial-day-4
http://www.history.com/topics/memorial-day-history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day

Honor the fallen certainly  but DO NOT neglect the living Veterans this day!

 

John McDermott – “Willie McBride “

 

“A competent leader can get efficient service from poor troops, while on the contrary an incapable leader can demoralize the best of troops.” – John J. Pershing

Please join with me in apologizing, regardless of if you voted for Obama or not, to our troops for their Commander In Chief’s indecisive leadership, half ass pursuit of the war on terror, changing their leadership in the field 3 times (that I can count off the top of my head) because their commander would not kiss his ass . Lastly for attempting to steal the Navy’s DevGru’s (unofficially widely known as SEAL Team 6) rightful glory and thunder by claiming credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden and his distain in general for our military.

STAND EASY DRAGON! I’ve got this. Yes, you liberal with the quick mouth? I’ve spoken against your Messiah of Socialist Hope & Change and blasphemed in your Democratic Party opinion and Liberal Lensed view point? Perhaps before you open yourself and the rest of your ilk up to more ridicule and another sound drubbing about the head and shoulders with facts, you should check today’s Last Word for proof of these allegations I have made straight from the mouth and actions of Obama himself.

Edwin McCain sings A Little Prayer for our Armed Services ~ Saying Thanks for all their doing for America so WE can have nights like this one!!

Edwin McCain Prayer to St. Peter

 For those who cannot make them out here are the song lyrics:

“Prayer To St. Peter”
Let them in, Peter
For they are very tired
Give them couches where the angels sleep
And light those fires
Let them wake whole again
To brand new dawns
Fired by the sun
Not war-times bloody guns
May their peace be deep
Remember where the broken bodies lie
God knows how young they were
To have to die

You know God knows how young they were
To have to die

Give them things they like
Let them make some noise
Give dance hall bands not golden harps
To these our boys
Let them love Peter
For they’ve had no time
They should have bird songs and trees
And hills to climb
The taste of summer
And a ripened pear
And girls as sweet as meadow wind
And flowing hair
And tell them how they are missed
But say not to fear
It’s gonna be all right
With us down here

Let them in, Peter
For they are very tired
Give them couches where the angels sleep
And light those fires
Let them wake whole again
To brand new dawns
Fired by the sun
Not war-times bloody guns
May their peace be deep
Remember where the broken bodies lie
God knows how young they were
To have to die

You know God knows how young they were
To have to die

And tell them how they are missed
But say not to fear
It’s gonna be all right
With us down here
It’s gonna be all right
With us down here

Only 31 words — Think about it!

Isn’t life strange? I never met one Veteran who enlisted to fight for Socialism!

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG, OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA , AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!

If Muslims can pray on Madison Avenue, why are Christians banned from praying in public and from erecting religious displays on their holy days?
What happened to our National Day of Prayer? Muslims are allowed to block off Madison Ave. , in N.Y.C., and pray in the middle of the street! And, it’s a monthly ritual!
Tell me, again, whose country is this? Ours or the Muslims?

I was asked to send this on if I agree, or delete if I don’t.
It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God.
Therefore, I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a problem in having ‘In God! We Trust’ on our money and having ‘God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I believe it’s time we, the People stand up for what we claim to believe! Those we honor this day both living and dead certainly stood up for those beliefs. are we now to disregard their sacrifice and dedication in the name of “Hope and Change” promised by a President who clearly does NOT respect our military men and women?

If you agree, pass this on; if not, I’d suggest you not let Impish or I know about it.
Thank you.

Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial Site: Notable Deaths & Obituaries

View All 5,975 Memorials for the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan Site

For the past decade, U.S. troops have been stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. To date, thousands of servicemen and women have given their lives in these conflicts. This memorial site is dedicated to all who have served in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
We also invite you to sign the Guest Book in memory of all U.S. veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq, or visit the In Remembrance site.

Click here: Soldier Returns Home to Surprise her Dad on his Birthday

Can you help spread this important message?

 

Show Your Thanks to World War II Vets by Watching This 2-min Video

http://media.causes.com/1060527?p_id=175378540

This story is incredible. Send this touching two-minute video about World War II veterans to FIVE friends and family to remind them that every day alive in this great, free country is truly a bonus. Let’s get 50,000 views for the video by Memorial Day (May 30th) to show these living heroes, one last time, just how grateful we are for their unbelievable sacrifice. The video is a trailer to a documentary that will come out in November. The more we can show interest in the trailer (i.e. views), the more Americans will get to see the film. Time is running out: 1,000 WWII vets die every day. We are free today because of these men and women. The least we can do is watch a web video and send it to five people. Let’s get this mission done!

 

 

The Hand Salute

The hand salute is a gesture of respect toward an officer, the flag or our country. More than an honor exchanged, it is a privileged gesture of esteem and trust among soldiers.
Some historians believe the hand salute began in late Roman times when assassinations were common. A citizen who wanted to see a public official had to approach with his right hand raised to show that he did not hold a weapon. This practice gradually became a way of showing respect and, in early American history, sometimes involved removing the hat. By 1820, the motion was modified to touching the hat; later, it evolved into the hand salute used today.

The salute is widely misunderstood outside the military. Some consider it a gesture of servility, since the junior extends a salute to the senior. In fact, it is an expression of mutual respect. The fact that the junior extends the greeting first is merely a point of etiquette a salute extended or returned makes the same statement.

How to salute: Turn your head and eyes toward the person or flag.
Bring your right hand up to the correct position in one smart motion without any preparatory movement.
Raise you hand until the tip of your forefinger touches the outer edge of your eyebrow (just above and to the right of your right eye).
When wearing headgear, the forefinger touches the headgear slightly above and to the right of your right eye.
Your fingers are together and straight, and your thumb is snug along the hand in line with the fingers.
Your hand, wrist and forearm are straight, forming a straight line from your elbow to your fingertips.
Your upper arm (elbow to shoulder) is horizontal to the ground.
When dropping the salute, bring your hand directly down to its natural position at your side. Any improvising in the salute is improper.
When to salute: All soldiers are required to salute when they meet and recognize persons entitled (by grade) to a salute, except when it is inappropriate or impractical (in public conveyances such as planes and buses, in public places such as inside theatres or when driving a vehicle).

[Yes, I agree, the model’s form IS sloppy and probably close to down right disgraceful. Impish insisted I use her photo because she made parts of him come to attention and salute when he saw her. What can I say? I was forced to give him a ”left hand salute” (see below) and then shut up and soldier on.]

A salute is also rendered:

When the United States National Anthem, “To the Color,” “Hail to the Chief” or foreign national anthems are played.
To uncased National Color outdoors.
On ceremonial occasions such as changes of command or funerals.
At reveille and retreat ceremonies, during the raising or lowering of the flag.
During the sounding of honors.
When pledging allegiance to the U.S. flag outdoors.
When turning over control of formations.
When rendering reports.
To officers of friendly foreign nations.

Salutes are not required when:

Indoors, except when reporting to an officer or when on duty as a guard.
Addressing a prisoner. Saluting is obviously inappropriate.
In these cases, only greetings are exchanged. (Example: A person carrying articles with both hands, or being otherwise so occupied as to make saluting impracticable, is not required to salute a senior person or return the salute to a subordinate.)
Either the senior or the subordinate is wearing civilian clothes (a salute in this case is not inappropriate, but is not required.) Officers of equal rank pass each other (a salute in this case is not inappropriate, but it is not required.)

Any military person recognizing a need to salute or a need to return one may do so anywhere at any time.

Lastly none of the above should be confused with the ‘left hand salute’ which is something entirely different and an honor that should only be rendered to liberals, jackwads, anally retentive nit pickers, illegal immigrants, those of the entitlement mind who refuse to even TRY to help themselves off welfare programs and the odd overly insistent Dragon blog partner.

States That Lost the Most to War

 

Find out the state-by-state totals of those who made the ultimate sacrifice since World War II.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-05-28/the-states-whose-soldiers-have-made-the-ultimate-sacrifice-most-often-from-new-york-to-california-to-florida/?om_rid=NsflgD&om_mid=_BN4kEAB8bb2Tqd

The Daily Beast decided to take a broader look at how fatal casualties affect different geographic regions of the country, both in terms of numbers—California, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois account for nearly a third of all fatal casualties in modern U.S. warfare—and also as a percentage of their population.

We measured the five major conflicts of the past 75 years with more than 1,000 fatal casualties: World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, and the War in Afghanistan. Roughly 470,000 lost their lives fighting for country in these five wars.

To determine the states that lost the most proportionally, we compared fatal casualty data with population data for males. (Even for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, where women are more integrated in military operations than they were during World War II, the Vietnam War, and the Korean War, men make up 97 to 99 percent of casualties.)

• World War II: Casualty data from the US National Archives; state-by-state population data for males, age 15 through 44, from the 1940 US Census—this is the only census we looked at that did not provide detailed population numbers for men age 18 and 19.
• Korean War: Casualty data from the US National Archives; state-by-state population data for men, age 18 through 44, from the 1950 US Census.
• Vietnam War: Casualty data from the US National Archives; state-by-state population data for men, age 18 through 44, from the 1960 US Census.
• Iraq War: Casualty data from iCasualties.org; state-by-state population data for men, age 18 through 44, from the 2000 US Census.
• War in Afghanistan: Casualty data from iCasualties.org; state-by-state population data for men, age 18 through 44, from the 2000 US Census.

On a proportional basis, the 10 states (plus D.C.) with the biggest proportional losses are: New Mexico, District of Columbia, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, New Hampshire, West Virginia

Utah, Montana and Idaho. What’s most striking about the state-by-state data (which we list fully, in alphabetical order, in the gallery): How every single state has contributed so fully, and painfully, to defending their country.

CLICK HERE TO SEE STATE’S WAR CASUALITIES STATISTICS

Memorial Day – Arlington (Trace Adkins)

 

 

Cemetery Escort Duty

I just wanted to get the day over with and go down to Smokey’s for a few cold ones. Sneaking a look at my watch, I saw the time, 1655. Five minutes to go  before the cemetery gates are closed for the day. Full dress was hot in the August sun. Oklahoma summertime was as bad as ever — the heat and humidity at the same level — both too high.

I saw the car pull into the drive, ’69 or ’70 model Cadillac Deville, looked factory-new. It pulled into the parking lot at a snail’s pace . An old woman got out so slow I thought she was paralyzed. She had a cane and a sheaf of flowers, about four or five bunches as best I could tell.

I couldn’t help myself. The thought came unwanted, and left a slightly bitter taste: ‘She’s going to spend an hour, and for this old soldier my hip hurts like hell and I’m ready to get out of here right now!’

But for this day my duty was to assist anyone coming in. Kevin would lock the ‘In’ gate and if I could hurry the old biddy along , we might make the last half of happy hour at Smokey’s.

I broke Post Attention. My hip made gritty noises when I took the first step and the pain went up a notch. I must have made a real military sight; middle-aged man with a small pot-gut and half a limp, in Marine Full Dress Uniform, which had lost its razor crease about 30 minutes after I began the watch at the cemetery.

I stopped in front of her, halfway up the walk. She looked up at me with an old woman’s squint. ‘Ma’am may I assist you in any way?’

She took long enough to answer. ‘Yes, son. Can you carry these flowers? I seem to be moving a tad slow these days.’

‘My pleasure Ma’am.’ Well, it wasn’t too much of a lie.

She looked again. ‘Marine, where were you stationed?’ ‘ Vietnam , Ma’am. Ground-pounder. ’69 to ’71.’

She looked at me closer.. ‘Wounded in action, I see. Well done, Marine I’ll be as quick as I can.’

I lied a little bigger ‘No hurry, Ma’am.’

She smiled, and winked at me. ‘Son, I’m 85-years old and I can tell a lie from a long way off. Let’s get this done. Might be the last time I can do this. My name’s Joanne Wieserman, and I’ve a few Marines I’d like to see one more time.’

Yes, Ma’am. At your service.’

She headed for the World War I section, stopping at a stone. She picked one of the bunches out of my arm and laid it on top of the stone. She murmured something I couldn’t quite make out. The name on the marble was Donald S. Davidson, USMC, France 1918.

She turned away and made a straight line for the World War II section, stopping at one stone. I saw a tear slowly tracking its way down her cheek. She put a bunch on a stone; the name was Stephen X. Davidson, USMC, 1943.

She went up the row a ways and laid another bunch on a stone, Stanley J. Wieserman USMC , 1944.

She paused for a second, ‘Two more, son, and we’ll be done’

I almost didn’t say anything, but, ‘Yes, Ma’am. Take your time.’

She looked confused. ‘Where’s the Vietnam section, son? I seem to have lost my way.’

I pointed with my chin. ‘That way, Ma’am.’

‘Oh!’ she chuckled quietly. ‘Son, me and old age ain’t too friendly.’ She headed down the walk I’d pointed at. She stopped at a couple of stones before she found the ones she wanted. She placed a bunch on Larry Wieserman USMC, 1968, and the last on Darrel Wieserman USMC, 1970. She stood there and murmured a few words I still couldn’t make out. ‘OK, son , I’m finished. Get me back to my car and you can go home.’

‘Yes, Ma’am. If I may ask, were those your kinfolk ?’

She paused. ‘Yes, Donald Davidson was my father; Stephen was my uncle; Stanley was my husband; Larry and Darrel were our sons. All killed in action, all Marines.’ She stopped, whether she had finished, or couldn’t finish, I don’t know.

She made her way to her car, slowly, and painfully. I waited for a polite distance to come between us and then double-timed it over to Kevin waiting by the car.

‘Get to the ‘Out’-gate quick. I have something I’ve got to do.’ Kevin started to say something but saw the look I gave him.. He broke the rules to get us there down the service road.

We beat her. She hadn’t made it around the rotunda yet. ‘Kevin, stand to attention next to the gate post. Follow my lead.’ I humped it across the drive to the other post.

When the Cadillac came puttering around from the hedges and began the short straight traverse to the gate, I called in my best gunny’s voice: ‘TehenHut! Present Haaaarms!’
I have to hand it to Kevin, he never blinked an eye; full dress attention and a salute that would make his DI proud.

She drove through that gate with two old worn-out soldiers giving her a send off she deserved, for service rendered to her country, and for knowing Duty, Honor and Sacrifice
I am not sure, but I think I saw a salute returned from that Cadillac.

Instead of ‘The End’….. just think of ‘Taps’.

As a final thought on my part, let me share a favorite prayer:

‘Lord,

Keep our servicemen and women safe, whether they serve at home or over seas. Hold them in Your loving hands and protect them as they protect us.’ Let’s all keep those currently serving and those who have gone before, in our thoughts.

They are the reason for the many freedoms we enjoy.

John Wayne “Taps” an American Tribute

 

The Memorial Day issue has become SO large we are posting it in two sections. Look for Part II to post shortly.

 

You heard it!  He put it in writing yesterday!  Twice actually.  Even if he were to go back and delete the posts, I’ve got it copied now.  I have the original!  He said it!  He said it!  He said it!  Wooo Wooo! Here it is again, quoted from yesterday’s Dragon Laffs:

I’ll even go so far as to say yours combining the issues and links you did was masterful, I never would have considered linking it all into one.
“Masterful!”  Lethal Leprechaun said it was “masterful”!  LOL!
Okay, all kidding aside, the back and forth on this topic between Lethal, myself and you campers has been fantastic.  Lots of good comments on- and off-line.  This is the way that REAL change is going to happen.  People need to get involved.
I’m sorry, what’s that?  Why am I using Obama’s catch phrase of change?
I’m not talking about Obama’s change.
I’m talking about the changes that must be made in our country to recover from his “hopes and changes”.
I’m talking about changing our country back to the America we knew, not the United Socialist States of America that so many seem to be trying to make it.

Okay, enough of that!

It’s Saturday…

It’s a LONG weekend (for most of us, anyway)…

Let’s start having fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Look at the two little ones in the background.  Tell me they’re not going to be traumatized for the rest of their lives. “Mommy?  Why are we eating grandpa?” “Shut up and eat your cake!”

Okay, this is an old one, but still funny enough to bring back around…

A golfer is in a competitive match with a friend, who is ahead by a couple of strokes.

“Boy, I’d give anything to sink this putt,” the golfer mumbles to himself.

Just then, a stranger walks up beside him and whispers, “Would you be willing to give up one-fourth of your sex life?”

Thinking the man is crazy and his answer will be meaningless, the golfer also feels that maybe this is a good omen so he says, “Sure,” and sinks the putt.

Two holes later, he mumbles to himself again, “Gee, I sure would like to get an eagle on this one.”

The same stranger is at his side again and whispers, “Would it be worth giving up another fourth of your sex life?”

Shrugging, the golfer replies, “Okay.” And he makes an eagle.

On the final hole, the golfer needs another eagle to win. Without waiting for him to say anything, the stranger quickly moves to his side and says, “Would winning this match be worth giving up the rest of your sex life?”

“Definitely,” the golfer replies, and he makes the eagle.

As the golfer is walking to the club house, the stranger walks alongside him and says, “I haven’t really been fair with you because you don’t know who I am. I’m the Devil, and from this day forward you
will have no sex life.”

“Nice to meet you,” the golfer replies, “I’m Father O’Malley.”

Optical illusion awards

http://www.salon.com/books/neuroscience/index.html?story=/ent/movies/feature/2011/05/25/optical_illusion_awards&source=newsletter&utm_source=contactology&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Salon_Daily%20Newsletter%20%28Not%20Premium%29_7_30_110

 

Ahh, the good old days of Dungeons and Dragons.  I swear, if I could find a group of people here who would be willing to play once a week, I’d get another party started and play the old fashioned, paper and pencil D&D again.  Sigh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed,

“My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or

a politician.

And to tell the truth, there’s hardly any difference!”

For the longest time, this was “supposedly” the Only Known Picture of our security chief, No-name.  But, that’s just not the case.  There are no pictures of No-name.  This picture is though, a picture of his second or third cousin, on his mother’s side.  They are considered the runty side of the family.  No real muscle mass.  Weaklings. 

The Tonight Show With Jay Leno

President Obama told Queen Elizabeth that he likes the tea parties in England much better than the ones in the United States.

They drive on the other side of the road there, so Obama had to switch sides — kind of like Mitt Romney is doing over here.

I don’t want to say Tim Pawlenty is boring, but Joe Biden is accusing him of identity theft.

That was awful!

On day three of the corporate conspiracy trial, the star witness began to recant his story. “Were you aware that both the FBI and the IRS intended to investigate this CPA, starting ASAP?” the judge asked.

“Not initially,” was the reply.

I believe we’ve run this one before, but it is so good that it is well worth running again…

This Japanese Beer commercial is incredible, detailed w/fantasia
Seriously, this Japanese beer ad is like watching an adventure movie.
You’ll be pausing and rewinding to catch things as there is SO much going on.

CLICK BELOW TO VIEW-TURN UP SOUND

YouTube – Sapporo Beer Commercial – Legendary Biru

Oh Dear Lord. Watch this…

Good Morning America: Caught on Tape: Driver Survives Tornado’s Wrath, Tractor Trailer Destroyed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_bTO9STMi4&feature=player_embedded

This one is bloody awful!

A bill collector knocked on the door of a country debtor.

“Is Fred home?” he asked the woman who answered the door.

“Sorry,” the woman replied. “Fred’s gone for cotton.”

The next day the collector tried again.

“Is Fred here today?”

“No, sir,” she said, “I’m afraid Fred has gone for cotton.”

When he returned the third day he humphed, “I suppose Fred is gone for cotton again?”

“No,” the woman answered solemnly, “Fred died yesterday.”

Suspicious that he was being avoided, the collector decided to wait a week and investigate the cemetery himself. But sure enough, there was poor Fred’s tombstone, with this inscription:

Gone, But Not for Cotton

In a recent interview of Lethal Leprechaun by ARMPIT Magazine (you remember that ARMPIT is the Association of Retired Mythical Persons and Imaginary Things) Lethal was asked a question and actually gave a truthful answer.  Which, as we all know, when talking of his personal life, our dear Leprechaun has a great deal of difficulty with.  Let’s listen in…

ARMPIT: What do you do now that you’re retired?

LL: Well…I’m fortunate to have a chemical engineering background and one of the things I enjoy most is converting beer, wine and whiskey into urine. It’s rewarding, uplifting, satisfying and fulfilling. I do it every day and I really enjoy it.”

We’ll come back to more excerpts from that ARMPIT interview later.

Bumper Stickers….some old, some new, all fun.  Thanks Stephanie!

I don’t have a license to kill. I have a learner’s permit.
 
Keep honking while I reload.
 
Taxation WITH representation isn’t so hot, either!
 
Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change.
 
5 days a week my body is a temple. The other two, it’s an amusement park.
 
EARTH FIRST! We’ll strip-mine the other planets later.
 
Your child may be an honor student, but you’re still an idiot.
 
If you drink, don’t park. Accidents cause people.
 
If you can read this, I can hit my brakes and sue you.
 
Save the whales! Trade them for valuable prizes.
 
Jack Kevorkian for White House physician.
 
My wife keeps complaining I never listen to her …or something like that.
 
Sure you can trust the government! Just ask an Indian!
 
Alcohol and calculus don’t mix. Never drink and derive.
 
If we are what we eat, I’m cheap, fast, and easy.
 
Stop repeat offenders. Don’t re-elect them!
 
You’re just jealous because the voices only talk to me.
 
I don’t suffer from insanity. I enjoy it!
 
If ignorance is bliss … Then you must be orgasmic.
 
I got a gun for my wife … Best trade I ever made.
 
So you’re a feminist … Isn’t that cute?
 
Earth is the mental ward for the Universe.
 
As long as there are tests, there will be prayer in schools.
 
Hang up and drive!
 
Laugh alone and the world thinks you’re an idiot.
 
Warning! Driver only carries $5.00 worth of ammunition.
 
Sometimes I wake up grumpy … Other times I let her sleep.
 
I want to die like my Grampa – in my sleep. Not yelling and screaming like his passengers …..
 
Montana – at least our cows are sane!
 
I did NOT fight my way to the head of the food chain to be a vegetarian!

Okay, look….even I apologize for this one.  It’s rude, crude and socially unacceptable … hey! that’s just how I like my women, too….but I digress….this it truly awful and on behalf of the entire Dragon Laffs staff, I’d like to say, I’m really, really sorry.
Now that you have been warned….

Q. What Do You Call A Female Police Officer With Her Pussy Shaved?

A. Cuntstubble!

 

 

If I had only known!
I always used my shampoo to wash the rest of my body while in the shower. It was just easier to lather up my hair and use the extra suds on my body instead of soap. Then I saw the words printed on my shampoo bottle for extra volume and fullness. No wonder I can’t lose weight! Now I’m using my dish soap in the shower. It’s guaranteed to remove fat and other unwanted deposits that other soaps leave behind!

Two men were talking. “My grandson asked me what I did during the Sexual Revolution,” said one.

“And what did you tell him?” asked the other.

“I told him I was captured early and spent the duration doing the dishes.”

Today’s Last Word is going to leave the realm of the soapbox shouting political rant and move over to the humorous.  At least …. I hope it will be humorous.  It’s the weekend, and it’s a long, special weekend and we need a good laugh to round out our morning.

 

 

So…..why is it they were stopped by the police?

Oh, I see… She’s not wearing a helmet…well… the law is the the law, after all.

 

Rate this:

Sweet Holy Mother Machree! ‘Tis Friday and Saints be praised the weekend is upon us finally! Nae ‘tis it just any old weekend but a 3 day one ta be sure and Memorial Day Weekend besides, the traditional official start o’ summer time.

Impish has been anxiously awaiting this weekend the entire month because in addition to the start o’ Summer and Memorial Day ‘tis the official start of the “Wearin’ o’ the White” season which lasts until Labor Day in September. See Impish is under the daft impression that wearing white makes him look ‘sleeker’ (his word for it). As far as I’m bloody concerned it makes him look either like a scaly cloud or the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man with bat wings though most people think he looks like a Jabba the Hutt made out of cotton balls when he wears white. Personally I think Jabba’s table manners were better.

Anyway be sure ta be watchin’ out for Monday’s Memorial Day issue from me and I expect nae ta be out done Impish may have a few words as well on the subject either Sunday or Monday as well. Mean while since I know at least half of you are already lined up at the starting gate like our friends above waiting for the Boss ta be leaving early so you can try to squeeze a 4 day weekend out of a 3 day I’ll be getting down to the business at hand.

Let’s Bloody Well Be Laughing Our Arses Off The Weekend is Upon Us!

  A Catholic woman, a Protestant woman and a Jewish woman die and go to heaven. St. Peter meets them at the gate to heaven.
  The Catholic woman says, “I’ve been a good wife and mother, I took good care of my family and I want to go to heaven. St. Peter tells her to go to the left.
  The Protestant woman says, “I’ve been a good woman. I kept my house clean and cooked and took care of my family, and went to church every Sunday.” St. Peter tells her to step to the left.
  The Jewish woman tells St. Peter, “I’ve been a good woman, I made Shabbos every Friday, I went to the synagogue on the holidays and took care of my family.” St. Peter tells her to step to the right.
  She immediately asks him, “Why did you tell me to go to the right and you told the other two women to go to the left?”
  St. Peter replies, “Don’t you want to go to the beauty salon first?”

 

 

 

The Old Professor hadn’t been to a class reunion in decades.

When he walked into this latest one, he thought he recognized a woman over in the corner, so he approached her and extended his hand in greeting, saying, “You look like Helen Brown.”

“Well, you don’t look so great in blue!” the woman snapped back.

 

 

Being that there will be a LOT of grilling or as we here in Texas call it BBQing going on this weekend I thought it wise for us to review the rules on BBQ:

BBQ RULES:

We are about to enter the BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity. When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:

Routine…

1) The woman buys the food.
(2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables and makes dessert.
(3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill – drink in hand.
(4) The woman remains outside the compulsory three meter exclusion zone where the exuberance of testosterone and other manly bonding activities can take place without the interference of the woman.

Here comes the important part:

(5) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

More routine…

(6) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.
(7) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is looking great. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another drink while he flips the meat.

Important again:

(8) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.

More routine…

(9) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauce and brings them to the table.
(10) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.

And most important of all:

(11) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.
(12) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed her ‘night off,’ and, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there’s just no pleasing some women.

Latest theory says Roswell UFO was Russian craft

ROSWELL, N.M. — The world famous Roswell “incident” was no UFO but rather a Russian spacecraft with “grotesque, child-size aviators” developed in human experiments by Nazi doctor and war criminal Josef Mengele, according to a theory floated by investigative journalist Annie Jacobsen.

Her book, “Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base,” is about the secretive Nevada base called Area 51. One chapter offers the new Roswell theory, citing an anonymous source who says Joseph Stalin recruited Mengele and sent the craft into U.S. air space in 1947 to spark public hysteria.

Like past theories, Jacobsen writes that the U.S. government was involved in a cover-up of the UFO report, which has spawned space alien legend and turned this southern New Mexico town into a tourist attraction.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bizarre/7577605.html#ixzz1NO99Z07a

Trucker a human balloon after falling on compressed-air hose

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A New Zealand truck driver said he blew up like a balloon when he fell onto the fitting of a compressed-air hose that pierced his buttock and forced air into his body at 100 pounds a square inch.

Steven McCormack was standing on his truck’s foot plate Saturday when he slipped and fell, breaking a compressed air hose off an air reservoir that powered the truck’s brakes.

He fell hard onto the brass fitting, which pierced his left buttock and started pumping air into his body.

“I felt the air rush into my body and I felt like it was going to explode from my foot,” he told local media from his hospital bed in the town of Whakatane, on North Island’s east coast.

“I was blowing up like a football,” he said. “I had no choice but just to lay there, blowing up like a balloon.”

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bizarre/7580456.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+houstonchronicle%2Ftopheadlines+%28chron.com+-+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher#ixzz1NO9zMg57

Rapture radio preacher takes to airwaves tonight

With no Rapture, crestfallen followers turn to earthly concerns

OAKLAND, Calif. — Radio preacher Harold Camping said Monday his prophecy that the world would end was off by five months because Judgment Day actually will come on Oct. 21.

Camping, who predicted that 200 million Christians would be taken to heaven Saturday before the Earth was destroyed, said he felt so terrible when his doomsday prediction did not come true that he left home and took refuge in a motel with his wife.

His independent ministry, Family Radio International, spent millions — some of it from donations made by followers — on more than 5,000 billboards and 20 RVs plastered with the Judgment Day message.

But Camping said that he’s now realized the apocalypse will come five months after May 21, the original date he predicted. He had earlier said Oct. 21 was when the globe would be consumed by a fireball.

Saturday was “an invisible judgment day” in which a spiritual judgment took place, he said. But the timing and the structure is the same as it has always been, he said.

“We’ve always said May 21 was the day, but we didn’t understand altogether the spiritual meaning,” he said. “May 21 is the day that Christ came and put the world under judgment.”

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/7577987.html#ixzz1NOANy22z

Nope you are absolutely right, I cannot leave this idiot be in his holier than everyone else insanity. He’s going to keep opening his mouth and making it easy, I’m gonna keep taking the cheap shots and not look a gift jackass in the mouth!

This weekend’s Rapture failed to take place. Nobody left behind their earthly possessions to hang out in Heaven with other righteous folks.

The Top 5 Excuses for the Rapture Failing to Materialize (Part II)

5> Microsoft Apocalyptic Timing application never got upgraded after Windows Vista.
4> God’s lawyers are contesting MILLIONS of obligated removals based upon ancient, poorly worded and poorly translated contracts.
3> I don’t know, but somehow it’s Obama’s fault.
2> Rapture, shmapture. Yahweh ain’t missing the “Dancing With the Stars” finale.

and The Number 1 Excuse for the Rapture Failing to Materialize…

1> Of the four horsemen, Pestilence called in sick and Famine couldn’t find his pants.

[ Copyright 2011 by Chris White/TopFive.com ]

Finally Some Common Sense and Respect Wins Out!

Disney Won’t Trademark ‘SEAL Team 6’

Dishonorable discharge. Less than a month after a daring raid on Osama bin Laden’s secret hideout, the U.S. Navy’s SEAL Team 6 notched a victory over the Magic Kingdom.  Walt Disney Co. said it will withdraw an application to trademark the term “SEAL Team 6,” the name of the military unit that took out Osama bin Laden. Less than a week after the Navy SEAL team’s successful mission, Disney moved to patent the name in the hopes of exploiting it for toys and entertainment, making the company the butt of jokes for its greed and annoying the Navy. After the Navy filed its own trademark claim, Disney bailed out. I just want to know why someone in media relations didn’t say at the time that maybe, just maybe, this wasn’t such a good idea.

As if it wasn’t clear enough that you shouldn’t mess with Navy SEAL Team 6, Disney is now joining Osama bin Laden on the list of the unit’s recent victims. Shortly after the raid that killed the boss of al Qaeda, Disney registered a trademark application that would apply to to clothing, footwear, toys, games, Christmas ornaments, snow globes, and other items. On Thursday, however, Disney is withdrawing the trademark request, “out of deference to the Navy,” according to a spokesman, after the Navy counter filed its own applications. Disney says it is considering an ABC show about the elite squad.

The move comes after comics and other critics ridiculed the Burbank, Calif., company for trying to profit off bin Laden’s killing. Disney first made the claim two days after the world learned of the secret special-operations unit’s daring mission into the al Qaeda leader’s Pakistan compound.

“Putting a trademark on SEAL Team 6 is like copyrighting ‘The guys who stormed the beach at Normandy,'” joked “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart last week. “It belongs to all of us.”

Heads up and graphic came from here: http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet/item/disney-wont-trademark-seal-team-6/white-flag/?om_rid=NsflgD&om_mid=_BN3qbIB8bafwTl

Additional info was obtained and used from here: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/05/the-morning-fix-disney-discharges-patent-application-for-seal-team-6-universal-gets-new-marketing-ch.html

Read more about the subject here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304066504576345752703592770.html?mod=e2tw

The damned dragon got me all worked up with his Last Word yesterday. I was ready to move on to other important issues like recent developments in possible Republican Presidential Candidates and comments by Democrats on who they feared facing or discussing the Afgan Opposition Party Leaders remarks about our killing bin Laden and refusing our aid money. BUT NOOO! Impish just HAD to get me wound up on the subject on the subject of Liberal Hypocrisy. Below is my response to him, of which only a small portion (that in quotation format) appeared in the comments section of the blog:

Congrats, your issue has caused me to scrap an entire upcoming LepLaffs for being beat to the graphics you used (which I suppose you’ll say was in retaliation for my beating you to the dragon graphic the other day) as well as using material from 2 separate future Last Words of mine.

I’ll even go so far as to say yours combining the issues and links you did was masterful, I never would have considered linking it all into one.

However, I am surprised as you shock in realizing the Democrats and more non-specifically Liberals in general live in an alternate universe “Do as we say and want but do not look to us to fund it – are you seriously attempting to get us to practice what we preach on a personal level?” world which sadly has very little to do with reality. In fact interface between their world and ours is only made possible thru the use of “Liberal Lenses” which for all intensive purposes can be compared to “Beer Goggles”.

“Liberal Lenses” a.k.a. “Gullible Glasses” allow liberals to exist and interact with our reality by distorting it to match their unrealistic perceptions and expectations. The Lenses/Glasses also cause them to perceive people like Obama as geniuses with out faults, who’s failures surely MUST be someone else’s responsibility and/or short comings, preferably someone from the opposing party no longer in office. Smoke, bull shit and distorted to the point of unrecognizability facts become sacred dogma and mantras. They are a nearly impervious defense against truth reality and logic as you have seen.

Frighteningly, there was a time not so long ago that the application of “Liberal Lenses / Gullible Glasses” to an individual transforming them in to a Liberal Democrat was reserved until individuals reached college and VOLUNTARILY chose to don them and under go the Lemming Lobotomy procedure which makes them all mindless party drones re-spouting party platitudes without being able to think for themselves or any regard for the long term effects of their socialist agenda.

Now a days however liberals sneakily begin offering these reality distorting devices to GRADE SCHOOL CHILDREN thru their favorite trusted pushers of liberal-socialist toxins…TEACHERS! You yourself caught it happening to your daughter when you discovered a dose hidden in a math problem not long ago which careful phrased the concept it was OK for undocumented illegal immigrants to obtain work under the guise of helping a family member. Though subtle comments and examples such as this, certain revisionist views of history, school boards finding certain “classics” of literature no longer relevant or suitable for school libraries or reading lists as well as the adoption of touchy feelie socially/politically correct rules (the sort which result in school children wearing American Pride T-shirt being sent home because they upset the Mexican illegals who mainly disrupt the classes each day on Cinco de Mayo or get them suspended for rendering an ass whooping to the same faction when they disrespect our flag and taunt the kids to do something about it while chanting anti American slogans taught them by their parents) our children are being taught to be ashamed of being American and that standing up for ones rights and country is somehow wrong and its ok to disregard the territorial sovereignty of the US if you are poor. FURTHER they are being indoctrinated to believe it is their responsibility and duty to provide for these free loaders.

Teachers are usurping too much of parental authority and telling they parents they know better how their child should be raised and what values are appropriate for them then the parents do and this is ALL at the behest of liberals who find their way on to school boards where you basically need not have a single qualification to have access to our children’s minds during their most formative years.

When does it all stop? Perhaps a better question is if it DOESN’T stop and SOON where will we all end up? As Impish stated those college kids refused to acknowledge any responsibility or portion of the ever increasing National Debt. What’s next? They not responsible for a fair share of the taxes to pay for their programs? They not responsible to fight in wars declared by our government because they don’t agree or their person was not in charge when the decision was made? What exactly are they responsible for? Only the portions of their party’s platform and dogma that doesn’t cost them anything or that they reap benefits from?

 Seems a simple enough answer to me!

Now that you’ve smiled at least once, it’s your turn to spread the stupidity and send this to someone you want to bring a smile to (maybe even a chuckle). Send someone a copy of this e-mail or direct them to the blog better yet won’t you? We all need a good laugh, at least once a day!

I’d like to thank Lethal Leprechaun for an excellent Last Word yesterday.  I was so moved by his writings that it inspired me to a new artistic creation…..

 

 

And for some real excitement, go to the actual blog at http://dragonlaffs.com and read through the comments section.  Some really good in-fighting going on there.

Anyway, we got rocked with storms all day yesterday and most of last night.  We were up twice in the middle of the night because the tornado siren was going off, (The National Weather Service is screwing up as far as I can see, but that’s a soap box to stand on for another day)

To make a long story short, today’s issue is not what it could have been if I hadn’t been rushed this morning to do too much in too little time.  So for all of you nit-pickers out there, any and all grammatical, editorial and political mistakes, opinions, writings and attitudes are mine and mine alone and you can assume I put them there on purpose or accidently….which ever makes me look better.

Or pisses you off more.

Either way.

Now,

Okay, I just want to say, right up front, that this is WRONG!!!!!

NOBODY should be against drunk dragons!

Heard today on the news that a woman ran out of the church in the middle of her own wedding. No one heard her say anything. She just threw off her headdress and ran out the side door with a very determined expression on her face. Members of the wedding party spent the rest of the afternoon and much of the evening searching for the woman, who was still believed to be wearing her bride’s dress, but without avail.

Watch to the end….it’s well worth it.  This guy has got a great commentary.
http://www.therightscoop.com/pat-condell-justice-for-obama/ 

 

 

Oh, this is all too true.  And women just need to understand.  This is pretty much why we talk to your breasts, and stop and watch your ass as you walk away.  We can’t help it.  Our brain is no match for our penis.

 

Things are NOT always what they seem to be…
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=4meeZifCVro 

The Tonight Show With Jay Leno

• How about this whole world-coming-to-an-end thing? Look, I love Oprah too, but it was just a TV show!
• A new study found out that having money and good looks does not make you happy. On the other hand, being broke and ugly is not a day at the beach, either.
• Washington, D.C., high schools are being investigated for teachers helping students beat the standardized tests by giving them the answers or changing wrong answers for them. Where were these teachers when I was in high school?

Those who are too smart to

engage in politics 
are punished by being governed

by those who are dumber. – 
Plato
I’m not quite convinced that this is a direct quote from Plato.  I just can’t see him using the word….”dumber”… but then I did a little research (imagine, checking out a fact….took all of about 30 seconds) and found out that it is a quote from his Republic.  Thanks Diaman

“Let’s be clear on this: OBAMA did NOT kill Bin Laden. An American sailor, who Obama just a few weeks ago was debating on whether or not to PAY, did. In fact, if you remember a little less than two years ago, his administration actually charged and attempted to court-martial 3 Navy Seals from Seal Team Six, when a terrorist suspect they captured, complained they had punched him during the take down and bloodied his nose. His administration further commented how brutal they were. The left were calling them Nazi’s and Baby Killers. Now all of a sudden the very brave men they vilified, are now heros when they make his administration look good in the eyes of the public. Obama just happened to be the one in office when the CIA finally found the b…… and our sailors took him out. Essentially, Obama only gave an answer. Yes or No, to him being taken out. This is NOT an Obama victory, but an AMERICAN victory!! Forward on IF YOU AGREE!!”

Ed Schriber Col. USMC (Ret.) “Semper Fi”

This is China’s showcase to the world!
Watch closely….the lady musicians sitting on invisible chairs?
And the floating dancers!
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=6HfDeTVpinU&vq=medium

What a fantastic performance.  A MUST WATCH!

The World’s WORST Hunting Dog

Nature photographer Mircea Costina was observing a fox den when he captured this scene in a forest north of Montreal, Canada.

He said: “I have been watching this one fox family for three years since 2008. This year they had four little pups and the two parents are very protective. This one day, around 7am, I was close to their den, trying to take some pictures. Suddenly the two parents became very agitated.

In the next moments I heard a dog barking. The male looked to try and see the intruder while the female attempted to pursue him. The dog was getting very close to the den when the male saw the hound and started tracking it. Luckily the dog gave up and finally left and the family remained safe. I think he was more interested in the game of smelling the fox trace. The master recovered the dog and put him on a leash.”

http://www.lifewithdogs.tv/

As I’ve said several times before, I belong to the Air Force Emergency Management Association, and they’ve sent this special message out to us, and I’m passing it along to you guys.  The wording is directed towards my career field, but just read it to get the gist of it and you will be fine:

The Air Force Emergency Management Association

A message to all members of The Air Force Emergency Management Association

This past Sunday Joplin MO was devastated by an EF4 tornado with winds up to 198 MPH that mowed through the town. So far, 116 people have been reported dead. That’s the largest single tornado casualty number since 1953. Below are several resources to help the people of Joplin. The Red Cross is requesting donations on its site. It has also set up a site to connect families with missing loved ones. Relief Spark has a Twitter page. Those who live in the area can learn about ways to volunteer or donate supplies. There are also several Facebook pages with the same theme. The Community Blood Center of the Ozarks is in need of blood, especially type O. It has listed some donor centers in the area where you can donate. Please take a few minutes to visit these sites. You may be surprised by how you or other members of your installation/community can help. Red Cross donations Red Cross Safe and Well Relief Spark Reading Tornado May 21, 2011 Help Joplin Joplin, MO, Tornado Recover Community Blood Center of the Ozarks

My house was broken into last night by two robbers who locked me in the bathroom, and proceeded to steal all they could carry. My watchdog, “Killer”, did not alert me, and for this reason I am giving him away.

I no longer want a dog – I´m installing an electric fence and detection devices with alarms. They´re cheaper and more reliable. For those interested in adopting the dog please send an e-mail urgently.

 

A photo of “Killer” is attached below.

 

 

My office refrigerator

 

This is way cool, and whoever put it together did a GREAT job…check out misconceptionjunction.com for more cool stuff

This one is an oldie, but so funny and so apropos that it is well worth repeating here:

The Pastor’s Ass
The Pastor entered his donkey in a race and it won.

The Pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race again and it won again.

The local paper read:

PASTOR’S ASS OUT FRONT.

The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the Pastor not to enter the donkey in another race.

The next day the local paper headline read:

BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR’S ASS.
This was too much for the Bishop so he ordered the Pastor to get rid of the donkey.

The Pastor decided to give it to a Nun in a nearby convent.

The local paper, hearing of the news, posted the following headline the next day:
NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN.
The Bishop fainted.

He informed the Nun that she would have to get rid of the donkey so she
sold it to a farmer for $10.The next day the paper read:

NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10.

This was too much for the Bishop so he ordered the Nun to buy back the donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run
wild.

The next day the headlines read:

NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE.
The Bishop was buried the next day.

The moral of the story is . . . being concerned about public opinion can bring you much grief and misery . . even shorten your life.

So be yourself and enjoy life.

Stop worrying about everyone else’s ass and you’ll be a lot happier and live longer!

Why is America falling apart?  Okay, some of you out there, probably think that this country ISN’T falling apart, but even if that is your opinion, you all must agree that we are NOT the world strength that we used to be.  We are NOT the proud, responsible, integrity-filled country we used to be.  Right?
No?
Then stop reading this right now, because all it’s going to do is piss you off. (Although, if that is your opinion, you deserve to be pissed off).
If you do believe that our country is bouncing along saying, “Hey? Where are we going? and why are we in this hand basket?  Is it getting warm in here to you?” Then follow along for one of the possible reasons.
College campuses
But Impish, how can you say that?  Are you telling me that education isn’t important?
Of course education is important.  Education is probably the ONLY way we are going to get our collective asses out of the leftist, liberal, entitlement wringer that we currently find ourselves in.  But schools that don’t TEACH are educating our youth.  When colleges become brainwashing institutes for the entitlement class, then what we get is more gimme-lemmings, marching to our collective destruction.
Let’s start with this video from Oliver Darcy showing students refusing to allow their higher GPA scores to be redistributed to students who need them to graduate, yet are perfectly willing to redistribute other people’s money to help out those who aren’t willing to work as hard.
http://www.thelookingspoon.com/blog/2320-but-progressive-students-dont-want-to-redistribute-their-gpa.html 
What pisses me off the most about this, is that they refuse to see the similarity.  It’s okay to take money from people who worked for it to give it to people who didn’t, but it’s not okay to take GPA points away from people who worked for it to give it to people who didn’t?  Hmm, maybe because it affects THEM?
Can you say “Liberal Hypocrite!”

Okay, so we are back on campus again and this time, we all agree that those rotten, selfish, republican bastards want to cut spending to lower our deficit and possibly take some money away from those entitlement programs.  Nope, fucking bastards won’t take OUR money.  So instead, another option is offered…let’s see how our young people respond to being fiscally responsible…
http://www.thelookingspoon.com/april-2011/2344-liberals-dont-think-any-of-the-national-debt-belongs-to-them.html
Wow.  When asked to pony up their fair share, we are all socialists, after all, these student’s not only refused to pay their $47,000 share, they refused to even acknowledge that it was their debt!  Isn’t it so nice to see an entire college campus where none of the students were going there on ANY grant money at all….or any interest free student loans….or any…what?  You mean they ARE on grants?
Are you sure you can’t say, “Liberal Hypocrite!”?

One more.  We all agree that we believe in the first amendment.  Full throatedly believe in the freedom of speech.  Shout it from the roof-tops.  And hey, will you sign a petition to silence conservatives?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaqB_EGDLVg&feature=player_embedded
Those conservative bastards!  They don’t deserve free speech because they disagree with my free speech.

Can you say … ah, never mind.