For The Boys

I was outside tonight handing out candy for Trick-Or-Treat because the weather was superb here in the great Northeast. We had a pumpkin luminary runway of sorts up the driveway and I was handing out Hershey bars at the end of the "runway". My neighbor came over to BS while we were passing time and he told me a hilarious story. He's a Colonel and returned in the last year from his second stint in Iraq. We were both complaining about the amount of money we put back into our houses and he was telling me how some of the guys spend their military pay when they return from Iraq. It seems pretty popular to buy a Harley when you return. One guy that he knows has a wife who controls the purse strings. When he returned he started talking about the Harley and how a lot of guys get them when they come back to the states. He even took her out Harley shopping. She was against it. They had kids. She thought it was dangerous. He kept mentioning it and went to look at them again. One night he cornered her to have a serious talk about it. He expressed again how much he'd like one. She was totally honest with him and told him her fears and concerns. After talking about it with her he finally relented and asked if he gave up the Harley, could he at least get something smaller, like a nice flat panel HDTV. Happily, she said "Yes" and why wouldn't she? A flat screen TV is safe and even a top of the line model is a fraction of what a Harley would cost. In the end, she got what she wanted.....but so did he. You see, it was an elaborate plan to get the TV the entire time. Sweet Jesus, I love it when a plan comes together.

Iraq Numbers

Still A South sent me an email this morning that had a bunch of interesting tidbits about Iraq in it. It's a little long and contained too many pictures to post it all here, but a few of the items really do make you stop and go "hmmmmmmmmm". Some of the interesting "bullets":

A lot of arguments against the war in Iraq start something like this: "Iraq didn't attack us, why did we attack Iraq?" Well, did Germany attack us leading into WWII? I don't think so. It's an interesting point and should be made anytime someone starts with that question. I also don't remember Vietnam attacking us. Hmmmm. Did Korea ever attack us? Did Bosnia? Since when does somebody have to attack us before we are moved to action? I've been on record many times saying Bush should have just stated the obvious - we are going to show the world what happens when you even think about harboring terrorists...we will overthrow your government. like Dennis Miller said, there were 3 or 4 asshole leaders we could have proved our point with. Saddam was the most logical and drew the short straw. Now, maybe it hasn't been run 100% effectively since it started, but I loved the idea in the beginning and I still like the idea now. I will admit however that since it got bogged down a little - it will make it harder to get people on board the next time a good ass kicking is needed.

People call this another Vietnam. Um, not quite. You might want to hold off on that statement until about 2013 and 54,000 more US deaths. Then you can compare it to Vietnam.

Another interesting fact is the number of US deaths. Yes, every single one is important and none of them are trivial, but Detroit averages the same number of murders per month as US combat deaths in Iraq. Where is the outcry over that? What about other major US cities. What about minor cities? What about DUI deaths? What about incorrect prescription deaths? What about.....? What about......? What about.......? You get my point.

Anyway, not a political rant, but some good things to think about.

Sheehan To Appear On American Idol

Attention seeking Cindy Sheehan will appear this season on Fox's American Idol according to our sources. After failing to cause more than a few local reporters to show up for her latest "stunt", Sheehan has been looking for other avenues to get her message across. During a taping of episode II, she belted out "Billy, Don't Be A Hero" which Simon Cowell called "the single worst performance ever on the show." She did not get a golden ticket to Hollywood leaving her distressed and almost broken. Asked what her future plans are, she is trying to get in the cast for The Surreal Life next season and hopes to hook up with Flavor Flav - extending her 15 minutes of fame to 16 or possibly 17 minutes. We're tired of you, Cindy. Go home.

Saddam Hussein Dead

No picture, no story. It just feels good to type it and say it.

Maybe People Are Worrying About The Wrong Issues

This article has questionable statistics, but raises a very valid arguement in my opinion. The stats might not be that far off either. I cringe when I hear people compare Iraq to Vietnam. Most sources show 58,000+ US deaths in Vietnam. Iraq is still far under 5,000, less than 10% of deaths in Vietnam. Not that this makes it any more right or wrong in some people's eyes, just look at how other American's are dying before claiming the only reason we should leave Iraq is because of the death count. This article of deaths caused by illegal immigrants is very interesting indeed.

Troops Respond To Kerry

Brilliant!

Kerry Is The Joke

John Kerry is so anti-military he just made a complete sector of voters angry with him. In a speech to college students, he said - and i'm paraphrasing - "if you don't study and succeed in educating yourself, you'll end up in Iraq". Nice. So, he's basically calling our military stupid and saying it is a last resort if you can't cut it mentally in college. Wow. I bet the soldiers in Iraq appreciated hearing that. Not only are republicans calling for an apology, some democrats currently running for office have cancelled appearances with him. See, what happened here is classic truth telling. If you let someone yap long enough, their true feelings will come out. This is how he really feels about today's military. I'm not even sure I buy into the arguement of "who knows better about war than someone who served in one?". There are people that work at companies for 20 years yet could not even begin to run the same company...maybe not even manage a small portion of it. That's why I hate that logic. Donald Trump is a real estate tycoon. However, I guarantee you that he can run the IT company I work for better than anyone else that's been at the same company for 10-15 years. Hands down. Kerry tried to play this off as a joke. Sadly, he's the only joke surrounding this story.

Scare Piece? You Be The Judge.

You can either simply dismiss this as a scare piece of journalism or you can start building a bunker in your basement. Either way - reading it makes me feel many different things. I don't know whether to wish for world harmony or to wish the westies would simply wipe the planet clean of Islamic militants....collateral damage be damned. Violence seems to be the only thing they understand. One word - "Hiroshima". What if we just blow a couple of cities off the face of the planet? I guarantee you that if a nuclear bomb is ever detonated on our soil, I can easily name about 6 cities that I'd start with. It's silly to even say things like that, but when you read something so offensive - what are our real options?

Andrew Velez, My New Hero

You may have seen the headline today or at least heard the soundbite...the Velez family of Texas lost their second son to the war on terrorism. What a lot of news outlets are hiding in the soundbites and at the bottom of stories is the fact that when his brother Freddy was killed in Fallujah, Andrew was given the option to return home and leave Afghanistan. I don't need to go into detail about how some of the left likes to paint the war on terror. You'd almost think our guys are being held there against their will from what you hear from the TV talking heads. When given the option to return home, Andrew Velez decided that what he was doing was making a difference and he wanted to stay. He was part of the team searching for Osama Been Hiden. This guy wanted to serve his country and serve it well. Well, serve it well he did. Our heroes should not be people that hit dimpled or stitched balls far. Our heroes shouldn't be giants that can throw footballs 70 yards or run people over when carrying one. Our heroes shouldn't be musicians that play music in front of 50,000 fans at a time or actors that make Hollywood magic. Our heroes should be people that are half a world away, helping to prevent the next terrorist attack. Our heroes should be Pat Tillman and Andrew Velez, two men who didn't have to sign up, but did because they believed in the cause and wanted to make a difference. My heart goes out to this family and I hope they know how much people like myself appreciate their sacrifice.

...And Speaking Of Animals

This is embarassing. As we try and try to get respect for what we're accomplishing in Iraq, news like this makes me sick. It just goes to show that even in the greatest country in the world - animals live to torment others. All the details aren't out yet, but I can;t think of one reason to kill the younger sister, unless she was pointing a gun at you....and even that would be a tough call. I think this idiot should be put to death if all the allegations are true. I also think the other 3 in the house need to be charged as well as the other soldier who knew what happened but wasn't there. We are there to clean up Iraq. How on Earth are we supposed to get them to stop hating us and respect us when a renegade group of pathetic cowards like this running around. I'm pro defense in a big way which means this is a tough pill to swallow. Happy 4th. Just think how that Iraqi family feels. Wow.