<$BlogRSDUrl$>

Dec 30, 2006

New name for a new year? 

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Grand Duke Mike the Apocalyptic of Goosnargh on the Carpet
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I suppose this is accurately descriptive of the times one of my cats yaks a hairball onto the rug...

found at Harvey's place
|

Dec 29, 2006

YAHTZEE! 

Hey Saddam!


Of course, I prefer to remember him like this...

click pic for biggie-size
click here for more about the guy who busted Saddam in the mouth


Now if Castro would just kick in the next 48 hours, we could officially put 2006 in the running for BEST. YEAR. EVER.

UPDATE: An occasion like this calls for mellow smoothness...


Cheers.
|

Open Season remix 

If you liked Stuck Mojo's "Open Season," here's a new rendition with all sorts of extra footage from MEMRI that will make the hairs on your neck stand up. Plus, it's got the lyrics on screen, so if your ears can't listen as fast as mine (I listen to metal... a lot...) well, here ya go.

Bad language alert remains in effect. That said, set volume at 11.



See the Jawas for even more.
|

Dec 28, 2006

My Policy 

Dec 25, 2006

MERRY CHRISTMAS 

To Marines everywhere around the world, to those who know and love them, and to those who wish they were... and - oh heck - EVERYBODY: MERRY CHRISTMAS!


Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone,
In a one bedroom house made of plaster & stone.

I had come down the chimney, with presents to give
and to see just who in this home did live

As I looked all about, a strange sight I did see,
no tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.
No stocking by the fire, just boots filled with sand.
On the wall hung pictures of a far distant land.

With medals and badges, awards of all kind,
a sobering thought soon came to my mind.
For this house was different, unlike any I'd seen.
This was the home of a U.S. Marine.

I'd heard stories about them, I had to see more,
so I walked down the hall and pushed open the door.
And there he lay sleeping, silent, alone,
Curled up on the floor in his one-bedroom home.

He seemed so gentle, his face so serene,
Not how I pictured a U.S. Marine.
Was this the hero, of whom I’d just read?
Curled up in his poncho, a floor for his bed?

His head was clean-shaven, his weathered face tan.
I soon understood, this was more than a man.
For I realized the families that I saw that night,
owed their lives to these men, who were willing to fight.

Soon around the Nation, the children would play,
And grown-ups would celebrate on a bright Christmas day.
They all enjoyed freedom, each month and all year,
because of Marines like this one lying here.

I couldn’t help wonder how many lay alone,
on a cold Christmas Eve, in a land far from home.
Just the very thought brought a tear to my eye.
I dropped to my knees and I started to cry.

He must have awoken, for I heard a rough voice,
"Santa, don't cry, this life is my choice
I fight for freedom, I don't ask for more.
My life is my God, my country, my Corps."

With that he rolled over, drifted off into sleep,
I couldn't control it, I continued to weep.

I watched him for hours, so silent and still.
I noticed he shivered from the cold night's chill.
So I took off my jacket, the one made of red,
and covered this Marine from his toes to his head.
Then I put on his T-shirt of scarlet and gold,
with an eagle, globe and anchor emblazoned so bold.
And although it barely fit me, I began to swell with pride,
and for one shining moment, I was Marine Corps deep inside.

I didn't want to leave him so quiet in the night,
this guardian of honor so willing to fight.
But half asleep he rolled over, and in a voice clean and pure,
said "Carry on, Santa, it's Christmas Day, all secure."
One look at my watch and I knew he was right,
Merry Christmas my friend, Semper Fi and goodnight.

By James M. Schmidt, a Marine Lance Corporal stationed in Washington, D.C., in 1986
|

Dec 24, 2006

Merry Christmas to... 

...some of the most forgotten people in some of the most dangerous places in the world.

To Christians in -

Iraq
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Pakistan
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Indonesia
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Stay safe. May the coming year see more peace than this one.
|

Dec 22, 2006

What are we doing? 

Didn't I just say "the year's not over - we could squeeze some more in"? I just never expected US to be helping the perpetually outraged...

If you don't want to read the words of a pissed off individual, best you skip down past this post.

What's got me bent are the Haditha charges that just came down against eight Marines. A year ago, 24 people got killed in what could be best described as a house-clearing gone bad. Charges and allegations didn't didn't surface for months until Time magazine got wind of a rumor and some uncorroborated video of dead bodies - both of which are present in excess in Iraq.

But why would anybody in that town lie, right? It's not like it's an insurgent hideout and waystation on the road from Syria into central Iraq or anything... It's not like my cousin was filled full of shrapnel on it's outskirts two years ago by some dirty bastard who was just out for a pleasant afternoon drive in a car with 4 artillery rounds wired up in the trunk. No no. They all must be pillars of virtue. Right?

For those who don't know, in Iraq - and the Middle East as a whole - rumors are endless, nobody was actually there but "knows a guy who saw the whole thing," and everybody believes whatever their buddy told them about whatever the hell it was that happened. In other words, it's a lot like junior high... but with IEDs. You want irresponsible journalism? Look no further than the AP:
As word spread that charges were imminent, some Iraqis said Thursday that American troops should face justice in Iraq.

"They committed a horrible crime against innocents," Naji al-Ani, a 36-year-old laborer, said by telephone from Haditha.

Other residents of Haditha agreed.

"Are they terrorists or are they fighting terrorism?" said Jamal al-Obaidi, a 40-year-old teacher. "The trial is not fair because it is taking place in America. Executing them is the minimum penalty."
The only thing that's missing is the name of their homeroom teacher and what table they sit at in the cafeteria. Asking two random dudes in Haditha for their opinion and then throwing it into this story is some of the finest bullshit I've ever seen. Way to go AP. I knew you guys would come through.

This whole thing stinks to hell of political ass kissing. The Hamdaniya thing? Okay, I'll buy a crime and a coverup. I don't like it, but I'll buy it. It was small. This? This is huge. You want to talk about the rumor-mill going to instant high spool? THIS should have set off bells and whistles across the town, the province, and the country almost immediately. And yet somehow... NO.

I have a bad feeling we're gonna let good men swing for doing what their training called for and having a shitty outcome. To steal a line from Black Hawk Down, "It's just war." This is the nature of the beast. Bad things happen when they shouldn't. People that possibly had no reason to be killed were. But if you lock these Marines away, you're going to have to reinstate the draft, because nobody is going to want to stay in a military where you can be prosecuted for doing your job in a warzone. Hesitation gets you killed. Litigation gets you locked up. So why not stay home, right?

Merry f'n Christmas.

more at Euphoric Reality

UPDATE: The Euphoric Reality link above seems to be broken is fixed. I hope they fix it because it was damn good. Until then, read this. Like I said, junior high.
|

Dec 21, 2006

Year in review 

It's been a banner year for the R.O.P.O. I'll let Michelle Malkin do the playback for you. And hey, the year's not over... still a chance to squeeze a little more in.

The flip side to that is this: this song has hit the blogs like a tidal wave in the last week. Who am I to be different? I've downloaded the whole album from their website and have been blasting it for two days. I may even drop these guys some love and hand over the 15 bones for an actual CD. If you want the full effect, go download at least "For the Cause of Allah" and "Prelude to Anger." Listen to those, and THEN watch "Open Season," by Stuck Mojo. (The guy speaking on "For the Cause of Allah" is Walid Shoebat, by the way. Who the hell is he? THAT'S who.)

Graphic content/graphic language warning. That said, crank it.



Bonus interview with the guitarist/band founder archived at HotAir.

The first person who says that this video is just fueling Jihadist fires and hatred against America can kiss my ass. Remember, it DOESN'T MATTER what we do. We could sit around with our thumbs up our rectums and they'd still want us dead. Ain't NOBODY wondered why Hitler and Tojo wanted to kill us, so the next person to ask "Why do they hate us?" is getting thrown under a bus. It's time for some good old fashioned hatred of the people who hate us.
|

Dec 17, 2006

Going by the book 

Of course, sometimes - depending on who wrote it - the book will get you killed.

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

click the image for the rest of the story at Day by Day
|

Dec 13, 2006

WOW 

Somebody put this guy on CNN… or better yet, al-Jazeera…
"If we want to be democratic, we must be so by ourselves. But the preconditions for democracy do not exist in Arab society, and cannot exist unless religion is reexamined in a new and accurate way, and unless religion becomes a personal and spiritual experience, which must be respected.

"On the other hand, all issues pertaining to civil and human affairs must be left up to the law and to the people themselves."

"I don't understand what is happening in Arab society today. I don't know how to interpret this situation, except by making the following hypothesis: When I look at the Arab world, with all its resources, the capacities of Arab individuals, especially abroad - you will find among them great philosophers, scientists, engineers, and doctors. In other words, the Arab individual is no less smart, no less a genius, than anyone else in the world. He can excel - but only outside his society."

"The Muslims today - forgive me for saying this - with their accepted interpretation [of the religious text], are the first to destroy Islam, whereas those who criticize the Muslims - the non-believers, the infidels, as they call them - are the ones who perceive in Islam the vitality that could adapt it to life. These infidels serve Islam better than the believers."
The more I study, and the more I learn, I have come to the belief that Islam the religion has been supplanted by Islam the political movement. After reading this guy's analysis, I'd say he agrees. And he would know. Here's his bio. It sounds like he's a fairly well-known individual within arab culture and his opinions may not garner much support, but they at least stir some controversy and thought in that region. Maybe he's already been on al-Jazeera, then? I don't know, but he should get a weekly gig. Maybe daily.

Also interesting was his commentary from two years ago regarding the wearing of veils by Muslim females, especially in secular nations.
The well-known Syrian author and poet Ali Ahmad Sa'id, also known as Adonis, had harsh criticism of the veil as a symbol of social separatism. In an article titled "Concealing The Head or the Mind?" he maintained that all of the opinions requiring Muslim women to wear veils are no more than interpretations, and therefore obligate only those who believe in them. He explains that Muslims who want to impose the veil constitute a political minority, and thus that "Muslims and Westerners should deal with them not as representative of a religion but as a mere political party." According to Adonis, accentuating a different personal identity within the general unifying identity is a sign of separatism rather than of integration in society:

"One of the simple rules that Muslims [in the West] should know, especially those who have acquired citizenship in their countries of residence, is how to draw the line between the public and the private, between personal beliefs and common social values, because there is no alternative to adherence to the common values, especially those of educational and civil institutions. Muslims who are committed to the veil should understand that their commitment means that they do not respect the feelings of other people who live in the same motherland, that they do not hold the same values, that they denigrate the foundation of [other people's] lives and belittle the laws … and repudiate the republican democratic principles of their adopted country which gave them work and freedom…

"Those who call for the imposition of the veil are a minority among Muslims in the West as well as in the Arab world… This Muslim minority, which lives in the West, is trying – instead of respecting democracy and its principles – to disavow it and to forcefully impose its ideas not only on Muslims, but on democracy itself… All facts indicate that this group is nothing but a political minority. Muslims and Westerners should deal with them not as representative of a religion but as a mere political party."
|

Dec 11, 2006

Today's "warm and fuzzy" brought to you by... 

…the incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
The dialogue went like this:

Al Qaeda is what, I asked, Sunni or Shia?

“Al Qaeda, they have both,” Reyes said. “You’re talking about predominately?”

“Sure,” I said, not knowing what else to say.

“Predominantly — probably Shiite,” he ventured.

He couldn’t have been more wrong.

Al Qaeda is profoundly Sunni. If a Shiite showed up at an al Qaeda club house, they’d slice off his head and use it for a soccer ball.
It only gets better from there. Pardon me as I do an Alka-Seltzer shooter with my whiskey...

h/t to this guy and that guy
|

Dec 10, 2006

Wonder-twin powers, ACTIVATE! 

FORM OF... JACKASS!

In this case, twin 1 threatened to sue and twin 2 folded like oragami. 'Tis the season...
SEATAC, Wash. — For people flying in and out of the Seattle area, there will be no holiday spirit to accompany the holiday travel season.

In response to a rabbi's request to add an 8-foot menorah to holiday decorations, officials at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport instead decided to remove all nine Christmas trees.

Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky made the request weeks ago, when he demanded officials add a menorah next to the trees and threatened to file a lawsuit if his request wasn't honored.

Instead, officials decided to remove holiday decorations as a whole.
I wish I could write this off as Seatown merely maintaining it's long-standing, socialistic, PC-based tendencies. But these days, I wouldn't be surprised to see this kind of stuff happen anywhere. What a crock.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

And lest anyone think I'm blaming the JOOOS (with the exception of Wonder-twin 1)...

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Get over yourselves, all you Politically Correct dirtbags!

UPDATE: Well, at least SOMEBODY has some balls... and bells, and lights too I'd guess...
SEATAC, Wash. — The official Christmas trees may still be missing from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, but a few individual airline employees have decided to try to put some spirit back into the holiday.

Employees at both Delta and Frontier airlines took up a collection on Monday and bought a few foot-tall decorated trees for the check-in counter.
At this point, SeaTac is almost a magnet for the flying imams as part of their World Outrage Tour. Stay tuned...
|

IED Hunter 

This has been around for awhile now apparently, but I kept missing it. You may call it silly and stupid and a waste of your tax-dollar. But as funny as it is, guess what? These guys are EOD, they know how to handle this stuff, and this sort of presentation is what will stick in the brain of a LCpl when he's out on a convoy when some sort of dry schoolhouse class won't. So, without further delay, I happily present, "IED Hunter."



found via Dude, where's the beach?
|

Dec 8, 2006

The "Mad-Real" World 

With all this talk about the "realist" members of the Iraq Study Group, and what by all accounts is their very "real" view that Iran and Syria are places where ponies eat ice cream and play in meadows with puppy dogs under rainbows - while helping stabilize Iraq, and doing so because the JOOOS gave up parts of Israel - let me say this:

HUH?

You want REAL? Glance at my post from yesterday, and then see what Ace has to say... THAT'S real.

Once again, Cox & Forkum with the picture worth the thoundsand words.
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Click it... you know you want to...
|

Dec 7, 2006

Oh really? 

Former Turkish Prime Minister (and apparent history major) Necmettin Erbakan, unleashed this fun fact when discussing the Pope's recent visit to Turkey:
"All humanity, including the Pope, owes everything to Islam and to our Prophet. It was Islam that taught humanity about cleanliness, about knowledge, about God's work, and about all the core elements of happiness. Whatever this man called the Pope knows about being clean, whatever he knows about numbers - including his ability to add and subtract - he acquired from the Muslims, who created science and gave it to the world."
This came as shocking news to Aristotle, Archimedes, Imhotep, Liu Hui, the guys who built Stonehenge, the creators of the Antikythera Mechanism, and a whole assload of Mayans, all of whom walked the planet anywhere from hundreds to thousands of years before Mohammed and Allah became penpals. Remember what I was just saying about propaganda? But once we all convert and find out about "the core elements of happiness," I see this whole 'historical timeline' thing not really being a problem anymore...
|

Don't just KNOW thy enemy. DEFEAT him. 

Today is Pearl Harbor Day. I've already done the retrospective and comparative thing here. In the interest of once again drawing out some parallels between America's last "great war" and this one, today I offer the following. I don't know who John Lewis is, but I just read a lengthy article by him and have already determined that he will be my Secretary of Defense Minister of War when I become Overlord of the Universe.

"No Substitute for Victory" - The Defeat of Islamic Totalitarianism


I cannot possibly do this any justice by quoting snippets. You must read it all. But if pictures are worth a thousand words, I submit this:

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

We defeated one group. What about the other?

And if you still aren't convinced by Lewis, take another 20 minutes to read Jeffery Goldberg.

Inside Jihad U: The Education of a Holy Warrior


It's a PRE-9/11 article about the Taliban in Afghanistan, but still plenty relevant (to more places than Afghanistan). Unless we get to the heart of the problem, THIS is the face of the enemy...

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

If that's not scary, I don't know what is.
|

Dec 6, 2006

Non-shocker of the day 

Christian Mobs Riot After Bible Desecration

Oh, wait... no they didn't.

Exit question: who's more screwed up? - Christians who DON'T kill anyone or break anything when a crusifix is diplayed in a jar of urine and a portrait of the Virgin Mary is covered in elephant dung, OR Muslims who DO kill people and burn buildings down when someone draws a cartoon of Mohammed or even hints that Korans are being flushed at Gitmo... which they weren't...

Discuss...
|

Dec 5, 2006

It's just tiresome 

You know, I really expect more from people when it comes to propaganda. For starters, know the capabilities of the stuff you're talking about. In regards to the recent unfortunate crash of a CH-46:
A group that calls itself the Islamic State of Iraq posted a sign on a nearby mosque in Haditha announcing that the helicopter had 30 passengers on board and had been downed, according to a resident who read the sign.
Sorry, jackasses, but the last time a Phrog carried 30 guys was… um… NEVER. Oh you could fit them in (maybe). But the gross weight of that aircraft would preclude it from leaving the deck. And as far as it being shot down, I can assure you that was not the case. This was accidental and/or mechanical in nature - there was no enemy fire involved. The "Islamic State of Iraq" is also claiming the recent downing of an F-16 as their handiwork. At this point I almost expect them to say they shot down the F-18 that crashed at Miramar last week, too.

Of course, they also happily confess to the murder of many people in and around Baghdad. THAT particular claim I believe (though there's no telling if their numbers are as high as they say). Just visit the Salafist kool-aid dispensers at Jihad Unspun to catch up on the latest press releases from these clowns.

Misinformation and deceit. It's not just for the AP anymore.
|

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Weblog Commenting by HaloScan.com