I was watching Fox News Sunday this morning and noticed the exchanges between Britt Hume and Juan Williams continue to be more heated than normal. Of course it could be that Juan has turn completely left leaving any moderate views or common sense in the wind. His take on the people of Iraq supporting Al-Sadr is revealing. Since only a small number of Iraqis seem to support this idiot. But let’s not let facts get in the way….
What would the Middle East look like had the US stood up against the Iranian Revolution? Do you know where Khomeni orchestrated the overthrow of the Shah? Oui?
I can’t say I have big plans for this memorial weekend. I’ll probably just hang out around the house, grill some burgers and have a few beers. There are some events going on around here but I’m not really a crowd person. I do watch the ceremonies on TV though. I am sorry I missed the [b][url=http://www.kktv.com/news/head...]3rd ACR ceremony yesterday [/url][/b] at Ft Carson. I unfortunately had to travel upstate and missed the whole thing. I did catch some of it on the news. It looked like a very fitting tribute to the fallen soldiers. I’m not part of the 3rd ACR just a fellow soldier and I now have a new respect for the ACR.
[i]During the course of their service, this group earned more than 400 awards for valor and 233 purple hearts. But 49 members of 3ACR never made it home. One of them was SGT Michael DiRaimondo. He was a flight medic and his chopper was shot down during a mission. "He had a burning passion to fly and do what he's doing with his medical talent," says his father. The fallen soldier’s family was on hand, as a new clinic was named in his honor. [/i]
Here is another good move. Part of highway 115 was dedicated to the Vietnam Veterans.
[i][b][url=http://www.kktv.com/news/head...][i]Highway 115 along Fort Carson was literally the “Road to Vietnam” for thousands of soldiers during one of the toughest times in American history. So it was only appropriate that that stretch of road be renamed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway[/i].[/url] [/b][/i]
This goes well with the portion of I-25 named the Ronald Reagan Highway.
Quite often people ask me what freefall parachuting is like. Now Im not an expert jumper. Ive spent some time on a freefall team in the military but to me it was just part of the job. Others Ive known would take their free time to jump even more. I explain that the first jump is not quite the same as the later jumps.
When I went through the Armys military freefall course it was held entirely at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, home of the 82nd Airborne and Special Forces. The course was held in the new JFKSWC building. This was in late 1993. The course has now moved to Arizona where I hear they get many more jumps than we did due to much better weather.
My first jump was from a Cassa 212. I love this aircraft. It reminds me of a mini C-130. I had a Marine instructor and was one of two students he would be jumping with and grading. Our first leap that day would be a poised exit. This is an exit where you stand on the ramp of the aircraft facing inward. You step backwards with your hands slightly angled out at your sides until you level off then go to the normal freefall position.
Was I scared? Well hell yes I was scared. I dont care what anybody tells you, jumping from a plane is not a normal function. At 12,500 ft its even more abnormal. But I wasnt going to say no at this point. The Gunny positioned the two of us on the ramp with only the balls of our feet touching. I would say how I felt inside at that moment but it would ruin my steely eyed killer image.
As we got the go he lightly pushed us back and away we went. On the first jump your not really expected to do a whole lot. Getting stable is the primary mission. If you accomplish that you may do a left and a right turn. The whole time our instructor was watching the both of us from above. They tend to key in on the jumper that has the hardest time.
We both landed well and the Gunny came up to me for a few questions. Describe the jump to me he asked. Well we jump out and I remember my chute opening and I landed I replied. Yeah but tell me what you saw he continued. I dont remember seeing anything, I really cant remember much of the jump at all He laughed. Yeah the first couple our like that. Youll become more aware as you get used to this.
No kidding I couldnt tell you anything about that jump. It felt like only seconds and at that time I had absolutely zero air awareness. By the end of the course jumping was much better and I remembered nearly everything on the last jump. After a year on a freefall team it was even a little fun.
I looked out of my window this morning to see a crystal clear sky with a great view of Pikes Peak. I like the early weekend mornings when Im not working. Its usually quiet except for the chirping of the birds. The winds are calm but I know they will pick up as the day goes on. Its a good time to have a cup of coffee and relax. I think Ill try to watch Fox News Sunday now, that is until the rest of the house wakes up and my free time is gone.
Ok go over to [b][url=http://www.ejectejecteject.co...]Eject Eject Eject [/url] [/b]and read "Strength". It is one of the best written essays I've read.
With Gas prices raising it's not a surprise to hear people calling for release of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. But that misses the point. It's an emergency reserve not an inconvenient reserve. But there will continue to be those that use anything against this administration. Will it work? Well not with me but then I'm a little biased. The Kerry campaign has jumped on this but isn't this a little weak? Just my thoughts.
I grew up watching creature features every weekend. The original universal horror movies were a staple of my movie diet. So I looked forward to the new film Van Helsing. But I was worried. How would this new film handle such classics characters as Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolfman? Would they be turned into a joke?
Everyone knows from Dracula that Van Helsing was the scientist the helped to find and eventually destroy Dracula. In the book and films he was an older feeble man plodding along the trail of the great vampire. Well now he is nothing like that. He has instead become somewhat of a superhero, charged by a secret Vatican order to hunt down evil creatures all over the world.
Here Dracula has an evil plan to bring his children alive with the use of the Frankenstein monster. Apparently children of the undead need a little something extra to get going.
This movie is a cross between a Victorian James Bond and Batman. How well does that work? Well for me it was entertaining but did lack something. The pace was certainly fast and the special effects were a bit too computer generated. I wish more character development would have taken place. That isnt to say its a bad movie though. This is definitely a Saturday afternoon movie. Not something the tugs at you hours later. It was good fun I just thought it could have been a little bit more.
One very good note is that Kate Beckinsale who plays the last surviving member of a family sworn to kill Dracula is smoking hot in this movie.
[b][url=http://news.yahoo.com/news?tm...]As others condemned the reported abuse of Iraqi prisoners, U.S. Sen. James Inhofe on Tuesday expressed outrage at the worldwide outrage over the treatment by American soldiers of those he called "terrorists" and "murderers." [/url] [/b]
[i]A 26-year-old American from Pennsylvania was beheaded to avenge the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers, and the militants who killed him videotaped the crime and posted it on a radical Islamist Web site.[/i]
Will there be an outcry? Will congress ask for an apology? Will the EU wring there hands? Nope.
[i]The level of national trauma over this event shows how many people are stupid about warfare. It shows that they have no clue about what the stakes are. It shows they have no clue as to how real humans behave outside of Starbucks and expensive restaurants and suburbia.[/i]
We have pulled back in Fallujah and let Iraqi take control of the security there. Iraqis that many by their own words appear to support the insurgents. We continue to tip-toe around Al-Sadr and his men as they congregate openly in Mosque calling for the taking of female slaves. On Sunday night we apparently bombed Sadrs Baghdad office. On Monday Sadr called for a new offensive against the US. What are we doing? Are we so afraid that we will hurt their feelings? Why havent we bombed or sent troops directly to Sadr? I am in full support of this administration but I wonder if the bureaucrats have taken control of the Pentagon once again.
It is my opinion that a swift all out victory is the way to save lives and put Iraq on the quickest path to democracy. Half hearted attempts will only prolong the fight and in the end cost many more American lives. Insurgent leaders that pop their heads up should have them removed immediately.
To those that think this current strategy will work. I hope your right. But every incident now only fuels the left and traitors of democracy.
It looks like [url=http://apnews.myway.com/artic...][b]Al Gore will get his Cable Network[/b]. [/url] But the thing I noticed in the article was this quote.
[i]Gore said the network will be "an independent voice in this industry" with a primary target audience of people between 18 and 34 "who want to learn about the world in a voice they recognize and a view they recognize as their own."[/i]
View they recognize as their own? So they cant recognize normal news about the world? Humm, a little patronizing already dont you think.
This is also interesting:
[i]The programming will continue to be provided by Canadian Broadcasting Corp., officials said. Well who better I guess..[/i]
[b]Fallujah: [/b] Well Ive been relatively quite on this but this latest idea is pure BS. We have lost in Fallujah, not due the abilities of the Marines but the inability of our command to understand that in stopping the assault and now pulling back to let Iraqis take over areas our Marines took control of is a huge show of weakness. Yes, we still maintain the ability to go back at anytime but we have lost the respect of the residents of Fallujah. The insurgents have won in their eyes by simple not losing. I predict this will become a larger problem now. If we would have simply went in and completed the mission whatever the cost we could have won this battle and moved on weeks ago. Will the Iraqis patrol the area? Sure, but how many weapons do you think they will find? How many insurgents will they arrest? The answer to both is either none or very few.
It appears we really dont have the will to fight a war.
[b]Now to the pictures showing US forces abusing Iraqi prisoners:[/b] Well I have two things on this subject. First, so far I havent seen any torture, humiliation yes, but no torture. So to the Arab street that is yelling so loudly I say get bent.
To the soldiers involved if proved true, I hope they all receive a court-martial and jailed. What they have done was not an act in the heat of battle or self defense. They have brought disgrace to themselves, their military units and the United States. They have by their adolescent acts done more harm then killing over 600 insurgents could have. They are not fit to wear the uniform.
