As some of you know I’m an Oakland Raider fan and while they have been playing pretty poorly this year tonight makes it all worthwhile.  Tonight in freezing temperatures the Raiders beat the Denver Broncos.  Now this wasn’t a blowout and frankly I’m surprised as hell.  But I’ll take a win over the Bronco’s any day.

I just wish I had cable tonight so I could have watched the game.  Sometimes it sucks being a cheap bastard.

But this is how the game is supposed to be played. 

Living here in Colorado I take much pleasure in hounding Bronco’s fans that I work with.  I’ve had to be pretty quite lately but tonight I’ve been given enough ammo for a couple of weeks.  LOL

For you Aussies this is about American football…..

Raiders  25

Broncos 24

The guys over at Diplomad have a great post that explains why I distrust the UN.  Check it out.....

Immigration has been a hot topic lately.  The borders have taken new focus as the War on Terror continues.  It’s obvious if you talk to a few border patrol agents that the borders are pretty open and they aren’t allowed to do much about it.  While I think progress has been made on this front the fear of alienating well aliens seems to be the major political road block.  This really isn’t my area so I’ll only give a little opinion here. 

I think most people passing across the border are hard working people looking for a way to better their lives and their families.  Unfortunately we can’t just leave the doors open because some good people can’t survive well in their own country.  There was a time when this was possible and good for a growing nation.  That time has passed.

Now is a time when the security of our nation dictates we take a stronger stand and close the borders to those that would do us harm. 

Is there a way to let workers in and not terrorist?  I believe so but in the end it will still depend on complete enforcement of the immigration laws and more people to process legal workers.

It will also depend on prosecution of those that do not enforce the law or employers that knowingly hire illegals. 

And guess what folks I’m more concerned with our northern border than the southern one.

Is there room for more than a simple a black and white “it’s the law” mentality? Sure there is.  There are exceptions and should be.  There are numerous cases where I would not want the individual to be deported since they have contributed to the overall society here.  So I’m not a “throw’em all out” Person on this issue. Matter of fact those that serve in the military should be rewarded in my opinion. 

Damn, I’m almost a liberal on this issue. 

Michelle Malkin of course has been writing about this for a long time so check her site out.  She's a little right of me on this one though.

On the Marine who shot the insurgent laying on the floor in the Mosque, well life sucks being a bad guy in Fallujah these days.  Look, the hype that this is getting is the media making a fuss about nothing.  There are a couple of things to consider about this incident.  One was the environment.  This was a combat situation where the Marines were basically clearing the rooms.  This is a high stress moment, much like a cop breaking into a crack house.  The Marine made a judgment call in favor of safety.  He did not take the individual out and shoot him in the back of the head (like was done to the Iraqi soldiers recently) The Marines had taken fire from this position earlier.  Two, what were his rules of engagement?  This is very important.  This is much more important than the Geneva Conventions which are not normally read by your average Marine or Soldier to any great extent.  In a land far away at another time I worked under the ROE of “you may use deadly force if you feel you life or the life of others is in danger”.  That was basically it.  Now that’s a pretty wide ROE and leaves much room for user discretion.  Also gives you some wiggle room if brought up on charges.  Three, is the recent events where bodies were booby trapped and the recent event of the Marine being shot.  Again to me it seems he has a lot to work with if charged with anything.

Should he be charged?  My opinion is of course hell no.  He was doing his job, which is to kill terrorist.  The un-uniformed combatant would normally be considered a spy in normal wars so hell execution seems ok anyway.  The bigger question is, how would this effect operations and unit morale. Would Marines and Soldier now hesitate and risk their lives and the men around them for those that kill women and behead civilians?  Screw that.

In a span of about a week the United States with Iraqi forces took Fallujah from the hands of terrorist.  A base of operations that supported numerous killings and bombings is now gone.  While this is not the end of the insurgents it is a major blow.  An insurgent or Guerilla force must have bases to operate from.  Like any military or political force it must have a logistical train to keep it rolling.  Fallujah was a major supply and planning base for the insurgents.  That base is now gone. 

The doom and gloomers predicted mass casualties from our military and the civilian population.  Once again they have been proven wrong.  One would think after the many time these sources are wrong the major media would quit paying attention to them.  Civilians were gone from Fallujah for the most part and those that were left welcomed the house cleaning of the US / Iraqi forces.  The killing houses, the dead bodies, the signs telling of the penalty for disobeying the insurgents paint a truer picture of reality in Fallujah under these murderers than the left wing enemies of freedom who claim we are causing more harm then good.

The enemies of Iraqi freedom have dispersed and are attempting to disrupt the country with violence and intimidation, but they are on their last legs.  This latest spree of violence is an act of desperation.  They are losing and losing badly.  You cannot lose thousands of your fighters and claim progress in your cause.  The Iraqi people are not supporting the insurgents and the outside state sponsors will soon feel the penalty of their support.  Yes the individual number of violent acts is higher today than a couple of months ago but have no fear the vine is rotting.

US forces have done a remarkable job in the entire Afghanistan and Iraqi theaters.  The discipline and professionalism will be remembered and talk about for years in many military arenas.  The issues of Abu Ghraib will be seen in their true perspective as an exception and not the rule. A military force that US detractors claimed would quit when the going got tough has once again shown the reality of US resolve.  When put to the test an unorthodox group of mongrels with a history much younger than the elite Europeans will continue to redefine world ideas.  While they sink further into irrelevance.

More to come later tonight.

Yeah,yeah. I know I haven't posted much.  But hey I'm busy here.  I do plan on posting quite a bit this weekend so bare with me.

Just a quick post. While reading through the news I caught an article on the CNN web site about blogs. “Conference on blogs' news impact” What caught my eye was the reference to Anna Marie Cox of Wonkette.  See, I’ve been to her blog and Frankly don’t understand the attention she gets.  I’ve never found her blog informative, insightful or even interesting.  But like most things in life if promoted by the right people anyone can be a star.  There are so many better blogs out there. 

Aha maybe I’m just jealous.

If its about women bloggers hell just click on any of the links on the left here and you'll find better.

The Incredibles are incredible.  I went to see this movie yesterday and had a great time.  It’s like James Bond as a super hero family.  The Main character is Bob Parr (voiced my Craig T. Nelson) a super hero retired from the business after too many lawsuits make superheroing more trouble than the government wants.  So all the “supers” are put into the superhero relocation program.  Doom to the “normal” life. 

This of course is killing Bob who is now an insurance salesman working for a company that cares more for profits than helping people. When he blows up at work one day and gets fired he is lured back into the superhero business, all the while not telling his wife who is also a retired superhero. 

Frozone is cool too. Wish they would have shown more of him.(voiced by Samuel Jackson.

There is action, laughs, suspense and much more.  Heck this would have made a good live action movie.

This movie was lots of fun.  The writing was witty and the music score was much like the 007 movies.  This is another Pixar hit.   Do they make bad movies at Pixar?

Those that see potential in the future of the Palestinian need only have watched the spectacle of Yasser Arafat’s burial in Ramallah.  Complete Chaos ruled the day.  Gunmen everywhere shooting blindly into the air and people overcome by the crowds.  Palestinian security forces fired into the air themselves to calm the crowds.  What a great tactic that is. 

There will be much work to do if the Palestinians are to have any chance of a democratic state.  This is work that must be done by the Palestinians themselves.  While news organizations focus on the initiatives President Bush and Prime Minister Blair talked about today the fact is Israel and the Palestinians are the only ones that can make peace a reality.

One interesting aspect of this funeral and burial was Suha Arafat decision to stay in Egypt and not travel with her husbands’ body to Rumallah her home town for the burial itself.  It would appear the image of a gold digger using Arafat for his money is true.  She certainly isn’t trying to hide that.  But then with the money she now will receive why worry what people think.

All in all the pomp and ceremony was pretty elaborate for a leader of terrorist.

You know I don’t know why I do it to myself but once again I’ve visited the wonderfully dumb blog of Winston Smith. His post earlier today was titled, “Honoring America’s Veterans”.  But of course it has nothing to do with honoring veterans.  It’s just another wackos attempt to use Soldiers for political hacking.  What a piece of shit.  But I’ll give the links just for the hell of it.  Read them leave comments if you desire but it won’t make any difference.  The wackos are brain dead. 

Winston Smith

Here are some others just to get you going.  I read them for the same reason one watches the twin towers fall, to remind myself what kind of people are out there.

Checkitout

Patiotacts

All or the one of them needs a good thump in the middle of their forheads. Then sent to bed without a night light.

I haven’t written much about the siege of Fallujah.  There are better bloggers out there willing to do the heavy lifting on this.  But I have noticed a few things.  The media coverage is an interesting contrast to what I find on the blogging sites.  I guess in their self proclaimed need to be “fair” every major media report is filled with unconfirmed reports of civilian casualties, the fear of enormous US wounded and killed and how this action will destabilize the country.   

The fact is, at this point the operation appears to be moving along just fine.  Will there be deaths?  No doubt.  But I would be willing to bet most will be insurgents.  The current numbers are 10 to 15 thousands US and Iraqi forces moving in on about 3 thousand insurgents.  Does anyone really doubt the outcome?  I don’t. 

Sites to check out for analysis and news.   

The Belmont Club

The Adventures of Chester

Strategypage.com

Blogs of War   

The Command Post 

A jump from a C-130 is a normal event for a paratrooper.  However in Colorado at and elevation of nearly 6000 feet the opening shock can be dizzying.  We jumped Saturday night.  The weather appeared to be perfect.  Winds were low.  The ceiling was high.  We left Buckley Air Force base just after dark.  I was designated as a jumpmaster pushing a bundle in the right side door. 

At the 20 minute mark we began to prepare the bundles, one in each door.  My bundle was a bit difficult to attach.  The connector was not coopera ting but with some help and after a few minute we managed to get the bundle in front of the door and ready. 

Once the doors were open I did my outside check and readied the bundle for a quick shove.  At this point we had not established communication with the DZ and passed once without a drop.  We made a racetrack and were cleared to release the bundles.  I waited for the left side to push theirs first and upon the signal the safety’s and myself pushed ours into the night.  I cleared the bundle making sure it had deployed and retrieved the deployment bag. 

I moved back to the first stick preparing to jump on the next pass.  We switched out Jumpmasters.  We were trying to get as many current as possible.  I was just a jumper this time.  That is a position that I welcomed after a long day.  The next pass came quickly.  We moved forward on the signal to standby.  The green light was lit and we moved for the door. 

Jumping at night from 1500 feet is an interesting experience.  The doorway from the stick is very black.  You can hear and feel the wind rushing by at a pretty good clip.  From the experience of many jumps you also know this is going to hurt.  I exited and assumed a tight position.  This is necessary from a high performance aircraft if you don’t want to twist and turn in your risers.  I made a decent exit and prepared myself for the opening shock. It came with every bit of force I expected.  The force jerked my torso from a slightly forward leaning position to one with my legs up near my chest.  It hurt like hell.  I let out a grunt but was relieved as always to see the parachute canopy open. 

The DZ was lit with IR (infer red) markings and with no moon it was impossible to see the turn in point.  I determined the direction I was traveling and where the link up point should be and steered in a southerly direction.  Of course with a round chute you can’t maneuver all that much.

I saw the ground approach and began the process of landing which consist of keeping my feet and knees together and wondering why the hell I was still doing this kind of thing.  The DZ was a plowed field and luckily was very soft.  I landed without incident. 

Most jumps are relatively injury free.  We might get a sprained ankle or a riser burn but tonight we had a broken leg or ankle not real sure.   The leg belonged to our Battalion Commander.  Damn bad luck or perhaps reaching for the ground.  We also had had two dislocated shoulders and a couple more bruised shoulders.  I’m not sure how they managed that.  A fellow company member managed to bust his lip and scrape his face up some.  That must have been a pretty PLF (parachute landing fall).  Damn shame we didn’t have a camera on some NODs (night vision) filming. 

All in all it was pretty good.  No serious injuries.  We got over 10 Jumpmaster current and a nice little adrenaline rush.  With a couple Martinis under my belt to soothe the muscles I’m just about ready to blog some more….

So Jennifer that's about how the drill went....

UPDATE:  Looks like the BCs injuries were more serious than I had first heard.  Apparently he will need surgery on the leg.  Broke both the tibia and fibula That's gotta smart.  Well best wishes to him.  Hope it doesn't keep him down long. 

Here is some complete Bullshit.

Annan Warns Assault May Affect Vote

UNITED NATIONS — U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq that new military campaigns in Fallujah and other insurgent strongholds could jeopardize upcoming elections, according to a letter obtained Friday.

I don’t think he gets it.  He and the UN have made themselves irrelevant.  The complete incompetence of the UN has undermined any authority they may have once had.  Between the Oil for food scandal and their inability to deal with Sudan, Kosovo and numerous other places a threat from the UN means very little.  Yes, it’s a threat.  But of course John Kerry wasn’t elected so I doubt it will elicit much US or Iraqi reaction. 

Fallujah is about to begin.  If the military is allowed to do their jobs there will be a hell of a lot less trouble very soon. 

Eleanor Cliff had this in her Newsweek column dated Oct 29th.  Damn funny don’t you think….

Ending the Fantasy

It’s hard to game the election with all the conflicting polls. But the signs are pointing to a big turnout and a Kerry win

In the aftermath of the demoralizing defeat do you think the left would be taking a hard look at itself?  Do you think they are wondering why they put forth such a candidate as John Kerry?  Well from what I’ve read they are not.  What they are doing is wallowing in self pity and like always blaming someone else (it's their nature really).  All they can say is that “Stupid” America won.  They can’t admit the left went too far left for most Americans.  They don’t understand how any American could not side with the wise Europeans.  The Europeans that created rules for the EU that they cannot meet then try to change the rules, Europeans that made deals with Saddam while sanctions were in place, Europeans that meet with Terrorist leaders while snubbing a real elected leader of a newly freed country.  Nope, they have not seen what all of America but the small areas of the coast saw, an incumbent leader and the indecisive appeasing left.

The President has said "With the campaign over, Americans are expecting a bipartisan effort and results. I will reach out to everyone who shares our goals and I'm eager to start the work ahead".  Mr. President, don’t get your hopes up.  There are still those who would rather see flames raging from our buildings then a country prospering.  These people are not in far away lands but in our backyards.  Watch your back.   

Drudge reports that Gen Norman Schwarzkopf has asked the Kerry campaign to quit using fraudulent phonecall s purporting his endorsement for Kerry.  In the report Schwarzkopf is pretty clear he is not supporting Kerry and lists the reasons why. 

This is not surprising.  The democrats have lost all perspective this year.  They have turned so far left it’s amazing.  Now in the final hours they will stop at nothing.  Lying, cheating, and stealing its all fair for them.  This isn’t even about liberal or conservative anymore.  It’s about wackos against normal people.  The ones that beg for tolerance yet accept none themselves. It’s about a media bent on putting their man in office no matter how much they hurt themselves and their relevance.  It’s sad.  I have no doubt the outcome of this election may very well take months to determine.  The left will not accept defeat no matter what the will of the people is.  Litigation this year could be enormous.

But hey the Dems have Osama on their side so they must be right….

The forecast was for snow.  That’s pretty much the forecast every Halloween in Colorado Springs.  The last couple of years have been cold.  While there may not always be snow the cold can be counted on.  This year something happened, the cold didn’t hit until after the trick or treaters had already made their rounds.  It’s was actually very nice out.  Well, it was nice out until around 9:00pm when the storm actually blew in.  By 10:00 there was snow on the ground and the winds were terrible.  By this morning the winds continued and we had a couple of inches of snow on the ground.  Now its early afternoon and the snow has melted from the streets but the wind continues to blow pretty hard.  I’m watching the neighbors’ fence and expect it to go down anytime.

There were a fair number of kids out last night.  I was pretty happy about that since I didn’t want to eat all the candy myself.  There were some nice costumes as well.  I opened the door wearing a Frankenstein mask.  Not many kids were scared this year.  Dang it… but one little girl almost ran away.  I took my mask off for her and she came back for some candy.

My son wore a Vampire outfit that was pretty cute( he’s 2 ½ yrs).  His mother made him a cape that was much better than you could buy.  I drew a mustache and goatee on him and he had a cool bat on his shirt.  He made the neighborhood and had a good time.  Of course after all the candy he didn’t want to go to bed.  But that was expected.

I had three movies rented for the night, “Return of the Vampire” with Bela Lugosi, “The Ghoul” with Boris Karloff and “Nosforatu” with Klaus Kinski.  I only watched “Return of the Vampire”.  I have a week for the others though.  I prefer the older horror movies to the new ones.

Well that was Halloween here.