Sunday, April 26, 2009

Gerald Warner Write An Interesting Piece In The Telegraph

Click the title to go to the Telegraph online

What I love is the comments when the true leftist calls Gerald a fascist when in fact fascists are the worst case of state control leftists.

If al-Qaeda, the Taliban and the rest of the Looney Tunes brigade want to kick America to death, they had better move in quickly and grab a piece of the action before Barack Obama finishes the job himself. Never in the history of the United States has a president worked so actively against the interests of his own people - not even Jimmy Carter.
Obama's problem is that he does not know who the enemy is. To him, the enemy does not squat in caves in Waziristan, clutching automatic weapons and reciting the more militant verses from the Koran: instead, it sits around at tea parties in Kentucky quoting from the US Constitution. Obama is not at war with terrorists, but with his Republican fellow citizens. He has never abandoned the campaign trail.
That is why he opened Pandora's Box by publishing the Justice Department's legal opinions on waterboarding and other hardline interrogation techniques. He cynically subordinated the national interest to his partisan desire to embarrass the Republicans. Then he had to rush to Langley, Virginia to try to reassure a demoralised CIA that had just discovered the President of the United States was an even more formidable foe than al-Qaeda.
"Don't be discouraged by what's happened the last few weeks," he told intelligence officers. Is he kidding? Thanks to him, al-Qaeda knows the private interrogation techniques available to the US intelligence agencies and can train its operatives to withstand them - or would do so, if they had not already been outlawed.
So, next time a senior al-Qaeda hood is captured, all the CIA can do is ask him nicely if he would care to reveal when a major population centre is due to be hit by a terror spectacular, or which American city is about to be irradiated by a dirty bomb. Your view of this situation will be dictated by one simple criterion: whether or not you watched the people jumping from the twin towers.
Obama promised his CIA audience that nobody would be prosecuted for past actions. That has already been contradicted by leftist groups with a revanchist ambition to put Republicans, headed if possible by Condoleezza Rice, in the dock. Talk about playing party politics with national security. Martin Scheinin, the United Nations special investigator for human rights, claims that senior figures, including former vice president Dick Cheney, could face prosecution overseas. Ponder that - once you have got over the difficulty of locating the United Nations and human rights within the same dimension.
President Pantywaist Obama should have thought twice before sitting down to play poker with Dick Cheney. The former vice president believes documents have been selectively published and that releasing more will prove how effective the interrogation techniques were. Under Dubya's administration, there was no further atrocity on American soil after 9/11.
President Pantywaist's recent world tour, cosying up to all the bad guys, excited the ambitions of America's enemies. Here, they realised, is a sucker they can really take to the cleaners. His only enemies are fellow Americans. Which prompts the question: why does President Pantywaist hate America so badly?



Saturday, April 25, 2009

Canadian Navy Saves Transport Ship

Simply wonderful work by the Canadian Navy last week, check out their released video


Via EagleSpeak

HMCS Winnipeg, sailing off the Horn of Africa as part of a NATO-led anti-piracy mission, was escorting a United Nations food shipment when it happened on a skiff carrying seven bandits attempting to hijack the MV Front Ardenne, an 80,000-tonne tanker from Norway.

The Somalis ignored warning shots fired by a Canadian naval helicopter and fled the scene. HMCS Winnipeg, led by Commander Craig Baines, left the food shipment to other NATO vessels and gave chase.

The Liberal Code of Beliefs

I saw this on The Politics an Finance blog, hilarious and sadly true.

The Liberal Code of Beliefs

I'm a Liberal because I'm way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves.

I'm a Liberal because I love the fact I can now marry whatever I want. I've decided to marry my horse.

I'm a Liberal because I believe oil companies' profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene, but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% or higher isn't.

I'm a Liberal because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.

I'm a Liberal because freedom of speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.

I'm a Liberal because when we pull out of Iraq I trust the bad guys will stop what they're doing because they now think we're good people.

I'm a Liberal because I believe people who can't tell us if it will rain on Friday, CAN tell us the polar ice caps will melt away in 10 years if I don't start driving a Prius.

I'm a Liberal because I believe business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as THEY see fit.

I'm a Liberal because I believe liberal judges need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who could NEVER get their agendas past the voters.

A Liberal has to believe the NRA is bad because it supports certain parts of the constitution, while the ACLU is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.

A Liberal has to believe that the same teacher who can't teach 4th-graders how to read is somehow qualified to teach those same kids about sex.

I'm a Liberal because my head is so firmly planted up my own butt, it's unlikely I'll ever have another point of view.

"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don't own."

Video: American Legion gets apology from Napolitano


Click the title to go to Hot Air for the interview. Janet Napolitano should resign immediately for this monumental failure of a report. Of course the Homeland Security report also distrust those who display the Don't Tread On Me flag. This administration is apparently all slow learners, and to think we have 44 months to go.

Pic Of The Day


We'll get back into things with a nice shot of an F-22 from Elmendorf on a AAR mission.

Back From Scotland

I'm back from my trip to Scotland to attend the funeral of my friend Gary Hughes who died in the North Sea helicopter crash April 1. It was a moving ceremony and there was a wonderful reception at the Sgt's Mess, RM Condor home of Gary's last unit 45 Commando, Royal Marines.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

North Sea Helicopter Crash (Update)

Yesterday the memorial service was conducted in Aberdeen and it had the image of a political opportunity by the PM Gordon Brown and the Global warming Prince Charles. Gary’s widow and daughters did in the end go, I’m glad because I can only imagine the comments in the UK’s tabloid press is she hadn’t, nobody needs that kind of attention. This weekend I’ll will be flying to Scotland to attend the funeral of my friend Gary Hughes. It angers me that the families have had to wait over a week to final bring some closure to this incident.

I’ve also read with interest some of the preliminary reports of what caused the Super Puma to go in. many reports point at a gearbox failure with the main rotor coming off. This is interesting because gearboxes normally do not fail out of the blue but start giving indication of excessive wear, and according to the daily mail this helicopter did have excess particles that led to an inspection and clearance to fly a week prior to the accident. These indicators include a build of metal chips and particles in the magnetic s chip detectors and in increase of metal trace in the JOAP oil analysis sample. These are common to all commercial aircraft and hating to speculate start pointing at maintenance problems or poor practice. I will be very interested in the final report when it comes out, that is if it can be seen like and FAA or NTSB report.

Monday, April 13, 2009

AP Spins Obama B.S. In Merchant Captain Rescue

I thought it was BS when I heard a report from the news how the One ordered the takedown. I could not imagine Washington even being involved other than giving broad brush instructions to the on scene commander. Check out Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive he has the real story. The rescue was made possible when sniper took out the 3 pirates on the raft. I figure the sniper teams were either SEAL’s or Marine Force RECON

Click the title to go to Blackfive

He Is Risen!


As Easter was celebrated around the world this weekend, Pope Benedict delivers his Urbi et Orbi (To the City and to the World) Easter blessing over Saint Peter's square at the Vatican April 12, 2009.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Pic Of The Day


Somewhere in Afghanistan, amazing what you can see when you get away from light pollution.

Great Murtha Poster


Author unknown but this is great.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Gary Hughes Update

We talked with Val Gary’s wife yesterday and she confirmed that Gary was brought ashore. I’m very thankful to the divers on the recovery team that made this happen. The helicopter was in 100-meter water so this was not an easy task. Val reminded us how much Gary liked helicopters, and I can remember when he left the Netherlands going back to 45 Commando that he was even thinking about volunteering for the pilot program. That was just another ironic twist to the accident. There should be new on final arraignments soon. I will post for those looking for info as soon as I know. Funerals are somber but we all need to remember that we will be there to celebrate Gary’s life in addition to saying our goodbyes.

Obama Finds New Language

I don’t know is I should laugh or cry at Obama’s latest gaffe from the NATO summit.
And to think the left and the bots say he is a genius. When are we going to see his college transcripts? Oh, that’s right never, just like the vault copy of his birth certificate.

Via Bloomberg

At a news conference afterward, Obama said his debut on the international stage had convinced him that “political interaction in Europe is not that different from the United States Senate,” where he served before entering the White House.
“There’s a lot of -- I don’t know what the term is in Austrian -- wheeling and dealing, and people are pursuing their interests, and everybody has their own particular issues and their own particular politics,” he said in response to an Austrian reporter’s question.

Monday, April 6, 2009

It's The Soldier

It is the soldier, not the President who gives us democracy.

It is the soldier, not the Congress who takes care of us.

It is the soldier, not the Reporter who has given us Freedom of Press.

It is the soldier, not the Poet who has given us Freedom of Speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus [community] Organizer who has given us the Freedom to Demonstrate.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag; who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, that allows the protester to burn the flag.

- Father Dennis O’Brien, US Marine Corp. Chaplain

Semper FI

God Bless Soldiers everywhere for putting THEIR
lives on the line to protect us ALL from terrorism!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

North Sea helicopter crash wreckage found

From The Guardian

The wreckage of the helicopter that crashed in the North Sea last week, killing all 16 people on board, has been found, air accident investigators said today.

A salvage vessel is at the scene off the coast of Aberdeen and efforts to locate the aircraft's flight recorder are continuing.

"We can confirm that the wreckage has been found," said a spokeswoman for the Air Accident investigation Branch. "The operation to salvage the helicopter will continue."

The Super Puma helicopter came down on Wednesday afternoon as it returned from a BP oil platform.

Eight bodies were brought ashore last week. Grampian police said the bodies of seven of the remaining eight victims had been recovered by divers at the scene of the wreckage.

"It is believed likely that two of those recovered are the pilot and co-pilot, Paul Burnham and Richard Menzies," the force said in a statement. "The search operation for the last remaining body continues. Families of all the victims have been informed of the current situation."

I don't know if Gary has been recovered hopefully in the next 24 hour we will know.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

John Crace of The Guardian Gets It

Check out the op ed by Johb Crace of the The Guardian, he says the truth about the great orator that our own sorry MSM won't. Our media will cheer this clown up until they go to the re-education camps.

Barack Obama the World's Greatest Orator (™all news organisations), didn't exactly cover himself in glory when the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson asked him a question about who was to blame for the financial crisis. Normally word perfect, Obama ummed, ahed and waffled for the best part of two and a half minutes. Here, John Crace decodes what he was really thinking ...

Nick Robinson: "A question for you both, if I may. The prime minister has repeatedly blamed the United States of America for causing this crisis. France and Germany both blame Britain and America for causing this crisis. Who is right? And isn't the debate about that at the heart of the debate about what to do now?" Brown immediately swivels to leave Obama in pole position. There is a four-second delay before Obama starts speaking [THANKS FOR NOTHING, GORDY BABY. REMIND ME TO HANG YOU OUT TO DRY ONE DAY.] Barack Obama: "I, I, would say that, er ... pause [I HAVEN'T A CLUE] ... if you look at ... pause [WHO IS THIS NICK ROBINSON JERK?] ... the, the sources of this crisis ... pause [JUST KEEP GOING, BUDDY] ... the United States certainly has some accounting to do with respect to . . . pause [I'M IN WAY TOO DEEP HERE] ... a regulatory system that was inadequate to the massive changes that have taken place in the global financial system ... pause, close eyes [THIS IS GOING TO GO DOWN LIKE A CROCK OF SHIT BACK HOME. HELP]. I think what is also true is that ... pause [I WANT NICK ROBINSON TO DISAPPEAR] ... here in Great Britain ... pause [SHIT, GORDY'S THE HOST, DON'T LAND HIM IN IT] ... here in continental Europe ... pause [DAMN IT, BLAME EVERYONE.] ... around the world. We were seeing the same mismatch between the regulatory regimes that were in place and er ... pause [I'VE LOST MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT AGAIN] ... the highly integrated, er, global capital markets that have emerged ... pause [I'M REALLY WINGING IT NOW]. So at this point, I'm less interested in ... pause [YOU] ... identifying blame than fixing the problem. I think we've taken some very aggressive steps in the United States to do so, not just responding to the immediate crisis, ensuring banks are adequately capitalised, er, dealing with the enormous, er ... pause [WHY DIDN'T I QUIT WHILE I WAS AHEAD?] ... drop-off in demand and contraction that has taken place. More importantly, for the long term, making sure that we've got a set of, er, er, regulations that are up to the task, er, and that includes, er, a number that will be discussed at this summit. I think there's a lot of convergence between all the parties involved about the need, for example, to focus not on the legal form that a particular financial product takes or the institution it emerges from, but rather what's the risk involved, what's the function of this product and how do we regulate that adequately, much more effective coordination, er, between countries so we can, er, anticipate the risks that are involved there. Dealing with the, er, problem of derivatives markets, making sure we have set up systems, er, that can reduce some of the risks there. So, I actually think ... pause [FANTASTIC. I'VE LOST EVERYONE, INCLUDING MYSELF] ... there's enormous consensus that has emerged in terms of what we need to do now and, er ... pause [I'M OUTTA HERE. TIME FOR THE USUAL CLOSING BOLLOCKS] ... I'm a great believer in looking forwards than looking backwards.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Gareth (Gary) Hughes, WO2, ML1 Royal Marines (Ret) RIP



Yesterday afternoon I was notified that my best friend Gareth(Gary) Hughes was killed in the Bond helicopter crash on Wednesday April 1, 2009 off the coast of Scotland. Last night my wife was able to talk to Gary’s wife Val and we found out that Gary was not one of the eight men whose bodies have been recovered and it is presumed that he is with the other seven men in the remains of the helicopter that is down in 100 meter water. I pray for a successful recovery of the men and the helicopter in the next 24 to 48 hours, with the available resources there can be no excuse for this not happening.
Gary was a special, husband; father and friend who had previously served the Crown during a career in the Royal Marines were he retired as a WO2/ML1 in charge of Y Company 45 Commando before he started working offshore

Click the title for a link to the BBC were Gary’s oldest daughter is interviewed about the information problems after the helicopter went down.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

DUI On A Bar Stool


Long last few days at work. Here is a funny post to get hump day going.

Via Drudge report and The Smoking Gun

MARCH 31--In a law enforcement first, Ohio cops this month arrested a man for drunk driving on a motorized bar stool. That's right, a motorized bar stool, which can be seen below in a police evidence photo. According to cops, Kile Wygle, 28, crashed his bar stool near his Newark home earlier this month and called 911 due to his injuries. When an officer arrived and asked Wygle what happened, he answered, "I wrecked my bar stool." According to a Newark Police Division report, a copy of which you'll find here, Wygle's homemade ride is powered by a Briggs & Stratton lawnmower engine. Wygle noted that the bar stool could hit nearly 40 miles per hour, but that he was only going 20 when he wiped out late in the afternoon on March 4 (a witness told police that he spotted someone driving a "strange motorized machine" before the crash). A plastered Wygle, who failed a series of field sobriety tests, was charged with DUI and driving with a suspended license, both misdemeanors. His bar stool was not impounded.