Netanyahu Rejects Obama Proposal

I missed this the other day, it goes to show how outrageous Obama statemts to Israli Prime Mimister Netanyahu were. Obama actualy suggested that the flag of the United Nations fly over the western wall and other holy sights isn Jerusalem.
I guess the President forgot that the U.N. is a histotcally anti semtic organization. This couplede with the fact that Jerusleam was liberated by Israli armed forces during the 1967 Arab.Israli war. Thebutthcrs bill has been paid in full by tose brave young men to suggest that a U.N falg be flown is ludicrous.I wonder what the 78% of U.S. jews who voted for Obama think, or even if they care?

Hat Tip: Atlas Shrugs

Click the title for the Israli INN article

North Korea Explodes Nuclear Weapon

Unlike the fizzle that happened on the last test North Korea on Sunday detonated a nuclear weapon that had a yield of 10 to 20 kilotons. Its to bad we have no adults in Washington as this will put tremendous pressure on our allies in the Pacific rim and calls into question all of the appeasement by multiple administrations in regards to the NK nuclear problems. The same issue sis being faced in the Middle East with the Iranian threat.

Photograph: Stephen Shaver/AFP/Getty Images

Air Force Anounces Combat Air Force Restructure

We are now at the stage that Colonel Everest E. Riccioni predicted in his Aug 2, 2001 article titled Is the Air Force Spending Itself into Unilateral Disarmament?.
It is a sad state that the combat Air Forces find themselves in thanks to years of mismanagement of procurement funds and the lack of vision by senior leadership.
The lock step demand for the F-22 now capped at a ridiculously small number has made what used to be a force to feared now questionable against potential adversaries. With Gen Schwartz’s own statements made Feb 17 that F-22 FMC rates are in the 60 percent range thanks to LO issues and then only climb into the low 70’s when LO is not taken into account is another sad legacy of the silver bullet theory. A force like the PLAF, which has 700 4th generation jets, and growing must gaze in wonder and ask what happened to the USAF? To think that we have managed to take an active duty force that at one time possessed over 1600 admittedly aging F-15 and F-16 aircraft and are trying to replace them with 189 F-22 and a yet to be determined number of F-35’s, is absurd. We have no one to blame except for what used to be called the perfume princes in the Pentagon for this debacle.
Click the title for the Air Force link article

Primary Job Of Oval Office Candidates since Reagan

What a great observation by Quinn at Ace of Spades
Democrats:

2008: Obama: Lawyer. Biden: Lawyer

2004: Kerry: Lawyer. Edwards: Lawyer

2000: Gore: Failed out of law school. Lieberman: Lawyer.

1996: Clinton: Lawyer. Gore: Failed out of law school

1992: Clinton: Lawyer. Gore: Failed out of law school

1988: Dukakis: Lawyer. Bentsen: NOT A LAWYER! ZOMG!

1984: Mondale: Lawyer. Ferraro: Lawyer

1980: Carter: NOT A LAWYER! WTF?!11? Mondale: Lawyer


Now Republicans:

2008: McCain: Not a lawyer. Palin: Not a lawyer.

2004: Bush: Not a lawyer. Cheney: Not a lawyer.

2000: Bush: Not a lawyer. Cheney: Not a lawyer.

1996: Dole: LAWYER! Kemp: Not a lawyer.

1992: Bush: Not a lawyer. Quayle: LAWYER!

1988: Bush: Not a lawyer. Quayle: LAWYER!

1984: Reagan: Not a lawyer. Bush: Not a lawyer.

1980: Reagan: Not a lawyer. Bush: Not a lawyer.


Notice a pattern here?

Qwinn

F-15's Cover The Shuttle

A few shots of Florida ANG F-15'C flying CAP over the recent shuttle Atlantis launch.

TACAIR

Grunts getting some TACAIR support in Afghanistan.

Good News Out Of Iran

Lawyers for Roxana Saberi say the American journalist has been released from a Tehran prison. A court on Sunday suspended her eight-year prison sentence.
FYI she was a fomer Miss North Dakota.

Via BBC click the title for the whole article.

Its nice to see that they came to their senses, now we need to make sure all Americans are out prior to the inevitable Israeli strike.

C-17 Accident Board Release

Just like I thought the crew failed to put down the gear on the C-17 that bellied in at Bagram AB

5/8/2009 - SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFNS) -- Air Mobility Command here

May 7 released the results of its investigation into the Jan. 30 mishap involving a C-17 Globemaster III that landed with retracted gear at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.

The Accident Investigation Board, convened by AMC officials, concluded the primary cause of the mishap was the failure of the pilots to lower the landing gear and confirm proper aircraft landing configuration in accordance with the before landing checklist.

The AIB president also found that aircrew distractions, task saturation, reduced cockpit visual cues, failure of the flight crew to cross-monitor each other's performance, the tower's failure to transmit a required reminder, and the crew's inadvertent disabling of the ground proximity warning system alerts contributed to the mishap.

The mishap occurred as the C-17 was landing at Bagram Airfield during a combat airlift mission in support of operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom and Joint Task Force Horn of Africa operations.

The aircraft landed on the runway centerline with the landing gear retracted and slid approximately 4,500 feet before coming to rest on the runway. Crash, fire and rescue response was immediate, and there were no fatalities, injuries or damage to other property. However, damage to the aircraft's main landing gear and fuselage underbelly was significant.

Lt Col Chessani innocent, no appeal

Via Gateway Pundit

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani became the 7th of 8 marines cleared of wrongdoing in the Haditha, Iraq killings in 2005.

Today the federal government announced that it will not seek to appeal a decision in favor of LtCol Jeffrey Chessani, USMC.
The Thomas Moore Law Center reported:


A government official has informed the Thomas More Law Center that the government will not seek to appeal the recent unanimous decision by the Navy Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals (NMCCA) in favor of LtCol Jeffrey Chessani, USMC.

The decision makes permanent the ruling by the trial court judge, Colonel Steven A. Folsom, USMC, dismissing the charges against LtCol Chessani, without prejudice, due to Unlawful Command Influence. The government could have sought an appeal to the civilian Court of Appeals of the Armed

Marine Is Awarded Navy Cross

Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, CA - (04/02/09)
“Sorry, guys, I can’t keep going.”

Those were the words of Lance Cpl. Brady A. Gustafson to the Marines in his vehicle as he was pulled away from his smoking machine gun minutes after his platoon was ambushed July 21, 2008, by withering enemy fire in Shewan, Afghanistan.

Nobody blamed Gustafson, 21, an infantryman with 2nd Platoon, Company G, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, for not being able to continue the fight, since the opening volley on the Marine mounted patrol included a rocket-propelled grenade that pierced the shell of the mine-resistant armor-protected vehicle in which Gustafson was manning the turret gun.

That RPG severed Gustafson’s right leg, and yet he had the presence of mind to locate the enemy positions and place well-aimed machine gun fire on them, providing cover fire for the Marines in his platoon.

For his actions that day last year, Gustafson was awarded the Navy Cross and meritoriously promoted to corporal by Maj. Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser, commanding general, 1st Marine Division, at a ceremony Mar. 27 at Lance Cpl. Torrey L. Gray Field at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.

“What I like about today is that this is an opportunity to honor a Marine who had the humility, courage, presence of mind and camaraderie to keep going,” said Lt. Col. Richard D. Hall, the former commanding officer of 2nd
Battalion, 7th Marines – while they were deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom – noting that Gustafson was more concerned about the welfare of his brother Marines than his own safety.

“He represents what is best about the human spirit. You can’t buy that kind of human altruism.”

The Navy Cross is the highest honor specific to the Naval services and the second highest award in the U.S. military. Gustafson is just the 18th Marine to earn the award since the beginning of the Global War on Terror.

The Marines of 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines battled elements of Taliban and Islamist extremists in the Helmand and Farah provinces of Afghanistan.
Gustafson and Company G were patrolling in the village of Shewan, noted as a haven for insurgents, when they were ambushed from multiple positions by insurgents with RPGs and small-arms fire, according to the award citation for the Navy Cross.

After the RPG pierced the side of Gustafson’s MRAP and struck him in the leg, causing the severe injury, he stayed focused and identified enemy firing positions, which he engaged with accurate machine-gun fire.

He noticed that the vehicle to his rear had become disabled by another RPG and instructed his MRAP driver to push the hobbled vehicle out of the “kill-zone.”

By doing so, Gustafson’s MRAP became shrouded in fire. Through all this, Gustafson continued to direct fire at the enemy positions, suppressing their attacks and allowing the Marines to continue to engage the insurgents.

“Of every Marine I talked to, they all said if they had been hit in the leg with an RPG, the last thing they’d be thinking about is staying in the turret,” said 1st Lt. Andrew S. Bohn, 25, platoon commander of 2nd Plt., from Davis, Calif., and an occupant of the second vehicle that Gustafson directed to be pushed out of the line of fire.

Without that presence of mind, Bohn and the four other Marines from that vehicle may not have made it out of the ambush alive.

Only after firing more than 400 rounds, and reloading twice, did Gustafson permit combat aid-givers to remove him from the turret to apply medical treatment to his significant injuries. Lance Cpl. Cody Comstock, a member of Gustafson’s platoon, applied his Combat Life Saver Course knowledge to the situation, wrapping a tourniquet around Gustafson’s leg and dressing the wound while Gustafson was still in the turret.

“All of the lance corporals were going off their training in immediate action - nobody panicked,” said Bohn of his Marines. “There was a much-superior sized force attacking us, and there was only one (noncommissioned officer) in the platoon.”

After the action was over, Bohn recommended Gustafson for the Silver Star, the third highest combat award for valor, but Hall disagreed.

“My awards policy has always been strict (and) conservative,” said Hall, from Mankato, Minn. The former battalion commander noted that the deployment put all of his Marines in harsh conditions, and yet so many of the Marines excelled at operating at a high level that the “extraordinary became ordinary.”
Even so, Gustafson’s actions were special.

“After reviewing what he did, even considering my awards policy and all the actions of 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, it was easy, to me, to submit his award as a Navy Cross,” Hall said.

Gustafson, from Eagan, Minn., has a long road to recovery and walks with a pronounced limp on his prosthetic right leg. The fact he suffered traumatic injury made his family even more grateful for his return.

“(The Navy Cross) is the icing on the cake for us, but we know that Brady didn’t do this for the awards,” said Rick Gustafson, father to the Marine hero and an Air Force retiree. “We’re very thankful we have him here today. That’s our primary emotion.”

According to his parents, Gustafson intends to buy a home in his native Minnesota and attend college somewhere near home.

“He recognizes the importance and honor of the award, but at the same time, he feels funny about being recognized,” said Gustafson’s mother, Kim, about her son’s quiet, unassuming manner and reluctance to stand in front of the hundreds of Marines, guests and media at the ceremony. “He was just fighting for
his guys’ lives."

Article and photo by Sgt. M. Trent Lowry
1st Marine Division



Words fail me for the heroic actions of this Marine who covered his platoon afer being severely wounded. Semper FI

AR-15 Video

A video that show a bunch of tricked out AR-15's. It goes to show the wide range of accessories you can get for America's rifle of choice. After having used M-16's in the military and having my own Bushmaster patrol carbine I really like the AR for it's ease of use and great accuracy. The sound track is from a christian patriot band called Poker Face that I had never heard of until this video, they have an interesting sound.

Obama, Chrysler and The UAW

Obama and his minions spinning away on the Chrysler bankrubptcy amazed me.
The bottom line is the Money managers who held the secured senior debt of Chrysler are in fact the firs in line to be paid and in all likelihood recover more of their investor’s money by forcing a liquidation of assets than the 20 cents an a dollar deal offered by the Obama administration
The administration and the lame stream media are trying to paint this as greedy wall street guru’s when in fact these managers are just trying to protect their client investors which by law they have to. Allowing the unsecured debt holders in this case the UAW to be paid off first and then getting to the secured bondholders is completely upside-down.
In other words Obama favored the union hacks of the UAW at the expense of the secured bondholders. Shoot the only reason most of the banks went along with the travesty of the Obama plan was because they took the TARP money and are being told what to do by the administration.
I worked for Chrysler for 15 months in 02 and 03 as a maintenance supervisor at the Warren truck assembly plant also known as Dodge City. I could right a book and the malfeasance and abject laziness of both the UAW work force and the absolute poor management and leadership exhibited by my superiors. If you saw what was actually being done day by day, plus the job pool, the lack of spares and other issues you would be amazed that we built any Rams and Dakota’s at all. On the one side I laughed and smiled when Chrysler went down the tubes because of what I had experienced, what is a shame is what will happen to some of the fine men I had on my crew who did not fit the stereotypical auto union mentality and work ethic and did a great job for me and the company day by day. Unfortunately the bad deals worked out over the years by management and the UAW couple with a poor product line crippled all of the big three, there is know way for Chrysler to survive with the built in legacy costs. A real chapter 11 process will allow them to shed all of this and whatever is left can be organized into a new company. Some will say this is not fair but nothing in life is guaranteed. Only the current administration can seriously think that pouring billions of more dollars into this endless black hole is a good thing. But Obama knows he owes his election to these unions and he is trying to use we the peoples money to bail them out of a situation that the UAW helped foster and create.
If the administration plan had been allowed to go forward with the union getting majority control and the bondholders getting shafted the likelihood going forward of companies that are unionized getting secured bondholder financing in the future would be non existent..