Funny Picture!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
Good Morning and Happy February!
Sorry it has been a while since I last posted, but MUCH has been happening in the last few weeks of this quarter. Two jokes for you though....:
How do you top a car?
You tep on the brake, tupid....
What do you do with a wok?
Fwo it at a wabbit.....
... See, this blog isn't all serious!
How do you top a car?
You tep on the brake, tupid....
What do you do with a wok?
Fwo it at a wabbit.....
... See, this blog isn't all serious!
Friday, January 25, 2008
Afghan 'Blasphemy' Death Sentence
God Bless the USA. I am sure glad we don't carry out laws like this.
Semper Fi,
m
-------------
Afghan 'blasphemy' death sentence
An Afghan journalist has been sentenced to death by a provincial court for distributing "blasphemous" material.
Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, 23, was arrested in 2007 after downloading material from the internet relating to the role of women in Islamic societies.
A primary court in Balkh province said that Kambakhsh had confessed to blasphemy and had to be punished.
The court also threatened to arrest any reporters who protested against Kambakhsh's sentence.
Kambakhsh, a student at Balkh University and a journalist for Jahan-e Naw (New World), was arrested in October 2007 after material he downloaded was deemed to be offensive to Islam.
Shamsur Rahman, the head of the court, told Reuters news agency:
"According to... the Islamic law, Sayed Perwiz is sentenced to death at the first court.
"However, he will go through three more courts to declare his last punishment," he said.
'Deeply shocked'
Balkh province's deputy attorney general, Hafizullah Khaliqyar, warned other journalists that they would be arrested if they attempted to support Kambakhsh.
Kambakhsh did not do anything to justify his being detained or being given this sentence Reporters Without Borders But Agence France-Presse reported that journalists were gathering outside the home of the condemned reporter.
The sentence has been welcomed by conservative Islamic clerics in Afghanistan but criticised by international human rights groups.
Global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said it was "deeply shocked" by the trial and appealed to President Hamid Karzai to intervene "before it is too late".
In a statement, the group said the trial was "carried out in haste and without any concern for the law or for free expression, which is protected by the constitution".
"Kambakhsh did not do anything to justify his being detained or being given this sentence."
Kambakhsh's brother, Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, said the verdict was "very unfair" and appealed for help from the international community, reported Reuters.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7204341.stm
Published: 2008/01/23 11:35:26 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Semper Fi,
m
-------------
Afghan 'blasphemy' death sentence
An Afghan journalist has been sentenced to death by a provincial court for distributing "blasphemous" material.
Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, 23, was arrested in 2007 after downloading material from the internet relating to the role of women in Islamic societies.
A primary court in Balkh province said that Kambakhsh had confessed to blasphemy and had to be punished.
The court also threatened to arrest any reporters who protested against Kambakhsh's sentence.
Kambakhsh, a student at Balkh University and a journalist for Jahan-e Naw (New World), was arrested in October 2007 after material he downloaded was deemed to be offensive to Islam.
Shamsur Rahman, the head of the court, told Reuters news agency:
"According to... the Islamic law, Sayed Perwiz is sentenced to death at the first court.
"However, he will go through three more courts to declare his last punishment," he said.
'Deeply shocked'
Balkh province's deputy attorney general, Hafizullah Khaliqyar, warned other journalists that they would be arrested if they attempted to support Kambakhsh.
Kambakhsh did not do anything to justify his being detained or being given this sentence Reporters Without Borders But Agence France-Presse reported that journalists were gathering outside the home of the condemned reporter.
The sentence has been welcomed by conservative Islamic clerics in Afghanistan but criticised by international human rights groups.
Global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said it was "deeply shocked" by the trial and appealed to President Hamid Karzai to intervene "before it is too late".
In a statement, the group said the trial was "carried out in haste and without any concern for the law or for free expression, which is protected by the constitution".
"Kambakhsh did not do anything to justify his being detained or being given this sentence."
Kambakhsh's brother, Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, said the verdict was "very unfair" and appealed for help from the international community, reported Reuters.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7204341.stm
Published: 2008/01/23 11:35:26 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Erik Swabb's Lessons Of Iraq
Wall Street Journal
January 14, 2008
The Lessons Of Iraq
By Erik Swabb
While the improved security situation in Iraq is changing views about the chances for success there, one common belief has remained unchanged: that the war is eroding U.S. military capabilities.
It is true that repeated deployments have caused considerable strain on service members, equipment and our ability to respond to other contingencies. These problems, however, only tell half the story. The Iraq war is also dramatically improving the military's understanding, training and capabilities in irregular warfare. Since this is the preferred method of Islamic extremists, the experience in Iraq is transforming the military into the force required to help win the Long War.
The blunders of the early years are well-known. Trained for conventional warfare, the Army and Marine Corps were unprepared for the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq. Commanders emphasized killing or capturing insurgents, not securing the population as counterinsurgency doctrine emphasizes. U.S. units were stationed on large bases and didn't develop the critical relationships with local leaders that only come from living among the people.
When units did interact with Iraqis, the interaction ranged from fruitless patrols in Humvees zipping through town to draconian operations that detained scores of innocent people. The Sunni insurgency only grew in this environment, attracting al Qaeda and spurring the growth of Shiite militias.
After a costly learning process, the military increasingly "gets it" when it comes to irregular warfare. The Army and Marine Corps published a new counterinsurgency manual that legitimized the radically different strategy that the Iraq War required. Pre-deployment training now includes realistic scenarios that test units' ability to build relationships with local leaders and partner with host-nation forces.
Commanders, from the small-unit level to the general ranks, increasingly understand that population security, political reconciliation and economic development create legitimate government, which saps insurgents' strength.
As a result, conventional forces are now performing counterinsurgency missions at a level that many experts thought impossible.
My old unit returned from Iraq last spring after serving in a city in Anbar Province. As a mechanized reconnaissance company, its traditional mission focused on scouting for Soviet-style armored forces. The unit's performance in Iraq more closely resembled that of the Green Berets.
Soon after occupying its forward outpost, the company met heavy insurgent attacks. But it did not over-react with mass detentions and other alienating tactics. Instead, the Marines took a patient approach to win the support of the population and eject the extremists hiding among them. They partnered with Iraqi police, established a pervasive security presence throughout the city, and worked with local leaders to improve basic services, governance and the economy. Such tactics used to be rare, but are now increasingly the norm, thanks to Gen. David Petraeus's dogged emphasis on seeing counterinsurgency conducted by all units.
The Sunni tribal uprising that's driven al Qaeda from Anbar Province and Baghdad wouldn't have occurred without U.S. forces grasping the complexities of irregular warfare. Iraqi Sunnis rejected the oppressive version of Islam that al Qaeda imposed -- but feared the consequences of resisting. By showing a willingness to help, U.S. troops presented a more trustworthy and less-threatening partner than al Qaeda, a remarkable achievement considering the vast religious and cultural differences between Americans and Iraqis.
U.S. commanders reached agreements with tribal leaders to accept their members into local security forces and establish combat outposts among the populace. Knowing that their families were safe from reprisals, the tribes gained the confidence to go after al Qaeda. Now U.S. officials are considering whether to adopt a similar model for Pakistan's Northwest Frontier.
It remains to be seen whether the new counterinsurgency strategy will lead to a peaceful, democratic Iraq. Success ultimately depends on the ability of Sunnis and Shiites to overcome decades of mistrust and antagonism. But the current approach has created an opportunity for political reconciliation, as Sunnis have demonstrated that they reject al Qaeda's campaign of terror against Shiites. The new strategy is also helping to prevent the establishment of an al-Qaeda safe haven in Iraq -- and in this sense, it has already proven its worth.
The strains on the military are real. However, overemphasis on the "eroding"
capabilities of the armed forces belies the incredible emergence of an irregular warfare capacity in the world's greatest conventional military.
This hard-fought transformation faces resistance from advocates of the status quo in the military, and thus is easily reversible without political support. Such support is something Democrats and Republicans should be able to agree on.
Mr. Swabb served in Iraq as a Marine infantry officer.
What are your thoughts on this? Have we really learned? It has been said that Iraqi's only understand violence and that we need to treat them with violence if they are to respect us. What say you now? Still feel that way? Sound off.
January 14, 2008
The Lessons Of Iraq
By Erik Swabb
While the improved security situation in Iraq is changing views about the chances for success there, one common belief has remained unchanged: that the war is eroding U.S. military capabilities.
It is true that repeated deployments have caused considerable strain on service members, equipment and our ability to respond to other contingencies. These problems, however, only tell half the story. The Iraq war is also dramatically improving the military's understanding, training and capabilities in irregular warfare. Since this is the preferred method of Islamic extremists, the experience in Iraq is transforming the military into the force required to help win the Long War.
The blunders of the early years are well-known. Trained for conventional warfare, the Army and Marine Corps were unprepared for the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq. Commanders emphasized killing or capturing insurgents, not securing the population as counterinsurgency doctrine emphasizes. U.S. units were stationed on large bases and didn't develop the critical relationships with local leaders that only come from living among the people.
When units did interact with Iraqis, the interaction ranged from fruitless patrols in Humvees zipping through town to draconian operations that detained scores of innocent people. The Sunni insurgency only grew in this environment, attracting al Qaeda and spurring the growth of Shiite militias.
After a costly learning process, the military increasingly "gets it" when it comes to irregular warfare. The Army and Marine Corps published a new counterinsurgency manual that legitimized the radically different strategy that the Iraq War required. Pre-deployment training now includes realistic scenarios that test units' ability to build relationships with local leaders and partner with host-nation forces.
Commanders, from the small-unit level to the general ranks, increasingly understand that population security, political reconciliation and economic development create legitimate government, which saps insurgents' strength.
As a result, conventional forces are now performing counterinsurgency missions at a level that many experts thought impossible.
My old unit returned from Iraq last spring after serving in a city in Anbar Province. As a mechanized reconnaissance company, its traditional mission focused on scouting for Soviet-style armored forces. The unit's performance in Iraq more closely resembled that of the Green Berets.
Soon after occupying its forward outpost, the company met heavy insurgent attacks. But it did not over-react with mass detentions and other alienating tactics. Instead, the Marines took a patient approach to win the support of the population and eject the extremists hiding among them. They partnered with Iraqi police, established a pervasive security presence throughout the city, and worked with local leaders to improve basic services, governance and the economy. Such tactics used to be rare, but are now increasingly the norm, thanks to Gen. David Petraeus's dogged emphasis on seeing counterinsurgency conducted by all units.
The Sunni tribal uprising that's driven al Qaeda from Anbar Province and Baghdad wouldn't have occurred without U.S. forces grasping the complexities of irregular warfare. Iraqi Sunnis rejected the oppressive version of Islam that al Qaeda imposed -- but feared the consequences of resisting. By showing a willingness to help, U.S. troops presented a more trustworthy and less-threatening partner than al Qaeda, a remarkable achievement considering the vast religious and cultural differences between Americans and Iraqis.
U.S. commanders reached agreements with tribal leaders to accept their members into local security forces and establish combat outposts among the populace. Knowing that their families were safe from reprisals, the tribes gained the confidence to go after al Qaeda. Now U.S. officials are considering whether to adopt a similar model for Pakistan's Northwest Frontier.
It remains to be seen whether the new counterinsurgency strategy will lead to a peaceful, democratic Iraq. Success ultimately depends on the ability of Sunnis and Shiites to overcome decades of mistrust and antagonism. But the current approach has created an opportunity for political reconciliation, as Sunnis have demonstrated that they reject al Qaeda's campaign of terror against Shiites. The new strategy is also helping to prevent the establishment of an al-Qaeda safe haven in Iraq -- and in this sense, it has already proven its worth.
The strains on the military are real. However, overemphasis on the "eroding"
capabilities of the armed forces belies the incredible emergence of an irregular warfare capacity in the world's greatest conventional military.
This hard-fought transformation faces resistance from advocates of the status quo in the military, and thus is easily reversible without political support. Such support is something Democrats and Republicans should be able to agree on.
Mr. Swabb served in Iraq as a Marine infantry officer.
What are your thoughts on this? Have we really learned? It has been said that Iraqi's only understand violence and that we need to treat them with violence if they are to respect us. What say you now? Still feel that way? Sound off.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Catching Wild Pigs
I had this story e-mailed to me. It has some good thinking points, and I would like to get your take on its relevance.....
Do you know how to catch wild pigs?
This is no joke. You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat, you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd. Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten h ow to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.
According to the writer, that is exactly what he sees happening to America. The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/Socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc. while we continually lose our freedoms just a little at a time.
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have." Thomas Jefferson
...I am not an anti-government activist, nor do I want the government to stop providing services and security functions for me/us, but I think there is a lethergy that is overtaking us in our dependance. I am an advocate for personal and civil responsibility of each citizen.
What do you think of this story? Does it apply to you / America?
Do you know how to catch wild pigs?
This is no joke. You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat, you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd. Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten h ow to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.
According to the writer, that is exactly what he sees happening to America. The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/Socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc. while we continually lose our freedoms just a little at a time.
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have." Thomas Jefferson
...I am not an anti-government activist, nor do I want the government to stop providing services and security functions for me/us, but I think there is a lethergy that is overtaking us in our dependance. I am an advocate for personal and civil responsibility of each citizen.
What do you think of this story? Does it apply to you / America?
Friday, January 11, 2008
Ways to Defeat Islamic Jihadism
I am going to begin this post by saying that I am trying to start a dialog, NOT take a position. The fellow that wrote the following article Amil Imani, "an Iranian-born American citizen and pro-democracy activist residing in the United States of America. Imani is a columnist, literary translator, novelist and an essayist who has been writing and speaking out for the struggling people of his native land, Iran. He maintains a website at http://amilimani.com/ and also writes for Islam-Watch.org."
Imani and I agree on most points, except for the one about killing our enemies. I agree that we should adhere to higher standards, and an eye for an eye is not that standard, but I WILL defend myself, my family, my country, with violence if necessary, against militants of any sort. OK, enough bantering, here is Amil Imani's writings....:
Global Politician
Ways to Defeat Islamic Jihadism
By Amil Imani
This is an urgent call to all free people to rise and defeat the Islamic Jihadists who are marching under the banner of the Qur'an to subdue all non-Muslims.
It is imperative that the values and the way of life of civilized people be protected against the assault of Jihadists' savagery born from a primitive culture of long ago Arabia. There is nothing to negotiate here. Nothing to compromise, for the Jihadists are on a non-negotiable campaign of Allah. The goal of this mission from Allah is the eradication of just about everything that falls under the rubric of human rights.
It takes every free human to do his or her share in defeating Jihadism.
Below is a partial list of what can be done.
* You don't have to take up arms and go around killing the Jihadists. That's the Jihadists' way of dealing with us and anyone they don't approve of. Decent humans value life, even the life of a Jihadist. By contrast, the Jihadists have no compunctions at amputating limbs, stoning, beheading and hanging people even en mass. The brutal mullahs ruling the Islamic Republic of Iran welcomed the new-year by hanging thirteen people, one of them the mother of two young children. We need to dry up their sources of support and beat them in the battle of ideas. We need to show them the fallacy and danger of their pathological belief.
* Fight to end the deadly practice of political correctness. Truth, only naked truth, can set us free. And freedom is our greatest gift of life. Life without freedom is death disguised as life. Remember Patrick Henry's cry: Give me liberty or give me death. We must fight for life, for liberty and freedom.
* Demand that politicians, Islamic apologists, and paid-for media do not abuse freedom by lying about Islam. When these people portray Islam as a religion of peace, they are lying through their teeth. Just take a quick look at Islam's history as well as what is happening today in the Islamic lands. Islam is not a religion of peace and it has never been. Islam is violent, oppressive, racist, and irrational at its very core. It is treachery for people to present it as otherwise, either out of ignorance or because of their own personal reasons.
* Challenge your leftist professors who may be retained by Islamic front organizations to trumpet Islam's virtues. Demand transparency from hired lobbyists and the liberal mainstream media. Sadly, a percentage of people in Western Democracies are born alienated. These people seem to a have congenital hatred of their own societies; they ally themselves with any and all people and forces that aim to destroy our cherished way of life, and they live by the motto: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. They eagerly join forces with the Saddam Husseins and Hugo Chavezes of the world.
* Demand that Islamic literature, including the hate and violence manual called the Qur'an, be purged of all violent and hate spewed toward non-Muslims. Is it too much to ask that non-Muslims not be targeted for hate by the so-called sacred religious text? What kind of religion is this? Religion is supposed to bring people together, and not put them at each others' throats. The Muslims must be made to understand that and they must reciprocate the tolerance that the non-Muslims voluntarily afford them.
* Do not allow any special privileges whatsoever granted to Muslims. Demand that all Muslims have their first and foremost loyalty to the United States and its Constitution and not to the Islamic Ummeh, the Qur'an, and the shariah law. Europe is rapidly buckling under the pressure of Islamism. Just a couple of examples: Germany has legalized polygamy to placate Muslim men, Italy is forced to plan separate beaches for Muslim women.
* Demand that none of the barbaric provisions of Islamic sharia be practiced. Just because a woman is born into a Muslim family, that shouldn't force her to lead a subservient life to a man, for example. All family matters and disputes, without exceptions, must be adjudicated according to the civil laws of the country.
* A Muslim is, first and foremost, an Ummehist, a citizen of international Islam. So, when a Muslim takes the United States' Pledge of Allegiance, he is either ignorant of the implications of his pledge or is lying willfully. Sadly enough, taqqiyeh (lying, or dissimulation) is not only condoned, it is recommended to the Muslims in their scripture. Hence, a Muslim can and would lie without any compunctions, whenever it is expedient.
* Require that the large number of recent arrival Muslims be carefully vetted for their terrorism and Jihadists backgrounds and beliefs. Many recent arrivals from places such as Somalia, Iraq and Pakistan come as refugees and bring with them their pathological anti-American system of belief. It is criminal to admit these refugees without demanding that they completely renounce their allegiance to the hate dogma of Islam. Those diehard devotees of Islam should make any of the eighteen or so Islamic countries home, rather than invade the secular societies and aim to subvert them.
* Demand that Muslims, without the least reservation, adhere to the provisions of the human rights. Muslims, by belief and practice, are the most blatant violators of human rights. We hardly need to detail here Muslims' systemic cruel treatment of the unbelievers, women of all persuasions, and any and all minorities across the board. To Muslims, human rights have a different meaning, and its protective provisions are reserved strictly, primarily for Muslim men.
* Go and talk to Muslims, particularly the young and the better educated, about the horror and the fallacy of a primitive belief that has been handed down to them through an accident of birth. Show them the magnificence of freedom, in all its forms; the indispensability of tolerance for all; and, the futility of clinging to an obsolete hodge-podge of delusional ideology. The onus is clearly on the Muslims to prove the validity, utility, and sanctity of the belief they intend to impose on all of us.
* As for democracy, our cherished way of life, Muslims have no use for it at all. Muslims believe that Allah's rule must govern the world in the form of Caliphate: a theocracy. Making mockery of democracy, subverting its working, and ignoring its provisions is a Muslim's way of falsifying what he already believes to be a sinful and false system of governance invented by the infidels. Reason, if you can, with the Muslims that their belief is an outright rejection of the greatest gift of life: Freedom.
* Support financially and in every other legal way those individuals and organizations that are fighting the Jihadists' relentless encroachment. Many European countries are already on the verge of capitulation to the Islamists. The Supreme Guide of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, confidently proclaimed recently that Europe will be Islamic in a dozen years. He has good reason to say that. Muslims are forming states within states in much of European towns and cities. In Britain, for instance, non-Muslims are in serious danger entering Muslim neighborhoods.
In conclusion: Folks, get off your duff. Stop saying, "let George do it."Neither George the President, nor the "other guy" George can do it by themselves. This is a battle for survival that every one of us can help wage. Let's get on with it before, if not you, then your children and grandchildren end up under the barbaric rule of the Jihadists.
...me again. Your thoughts? Comments?
Semper Fi,
mark
Imani and I agree on most points, except for the one about killing our enemies. I agree that we should adhere to higher standards, and an eye for an eye is not that standard, but I WILL defend myself, my family, my country, with violence if necessary, against militants of any sort. OK, enough bantering, here is Amil Imani's writings....:
Global Politician
Ways to Defeat Islamic Jihadism
By Amil Imani
This is an urgent call to all free people to rise and defeat the Islamic Jihadists who are marching under the banner of the Qur'an to subdue all non-Muslims.
It is imperative that the values and the way of life of civilized people be protected against the assault of Jihadists' savagery born from a primitive culture of long ago Arabia. There is nothing to negotiate here. Nothing to compromise, for the Jihadists are on a non-negotiable campaign of Allah. The goal of this mission from Allah is the eradication of just about everything that falls under the rubric of human rights.
It takes every free human to do his or her share in defeating Jihadism.
Below is a partial list of what can be done.
* You don't have to take up arms and go around killing the Jihadists. That's the Jihadists' way of dealing with us and anyone they don't approve of. Decent humans value life, even the life of a Jihadist. By contrast, the Jihadists have no compunctions at amputating limbs, stoning, beheading and hanging people even en mass. The brutal mullahs ruling the Islamic Republic of Iran welcomed the new-year by hanging thirteen people, one of them the mother of two young children. We need to dry up their sources of support and beat them in the battle of ideas. We need to show them the fallacy and danger of their pathological belief.
* Fight to end the deadly practice of political correctness. Truth, only naked truth, can set us free. And freedom is our greatest gift of life. Life without freedom is death disguised as life. Remember Patrick Henry's cry: Give me liberty or give me death. We must fight for life, for liberty and freedom.
* Demand that politicians, Islamic apologists, and paid-for media do not abuse freedom by lying about Islam. When these people portray Islam as a religion of peace, they are lying through their teeth. Just take a quick look at Islam's history as well as what is happening today in the Islamic lands. Islam is not a religion of peace and it has never been. Islam is violent, oppressive, racist, and irrational at its very core. It is treachery for people to present it as otherwise, either out of ignorance or because of their own personal reasons.
* Challenge your leftist professors who may be retained by Islamic front organizations to trumpet Islam's virtues. Demand transparency from hired lobbyists and the liberal mainstream media. Sadly, a percentage of people in Western Democracies are born alienated. These people seem to a have congenital hatred of their own societies; they ally themselves with any and all people and forces that aim to destroy our cherished way of life, and they live by the motto: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. They eagerly join forces with the Saddam Husseins and Hugo Chavezes of the world.
* Demand that Islamic literature, including the hate and violence manual called the Qur'an, be purged of all violent and hate spewed toward non-Muslims. Is it too much to ask that non-Muslims not be targeted for hate by the so-called sacred religious text? What kind of religion is this? Religion is supposed to bring people together, and not put them at each others' throats. The Muslims must be made to understand that and they must reciprocate the tolerance that the non-Muslims voluntarily afford them.
* Do not allow any special privileges whatsoever granted to Muslims. Demand that all Muslims have their first and foremost loyalty to the United States and its Constitution and not to the Islamic Ummeh, the Qur'an, and the shariah law. Europe is rapidly buckling under the pressure of Islamism. Just a couple of examples: Germany has legalized polygamy to placate Muslim men, Italy is forced to plan separate beaches for Muslim women.
* Demand that none of the barbaric provisions of Islamic sharia be practiced. Just because a woman is born into a Muslim family, that shouldn't force her to lead a subservient life to a man, for example. All family matters and disputes, without exceptions, must be adjudicated according to the civil laws of the country.
* A Muslim is, first and foremost, an Ummehist, a citizen of international Islam. So, when a Muslim takes the United States' Pledge of Allegiance, he is either ignorant of the implications of his pledge or is lying willfully. Sadly enough, taqqiyeh (lying, or dissimulation) is not only condoned, it is recommended to the Muslims in their scripture. Hence, a Muslim can and would lie without any compunctions, whenever it is expedient.
* Require that the large number of recent arrival Muslims be carefully vetted for their terrorism and Jihadists backgrounds and beliefs. Many recent arrivals from places such as Somalia, Iraq and Pakistan come as refugees and bring with them their pathological anti-American system of belief. It is criminal to admit these refugees without demanding that they completely renounce their allegiance to the hate dogma of Islam. Those diehard devotees of Islam should make any of the eighteen or so Islamic countries home, rather than invade the secular societies and aim to subvert them.
* Demand that Muslims, without the least reservation, adhere to the provisions of the human rights. Muslims, by belief and practice, are the most blatant violators of human rights. We hardly need to detail here Muslims' systemic cruel treatment of the unbelievers, women of all persuasions, and any and all minorities across the board. To Muslims, human rights have a different meaning, and its protective provisions are reserved strictly, primarily for Muslim men.
* Go and talk to Muslims, particularly the young and the better educated, about the horror and the fallacy of a primitive belief that has been handed down to them through an accident of birth. Show them the magnificence of freedom, in all its forms; the indispensability of tolerance for all; and, the futility of clinging to an obsolete hodge-podge of delusional ideology. The onus is clearly on the Muslims to prove the validity, utility, and sanctity of the belief they intend to impose on all of us.
* As for democracy, our cherished way of life, Muslims have no use for it at all. Muslims believe that Allah's rule must govern the world in the form of Caliphate: a theocracy. Making mockery of democracy, subverting its working, and ignoring its provisions is a Muslim's way of falsifying what he already believes to be a sinful and false system of governance invented by the infidels. Reason, if you can, with the Muslims that their belief is an outright rejection of the greatest gift of life: Freedom.
* Support financially and in every other legal way those individuals and organizations that are fighting the Jihadists' relentless encroachment. Many European countries are already on the verge of capitulation to the Islamists. The Supreme Guide of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, confidently proclaimed recently that Europe will be Islamic in a dozen years. He has good reason to say that. Muslims are forming states within states in much of European towns and cities. In Britain, for instance, non-Muslims are in serious danger entering Muslim neighborhoods.
In conclusion: Folks, get off your duff. Stop saying, "let George do it."Neither George the President, nor the "other guy" George can do it by themselves. This is a battle for survival that every one of us can help wage. Let's get on with it before, if not you, then your children and grandchildren end up under the barbaric rule of the Jihadists.
...me again. Your thoughts? Comments?
Semper Fi,
mark
Thursday, January 10, 2008
DEFINITION OF A VETERAN
Veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve - is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check madepayable to The 'United States of America', for an amount of 'up to andincluding my life.
That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who nolonger understand it. - Author Unknown
That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who nolonger understand it. - Author Unknown
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Marines' Hymn
... Just in case you are ever asked how many verses there are in the "Marines' Hymn," you can confidently say,"three." They go something like this....:
From the Halls of Montezuma
To the Shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country's battles
In the air, on land and sea;
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title
of United States Marine.
Our flag's unfurled to every breeze
From dawn to setting sun;
We have fought in ev'ry clime and place
Where we could take a gun;
In the snow of far-off Northern lands
And in sunny tropic scenes;
You will find us always on the job
--The United States Marines.
Here's health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve
In many a strife we've fought for life
And never lost our nerve;
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven's scenes;
They will find the streets are guarded
By United States Marines.
....One of these days, I am going to write about a few already guarding some of those streets.
From the Halls of Montezuma
To the Shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country's battles
In the air, on land and sea;
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title
of United States Marine.
Our flag's unfurled to every breeze
From dawn to setting sun;
We have fought in ev'ry clime and place
Where we could take a gun;
In the snow of far-off Northern lands
And in sunny tropic scenes;
You will find us always on the job
--The United States Marines.
Here's health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve
In many a strife we've fought for life
And never lost our nerve;
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven's scenes;
They will find the streets are guarded
By United States Marines.
....One of these days, I am going to write about a few already guarding some of those streets.
The Wedding!
Well, Courtney and Mike Stumpf are now officially married, as of Saturday, 5 January. What an awesome couple they make. (My absence in posting is due to my presence with them.) If you know them, please congratulate them. They are off on their honeymoon, somewhere in the Bahamas.
We got to visit our former and future church home. What a blessing it is to have such an awesome church family. God really blessed us with those relationships. If you ever get down to Jacksonville, NC, you must go to Discovery Church and give Pastors Ron and Pam a hug.
More tomorrow. Tonight, I have to do some homework so I can get some sleep before tomorrow’s classes.
We got to visit our former and future church home. What a blessing it is to have such an awesome church family. God really blessed us with those relationships. If you ever get down to Jacksonville, NC, you must go to Discovery Church and give Pastors Ron and Pam a hug.
More tomorrow. Tonight, I have to do some homework so I can get some sleep before tomorrow’s classes.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Shake it off and Step up.
This last couple weeks reminds me of a story I heard a few years back.
A farmer was tending to his field and heard a bunch of hustling and bustling coming from his neighbors yard. Curious as to what was going on, the wandered over to his fence to see a bunch of people staring down into his well.
"What's going on?" he yelled?
"My donkey fell down into the well... we're trying to figure out how to get him out."
The well was about 50 feet deep and nearly straight down. The donkey was unhurt, but not the least bit happy about his situation. He kept looking up and trying to step on something higher than where he was... trying to climb to somewhere a little higher, to possibly get out.
They couldn't think of any way to get this donkey out without hurting him or putting someone else in danger. After an hour or so, the farmer's neighbor decided it was best just to cut their losses and fill the hole in so that no one else would fall in it.
They all grabbed their shovels and started shoveling dirt into the hole. As they did, they noticed the strangest thing happening in the bottom of the well. As the dirt fell on the donkey's back, he would shake it off, and step up on the new, higher ground.
You can see where this is going. After a while, the dirt kept getting higher and higher and finally the donkey could just walk out.
It may seem like you are getting buried by the dirt life is throwing at you, but just shake it off and step up. It will take a lot of time, and a lot of shaking and stepping, but eventually, you will get out of that hole.
A farmer was tending to his field and heard a bunch of hustling and bustling coming from his neighbors yard. Curious as to what was going on, the wandered over to his fence to see a bunch of people staring down into his well.
"What's going on?" he yelled?
"My donkey fell down into the well... we're trying to figure out how to get him out."
The well was about 50 feet deep and nearly straight down. The donkey was unhurt, but not the least bit happy about his situation. He kept looking up and trying to step on something higher than where he was... trying to climb to somewhere a little higher, to possibly get out.
They couldn't think of any way to get this donkey out without hurting him or putting someone else in danger. After an hour or so, the farmer's neighbor decided it was best just to cut their losses and fill the hole in so that no one else would fall in it.
They all grabbed their shovels and started shoveling dirt into the hole. As they did, they noticed the strangest thing happening in the bottom of the well. As the dirt fell on the donkey's back, he would shake it off, and step up on the new, higher ground.
You can see where this is going. After a while, the dirt kept getting higher and higher and finally the donkey could just walk out.
It may seem like you are getting buried by the dirt life is throwing at you, but just shake it off and step up. It will take a lot of time, and a lot of shaking and stepping, but eventually, you will get out of that hole.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)