Yeah, It's Been A While...So Sue Me.

This just in from ABC!

There are "secret" codes telling people to look up bible scripture on sights being sold to the US Military.

If you don't believe me then go HERE to find out more.

Trijicon the maker of the sights has said that the "Codes" have been on their products for years. ABC needed three reporters to figure out the deep dark secret that J8:12 meant Book of John chapter 8, verse 12. It's been a while since I've been to Sunday school but it didn't take a great deal of imagination for me to figure that out. The "code" is the size of a serial number on the sights.

I guess we're truly fooked now they've figured out our secret weapon. Now if we had a unit full of women that used these sights while eating pork and bacon products we would be truly unstoppable.

A "U" For Judgment

One of the thing I have found amusing during my regular trips to Iraq is reading the letters column in the "Stars and Stripes" newspaper. Without fail at least once an issue someone steps forth to distinguish themselves with their stupidity or outright selfishness. A few days ago I was both embarrassed as an Army Aviator and glad that this Lieutenant was not a member of my unit.

It seems that SEP 30 was the official "wear-out" date for one-piece tan/sage green and two piece flight suits that are not of the ACU variety. Having been forced to wear my A2CUs for a while now I wasn't aware of this and we were unable to mark the passing of this uniform properly. Please, everyone, a moment of silence for our good friend and chick magnet the one piece flight suit.


Here in all its glory, is a letter to the editor written by 1LT Allen, United States Army lamenting the demise of our good nomex friend...

Flight suit was best for wings Stars and Stripes
Letters to the Editor, Tuesday, October 6, 2009

It’s finally complete: The Army’s process of destroying esprit de corps was accomplished Sept. 30, 2009. If you don’t know, this was the wear-out date the Army set for aviation one-piece flight suits (tan and green), and the two-piece tan aircrew battle dress uniform (ABDU).

Although the other services continue to utilize the one-piece and two-piece flight suits, the Army has decided its years of service have been completed.

More important than the function of the one-piece flight suit is the fact an aviator can wear his or her wings earned on the flight suit. The process of becoming a pilot does not end with the 16 months of flight school (that’s for a UH-60, longer for other airframes). Every pilot and crew chief has an annual evaluation that encompasses everything from flying, aerodynamics, hydraulic systems, electrical systems, fuel, turbine engine, all the way to the anatomy of the eye, and altitude physiology.

You, being the rest of the Army that sits in the back, can rest assured the aircrew you are with are some of the most dedicated individuals in the Army. I know some people will read this and be upset (these are the same people who earn their Combat Action Badge while waiting in line for their iced coffee just because they saw the plume from a rocket). As a UH-60 pilot and platoon leader with the privilege of being around senior warrant officers and crew chiefs, whose sole mission in life is to support the ground forces commander, I will say it again: Pilots are the most dedicated individuals in the Army, and they deserve to be able to wear their flight suit with the wings they continue to earn well past graduation day from flight school.

First Lt. James Allen
Joint Base Balad, Iraq

I don't know what 1LT Allen expected to achieve by writing this letter. I'm sure he brought unwanted attention to himself and his unit. I'm sure what he wrote won't change the minds of anyone involved in the decision to give us a flight uniform that costs four times as much as the one-piece version and wears out faster...but we do pretty much look like everyone else which was the point. Instead of pointing out logical reasons for why the uniform should be retained he resorts to emotion and hyperbole. I hope he feels better because if he thought writing a letter to Stars and Stripes was going to achieve something...then I've got beach front property in Arizona I want to sell him.

If LT Allen or anyone else needs to wear their wings to make themselves feel special, them I would suggest that they take a long look at themselves in the mirror and think about the reasons that they serve. We (aviators) exist to serve the guy on the ground. You know those guys that "sit in the back" as the LT so quaintly puts it.

I'm not that upset by the LT's letter, saddened is the more accurate term. For the record I didn't get my CAB for seeing a rocket plume while standing in line at the BK, it was for a more direct type of action with the enemy...something I'm sure 1LT Allen has done plenty of.

Now THIS creeps me out.

I am not sure if you have to be a member of Facebook to see this or not...my apologies if you do.

THIS is the link to the Erwin Rommel Fan Club on Facebook. Not nearly as creepy as say the Herman Goering Fan Club, but creepy and weird enough for me. But then again I'm the guy who wouldn't even consider making a model airplane of our WWII foes until I was in my 20's.

This seems to be the cousin of those folks who dress in Nazi uniforms and go to military collector shows. Yeah, I can't stand them either.

Something to do with what that uniform represents, I think. But then again I'm funny like that.

This Is For My Next Door Neighbor

...I'm the bear.

Stupid is as Stupid Does

I am re posting a comment a guy going by the name "Andero" posted last night in reference to THIS VIDEO, I posted a year ago about Vets for Freedom.

The war against Iraq was not a legitimate one, this makes Bellavia no hero, just an ordinary killer.

By Andero's reckoning not only is David Bellavia an ordinary killer, but I am as well. Needless to say Andero is now banned from commenting around here.

But Andero brings up a point that others randomly do here and there on sites I frequent about the legitimacy of the war in Iraq. So it might be helpful to go back in time and recount all the things that led up to this "illegitimate" war.

On 2 August 1990, Saddam launched the invasion of Kuwait. After two days of intense combat, most of the Kuwaiti Armed Forces were either overrun by the Iraqi Republican Guard or escaped to neighboring Saudi Arabia. Within hours of the invasion, Kuwaiti and US delegations requested a meeting of the UN Security Council, which passed Resolution 660, condemning the invasion and demanding a withdrawal of Iraqi troops. On 3 August the Arab League passed its own resolution. The resolution called for a solution to the conflict from within the League, and warned against outside intervention. On 6 August UN Resolution 661 placed economic sanctions on Iraq.

A long series of UN Security Council resolutions and Arab League resolutions were passed regarding the invasion. One of the most important was Resolution 678, passed on 29 November giving Iraq a withdrawal deadline of 15 January 1991, and authorizing “all necessary means to uphold and implement Resolution 660,” a diplomatic formulation authorizing the use of force.

The United States, especially Secretary of State James Baker, assembled a coalition of forces to join it in opposing Iraq, consisting of forces from 34 countries: Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Kuwait, Morocco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Spain, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States itself.[16] Although they did not contribute any forces, Japan and Germany made financial contributions totaling $10 billion and $6.6 billion respectively. US troops represented 73% of the coalition’s 956,600 troops in Iraq. Many of the coalition forces were reluctant to join; some felt that the war was an internal Arab affair, or did not want to increase US influence in the Middle East. In the end, many nations were persuaded by Iraq’s belligerence towards other Arab states, fear of the US, offers of economic aid or debt forgiveness, and threats to withhold aid.

On 12 January 1991 the United States Congress authorized the use of military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait. The votes were 52-47 in the US Senate and 250-183 in the US House of Representatives. These were the closest margins in authorizing force by the Congress since the War of 1812. Soon after, the other states in the coalition also followed suit.

The 1991 Gulf War ended in a cease-fire agreement, ratified by the UN Security Council as Resolution 687. The cease-fire was conditional upon Iraq's acceptance of the provisions of the Resolution. Some of those provisions included:

Requiring Iraq to dismantle all WMD and all long-range missiles *under international supervision* (article C).
Requiring Iraq to abandon all future WMD programs (article C)
Comply with UN restrictions on the importation of conventional weapons (article F)
Permanently abandon support for terrorism (article H)

there was no peace treaty following As the cease-fire, the Gulf War coalition retained the right under international law to resume hostilities if Iraq violated the terms of the cease-fire.

The United States and Coalition Forces were well within their rights under the cease fire agreement signed in 1991 to go into Iraq in 2003 and enforce that agreement. Now if one makes the argument that the USA was less than articulate in making its case for the invasion you then may have a valid point. But there are many justifiable reasons based on international and US law to the war in Iraq.

So in short just because you hate America, George W. Bush, Coke, McDonald's or whatever else gets your panties in a bunch has nothing to do with the facts behind the legitimacy of the war in Iraq.

Emotionally I refuse to allow someone to enter MY INTERNET HOME even for one second and presume to infer that I, David Bellavia or any other Solider doing their duty is a murderer. What passes as rational thought for some in this country and the world at large is often fueled by hate and the illogical reasoning based on assumptions that simply aren't true.

For those emotionally equipped to handle rational thought there is more on the war in Iraq specifically the UN Resolutions involved HERE.

Is This Guy Still Alive?!?

Via The Mudville Gazette.

If we could be heroes
by Greyhawk

Yes - Andy Rooney is at it again:

We don't have many heroes these days because there isn't much opportunity to be a hero and most people aren't usually heroic anyway.
It may be helpful to understand Rooney's definition of a hero. "Being heroic," he says, "means doing something that risks your own life while you're saving someone else's." I'd add that perhaps doing something you don't have to do that risks your life while you're saving someone else's (or even just trying to save someone else's) could be a better definition.

"In World War II we had a lot of heroes because there were a lot of opportunities to be heroic" writes Rooney, but as for now "we all must have the same attributes we've always had but I guess people don't have the opportunity to be heroic in peace as they do in war."

And if you're tempted to shout that we are indeed at war today - save your breath. I said "at it again" because Rooney dismissed today's soldiers as potential heroes back in 2004:

Treating soldiers fighting their war as brave heroes is an old civilian trick designed to keep the soldiers at it....

We pin medals on their chests to keep them going. We speak of them as if they volunteered to risk their lives to save ours, but there isn't much voluntary about what most of them have done. A relatively small number are professional soldiers. During the last few years, when millions of jobs disappeared, many young people, desperate for some income, enlisted in the Army. About 40 percent of our soldiers in Iraq enlisted in the National Guard or the Army Reserve to pick up some extra money and never thought they'd be called on to fight. They want to come home.
<...>
We must support our soldiers in Iraq because it's our fault they're risking their lives there. However, we should not bestow the mantle of heroism on all of them for simply being where we sent them. Most are victims, not heroes.

I don't how you can live to be as old as Andy Rooney and still be that stupid.

Are all soldiers heroes? No, they are not. I'm here to tell you just like the rest of society there are some reprehensible characters in our armed forces. But, by and large we are a force of dedicated individuals who signed up to do a job most people would never even consider.

If Mister Rooney wants to see some heroes there are plenty of them. You can read some of their stories in places like THIS.

Really these stories aren't that hard to find...If you WANT to find them.

USAF Blog Srategery Revealed

From Danger Room

The USAF is on the march to counter negative impressions about the service (Danger Room reports).

Bloggers: If you suddenly find Air Force officers leaving barbed comments after one of your posts, don't be surprised. They're just following the service's new "counter-blogging" flow chart. In a twelve-point plan, put together by the emerging technology division of the Air Force's public affairs arm, airmen are given guidance on how to handle "trolls," "ragers" -- and even well-informed online writers, too. It's all part of an Air Force push to "counter the people out there in the blogosphere who have negative opinions about the U.S. government and the Air Force," Captain David Faggard says...

Read the whole thing HERE

And check out the nifty flow chart...no thinking required!

Hot Chick in a (partial) Uniform

...and how to ruin it.

I suspect you can figure out how it's ruined by looking at the edges of the above picture, but who she hangs out with is her business right?

Also seeing this makes me wonder how a Marine might view this. I can assure you she isn't nor has she ever been a member of the USMC. While I think a lot of male Marines (and some female) might have no problem with this at all, it makes me wonder where is the limit.

Personally I don't find her offensive...but given how much the Marines of the world love to fight every slight actual and otherwise, I wondered what they may think...especially when she's hanging out with these guys in the background.

If you are the least bit interested her name is Valerie Mason and she was Playmate of the month for SEP '08.

For more on that go HERE (SFW at least that page is)). You can vote for her for Playmate of the Year if you are so inclined...or I'm sure, find a place to send your correspondence expressing your disgust with her for posting disrespectful pictures to the USMC on her MySpace page (the only thing disrespectful IMHO is I'm not in them).

First the Shocker now the Donkey Punch

The WHAT?!?

Yeah, you heard me there's a movie called DONKEY PUNCH.

As if Navy pilots calling their jet THE SHOCKER, wasn't bad enough now we have some Brits who make a film entitled DONKEY PUNCH...and it's not p0rn. Or at least that's the story they are using right now.

"This party is going overboard" I'll say... like a blow to the back of the head it is.

For those not clued in to what the donkey punch might be...it is described in detail at the ever helpful Wikipedia.

Hanging around with soldiers all day I already knew what it meant. But I did learn that those tools at Enron used that term to describe some of the deals they made...so it wasn't a wasted trip.

Rioting In The Streets Soon Followed

After Playboy Mexico published this cover...



There were riots and Hef was burned in effigy. No wait that would have been another offended religion. This is what really happened...

H/T Theo Spark

The magazine, which hit newsstands on Dec 1 as ceremonies began leading to Friday's pilgrimage to the Mexico City shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, showed a model wearing nothing but a white cloth over her head and breasts.

The model, Maria Florencia Onori, is pictured standing in front of a stained glass window with the cover line, "We Love You, Maria" in Spanish.

The Virgin of Guadalupe, said to have appeared to a sixteenth century Indian peasant, is Mexico's most revered Roman Catholic figure and the annual pilgrimage to the Mexico City basilica dedicated to her is one of the world's largest religious events.

In a statement, Chicago-based Playboy Enterprises Inc said the Mexican edition of the magazine is published by a licensee, and the company did not approve or endorse the cover.

"While Playboy Mexico never meant for the cover or images to offend anyone, we recognise that it has created offence, and we as well as Playboy Mexico offer our sincerest apologies," the statement said.

Raul Sayrols, publisher of Playboy Mexico, said in a statement: "The image is not and never was intended to portray the Virgin of Guadalupe or any other religious figure. The intent was to reflect a Renaissance-like mood on the cover."

For the rest of the story go HERE

Homer Simpson was heard to say, "DOH!"

Now I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but back in the day when I was going to Sunday School, that picture on the cover looks a lot like the Virgin Mary, especially with the stained glass,...classy, and right around Christmas...double classy. Of course all the versions of the Virgin Mary I saw didn't feature partial nudity, maybe because she was a virgin. Odd choice, way to go Playboy Mexico, not quite as horrific as it could have been, but a pretty nice job of overall blaspheming.

Just Sick...

Via Ace of Spades

Pardon me, but is there anything inside a Wal Mart worth having a frenzy about...maybe we should check and see where those folks who trampled eleven people to death at a Who concert are today. Sick bastards.

Wal-Mart worker dies after shoppers knock him down
Colleen Long, Associated Press Writer – Fri Nov 28, 5:15 pm ET

New York – Wal-Mart Worker Trampled To Death


AP – Nassau County Police examine the front of the Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, N.Y., Friday, Nov. 28, 2008, … NEW YORK – A Wal-Mart worker was killed Friday when "out-of-control" shoppers desperate for bargains broke down the doors at a 5 a.m. sale. Other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man, and customers shouted angrily and kept shopping when store officials said they were closing because of the death, police and witnesses said.

At least four other people, including a woman who was eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals for observation or minor injuries, and the store in Valley Stream on Long Island closed for several hours before reopening.

Shoppers stepped over the man on the ground and streamed into the store. When told to leave, they complained that they had been in line since Thursday morning.

Nassau police said about 2,000 people were gathered outside the store doors at the mall about 20 miles east of Manhattan. The impatient crowd knocked the man, identified by police as Jdimytai Damour of Queens, to the ground as he opened the doors, leaving a metal portion of the frame crumpled like an accordion...

For the whole sad story go HERE

Moron of the Century

What kind of idiot would think that this would be "COOL"?

I might expect this sort of thing from terrorists and their ilk, but I'm pretty sure they don't celebrate pagan holidays. This is just sick.

More on this Here

Does Embeding WIth The Taliban Make You A Traitor?

From the wonderful folks at Danger Room, who predictably act like they walk a middle path but imply "NO!" and if you don't answer "NO" you are a kunckle draggin moron.

Does Embedding with the Taliban Make You a Traitor? (Updated)
By Noah Shachtman October 30, 2008 6:21:00

Two weeks ago, Rolling Stone published the most detailed Western account to date from within the Taliban insurgency. Now, a fighting has erupted in military circles over the story, "How We Lost the War We Won." Is journalist Nir Rosen a traitor, for telling the Taliban's story? Or are his critics the ones spouting anti-American tones, for ignoring the 1st Amendment?

On one side, we've got Small Wars Journal's Dave Dilegge and Bing West. "Just call me old fashioned – I have serious misgivings respecting and tolerating journalists who embed with an enemy," Dilegge writes.

West, for his part, implies that Rosen should be shot:

Rosen described how he and two Taliban fighters deceived the guards at a government checkpoint. Suppose during World War II an American reporter had sneaked through the lines with two German officers wearing civilian clothes. “When we caught enemy combatants out of uniform in the 1940s,” a veteran wrote in The American Heritage, “we sometimes simply executed them.” The Greatest Generation had a direct way of dealing with moral ambiguity.

Spencer Ackerman is not amused by the analogy. "So there you go. Try to understand the Taliban on its own terms -- ask questions that offend the Patriotism Police -- and, in West's moral universe, you should be executed. Now there's a sentiment the Taliban would recognize."

Andrew Exum, over at Abu Muquwama, ain't happy, either.

The thrust of West's op-ed is that journalists like Dexter Filkins and Rosen have failed the patriotism test. By not taking sides in their coverage, West argues, they have abdicated moral responsibility. Worse, they are not American enough because they dare approach and analyze wars involving Americans in the same way they would approach wars involving exclusively foreign powers. This is the same crap of which the Vietnam generation accused the media in the 1960s as well. And look how well it worked!

Bing West author of many a USMC glorification project, answers in the affirmative.

Good for Dave Dilegge for speaking out in Small Wars Journal about the October issue of Rolling Stone magazine, wherein Nir Rosen, an American reporter, described his visit with Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Rosen left no doubt about his active cooperation with the Taliban fighters. “They have promised to take me to see the Taliban in action: going out on patrols, conducting attacks,” he wrote, “…. once we are on the road we should take the batteries out of our phones, to prevent anyone from tracking us.”

Having told the reader what his intent was, Rosen described the Taliban as “religious students who knew little about the rest of the world and cared only about liberating their country from oppressive warlords.” Rosen concluded his piece by declaring that the war was lost – unless we negotiated an ending with the Taliban.

But in addition to providing the Taliban with a propaganda coup, did he violate moral strictures, given that killing Americans was an objective of the very Taliban attacks he wanted to watch? Is a journalist guided by virtues higher than those of patriotism or nationalism? Does a journalist transcend the laws and norms governing other American citizens? And who is not a journalist, if every blog and e-mail is a branch of journalism?

...Rosen is in elevated journalistic company in detaching from the American soldiers and their cause. In describing his experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, New York Times reporter Dexter Filkins wrote, “This was not my war. This was not my army.” Whose army, then, was it?

Rosen described how he and two Taliban fighters deceived the guards at a government checkpoint. Suppose during World War II an American reporter had sneaked through the lines with two German officers wearing civilian clothes. “When we caught enemy combatants out of uniform in the 1940s,” a veteran wrote in The American Heritage, “we sometimes simply executed them.” The Greatest Generation had a direct way of dealing with moral ambiguity.

"I am a guest of the Taliban." Rosen wrote. Supposing in 1944 he had written, “I am a guest of the Waffen SS.” It is doubtful if Rolling Stone would have published Rosen’s article during World War II. The norms and values of American society have changed enormously in the past half-century.

Yet had Rosen been captured by Afghan soldiers, it is likely Rolling Stone magazine would have asked the US military to intercede for his release. But if the reporter has no obligation toward the soldier, does the soldier have the obligation to protect the journalist? Should Rosen, if captured, have been released or put on trial for aiding or abetting the enemy?

Personally, I think Mr. Rosen wants it both ways. He wants his journalistic freedoms that are guaranteed by the first amendment but he also has no problem giving aid and comfort to the people who if they were in charge would have nothing of the sort. He claims he's just telling their side of things, his personification of the enemy is calculated (by some at least) to try and make us quit the fight, or at least have less enthusiasm for it.

I am quite certain if one visited various Nazi, Italian or Japanese units during WWII one would have found that they were in fact populated by a great deal of people who didn't understand what the fighting was all about and just wanted to defend their homeland. For those who actually paid attention during history class this doesn't come as news. Books are filled with evil men who duped the masses into doing their will with these people going to their deaths believing they were doing the Lord's work.

The leaders of the Taliban and Al Quedia made it clear why they were doing the things they do long ago...to embed with the Islamo-fascist foot soldiers does nothing but create a more sympathetic picture to the ignorant wretches who usually swallow the drivel published in "Rolling Stone".

Hey dude spark up another fatty...Obama's going to end the war and pay us all $1000.

Traitor not really, ignorant dupe most assuredly.

He (Mr. Rosen) answers (not to me, but to all the readers) over at Danger Room:

The Taliban are not well understood by anybody. We don’t know who they are, why they take up arms, what their goals are. There is not even one Taliban. There are many groups who call themselves the Taliban and many different reasons why people join, Pushtun nationalism, resentment of foreigners, fear of Afghan police, revenge because one of their boys was shot by Americans as he was riding his bike past a checkpoint (true story), the desire to impose their strict brand of Islam, acting as mercenaries for the Pakistanis, whatever, but we don’t know them the way we could understand past groups the US fought, because of the danger involved in meeting them. Isn’t that an interesting thing to learn? And isn’t it relevant if an end to the war is sought? That end will be a political one, as even the American military knows, and there will be negotiations with the Taliban. At this point just about everybody is calling for those negotiations, even if it includes an element of killing the so called ‘irreconcilables.’ Unless Mr. west is from the Sassaman school of war. Maybe he just wants to kill all the Pushtuns. This worked for the Russians in Chechnya, though it hasn’t worked well for the Israelis.

I spent a month in Falluja in the spring of 2004 when it was under mujaheddin control and I came under similar criticism. Three years later, these people were on the US pay roll, and President Bush was praising them.

Some of you people take this war too personally. This is not good vs evil, its much more ambiguous, and if anything you should be grateful for my work, for the light it sheds on your opponents.

That last part there made off with my goat somewhat...I take this war too personally...HMMMM. Yeah, maybe so. Around three thousand dead on 9/11, then the bombings in Madrid, London, Bali not to mention the first WTC bombing and the embassy bombing, Kobar Towers, well the list goes on. All run by the leaders of the people Mr. Rosen embeded with.

Is it possible we could swing some of these people like the ones Mr. Rosen stayed with to "OUR" side? Maybe so. If it can be done that would be great. But what a snooty load of self serving crap for that oxygen thief to sit their and type that "some of us take the war too personally"...Mr. Rosen you can get stuffed.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up...

From the Daily Gut.

...[T]he Ukrainian actress who plays Bond's sidekick in Quantum of Solace, has been condemned by the Communist Party of St Petersburg for aiding "the killer of hundreds of Soviet people and their allies". Apparently oblivious to Bond's fictional nature, it accused her of assisting "a man who worked for decades under the orders of Thatcher and Reagan to destroy the USSR".

Apparently they don't know that James Bond isn't real.

...and these people controlled nuclear weapons...scary. I feel confident in saying that the actress (Olga Kurylenko) can come here and live if she desires, I'm sure she would not have a problem finding accommodations.

You're Doing It Wrong...

Idiots on the rampage...I don't care what Republicans spent on Sarah's wardrobe...it's their money. I don't care if anyone spends their own money on hair cuts or anything else for that matter. Republican or Democrat.

What else do the socialists want to regulate, money spent on clothes during a campaign?

Is that all you've got? They spent $150K on her clothes? That's it? That's all you've got to say? Oh yeah and she hunts moose and she's stoopid...thanks for that erudite discussion on things.

In this post excerpted from Knowledge Is Power, Pantsuit maker to the stars, Susanna Chung Forest tells us, why buy your clothes when designers will give you their ugly crap for free?

Susanna Chung Forest, who designed Hillary Clinton’s pantsuits says it would be unusual for a candidate as famous as Sarah Palin to need to buy clothes. ...

“Why do you need to pay for it?” Forest told CBS News from her boutique Susanna Beverly Hills saying that most designers would offer to clothe a candidate for free. “It’s an honor, you are going to design for someone who could be the president of the United States,"…

Senator Clinton’s custom made pantsuits from Forest were worth about $6,350 a piece retail.

To see the difference money well spent and a few hours in the gym will make please go here.

H/T Neptunus Lex

To quote him..."I'll take door number two."

Dear Abby,

First I didn't know this column still existed. Second who the hell writes someone they don't know from some jerk walking down the street and asks them for advice on something serious?

DEAR ABBY: Our 17-year-old twin son and daughter met with military recruiters who came to their school and made the military sound exciting and glamorous. They are now saying that after they graduate next year, they want to join the military instead of going to college. They have even put up military posters in their rooms that they received from the recruiters.
My husband and I are horrified. We cannot stand the thought of them going off to war, and do not believe that war is the answer to the world's problems. It will be a year, and hopefully the novelty of the idea will wear off by then. However, I don't want to take a chance. How can I counter the idea? -- CLEVELAND MOM

I understand Cleveland Mom's concern with sending her kids off to war...that is an entirely natural response to having ones children possibly put into harms way. On the other hand Cleveland Mom, tell this crap about "war not being the answer" to the free people in Europe. Tell your kids to read a book, like the "Longest Day" or "We Were Soldiers...". There's a lot worse things in the world a kid could aspire to than being a soldier.

I suppose defending your nation is something best left to others or only worth doing when there is little to no risk involved. It seems her kids got some spunk from somewhere, maybe it was Dad's side of the family.

To see Abby's punk ass reply go HERE
H/T Blackfive...who really needs the traffic, so please go over there...it's much more interesting than this site.

An Open Letter to Playboy...

By Jason over at Sith by Sithwest

Dear Playboy

Dear Playboy,

Please stop sending me last chance offers to resubscribe. We had a good 10 year run together but quite frankly you jumped the shark some time ago. I just cannot stomach any more interviews with liberal ass-clowns or even more pics of Pamela Anderson. I can't imagine by now there being any square inch of skanky body that I have not seen. I realize that from your perspective if the Religious Right took over they would seek to ban Playboy outright as an American Taliban outfit. Not all those that voted for Bush (twice) are card carrying members of the 700 Club. Maybe you don't think fighting back in Afghanistan or starting a proxy war with Iran in Iraq will solve our terrorist problem. If you have not noticed no one on the left has any better ideas.

Mean while I am going to subscribe to Maxim. The women have more clothes but they are just as funny to read and I don't have to look at the liberal douche of the month.

You tell em brother, I had been a subscriber as well. I stopped reading the magazine when I noticed they thought that I was a Nazi. It's one of the few standards I have, don't give money to people who hate me. I know they might find it hard to believe but people other than leftists enjoy the sight of a beautiful woman and sex (How do you think there are so many Republicans? I guess they perfected asexual reproduction or something.).

While I still use images of their models for "Girl Friday" and post about the virtues of one of their Playmates (Pilar Lastra), they left the reservation long ago as far as their editorial department is concerned. Yeah, I guess that makes me a hypocrite in the eyes of some...still using their product and giving them free advertising while not agreeing with a thing that they write, but I guess that's just how I roll.

Does Anyone Still Fall For this Stuff?!?

Got this in my in-box this AM...

As-salam 'alaykum,

Hello my friend,

Hope this day finds you well?, Alh Zaheed XXXXX a merchant in the
United Kingdom,
I have been diagnosed with Esophageal cancer, It has defiled all forms
of medical treatment, and right now I have only about a few months to
live, according to medical experts.


I have not particularly lived my life so well, as I never really cared
for anyone (not even myself) but my business. Though I am very rich, I
was never generous, I was always hostile to people and only focused on
my business as that was the only thing I cared for. But now I regret
all this as I now know that there is more to life than just wanting to
have or make all the money in the world....

...Which no one knows of is the huge cash deposit of (Twenty five
Million, Five Hundred Thousand U.S dollars) I have set aside 25% for
you, then 5% for any expenses insured.
If you are interested, please send your prompt reply to my email
address below which you will have to reply to if you will be kind
enough to assist;Email

Yeah, I'll get right on that.

Ingrate Thy Name Is Howard

This morning on the way to work I was "entertained" by this STORY

I feel doubly bad about this because I consider the DFW area my second home, my brother lives there, I lived there before I joined the Army and it's just a pretty good place to live.

Howard disrespects national anthem

07:11 PM CDT on Wednesday, September 17, 2008
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
esefko@dallasnews.com

In a video posted on YouTube, the swingman is shown at Allen Iverson's charity flag football game in July. When the national anthem is being sung, various participants are shown mugging for the camera. When the camera gets to Howard, he says: " 'The Star-Spangled Banner' is going on. I don't celebrate this [expletive]. I'm black."

Howard goes on to make a difficult-to-discern comment that includes a reference to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

The video comes on the heels of his July arrest for a late-night street race in North Carolina and last season's admission that he is an occasional marijuana user. He also had a birthday bash for himself after the Mavericks lost Game 4 of their playoff series against New Orleans, even though coach Avery Johnson had asked the players to keep extracurricular activities to a minimum during the playoffs...
... "Josh really is a good guy with a great heart," (Mavs Owner Mark)Cuban said. "He just doesn't do a good job of showing that side of himself publicly. We will work on that."

A DFW area talk show host, Mark Davis, had a discussion about this on his show. His point of view essentially was that yes it was stupid, yes the Mavs Owner should do something to make it hurt Mr. Howard financially so he might think twice the next time, but it wasn't worth boycotting the team or anything of that magnitude.

It's an easy decision for me, because I don't watch that much NBA action...so until the league can stop hiring thugs, punks and reprobates, I won't be enjoying any National Basketball Association games of any sort. As with my ban on all things Jane Fonda, I don't exhort others to join, I just state what I choose to do, or in this case don't do...what you do, is up to you.

al Qaeda Hates The Beatles

...or maybe just Paul McCartney.

Oops, make that Hamas. Or maybe not even that, just some dude of middle eastern decent who doesn't enjoy Sir Paul's work. Personally I prefer The Who over The Beatles, but I'm not violent about it. Now if he were talking about Paul McCartney and Wings now there's a band to go nuts about.

Omar Bakri threatened Paul McCartney with suicide bombers if the former Beatle plays at a concert celebrating Israel's 60th anniversary.

"Paul McCartney is the enemy of every Muslim. We have what we call ‘sacrifice’ operatives who will not stand by while he joins in a celebration of their oppression."

For the link go to the JAWA REPORT

Oh wait a tick, this is all about the Joos!?! WOW, at least you're consistent in your unreasoning hate Omar...you stay classy