31 January 2007

Letter From Staff Sergeant D. In Afghanistan

(Found this over at The Rott)

SSG D. is out there at the sharp end of the spear and knows better than most of the clueless herd running the war from their desks far from the front about what is really going on in The Long War. Take a few moments to send a copy of this to your congress critters and anyone else you may know that don't "Get It"...

Things that I am tired of in this war:

I am tired of Democrats saying they are patriotic and then insulting my commander in chief and the way he goes about his job.

I am tired of Democrats who tell me they support me, the soldier on the ground, and then tell me the best plan to win this war is with a “phased redeployment” (liberal-speak for retreat) out of the combat zone to someplace like Okinawa.

I am tired of the Democrats whining for months on T.V., in the New York Times, and in the House and Senate that we need more troops to win the war in Iraq, and then when my Commander in Chief plans to do just that, they say that is the wrong plan, it won’t work, and we need a “new direction.”

I am tired of every Battalion Sergeant Major and Command Sergeant Major I see over here being more concerned about whether or not I am wearing my uniform in the “spot on,” most garrison-like manner; instead of asking me whether or not I am getting the equipment I need to win the fight, the support I need from my chain of command, or if the chow tastes good.

I am tired of junior and senior officers continually doubting the technical expertise of junior enlisted soldiers who are trained far better to do the jobs they are trained for than these officers believe.

I am tired of senior officers and commanders who fight this war with more of an eye on the media than on the enemy, who desperately needs killing.

I am tired of the decisions of Sergeants and Privates made in the heat of battle being scrutinized by lawyers who were not there and will never really know the state of mind of the young soldiers who were there and what is asked of them in order to survive.

I am tired of CNN claiming that they are showing “news,” with videotape sent to them by terrorists, of my comrades being shot at by snipers, but refusing to show what happens when we build a school, pave a road, hand out food and water to children, or open a water treatment plant.

I am tired of following the enemy with drones that have cameras, and then dropping bombs that sometimes kill civilians; because we could do a better job of killing the right people by sending a man with a high powered rifle instead.

I am tired of the thousands of people in the rear who claim that they are working hard to support me when I see them with their mochas and their PX Bags walking down the street, in the middle of the day, nowhere near their workspaces.

I am tired of Code Pink, Daily Kos, Al-Jazzera, CNN, Reuters, the Associated Press, ABC, NBC, CBS, the ACLU, and CAIR thinking that they somehow get to have a vote in how we blast, shoot and kill these animals who would seek to subdue us and destroy us.

I am tired of people like Meredith Vieria from NBC asking oxygen thieves like Senator Chuck Hagel questions like “Senator, at this point, do you think we are fighting and dying for nothing?” Meredith might not get it, but soldiers do know the difference between fighting and dying for something and fighting and dying for nothing.

I am tired of hearing multiple stories from both combat theaters about snipers begging to do their jobs while commanders worry about how the media might portray the possible casualties and what might happen to their career.

I am tired of hearing that the Battalion Tactical Operations Center got a new plasma screen monitor for daily briefings, but rifle scope rings for sniper rifles, extra magazines, and necessary field gear were disapproved by the unit supply system.

I am tired of out of touch general officers, senators, congressmen and defense officials who think that giving me some more heavy body armor to wear is helping me stay alive. Speed is life in combat and wearing 55 to 90 pounds of gear for 12 to 20 hours a day puts me at a great tactical disadvantage to the idiot, mindless terrorist who is wearing no armor at all and carrying an AK-47 and a pistol.

I am tired of soldiers who are stationed in places like Kuwait and who are well away from any actual combat getting Hostile Fire/Imminent Danger Pay and the Combat Zone Tax Exclusion when they live on a base that has a McDonald’s, a Pizza Hut, a Subway, a Baskin Robbins, an internet café, 2 coffee shops and street lights.

I am tired of senior officers and commanders who take it out and "measure" every time they want to have a piece of the action with their helicopters or their artillery; instead of putting their egos aside and using their equipment to support the grunt on the ground.

I am tired of senior officers and commanders who are too afraid for their careers to tell the truth about what they need to win this war to their bosses so that the soldiers can get on with kicking the ass of these animals.

I am tired of Rules of Engagement being made by JAG lawyers and not Combat Commanders. We are not playing Hopscotch over here. There is no 2nd place trophy either. I think that if the enemy knew some rough treatment and some deprivation was at hand for them, instead of prayer rugs, special diets and free Korans; this might help get their terrorist minds “right.”

I am tired of seeing Active Duty Army and Marine units being extended past their original redeployment dates, when there are National Guard Units that have yet to deploy to a combat zone in the last 40 years.

I am tired of hearing soldiers who are stationed in safe places talk about how hard their life is.

I am tired of seeing Infantry Soldiers conducting what amounts to “SWAT” raids and performing the US Army’s version of “CSI Iraq” and doing things like filling out forms for evidence when they could be better used to hunt and kill the enemy.

I am tired of senior officers and commanders who look first in their planning for how many casualties we might take, instead of how many enemy casualties we might inflict.

I am tired of begging to be turned loose so that this war can be over.

Those of us who fight this war want to win it and go home to their families. Prolonging it with attempts to do things like collect “evidence” or present whiz bang briefings on a new plasma screen TV is wasteful and ultimately, dulls the edge of our Infantry soldiers who are trained to kill people and break things, not necessarily in that order.

We are not in Iraq and Afghanistan to build nations. We are there to kill our enemies. We make the work of the State Department easier by the results we achieve.

It is only possible to defeat an enemy who kills indiscriminately by utterly destroying him. He cannot be made to yield or surrender. He will fight to the death by the hundreds to kill only one or two of us.

And so far, all of our “games” have been “away games,” and I don’t know about the ignorant, treasonous Democrats and the completely insane radical leftists and their thoughts on the matter, but I would like to keep our road game schedule.

So let’s get it done. Until the fight is won and there is no more fight left.

-D

Wednesday Weird Al - Ebay

After my first foray into Ebay was met with crushing defeat by fiddy cents at the last second, it seemed only fitting that this be the W.W.A. for this week...

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30 January 2007

Tuesday Toon

Well, today was The Ol' Lady's Birthday, so I figgered I'd post her pic as the first Tuesday Toon...

29 January 2007

More Monday Motivation

I was going thru some folders and files and ran across this. Just a little love note to the fuckwit wannabe hippy, vandal, protesters and traitors. (Yes, I'm looking at you Jane Fonda, you cancerous cunt...)

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Monday Motivation

(clik pic for larger image)

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26 January 2007

Read This And Humble Thyself Before Our Heros

Open Letter to Our Armed Forces and Their Families From Ben Stein

Greetings From Rancho Mirage By Ben Stein
Tuesday, January 23rd

Dear Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, National Guard, Reservists, in Iraq, in the Middle East theater, in Afghanistan, in the area near Afghanistan, in any base anywhere in the world, and your families:

Let me tell you about why you guys own about 90 percent of the backbone in the whole world right now and should be happy with yourselves and proud of whom you are.

It was a dazzlingly hot day here in Rancho Mirage today. I did small errands like going to the bank to pay my mortgage, finding a new bed at a price I can afford, practicing driving with my new 5 wood, paying bills for about two hours. I spoke for a long time to a woman who is going through a nasty child custody fight. I got e-mails from a woman who was fired today from her job for not paying attention. I read about multi-billion-dollar mergers in Europe, Asia, and the Mideast I noticed how overweight I am, for the millionth time. In other words, I did a lot of nothing.

Like every other American who is not in the armed forces family, I basically just rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic in my trivial, self-important, meaningless way.

Above all, I talked to a friend of more than forty-three years who told me he thought his life had no meaning because all he did was count his money. And, friends in the armed forces, this is the story of all of America today. We are doing nothing but treading water while you guys carry on the life or death struggle against worldwide militant Islamic terrorism. Our lives are about nothing: paying bills, going to humdrum jobs, waiting until we can go to sleep and then do it all again. Our most vivid issues are trivia compared with what you do every day, every minute, every second.

Oprah Winfrey talks a lot about "meaning" in life. For her, "meaning" is dieting and then having her photo on the cover of her magazine every single month (surely a new world record for egomania ). This is not "meaning."

- Meaning is doing for others.

- Meaning is risking your life for hers.

- Meaning is putting your bodies and families' peace of mind on the line to defeat some of the most evil, sick killers the world has ever known.

- Meaning is leaving the comfort of home to fight to make sure that there still will be a home for your family and for your nation and for free men and women everywhere.

Look, soldiers and Marines and sailors and airmen and Coast Guardsmen, there are eight billion people in this world. The whole fate of this world turns on what you people, 1.4 million, more or less, do every day. The fate of mankind depends on what about 2/100 of one percent of the people in this world do every day and you are those people. And joining you is every policeman, fireman, and Emergency Medical Technician in the country, also holding back the tide of chaos.

Do you know how important you are? Do you know how indispensable you are? Do you know how humbly grateful any of us who has a head on his shoulders is to you? Do you know that if you never do another thing in your lives, you will always still be heroes? That we could live without Hollywood or Wall Street or the NFL, but we cannot live for a week without you?

We are on our knees to you and we bless and pray for you every moment. And Oprah Winfrey, if she were a size two, would not have one millionth of your importance, and all of the Wall Street billionaires will never mean what the least of you do, and if Barry Bonds hits hundreds of home runs it would not mean as much as you going on one patrol or driving one truck to the Baghdad airport.

You are everything to us, as we go through our little days, and you are in the prayers of the nation and of every decent man and woman on the planet. That's who you are and what you mean. I hope you know that.

Love,

Ben Stein

Juke Box Jams - Queen - I Want It All

I don't know what commercial this song is in, and frankly, I don't give a shit. But when I heard it, I thought, "That is Freddie." Queen is a kick ass rockin' band...

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25 January 2007

Housekeeping

Instructions on how to clean your toilet


1. Put both lids of the toilet up and add 1/8 cup of pet shampoo to the water in the bowl.

2. Pick up the cat and soothe him while you carry him towards the bathroom.

3. In one smooth movement, put the cat in the toilet and close both lids. You may need to stand on the lid.

4. The cat will self agitate and make ample suds. Never mind the noises that come from the toilet, the cat is actually enjoying this.

5. Flush the toilet three or four times. This provides a "power-wash" and rinse".

6. Have someone open the front door of your home. Be sure that there are no people between the bathroom and the front door.

7. Stand behind the toilet as far as you can, and quickly lift both lids.

8. The cat will rocket out of the toilet, streak through the bathroom, and run outside where he will dry himself off.

9. Both the commode and the cat will be sparkling clean.

Sincerely,

The Dog

24 January 2007

Wednesday Weird Al - Headline News

For all the Talking Heads in the MSM who, when they don't have any news to report, will make something up, or make something out of nothing.

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22 January 2007

Monday Motivation

A few weeks ago, I was giving my Brother and some online friends a ration of shit for playing so much Guild Wars by posting the "World Of Warcraft" episode of Southpark. Well Karma has come around to bite me in the ass by arranging to provide me with a copy of Guild Wars for Christmas, and now I am playing it as much as they are.

For those of you that don't know, W.O.W. and G.W. have their roots and draw their rules straight from Dungeons and Dragons, a game that I have occasionally spent days at a time playing. So with that in mind, I present the first installment of Monday Motivation...

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For My Father-In-Law

I saw this and thought about my Father-In-Law. A few years ago he couldn't wait to be old enough to qualify for AARP and Senior Citizen's discounts. And now he takes advantage of them every chance he gets. Hell, I think he even asks The Ol' Lady for the AARP rate when they come to town and stay at the motel...

(found at Wicked Thoughts)

YES, I'M A SENIOR CITIZEN!

I'm the life of the party...... even if it lasts until 8 p.m.
I'm very good at opening childproof caps... with a hammer.
I'm usually interested in going home before I get to where I am going.
I'm awake many hours before my body allows me to get up.
I'm smiling all the time because I can't hear a thing you're saying.
I'm very good at telling stories; over and over and over and over...
I'm aware that other people's grandchildren are not nearly as cute as mine.
I'm so cared for --- long term care, eye care, private care, dental care.

I'm not really grouchy,

I just don't like traffic, waiting, crowds, lawyers, loud music, unruly kids, Jenny Craig and Toyota commercials, barking dogs, politicians and a few other things I can't seem to remember right now.
I'm sure everything I can't find is in a safe secure place, somewhere.
I'm wrinkled, saggy, lumpy, and that's just my left leg.
I'm having trouble remembering simple words like.......
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
I'm sure they are making adults much younger these days, and when did they let kids become policemen?
I'm wondering, if you're only as old as you feel, how could I be alive at 150?
And, how can my kids be older than I feel sometimes?

I'm a walking storeroom of facts..... I've just lost the key to the storeroom door.

16 January 2007

How Time Flies When You're Being Waterboarded At Abu Ghraib - AKA: My 14th Wedding Anniversary

Holy shit, Batman!! 14 years today. The only other things I've done longer than be married is breathe and watch Star Trek.

I first met The Ol' Lady about 16 years ago when we kept showing up at the same keg parties and I noticed the short chick (she's 5ft even) with the dark hair and the dark eyes. Our first interactions came about when I got tired of seeing her "friends" take advantage of her by conning her out of her car and trashing it, or her boyfriend conning her outta beer money.

She was really innocent and naive back then, wouldn't have said shit if she had a mouth full of it. I told her to stop taking shit from people and to stand up for herself. Little did I realize that we would wind up getting married. I am 1.25 feet taller than she is, but she will stand toe to toe and go blow for blow with me. Man, did I shoot myself in the foot that time!! But it serves her well as the manager of The Motel, if she won't take no shit offa me (and I'm the biggest asshole I know), she damn well won't put up with shit from any of the wannabe thugs, drunks, shit-birds, bitches and ho's that show up at The Motel and think that because she's so short, they can intimidate her.

Of course like all real world marriages, there have been ups and downs. Good times and bad fights. Four funerals that nobody should have to attend that we held on to each other as tight as we could and got through and still cry on each other from time to time about. I used to think "You complete me" was just a cheesy line from a movie, but after 14 years, I can't even imagine life without The Ol' Lady, and I don't want to. She is truly my better half and I wouldn't trade her for all the tea in China. But I might consider a squad of 17 year old Texas cheerleaders... (I bet I'm getting a beating for my anniversary... Any takers??)

To quote some old hippy fucker, "What a long, strange trip it's been", but it doesn't really seem that long to me. So raise a glass with me and toast the most important person in my life, my Ol' Lady.

Babe, I love you.

Random Thoughts - Life In the Delta Quadrant

Well, let's see... It's 2007, and the Dhimmocraps are in control of congress and are doing their level best to fuck themselves outta winning in 2008. Their vaunted "100 Hours" shit is revealing their true colors. They ran on "removing the culture of corruption" and have nominated a corrupt criminal for every major leadership position, and have even managed to get a couple of them seated. They said no new taxes and support the troops, and have already pissed those out the window with votes that will allow them to raise taxes and threatening to cut funding for the troops. They are going to propose amnesty for illegal invaders and our Dear Leader at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is drooling in anticipation at being able to sign the bill. et cetera, ad nauseaum... fuck those fucking fuckers.

Between the holidays and my disgust at the volcano of erupting bullshit that is D.C. is the reason for my extended absence. Hell, I can hardly stand to watch/read the news these days because I wanna shoot something, usually congress-critters, but it's been too fucking nasty/cold to go to the range. So, let's blog about shit that doesn't piss me off, shall we??

Spike TV has started showing two episodes of "Star Trek: Voyager" M-F @ 1600 CST. I have seen every episode of every other Star Trek series and every movie except for Voyager. Since they have started from the beginning and are running them in order, I get to start at the beginning. Like every other series, the first few episodes were kinda cheesy, but it's getting better.

Best character so far: The Doctor. Somebody on the engineering team that designed the "EMH" must have studied up on Dr. McCoy, because I can see a lot of "Bones" in The Doctor. Just see the line from "First Contact" when The Borg are beating down the door to sickbay and Dr. Crusher tells the EMH to stall them and he replies, "I'm a Doctor, not a doorstop." There are more like that in Voyager.

Most Annoying: It's a toss up between Capt. Janeway and Neelix. I would knock the fuck outta Neelix and tell him to quit annoying me with his "Morale Officer" shit and to pound his Scatarian Sperm Soup and his Tarkalian Twat Sandwiches up his ass. And if I were Chakotay, I'd pimp slap Janeway and remind her, "Look, asshole, lemme 'splain something to you. We are 75,000 fucking light-years away from home and are looking at over 70 years travel time to get back, and you want to stop and look at every little fucking thing that crosses our path?!?! Bitch, point the bow of this scow at Earth and step on it, and we might make it back before we die. Oh, and speaking of dying, you need to get off of your ass and onto the trigger a little quicker when somebody takes a pot shot at us, because while you are hailing them, they are shooting at us and the first systems that take a shit on us are the ones we need to defend ourselves from them and from the environment of space and the ones we need to GET THE FUCK HOME!!!"

Most Hittable: Kes. Yeah, B'lanna's hot and all, but after managing a titty bar, a bitch with attitude is the LAST thing I wanna have to deal with. And I know some of you are saying, "Seven's way hotter." Maybe, but she ain't on the show yet, so shut the fuck up. Besides, Kes's caring nature and her smokey voice turn me on. And to boot, her species only live for 8 or 9 years, and she's already 2 or 3 years old so I wouldn't have to put up with her for all that long before I could start shagging Seven, provided her booger ain't "one with the Borg".

One last thing then I gotta go watch the Japanese version of Iron Chef, the Voyager-class starship is pretty cool, but I'd still rather have the Sovereign-class Enterprise-E.