National Airborne Day

TO ALL WHO READ THIS:

Say "thank you" to a paratrooper today...those who are willing to jump out of perfectly good airplanes. What are they thinking?

A DAY FOR U.S. PARATROOPERS [W. Thomas Smith Jr.]

Today is National Airborne Day, honoring all U.S. paratroopers and military parachutists (from all services) since the first American soldier leapt from a plane over Fort Benning, Georgia on August 16, 1940.

What's interesting is that all soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who earn the wings of a "military parachutist," must first attend jump school, which is still located at Fort Benning and still conducted by the U.S. Army.

In his 2002 National Airborne Day proclamation, President Bush said, “Airborne combat continues to be driven by the bravery and daring spirit of sky soldiers. Often called into action with little notice, these forces have earned an enduring reputation for dedication, excellence, and honor. As we face the challenges of a new era, I encourage all people to recognize the contributions of these courageous soldiers to our nation and the world.”

Hat-tip: National Review Online

Terror plot while Bush and Blair on "vacation"

As we learn more about the terror threat that has been discovered in Britain, I think we can discount (further) the kooks that complained about "we're at war, and Bush is GTT (Gone To Texas) for a vacation". Tony Blair is also on "vacation"; I suspect they wanted to get out of the spotlight, throw off the NYTimes and the other traitorous MSM who would tell (sorry, "report responsibly to") the terrorists about what we're doing to fight, and get to secure locations so that they could coordinate the take-down of the bad guys.

Some sensible precautions on the part of our gov't (and I'm not being a conspiracy kook when I observe these):

1. Bush and Blair are away from their respective capitols
2. Succession-planning seems to be working fine (as POTUS and VPOTUS are now split up)
3. US Gov't has raised the Terror Level warning
4. Tomorrow is 8/11, so we probably had our antennae up anyway

Interestingly, I have a plug-in to Firefox that displays the current threat level from DHS. It's still showing "Elevated (yellow)". Looking at the DHS website, they have NOT updated the website yet. The announcement of the Threat Level being raised was made about 20 minutes ago now, and DHS still hasn't raised the notice on the site to Orange.

Oh well...just tells you that, in spite of it all, the gov't moves slowly.

More dumb stuff from the NYTimes

Jeez...they get the first 2 paragraphs right...then fall apart with their socialism. I swear you could offer a million bucks for just ONE sensible economics writer over there, and no one could collect the money!

Editorial

Lessons From Prudhoe Bay

Published: August 9, 2006

No sooner did BP announce that a corrosion problem was forcing a shutdown of its pipelines serving Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay than prices again shot up, with oil temporarily gaining more than $2 a barrel, to nearly $77, and gasoline rising five cents a gallon in some cities. Consumers are understandably rankled. But there’s nothing necessarily predatory about what’s going on — this time.

Refineries and gas stations that are not well stocked rush to buy when there’s a sudden shortage, provoking an immediate price increase. Meanwhile, BP and the other oil companies that share in the Prudhoe Bay oil field stand to lose more from the shutdown than they will reap from a spike in prices.

What is predatory is some politicians’ attempt to use the shutdown to realize their drilling dreams. Pete Domenici, the Senate Energy Committee chairman, was quick off the mark pronouncing BP’s travails as yet another reason to drill more at home.

That’s backward, for two reasons.

First, even all-out drilling won’t vaccinate the market from unexpected shortages because there simply isn’t enough potential domestic supply to dent Americans’ demand. The United States holds only 3 percent of global oil reserves, yet uses 25 percent of the world’s oil.

Until we have marketable alternatives to oil, the only thing that will truly reduce Americans’ vulnerability to oil shocks is reduced demand. According to the nonprofit National Environmental Trust, if Americans had started a 10-year phase-in of 40-mile-a-gallon driving standards in 2001, they would already be saving 267 million barrels of oil a year. That’s nearly twice the amount produced annually at the Prudhoe Bay field.

No matter what Mr. Domenici and other oil company cheerleaders say, the BP fiasco also reminds us why we should not put the fate of America’s wilderness in the hands of the oil companies.

BP has a lot of explaining to do, starting with why the ragged condition of its pipelines went undetected for so long. But it has already reinforced one lesson: True energy security does not entail more drilling, especially in Alaska.

Wars past and present, and the Media

In the bigger picture about our chicken**** media, check out this story...my wife's father was in this battle (RIP TSgt Leonard):

"During World War II, U.S. and German forces fought the battle of Hurtgen Forest. It began Sept. 19, 1944 and ended Feb. 10, 1945. That was one battle in a strategically insignificant corridor of barely 50 square miles east of the Belgium-Germany border. The Germans inflicted more than 24,000 casualties on American forces, while another 9,000 Americans were sidelined due to illness, fatigue and friendly fire. Had live TV beamed this battle to America, there might have been an outcry that the policy was failing and somehow a cease-fire and an accommodation with Hitler should be achieved.

America won that war because the objective wasn't to understand the Nazis, or to reach an accommodation with them; the objective was to win the war. Anything less in this war - against an equally evil and unrelenting enemy - will mean defeat for the United States and for freedom everywhere. That's what Rumsfeld was getting at when he said, "We can persevere in Iraq or we can withdraw prematurely, until they force us to make a stand nearer home. But make no mistake: They are not going to give up, whether we acquiesce in their immediate demands or not."

Rumsfeld is right." -- Cal Thomas

Hat-tip: Rightwing News

Support your local Businessman

I'm working on a Firefighter and Police Appreciation Day for our local cops and firemen. In making calls to a number of businesses in the area to solicite their support, I met with a sales manager for a big insurance company (you'd know the company if I told you the name). I'm a sales guy, and have been a sales VP, so I'm pretty good at spotting classy salesmen vs. the "all hat and no cattle" type. Here's a guy who's the same age as I am, rock-steady, calm, cool, collected, and ready to help with his company's resources in support of the community. I bitched a bit about how hot it was in the restaurant we were meeting in. I complained about this and that, just normal nits and nats. Then I asked him if he had ever worked around cops.

Turns out he's a Lt Col Military Policeman in the Army Reserve. He's already served 2 tours in Iraq. Now, he didn't say a word about my bitchin' and moanin', just said he'd been over there and was glad to be back. See what I mean about the classy and rock-steady part?

Let me tell you -- I was embarrassed. I apologized to him for complaining about a 75 degree indoor restaurant when he'd had his butt on the line sweating it out in 115 degree weather, humping it. I thanked him for his service and for not kicking my tail, and we continued our work.

Does anyone have a crowbar to get the foot outta my mouth? TGFOS (Thank God for our Soldiers). Perspective, folks, perspective.

TGIF's

Thank God it's FOOTBALL Season.

Rush Limbaugh quote

Drugged or sober, ya gotta love Rush...

Overheard [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

Rush Limbaugh today, reacting to the poll that says 1/3rd of Americans think 9/11 was an inside job: "When Elvis hears this it'll kill him!"

Posted at 2:16 PM


Hat tip: National Review Online