Paintballs to the Wall

And to my legs, and my chest, and my back, and to my gut...

So, how was your Memorial Day weekend? Mine was great. On Friday, I traveled to my hometown of Columbus Indiana, and met up with some old friends. We headed out to the Valley Branch Retreat in Brown county for our annual paintball outing. This is where we all get together, divide into a couple of teams and proceed to shoot the hell out of each other with paintball guns. Of course, we had one or two adult beverages to kill the ensuing pain.

Wesley, lead guitarist for The Rubberband, cooked meat with fire, Fire Good! Some of the boys played poker into the early morning. Some of us sat buy the fire with the guitar and our pathetic voices singing everything from Jimmy Buffet's "Margaritaville" to Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line" to Sublime's "What I Got." But all of us had a great time and can't wait to do it next year. Click the picture of this year's T-Shirt Logo (Thanks Trent) to see the pics.

If you haven't played paintball, then you need to. Yes, it's painful to get shot, but the pain is temporary. The Glory, is forever!

Mr. President, I'm Headed to Mexico

Corona just tastes better there...

David M. Bresnahan
April 1, 2006
NewsWithViews.com

Dear President Bush:

I'm about to plan a little trip with my family and extended family, and I would like to ask you to assist me. I'm going to walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico, and I need to make a few arrangements. I know you can help with this.

I plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws. I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here. So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Vicente Fox, that I'm on my way over?

Please let him know that I will be expecting the following:

1. Free medical care for my entire family.

2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not.

3. All government forms need to be printed in English.

4. I want my kids to be taught by English-speaking teachers.

5. Schools need to include classes on American culture and history.

6. I want my kids to see the American flag flying on the top of the flag pole at their school with the Mexican flag flying lower down.

7. Please plan to feed my kids at school for both breakfast and lunch.

8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I can get easy access to government services.

9. I do not plan to have any car insurance, and I won't make any effort to learn local traffic laws.

10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from Pres. Fox to leave me alone, please be sure that all police officers speak English.

11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my house top, put flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals.

12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, and don't enforce any labor laws or tax laws.

13. Please tell all the people in the country to be extremely nice and never say a critical word about me, or about the strain I might place on the economy.

I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all the people who come to the U.S. from Mexico. I am sure that Pres. Fox won't mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely.

However, if he gives you any trouble, just invite him to go quail hunting with your V.P. Thank you so much for your kind help.

Sincerely, David M. Bresnahan



Obviously, I'm not going to Mexico. Perhaps if I actually won one of those free vacations you see on the internet. But until that happens, forget about it. I posted this piece from David Bresnahan to illustrate a point. And if you don't get the point, read it again because it's fairly obvious.

The Sound of Silence

Check this out...

When I was in the Corps, I had the honor and the privilege to see the Marine Corps Silent Drill Team on a number of occasions. Now I bring a condensed version of their routine to you. Click the pic below to start the video. Then double click the video to go to full screen. If you don't love the Marine Corps after watching this, you don't have a heartbeat.

Quick Thoughts on Immigration

My apologies for my lack of posting lately, I've been extremely busy and am currently in a class learning to administer MS Email and I'm on my lunch break. (Oddly enough, I've been doing that for a couple of years now, but the company I work for finally decided I should receive some training.)

Anyway...

The President's speech: I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt here. Though I missed the actual speech, I've struggled through the transcript and I have to say, I still think he's trying to lead. No, he's not taking the hard line approach I would prefer. He seems to still be trying to get the dems to like him. Note to the President: Mr. President, it is never going to happen.

I do think he's trying to find common ground and lead the country into a real solution. However, he should lead the people that put him in office first. If he does that, if he would just take a serious conservative stand on this problem, others will follow. His poll numbers are in the tank because he has forgotten what conservatism means. At least, that's how it appears to me. Lock down the borders, and figure out the rest later. As we sit around and piss and moan and listen to Ted Kennedy, more and more people continue to come across the boarder and put the country at a greater risk. Yes, I've said this for years, we need to lock it down. There are small groups of people that want to kill as many of us as they possibly can. They're trying to get here to do just that. As we continue with the pissing contest with the dems, our perimeter is being compromised and we need to secure it right freaking now. Lock it down, then have the remaining debates about what to do with those already here. I say, the first thing you have to do when your ship is sinking is plug the leak first. Then you can figure out how to bail out the water.

Ted Kennedy: What a scmhuck: I read somewhere the other day that Sen. Kennedy is upset with the idea of "criminalizing un-documented workers." Well, for one, they're ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS! Not un-documented workers. And two, they're already criminals! They've already broken the law. They criminalized themselves by coming here ILLEGALY! You freakin idiot. Have another drink will ya? You still have one or two brain cells left.

Bottom Line: Lock down the freaking border, secure our perimeter, and then we can setup a system to deal with 12 million illegals that are here. I have some ideas for that process too. But that will have to come later when I have more time.

Keep fighting and call your Congressmen. Let them know you're pissed and you've had enough.

No Link to Terrorism Huh???

This sounds like Terrorism to me...

According to a story in Foreign Affairs Magazine, documents seized by American Forces after the invasion of Iraq show that Saddam was very much involved in the training of terrorists. Shall I say that again? SADDAM WAS VERY MUCH INVOLVED IN THE TRAINING OF TERRORISTS!

The paramilitary group, Fedayeen Saddam (Saddam's Men of Sacrifice) was founded by Uday Hussein in 95. This group was setup specifically to protect Saddam and Uday. They reported directly the Presidential Palace and not through Iraqi Military channels. They would route out political dissidents and kill them. A little background on this group, according to Global Security.org,

"The Fidayi Saddam included a special unit known as the death squadron, whose masked members performed certain executions, including in victims' homes. The Fidayi operated completely outside the law, above and outside political and legal structures."

Also:

"Witness accounts report the public beheading of women from June 2000 through to May 2001. Saddam’s Fidayi conducted the beheading operations, which took place in two stages. Accompanied by the leaders of the Ba’th party, the Fidayi made a night raid on the district. The latter was gone through with a fine toothcomb to eliminate any hints of revolt and in order to discover any weapons. The population was summoned for the next day at prayer time. They arrived at the stated hour at the home of the victim, who was dragged out in the clothes she is wearing. She was then stretched out on an iron bench, her head hanging down, in front of her children, her family and the whole population of the district. The executioner and his assistants were dressed in brown bearing the logo ‘Saddam’s Fidayi’ and usually did not come from the district or the region. The Feddayi detailed to carry out the beheading took his sword held out by an assistant and cut’s the victim’s head off."

And Code Pink wants me to believe that women were better off under Saddam? Seems unlikely, wouldn't you say?

Here's some more information, from page 6 of the Foreign Affairs Magazine piece:

"The Saddam Fedayeen also took part in the regime's domestic terrorism operations and planned for attacks throughout Europe and the Middle East. In a document dated May 1999, Saddam's older son, Uday, ordered preparations for "special operations, assassinations, and bombings, for the centers and traitor symbols in London, Iran and the self-ruled areas [Kurdistan]." Preparations for "Blessed July," a regime-directed wave of "martyrdom" operations against targets in the West, were well under way at the time of the coalition invasion."

"A regime-directed wave of martyrdom operations against targets in the west." Again, sounds like terrorism to me...

The American people have seemed to have swallowed this notion that Saddam was not connected to terrorism. Yet, according to recent Congressional testimony, Saddam ran multiple terrorist training camps and in 1998 "these camps began hosting 'Arab volunteers from Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, the Gulf, and Syria."

Now, I realize this is somewhat a moot point as we have already removed Saddam and are moving forward in Iraq. But I keep an ear to the people in this country and the "accepted" truth is that Saddam had no connections to terrorism. And this has manifested into less and less support for the war in Iraq, the men and women that are fighting it, and the President who is leading it. And that is a huge problem.

Our enemies are laughing at us. They are trying to divide us and the left in this country is more than happy to accommodate them. We as a country need to come together and the truth about Saddam is what can make that happen. The truth is, Saddam was connected to terrorism. Saddam was an enemy of this country and was seeking targets in the west. We're talking about American lives at risk at the hands of a ruthless dictator who sanctioned the beheading of women in front of their children. Think about that for a second; beheading a woman in front of her children. We hear "Bush is the real terrorist." We hear, "Bush is evil." Having a woman's head cut off in front of her children is the definition of evil. Can you sight me one instance where President Bush ordered something like that? No, you can't. Abu Graib is the best you got? Give me a break.

Bottom line: This notion that Saddam was innocent is complete BS. People need to know the truth. The truth is, Saddam was involved in terrorism. He was an enemy of this country. We are better off without him in power as are the Iraqi people. Perhaps, if we can get the truth out there, people will start to get behind this effort once again.

The 5th of May!

What should be an American Holiday...

May 5th, 1961, Navy Commander Alan Shepard Jr. became the first American in Space when he was rocketed aboard the Freedom 7 space capsule. The 15 minute suborbital flight got him to an altitude of 16 miles above the earth and was a major victory for the still young NASA program, as well as the United States.

It was this flight that renewed American faith in the space program that had been behind the times a bit with Russia beating us into space by a mere 3 weeks. It was that renewed faith, inspired by the bravery of Alan Shepard that put us on track to be the first to land on the moon in July of 1969.

On February 5th, 1971, Alan Shepard became the 5th American astronaut to walk on the moon.

I'll be celebrating an AMERICAN hero tonight. I'll be celebrating the bravery of Alan Shepard. Not some Mexican victory over the French. And I won't be drinking any margaritas.

I may have to go buy "The Right Stuff" on DVD and watch it tonight. If you haven't seen that movie, you need to. It's awesome.

Ahead of His Time

Hard to imagine this was said nearly 100 years ago...

I know some of you may have noticed I've stayed out of the illegal immigration debate. Part of the reason is because I've just been too busy to post lately. But another reason is because nearly 100 years ago, President Theodore Roosevelt articulated my feelings on the subject so well, that there just isn't much I can say that hasn't been said. Here's what he had to say:

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

President Theodore Roosevelt, 1907

What else is there to say?