Day: July 16, 2006

No, this entry isn’t about betrayal, per se.  I’ve just always wanted to use that phrase as a title to a blog post.  Another one I’d like to use some day is Ecce Homo.  I’ll think of some place to put that one and surprise you.

I guess the theme of this post, though, is about false expectations.  Isn’t it true that we expect the media to present the news in a manner that is consistent with our own world view?  And when CNN or NYT doesn’t conform to our line, we complain that they are biased.  Well, what do we expect?  We all are biased.  I think the ones with the most integrity will admit their biases and take a stand – thus letting the chips fall where they may. 

And it seems that Conservatives have an easier time with this than Liberals.  We know we have a narrow line to walk, but believe it to be the best one (whether or not it reflects the reigning party line) and aren’t afraid to say it.  Out loud.

So I’m not advocating that we quit confronting the liberal press – we should continue to point out the inconsistencies of their coverage.  Let’s just not get upset about it when they do.  After all, we have their track record to go by, we should know what’s coming.  Unlike poor Julius.

by:Angel

Crossposted at :thirdworldcounty

Just in case you forgot to thank a soldier today.
Or to hit your knees and pray for one.

OBSERVATION POST OMAR, Iraq — Sleeping inside a vast refrigerator definitely has its advantages in Iraq, especially when the summer sun pushes daily temps toward the 120-degree mark.

Of course, some folks might actually lose sleep when they realize their heat-resistant bedroom used to house hundreds of chilled, dead bodies.

For the Marines of 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, moving into an old Iraqi government morgue just north of Fallujah was a vast improvement over past accommodations, if not a little unsettling.

Initially, the Marines would simply set up camp in an abandoned building and conduct patrols and operations for Regimental Combat Team 5 on a weekly rotation. Eventually, Company A moved into the morgue and dubbed the walled compound “OP 4.”

Marines find life in former morgue ‘cool,’ but not quiet continues..

The name of the post has already been switched to OP Omar, in honor of a fallen Iraqi army soldier.

Company A’s good fortune doesn’t mean its stay at OP Omar has been a quiet one.

The compound had the dubious distinction of appearing on a jih–adist Web site several months ago.

In chilling video footage set to music, an insurgent sniper wounded both a U.S. Army soldier and a Marine who were tinkering with a radar unit on a roof at the compound.

In another instance, members of a supply convoy narrowly escaped death when a mortar shell arced into the compound, punched through the roof of their Humvee and out the driver’s side window and exploded on the ground. The Marines’ heads were ringing, but all avoided serious injury.

“You’ve got to be very careful about how you engage and when you engage,” Long said. “The difficult thing is that you just don’t know who the enemy is. It could be someone you just walked past or somebody you just shook hands with. The enemy plays by different rules than we do.”

C’mon folks.
Let’s hear it for our Marines whose blood, sweat and bravery keep us alive.
Sleeping in a morgue…all in a day’s work.

Mainstream media are still chompin at the ole bit and salivating to find a reason to condemn our warriors for doing what they are there to do.

Let us give pause and remember what exactly they are trained to do: kill our enemy. The enemy of freedom.

Nation-building and peacekeeping were allegedly being handled by ahem “diplomats” from their ivory towers in the U.N…yea right.

And while they insist our soldiers present the vile terrorists gunning for them, an open hand of friendship, the sane amongst us suggest our soldiers present instead, a fast and furious closed fist.

Lest MSM and the N.Y.(not really with the ) Times forget…..just last summer, six Marines died in an ambush.

Two days after that fateful event, 14 more Marines died when a roadside bomb destroyed their vehicle.

So… from Angel..
Semper fi to all those who wear the eagle, globe and anchor insignia.

And………..Stay cool dudes and dudettes….even if it is inside a “refrigerator”!

As seen at: WomanHonorThyself

We all scream for Ice Cream!

July 16 is National Ice Cream Day. Which means, of course, that you have a perfectly good excuse to get out there and eat ice cream. Lots and lots of ice cream.

Fortunately the state of my freezer permits full observance on my side of the mountain – and all because Yak the Younger decided to watch the Food Network. Last night’s offering: an episode of “Unwrapped” featuring ice cream toppings and how they’re made (entertaining, but trust me, if you know what they do to those cherries, you might not want to eat them).\

As the show ended, YtY looked at me and said “The only problem with Food Network is that I always end up wanting to eat whatever they’re showing.” A moment later he added, “OK, unless it’s Iron Chef.”

Of course, I’d watched just enough of the ice cream show to understand exactly where he was coming from – and enough of the kitchen to know that “audience participation” was going to require a field trip.

Never one to put off the inevitable, I told him to grab his shoes and we headed off in search of ice cream. And not just ice cream: ColdStone Ice Cream – with mixins. In pints.

Which means, of course, that we’ve got leftovers in the freezer – at least until midafternoon.

Take a few minutes this afternoon and go get reacquainted with an ice cream cone. And don’t worry – you’re not cheating on a diet or acting from weakness of will – you’re celebrating an important American custom: National Ice Cream Day!

I proudly present Yak the Younger’s favorite take on the old “I scream, you scream” rhyme, apparently invented on the spot at the dinner table.

Looking down at the plate as it was placed in front of him, an eight year-old Yak the Younger proclaimed,

“I cuss, you cuss, we all cuss for ASPARAGUS!”

Rock on, little yak. Rock on.