I am Emrooz

Jane and Nema have information about the supressed voices of Iranian Journalists. Two out of three of the journalists silenced are still in jail. Show your solidarity and/or outrage by sending them an e-mail here.

In addition I am changing the name of my blog to Emrooz for the week. The Iranians pushing for their release are doing similar things like re-releasing Emrooz's work on other blog sites. Please join in.

I AM EMROOZ!

A push for voter reform.

A couple of days ago I went after a website called VotePair. They believe that they can win the majority of electoral votes for Kerry by a technique known as vote-swapping. While I completely disagree with their ideology behind trying to loophole the electoral college I can't find anything to say that what they are doing is illegal. In fact, the opposite is true. California, the state that injuncted Nader-Trader and other sites in 2000, is currently hearing a trial for damages incurred by the injunction. We shall see what happens in this case.

While I do not condone the last concept I do encourage something else I found on their site; Instant Runoff Voting or IRV comes off as a good idea to me. Australia and Ireland are already using this concept in three or more way elections. The way it works is to put in order your candidate preferences.

For example, Let's just say I'm a progressive (the new buzz word for liberal) and I would like to see Dean in the white house. My first choice would be Dean and my second choice would be Kerry. (Remember this is only hypothetical. Imagine this is Pusillanumous Wanker speaking.) If Kerry were to get 41% of the vote and Bush got 47% in first choices neither candidate would have accumulated the aquired the needed 51% for the win. You would then go to the second choice candidate list until one candidate had at least the required 51% needed votes. If you're still confused go to the site here. It provies real world examples of three way elections if they were to have taken place with IRV.

Bottom line, contact your congressperson and your senator and tell them to stop vote swapping if they can. If you have the time try and get them to push for IRV as well.

Kerry Already Making International Enemies.

John F. Kerry has stated time and time again that he is clearly a better international negotiator than George W. Bush. He makes the claim that if he were the president he would have been able to garner the military support of the UN before going into Iraq. Other than his ability to speak French I don't see him having anything that would qualify him as a great international statesman. In fact, I see quite the opposite. He and his entourage have been systematically destroying international relations with several nations.

Many other presidents have made their mistakes when dealing with foreign nations. George W. Bush pissed a bunch of sympathizing nations off when he declared North Korea, Iraq and Iran as the "axis of evil". His father made the Nikkei crash (mostly coincidental but it did affect their market) at the dinner table in Japan when he lost his lunch in Prime Minister Kichi Miyazawa's lap. Some will even point to the breakdown in communication at the UN prior to us going into Iraq. It is a statement easy to rebut with the multi-billion dollars flowing through the oil-for-food program, particularly with reference to the business distribution being heavily influenced towards the descenting nations.

But I'm not doing this to highlight what presidents have done while in office. I'm doing this to highlight what Kerry has done before he's in office. Maybe presidential candidates have alienated foreign nations like this before but I can't remember when. So, without further adieu let's analyze the quotes:


Younger sister to John, Diana Kerry
"Australia has kept faith with the US and we are endangering the Australians now by this wanton disregard for international law and multilateral channels..."

Dear Australia,
Your support of the United States makes you an international law breaker. Now that you have chosen to support the United States you have put yourself in danger. You have shown that you have no regard for the methods and practices supported by the UN charter.

Thank-you for supporting the United States

Diana Kerry, spokesman for my brother John F. Kerry

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mrs. Diana Kerry,
Thank you for clarifying your ties with Australia in a John Kerry administration. If in the event you are elected we would like to clarify something as well. We will provide you with absolutely no support as it would further endanger our nation and enhance the misrepresented stigma that Australia is a nation of criminals.

Piss Off,

Howard, John Winston
Prime Minister of Australia

John Kerry;
''I will do what President Bush has not: I will hold the Saudis accountable...(paraphrased:) I will free America from depending on the Saudi Royal Family for oil."

Dear Saudi Royal Family,
I am holding you personally responsible for the terroists that have destroyed American targets in Saudi Arabia. I am also holding you responsible for the terrorist supporting environment bred by the Saudi royal family. Because of the dollars we spend for oil in the middle east and particularly Saudi Arabian oil that ends up in the hands of your terrorist supporting family we are working on gaining independence from your oil. We are cutting you off.

Love,

John F. Kerry
Democratic Presidential Candidate

Dear John, (Yes, I'm writing a dear john letter)
We are sorry you feel that way about us. It insults us that an infidel such as yourself would have the audacity to claim that the Saudi royal family is nothing more than a bunch of terrorists. We have been working hard for many years to change the ideals of many people in our nation. Something that has proven particularly difficult is shepherding all of our princes. Some of them have unfortunately chosen the wrong path and we are dealing with them. It is unfortunate that you feel that all of the Saudi royal family follows the same misguided path.

Because you have no faith in the Saudi royal family it is with a heavy heart that we must oblige you. In a show of good faith we are hereby cutting off all supplies of oil to the American people.

Good luck with Kuwaiti and Iraqi oil,

The Saudi Royal Family

Kerry's quote; (I can't find the exact quote from the interview but it was something like the following. If you have a good link to it please let me know.)
"I would have applied more pressure to the UN for a unilateral invasion of Iraq. I would have made it economically beneficial for them to join with us in deposing Saddam."

Since I am unable to find the interview for this you can discredit me all you want. I know what I read. Although the words are not exact it was the heart of the quote. The point in this one is that Kerry believes and actually stated he would be able to apply financial pressure to the whole of the UN if they did not see things his way. I would just love to see him try it in an address to the UN. I wouldn't be surprised if they laughed at him out loud. The naivety of this quote can be summed up into three little words: OIL FOR FOOD.

Kerry's quote;
"The prime minister [Allawi] and the president are here obviously to put their best face on the policy...But the fact is that CIA estimates, the reporting, the ground operations and the troops all tell a different story."

Way to go Mr. Kerry! You just called the authority in an unstable country a liar! I'm sure this will win points with the insurgents. It will especially win points with the insurgents that have already tried to assassinate him. I guess you forgot that you're not against Allawi in the elections and you will have to speak with him again if you get elected. Even if he was lying through his teeth it is still a bad idea to call him out on it unless you plan to invade or threaten invasion. It is talk reserved for leaders that are considered hostile.

Edward's Quote;
"The best lesson for any fledgling democracy is that leaders should tell the truth, to always be straight with the people...Prime Minister Allawi's trip to the United States was filled with all the wrong lessons, lessons from an administration that just can't seem to tell the truth when it comes to Iraq."

Excellent! Mr. Bob's Big Boy states that Iraq is a fledgling democracy. Traditionally, fledgling democracies, like most other forms of fledgling governments, are fragile and susceptible to easy overthrow if not supported unilaterally. Unfortunately, saying that the leader of a fledgling democracy is not telling the truth, AKA lying, is not really providing support. It is doing quite the opposite. Of course, all he's doing is puppeting the party's angle on Allawi. And speaking of puppeting...

Senior Kerry advisor Joe Lockheart quote;
"The last thing you want to be seen as is a puppet of the United States, and you can almost see the hand underneath the shirt today moving the lips..."

Let me puppet what I've said in the previous two quotes: Attempts to discredit the leader of a fledgling government do nothing but hinder that government. I have a hard time believing that the Democratic party would stoop so low as to try and get Allawi deposed by declaring him a puppet. Maybe they're just puppeting what the terrorist/insurgents have been trying to get across?

ATTENTION ALL DEMOCRATS! Your party is threatening the stability (what little there is) of a nation that is under our military protection! It is endangering the lives of American, coalition military and civilian members as well as the Iraqi people in an attempt to win the election! Are there no depths these people will not go? If Kerry plans to gain good standing with world leaders he is getting off to a horrible start. Australia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and even slightly the UN have been under his scrutiny. He is not making ties, he is breaking them.

A vote for Nader is a vote for Kerry?

An e-mail sent to me and a few other right-minded bloggers from Shawn Paul in Kentucky warned us about something called vote swapping. His tone sounded urgent so I decided to a little checking into an organization called VotePair. The sole purpose of this site is to take people in swing states that would normally vote for Ralph Nader (or David Cobb) and have them vote for John Kerry. The Paired Kerry voter would then vote for Nader or Cobb in their "secured" state.

Growing more curious about this I decided to to a smidgeon of fact checking. It turns out that a few groups tried this in 2000 with Nader and it was believed that about 36,000 Nader/Gore supporters traded votes before the state of California shut the sites down. Since there is no actual selling of votes the legality of doing this is still a legal hotbed.

Surprisingly, I was not able to find much online about VotePair in the news. CNN made a quick reference to it and NBC11 has an online article (San Francisco Bay area) but the people who had the most about this was actually Wired. Has big media missed the boat on this again? Is it up to us, the blogger, to turn on the sirens again? Since this is a fairly new concept I'm not quite sure, but it was important enough for someone I've never even heard of before to send be urgent e-mail. ( I wish this meant I was turning into a "big name blogger" but I know that just isn't true.)

Now that I've had the opportunity to write down what this site's about and think about the ethics and legality behind it I can say I don't like it one bit. Do I believe it is legal? Yes, it appears to be but I'm not a lawyer and can't say for sure. Is it ethical? HELL NO! Of course some of the left swinging individuals will quickly dismiss this as right wing fear of losing the election. It is anything but.

The purpose of the electoral college serves two masters.

The first purpose was to be a tool of government that would allow all states to have a voice in elections even though the presidential candidates could not voice their political platforms to the people. In some cases people did not even know who the candidates were. Even worse were the rumors that spread about candidates in early elections. One popular rumor had one of the earliest candidates working for the devil and even had a tail! We still get rumors about presidential candidates but most of us are intelligent enough to see through them by using the enhanced tools at our disposal today. The internet is a fine example. Thus, the first purpose for the electoral college is now moot.

The second purpose for the electoral college is for different states to have better weighting in elections. What I mean is that if we were just going to push the popular vote every election we would have an imbalance of election power. People of rural areas have different concerns for government than people in urban areas. For example, how many people from New Jersey really care about the well being of farmers in Nebraska? Maybe 10-20 people? The point is that these areas are demographically different and deserve their voices to be weighted on a fairly equal playing field. If ther were no electoral college or if it were distribuded differently, Nebraska would have a much smaller voice than New Jersey due to population.

Hypothetically, lets try to show a president for these two states stricly on the price of corn. The people of New Jersey don't see the labor involved or the costs of growing and distributing the corn. They only see the supermarket costs. They will obviously elect the candidate promising to lower the price of corn. The people of Nebraska will of course want to push for an increased price of corn because it is a big part of their livelyhood. If there were no electoral college the price of corn would go down because of the larger New Jersey population. This will in turn bankrupt the people of Nebraska because they will have a negative ROI (return on investment).

The destruction of population challenged demographics is what the continuation of the electoral college needs to preserve. This is what Vote Swapping works to destroy. It is taking one demographic of people and forcing it on another through mass of population. It is wrong on concept and morality and should be stopped.

...you might be a Geek

Jeff Foxworthy eat your heart out. It's time for us Geeks to be heard:

If you ever played the original Mechwarior....you might be a geek. (just repeat this line as required)

If you know who bought out TSR's D&D...(Wizards of The Coast)

If you've ever been involved with a "con" that didn't involve stealing money...(gencon, comicon, etc)

If you know what a MUSH, MOG, or MMOG are...

If you've ever dated someone you met online outside of a dating service...

If you've ever read a piece paper by monitor-light...

If you laughed at redneck-jedi jokes...

If you see a sign that says no to crack and it reminds you to stop that port scan...

If you prefer WWMD to WWJD...(What Would Mitnick Do)

If you think the tee-shirts on Jinx are cool...

1F j00 C@n r3@d +#!$...

(more to come...)

ON THE NEXT WITHOUT A TRACE ON CBS:

Where's Dan Rather?

Why doesn't Kerry concede?

Perusing the web one day I noticed this pile of crap on the Kerry for dictator site. It's a bit old but for some reason it has not come down. It is still being hosted by his party and he is ultimately responsible for the content therein. So, the question looms: In all good fairness, with everything that has transpired, from the SBVFT adds being condemned by Bush, to the fraudulent CBS memos, to the real documents that show Bush's guard records, why does Kerry stand behind this fruitless attack? Is his website run in such a crappy manner that it's still there because they forgot it was up there? I doubt it.

I thought we were past this episode. Are the missing answers in Bush's record any more important than the missing answers in Kerry's record? No, they are not. Mr. Bush has entered into a gentleman's agreement to not attack Kerry on frivolous crap that happened over 30 years ago.

Kerry has failed to enter this agreement. As a matter of fact, he is running the other way on the issue. Long after the majority of the U.S. realized that Bush had disassociated himself from the SBVFT and condemned all of the 527's Kerry was still trying to hammer home a nail that was no longer there. To this he lost a few cool points as well as a few poll points. Bush had entered into a gentleman's agreement at this point. Kerry finally realized that these attacks were not coming from Bush but from a "rogue" 527. Kerry would not join Bush in condemning these 527's. He wanted selectivity in who can attack whom. Not only did he refuse to condemn these 527's, he started singing the same tune as them and began to attack both Bush and Cheney for their lack of Vietnam experience.

The loosely paraphrased quote goes something like this: "I will not join in condemning all of the 527's like Bush has. I still have questions about why he (Cheney) receive five deferments. And we still haven't sorted out Bush's cowardice during Vietnam either. Why doesn't Bush answer to these accusations?"

Why doesn't Kerry just SHUT UP!

Kerry has proven to me that he is out of touch with the English language. (hence not being able to comprehend the meaning of the word: condemn)

Kerry has proven to me that he will not enter into a gentleman's agreement. (which would be rebuked by pulling the above noted article from his site.)

In fact, by not entering into this gentleman's agreement he has proven to me that John F. Kerry is not a gentleman at all. He means to mislead the American people into believing that frivolous attacks on a person's character are acceptable forms of debate. They are not. They are childish floundering done by a desparate man.

I hate Some Republicans Too

In a shining example how "not-brilliant" the political people of West Virginia are I posted some pictures of a guy and his daughter being accosted by some Democrats. One thing I'd like to state is that any idiot that brings his kids to a Democratic event with the forewarned knowledge that he will most likely be accosted needs to be castrated chemically or by other means. In the least, I would like to suggest that the state of West Virginia require him to attend some counselling due to child endangerment issues. This is the third time he's been roughly impeded by Democrats. This is the second time (that I know of) that he has brought small children. That's not what the entire point of this article is. It's just the lead up.

Charles (AKA Pusillanimus Wanker) was told that if he had photos or other evidence of Democrats getting roughed up that I would be willing to be the first to blog about them, as a Republican. He gave me three links. The first two were about Bush's policy of not letting Kerry supporters attend his rallies. I believe he used it as a comparison of how the nut-job noted above was actually allowed to attend the rally as a Republican and no Democrats are allowed the other way. The only problems with this is that the event the idiot above was at was only a drive-by at the airport. This doesn't mean I agree with that policy. I think Bush should have the wherewithall to allow Democrats at these rally's...provided they have the ability to control themselves better than they did at the RNC. (your first point answered Charles)

The second thing he sent me was this:


(Courtesy: Decatur Daily by Clyde Stancil)

This is Lynne Gobbell from Moulton, AL. According to The Decatur Daily, she was fired because she would not remove the Kerry/Edwards bumper sticker from her rear window. Phil Geddes, the owner of Enviromate, the cellulose insulation company Lynne worked for, gave her notice that she could either remove the sticker of be fired. She chose to keep the sticker and was summarily fired.

This is not the first time Mr. Geddes has impressed his political opinions upon his employees. Earlier in the year all of his employees recieved a flyer in their pay envelopes that said this:

"Just so you will know, because of the Bush tax (cut):
I was able to buy the new Hammer Mill
I was able to finance our receivables
I was able to get the new CAT skid steer
I was able to get the wire cutter
I was able to give you a job"

"You got the benefit of the Bush tax cut. Everyone did."

If this story is 100% true (which it appears to me it is), Phil Geddes is one example of a Republican I hate. There is no excuse for this crap from anybody. I don't care what your political leanings.

Part 3: (This one wasn't on Charles' list but by no fault of his own. I haven't been able to find online varification of it myself.) In the news we've all seen the apology that CBS and Dan Rather have had to put forward. It is a great example of what can happen when someone believes they are more powerful than they really are. What's that famous line? Oh yeah: "absolute power corrupts absolutely". Dan Rather is corrupt. But this isn't the point either. This morning, on the Republican News Nework (FOXNews), I heard a small snippet about a radio personality that was fired for voicing his opinion about Rathergate. He said "Dan Rather should be fired". The Radio company reprimanded him for "voicing opinions that were not within standards of this network". Shortly after the reprimand (the same day) there was suddenly no available time slot for him to work and was summarily fired, just like Lynn Gobbel. The only differences I see are that the individual being fired was:
A: a Republican
B: A Radio Personality and
C: Talking poorly of a Domocratic leaning newscaster on 710 Kiro Radio in Seattle, WA (a CBS affiliate...thanks doug)

KIRO is a COX owned, CBS affiliate broadcasting station whose demographic is greatly swayed towards the Democratic. Washington has always been a liberal leaning state for the most part. There are pockets of Republicans but for the most part very liberal, particularly enviro-liberal(I think I just made a new word). Is this an excuse to fire someone for voicing the nations popular opinion? No. Does it make it any better? No.

One last piece covered on RadioCyborg's site was the hair pulling incident at a Bush-Cheney rally in Colmar PA. Although she wasn't quite protesting quietly, the actions of the twit behind her make the entire scene worthy of only two shows on earth: Geraldo (now cancelled) or Jerry Springer. What was he thinking? You don't pull hair to keep someone quiet. It provides a wonderful photo op. Next time use a tazer. The X26c is my choice for counter protest actions. They're compact, lightweight and provide instant results! (I do not condone that, just making a joke.)

The BS that's flying from both sides this election season is ridiculous. The point of this whole endeavor being that anyone who uses their power to try to stifle, mislead or oppress ones political beliefs by unlawful means needs to be put down like a mad dog. That's sort of what it is, madness, political madness. Since no one else will start the cry, we need to be the ones to wave the BS flag an call people on it. (Just like Powerline and Ratherbiased have done.)

If you'd like to voice your opinions on the type of tactics used by either Enviromate or 710 KIRO TV here are the links:
Alabama Enviromate
710 KIRO

MissPatriot

I just found out that my cousin has been blogging out Washington for a few months now. Who knew!? Anyway, here's her site.

I don't hate all Democrats.

Not all democrats are bad. In fact I even have a few as friends. Debating talking points can be fun. Again, I don't hate all democrats, just the ones that cause this:


Note the punk in the green hat that still has a piece of her sign. Real big boy now aren't you?

Then they try to cover their actions like this:


Yup, these are the kind of people I hate. Just like this guy from washington:

Here

Or what happened to Evan, the anti-protestor:

Here

I thought they were supposed to be peace protestors?

(Evan has a really nice documentary that will defiantely not reach the same level of exposure that Hollyweird's favorite Bush hater has attained but it's pretty good stuff nonetheless.)

Don't get we wrong, there are plenty of those that fall into the same category on the Conservative side of the fence, but gosh darn it, I haven't been able to find anything but the word of a liberal that it's happened.

FOXNews Propaganda

We all knew that Saddam was building his empire off of the "oil for food" program. Was he also funding terrorism off of it and who were getting the bribes?

Tune into FOXNews this Sunday at 09:00 PM for Breaking Point: U.N. Blood Money.

Until then, read this story from Claudia Rosett from FOXNews to get you warmed up on the subject.

Kofi Annan is going DOWN!

(Hopefully, CBS isn't doing the document verification on this one.)

Chunky Monkey Ice Cream

Who really eats only chocolate or vanilla? Why do you think Baskin Robbins' 31 flavors and Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey are American favorites. It is our freedom to choose what we want between a vast amount of choices that really makes us feel free. No one really ever eats the Rum Raisin, but it's there if we wanted it.

There are more than two Americas. These are not the two Americas as defined by Kerry and Edwards. These are not the two Americas as defined by Bush and Cheney. None of them are the Americas I wish to live in. Unfortunately, these are our two choices: Chocolate or Vanilla. (Nader and Camejo are nothing more than French Vanilla.)

The bi-partisan world in which we live in has been around since Adams and Jefferson drove Washington out of office with their constant bickering over which end of the egg to break. (See the meaning behind Gulliver's travels if you need further understanding of the egg analogy.) Then, there were the Jeffersonians and the Democrats. Today, we have the Democrats and the Republicans. We have always has the misrepresentation of a two party system. We've been grandfathered into Chocolate or Vanilla.

Have you ever heard of a rider for a bill? It's the little extras that politicians try to add to a working bill in the hopes that will ride through the House of Representatives and the Senate with the rest of the bill. Well, that's what we have when it comes to political decision making. Both political candidates have a primary leading feature, or a bill, that people will vote for. Sadly, they both have many riders that go along with them. Whether it's health care, or gay marriage, or assault weapons, none of us have the ability to choose which features we would like. We can't make a political banana split or hot fudge sundae. We either get Chocolate or Vanilla.

Individual States have opened the avenue I'm trying to steer towards with propositions and the like. However, the federal government gives us no such option. Can we directly vote for or against gay marriage? No. Can we directly vote for or against an assault weapons ban? No. Can we even vote as to how or how much the government takes its taxes? No. We must chose one candidate, and one candidate alone to vote the way he or she sees fit. We are stuck with Chocolate or Vanilla.

Wouldn't you like the opportunity to pick your own flavors? To make your political opinions really count instead of being stuck with a fallacy of false dilemma? When will we ever get the opportunity vote for what we want and not just Chocolate or Vanilla?

I would like some Chunky Monkey please. What flavor would you like?

(There is no intent towards Ben & Jerry's political affiliations. I just like the ice cream.)

New website from Amazon

Google yourself on...er...A9 yourself on www.a9.com . They even give your site stats. A rather cool new search engine from Amazon. Be sure to put quotes around your name.

New Evidence Found That Kerry Was In Cambodia!

Der Commissar demands that you go here for evidence that even CBS can't refute.

We are doomed, we are all doomed!

Kerry the Liar

Time did an interview with Kerry a few days back. I've seen a few people cover it but I haven't seen anybody pull this nugget out and slap hims squarely across his face with it. Anyway, here's the excerpt:

The 9/11 commission makes it clear that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11, nothing to do with al-Qaeda.

Does anyone want to stretch this into a half-truth? He's half right. The commision did say that Saddam had no known connections with 9/11. The commission also said that there was multiple connections between Sadam, Iraq, and Al Qaeda. They even went on nearly every major news agency in the nation to correct them when they lumped 9/11 and Al Qaeda as the same entity.

Of course, the truth doesn't matter to Kerry. He'll just explain how he was misinformed about the issue and bury it with three purple hearts and attacks on Bush's Guard record.

Note: Thanks to buyankasha at PoopOnPolitics for the link.

Anyone else see the resemblance?

Something I keep forgetting to put out there. Isn't this a striking resemblance?


BALD EAGLE

ZELL MILLER

Beslan Memorial site

The Beslan, Russia Memorial site has been created and all of the posts I have recieved have been included. The web address is: http://beslanmemorial.blogspot.com .

Much of the original formatting from the original site has been lost as we all used different editors for things. If you have issues with the way your posts read let me know and I'll turn you into an editor.

If you have any suggestions as to something that should be added let me know and I'll turn you into an editor.

If you feel you could help with the overall site design, let me know and I'll turn you into an editor. (get the idea? I could use some HTML help to make everything look a bit more professional. I work network security, not web development.)

If you would like to add some comments to the site let me know and I'll post them or...I can turn you into an editor.

I know that the site has no links and I will add everybody who has contributed later this week.

Thank you to everybody that wrote about this atrocity. I hope it is appreciated by those affected by loss.

Again, here's the link: http://beslanmemorial.blogspot.com

Another recollection of 9/11

Yep this was the feeling to a tee:

We all just looked at each other with "that look." The look that says, "I'm glad you're here, we're going to war."

Go visit RadioCyborg and read his take on that day.


--sniff--

This is a re-run done for remembrance.

When the first plane hit I was on board the USS Ramage assisting some people with opening a safe that no longer had a combination but still contained classified material. That was my need for being there as I was a Cryptologist and had the clearance to decipher the material. Someone from combat (an area next to ours and the control center of the ship) asked me if we had the scoop on what was going on with the world trade center. I gave him one of those deer in the headlights stares. What the hell was this guy talking about?

I followed him to the mess hall where they had a big screen television (the largest of probably only 10 televisions on the ship and most are only about 20 inches) just in time to see the second plane hit. What the hell was going on? When the first plane hit I thought it was just some idiot that can't steer like that guy they found flying a crop duster around the White house a few years back. When the second plane hit I knew something was wrong. After a few minutes to figure out what I was actually seeing I went back to the place where we were working and told my supervisor at the time what I was seeing. He went to the mess hall, as I could not leave the people cutting into the safe because of the potential classified material.

Much of the next hour was a blur. I remember seeing the pentagon get hit (this is when I finally saw in my own mind what was happening). I remember seeing the towers actually fall. I remember seeing the huge dust cloud and the people running down the streets of New York. I remember the captain of the ship saying that something terrible had happened and we would be conducting an emergency deployment in about an hour (we were probably about an hour into this event). I remember trying to check CNN.com but couldn't get through (I blamed the crappy internet connection that the ship had at the time). I even called my house a couple times before we were deployed and received no answer. I clearly remember though that something horrible had happened in New York and we were going north to make sure it didn't get worse.

Within 2 hours of the first plane hit we were deployed and going north. What I found out a few days later was that we were actually the first ship to pull out of Norfolk (a point of pride). We had about one third of our crew because we were getting ready for a deployment and many people were on leave or otherwise unable to get to the ships because of a base lock-down. I only had about two pair of good underwear on the ship as I did not expect to be deployed and did not believe I needed that stuff on the ship at the time. Luckily, a buddy of mine had a few extra tee shirts and some unused underwear or I would have come back rather crusty. Another piece of good fortune is that they had just restocked the galley so we at least had a good deal of edible food (I say edible because ship food is rarely if ever considered good).

So with none of our gear, (it was stored at a different location from the ship, It's a classified information thing you wouldn't...er...I don't even understand.) and only a third of our crew, we went forth and played "plane guard" for New York. Our job was to listen in on the different radio signals to see if we could hear anything special going on or as a second ear for the bridge when planes wanted to land in New York. (Lets just say we weren't too friendly about people flying around at the time..."This is U.S. Navy WAR Ship. State your name, call sign, .........". We didn't even say what ship we were. The response I remember most was some brit pilot scared half out of his wits saying " this is such-and-such airlines flight xxx-xxxx...umm...please don't shoot."

At the time I thought it was sort of funny but after about an hour or two I started thinking about the guy and how we sounded and realized that yes, we probably would knock him out of the air if he even thought the words "Allah akbar" (god is great). This is not anything against Muslims, they have every right to be here and be free, just like non-Muslims, if not more. It was just as though a small dog came up to the rotweiler on the porch and took a chunk out of his soft underbelly. We were on the complete defensive and wanting something, anything to tear limb from limb.

After about a week (10 days) of this routine, we were relived and went home to our families. When we got home it was like we had missed the most important week in the world. Everyone else in the world had the opportunity to see what was going on, watch the footage, analyze it in your own mind, to mourn the loss. We were not afforded that opportunity. We were on a ship, away from the news, and had to rely on the information our captain told us, and a few snippets of e-mail that managed to slip through to find out what was going on . (I got none by the way.)

Pretty much everybody on the ship did not show any emotion for what had happened. It's not that we were a bunch of crass, unfeeling monsters. We feel all of it, everyday. It's just that we've been trained to do a job no matter what and we realize that if we don't do that job efficiently lives can be lost. We don't have the luxury of thinking about whose fault it is, or how we screwed up, or some hair-brained theory about how Bush planned the whole thing. It is not up to us to decide what it means. It is, however, our obligation to act out the wishes of those in leadership even if it costs us our lives, or time away from our families, nasty living conditions in a hostile environment, etc.

Something that many civilians don't realize is that we've seen MANY more lives lost than you have. I'm not speaking of actually watching people die. I'm speaking of having people that are close to you or associates in your company dieing. These are people that could have been you in a slightly different circumstance. Here's a short list of losses I have been forced to recognize in the same way civilians recognize 9/11: The USS Cole bombing, Khobar towers Bombing, the USS Forestall fire, multiple plane crashes. These are the ones you have read about. Here are a couple you haven't heard about unless you really, really watch the news: USS Leyte Gulf lost part of a boat crew in the Persian Gulf while doing boarding operations, serviceman gets blown up by a lose mine planted by North Korea while on patrol on the DMZ.

I think the thing that stands out most of all are these Monday morning quarterbacks. Where was the outpour of emotion when the OTHER (Khobar) towers were hit? Did any civilians or news agencies demand results when the USS Cole was hit? No. Sure, there was outrage for a bit but everyone said "Well, it's the military and that's what they're paid to do. You know, risking their lives and all. It's okay for our president to sit on his fat ass and collect knobbers like collecting stamps and embarrass the United States and all it stands for. We are all well aware that other presidents have had the same affliction but this was the only time I personally have had to endure the international embarrassment when a president disrespects his position like that. When you're overseas and talking to someone from the host country what do you say? Anyway, this is supposed to be about 9/11 so let me wrap this up.

For me, 9/11 was just one of many losses. As a military member I had to accept what happened and move on to the continued defense of Democracy throughout the world. Apparently, I'm the only one who did. As people complain about how we need to concentrate more on Afghanistan I see they will be having their first free elections on October. The only reason I have a link to this is the median was trying to show how we're failing over there by highlighting how we lost 23 people in Afghanistan this year. Yeah, right, failing; of the over 9 million registered to vote, (about 90 percent of the estimated eligible electorate) 41.4 percent are women. Gee, that just says failure to me. It's a loss to me but I can accept it. We have other, more pressing matters to attend to in the world. We need to make the hard decisions in the world. No one else will make them. The UN has been proven corrupt; I'll prove it if you want. Many of our allies turned their backs to us because we took the path less traveled by. Unfortunately, what we need to do in the world isn't always "PC". Sometimes you need to do the internationally unpopular thing to ensure American safety. Peace isn’t always the right answer. If my opinions makes me just another American warmonger, (blatant plug) then so be it.

God bless all those affected by these acts of barbarism.

A memorial to the Murdered near Chechnya

There are no words to describe how disgusting, how vile, how repulsive, how damning, how disrespectful, how murderous, how sadistic, how morbid, and yes, how EVIL an act these "Islamic Infidel Fighters" have become. I have been sniffling over this over the past couple of days. The moment I heard that those bastards had taken a school on their first day back I knew what was going to happen. I could not say to the world what I knew was going to happen. I was frozen. I could not even tell myself the truth. I wish I could have stopped it or done something to help but there was nothing anyone could do. This is how it has happened before in Russia.

Putin has had this happen before. It does not end in a good way. This is no where near the first time terror has struck Russia. Someone at MSNBC has done, at the very least, a remembrance to those lost against terror here. We need to read this list. We need to remember what has happened as we remember what happened on September 11, 2001. These are things we need to take to heart because this is what happens when good men and women do nothing:

Actions outside of Chechnya linked to the conflict. (Curtesy of MSNBC)

June 14, 1995
Chechen gunmen take 2,000 hostages at a hospital in southern Russian town of Budyonnovsk, near Chechnya. After failed attempts at force, Russia negotiates the hostages' release in exchange for the gunmen's escape. More than 100 die.

Jan. 9, 1996
Chechen militants seize 3,000 hostages at a hospital in southern Russian town of Kizlyar. Rebels release most, then head for Chechnya with about 100 hostages. Rebels are stopped in a village and attacked by Russian troops. At least 78 die in weeklong fight.

Jan. 16, 1996
Six Turks and three Chechens hold 255 hostages on ferry in Black Sea, threatening to blow up ship if Russia doesn't halt battles in southern Russia. The rebels surrender after three days.

March 9, 1996
Turkish sympathizer hijacks jetliner flying out of Cyprus to draw attention to situation in Chechnya. The sympathizer surrenders after plane lands in Munich, Germany.

Sept. 4, 1999
Bomb destroys a building housing Russian military officers and families in Buinaksk in Russia's Dagestan region. Sixty-four die. Russian officials blame Chechen rebels, but never prove their involvement.

Sept. 9, 1999
Explosion wrecks a nine-story apartment building in southeast Moscow, killing almost 100. Authorities suspect a Chechen bomb, although no evidence is ever provided to support the claim.

Sept. 13, 1999
A bomb destroys an apartment building in southern Moscow, killing 70. Officials blame Chechens, but nobody is ever charged in the attack.

Sept. 16, 1999
Bombs shear off the front of a nine-story apartment building in Volgodonsk, 500 miles south of Moscow. Nearly 20 are killed. Authorities again blame Chechens rebels, but nobody is charged.

March 16, 2001
Three Chechens hijack a Russian airliner leaving Istanbul and divert it to Saudi Arabia. Saudi forces storm plane, killing one hijacker and two hostages.

April 22, 2001
Some 20 gunmen hold about 120 people for 12 hours at a hotel in Istanbul, Turkey, to protest Russian actions in Chechnya. The rebels later surrender to police and release the hostages.

May 4, 2002
Lone gunman holds 13 people hostage at a hotel in Istanbul to protest situation in Chechnya. The gunman surrenders after an hour.

Oct. 24, 2002
Chechen rebels seize 800 people in a Moscow theater. After a three-day standoff, Russian authorities launch a rescue attempt in which all 41 attackers are killed along with 127 hostages who succumb to a knockout gas used to incapacitate the assailants.

July 5, 2003
Double suicide bombing at a Moscow rock concert kills the female attackers and 15 other people.

July 10, 2003
A Russian security agent dies in Moscow while trying to defuse a bomb a woman had tried to carry into a cafe on central Moscow’s main street.

Aug. 1, 2003
50 people are killed in Mozdok, North Ossetia, when a truck bomb smashes through the gates of a hospital where Russian soldiers injured in Chechnya are treated.

Sept. 16, 2003
Two suicide bombers drive a truck laden with explosives into a government security services building near Chechnya, killing three people and injuring 25.

Dec. 5, 2003
Suicide bombing on commuter train in southern Russia kills 44 people. President Vladimir Putin condemns attack as bid to destabilize the country two days before parliamentary elections. Six people were killed in two blasts on the same railway line in September.

Dec. 9, 2003
Female suicide bomber blows herself up outside Moscow’s National Hotel, across from the Kremlin and Red Square, killing five bystanders.

Feb. 6, 2004
An explosion rips through a subway car in the Moscow metro during rush hour, killing 41 people.

June 21- 22, 2004
Chechen rebels kill at least 92 people, mostly law-enforcement officers and officials, while setting fire to police and government buildings around Nazran, the main city of the neighboring republic of Ingushetia.

Aug. 25, 2004
Chechen suicide bombers blamed for explosions that kill 90 people on board two Russian planes.

Now we have one more to add. CNN reports that 323 innocent lives have been taken, 156 of them are children. Out of the 26 terrorists removed from existence 10 of them were from Arabic origins. At least 10 Russian Special Forces have been killed as well.

For anyone that has thought that being a French appeasemonkey (Doug, it's your word, you get the props for it.) will save your life you are wrong. We were appeasemonkeys once, it got is the Cole bombing, 9/11 and a whole host of others. France is going through its own "negotiations" with some of the terrorists in Iraq as you read this. The latest I've heard is that they've been transferred from one militant terrorist group to another. I pray for their lives, as we all should.

Politically, Bush has offered his condolences to the Russian people. He also adds that this is a grim reminder of the lengths terrorists will go. I would like to add that this is way to kind a statement. There are others that will probably even claim that the president is now trying to feed off of this as a campaign point. It is not and should not be a campaign point. It should be THE campaign point. The murder of over 300 innocent lives should be an exclamation point at the end of a very ugly sentence in a vulgar paragraph. We should never forget it.

I have yet to see Kerry's condolences but I have no doubt he will soon. Not to do so would be a gross mistake and an unsult and embarrassment to all those who believe him to be the best person for presidency. It would be a slap in the face.

Vladmir Putin has yet to make a public announcement on the subject. It has been long standing in Russia not to announce what has happened and they have been criticized many times over for doing it, particualry by the EU. It is their way of dealing with things and nearly always has been. Putin has actually ordered a crackdown in which any separatist sympathizers would be viewed as "accomplices of terrorism". In addition, the borders of the town have been shut down to root out anyone involved in their door-to-door search of the town. UPDATE: Putin speaks about Russia's current moment of weakness here. The end of the article holds a statement by Alan Kargiyev, a 20 year old university student, that "after 40 days [of mourning] they will take up weapons and seek revenge".

These are the acts of the followers of Al Quaida? Murdering innocent children? Even Al Jazeera has backed way from them. I though Islam was supposed to be a peaceful religion. I thought they were supposed to respect and love people. As the link above states, it is believed that religion in the middle east has becom a corrupt entity. In my eye's this Jihad is nothing more that the middle eastern inquisition. This is but Arabic Crusaders attempting to do what Osama Bin Ladin asked them to do: Kill all non-followers of the values of Al Quaida and the Taliban until there is no one else left and all of the land is cleansed.

If word are not enough of the evil incarnate involved with these terrorist groups the you need to go here. If you are weak on intestinal fortitude I would not click that link or even get near it. The most vile disgusting things lie on the other side of it. Much of what is there is the face of terrorism. The Nick Burg beheading is there. Photos and videos from this school massacre are there. Everything imaginable is there. Do not go there unless you relly need to see it. For those of you have never been there the name of the site is www.orgish.com and the name says it all; it is brutal.

Other's have had their own problems with what has happened and I would like to no do what I set out at the beginning of this posting. I intend to create a bloggers memorial for the loss of innocent lives in Russia due to this act of terror. I have already compiled a list of reactions from several people and intend not to write anything else on this blog except additions to this post for at least a week or maybe two in order for everyone who needs to say their piece. If your name is already listed with a piece feel free to write more, all will be accepted. Once everyone has had their opportunity to include their input I will dedicate a site as memorial and include everything anyone posted. I also intend to send it to every politician I can think of in any country that will take it. (if you have anyone in particular let me know.)

You can e-mail me your posts at aakaakaak@hotmail.com, trackback to this entry, or include a comment to have your post added to the growing memorial blogroll. (Note for comments. Include "ADD MY POST" as the first line of your comment if you want it posted.)

To all those lost or affected by loss in Beslan, Russia on or because of the terrorist atrocity occurring 03 September 2004 we offer this:

Kathy from KitKat provides a link to help the families of those lost
Glenn Frazier also links to MOSCOWHELP.ORG
There is also a new link on the right side of the screen. As of their first day they have collected over 95,000$. If you can find it in your checkbook to do so, give. I know I can't put a price on a human life, especially a child's, can you?

Pray.


Logic and Sanity went insane with information HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE
Doug at Loose Coin Provides alternate words for TERRORIST.
CJ of The Unmentionables sifts through the carnage
Solomonia's contribution
Jeremy at Pacetown comments
Derek at Weapons of Mass Distraction has three posts HERE HERE and HERE
Speaking My Mind comments
Musing comments with a picture
It's a Matter of Opinion - Speechless
Bittersweet has two HERE and HERE. Better seen on main site.
The Bad Hair Day Blog woke up to hearing it - A real Bad Hair Day
The Wandering Mind has three posts HERE HERE and HERE
The Pink Flamingo Bar and Grill wades into them
Allah is in the House comments
Mark A. Kilmer's Political Annotation, annotates on Putin
The Big Dick is pissed off at Russia
Radiocyborg has three posts HERE HERE and HERE
Laughing Wolf has created a host of slide shows - THINK
Kathy K from On The Third Hand stays updated with three posts HERE HERE and HERE
Jeff at Beautiful Atrocities has some
Blogbat smallows hard and writes
Russel Wardlow at Mean Mr. Mustard has three posts HERE, HERE, and HERE
Jane from Armies of Liberation HERE and HERE (A child is NEVER expendable.)
Adam from From The Land Down Under tries to put it into words but words are not enough
The Commissar at The Politiburo Diktat believes the have a Death Wish
Andrew from Brit Broadcasting Conservatism adds four posts HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE
Dan at Winds of Change makes a good point
Mammamonezz' Mental Rumpus Room sympathizes with the mothers, five times (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Ther are 28 bloggers listed here. Are you one of them?

Have something to add or want to express your feelings?
If anyone would like to be added, or taken out, or modified please let me know. All of your comments are both appreciated and respected.

RUSSIA, WE PRAY FOR YOU ALL.

Encouragements to Clinton

For those of you with your head in the sand, or other places, President Clinton is undergoing bypass surgery. I wish him all the best.

In the words of Rodney Dangerfield undergoing similar surgery: "If everything goes well I'll be out in about a week. If it doesen't go well I'll be out in an hour and a half."

I hope it goes well.

Don't turn around oh OH oh...Der Kommissar's in town...

You are required to visit the Politiburo Diktat to confirm your papers. All violators will be sent to the gulag.

Dick found it first.

Dick found a great piece of Demorcat fodder here. I wanted to steal it and rant about it on my own. I decided against it because it would be unethical. So I decided to give the post a plug instead.

--enjoy--