Iraqi Security Forces Take the Lead

AubreyJ has an interesting post that has these quotes in it.

(He = Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch)

Security operations are continuing all across Iraq, he added. Of the 443 total operations conducted last week, only about one-third were coalition forces only.

"Two-thirds... were either conducted independently by the Iraqi security forces or done in combination with coalition forces," Lynch said. "So you see, we've reached the point in our counterinsurgency operations where the Iraqi security forces have clearly taken the lead across Iraq."

prying1 sez:
Democracy will work in Iraq and hopefully will lead the way for other counties in the area.

NAACP Asked to Repudiate Julian Bond's Message of Hate

Rev. Jesse Peterson Calls on NAACP Head to Repudiate Julian Bond?s Comparison of GOP to Nazis

How many years ago was it that the Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, signed the Emancipation Proclamation? The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."(*)

Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not immediately free a single slave, it fundamentally transformed the character of the war. After January 1, 1863, every advance of federal troops expanded the domain of freedom.(*) - (prying1 (a Republican) sez: thank God for freedom for all men!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first Republican President signed this document.

As a result when black slaves were finally freed as a result of much bloodshed (some white and some black - Some north and some south) the statement from the Republican President stood firm!

During the Civil Rights movement of the 50's and 60's George Wallace and his DEMOCRATIC friends (including the so called EXXX kkk membbber whazzzhizname Byrrrd) stood against the Republicans that voted in Civil Rights!

So what are we faced with now? A group of people that claim the Republican Party is a party of Nazis?

No!

It is only one man who heads up the NAACP.

Julian Bond is the one man's name.

If the NAACP wants to continue to be a viable force in American politics it will have to remove Julian and find someone who is not an idiot.

He has lost all credibility as a leader of any Americans be they any shade from pink to green.

Julian Bond's Statement: "The Republican Party would have the American flag and the swastika flying side by side,"

prying1 sez:
Once a racist always a racist. Don't believe me? Ask anybody that voted for Democratic Presidential nominee Wallace.

Did Julian vote for him? Hmmm??? - Just wondering?

If you know anyone that belongs to the NAACP let 'em know that they need a new leader. - One that is not a racist!

(*) = sort of borrowed from this .gov site =

Is This Funny?

I'm not sure. Would it be insensitive to laugh at a story like this?

Men Really Are Good At That Sensitive Stuff!

Three guys were working on the BellSouth tower - Steve, Bruce and Jed. Steve falls off and is killed instantly.

As the ambulance takes the body away, Bruce says, "Someone should go and tell his wife."

Jed says, "OK, I'm pretty good at that sensitive stuff, I'll do it."

Two hours later, he comes back carrying a case of Budweiser.

Bruce says, "Where did you get that, Jed?"

"Steve's wife gave it to me," Jed replies.

"That's unbelievable, you told the lady her husband was dead and she gave you beer?"

"Well, not exactly", Jed says. "When she answered the door, I said to her, 'You must be Steve's widow'." She said, "No, I'm not a widow."

And I said, "I'll bet you a case of Budweiser you are".

If this post is insensitive blame my uncle. He emailed it to me... - Email me for his address -

You might be a redneck if...

Got this in an email. If you find yourself offended for any reason please stop reading.

You might be a redneck if...

Your standard of living improves when you go camping.

You've jacked up your home to look for a dog.

You have a relative living in your garage.

Your neighbor has ever asked to borrow a quart of beer.

There is a belch on your answering machine greeting.

You have rebuilt a carburetor while sitting on the commode.

None of the tires on your van are the same size.

You hold up the hood of your car with your head while you work on it.

Your idea of getting lucky is passing the emissions test.

Your town put the new garbage truck in the Christmas parade.

Your local beauty salon also fixes cars.

Your doghouse and your living room have the same shag carpet.

You've ever slow danced in the Waffle House.

Starting your car involves popping the hood.

Your garbage man is confused about what goes and what stays.

You whistle at women in church.

You've been in a fistfight at a yard sale. (and my defibrillator went off)

You carry a fly swatter in the front seat of the car so you can reach the kids in the backseat.

If you've ever fixed a broken coil primary wire on a car with a safety pin off your date's bra strap, and the date didn't think it was unusual.

If you've got a matching set of salad bowls that all say "cool whip" on them.

If you take the Christmas lights on the front porch down in November, and only long enough to get them working again.

You've ever used duct tape to repair dental work.

You've unstopped a sink with a shotgun.

Your will states your wife can't touch your money 'til she's fourteen.

You have to pass through a metal detector to get to a family reunion.

Your coffee table is also a cooler!

Your mailing address includes the word "holler".

The first time you ever saw your wife in lingerie, you had to pay a cover charge.

You've sold a car to settle a bar tab.

The best sofa you ever had came out of a Chevrolet.

You've ever used your bathtub as a punch bowl.

You have been accused of lying through your tooth.

If you have ever used a barstool as a walker.

Ideals in Politics!

"Ideals in politics are never realized, but the pursuit of them determines history"

- Lord Acton -

Watching the Presidents speech last night I was heartened by President Bush's ideals. He sees America not as the Big Brother of George Orwell's, '1984' but as the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring organization.

~~~~~ Quote from the speech ~~~~~
To overcome dangers in our world, we must also take the offensive by encouraging economic progress, and fighting disease, and spreading hope in hopeless lands. Isolationism would not only tie our hands in fighting enemies, it would keep us from helping our friends in desperate need. We show compassion abroad because Americans believe in the God-given dignity and worth of a villager with HIV/AIDS, or an infant with malaria, or a refugee fleeing genocide, or a young girl sold into slavery. We also show compassion abroad because regions overwhelmed by poverty, corruption, and despair are sources of terrorism, and organized crime, and human trafficking, and the drug trade.

In recent years, you and I have taken unprecedented action to fight AIDS and malaria, expand the education of girls, and reward developing nations that are moving forward with economic and political reform. For people everywhere, the United States is a partner for a better life. Short-changing these efforts would increase the suffering and chaos of our world, undercut our long-term security, and dull the conscience of our country. I urge members of Congress to serve the interests of America by showing the compassion of America.
~~~~~ end quote ~~~~~

This is not spreading Imperialism! It is spreading HOPE. Those who listened to the speech and only heard the voice of someone they hate because 'he stole the election' or 'is not of my party' need to remove the heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh.

Those who did not listen to the speech can read it here. I would suggest going through it with eyes wide open and a hope that perhaps the idealism presented in the words are attainable. - If both sides work together...

It is not "All about us!" There is a hurting world out there and we can help.

THE SKY IS FALLING!

AubreyJ has a post that asks the tough question. "Who is this guy?"

quote from AubreyJ's post - NASA's senior climate scientist, James Hansen has accused the Bush administration of trying to stop him from speaking out about global warming. Hansen has also said that he has had threats from NASA officials too but these threats have come to him only by phone.
Dang-- nothing in writing???
~~~~~~~~~
** NASA is censoring me, says global warming scientist
** Top NASA Scientist Says He's Being Silenced on Global Warming
** ....More of same from recent headlines..... - - end quote

The challenge was put forth by Sir AubreyJ -

So... Fellow Bloggers out there...
Who is this Guy???

~~~~~~~~~

I took the challenge (Google helped) and posted an answer in his comments. Whether your view is the same as mine or different, jump on over to AubreyJ's and throw in a wooden nickels worth of research and two cents worth of your point of view on 'this guy'...

Go here! Read this!

Blue Star Chronicles has a wonderful MUST READ POST!

Thanks Beth! -

Squirt a Friend - Go to Jail!

I'll never forget crying and running home one day. Eight years old. I came running into the house, my mom calmed me down a bit and asked where it hurt. My answer was that some kids down the street were being mean and squirting me with squirt guns. Mom said, "It's only water!"

My mind opened up a bit that day. A realization that squirt guns were designed for kids to have fun. I ran back out and rejoined the kids. I was not killed. I had fun. I got wet.

I told that story to lead into this. Illinois has some dopey elected officials that want to ban squirt guns. Patriotic Mom, an Illinoisian has a bit on it along with a link to The Conservative Voice.

Warner Todd Huston gives us a bit on the bill: Provides that it is unlawful for any person to purchase, possess, use, sell, give away, or otherwise transfer, or to engage in the business of selling, or to exhibit for sale, any replica rocket propelled grenade launcher, bazooka, artillery piece, grenade, mine, bomb, or items similar to weapons designed and manufactured for military purposes or replicas of those items. Provides that a violation is a Class A misdemeanor.

and Mr Huston goes on to say:

This sweeping and rather ill defined usage of the word "replica" could easily be construed to mean anything that looks like a gun or cannon or a toy made to appear like one from any of the categories listed. That would mean Civil War reenactors with their 1800's style cannons and muskets as well as reenactors of other eras (notably WWII with their more modern firearms) are targeted. For that matter, water guns could become illegal to own, sell and distribute in the state. Even Walmart would be under restrictions for selling toys it should be pointed out.

prying1 sez:
Once again the elected officials look to punish inanimate objects. Like that is really possible. I would like to see our elected officials come up with a comprehensive plan for mandatory sentences for criminals instead.

If in the commision of a crime a person is found guilty of
Possession/Showing a gun (toy or not) - 10 years
Pulling the trigger - 25 years
Hitting someone with a bullet - 40 years (each one)
Murdering someone - Life and/or Death Penalty (According to state laws)

Karl Rove Agrees with prying1

A while back (20Dec05) I posted a blog on the surveilance of terrorist's phone calls into the U.S. I ended the post with: (quote)

So I'm left with a choice. Oppose the policy of our government to spy on it's own citizens and give more power to people that want to kill me (and you too dear reader!) or support the policy that allows one branch of the government to use it's constitutional authority to protect the nation.

I vote to support it.

(end quote)

In a radio interview by Hugh Hewitt on 26Jan06 with Karl Rove this exchange took place: (quote)

HH: I'm great. Now Karl, we don't have a lot of time, so I want to focus immediately on the NSA program, which was a part of a speech you gave last Friday, and which was the focus of a lot of the questions of the president's press conference this morning. And the white paper from the Department of Justice is out there, and Democrats are not buying it, or at least they're pretending not to buy it. Why so much resistance to surveilling al Qaeda operatives contacting their agents in the United States from the Democratic Party?

KR: Well, you'll have to ask them. I don't understand it, frankly. I think that any American, if they take their partisan hat off, would say that in a time of war, after we've been struck on our homeland, that the President of the United States, if he has the ability to have the appropriate agencies, with Constitutional restraints, and respect for personal liberties of Americans who might unintentionally get sort of swept up in it, if a phone call comes from a bad guy in some bad part of the world to somebody here in the United States, we want to know who they're contacting and what they're saying. And I frankly don't understand what the objection is. Look, under far less terrible circumstances in the 90's, the previous administration used warrantless surveillance in the United States. And this president, particularly after it was struck on 9/11, had a responsibility to do everything possible as commander-in-chief, and after the declaration by Congress to protect the country. And that's exactly what he's doing.

(end quote)

prying1 sez: I don't want to take credit for Karl Roves point of view. I'm pretty sure he missed seeing my post. But I am glad that he agrees with me and not with Michael Moore and the MoveOn.org group.

Thanks to RadioBlogger for transcribing the interview between Hugh Hewitt and Karl Rove.

The War Against Terrorists IS Being Won!

I love visiting AubreyJ because I know that zip, zip, cut and paste, add a link and a few words of wisdom and I have a new post up.

AubreyJ posted the following in a piece entitled - Sunni rejectionists conducting attacks against Zarqawi and his network -
Baghdad news conference held Thursday, January 26, 2006, Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, a spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq - quote -

"The Sunni rejectionists... if you will... are conducting planned attacks against Zarqawi and his network," Lynch said. The Sunni Iraqis were favored under now-deposed dictator Saddam Hussein. Some Sunnis are suspected of carrying out a home-grown insurgency against U. S. and other coalition troops in Iraq.

However, al Qaeda has routinely killed innocent Iraqi citizens during its attacks. That's a situation that Lynch said has galvanized most Iraqis... including home-grown insurgents... against the foreign terrorists.

In fact, Iraqi insurgents have killed six key al Qaeda in Iraq leaders since September 2005. And "recently we've seen significant operations where the local insurgency has turned on the Zarqawi network and forced them out of Ramadi," Lynch said. Ramadi is an Iraqi town in Anbar province.

end quote


prying1 sez:
Are the Iraqi citizens deciding that a group that is willing to murder innocents should be destroyed or at least removed from the country? It looks that way. Perhaps the Muslums in Iraq are learning that it is better to love their children more than to love a 'cause'. (To paraphrase Golda Mier)

Google Can Work the Results!

From Radio Free Asia

An initial search for "Falun Dafa" on Google's U.S. based Chinese language search tool, http://www.google.com/intl/zh-CN/, the Chinese for the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, yielded Falun Gong sites from around the world, where information provided by the movement about its philosophy and practices was freely available.

The same search conducted on the new China search engine, at http://www.google.cn, showed a series of government-sponsored sites criticizing the group as a dangerous and evil cult.

prying1 sez:
So this shows that Google can and does control what shows up in the number one spot on searches.

Then why is it that when anyone typing 'Baby Jesus' in the google.cn website comes up with the BABY JESUS BUTT PLUG in the number one spot! the same happens in the U.S. version of Google. If they care soo much as they say they do then I think they ought to fix this ASAP!

It will be a quicker fix if I write to the Chinese government as opposed to Google's complaint department.

So lets see what happens. Add your voice!

- Google.cn - type in - baby jesus - near bottom right is a long line of question marks. Looks like 13 of 'em - ????'s - Click and type in - # 1 ??? Sex toy! -

If they can and do fix it for China they sure as hell better fix it for English speaking countries.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

This subject was the topic of a previous post - Click here for my previous Google and Baby Jesus post

Situation Normal!

The wifey-poo and I went out to dinner tonight. After the meal I pulled a small digital camera out of my shirt pocket and snapped a picture of her. She had not seen it previously because I had just received it as a premium. It is a cheap give-away camera with no flash. Takes great pics in the sunlight but otherwise... She snapped a couple of me too. I won't bother posting them. Pretty crappy pics.

Our conversation concerning the camera turned to her school yard duties. She said that some of the kids at the lower grades school she works for bring little cameras to school. She wasn't sure what to think about it though. Her words were, "The boys take pictures of the girls and the girls take pictures of the boys all the time."

My reply was very anti-PC. I told her that it sounds like nothing to worry about.

Al Qaeda is Losing People's Support!

From The Peninsula
- Qatar's Leading English Daily -

SAMARRA: Hundreds of Iraqis staged a demonstration in the restive city of Samarra yesterday in a show of defiance against Al Qaeda militants they blamed for killing dozens of police recruits last week.
~~~~~~~~
The protesters, estimated by police to number 700 to 1,000 and organised by the Iraqi Islamic Party and Muslim Scholars Association, major forces in Sunni politics, accused Al Qaeda of killing some 40 local men who were hauled off a bus near Samarra last week after leaving a police academy in Baghdad and killed. The killing late last year of the head of one of the city�s main tribal leaders had prompted an alliance against Al Qaeda involving local nationalist insurgents, residents said, similar to movements seen in other Sunni strongholds.

"They should not target civilians," said one local militant who says he speaks for a nationalist insurgent group in Samarra and goes by the name of Abu Mohammed.
~~~~~~~~~
After last week's killing of the police recruits, one resident said: "They will not allow Qaeda members to operate in Samarra any more ... They want to put pressure on them to leave. If need be, they may start killing known al Qaeda members."

prying1 sez: I've always wondered why the Al Qaeda thought murdering people was going to make the masses want to embrace their cause. This, I believe, is a real sign of the Iraqi people coming to realize their independence.

(for readability I changed some punctuation in the quotes. ?'s to "'s)
Hat tip to AubreyJ for the link! -

Words the Media Decides to Change

American Princess has written a wonderful piece about the media changing words in mid sentence of quotes they have in news articles.

A couple quotes:

The recent kerfuffle over Google deciding to cave to China's oppressive government, banning such evil words like "Tibet" and "Taiwan" or the ever nefarious "Tianamen Square" from it's searches, got me thinking about another bit of censoring that's going on, but right here at home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At this point The American Princess gives examples from The Baltimore Sun and the Columbia Spectator. They remove words from quotations and [replace] them with kinder gentler words. Words that might not upset the public the way the original quote would.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But seriously folks, what the heck is wrong with [journalists] today that they've opted to pre-empt not only public debate and the legislature (as the Supreme Court did years ago), but now even majority opinion and have declared "we've decided" on the matter of how all life should be labeled? I'd say they had an agenda, but there's no way the MSM could ever get that organized.

end quotes -

prying1 sez:
Please go read the American Princess Post and be aware that the side that screams the loudest about freedom of speech is also the side that will change the speech of those they disagree with.

CNN Should Love This Event!

Ok, here is the deal. An outfit calling itself 'The World Can't Wait' whose goal is to "drive out the Bush Regime" is calling for a noisy protest rally. It will be held on Jan. 31, the night of President Bush's State of the Union speech.

Quote:

In large cities and town squares across the country, we will rally one hour before Bush's address. At 9:00 PM let the world hear us as we symbolically drown out Bush's lies bring your own noise - drums, pots and pans, musical instruments - your voice. Let taxi horns blare and church bells ring, as we bring our own state of the union message: BUSH STEP DOWN!

endquote -
I guess these knuckleheads finally figured out they cannot give the President the distinguishing honor of being the third impeached president. So now they demand Bush step down? What kind of fools are these people? Do they really think this will have any effect, positive or negative, on the "Bush Regime"?

Oh well! Need more proof these people (I use the term loosely) are Knuckleheads (I don't use the term loosely)? Their website has a list of times and places for people to meet for these noisy, disruptive gatherings. They expect to persuade American public to demand President Bush leave office (I guess they want Cheney in office) by disrupting the lives of as many people as they can.

and catch this - LA: (my local gathering) 5 PM - Gather at intersection of Hollywood and Highland;
6 PM - Bring the NOISE; march and 7 pm rally in front of CNN news station at Sunset and Cahuenga

I thought these guys liked CNN! They seem to be on the same socialistic side. Why would they want to disrupt CNN's operations?

Do they think CNN will be pleased because all they will have to do is poke cameras out the windows.

Yeah! It'll save CNN gas money... They will be thrilled.

Kalamazoo has the right idea. It is a capitalistic event with T-shirt sales and a raffle.

I also noticed in their schedules that much of the festivities are centered around the news coverage. These folks just have a need to be noticed. They want to be in the spotlight.

Well I guess this means of getting attention is a lot easier than working on a talent, practicing hard and trying out for American Idol...

~~~~~~~~~~~

If after reading this you are still self loathing enough to want to attend one of these gatherings the list can be found here. - World Can't Wait - Don't bother looking for me.

Michael Schiavo Marries Longtime Girlfriend

Michael Schiavo, widower of Terri Schiavo, has finally done the right thing by marrying his 'longtime girlfriend', Jodi Centonze.

Nuff said about that.

An interesting side note to the whole Schiavo affair is that ON THE DAY Terri died Michael's lawyers filed the estate request just hours after her passing.

From Lifenews.com -

Terri died just after 9:00 a.m. on the morning of the 31st

By 1:35 p.m., Greer had ruled in Michael's favor to receive Terri's estate.

However, the Empire Journal newspaper reports that Greer's estate order had one major flaw. It erroneously declared Michael Schiavo, not Terri, died that day.

Plus, Judge Greer had the wrong date of death on the papers too.

There is an organization called The Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation, Inc., and is "A non-profit group dedicated to ensuring the rights of disabled, elderly and vulnerable citizens against care rationing, euthanasia and medical killing"

Also in Terri's memory is Blogs for Terri an excellent site that will give hope to those that support the disabled having the 'right to life'.

Can You Help With This Experiment?

I've an idea that I would like to test out and I need your help. It is sort of an experiment using the imagination. Won't take long I promise you.

First of all I want you to close your eyes.

Now I'd like you to...

Hey wait a minute. You can't read this with your eyes closed. Open 'em.

Oh dang! They can't read the instructions to open 'em.

This experiment might take a bit longer than I thought.

Hope they don't fall asleep.

Now what?

Oh, to heck with this. I'm going to go play freecell.

CD's Don't Last Forever

Just a heads up concerning the CDs you burn for music, pictures, backup files and such. The CD-Rs and CD-RWs you burn are not the same as the pressed CDs you buy in the store. They do deteriorate. In two to five years say some experts. Magnetic storage tapes last a lot longer if you want to save irreplaceable pictures. Depending on the tape quality magnetic tapes can have a life span of 30 to 100 years.

Follows some quotes from an article at Computerworld.com:

"Unlike pressed original CDs, burned CDs have a relatively short life span of between two to five years, depending on the quality of the CD," Gerecke said in an interview this week. "There are a few things you can do to extend the life of a burned CD, like keeping the disc in a cool, dark space, but not a whole lot more."

The problem is material degradation. Optical discs commonly used for burning, such as CD-R and CD-RW, have a recording surface consisting of a layer of dye that can be modified by heat to store data. The degradation process can result in the data "shifting" on the surface and thus becoming unreadable to the laser beam.

"Many of the cheap burnable CDs available at discount stores have a life span of around two years," Gerecke said. "Some of the better-quality discs offer a longer life span, of a maximum of five years."

Distinguishing high-quality burnable CDs from low-quality discs is difficult, he said, because few vendors use life span as a selling point.

To overcome the preservation limitations of burnable CDs, Gerecke suggests using magnetic tapes, which, he claims, can have a life span of 30 to 100 years, depending on their quality. "Even if magnetic tapes are also subject to degradation, they're still the superior storage media," he said.

But he's quick to point out that no storage medium lasts forever and, consequently, consumers and business alike need to have a plan for migrating to new storage technologies.

prying1 sez: Want to score points with your boss? Let him know about this problem of using burnable CDs for storage of company computer backups. If he (or she) is depending on them for IRS or financial files there may be problems down the road.

For your irreplaceable pics? Perhaps hard copies would be best. Or invest in a tape drive...

Get the full story here! or click on the title above.

New E-mail Address Added to PayPal Account

Of course this email I received was a spoof and a scam. I've several a week to deal with.

I did a right click/properties on the link and then cut and pasted the URL into a new, freshly opened Firefox window. What do you know! A PayPal page opens up. At least it looked very much like a PayPal page. In the middle of the page was a link/line saying, "this page has been moved". I right clicked to check the properties and found it was for a JavaScript application. I decided I had better not click this 'just to see what happens'. I don't know that much about JavaScript but I do know that some evil nasty people like to abuse it. I have an anti virus program but...

I sent the email to spoof @ PayPal.com and wondered how many people have clicked on that JavaScript link. The only reason these crooks keep sending phishing emails is because it pays off. It pays off because there are enough people without the knowledge to see the scams for what they are.

I know because I fell for the first one I ever saw. It was with a PayPal spoof letter. Fortunately their use of my account didn't work because they demanded more money than my account would allow. When accessing my account I saw the activity. A quick call to PayPal stopped their attempted thievery.

I'd like to encourage people to spread the word about the dark side of the internet. Especially those that are new to it. On occasion bring up the subject of internet scams with your internet friends in chat rooms and such. Once in a while post a message on the bulletin boards you visit. Co-workers, even those that do use computers might be informed of some of the scams and hopefully in a way that will not scare them away from going online.

The internet is a wonderful source for all kinds of entertainment and information and profit. Sharing a bit of knowledge with those in your circle will help keep it from being profitable to the bad guys.

I would also suggest you put Ted Richardson's Fraud, Phishing and Financial Misdeeds in your favorites and check in once in a while to keep up on scams. The wallet you save may be your own!

Update: A friend at church had gotten the same email. I gave her the spoof @ paypal address to send it to and warned her about other phishing schemes. I added this little update to show that it does work. Sharing a bit of knowledge with your friends will help knock down the number of victims.

Evolution Now Proven to be True!

It will no longer be necessary for the extreme right wing Christian fanatics to try to push their Theocratic agenda in the schools with the so called 'Intelligent Design' theory. Proof of Darwin's theory is now in!