Thanks to Paulie Cee for directing attention to this picture elsewhere...and the big white circle was probably unnecessary, but sometimes you see something so unbelievable you want to make sure everyone else can see it and not believe it too.

Honestly, can you believe that someone could seriously be proposing this?

The one thing you can count on from the 'huggers is their penchant for hysterics. Since the imminent demise of Mother Earth hasn't brought the majority of rational thinking people to their side, they need to pump up the volume. Now according to Australian "climate change" whackjob Tim Flannery, we're heading toward war over global climate change.

IF the world fails to reach agreement on tackling climate change soon then it could end in war, climate scientist Tim Flannery has warned.

Like many others, he is concerned at a lack of progress ahead of a crucial UN climate summit in Copenhagen in December.

If there is no deal some time in the next year then there is a risk of momentum fading and the problem getting beyond the reach of world leaders, said Prof Flannery, who is in New York for climate talks.

"My greatest fear is that once people stop negotiating, once diplomacy fails, that's potentially a prelude for war."

That could mean conflict over carbon tariffs, over the mass migration of climate-affected people or over serious water shortages, Prof Flannery said.

It might not happen for decades but it was a real threat if Copenhagen failed. "The triggers are there for conflict," the former Australian of the year said.

I'm anxious to see what they're going to threaten the world with next...maybe one of those "if we can't take care of the planet, aliens from outer space will invade and take it away from us because we don't deserve it" movie plots or something.

Of course, this is the same guy who advocates pumping sulphur gas into the atmosphere to combat global warming.

Since the 1990's we've been receiving dire warnings of impending doom due to global warming/climate change...we're fast approaching 20 years on the subject. All I want to know is when some of it is going to start coming true? When can we start dismissing this b.s. out of common sense? I mean, those of us who haven't already been doing that for the past 20 years...

Why on Earth would someone think they could get away with taking down & burning a VFW flag...especially one that had been flown in Iraq? The method of justice enacted (and that's exactly what it was) will make you smile.

VFW Flag Burner Pilloried

VALLEY FALLS -- The young man was given three choices: get turned over to the police, go one-on-one in a fight with a seasoned war veteran, or be duct-taped to a flagpole for six hours with a sign around his neck identifying his alleged crime: flag burning.

It was the third option that would still have the small town buzzing a week after a 21-year-old was hunted down and forced to endure a public humiliation with its roots dating to the Middle Ages. Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1938 were incensed enough to tie up the man last Sunday after they accused him of setting the flag in front of their building on fire.

Post Commander Nick Normile, a Vietnam War veteran, said the man came into the post's bar Sept. 18 on Poplar Avenue and was eventually turned away for not having a proper ID.

Apparently angered, the young man, who Normile did not want to name, cut the rope of the American flag flying overhead and used a cigarette lighter to set it on fire, Normile and others said.

The man sat pilloried as the village had its fall youth soccer picnic with a long parade of children passing in front of him.

"He'll never disrespect the flag again, I can tell you that," Normile said.

Normile said the flag had at one point flown over U.S. troops in Iraq had special significance.

Veterans, both local and nationwide, responded to the event as accountings were posted online to the official VFW Facebook page and national Web site. Comments posted supported the act and added ideas for further punishment.

Other nearby business owners said they knew of the event but refused to give an accounting. Unconfirmed reports by citizens said the alleged flag-burner was a relative of a previous commander of the post.

Calls made to the alleged flag burner and a spokesman for the national VFW organization for comments were not returned. The Rensselaer County Sheriffs office confirmed knowledge of the event, but said they were not involved. State Police in Brunswick were contacted, but a trooper said no record of the event could be found.

The flag will be disposed of at a formal ceremony, Normile said.

Before the defenders of hippydom rally around this dumbass and defend his "First Amendment rights", please note that he cut down the VFW's flag and burned it, not his own. If he'd brought his own flag and burned it on the VFW's property, he'd only be guilty of complete lunacy and not vandalism, which is why the threat was made to call the police.

What were the guy's motives in burning the flag? Was he making a protest, just plain pissed off, ? No one knows at this point...but it's not surprising that when given a choice between an arrest, a sound thrashing or public humiliation, a coward will take the third one every time.

Well, some do. Some are probably referring to her as "Her Highness, the Royal Stuck-Up Bitch" now.

Courtesy of Politico.com, complete with video and everything.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) didn't like a Brigadier General calling her "ma'am" at an EPW hearing yesterday.

"Do me a favor," she said, "could say 'senator' instead of 'ma'am?' It's just a thing, I worked so hard to get that title, so I'd appreciate it, yes, thank you."

"I worked so hard to get that title"...no recognition of the fact that it's common military courtesy to use "sir" and "ma'am" in these sorts of situations, and no cognizance of the fact that using a title of office to address someone should be in deference and respect to the office and not the individual. Nah, just "I worked so hard to get that title." I'm sure you did, Barb...I'm sure you did.

Via MSNBC.com:

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea may fire a long-range ballistic missile toward Hawaii in early July, a Japanese newspaper reported Thursday, as Russia and China urged the regime to return to international disarmament talks on its rogue nuclear program.

The missile, believed to be a Taepodong-2 with a range of up to 4,000 miles, would be launched from North Korea's Dongchang-ni site on the northwestern coast, said the Yomiuri daily, Japan's top-selling newspaper. It cited an analysis by the Japanese Defense Ministry and intelligence gathered by U.S. reconnaissance satellites.

The missile launch could come between July 4 and 8, the paper said.

Last week, it was the threat of "nuclear war" on the Korean Peninsula, despite the glaringly obvious facts that a) the U.S. doesn't have "thousands" of nuke warheads in South Korea as the North claimed, and b) two barely credible nuke tests in the single kiloton output range do not a nuclear arsenal make. Despite all this, the sawed off star of Team America: World Police continues to press on with the "look at me Look At Me LOOK AT ME!!!" campaign.

Next comes this blurb from Foxnews.com:

The U.S. military is tracking a flagged North Korean ship suspected of proliferating weapons material in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution passed last Friday, FOX News has learned.

The ship, Kang Nam, left a port in North Korea Wednesday and appears to be heading toward Singapore, according to a senior U.S. military source. The vessel, which the military has been tracking since its departure, could be carrying weaponry, missile parts or nuclear materials.

"It is believed to be 'of interest,'" a senior U.S. official told FOX News.

This is the first suspected "proliferator" that the U.S. and its allies have tracked from North Korea since the United Nations authorized the world's navies to enforce compliance with a variety of U.N. sanctions aimed at punishing North Korea for its recent nuclear test.

The ship is currently along the coast of China and being monitored around-the-clock by air.

The apparent violation raises the question of how the United States and its allies will respond, particularly since the U.N. resolution does not have a lot of teeth to it.

Aye, there's the rub, my friends...one wonders what could be done about that.

If the sarcasm dripping off that title isn't enough for you, you should read the CNN piece on the statements made by Muhammad Abdulhakim's lawyer. You'll be happy to know that his client was "brainwashed" and tortured in Yemen while incarcerated during an immigration problem, and that everyone else in the world besides Abdulhakim is responsible for his shooting attack outside an Army recruiting station.

"My client is a young man, I think, brainwashed," attorney Jim Hensley told CNN. "What else could be explained for a young man who's a true American, plays football, helps his grandmother and mows the lawns of his neighbors? Comes back and then finds himself in this situation? That is not a normal situation in my book."

Just a red blooded American lad...

In September 2007, Muhammad left Tennessee State University in Nashville, where he was studying business, and traveled to Yemen to teach English to children and to learn Arabic.

There, "he felt at peace with these people," even marrying a Yemeni, Hensley said.

But things began to change when his client was detained for a minor visa violation in Yemen and sent to prison, where he was housed with radical Islamic fundamentalists, Hensley said.

...who just happened to fall in with a bad crowd...

There is disagreement about the time he was incarcerated. The lawyer said Muhammad told him he had served four months in prison.

Hensley said Muhammad told him that, during the last two weeks he was held, he was deprived of sleep and food and "was slapped around a little bit," enduring beatings on the backs of his legs.

During Muhammad's time in the prison, an FBI agent visited him not as an ally but as an interrogator, Hensley said.

...brutalized by his American puppet captors and abandoned by his government...

The FBI agent "believed that Carlos was some kind of hardened terrorist hellbent on doing violence to America," Hensley said.

...profiled...

After he was released in January, Muhammad returned to Nashville, Tennessee, where his parents noticed their son was "fidgety, frustrated, can't sit still," Hensley said.

The same FBI agent approached him and threatened to put him under surveillance, "to do everything we can to cause you trouble," Hensley said.

...harrassed by law enforcement...

Hensley added that Muhammad's parents told him that, once he returned to Nashville, "he was a different human," one who blamed the United States for the war wounds suffered by some of the children whom he had taught, children without arms or legs.

...haunted by visions of the victims of American imperialism...

He also blamed U.S. immigration policy for his inability to bring his bride back to the United States with him, Hensley said.

...denied the love and understanding of the love of his life by blatantly racist immigration policy...

"A first-year psychology student would be able to see that this young man needed some help, and that wasn't offered him by anyone," Hensley said.

...denied the help he needs by The System...

Federal agents said Wednesday that they were looking into whether Internet searches of various locations in several other U.S. cities were a sign that Muhammad was seeking "additional targets." The cities investigators included Atlanta, Georgia; Louisville, Kentucky; New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Memphis, Tennessee, where Muhammad grew up.

Hensley told CNN that his client was not the only person who was using the computer.

...and, in the end, wrongfully accused and a patsy in a larger, obvious conspiracy.

Where did they find this lawyer, advertising on late night t.v. during an all night kung fu movie marathon? Is there a race, culture or sympathy card out there that this guy missed playing? Every statement from the guy sounds like something you'd expect out of a bad parody movie.

It seems that this is destined to be turned into a circus by this dirtbag's lawyer, who pled "not guilty" on behalf of his client after his client already admitted to the shootings to police afterwards. Pvt. Long and Pvt. Ezeagwula deserve better than a media circus; they deserve justice.

Courtesy of MSNBC.com

WASHINGTON - The National Rifle Association is asking the Supreme Court to strike down strict gun control laws in the Chicago area, setting the stage for another high court battle over Second Amendment protections for gun owners.

The NRA wants the court to rule that last year's gun rights decision invalidating a handgun ban in the District of Columbia applies as well to local and state laws.

The appeal to the Supreme Court comes almost immediately after a federal appeals court in Chicago said Tuesday that it is bound by earlier Supreme Court decisions which held the Second Amendment applies only to federal laws. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was part of an appeals court panel in New York that reached a similar conclusion in January.

Judges on both courts — Republican nominees in Chicago and Democratic nominees in New York — said only the Supreme Court could decide whether to extend last year's ruling throughout the country. Many, but not all, of the constitutional protections in the Bill of Rights have been applied to cities and states.

The framers of the Constitution intended "to protect the right to keep and bear arms and other rights from state infringement," the NRA said in a filing made available at the court Thursday.

It is hard to imagine a situation where a state would put restrictions on the freedom of speech, or the freedom from illegal search and seizure, or most any of the other individual rights guaranteed by our Bill of Rights and have that restriction upheld at the Supreme Court level, but that is exactly what is being discussed here. These follow up cases to the Heller ruling will be crucial in establishing much about our Constitution even beyond the Second Amendment.

Also from the article:

In the case now pending at the Supreme Court, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld ordinances barring the ownership of handguns in most cases in Chicago and suburban Oak Park, Ill.

Judge Frank Easterbrook said that "the Constitution establishes a federal republic where local differences are to be cherished as elements of liberty rather than extirpated in order to produce a single, nationally applicable rule."

"Federalism is an older and more deeply rooted tradition than is a right to carry any particular kind of weapon," Easterbrook wrote.

Someone pointed out to me that asking for the Second Amendment to apply to the states and locales went against my "anti-big government" leanings. I immediately searched my desktop for a very hard, very heavy copy of the Constitution to hit that person over the head with. Both they and Judge Easterbrook are obviously missing the point of our Constitution, which is not to establish a heavy handed set of rules that apply to all, but to establish liberties of the individual and place restrictions on government. The Second Amendment is an important (arguably the most important) part of those limits on government, and those limits should be enjoyed by all Americans equally no matter where they reside.

Via the English version of Pravda, with translation spelling & grammar errors intact (warning, there's plenty of typical Russian over-exaggeration and conjecture and a pretty good heap of gay bashing in this article):

It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people.

...

First, the population was dumbed down through a politicized and substandard education system based on pop culture, rather then the classics. Americans know more about their favorite TV dramas then the drama in DC that directly affects their lives. They care more for their "right" to choke down a McDonalds burger or a BurgerKing burger than for their constitutional rights. Then they turn around and lecture us about our rights and about our "democracy". Pride blind the foolish.

Then their faith in God was destroyed, until their churches, all tens of thousands of different "branches and denominations" were for the most part little more then Sunday circuses and their televangelists and top protestant mega preachers were more then happy to sell out their souls and flocks to be on the "winning" side of one pseudo Marxist politician or another. Their flocks may complain, but when explained that they would be on the "winning" side, their flocks were ever so quick to reject Christ in hopes for earthly power. Even our Holy Orthodox churches are scandalously liberalized in America.

The final collapse has come with the election of Barack Obama. His speed in the past three months has been truly impressive. His spending and money printing has been a record setting, not just in America's short history but in the world. If this keeps up for more then another year, and there is no sign that it will not, America at best will resemble the Wiemar Republic and at worst Zimbabwe.

...

Then came Barack Obama's command that GM's (General Motor) president step down from leadership of his company. That is correct, dear reader, in the land of "pure" free markets, the American president now has the power, the self given power, to fire CEOs and we can assume other employees of private companies, at will. Come hither, go dither, the centurion commands his minions.

So it should be no surprise, that the American president has followed this up with a "bold" move of declaring that he and another group of unelected, chosen stooges will now redesign the entire automotive industry and will even be the guarantee of automobile policies. I am sure that if given the chance, they would happily try and redesign it for the whole of the world, too.

Prime Minister Putin, less then two months ago, warned Obama and UK's Blair, not to follow the path to Marxism, it only leads to disaster. Apparently, even though we suffered 70 years of this Western sponsored horror show, we know nothing, as foolish, drunken Russians, so let our "wise" Anglo-Saxon fools find out the folly of their own pride.

Again, the American public has taken this with barely a whimper...but a "freeman" whimper.

So, should it be any surprise to discover that the Democratically controlled Congress of America is working on passing a new regulation that would give the American Treasury department the power to set "fair" maximum salaries, evaluate performance and control how private companies give out pay raises and bonuses? Senator Barney Franks, a social pervert basking in his homosexuality (of course, amongst the modern, enlightened American societal norm, as well as that of the general West, homosexuality is not only not a looked down upon life choice, but is often praised as a virtue) and his Marxist enlightenment, has led this effort. He stresses that this only affects companies that receive government monies, but it is retroactive and taken to a logical extreme, this would include any company or industry that has ever received a tax break or incentive.

The Russian owners of American companies and industries should look thoughtfully at this and the option of closing their facilities down and fleeing the land of the Red as fast as possible. In other words, divest while there is still value left.

The proud American will go down into his slavery with out a fight, beating his chest and proclaiming to the world, how free he really is. The world will only snicker.

Pretty much every expansion of power (or changeover in power to a more expansive government) in the history of the world has been cleverly disguised as being "for the people." The 1917 Bolshevik Revolution is a perfect example of this. Marxism was supposed to be the ultimate cure-all for everything that ailed the Russian working man. Instead, they got 70 years of slavery that they were tricked into fighting for. History is filled with examples of "be careful what you wish for" in this regard. Once, we Americans were wiser as a whole than to take what we are taking right now without a fight, much less with barely a question.

Liberty is the most precious of commodities on the global scale. The currency of acquiring it was blood; words and policies are not something that it should be dealt away for. Once lost, it is the hardest of all things to replace.

Thankfully, we as Americans also have a mechanism in place to stop its erosion and regain our bearings: our representative democracy...but only if we heed the call and use it wisely.

It needs to begin in 2010. We need to send a clear message that this expansion of government power is not in the interests of America or liberty and needs to be halted. An all encompassing central government is not what the Founding Fathers had in mind. We have strayed far from the course and need to get back on bearing again, before the costs get too high.

Buh bye, courtesy of CNN:

LONDON, England (CNN) -- British troops killed a "most dangerous" Taliban leader responsible for the deaths of two British service members and likely hundreds of civilians, the defense ministry said Tuesday.

Mullah Mansur is described as "one of the most dangerous Taliban leaders in Helmand," the province where British troops are based. He was killed on Monday by troops in British Apache helicopters northeast of Lashgar Gah, Helmand's capital.

Mansur is believed to be behind the May 7 suicide attacks that killed Sgt. Ben Ross of the Royal Military Police and Gurkha Cpl. Kumar Pun in Gereshk in southern Afghanistan.

Mansur is also thought to be behind other suicide attacks that killed Afghan police and civilians, including one on May 11 that killed 13 Afghan police and civilians and wounded 27 other people. He is also implicated in a March attack that killed 9 Afghan policemen and two civilians, with 28 people wounded.

Mansur was believed to have links to insurgent commanders from the Baluch tribe in the south and acted as the link between the insurgency in the south and central Helmand.

The defense ministry said the Monday attack is also thought to have killed and wounded other insurgents.

Mansur was reportedly the #3 man in the Taliban heirarchy. Three huzzahs and pints to all the Brits involved all around.

Via the NY Times:

NAIROBI, Kenya — Somalia is once again a raging battle zone, with jihadists pouring in from overseas, preparing for a final push to topple the transitional government.

The government is begging for help, saying that more peacekeepers, more money and more guns could turn the tide against the Islamist radicals.

But the reality may be uglier than either side is willing to admit: Somalia has become the war that nobody can win, at least not right now.

Wait a minute...now it's the war that nobody can win? That "news" is secondary though to the moneyshot of the article:

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the top United Nations envoy for Somalia, said that there were now several hundred foreign jihadists fighting for the Shabab. He noted that they were “more motivated, better organized and better trained” than typical Somali street fighters, who tend to be teenagers paid a few dollars a day to charge blindly into battle with rusty Kalashnikov rifles. These young combatants know as much about military tactics as they do about school, which is not a lot. Class has essentially been out for the past 18 years, since Somalia’s central government collapsed.

Is a U.S. presence back on the Horn of Africa almost preordained at this point? If it has to do with another disastrous U.N. orchestrated "peacekeeping" expedition, let's hope not. As these Muslim-on-Muslim powergrab conflicts become more and more prevalent across the globe, the real question will be if the current administation is capable of dealing with the expansion of the Long War, since apparently they don't even want to call it that.

Muslim-on-Muslim conflict is going to increase, and we're going to have to deal with it or risk having another half dozen Afghanistans and Pakistans popping up in different parts of the world over the next decade or so as the radical Islamists consolidate their positions.

Courtesy of everyone's friends at MSNBC.com this morning:

An all-out assault on Sotomayor by Republicans could alienate both Latino and women voters, deepening the GOP's problems after consecutive electoral setbacks.But sidestepping a court battle could be deflating to the party's base and hurt efforts to rally conservatives going forward.

Here's an idea: don't fight it. President Obama obviously made this pick with the concept in mind that she'd breeze through the confirmation process for about a hundred different reasons. She's the "middle of the road liberal" nominee for want of a better term; strange as it may sound coming from me, there's no upside to fighting this battle. She's going to get confirmed.

Instead, save it. Bank it. There's likely to be at least one more nomination in the next four years, when Justice Ginsburg steps down (not trying to be the Angel of Death here, but it is likely that given her illness and her age that she won't serve for President Obama's entire term). It's also likely that the nominee for Justice Ginsburg's spot is going to be a hell of a lot less of a Souter clone that Sotomayor. That fight is also likely to come after the 2010 midterm elections.

There are a lot of real reasons to hate this nomination, but given the atmosphere at the present time, is it a winnable fight? And would a victory against these long odds turn out to be a Pyrrhic one?

Those who read this blog regularly need no reminder but to any casual observers, take 5 mins this Monday and remember the REASON it's a holiday. Say a quick prayer to whomever you pray to or a quick word of thanks to the men and women who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom.

For those inclined to do more, I'm pleased and proud to share this:

Washington, DC 26 May 2009:

This Memorial Day we launch a new group, The Warrior Legacy Foundation- a non partisan organization committed to the protection, promotion and dignity of America’s Warriors. The membership of the group is open to anyone who believes in this cause.

Across every generation, at war and at peace, America has asked her citizens to protect liberty and defend freedom at all costs. And no matter the terrain or political climate, America’s Warriors have met every challenge and made every sacrifice that was asked of them in order to defeat our enemies and protect our way of life. The Warrior Legacy Foundation is a passionate advocate for the preservation and elevation of the hallowed legacy of the American Warrior Class. Join us and stand firm in defense of the heritage of those brave souls who have protected our sovereignty throughout our great nation’s history.

They have asked for nothing and have given us everything.

http://www.warriorlegacyfoundation.org/

Thank you to our own Mule and all those past and present for their service.

First, let me apologize to my readers - both of you - for missing last week's deadline. I made my annual commute to St. Louis to watch a Mets/Cardinals game on Tuesday night. It's a there and back in one day/night/morning thing that requires a lot of planning. And Monster Energy Drink (tm).

I almost skipped this morning as well, and am grateful to the two of you for checking in (I mean, if you actually did) to see if I took a shot here.

I owe it to you.

Actually, that's not entirely true. I mean the "owing it to you" part surely is, but I want to talk about my Governor, Kathleen Sebelius of the great state of Kansas. She wants to be yours, mine and ours as the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. You have just a few hours to help me in my grass roots movement to prevent this from happening

(Note to my readership - as she has officially screwed my adopted state this is an act of selflessness that shows my obvious sincerity.)

Governor Sebelius is quite possibly the most liberal, I mean "progressive", governor of this great nation when it comes to allowing for the proliferation of late term abortions. Just this past week she vetoed a bill that would have required abortion "doctors" (geez that's tough to write...), to sign official documents stating why these procedures are medically necessary. The veto also ensures that parents need not be notified when their minor daughters have late terms. It makes pre-abortion counseling unnecessary. It saves "physicians" the trouble of having to provide life saving measures, or even basic painkilling comfort care, to babies that are born due to botched abortions.

There's a few more nooks and crannies built in there, but you get the gist.

Additionally, besides the standard Obama cabinet candidate requirement of having tax "problems" (she "mistook the acceptability of some deductions"), she also has the issue of receiving money from "Dr." George Hiller, noted mass murderer - I mean preeminent late term abortion "doctor" (there's that pause before clicking keys again).

A LOT of money.

Like three TIMES as much money as she initially reported.

Another honest mistake I'm sure.

She "forgot about" the tens of thousands of dollars that Hiller poured into her campaign. Her campaign that promised him that his killing mills will be able to operate indefinitely, unmolested, for as long as he can cash the checks.

Even many of the most pro-choice proponents believe that late term abortions are barbaric and even murderous. Do we want a Health and Human Services Secretary that thinks they should be legal, safe and common? (paraphrasing former Senator John Edwards, who is looking like a pro-life champion when compared to Kitty Kat.)

Quick, call your Senator and let him or her know how you feel.

Thanks for reading.

via Fox News: Smiling Somali Pirate Weeps in Federal Court in New York City, Hearing Reopened to Public

The sole surviving Somali pirate from the hostage-taking of an American ship captain wept in federal court Tuesday as he faced the charges against him.

A federal judge determined that the suspect, Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse, is an adult and reopened the New York City hearing to the public.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck had closed proceedings briefly to figure out whether Muse was a juvenile.

Muse cried in court as the charges of piracy — which carries a mandatory life sentence — and other counts against him were read. A day earlier, he'd been all smiles when he arrived in New York.

The question of this dirtbag's legal status is not going to go quietly into that good night:

Ron Kuby, a New York-based civil rights lawyer, said he has been in discussions about forming a legal team to represent the Somalian.

"I think in this particular case, there's a grave question as to whether America was in violation of principles of truce in warfare on the high seas," said Kuby.

"This man seemed to come onto the Bainbridge under a flag of truce to negotiate. He was then captured. There is a question whether he is lawfully in American custody and serious questions as to whether he can be prosecuted because of his age."

This scumbag is going to have a legal team and more than a cult following (remember, to more than a few on the left they're not pirates, they're good, decent Somalis fighting to protect their coastline from the evils of overfishing and toxic waste dumping foisted on them by the western imperialists) before you can hum a few bars of "This Land Is Your Land". Hell his mother is already showing the victim card to President Obama.

Meanwhile, you can just about smell the mess this is going to become in the legal system. You know that feeling you got when you were a kid when you took your bike off a jump that was just a bit too high and you looked down just before you hit and thought, "Yeah, this is gonna suck"? That's the exact feeling I have over this whole mess right now.

A legal team, a free trip and three squares a day courtesy of the American taxpayer, the right of 100% victimhood and the flash of paparazzi cameras...welcome to America, jackbag.

Yes, I work in Manhattan.

Almost every individual I come into contact with on a daily basis strangely seems to have little problem with a government bureaucracy reaching towards spending half of this nation's entire output of productivity over the next 4 years, making even the much noted deficit spending of the extravagant and maligned Bush Administration look miserly by comparison.

You're not supposed to pay much notice to the massive inter-generational debt poised to pile up. It's considered divisive or even "extremist" to give too much thought to who and what will bear the burden of this debt, and perhaps how or even if a deficit this size will be serviced in the decades to come.

So although I hadn't planned on heading downtown yesterday for the tea party (if I had I'd have brought a better camera, believe me), the idea of seeing a crowd of individuals not content to sit around and wait for their own personal Federal Money Tree proved irresistible. There we all were, in City Hall Park, in the shadow of the Woolworth Building, the "Cathedral of Commerce"; one of the countless monuments in this city to the unprecedented productivity and wealth creation this nation's ideals once gave rise to, ideals that today are under assault. Ideals that currently tend to be ignored, obfuscated or deemed obsolete.

Not with this crowd however. Many people held signs, variations on "Redistribute My Work Ethic, Not My Wealth", a "Save The Trees, Stop Printing Money", "I'm Not Your ATM" and "Friedman Not Marx" were scattered throughout the crowd. For the most part it was obvious most were new to the idea of protesting. Few mass produced signs, no mind-numbing organized chanting and marching and no pre-set ubiquitous rally-logos. In fact, the vast, vast majority of the signs were specifically about ideas not personalities.

Sure, you had the occasional picture of Obama with the devil's horns and the red eyes, but considering we're talking about a crowd that was stuffed across 4 blocks almost from Barclay to Chambers on both sides of Broadway, that's to be expected. It was, for the most part, the issues that were being addressed not the people, in contrast to your typical left wing protest march where a cheap xeroxed sign of Bush and Cheney with Hitler mustaches toasting each other with cocktails made from the blood of the oppressed are practically the price of admission.

Despite the kind of characterizations you see here and there about these events from various mainstream sources, this wasn't simply a narrow focus on a single individual, it was an effort and an opportunity for an affirmation of ideals of public sector responsibility (now there's a phrase you don't hear too often) that many people grew up believing in, and currently see disappearing all around them.

Above are a few pictures I was able to take of the event from my cell phone before it got too dark.

Somali Pirates Attack US Flag Vessel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Pirates using rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons attacked a United States-flagged cargo ship on Tuesday off the coast of Somalia, but they failed to board the craft, the ship’s owner said.

The crew of the ship, the Liberty Sun, was unharmed, but the vessel suffered damage, according to a statement from the owner, Liberty Maritime Corporation, of Lake Success, N.Y.

A United States military official said the Liberty Sun was attacked about 11:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The Bainbridge, a destroyer, was sent to provide assistance, the official said.

The USS Bainbridge, the same US Navy destroyer that was involved so prominently in the rescue of Capt. Phillips, is named after US Navy Commodore William Bainbridge. When Commodore Bainbridge was a mere Captain in October of 1803, his frigate USS Philadelphia ran aground in Tripoli harbor...during an anti-pirating patrol. Capt. Bainbridge and his entire crew were taken hostage by Barbary Coast pirates, held for ransom, and USS Philadelphia was in turn occupied and utilized as a shore battery by the pirates.

I'm sure most of this is sounding familiar.

On the night of February 16th, US Navy Lt. Stephen Decatur (later a Commodore himself) sailed a small captured pirate ship rechristened USS Intrepid into Tripoli harbor. Leading a small unit of US Marines, they boarded USS Philadelphia, killed and captured the pirate contingent aboard, and burned her to the waterline to deny her use to the enemy. Following the successful first stage of the operation, the raiding party then took control of the entire port city of Tripoli and freed Capt. Bainbridge and his entire crew.

The line of the Marine Hymn "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli" immortalizes the actions of the Marines and Lt. Decatur forever.

However, the Barbary Coast pirate war dragged on, and it wasn't until Marine Lt. (later Capt.) Presley O'Bannon led a mixed force of US Marines and mercenaries overland from Alexandria, Egypt to the Tripolian city of Derna (which is one hell of a march, by the way) and attacked the garrison there, securing the city's capture in May of 1805. With that action, a peace treaty was secured and the First Barbary War effectively ended.

So what modern lessons can be learned from this?

1) Piracy has been a way of life on the African coasts since waaaaay before it became trendy with today's Somalis (and the American media for that matter.)

2) The pirates haven't really changed their methods: kidnapping and capture of goods for ransom and demanding "tribute" is still the rule of the day.

3) (and this is the punchline) President Jefferson recognized that a strong naval presence in the region was just the beginning, and the only effective way to deal with piracy on the seas is to deal with it's roots on land. Defending ships at sea is just that: a defensive action. To take the fight to the enemy, you have to root out their strongholds on the beach. And that, even (especially) today, requires US Marines.

There is a lot of talk about how to best defend commercial ships that are at sea in the Gulf of Aden right now, and these defensive measures are certainly necessary, but they will not solve the problem. Piracy in the region can only be solved through offensive action. There is just too much water and too many ships to effectively safeguard in a defensive posture only. We have to take the fight to them. In short, turn loose the US Navy and US Marine Corps and let them do their jobs.

One other thing that hasn't changed much...when piracy on the Barbary Coast first became an American issue in the 1780's, then Ambassadors Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were dispatched to speak with Tripoli's ambassor to London, Abdul Rahman Adja, about the increasing piracy and demands for tribute off the Barbary Coast. Adja's response, as relayed by Jefferson to then Sec/State John Jay, was in part:

It was written in the Koran, that all nations which have not acknowledged the Prophet are sinners, whom it is the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every muslim who is slain in this warfare is sure to go to Paradise.

The more things change....

Ok, so I’m a little extra hungover this morning. I was up late last night celebrating the life and times of one Ms. Marilyn Chambers – may she rest in peace - who began her career as the lead actress in the groundbreaking art film “Behind the Green Door”.

Go ahead and google it, but don’t do it from your office desk.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Remind me to never piss off a Navy SEAL.

How do three guys lying prone on the deck of a rocking, moving ship hit three smallish targets simultaneously that are also on a rocking moving ship?

Better question, how geeked was Captain Richard Phillips about then? Think about sitting around wondering if you'll ever see your family or scarf down a slab of rare t bone ever again and suddenly your captors just DROP all around you.

Think he kicked any of the corpses before being yanked aboard the USS Bainbridge?

If I hear ONE more liberal bitch about the Patriot Act I’m going to explode faster than one of Kim Jong Il’s rockets sitting on a launching pad.

The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Intelligence and Analysis has recently sent out a nine page report detailing the “increase in right wing extremist activity”. According to this report, the election of America's first black president and the return of a few disgruntled war veterans (so much for “keeping the promise to our national heroes", huh?) could swell the ranks of white-power militias. This report was sent to all of the cpontry’s sheriff’s offices imploring law enforcement to watch out for people that speak out against abortion or illegal immigration or who are vocal on the importance of states’ rights.

So if you disagree with our current regime,…. err…. “government”, smile!

The ONE is watching you.

One of Kansas city’s congressman, the good “reverend” Emmanuel Cleaver recently traveled to Cuba with the rest of the Congressional Black Caucus. He returned to his district gushing that El Presidente Castro was a charming and intelligent man and that he saw no evidence of the oppression of the Cuban people.

Huh?

In unrelated news, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes a kickin' falafel and belts a killer karaoke rendition of Boston’s “More Than a Feeling”.

I'd like to close out by sending my condolences and prayers to the friends and family of rookie pitcher Nick Adenhardt, late of the Angels. May the drunk driver that cut short the life of this young man rot in hell.

Send your hate mail to ScrewYourselfWith@Chainsaw.com yada yada

Somali Pirates Seize U.S. Flag Vessel (Fox News link)

Same story via Navy Times

(Shout out to Op For for giving everyone a heads up on the Navy Times link.)

NAIROBI, Kenya — Somali pirates Wednesday hijacked a U.S.-flagged cargo ship with 20 American crew members onboard, the shipping company said.

The 17,000-ton Maersk Alabama was carrying emergency relief to Mombasa, Kenya, when it was hijacked, said Peter Beck-Bang, spokesman for the Copenhagen-based container shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk.

In a statement, the company confirmed that the U.S.-flagged vessel has 20 U.S. nationals onboard.

Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said that it was the first pirate attack “involving U.S. nationals and a U.S.-flagged vessel in recent memory.” She did not give an exact timeframe.

Of course, the proper response would be swift, violent, and result in the deaths of every Somali pirate within a 25 mile radius of the seized vessel. Somehow I'm doubting the current administration agrees with me.

UPDATE:

Crew regains control of ship.

NAIROBI, Kenya - Pentagon officials said Wednesday that the American crew of a U.S.-flagged cargo ship had retaken control from Somali pirates who hijacked the vessel far off the Horn of Africa.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because information was still preliminary. But they said the hijacked crew had apparently contacted the private company that operates the ship.

At a news conference, Maersk Line Ltd. CEO John Reinhart said that the company was working to contact families of the crew.

"Speculation is a dangerous thing when you're in a fluid environment. I will not confirm that the crew has overtaken this ship," he said.

A U.S. official said the crew had retaken control and had one pirate in custody. The official said the status of the other pirates was unknown but they were reported to "be in the water." The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Jeff Cooper said the desired result of an armed robbery is "a dead robber at the scene," which is tough to argue with. If several of the pirates were jetisoned overboard, so much the better.

It would be nice to see a "sea marshal" program, similar to air marshals, but instead of sworn law enforcment officers a few Navy SEALs aboard selected American flagged vessels, with proper rules of engagement, would be a pretty good deterent, I would think.

Meanwhile, in Iran:

U.S. Reporter Charged With Espionage in Iran

Iran charged detained American journalist Roxana Saberi Wednesday with
espionage, according to a Reuters report based on Iranian media.

This story has just broken, so we will update here as it develops.

UPDATE:

Evidently, Ms Saberi was originally arrested in February for buying a bottle of wine:

Fears increase for missing journalist Roxana Saberi from UK Times online 03 Mar '09:

Iran accused a detained American journalist of engaging in illegal activities yesterday after her worried family spoke out about her arrest in Tehran a month ago.

Roxana Saberi, 31, who had reported previously from Tehran for the BBC, called her father in the United States on February 10 to tell him that she had been arrested for buying a bottle of wine.

“She called from an unknown place and said she’s been kept in detention,” Reza Saberi said. “She said that she had bought a bottle of wine and the person that sold it had reported it and then they came and arrested her.” Buying or selling alcohol is a crime in the Islamic republic.

Ms Saberi said that she had already been held for ten days and called back moments later to warn her family not to raise any alarm because she was to be released in two more days.

Neither her family in the US nor her friends in Tehran have heard from her since. Friends told Mr Saberi that arrest for buying alcohol would not result in such prolonged detention, leading him to suspect that it was used as a pretext to detain her.

Ahmedawhackjob and company are terminally paranoid about Americans of Iranian heritage "infiltrating" the country for purposes of overthrowing the government, so it looks like this is the direction this is headed in.

A female Canadian photo journalist of Iranian heritage, Zahra Kazemi, was killed in custody of the Iranians back in '03, a victim of "severe head injuries". Surprisingly, no one was ever charged with her death.

I’m really pissed off.

Let me start by admitting that I’ve got some Italian blood in me, but I’m pissed off as an American, not as an American of Italian descent.

How can The ONE justify sending the Italian people $50,000 in relief aid after they just suffered one of their greatest tragedies of the last several hundred years? Better yet, how can He (I'm being facetious by granting him deity status, by the way) offer up this pittance in the wake of his pledge of $900,000,000 to the Palestinian Authority?? Saying that this is a slap in the face of the Italian people would be like saying that there’s some water behind the Hoover Dam.

When I’m disgusted with a waiter’s service to my family during a night out I might tip him a quarter. I don’t want him to think that I just forgot to tip, I want him to KNOW, deep in his heart, that I have a really crappy opinion of him and everything about him.

Is this how The ONE sees the Italian people and government? On the heels of his show of disdain towards our brothers and sisters the Brits it’s not hard to pick up a trend.

More to the other point, how much of the $900,000,000 given to the Palestinians will be spent recruiting suicide bombers destined to wipe out kindergartens and old folks’ homes?

I’ll bet you $49,999 that it’ll be more than $50K.

Real men don’t tweet.

If you’re a guy who uses Twitter you need to turn in your nad sac post haste. How can a guy tell another guy that he’s “tweeting” every time he hits his blackberry? Besides that, who has so much damned hubris that they think that their life is important enough to keep everyone abreast of their happenings every couple of minutes?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to update my Myspace page. I’m changing my mood from “angry” to “really pissed”.

Back to my Italian heritage for a second – is it wrong that I claim to be Irish whenever Nancy Pelosi puts her foot in her mouth?

I’m starting to know how St. Peter felt on Good Friday with that whole “I don’t know this Jesus character” thingie.

From the files of too little too late – isn’t it nice to know that Attorney General Eric Holder thinks that former Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens “did not receive a fair trial” and that U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan thinks that "his trial was like no other instance of mishandling and misconduct that he’s witnessed In nearly 25 years on the bench”?

The Democratic Party and newly elected Senator Mark Begich of the great state of Alaska send their condolences Senator Stevens.

I’m sure that that helps take the sting out…

Please email me with any requests for my wisdom, but never forget to send hate mail and other negativity to ScrewYourselfWith@Chainsaw.com