Nov
17
Mammogram Guidelines Newest Evidence Of Sensitive Liberal Death Panels
November 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Anyone who pays attention to the news has heard about the new mammogram guidelines for women. If you haven’t heard, someone landed on the moon in 1969 and we have a black president. Oh yeah and there are new guidelines for women getting mammograms.
People who said there are not death panels are being proven wrong. Welcome to the world of government lead healthcare rationing. Welcome to the world where our government will be making life and death decisions for you!
This new guideline is nothing short of a backdoor death panel for women. These guidelines are based on utilitarian statistics. No longer does the individual matter. Now it’s all about statistics and saving money.
The problem is that some will fall through the cracks. There is always that one person who is the 1 in1900 who should of gotten the mammogram. Thanks to the new backdoor death panels, the government decides that if you’re that ONE, you don’t have the right to live.
Funny how the pro-woman, sensitive liberals constantly make policies that are anti-woman. This isn’t Obama-care, liberal-care, Pelosi-care. No, this is classic liberal we don’t care.
I’d ask if you’re going to take the red or blue pill, but that decision no longer is up to you. You’d have to ask permission of Reid, Pelosi and Obama first.
Nov
2
Obama Is The Churchill Of Health Care Reform
November 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment
A NY Times article praises Obama’s strategy on the health care bill. Are you kidding me? He had no strategy!
All he gave us were shifting and vague guidelines meant to confuse the public. This article praises him for not dictating to Congress how to do the bill. I’m sorry, but this shouldn’t be praised. By doing this, it allowed Obama to remain vague on what he stood for every time a reporter asked a question. All Obama had to do was duck and dive every question and say that the bill was still in process.
Worst of all, Obama emotionally filibustered us in to apathy! For months and months all we heard from him was health care. He Chinese water tortured us in to apathy. Ok, I shouldn’t say us, because the us that reads this blog does care. Most citizens on the other hand got sick of hearing about it and decided they’d just not care any more.
If vagueness and dithering are a strategy, then I guess Obama is the Churchill of health care.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/health/policy/02health.html
Oct
16
Obama’s Helium Balloon
October 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment
In the beginning of the year, Obama wanted a huge stimulus plan that he said would reduce unemployment and give us two million jobs.
We’re near the end of the year and unemployment has gone from 7% to nearly 10%. Even though Obama promised that the world wouldn’t collapse and crash if this plan was passed.
I’m not above saying the stimulus plan was Obama’s helium balloon. Actually, ok, I’ll say it! The stimulus is Obama’s helium balloon.
The attention craving Obama crafted the details of this thing somewhere in D.C’s backyard. He got the thing built and let it fly off in to the air. Getting the attention of all Americans. We watched with breathless abandom for months, hoping this thing would fix our problems.
Months later, Obama’s stimulus balloon has crashed. Those of us that hoped that it could work are sitting here disallusioned and wondering if it was a hoax.
Funny thing though. Obama isn’t hiding in a box in the garage hoping no one finds him. Instead he’s hiding beneath his latest failed helium balloon called socialized medicine.
I don’t know what it is with attention seekers and failed things, but something definitely needs to change here.
Oct
7
There were a few suspicions about the meeting between Obama administration member David Axelrod and Roger Ailes of Fox News. What is going on with the Conservative news organization Fox News meeting with the Obama administration?
I think I may have found out! Look at the screenshots taken below from the New York Times announcing the meeting, then two headline stories from Fox News about the healthcare bill. Foxnews positively reports that the proposed bill will not increase the deficit.
Is this a sign of some colluding between Fox News and the Obama administration? I report, you think about!
Sep
25
Wisconsin Celebrates Illegal Mexican Immigrant Family
September 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment
I’m going to let this speak on its own. Basically the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs is celebrating a Mexican family who came here illegally and undocumented. Quotes from the article below.
He shared his own journey to Wisconsin, which began with his family fleeing the village of Los Jacintos in 1974 after his father was shot over a family feud. Fearing denial of entrance, Zepeda-Capistran’s father brought the family into the U.S. in installments. Zepeda-Capistran and two younger siblings were brought across by human smugglers known as coyotes. His siblings rode in a car posing as members of a U.S. family, but he hiked with a group of adults across the desert. His first attempt was unsuccessful, and Zepeda-Capistran recalled the difficulty of sitting on the ground with his hands bound behind his back.
The second attempt was successful, and Zepeda-Capistran became a legal U.S. resident in 1980. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of California at Berkley, and his master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin. Today he works with migrant families to determine their eligibility for the state DPI’s migrant education program. He is also a former president of Latinos United for Change and Achievement (LUChA), a Madison-based advocacy group.
Link to article here.
Sep
25
Stolen Radio Active Case Containing Cesium 137 Found In Graveyard
September 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Luckily there was no harm caused by this, but it raises a question about the vulnerability of equipment that contains nuclear material.
A ‘pelican case’ was found by a cemetary in Kansas City, Kansas. This case contained Cesium 137, but wasn’t considered a threat to the environment around it. You can read more about it here.
This really raises some serious concerns with the latest terrorist arrests and potential terrorists attacks that have been stopped. If this can be stolen what else can be taken?
Sep
24
Military Testing GPS Guided Mortar Rounds
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
GPS isn’t just for long range missiles and laser guided bombs anymore. Our military is working on a GPS guided system for launching of mortar rounds. Check out the story link below.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4289416&c=AME&s=LAN
Sep
24
New Defense Plan Taken To Congress
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2009 - President Barack Obama’s decision to restructure a previous missile defense plan designed to protect Europe from a possible ballistic missile attack from Iran provides a more effective, flexible system that will take less time to implement, senior Pentagon officials said on Capitol Hill today.
“We are confident that our new approach represents a dramatic improvement over the program of old,” Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy told Senate Armed Services Committee members.
Under the previous plan developed by the Bush administration in 2007, the United States would emplace missile-tracking radar units in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland. The purpose of the system, officials said, is to protect Europe from potential ballistic missile attacks from the Middle East, specifically Iran.
Obama announced a change in plans Sept. 17. Switching to existing ship- and ground-based radars and using the Standard Missile 3 as an interceptor that can be launched from U.S. Navy Aegis-equipped ships or from land, he said, provides “greater defenses against the threat of missile attack than the 2007 European missile defense program.”
By implementing the new plan, “we’ll be able to protect vulnerable parts of Europe and the tens of thousands of U.S. troops stationed there by the end of 2011,” Flournoy said. “And, we’ll be creating a far more flexible and adaptive missile defense system, one that can adapt to provide better protection against emerging threats.”
The previous European missile defense plan couldn’t be put into operation “until at least 2017,” Flournoy said.
New intelligence data, she said, helped to drive the decision to change the program.
“The intelligence community now assesses that the threat from Iran’s short- and medium-range ballistic missiles is developing more rapidly than previously projected,” Flournoy said, “while the threat of potential Iranian intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, has been somewhat slower to develop than previously estimated.”
Therefore, Flournoy said, in the near term “the greatest missile threats from Iran will be to our allies and our partners, and U.S. deployed personnel and their families, in the Middle East and in Europe.” That concern, she said, is all the more urgent because of Iran’s continued uranium-enrichment program.
The new missile-defense system is based on proven Standard Missile 3 interceptors, Flournoy explained, which can be launched from both U.S. Navy Aegis ships and from land.
“This means greater geographic flexibility, greater survivability and greater scalability in response to an evolving threat,” she said. “That’s exactly what we mean by a phased, adaptive approach.”
Meanwhile, Flournoy said, the United States has “sufficient capability” to deter any Iranian long-range missile threat for many years to come.
Obama approved the new European missile-defense program, Flournoy said, upon the unanimous recommendations of Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
In late 2006, Gates recommended to then-President George W. Bush that the United States place radar units in the Czech Republic and 10 ground-based missile interceptors in Poland. But, that was when intelligence officials had gauged Iran’s work on developing longer-range ballistic missiles as being the greater threat.
The new missile-defense plan, Flournoy said, also “greatly increases our ability to work with our European allies and our partners to strengthen extended deterrents and our mutual defenses.”
The United States, Flournoy said, is now consulting with allies Poland and the Czech Republic about their potential roles in the new missile-defense program.
The Russian government, which had been opposed to the previous European missile-defense plan, seems to like the new one better.
“While we certainly welcome Russian interest in the new approach, as well as potential Russian cooperation in sharing data from their radars, this is not about Russia,” Flournoy said of the rationale to change the structure of the European missile defense plan.
“Regardless of Russian reaction, we will continue to do whatever it takes to ensure the security and defense of our European allies,” she said.
Flournoy was accompanied at the Senate hearing by Marine Corps Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Army Lt. Gen. Patrick J. O’Reilly, director of the Defense Department’s Missile Defense Agency.
Providing an effective overseas-based anti-ballistic-missile deterrent is a necessary requirement, Cartwright said, that’s “emerging as the greatest need that we have today, that we face out there against these short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.”
O’Reilly attested to the capabilities of the SM-3 interceptor missile that plays such an important role in the new program.
The SM-3 interceptor “is a very capable weapon due to its high acceleration, burn velocity and its proven track record,” O’Reilly said. Using the SM-3, he said, also provides an “ability to rapidly increase to over 80 interceptors at any one launch site.”
Sep
23
Terror Concerns: Water Treatment & Lithium Batteries
September 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment
I think it’s time citizens and our government start thinking outside the box once again when thinking of potential terrorist attacks. Before 2001, very few would of thought airplanes would be used to kill almost 3000 people. If we’re not careful, lack of thinking outside the box could prove tragic.
I was scanning some headlines today and a few stories stuck out to me as possible means of terror. One involved lithium batteries, the other involved water treatment.
Many cellphones now run on lithium batteries. We know passengers bring their cellphones on airplanes, trains, buses and other forms of mass transit. According to this article, lithium batteries can overheat easily and can explode when in contact with certain metals or even water.
Sounds like an easy and ready to use explosive device if put in the wrong hands. Does this mean we should create a new war against Ipods and cellphones that use these batteries? Of course not. You’d have to take my Ipod out of my cold dead hand!
We should keep aware of this potential risk though. Let’s find some wise solutions so this potentially easy explosive isn’t used to harm us.
Another area of concern is in our public water treatment facilities. In this article it talks about a water treatment plant operator in Glouchester who wasn’t properly licensed. That’s right, someone had access to the public water treatment plant, who wasn’t even licensed and could cause harm to thousands or maybe even millions!
If someone can so easily gain access to our public water treatment, what does it say for the potential of a terrorist to gain access? Water treatment plants reach thousands and even millions of citizens. We may be concerned about some covert terrorist sneaking in at night and putting something in the water, but what about a terrorist being hired at a treatment plant? They wouldn’t need to sneak around then. They could pretty much do what they want!
I could sit here all day and think up odd scenarios where terrorists could game our system and inflict harm. Frankly I’d love to be paid for such a job! This isn’t about being overly alarmist and living in fear, but it is about thinking outside the box and being wise so our nation is protected.
Sep
22
EPA Video Contest On Preventing Lead Poisoning Awards $2500
September 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment
It must be video contest-palooza time in the Obama administration. Earlier today I told about the department of education video contest. Now the EPA is having a video contest too!
People are to make a video showing simple steps they can take to avoid lead poisoning. I have one recommendation. Buy USA made toys!
Here’s how the EPA site describes the awards.
- The first and second place winners must provide a copy of the original video files and release forms to EPA to receive the $2,500 first place award and $1,500 second place award. You will be contacted if you are the winner.
- The third place winner must provide a copy of the original video file and release form to HUD to receive the $1,000 third place award. You will be contacted if you are the winner.
This sounds like easy money! Will I do it? Pfft no way. Anyways here is the EPA video and links to the contest so you can check it out on your own.
Sep
22
The Gust Is Just A Breeze
September 22, 2009 | 1 Comment
John 16:33
In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Headwinds purge your forward face
A mighty gust, you feel out of place
Your heart is troubled
Your steps do slip
On God’s radar this gust is a blip
You feel so lost
So troubled now
Your troubles to God will indeed bow
Take heart child of God
Your gust is a breeze
Your heart in God’s hand is set at ease.
Sep
22
CDC NIOSH Promotes Non-assimilated Mexican Subculture In Horse Racing Industry
September 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment
This post is a continuation of my series on the promotion of a non-assimilated, shadow Mexican subculture in The USA. You can follow this series by click the link to the right.
The CDC along with the NIOSH has given safety and health guidelines for those in the horse racing industry. Apparently those in the horse racing industry can’t speak English, so the CDC and NIOSH has created a Spanish only website. Furthering the promotion of a non-assimilated Mexican Subculture in The USA. Links to the articles are below.
Sep
22
Military Pullout 101
September 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Our military is slowly pulling out from Iraq. I found the below article informative on how some of the pullout happens.
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 22, 2009 – American forces are cleaning out a “very, very big garage” in its drawdown in Iraq, the deputy commander of Multinational Corps Iraq said today.
Air Force Maj. Gen. James P. Hunt, during a videoconference from Baghdad with Pentagon reporters, said moving equipment out of Iraq is like a giant assessment and cleaning.
There are 125,000 American servicemembers in Iraq, down from a peak of roughly 180,000. That number is to remain constant through the Iraqi elections in January. After that, the number of U.S. troops is to drop to 50,000 by August 2010, with all American forces out of the country by the end of 2011.
But the drawdown of U.S. forces already has begun with equipment, Hunt said. “We’re going to do it just like you do back home when you have to empty out your garage,” he said.
The command already has closed more than 200 bases and facilities and processed almost 50,000 pieces of equipment.
When cleaning the garage, people take the cars out and put everything on the driveway just to see what they have, Hunt said. “And that’s what we’re doing here,” he said. “We essentially have done an inventory, and we have been amazed at how much stuff has gathered in six years.”
The units are looking at what things they have and deciding what they will need through the end of 2011. “They’re packing it up, and they’re shipping it out. And we are doing that on a daily basis,” he said. “Essentially every base in Iraq is going through their garage and cleaning out what they’ve got so that they only have the mission- essential things left.”
As the last troops withdraw from the country, the mission-essential materials will leave with them. “So this is a major science-of-war operation,” he said. “It’s a very, very big garage.”
Another sign of the withdrawal was the Sept. 17 closure of the Camp Bucca internment center in southern Iraq, Hunt said.
“As part of that closure and in accordance with our security agreement, we have released almost 6,000 detainees and transferred just under 1,400 detainees to Iraq since January 2009,” he said. “We have worked closely with the government of Iraq to ensure these releases and transfers were done in a safe and orderly manner.”
Sep
22
Obama’s Education Contest Discriminates Against Poor Or Disadvantaged
September 22, 2009 | 1 Comment
The Department of Education is launching a campaign called “I Am What I Learn”, which will award three students $1000 for submitting the best Youtube video about why getting an education is important.
Obama and Democrats consistently say they’re for the poor and disadvantaged. How will poor and disadvantaged kids be able to submit a video to this contest and win $1000 if they don’t have a computer or video equipment? This doesn’t seem like a very inclusive contest considering the party in power strives to include all economic classes.
I’m guessing students who can afford to own a computer with internet access and video equipment don’t need $1000. On the other hand, that money could come in handy for students who may not own a computer with video equipment.
Hey, I know this seems like a nitpicky issue here, but for as much as the DNC claims to be for the poor, this seems like a really big oversight on their part.
Sep
22
Credit Card Transactions May Not Be Secure Or Encrypted
September 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment
I was pretty surprised when I read an article at ComputerWorld.com. Did you know there are no industry requirements for encrypting your credit card transactions between retailers, payment processors and card issuers? This is so bad that tens of millions of credit card information was exposed to hackers earlier this year.
You may be wondering why this story belongs on a Freedom Values Rights website. We know terrorists are looking for any way possible to bring down our economic system. Terrorists need funding for their activities. Many terrorists are savy enough to tunnel money across borders to fund their training camps.
This issue isn’t just about protecting your financial security, it’s about securing the freedom of our nation. No citizen wants to be the unwilling participant in funding terror. Yet with weak industry guidelines on encryption, millions of credit card numbers may be accessible to ‘the evil doer’ terrorists. Read the Computer World article here.
Sep
21
Seriously Injured Paratrooper Returns To Combat
September 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment
By Sgt. Stephen Decatur
Special to American Forces Press Service
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Sept. 21, 2009 – Sometimes, you just gotta laugh – even in combat. That’s the attitude of Army Sgt. Simon Baum, and one of the things his fellow infantrymen like most about him.
Two years after being severely injured by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, Baum jokes that he has returned to avenge the IED attack – for his injuries and the death of his iPod. “I was really pissed my iPod was broken!” he said.
Although Baum, a sergeant and team leader with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, jokes about the injuries he suffered in Afghanistan, it would take two years, five surgeries and a possible medical discharge before he returned to the job he loves.
Baum, of Saginaw, Mich., was driving a Humvee in a convoy in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika province on June 5, 2007, when he was seriously injured by a roadside bomb – but never lost his sense of humor.
The two dozen vehicles of the 82nd Airborne Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 4th Squadron, Troop C were escorting a group of engineers past barren, rolling hills when suddenly, there was a violent explosion.
“We were listening to Led Zeppelin inside the truck, I will never forget that,” Baum said. “I heard ‘Good Times, Bad Times,’ and that’s the last thing I remember.”
The impact was at the front of the vehicle, and Baum took the brunt of it. When Baum came to, he saw the truck’s windshield was gone. He looked down to make sure he still had all his limbs and saw the four-foot deep blast crater directly below him. Covered in soot and bleeding from shrapnel cuts, he fell as he tried to get out of the vehicle. Then he felt blood on his face and realized he was in pain.
Spc. Ryan Greenwood, the gunner in Baum’s vehicle who also was injured, and a medic dragged Baum away from the Humvee. Baum’s right wrist was severely broken, his right fibula was fractured, he had torn cartilage in his right knee and numerous small cuts from shrapnel. He would later be diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury.
Even as Baum drifted in and out of consciousness, he managed to make his combat buddies laugh, telling his platoon sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin Weber who also was in the Humvee, he was sorry he hit an IED; that he didn’t hit it on purpose.
“There was a lot of laughing,” Baum said, “Man, that was crazy. I can’t believe that happened.”
“You can’t do much about it but laugh,” said 1st Sgt. Matthew Parrish, Baum’s first sergeant. “You have to have a sense of humor … because you’re alive.”
Four days later, Baum was strapped to a litter in plane taking off for Germany for treatment. No sooner did the aircraft ease into a cruise than Baum saw a bright flash through one of the windows, and the pilot commenced a series of gut-churning evasive maneuvers. As if it wasn’t enough that they blew him up, the Taliban were trying to shoot him out of the sky.
After multiple surgies and therapy, Baum was transferred in December 2007 from 4th Brigade to Fort Bragg’s Warrior Transition Battalion. When C Troop’s paratroopers returned from their 15-month deployment in the spring of 2008, Baum was waiting for them as they got off the plane. He later went to the promotion board and became a noncommissioned officer.
But all was not well at the transition battalion. Baum missed being on regular duty.
“I view that time as if I were out of the military. I didn’t feel like I was in.” he said.
Baum wasn’t happy to be back in the rear. He spent most of his time recuperating from a series of wrist surgeries, and his mind was always with his fellow paratroopers, he said.
“My unit was deployed and I wasn’t doing a lot.” he said. “I had an overwhelming sense of being worthless. Here I am home, and my buddies are still fighting.”
After visiting a friend in the amputee ward at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Baum said he was humbled. His life was not so bad.
When Parrish heard that Baum was leaving the transition battalion in April 2009, he started making phone calls to get him back in his unit.
“I thought he was a solid soldier, and saw good things in him,” Parrish said. “He cares about soldiers. To me, there’s nothing more important than that in an NCO.”
And the soldiers missed him. “He never let anything get to him,” Staff Sgt. Aaron Best said. “Whenever I’d be in a bad mood, he’d make a joke and get me smiling again.”
Baum’s favorite part about being an NCO is passing his knowledge and experience down to younger troopers, he said.
“I was excited to come here and be a team leader,” Baum said. “I’ve got a great group of guys.”
For all his good humor, Baum is serious when it comes to taking care of his paratroopers, and his experience has shown him how serious his job can be.
“I’ve been through this before,” Baum said. “I understand the real danger of what I’m doing.”
The 30-year old combat veteran celebrated for his sense of humor became even more celebrated when, two days before leaving for his current deployment in Afghanistan, he and his wife Rebecca found out that they would be having their first child — and their second and third.
The next time Baum returns from Afghanistan, he will not only be a leader of soldiers, but also a father of three. He approaches the enormous task of raising triplets with characteristic calm.
“I still don’t think I’ve let that sink in,” he said.
Sep
21
EPA Blog Promotes Non-Assimilated Mexican Subculture
September 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment
In a hard hitting blog entry last week, I showed how Obama’s administration throught WhiteHouse.gov appears to be promoting a shadow, non-assimilated Mexican subculture in The USA. I’m determined to keep track of these attempts. I’ll post a link on the right side of this blog so you can keep track easily too.
The EPA blog just published a Spanish only entry in their blog, with no English translation. Why are they doing this? In a way it’s possible for our government to be communicating without the eyes of the populace holding them to account!
Here’s the EPA blog entry.
http://blog.epa.gov/blog/2009/09/21/pdls-
prevencion-de-contaminacion/
Sep
21
Border Patrol Catches 8 Trying To Enter Illegally
September 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment
I’m so glad to see stories like this under our more liberal administration. I keep an eye on these stories and the rate of them has gone down since January of 2009. Anyways, it’s good to see some of this going on. Story below.
Nogales, Ariz. – Customs and Border Protection officers working at the Nogales ports of entry demonstrate their skills as they continue to apprehend people attempting to entry the United States illegally. Eight people were caught as they attempted to deceive CBP officers by presenting documents that do not correspond to them.
In the past couple of days, Customs and Border Protection officers were challenged as they encountered men and women ranging in age from 18 to 44 attempting to enter the U.S. illegally. The violators attempted to make entry through the primary vehicle lanes and pedestrian lanes at DeConcini port of entry and Morley pedestrian crossing.
The violators were traveling to various destinations throughout the U.S.
All eight apprehended were processed as immigration violators and either returned to Mexico after being barred from entering the United States or are being held in custody for possible prosecution on identity theft charges.
Sep
20
Obama Say To Refocus On Al-Qaeda In Afghanistan
September 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2009 – The fight in Afghanistan must be narrowed to its original intent of stamping out al-Qaeda and hunting down Osama bin Laden, President Barack Obama said today.“We’re there because al-Qaeda killed 3,000 Americans and we cannot allow extremists who want to do violence to the United States to be able to operate with impunity,” Obama said this morning on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
The president appeared on a handful of news talk shows this morning, all taped in the White House on Sept. 18. He answered a broad range of questions on topics ranging from health care to the economy and to the war in Afghanistan.
The president acknowledged what he called “mission creep” in Afghanistan where the United States is tied up in missions there that are not directly tied to defeating al-Qaeda. He said there is a better chance of finding and killing bin Laden if the mission is refocused and the overarching strategy is bent on defeating al-Qaeda.
Any request for more troops will be weighed against this strategy, he said.
“There’s a natural inclination to say if ‘I get more then I can do more.’ But right now the first question is ‘Are we doing the right thing? Are we pursuing the right strategy,” Obama said in an interview with CNN’s State of the Union.
Obama recently received an on-the-ground assessment by newly appointed U.S. Forces Commander Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal that has remained classified. There are reports that the general may ask for more troops, but Obama said he has not received such a request.
Before he commits any additional troops, Obama said he wants a new strategy in place. This will come as the administration weighs in the outcome of the Afghanistan election review, as well as a resource request expected from McChrystal in the next few weeks.
“If by sending young men and women into harm’s way we are defeating al-Qaeda, and that can be shown to a skeptical audience, namely me … then we do what is required to keep the American people safe,” the president said on ABC. “You don’t make decisions about resources before you have the strategy right.”
Obama was questioned by a couple of the reporters about a possible timeline in the new strategy. The president said that the new strategy would need clear benchmarks of success.
On CBS’ Face the Nation, Obama said that rebuilding the government in Afghanistan, and working with the government of Pakistan, are both critical elements of securing Afghanistan, but at the core of the strategy should be efforts to “dismantle, defeat and destroy al-Qaeda.”
“The only reason I send a single young man or woman in uniform anywhere in the world is because I think it’s necessary to keep us safe,” he said. “Whatever decisions I make are going to be based first on a strategy to keep us safe, and then we’ll figure out how to resource it. We’re not going to put the cart before the horse and just think that by sending more troops we’re automatically going to make Americans safe.”
Obama called the war in Afghanistan “complicated terrain,” and he said any strategy would be reviewed every six months to ensure it was on the right track.
On NBC’s Meet the Press, the president said he did not have a deadline for withdrawal from Afghanistan, but that he did not believe in an indefinite military presence in the country.
Obama said that any continued military efforts in Afghanistan should align with the overall national security interests of the United States.
“How does this advance America’s national security interests? How does it make sure that al-Qaeda and its extremist allies cannot attack the United States homeland, our allies, our troops who are based in Europe? That’s the question that I am constantly asking because that’s the primary threat that we went there to deal with,” he said.
If supporting the Afghan national government and helping build capacity for their army advances that strategy, then the United States will move forward, Obama said.
“But if it doesn’t, then I’m not interested in just being in Afghanistan for the sake of being in Afghanistan or saving face or, in some way … sending a message that America is here for the duration. I think it’s important that we match strategy to resources,” Obama said.
Sep
19
Join Us On Facebook
September 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment
FVR is on facebook. Add us for timely stories and updates.
http://www.facebook.com/freedomvaluesrights
Sep
19
Pfc. Jeremiah J. Monroe Dies Protecting Freedom In Afghanistan
September 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Pfc. Jeremiah J. Monroe, 31, of Niskayuna, N.Y., died Sept. 17 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 7th Engineer Battalion, 10th Sustainment Brigade, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.
Sep
19
FVR Considered Racist For Post About Illegal Alien Subculture
September 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Recently I posted about how the Obama administration appears to be promoting a shadow subculture of Mexican illegal immigrants. One of the readers of this site played the race card. Below is their response. It’s rather long, but shows the narrow minded nature of those who don’t want to protect our freedoms.
I think our friend forgot the distinction between what my original post said and what he’s trying to get across. He points out that America is a melting pot. The problem is that many don’t want to melt in our pot. And Obama is giving them their own pot to live in. To me that’s wrong!
This isn’t about racism, xenophobia or the like. This is about encouraging people to enter the melting pot legally and having them actually melt in with the culture. Only weak, uneducated minds incapable of reasoning their point resort to playing the race card.
I can understand why a person (albiet a timid and uneducated one) would be annoyed or upset by this Mexican “shadow subculture” in America. Our current economic status being what it is, it’s infuriating if you’re living in the middle and lower class strata to see illegals taking American jobs and watching Americans slip into and below the poverty level.
An abysmal picture of an illegal getting one over on the American people, and ultimatly exploiting our country with countless barbarian style raids is not too hard to paint.
Though, I should say, in defense of the latino and chicano community, that this only represents a small number of Mexicans. Not everybody who is brown skinned and speaks Spanish is a Mexican. Even still, not all Spanish (or in this case, Mexicans) are illegals, or break the law or have some sort of alterior motive.
History will show that the Spanish themselves were brutal mercenaries (Conquistador) in search of slaves, land and riches without care for the indigenous peoples of South America that they killed and enslaved in the name of their religion. They were and are - caucasian - or to be blunt, white.
Does it mean that whites are evil? NO. Or at least, no more evil than latinos. People. Humans. Are the ones who play their own devils, and it doesn’t matter the color of skin or language. Sometimes conspiracy breeds where there is simply an unknown value. Meaning if we see something and don’t understand it, it must be wrong, or evil. It is this alien quality that makes it easy to pass off our current woes to a larger group of people in a faceless manner.
That in itself is racism. The reason why this is so dangerous is because, as history will show, when we don’t or simply can’t (for whatever reason) see each other as people, we set ourselves up to be that devil we fear so much. All of the outward reflections of others that we feel so strongly about, we then embody. Our minds are the greatest weapons, but we must always question the reason why we feel the way we do. Question. Use your eyes. Analyse. Formulate your own opinions.
For me, when it comes to the past I can see my family in the same light and as vividly as many of you who have passed such quick and harsh judgements. As an American of Irish, German and Cherokee stock, I can tell you that my family was heavily discriminated against. Those racial groups were all seen as being on the fringe of accepted American society. Ultimately it was decided that they needed to be converted to be better Americans, before society was upended and all manner of hell was unleashed.
Where was the proof?
Aside from the obvious benefit of a common language, there is nothing to gain in subverting any culture for the “greater good”. In fact, there is nothing but a loss of history and culture. Even in the most pragmatic sense, one must admit that history which is not remembered yields the same mistakes. Or, simply. “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.,” (George Santayana).
We Americans are afforded something that very few countries have ever had a chance to achieve. This idea of a melting pot, where each race, every story and history that goes with it, is all valid. To be an American is to celebrate diversity, instead of attempt to subvert culture for the purpose of raising another. Be proud of your difference, and keep that alive. This is something to be encouraged, it has no bearing whatsoever on what is legal and what is against the law.
Mexican illegals are bad for America not because they’re Mexicans, but because they’re illegals. Which stresses the entire American system, including legal Mexican immigrants, Mexican Americans and the countless other Mexican hyphonations that live in this country. All of which are just as American as the next.
Racism is an easy trap to fall into, and it doesn’t make someone inherently evil. It makes us all inherently human. We have to consider the wider spectrum instead of the blunt and short answer. Life cannot be simply summed up in a brief answer of “good” or “bad”. It’s not black and white, it’s all a colorful spectrum in shades of grey.
What is simply mindless entertainment for one person, is a racist film to another person. Damn you, Quentin Tarantino! “Inglorious Basterds” is an anti-German film. Is it “cool” to bash whites? You bet. It’s absolutely Hollywood elite to do that, especially when you wrap an event like WWII into an anti-nazi diatribe. Who likes the Holocaust? This notion plays into something known as “reverse racism”. Which has gained prominence, largely because White corporate America is seen as the driving force behind our worst offenses. Everything from the Trail of Tears to Hiroshima is all the White Man’s Burden. As if somehow our process for critical thinking has devolved to the point that we don’t truly remember our history. We remember events.
We’re all capable of racism (forget the “reverse” part). It’s only when it becomes a springboard for something wholly more nefarious that it becomes as evil and dastardly as it is made out to be. When it somehow becomes socially accepted as truth.
Something like the German Problem, or the Irish Problem, or the Indian Problem, or the “Non-assimilated Mexican Shadow Subculture”. The thought itself isn’t immoral or indecent. It’s just wrong. You’re wrong on this, but I’m sure you had the best intentions in mind.
See. That’s another luxury of being Americans. We can disagree in a civil manner.
Sep
19
Medal of Honor Recipient Memorialized in Hall of Heroes
September 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2009 – The father of Army Sgt. 1st Class Jared C. Monti, who posthumously received the Medal of Honor, remembered his son today as a person defined by selflessness.
Monti, then a staff sergeant, was killed June 21, 2006, after making several attempts to rescue a fellow soldier wounded while battling Taliban insurgents in Gowardesh, Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan.
“I think Jared received more in his life than anybody I can think of. But he never got anything for himself, because no matter what we sent him, he gave it away,” Paul Monti said, referring to the care packages his son received in Afghanistan, the contents of which he routinely doled out to Afghan kids.
“In the end,” the soldier’s father continued, “he gave his life for someone else.”
Monti risked his life on a rocky ridge in Afghanistan, where his 16-man patrol found itself under attack by 50 Taliban insurgents. He quickly called in artillery support when he noticed that one of his soldiers was wounded and in danger. He twice braved massive enemy rifle and rocket fire in attempts to reach his wounded comrade lying on the ground some 20 yards away.
Forced to turn back both times and taking shelter behind a rock, Monti contemplated his next move. He decided to give it another try, but he was killed in that final attempt.
Those fateful decisions earned him a posthumous promotion to sergeant first class and the Medal of Honor that President Barack Obama presented to the heroic soldier’s family at a White House ceremony yesterday.
“Faced with overwhelming enemy fire, Jared could have stayed where he was behind that rock,” Obama said during the ceremony. But, he said, “that was not the kind of soldier Jared Monti was.”
Friends, family and fellow soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division’s 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Drum, N.Y., were on hand today as Defense Department and military leaders once again honored Monti and added his name to the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes.
Army Secretary Pete Geren recounted tales about Monti’s childhood in Raynham, Mass., where the he is remembered for the selflessness and humility he displayed even as a young man.
“From his earliest days, Jared had a heart for the needy and less fortunate,” Geren said. “At age 17, he learned of a family in Raynham who didn’t have a Christmas tree. So he chopped one of the trees down in his own front yard and gave it to that family.”
Later, as a soldier in Afghanistan, he distributed the gifts he received from back home to the Afghan children he met. This show of generosity earned him popularity among the Afghan youth. “The Afghan kids knew Jared by name,” Geren said. “‘Mr. Monti’ they called him – and they would rush up to him whenever came by.”
Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III said that in losing Jared, the Monti family had endured a loss few will ever know.
“Sergeant 1st Class Jared C. Monti: we salute him, we honor him, and we will always remember him,” he said.
Monti’s name will appear alongside the 3,447 other troops to receive the Medal of Honor of since Congress established the highest military decoration in 1862.
Sep
18
Border Protection Socks It To Counterfeit Socks
September 18, 2009 | 1 Comment
So instead of guarding our borders against illegal aliens, the border protection is out looking for counterfeit socks. Guess what! They nabbed some. I’d rather illegal aliens be nabbed.
Savannah, Ga. — For the second time this month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the port of Savannah has seized a counterfeit sock shipment.
The most recent interception occurred on September 11, when 840 cartons of socks with counterfeit “Cotton” logos were seized. CBP officers discovered this latest shipment of fake merchandise in a container that had been selected for examination. A total of 201,840 pairs were seized. The shipment had a total domestic value of $44,609 and a manufacturers suggested retail price of $672,800.
A previous shipment seized on September 2 had a total domestic value of $4,203 and a manufacturers suggested retail price of $165,998.
“Our CBP officers remain focused on stopping fraudulent goods before they reach the American consumer,” said John Porter, area port director in Savannah. “These two seizures highlight the seriousness in which CBP places on interdicting counterfeit merchandise.”
CBP protects businesses and consumers every day by combating the trade in counterfeit and pirated goods through an aggressive Intellectual Property Rights enforcement program. CBP devotes considerable resources and personnel to conducting a multi-layered effort that seizes fake goods at borders, pushing the border outward through audits of infringing importers and cooperation with international trading partners, industry and other government agencies to enhance these efforts.
Sep
18
Non-assimilated Mexican Shadow Subculture Promoted By Obama Administration
September 18, 2009 | 3 Comments
Just lately the WhiteHouse.gov site has been making posts in Spanish. I hadn’t thought much of it, but today I saw the administration take it a step further. I’m now convinced Obama is promoting a non-assimilated, shadow, Mexican subculture in America. www.FreedomValuesRights.com is going to show you why.
To promote public service, the Obama administration has launched a government website in Spanish, just for the purposes of promoting public service amongst those in America who can’t speak English. To me this seems like Obama is almost encouraging people to not assimilate in to our culture.
Instead of having one website where everyone can go, another one is created for a major group of “citizens” who apparently can’t read the very language our founding documents were printed on! What’s the purpose of such a site?
I’m now convinced Obama is helping to build a shadow subculture of Mexicans in America who will not have to assimilate. By allowing them to retain their culture, he can build a monopoly of political influence and favor in that community. With weak border policies, more people can integrate in to this shadow subculture and increase the voter base for Obama.
So keep an eye on Obama and this administration as they do everything to build this shadow culture where they can have a monopoly and weild uncontrolled political influence.
This new government website is www.Servir.gov . Here are a couple of the WhiteHouse.gov posts in Spanish, post 1, post 2.
