Alito

"Cannons to the left of me, cannons to the right..." He will make an excellent SCOTUS because he is ticking off both sides by sticking to the law!

Thank you Iowa Presidential Watch

Valour-IT Update

It's been a mere two days of the competition between Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, and they have already raised $12,904.99! That is already more than half-way to the goal of $21,000. Put the word out so that Valour-IT will get double their money! If you haven't donated already and you want to help our hero soldiers, see these wonderful people:

Army: Blackfive at well, Blackfive!
Navy: Mrs. Smash at Indepundit
Air Force: Mrs. Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette
Marines: Holly Aho at Soldiers' Angels-Holly Aho

Limerick Fun

Here is a limerick from Larry at MacStansbury.org. It's a great one and since my brain isn't coming up with anything original of my own, I thought I would bring you a bit of it. For the whole limerick, well, you'll have to go see MacStansbury!

A once diplomat named Wilson was sent,
To find out where the yellow-cake went;
Now he’s trying to blame,
The outing of Plame;
On advisors to the President.

But examine the facts of the case,
In Vanity Fair she showed her face,
No covert spy,
Would pose with her guy;
With photos all over the place...

Why Am I Surprised?

I have always felt that it is our duty as parents to teach our children the more sensitive subjects in life, such as sex education, religion, relationships, etc. That we should not allow outside influences to dictate when these topics would be taught or to take the initiative in teaching them. Now I realize that there are plenty of parents who do not feel this way, and there are even some that are relieved not to have to deal with the topics, but that still does not give the 9th Circuit Court of California the right to okay the teaching of sex education to elementary school age children! What brought this commentary about was this article from the AP.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Do parents have the right to tell their kids about the birds and the bees?

A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that students could learn about sex from their teachers and that a California elementary school did not break any laws when it asked students about their sexual thoughts.

The three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling against the parents. Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt said "no such specific right can be found in the deep roots of the nation's history and tradition or implied in the concept of ordered liberty."

Now, does anyone else see something really wrong with their thinking? "No such right can be found in the deep roots of the nation's history and tradition or implied in the concept of ordered liberty." Excuse me? What about a parent's right and duty to protect their child? How about the fact that a minor cannot marry without a parent's written permission, cannot enter the armed forces without written permission, among many other things. This idiotic court thinks that it is okay for an elementary school to give or ask for sexual information from a child when they are not mentally or emotionally equipped to handle it! Am I over-reacting here or should the 9th "Circus" Court gain some decency?

I had/have similar, though less intense, feelings regarding the "Girls, Inc." link to American Girl. My daughters had American Girl dolls, but if they had that bracelet then, I would never have bought them. Girls, Inc. has no more right to teach my daughters about "their sexual rights" than the schools do!

UPDATE: Bookworm has done an amazing job of getting all the details of this hideous ruling by the 9th Circuit Court. Her post is a must read!

In Remembrance

Here is a post from Thunder6 on the front lines. The loss of our soldiers is sad to all of us and devastating to their families, but it is also a terrible loss to their "brothers in arms".

"I apologize for this bulk email, I hate to rely on such an impersonal form of contact. I'm making an exception in this case because recent events have kept me far too busy for my own good. Last week my company commander’s vehicle was destroyed by an IED killing CPT Mackinnon and injuring the two brave soldiers serving as driver and gunner. I can say without any shame that I loved CPT Michael Mackinnon, he was a superb officer, a loving husband, and a concerned father and my friend. His loss was a terrible blow to A Company..."

I read that post at Atlas Shrugs and followed her link to the more in-depth post from Thunder6's site 365 and a Wakeup. He was there, witnessed, and felt the losses in his soul.

"In the face of so stunning a loss it is natural for the soul to grow weary, and for the mind to wail for that which has been so violently ripped away. It would be the easiest of things to let my heart turn as cold as death and let it pump my veins with frigid and poisonous ice. But that would dishonor the memory of our fallen, and would be an unfitting tribute to men who had given the last full measure of devotion. Instead I will do something far more difficult; I will continue onward and complete our unfinished work. There will come a day when I will weep bitter tears for my fallen comrades and friends, but right now there is much to be done. And it is up to those of us who knew these wonderful men to see it through to the end."

Please say a prayer for our soldiers and their families. Pray that they are able to finish their mission so that they may come home to their loved ones.

SPC Tim Watkins

Previously I put out a call to California residents who would help keep the Watkins family buffered from the idiot Fred Phelps who had planned to attend Tim's funeral. I do not know how that went, but I wanted to share a little something about Tim that Soldier's Mom received from her son Noah.

Tim's favorite movie was "Blackhawk Down" and he and Noah watched it together every chance they got... because Noah wants to be a Ranger and Tim wanted to fly helicopters.... Tim looked forward to meeting Noah's Dad who had flown helicopters in Vietnam.
Tim had gotten everyone into the nutty medical comedy "Scrubs"... He had picked up the first season on DVD at the PX (when they still had access to one) and he was hooked and insisted that everyone watch the episodes... then they were all hooked. "He had a great laugh, Ma. We loved to listen to Tim laugh....

Please read all that Soldier's Mom and her son, Noah, had to say about his friend and know that this soldier was an honorable, upstanding young man and deserves our respect and our prayers for his family.
UPDATE: Some Soldier's Mom let me know that the Phelps whelp did not show up at the funeral. She said they didn't know why, but they didn't care!

Valour-IT

FbL at Fuzzilicious Thinking has been talking about Valour-IT for a while now. She is trying to get the word out for donations for a really important program for the soldiers. This is a program that brings voice-activated computers to the troops recovery from hand and arm injuries. It allows them to do normal activities despite their temporary or permanent disabilities. I cannot say how important it is to feel normal when the rest of your life is so far from normal! Here is some of FbL's post, but please go and read the rest it really is important.

...But we can't do that for another soldier. Valour-IT is out of money. The coffers are empty.

What then do we tell that soldier lying in bed trying to come to grips with the tremendous psychological and physical challenges he faces? Do we tell him, "Sorry, we just don’t have the money? We’ll try to raise some more money in the spring, when people don’t have donor fatigue? In the meantime, just lay there for a few more months, feeling like you have no control over your life, dependent in every single way and cut off from most everyone except people who walk into your hospital room or are willing to hold a phone to your ear so you can communicate with those you care about?"

I don’t know about you, but that thought nearly breaks my heart. As I sit typing this, there are wounded soldiers who could benefit so much from a Valour-IT laptop. But we can’t do anything about that until we get some more donations...

The Valour-IT program was founded by Soldiers' Angels and more information can be found there.

I understand having "donor fatigue". My family's going through a rough financial stretch ourselves, but anything will help. I gave what I could and I am posting this hoping to help get the word out. Let's give back to the soldiers who have given so much.

UPDATE: FbL just informed me that tomorrow is the team kick off fundraiser. You can join the different teams to see who can raise the most money. The team leaders are Greyhawk from Mudville Gazette-Air Force, Black Five-Army, and Soldiers' Angels-Holly Aho for the Marines. A team leader for Navy is still needed! So follow the link to your favorite military branch and donate!!

UPDATE 2: TTLB has a post about this worthy cause as well. Go, join a team, donate!

Pulling a Fast One

Harry Reid (with the help of his crony Dick Durbin) has closed the Senate session. Supposedly it's because they want to go over all intelligence pre-Iraq war and the Libby indictment.

"The purpose of this closed session in the Senate chamber is to finally give the truth to at least the members of the Senate, to finally call to task the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee," said House Minority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois.

The senate was currently going over deficit spending and getting that under control when Reid decided to pull this on the Republicans. There was no warning from him to the other side of the aisle. Reid and Durbin said that they had no choice but to do this closed session because the Republican's had not investigated well enough prior to going into Iraq.

Durbin said Democrats want to discuss launching "phase two" of an investigation into whether President Bush and the administration misused data to justify war in Iraq. He added that the decision to call for a closed session was also prompted by the recent indictment of I. Lewis Libby, the vice president's former chief of staff, on five counts of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements in the investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity.

This is a Joe Wilson ploy (see previous post re: Joe's lies). They think that because Joe Wilson said there wasn't any contact between Iraq and Niger for yellow cake uranium, then Bush lied to the US to get us into a war with Saddam's Iraq. When, in fact, there were inquiries from Saddam's regime into purchasing the uranium, and Wilson actually did report it to the CIA.

Frist is calling this nothing but a ploy by the Democrats. Personally, I'm thinking it's due to the Democrats being ticked-off because Bush didn't give them a Centrist SCOTUS nominee. They are using the Libby indictment as an excuse, along with Joe Wilson's lies, and the media's repetition of those lies. This is just getting ridiculous.

Info from: Fox News

Joe Wilson's Top Ten

The GOP, back in July, had a list of the top ten misstatements by Joe Wilson. You know, all the things that he's still saying now and getting half of America to believe through the left-tilted MSM.

1.) Wilson Insisted That The Vice President’s Office Sent Him To Niger: (Nope. It was the CIA)

2.) Wilson Claimed The Vice President And Other Senior White House Officials Were Briefed On His Niger Report: (Nope. CIA didn't brief either Cheney or Bush.)

3.) Wilson Has Claimed His Niger Report Was Conclusive And Significant: (Nope. CIA said that the information was not conclusive.)

4.) Wilson Denied His Wife Suggested He Travel To Niger In 2002: (Nope. He said it was CIA, but testimony and documentation show it was his wife.)

5.) Wilson Has Claimed His 1999 Trip To Niger Was Not Suggested By His Wife: (Nope. She did recommend him to the CIA due to the previous trip she had recommended him to take on their behalf.)

6.) Wilson Claimed He Was A Victim Of A Partisan Smear Campaign: Nope. (It wasn't the RNC as he claimed but a Senate select committee of 8 Dems and 9 Reps that stated "Lent more credibility to the original CIA reports...")

7.) A Month Before The Bob Novak And Matthew Cooper Articles Ever Came Out, Wilson Told The Washington Post That Previous Intelligence Reports About Niger Were Based On Forged Documents: (Nope. He claimed to WaPo that the names and dates were wrong, but the Senate committee was told by Wilson that he had "misspoken" to the press.)

8.) Wilson Claimed His Book Would Enrich Debate: (Nope. Wilson claimed to committee staff that he used "literary flair".)

9.) Wilson Claimed The CIA Provided Him With Information Related To The Iraq-Niger Uranium Transaction: (Nope. The Director of Operations at the CIA told committee staff that they had not provided any information to Wilson.)

10.) Wilson Claimed He Is A Non-Partisan “Centrist”: (Ha!! Nope. Wilson is a registered Democrat, donated $2,000 to Kerry ('03), $1,000 to Hillary ('02), and $3,000 to Gore ('99). NYT quote from Wilson in a story on Wilson/Plame "It Will Be A Cold Day In Hell Before I Vote For A Republican, Even For Dog Catcher.")

So this is the information that is out there for anyone to find, yet Wilson is out there speaking at multiple venues about how Bush, Cheney, Rove, and Libby outed his wife and are trying to smear him personally. Painting himself as a true Patriot and yet, lying through his teeth about pretty much everything in this supposed "leak" case.

NOTE: The comments in the parentheses are mine, not the GOPs. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to be snarky!

Have You Heard This?

This is an interesting new use of propaganda. Protest Ring Tones for your cellphone.

If a cell phone rings with Bush saying, “Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job” on your morning bus/subway commute, you might get some smiles. And create a little bit of community in a random place by letting other concerned Americans know they are not alone or unpatriotic by being pissed at the government.

I think 527 organizations like MoveOn.org and other grassroots activist groups could start turning propaganda into Daily Show-like sound bits for all to download. This could be a fun value-added service for their members. How often do these organizations give you something rather than just a pitch to ask for money or to sign a petition?

What fun, eh?