Archive for November, 2006

You Know You Are a Marine (Army) Mom When ….

I shamelessly ripped off the list below from new Blue Star Blogroll member Lubbock Marine Parents. They just joined the blogroll today and I’m already taking stuff off their blog. How bad is that!

Over there they write:

This list has been added to from Marine moms all over the place and posted on several message boards. We think it’s hilarious and oh so true! Feel free to add some of your own.

Of course, I have to add ARMY mom in there and an Army uniform in this post )

You know you’re a Marine-Army-Navy Mom when…

1. Your last good night’s sleep was 6 months before he left for bootcamp.
2. You have finally resigned yourself to the fact that Marine mail is delivered seasonally rather than daily.
3. Your Marine gives you ironing tips.
4. Your Marine’s version of pneumonia is “It’s just a cold, I’m fine.”
5. You realize the Marine Corps cure-all is Motrin.
6. The mere word “deployment” has you on the phone refilling your Xanax.
7. You can’t quite figure out what non-Marine mothers worry about.
8. You finally realize that Drill Instructors are not the anti-Christ and are more like heroes.
9. You’ve mailed at least a few packages that have been on around-the-world tours.
10. You forgot there were TV stations other than Fox News.
11. You find yourself bragging to friends about your Marine’s accuracy with an M-16.
12. You will get in a high speed chase just to catch up with someone’s Marine Corps bumper sticker.
13. When everything in your closet has Marine Mom on it and if it doesn’t, you put pins and yellow ribbons on it.
14. When you recognize the haircut and ask if you can have a hug because your son is deployed.
15. Someone says to you “My son has a high ASVAB and a great GP so after he leaves PI for CL and finishes his MOS at the SOI he is going to try for MSG.” and it makes sense to you.
16. When you don’t mind watching military movies even though you hated them growing up.
17. You tell your nephews they need a “high and tight”.
18. You and your husband buy a “good” flagpole for the front yard for Christmas and fly the American flag and the USMC flag 24/7, lighted, and money is no object.
19. You buy cadence CDs and listen to them when you power walk.
20. Your friends and family always start conversations with “How are the boys?”
21. You make sure to get up early to watch the Rose Bowl Parade so you can see the Marine Band.
22. You tear up every time you see someone in uniform.
23. When you have no small children, but you search toy stores for Marine G.I. Joes and buy them.
24. When the post office personnel know you by your first name.
25. When your son is in Iraq and you dial his cell phone so you can hear his voice on his outgoing message.
26. When you always know what time it is in Iraq or Okinawa or San Diego.
27. Your son has the ability to iron his own shirt…while he is wearing it!
28. You don’t mind the long lines at the post office because you are NOT leaving until you get that care package mailed to your Marine.
29. You BEG his life-long best friend to do a “David impression” and then everyone eats David’s favorite foods.
30. When the phone rings you don’t answer it unless the caller ID shows it is your Marine and then you run over husband, cats, dogs, small children and little old ladies to answer the phone, no matter what injuries any of them might sustain in the process.
31. You purchase Marine shirts for grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews.
32. You have a bad day at work and your co-workers serenade you with the Marine Hymn and give you a red rose and the whole office is crying.
33. Your son, who had such a messy room growing up that is was a health hazard, informs you on a visit home that you flunked inspection because of a little dust.
34. When your Marine calls YOU for information because he knows you’ll get it from the other moms online.
35. When watching the West Wing you care nothing about the plot, you are just peering closely to see the Marines in dress blues at the White House.
36. You are mopping the kitchen floor and your son walks in and says “You call that cleaning?”
37. You have a blue star banner proudly displayed in your picture window.
38. You search military websites for any news of where your son or daughter might be/has been.
39. Your email has the Iwo Jima background, an animated American flag, a “We Support Our Troops” yellow ribbon icon and plays the Marine Hymn in a continuous loop.
40. When you try to read aloud to others the “You know you are a Marine mom when…” list you can’t because of the lump in your throat and the tears in your eyes.
41. You taped the Marine’s Toys for Tots commercial where the little boy tells the Marine “you really are Santa Claus” and you cry every time you see it.


Yep. This applies to Army mothers, too. Just reading it puts a lump in my throat because I know every other mother with a son/daughter deployed knows.

UPDATE: Lubbock Marine Parents has a list, Part II. Check it out )

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Linked to: The Pirate’s Cove, Bullwinkle Blog, Stuck on Stupid, The Hill Chronicles, Wake up America, Madman Returns, Third World County, Adam’s Blog, Uncooperative Blogger, Dumb Ox, Publius Rendezvous, Samantha Burns, 123Beta, Church & State, Woman Honor Thyself, Stop the ACLU, Leaning Straight Up, Assorted Babble of Suzie, Jo’s Cafe

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Danny Devito goes Numbnuts

Danny DevitoYou would think that the progressives would lose their arrogant, mean-spirited rhetoric since they won the House and Senate in the last election.

They are in power now so what it there to complain about? When you have all the power you can afford to be generous and magnanimous.

Not so with our progressives. I seriously think they just don’t want to drop the schtick. I think it has to be that they are more comfortable being the underdogs so they can rail against ‘the man’. That’s what they do. That’s what they like.

Maybe they’ll get nicer if we give them some protest signs and let them march around a while to get it out of their system. Nevermind, that just makes them want to protest more.

Most recent drunken disrepectful rant is from Danny Devito. How pathetic is this?!?!

Check out the video at Hot Air (if you can bear it).

Apology??

“He has called Barbara Walters to apologize for anything that could be construed as unfortunate,”

Iowa Voice says:

Nope. Liberals aren’t full of hatred at all, not one bit.

I swear, it’s so funny to watch liberals deny that they are so full of hate (it’s us, you know, that are the “haters”) and then see them put it on full display.

More at Sister Toldjah,

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Thursday Thirteen #4

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Remembrances of 80s Ladies

Yes, I was an 80s Lady - well, a YOUNG 80s Lady. I was just watching (kinda) ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’. It was on and I didn’t change the channel, so don’t point and laugh, k? But it did remind me of the 80s. I mean, those actors are my peers, more or less, and they were very different then than they are now. They were just kids. That was even before Madonna had a British accent! It made me remember the 80s. The hairstyles and clothing look ridiculous now, but they didn’t then.

1. 80s hair has to be at the top of the list. Big hair. You know what I mean.


2. Power fashion for women. ie: shoulder pads!!!

3. Layered leg-warmers

4. Which went along with aerobics.

5. We were totally awesome dudettes. No way. Way! As if!! We were WAY cool. We used to chill and do lunch. It was wicked gnarly.

6. Remember when you first heard about AIDS? I was working in a hospital at the time. What I remember most was that when our unit director called a meeting to tell us about it. the bigest, brawniest man that worked on our unit’s face completely drained of color. He started sweating and we thought he was going to faint. There was real fear about AIDS then and no one was quiet sure how easily it might be transmitted.

7. Ronald Reagan was President.


8. Everybody saw every move Princess Diana made, whether they wanted to or not. She was on every magazine cover and gossip rag. She was THE cultural icon of the 80s. If they didn’t have any news to write about her, they’d make something up. There just had to be news about Diana.

9. The mullet was not one of the 80s finer fads.

10. I personally went from the worst of times to the best of times. Divorce, followed by some dark days trying to support two young children on a pathetic salary. Learning to be single in the 80s. Then meeting my Prince Charming who morphed into my Beloved Curmudgeon.

11. E.T., Back to the Future, Witness, Caddyshack, The Big Chill, Bull Durham, Starman, Crocodile Dundee, War of the Roses, Top Gun, St. Elmo’s Fire, Little Shop of Horrors, etc.


12. The Challenger exploded. That was the first disaster we watched unfold in front of our eyes on TV. We were mesmerized and horrified. Everyone knew where they were when the Challenger exploded. It pales in comparison to what we have seen now.

13. K.T. Oslin sang 80s Ladies …. and we all could relate.

We were the girls of the 50’s.
Stoned rock and rollers in the 60’s.
And more than our names got changed
As the 70’s slipped on by.
Now we’re 80’s ladies.
There ain’t been much these ladies ain’t tried.

We’ve been educated.
We got liberated.
And had complicating matters with men.
Oh, we’ve said “I do”
And we’ve signed “I don’t”
And we’ve sworn we’d never do that again.
Oh, we burned our bras,
And we burned our dinners
And we burned our candles at both ends.
And we’ve had some children
Who look just like the way we did back then.

Oh, but we’re all grown up now.
All grown up,
But none of us could tell you quite how.

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Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Some Blog Posts from This Week

Hillbilly White Trash has been posting a series of Celtic music videos.

A Rose by Any Other Name: Giving the Important Gifts.

Lady Jane is enjoying the snow.

Fausta got linked by CBS for her post on the Blond James Bond. Well, his IS SMASHING. Oh, and she wrote a good post about him and the movie, too.

ChezDiva’s September 11 Memorial posts are phenominal.

Samantha Speaks: Terrorism Doesn’t Care Who Resides in the White House.

Sniper One responds to the War of Public Opinion.

More later …..

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‘Official’ Declaration of ‘Civil War’ in Iraq

hardball

The ‘official’ declaration of ‘civil war’ in Iraq by the American main stream media might posibly go down in history as one of the Great Moments in American Military History.

Hot Air, of course, has the video of the moment that the MSM declared the Iraqi civil war.

tiara tip LindaSog

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Paratroopers Capture ‘Black Jumpsuit’ Cell in Iraq


BAYJI — Eight armored vehicles crept through the narrow city street here searching for the objective. More than 20 Paratroopers would storm, secure and search the site for their target.

“That’s it. Let’s move,” the platoon sergeant calmly said over the radio.

Immediately the element dismounted their vehicles and raced toward the target house. Troops placed ladders and hurled themselves over the cement wall into the courtyard.

Once the courtyard was breached, the Paratroopers entered the house and found multiple small arms. They also detained one man linked to an insurgent cell.

“It was exciting,” said Staff Sgt. Mica Snell, fire support sergeant, Company C, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. “You fight everyday, and when your spirits are getting low and you find (an insurgent), it brings them back up.”

One of the biggest cache sites discovered was found on Bayji Island. The site included hand grenades, rocket-propelled grenade launchers with multiple rounds, small arms, mortar tubes, mortar rounds and bomb-making material.

The find came after a unit called for support while detaining 11 individuals linked to an anti-Iraqi forces cell. The Paratroopers searched it and found a cache site that stretched across Bayji Island, said Green.

There were so many weapons and so much ammunition that the ordnance disposal team ran out of explosives while destroying the contents of the cache site.

The remaining weapons were taken back to Forward Operating Base Summerall for destruction.

Green added that after finding the cache there were no insurgent attacks in the area for more than 36 hours.

Later in the week, Coalition and Iraqi Forces conducted a raid based off intelligence informing Paratroopers of a terrorist cell that trademarks themselves with black uniforms.

When they searched the house, they found multiple black jumpsuits neatly hanging on a wall. Surrounding the uniforms was a scattered assortment of small arms and ammunition.

The “black jumpsuit” insurgent cell was shut down and out of commission in Bayji.

Photo: U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Andrew Centella, mortar section sergeant, Company C, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, and two of his Paratroopers pull up rugs in search for weapons during a raid in Bayji, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Joshua R. Ford.

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What’s Everybody Talking About?

November 29 - 30, 2006

Just link and trackback to this post. Nothing to it but to do it.

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Open Trackback AllianceLinkfest Haven

Others with open trackbacks: Third World County, Jo’s Cafe

Disclaimer: trackbacks to this post do not necessarily represent the opinions or standards of the Blue Star Chronicles.

Please check out the posts linked below ~~~~~

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The Blog View of the World

Reporters Without Borders blog The Blog View of the World published Alexandre Litvinenko dies of tiny nuclear bomb from Blue Star Chronicles.

Excellent )

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WuzzaDem Fights Islamophobia

WuzzaDem and Mr. Clippy fight Islamophobia.

Mr. Clippy

tiara tip: Seawitch

UPDATE: Along a similar line, David at Third World County has some interesting comments on his Mohammad in a Pink Dress post.

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Wednesday Hero

Cpl. Jason E. Meier title=
Cpl. Jason E. Meier
From Arlington, Wisconsin
1st Team, 3rd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Bravo Battery, 3rd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion, Marine Wing Support Group 37 (Reinforced), 3rd Marine Air Wing (Forward)
 title=

Cpl. Jason E. Meier plays soccer with an Iraqi boy during humanitarian efforts while on a Mounted Combat Patrol in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq, November 8, 2006. Meier is the vehicle commander for 1st Team, 3rd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Bravo Battery, 3rd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion, Marine Wing Support Group 37 (Reinforced), 3rd Marine Air Wing (Forward). He is an Arlington, Wis., native.

These brave men and women risk their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Have Every Right To Dream Heroic Dreams.
Those Who Say That We’re In A Time When There Are No Heroes,
They Just Don’t Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great country, you can find out how by clicking here.

Blogs Participating In Wednesday Hero
Yankee Mom
Bear Creek Ledger
Mail Call! Supporting The Troops
Yeah, Right, Whatever
CrosSwords
Gazing At The Flag
Gawfer
Ohio Military Reserve
DeMediacratic Nation
My Point
A Day In The Life Of…..
Blue Star Chronicles
prying1
Pet’s Garden Blog
Hooah Wife & Friends
Right-Wing & Right Minded

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Nancy Pelosi Without a Clue on Iraq

PelosiSoon - to - be Speaker of the House and only - two - beats - away - from - the - White - House Nancy Pelosi is ’sad’ that President Bush thinks al-Qaida is in Iraq.

The Raw Story

House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told reporters on Wednesday that she feels it is “sad” that President Bush continues to blame Iraqi insurgent violence on al Qaeda.

“My thoughts on the president’s representations are well-known,” Pelosi said. “The 9/11 Commission dismissed that notion a long time ago and I feel sad that the president is resorting to it again.”

The article goes on to state that Major General William Caldwell could not distinctly identify the percentage of al-Qaida in Iraq, giving the impression that his assessment was questionable. However, Major General Caldwell stated his opinion quite clearly.

“We don’t see an organization out there that’s looking to assume the control of this country, but rather just to create anarchy, to create death, to create destruction, and that’s in fact what we’re combatting right now,” Caldwell said.

and ….

all the governmental functions are still functioning, and we don’t see an organization out there that’s trying to overthrow and assume control of the government, we don’t see two viable entities out there like that, what we see is a(n) entity out there that’s been duly elected, representative of the people, that’s got plenty of challenges in trying to work through all their difficulties but moving forward nonetheless, and we see another entity that wants to do nothing but create division amongst the people, to create anarchy, to create casualties, to separate them,” Caldwell said.

and …

“What we do know is that al Qaeda in Iraq are the most well-funded, produce the most sensational attacks than any element out there. So that’s where we put our predominant effort against.”

That sounds like al-Qaida signatures to me. It also sounds like Major General Caldwell was very clear that al-Qaida is operating in Iraq.

But there we go with sound-bite politics again. People will read the headline and the sound-bite and that will be what is believed. At least that’s what people like Pelosi hope.

Actually, the part about not attempting to obtain power, but creating chaos, division, anarchy, death and destruction sounds a lot like Ahmadinejad’s Apocalyptic Vision

Bottom line, this playing politics with the security of the nation is getting old and continues to be a very dangerous business.

Sniper One reminds us:

She’s also forgetting about the current leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Hamza Al Muhajir, as featured in the sidebar of this blog. Why she would be living in denial of these facts is beyond me.

That reminds me …. remember this unpleasant fella? Yeah, he was in Iraq too. And American Soldiers were the last sight he saw on this earth.

Hot Air

What a clueless gasbag. She supported Abscam pal Murtha over Hoyer. She almost put an impeached corruptocrat in charge of House Intel. And now she shows the world that she doesn’t know what the tainted 9-11 Commission did and did not study and report on. I had low expectations for Pelosi, yet I still find her dimwitted lurching from one idiotic scene to another surprising.

Wide Awake Cafe

Gee, thanks America, for voting in this ridiculous old woman as Speaker of the House. We need serious people in our halls of government in these dangerous times but Pelosi’s denial that al Qaeda is operating in Iraq is emblematic of what we can expect from this woman for the next two years.

More: Curiouser and Curiouser, Bill Bites, Low Earth Orbit, Right Linx

hat tip: Sniper One

crossposted at Jihad du Jour

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Flopping Aces Gets the Scoop

Flopping Aces

Surely the MSM wouldn’t use jihadist apologists repeatedly as their news sources on stories of faked atrocities or use fake news stories to further their own political agendas?

Flopping Aces has broken the story. Read it all
here
here
here
here
here.

This is a good example of why the MSM doesn’t like the blogs )

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Charles Rangel Says Soldiers Enlist Because of Lack of Options

Charles RangelAccording to Representative Charlie Rangel the U.S.A. is the Land of Lack of Opportunity.

He’s declaring that it is a lack of options in America that induces young men to enlist in the Armed Services. Nevermind that we currently have a record low unemployment rate.

Nevermind that statistically the members of our Armed Services are better educated and come from higher socio-economic levels than their peers in the American population.

Don’t let the FACTS get in the way of your talking points. It’s sound bite politics. Say it enough times on enough television shows and people will take it as fact.

(CBS) NEW YORK Congressman Charles Rangel said most enlisted soldiers join the military because they do not have the “option of having a decent career.”

Speaking with Fox News reporter Chris Wallace on Sunday, Representative Rangel voiced his belief that soldiers in America’s armed forces join only for lack of a better choice.

He said, “I want to make it abundantly clear: if there’s anyone who believes that these youngsters want to fight, as the Pentagon and some generals have said, you can just forget about it. No young, bright individual wants to fight just because of a bonus and just because of educational benefits.”

Rangel also said of American soldiers, “And most all of them come from communities of very, very high unemployment. If a young fella has an option of having a decent career or joining the army to fight in Iraq, you can bet your life that he would not be in Iraq.”

The Congressman also continued to press for the return of the draft, saying “I have been advocating a draft ever since the President’s been talking about war.”

Last month Senator Kerry told students at Pasadena City College that, “you know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

His words were seen by Democrats and Republicans as demeaning to enlisted men and women, implying that they enlist because they do not “make an effort to be smart.” However, the senator later apologized, calling his statement a “botched joke” on President Bush.

It still all boils down to the same contempt and disrespect for our Men at Arms. I have to give Rangel credit for being a little bit smarter than his comrade Kerry. Rangel is a master politician and is playing his cards very well.

So what is his game?

All of these arguments bolster Rangel’s plan to reinstitute the draft. We know that Rangel’s claim that the Armed Forces are populated with a bunch of illiterate, unsophisticated ‘youngsters’ who are only there because they have no other way to better themselves is just plain not so. We also know that his claim that he wants to reinstitute the draft so that all ‘youngsters’ have to serve, even the middle and upper classes, is not true. In fact, just the opposite is true.

There’s a method to his madness.

He is appealing to the lowest common denominater. If he can continue to put out his sound bites and convince ‘the people’ that only the unfortunate are having to fight this war and that the war is ill-conceived, then he can continue to push public attitude against the Republican President.

Whether or not the draft is instituted is irrelevant to his goals. If he keeps making these noises and gets enough publicity for it, he will energize the youth to turn against the war. Turning against the war is turning against the Republican party in the political world.

So far the protests have mostly been people in their 60s reliving the 60s. I guess they’d like to have a few people in their 20s join them.

Or maybe he’s not that conniving. Maybe he’s just appealing to his own district for votes.

Bottom line, Rangel is playing politics with the security of our nation.

tiara tip to Theodore’s World. I have to agree with her on this:

I really wish the GOP would stand up and denounce idiots like Rangel point blank. Oh well. I guess being a eunuch is so much better. Funny how the only person who had the guts to call the Democrats out was another Democrat, Zell Miller.

I can’t tell you how many times I have thought that a lot of this nonsense could be stopped if the Republicans would speak up. But they don’t and we are left with the spin from the far left.

Beth at MVRWC has a good suggestion.

Yeah, that’s what this country needs–a congressional study on military demographics. ‘Cause of course, all the data that’s out there must be lies if Charlie Rangel doesn’t like what it says. Maybe there needs to be a Congressional examination of his head.

Blackfive has an excellent post that is a must read.

But he could not be more wrong. His impetus for proposing the draft he says is to shift the burden of defending America from the poor, minority community who are economically pressed into service to the rich, white community which has been shirking its duty and using the black man as cannon fodder to line whitey’s pockets. His basis for this policy change is also demonstrably false, but if he is sincere in this contention then I would have to question his sanity.

CrosSwords demands an apology.

I can’t speak for each and every person who enlists, and unlike Mr. Rangel, I don’t have the hubris to even try…but the men and families that I have spoken to in my son’s units in the past tend to have enlisted for the same reason my son did.

Mr. Rangel, like Mr. Kerry did, has insulted our troops. It is time for an apology from Mr. Rangel. I don’t think we will get one…but my son, and every person who has enlisted deserves one. Be a man, Mr. Rangel, and admit that you were wrong. Don’t try to pawn this off as a botched joke.

For those of you who wish to ask Mr. Rangel to apologize, you may call him like I did. His Washington office number is 202-225-4365. His New York office number is 212-663-3900. If anyone has his e-mail address, I would be happy to add that to the list of ways to contact him.

More at: Flopping Aces, Urban Grounds, Captain’s Quarters, Below the Beltway, Wizbang! Hysceince, Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, Jeremayakovka, Conservative Thinking, Stop the ACLU

Linked: Is It Just Me?, Conservative Cat, Third World County, bRight & Early, Wake Up America, Right Wing Nation

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