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September 30, 2004

Presidential Debate 30 Sep 04 Bush Wins

First, I am not going to pick this debate apart. I think the debate speaks for itself.

Having just watched the first presidential debate of this election year I feel that most Americans will see this debate as a victory for President Bush.

I believe that Bush appeared more presidential. Bush is stronger in his convictions and the fact that he does not Waffle makes him more credible.

I will concede that sKerry is a better public speaker. However, televangelists, matchstick men and flim flam artists are also great public speakers.

Kerry never really made his point clear. He started several statements by agreeing with the President and then countering every point the President made with disagreement.

There were some inaccuracies. I caught this one. sKerry made the statement that we have spent over 200 Billion dollars on the war in Iraq, yet the official number doesn't exceed 130 billion. Either way this is a large dollar amount, but I think he should have his facts straight especially if his intent is to dodge the debate and bash the President.

I'd like to offer this outline version of the debate:

Bush: "We must remain strong in our resolve."

Kerry: "Bush is a poo poo head."

Bush: "We cannot fail in the war on global terrorism, we will not fail."

Kerry: "Bush is a poo poo head."

Bush: "We will win the war on terror by supplying our troops with the right equipment and the right training."

Kerry: "Bush is a poo poo head."

You get the point.

Bush-Cheney '04

4 MORE YEARS

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 07:58 PM | Comments (8)

Google Search Expiriment

John Kerry is a moron. Starbucks coffee supports our troops. John Kerry Ace and Gary. John Kerry is an idiot. Texas Slaughterhouse. Military Starbucks Support Troops John Kerry is a Nimrod.

Posted by SlagleRock at 08:32 AM | Comments (1)

September 28, 2004

UPDATE (Blame Canada Part 3)

Jack pointed me to this on World Net Daily.

It appears the stoners in Nelson, B.C. are going to scrap the idea to build a monument to chicken shit American draft dodgers.

For the full story look here.

Damn good thing!!! To hell with such a horrible "memorial".

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 08:05 PM | Comments (2)

Blame Ignorant Canadians Not All Of Canada

A few days ago I posted an bitching session about some boneheads in Canada titled Blame Canada. It is about some nimrods who are planning on erecting a monument to memorialize American draft dodging douche bags during the Vietnam War.

The original post raised a bit of a stink and started a chain of comments from Canadians that were a little pissed about my comments.

Now after a few days of Americans emailing the mayors office in Nelson and telling it like it is it appears that the legal leadership of Nelson, British Columbia are withdrawing any signs of support for such an ignorant idea by a bunch of ignorant people.

According to Canada's National Post the mayor of Nelson had this to say about the situation, ''I made an innocent comment, off the cuff,'' he explained. ''Yes, I am a peace activist. But I wasn't speaking as mayor when I said I liked the idea. I wasn't even talking about the sculpture, which I don't support. We don't have a lot of public art here.''

Also a city councillor had this to say about supporting this atrocity, "Definitely not, adds Ian Mason. He is preparing a ''resolution of non-support'' that will make Nelson's position on the event crystal clear.

Give me a break. So his statement was merely support for art and he all together missed what their intentions were? At least I can feel a little more comfort knowing that the men and woman of the Canadian military also oppose such a horrendous thing.

One loyal veteran had this to say at the Royal Canadian Legion hall, ''Those draft-dodging a-holes,'' snorted one legion member. ''We are in communication with our provincial command and we will be formulating a strong response to this nonsense. That's all I can say about it right now.''

Boycott Nelson, B.C. and the morons (and their businesses) who would support such an atrocity.

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 06:23 PM | Comments (3)

September 27, 2004

Gimme Gimme Gimme

Some time ago Rush Limbaugh took a stand on the money grubbing attitudes (Gimme Gimme Gimme)of some Americans post 9/11.

He had this to say:

By Rush Limbaugh:

I think the vast differences in compensation between victims of the September 11 casualty and those who die serving our country in Uniform are profound. No one is really talking about it either, because you just don't criticize anything having to do with September 11. Well, I can't let the numbers pass by because it says something really disturbing about the entitlement mentality of this country. If you lost a family member in the September 11 attack, you're going to get an average of $1,185,000. The range is a minimum guarantee of $250,000, all the way up to $4.7 million.

If you are a surviving family member of an American soldier killed in action, the first check you get is a $6,000 direct death benefit, half of which is taxable.

Next, you get $1,750 for burial costs. If you are the surviving spouse, you get $833 a month until you remarry. And there's a payment of $211 per month for each child under 18. When the child hits 18, those payments come to a screeching halt.

Keep in mind that some of the people who are getting an average of $1.185 million up to $4.7 million are complaining that it's not enough. Their deaths were tragic, but for most, they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Soldiers put themselves in harms way FOR ALL OF US, and they and their families know the dangers.

We also learned over the weekend that some of the victims from the Oklahoma City bombing have started an organization asking for the same deal that the September 11 families are getting. In addition to that, some of the families of those bombed in the embassies are now asking for compensation as well.

You see where this is going, don't you? Folks, this is part and parcel of over 50 years of entitlement politics in this country. It's just really sad. Every time a pay raise comes up for the military, they usually receive next to nothing of a raise. Now the green machine is in combat in the Middle East while their families have to survive on food stamps and live in low-rent housing. Make sense?

However, our own U.S. Congress voted themselves a raise. Many of you don't know that they only have to be in Congress one time to receive a pension that is more than $15,000 per month. And most are now equal to being millionaires plus. They do not receive Social Security on retirement because they didn't have to pay into the system.

If some of the military people stay in for 20 years and get out as an E-7, they may receive a pension of $1,000 per month, and the very people who placed them in harm's way receives a pension of $15,000 per month.

I would like to see our elected officials pick up a weapon and join ranks before they start cutting out benefits and lowering pay for our sons and daughters who are now fighting.

Now anyone who reads my site will be the first to know how I feel about the tragedy of 9/11. They will also know that I feel deeply for the victims and their families.

However, I have to say old Rush hit the nail on the head with this one. I have been in the service for nearly 10 years now and raises are paltry. During the Clinton years we didn't even see a raise significant enough to cover inflation, so each year we got further and further behind. Keep in mind that prior to Clinton we were already behind despite President Reagan’s efforts to correct the problem. Of course that is how the cycle goes. Democrat gets elected, military benefits suffer and then when a Republican gets elected they have to try and play catch up.

As Rush outlined the survivor benefits for a member of the military are garbage. We can get $250,000.00 worth of life insurance, but then so could anyone who was in the towers when they collapsed.

I agree that we need to seriously reform our legislative system. Consider this, most Airman in their first term won't make $15,000.00 a year, but a professional politician, who in many cases lie and cheat their way into congress will get a life long pension of $15,000.00 just for serving one term. And to think they can go that full term without ever initiating a piece of legislation and in many cases they can skate by and largely miss votes for bills.

I do think that the families of 9/11 and even Oklahoma City suffered a horrible loss, but as Rush said, they were simply "in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Our Airman, Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines go back time and time again into hostile fire zones. Not because they are high school dropouts or warmongers but because they are patriots who love their country.

Maybe, just maybe we need to rethink our legislative processes.

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 07:42 AM | Comments (6)

September 26, 2004

Tofu Farting Fairies

It's been a minute since I randomly bitched about something that has pissed me off.

Yesterday I was watching the news as usual, and as usual they failed to deliver. It was one violent crime after another, a few jabs at the president, maybe a mention about Hurricane Jeanne.

Where did they mention all of the wonderful things that the educators of this nation are doing? Where did they shout out kudos to our armed forces? Why didn't they tell the stories of heroics? You mean to tell me not one brave fireman pulled a single person from a fire yesterday? Where did they mention the undercover police officer that once again took a drug dealer off the street?

You know I remember when I was a kid from time to time you'd hear a story about little Timmy who rescued the neighbors cat from a tree, or maybe a short mention about some teenage boys who found a drug dealers secret stash of guns hidden in the woods (that was me and two friends).

These weren't sensational stories. There was no blood, no guts, no rape, murder or GRAND THEFT AUTO. These were just positive stories that reflected the brighter side of man.

How did we come to a point in our history where it is the tofu farting fairies and tree-hugging hippies that get to decide that all we can see is mans negative side. I mean honestly, if this editorial were ever run in the mainstream media the onslaught of crybaby bullshit from the liberals would last for days and would clearly overshadow the real news of the day.

Tolerance is a good thing. Equality is a good thing. However, we have taken it so far that it is now offensive to refer to a chalkboard as the black board, or a dry erase board as the white board. Fighter jocks are cautioned not to refer to the "flight deck" of their jets as a cockpit.

Give me a break.

America, buck up, suck it up and press on.

To the media:

Perhaps it is time to step back a few years and cast a positive spin on what you report. Not all Americans are evil criminal minds bent on buying elections or destroying the credibility of other men and woman.

It is no wonder that so much of the world has a negative impression of Americans; it is our own media that make us look like animals.

In the mean time I will continue to draw things on the white board or black board, the "flight deck" of an F-15 Eagle will forever be a cockpit and if I offend someone maybe it is they who need to grow up, push their collective uterus' back in and understand that tolerance and understanding is a two way street.

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 11:42 AM | Comments (6)

September 25, 2004

Hi Yo Silver Away

Yesterday I was browsing around the BX (Base Exchange) and I picked up the Star Wars trilogy on DVD. I was pretty stoked to have all three of the original movies on DVD, One because I am movie/electronics nut and two because it is one of the most memorable movies of my youth.

After I picked up my copy of the trilogy and was walking out of electronics I noticed something even more exciting.

There it was sitting on a shelf completely out of place like it was calling to me, as if some divine power had placed it at exactly eye level to ensure I'd find it.

The Lone Ranger Show Collectors Edition

I got 17 episodes from the original series, 1949-1957. A two DVD set and get this it was only $6.95. I was more excited to find the Lone Ranger than I was the Star Wars trilogy. The Lone Ranger series ended (stopped production) nearly twenty years before I was born, but I have so many memories of watching the re-runs with my grandfather and sometimes even my pops on weekends.

When I was a kid I got to meet Clayton Moore (The Lone Ranger) and I got his autograph. That was the coolest to me. I still have that autograph today, safely tucked away in plastic.

Now many young people would read this and think I am crazy. "The Lone Ranger who is that" they would surely ask. I mean, he's no Pokemon or Yu-Gi Oh, is he? Hell yes he is, The Lone Ranger stood for all that was good, something that we need to revisit with today’s youth. Even many from my generation wouldn't watch it simply because (oh no) it's in black and white. If it is not a video game, or bloody violent movie most of our youth isn't interested.

Now before anyone whines about my interest in the series I do realize that it is full of inaccuracies and stereotypes, but I also know that it came from a time when those things weren't so important. I can imagine how nice it must have been for an entire family to sit huddled around the radio to hear the original radio broadcasts of The Lone Ranger.

To my surprise, my daughter (5 years old) is a huge fan. So far we have watched 6 episodes together and she keeps asking how many more there are and when we can watch the next one.

I just thought I'd share. I really was tickled to find this DVD set.

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 07:05 PM | Comments (7)

September 24, 2004

Grouchy Media

If you need a little charge, or maybe you'd just like to see some very cool videos of our military at work take a look at GrouchyMedia.com

Grouchy has been around since 2001 and has several very cool military videos.

Three of the more famous videos are:

Taliban Bodies (The first video is a look at the terrorists of 9/11 and a tribute to our actions in Afghanistan)

Die Terrorist Die (The second video is a further look at the terrorists and the Taliban in Afghanistan)

Bomb Saddam (The third video is a look at us in our overthrow of Saddam Hussein)

Grouchy's website also has several other videos of military vehicles, aircraft and equipment in action. There are several tributes to the troops of all branches of service.

I realize grouchy has been around for a while, but I still find people everyday who haven't seen these awesome video compilations.

Thanks Grouch

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 04:04 PM | Comments (2)

September 23, 2004

True Bravery

True bravery is arriving home late after a guy's night out, being assaulted by your wife with a broom, and still having the guts to ask, "Are you cleaning or were you flying somewhere?"

There really may be some validity in the statement about the healing power of laughter.

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 02:46 PM | Comments (2)

September 22, 2004

Blame Canada

This evening I was reading a copy of the Ft. Lewis Ranger (free local paper) over dinner. I saw an article that absolutely infuriated me.

Being a good blogger I decided to searh for more on the web.

A group of "artists" in Canada are erecting a "monument" to Dirty Chickenshit Draft Dodgers from the U.S.

This is another fine example of why so many Americans are not fond of our "neighbors" to the north!

The artists and ass holes activists in Nelson, British Columbia, have announced plans for a monument and festival to honor U.S. draft dodgers who fled to Canada.

The celebration, dubbed "Our Way Home," is set for July eighth and ninth, 2006.

Festival director Isaac Romano says the purpose is to recognize the "legacy of Vietnam War resisters and the Canadians who helped them resettle in this country." Dennis Klein, a sculptor and teacher at Kootenay School of the Arts, and artist Naomi Lewis have been chosen to make a bronze memorial depicting Canadians embracing the hands of American resisters.

What's next a monument to rapists? How about we erect a museum and hold a parade to honor serial killers? Oh I know, we could have an annual re-enactment of the cowardly attacks of 9/11 and we could all stand around and cheer Allah for guiding the planes into thousands of innocents!

Notice they keep referring to these cowardly un-Americans as "draft resistors". The only thing they resisted was doing the right thing. These people are draft dodgers. They are not free thinkers, liberal minds or artists. They are cowards of the worst sort.

To the idiots in Canada who would memorialize such cowardice I say, I hate you, plain and simple.

I hate you and all who would support these cowards simply because of their jealousy of the United States.

In fact I hate you so much I wouldn't piss in your collective ass if your guts were on fire!

SlagleRock Out!

After Thought: I need to acknowledge that hate is an extremely strong word. I don't truly hate anything or anyone. However, I was so heated at this story it was truly the first thing that came to mind. Canadians need to wake up. The US practically supports their country and we are their only true defense. The Canadian military is like many others around the world, not nearly what it would need to be without the US as an ally.

Posted by SlagleRock at 07:24 PM | Comments (18)

September 20, 2004

Are You Ready For Some Football

Given the time of year (both elections and football) I found this fitting.

Thanks SSgt Z for the picture!

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 09:24 PM | Comments (6)

September 19, 2004

Lucky Little Grasshopper

Sent to me by a friend. Thank you PJ too funny.

SlagleRock Out!

Sometimes you just need a laugh that is off the deep end!

Posted by SlagleRock at 12:29 PM | Comments (4)

The Few, The Proud

Norfolk Marine tells story of rooftop fight in Iraq

Mamamontezz tipped me off to this article.

I pulled this story off of Hampton Roads.com

Marine Cpl. Lonnie Young waged the battle of his life in Iraq on April 4: Trapped on a rooftop with a handful of other men, he helped to face down hundreds of Iraqi insurgents attacking from all directions. BILL TIERNAN/THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

By KATE WILTROUT, The Virginian-Pilot
© September 18, 2004

NORFOLK — Outnumbered, low on ammo, perched on a rooftop for hours in a battle against Iraqi insurgents, Lonnie Young figured his number was up.

It was April 4, 2004, and the war had entered its deadliest month for Americans. Days earlier, four contractors passing through Fallujah had been ambushed, killed, and strung from a bridge.

At least half a dozen other men from their firm – Blackwater USA , based in Moyock – handled security at the Coalition Provisional Authority’s base in Najaf, where Young, a 25-year-old Norfolk-based Marine Corps corporal, was working that day.

After installing an antenna on the roof to upgrade communications, Young stretched out in the back of a truck for a pre-lunch catnap. Gunfire – and the more atypical sound of guards returning fire – woke him.

The battle that followed became front-page news, an early indication of the growing insurgency across Iraq. Within days, a picture of Young and the Blackwater commandos atop the roof appeared in newspapers across the country. But until Young sat down recently to share his story, his role in the outcome of the battle has gone untold.

According to one senior Marine officer on the ground in Najaf that day, Young’s actions helped turn the tide of the battle against a well-coordinated militia attacking from various directions.

“All of the Blackwater guys told me that if it hadn’t been for him, they may indeed have been overrun,” said the officer, who asked that his name not be used.

Young is in the foreground wearing a helmet in this photo taken during the April standoff with Iraqi insurgents in Najaf. File photo

Moments after the attack began, Young donned his body armor, grabbed his M249 light machine gun, and raced upstairs with a handful of Blackwater commandos. The gun battle against hundreds of members of the al-Mahdi militia, loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, grew so intense that Young had to stop shooting every 15 minutes to let the barrel of his gun cool. He’d tear through 700 to 800 rounds, then spend five minutes filling magazines with bullets until the metal was cool enough to use.

The first break in action for the Kentucky native came when an Army captain near him was shot in the arm and back. Young dug into his medical kit and bandaged the man up, then eased him down four stories to nurses below. Next, Young dashed across the camp to Blackwater’s ammunition supply room, strapped about 150 pounds of bullets to his body, and sprinted back to the roof.

The noontime battle stretched into the afternoon. Young figured he’d die.

“I thought, 'This is my last day. I’m going out with a bang.’ If I had to die it would be defending my country,” Young said Friday.

“I just felt like we were losing ground, and I thought, 'If I’m going to die, I’m not going down without a fight.’ I knew we were seriously outnumbered. They were coming at us with pretty much everything they had. We were seriously struggling to keep our ground.”

The insurgents had machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, and a sniper shooting out the window of a local hospital.

Young saw a red flash, then blood spurting 5 or 6 feet out of the jaw and neck of a contractor. He reached into the quarter-sized bullet hole in the man’s jaw and pinched his carotid artery closed, then dragged the man across the roof to where his medical kit lay sprawled open.

Midway across the roof, Young heard a loud smack. Pain danced across his face, chased by adrenaline, and he forgot about it. After a medic packed the man’s wounds with a substance that clots blood, Young strapped the man to his back and carried him downstairs. In all, the Marine left the roof five times: twice to transport wounded comrades, three times for ammunition.

When a group of U.S. Army military police officers joined the fight, Young used his experience as a weapons instructor to talk them through it. Conserve your ammo. Slow and steady before you squeeze. Adjust your sites for range and distance. Take breaks so your gun barrel doesn’t melt.

At some point, Young felt dizzy. He realized he couldn’t see out of his left eye. The doctor found a gunshot wound high on his left shoulder. Young didn’t want to leave the fight, but an Army captain told him otherwise.

“Basically, I refused to get down off the rooftop at first,” said Young, the father of a 7-year-old son back in Dry Ridge, Ky.

Soon afterward, a Blackwater helicopter flew Young to a combat support hospital in Baghdad. Chris Taylor, a director at Blackwater USA, praised Young after hearing how the Marine replenished the contractors’ ammunition to keep the bullets flying.

“When there are rounds firing, coming at you from down range, everybody pulls together to do what needs to be done,” said Taylor, a former Marine. “He should be proud of the way he acted.”

After surgery to remove the bullet from his shoulder – it lodged an inch from his spine – and shrapnel from his eye, Young recuperated for two weeks in Baghdad, then spent a month at home in Kentucky.

Young said he dreams about combat every night, and his wounds remind him of what happened – especially on long runs or while doing pull-ups. The pain makes him wonder whether he should stay in the Marines when his hitch ends in December.

If he does leave, Young has a Purple Heart and a chunk of bullet cut out of his back for souvenirs. He has also been nominated for another award based on his actions that day, according to a Marine Corps spokesman.

Even if he gets out, and puts his degree in design engineering from Eastern Kentucky University to use, Young will never forget how he got to be a sniper, medic, ammunition supplier, weapons coach, and communications specialist – all on the same day.

Said Young: “I’d always wanted to be a Marine.”

CPL Young is a fine example of the American Fighting Man. He is truly a Marine the Corps can be proud of!

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 11:46 AM | Comments (5)

Banning Our Freedoms

After the death of the Assault Weapons Ban some bloggers have started looking at other constitutional infringements.

Gunner at no quarters blog sends this:

Saturday, September 25, 2004
Freedom means saying I can read what I want to read

Gun bans, Dog bans, and book bans. They all have one thing in common. They are bans forced upon you by other "enlightened individuals". I cannot find one good example of where people banned something of their own for "the good of the people". It always seems to be someone else's items that are banned.

Well here we are and September 25 is approaching fast. This day had little meaning to me until I read that September 25 is Banned Book week. The first time I was exposed to banned books was in my high school library. While technically they were not banned because the library had them, they simply were not for the students to read. Strange logic, books in a library that are not to be read. The Librarian was a hard core religious individual and she felt that her views made her the chief protector of our young and fragile minds.

More than books were banned restricted, she had also self-banned several magazines. Psychology today(SEX), Rolling Stone magazine(DRUGS), and Cosmopolitan(FEMINISM) were not put out for us to see, again to "protect us". Since she was the librarian she had the duty to order books. She had the duty to order a full range of books and in this she failed miserably. I found this out because of a CB radio. The library used the Dewey decibel system and even a laymen could see that the section on religion was well stocked with many new books. The other sections were less well stocked as my story will show.

I got my grubby little hands on an old CB radio and thought I would set it up in my room to play around with. Only one problem. I had no idea even where to start on wiring the darn thing. So my answer would have to come from books. Going to the science section I found three books that dealt with electronics and electricity. Three!. The section on religion was a full section, yet electrical science was three individual tomes. Hell the rest of the science section was pretty barren itself.

So with the three in hand I looked at the print dates and checked out the newest one. Thumbing through it I cam upon a section that has stuck with me to this day. To set the scene better this all occurred in 1985/86 in Butler county Kentucky. While a small county it was not backwards much. But it also was not a very forward moving county and this one book became to represent the whole problem of the rural mentality to me.

The part that was so strange to read was a section on TV. You know them TV thingys. The little square box in the corner with real moving pictures in it. The part of the section that was seared(thanks Kerry) into my head said this
"TV. While a useful laboratory tool, they will never be commerciably feasible".
Even then I had to take the book home to show my mom out of utter disbelief. The newest book on electronics in our library was pre-TV.

The banning of books, and its related belief of only buying "good books" goes hand in hand with the damaging of knowledge and social progression. That was also the year I found my first banned list. It was in a magazine and I realized I had read about 10 of the hundred listed. Being the bull headed little shit that I was, I started to try to read as many as I could. I soon found that some of those books should have be banned just because they sucked, but some were pretty good. I never did get all 100 read. In my life I think I have read about half of the list. Fully read. Not just picked up and dropped.

So because Banned Book week is coming up I want to do something to fight ignorance and just utter damn bigotry. I will buy a book on the banned list and send them to the first person that emails me their address.(Will take first person to reply after September 25 during Banned Book Week)

If a person does not like a book for their children then opt out. Most schools will bend over backwards to not upset parents, but the second you tell me that I cannot read something then you have stepped over the line.

I have one question. Number 87 is "Where's Waldo?". Please someone tell me what messed up mind would object to a picture book of a geeky looking guy in a picture?

Here is the list of most banned books:

Please, with exception of series, pick one you have not read.(If a book is not easily available please pick two alternative choices for ease of purchase)

Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Forever by Judy Blume
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Giver by Lois Lowry
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Sex by Madonna
Earth's Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
The Witches by Roald Dahl
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
The Goats by Brock Cole
The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
Final Exit by Derek Humphry
Blubber by Judy Blume
Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
What's Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
Deenie by Judy Blume
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
Cujo by Stephen King
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
What's Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
Fade by Robert Cormier
Guess What? by Mem Fox
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Native Son by Richard Wright
Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women's Fantasies by Nancy Friday
Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
Jack by A.M. Homes
Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
Family Secrets by Norma Klein
Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
Carrie by Stephen King
The Dead Zone by Stephen King
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
Private Parts by Howard Stern
Where's Waldo? by Martin Hanford
Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
Sex Education by Jenny Davis
Jumper by Steven Gould
Christine by Stephen King
The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
That Was Then, This is Now by S.E. Hinton
Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
The Wish Giver by Bill Brittain
Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

Posted by SlagleRock at 10:44 AM | Comments (9)

Military Bearing

Their is no doubt that we have the FINEST AIR FORCE in the world.

That is because of the quality human beings who serve.

Just remember whatever our flaws we are human.

Prime Example:

Now Airman your eyes should be straight forward while at the position of attention!

Give these guys a break, those are the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders!

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 09:49 AM | Comments (2)

September 18, 2004

Friendships Lost...

...And Found

Most people know what it is like to lose a friend. Some of us have lost friends to tragic accidents or illness. Some of us have lost friends to the ravages of war. Some of us have lost friends to stupidity such as one incident or a grudge. It hurts when we lose contact with an important friend, either because they are no longer living or because time, distance and circumstance have taken them away.

Recently I got to see what the other side of that emotion is like. A good friend of mine who was there for me all through Iraqi Freedom dropped me an email. He and I lost contact after I moved back to the States and as I found out recently he moved to Europe.

It has only been a year since we last spoke, but much has happened. I learned that he got a divorce due to his wifes infidelity while he was in the Middle East, and is now happy to "just date a little". He learned that I had a second child. It has been neat to catch up on what is new as well as to remember the time we spent in the sandbox.

I guess the point of this post is to not only share a happy event but maybe to motivate each of you to find that friend. We all have one. Maybe this is a person that you used to talk to regularly. Then perhaps you sent the occasional email and now nothing.

Look for a phone number, an email address or a snail mail address. If more people would stay in touch maybe this world would be a better place.

Just food for thought.

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 04:50 PM | Comments (2)

Chicken Shit Terrorists At It Again

The same terrorist group, known as Jihad and Unification, that claims to have beheaded Nick Berg has taken three more hostages. A video released on the Al Jazeera network shows two Americans and one Briton. As usual a coward stands behind them with his face concealed so that no one will know who he is.

When are these cowards going to learn that this sort of cowardly act will not benefit their cause. These people voluntarily put themselves in harms way. The murder of innocents will do nothing more than further the resolve of the coalition to see to it that these terrorists are hunted down and destroyed.

President Bush doesn't wear a mask when he issues orders to the U.S. Military as the Commander in Chief. The Generals down to the lowest enlisted ranks don't wear masks when they lay waste to terrorist headquarters. They fight like men and do not cower behind masks and the media.

Take a look at CNN for the full story on these douchebags.

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 04:42 PM | Comments (2)

September 16, 2004

The Conservative Insurgent and Other Great Posts Around The Blogoshphere

First, let me start by saying to my good friend Jack, welcome to the blogoshphere. Jack has repeatedly turned down offers from Mamamontezz to host his own blog, yet Jack is a blogger nonetheless. He sends great links to Mamamontezz, Emigre, Bill and I. He also comments on numerous important threads around the blogosphere. Well, Jack after seeing the great blog that Mama has started for you I hope that you will run with it. You are guaranteed traffic from the Slaughterhouse. Please get over to the Conservative Insurgent and comment, link, trackback and help get Jacks hits up. Let him know his is a blog/perspective that is needed.

Second, MamaMontezz has an excellent post on the Pajamahadeen. Swing over to her place and check it out. As usual when she gets a thought sparks fly.

While you are bounding around the sphere, stop by my Uncles Place and take a look at what he has going on at Emigre With A Digital Cluebat, he truly is a wielder of clue!

Also, stop by Bills house at In Bills World and see whats cookin'.

As you can tell I have been a bit more busy than usual so blogging is slow. Hit up these member of my blog family/friends and I will get something more profound up slowly.

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 04:27 PM | Comments (3)

September 15, 2004

Starbucks Supports The Troops

Recently I received an email from a friend in which a Sgt in the USMC was upset becuase Starbucks Coffee not only shot down troops in the Middle East when they asked for a coffee donation, but allegedly they told the troops that they didn't support the troops or the war.

As you would expect I very angrily emailed the people at Starbucks.

This is the response I got:

Dear Mr. Slagle,

Thank you for taking the time to contact Starbucks regarding coffee donations to those serving in our armed forces.

Starbucks has the deepest respect and admiration for U.S. military personnel. We are extremely grateful to the men and women who serve stateside or overseas. We sincerely appreciate that they are willing to risk their lives to protect Americans and our values of freedom and democracy. While Starbucks as a company cannot directly donate to military personnel, many of our partners (employees) show their support by donating coffee.

Recently, there was an e-mail circulating the internet that contained misinformation about Starbucks and our support of the military. Starbucks was able to locate the author who turned out to be a Marine Sergeant. He was very grateful that we contacted him and apologized for any misunderstanding, as he did not intend to spread the rumor. He subsequently sent an e-mail to his original distribution list correcting his mistake, which I've included at the end of this e-mail.

I would like to take this opportunity to clarify Starbucks policy regarding charitable contributions. We are able to donate to nonprofit organizations that are designated as public charities under Section 501(c) (3) of the IRS Code, including public libraries and schools. The U.S. military or individual military personnel do not qualify as a public charity.

However, on an individual level, many Starbucks partners have collected and shipped numerous pounds of Starbucks coffee overseas. Starbucks partners receive one pound of free coffee each week as an employee benefit (known as "partner mark-out"). Many of our partners have elected to send their weekly mark-out of coffee to members of the military or military families, and related organizations.

As an example of this generosity, our partners in our Atascadero, California store sent their weekly mark out coffee to troops in Afghanistan so they are able to enjoy a little piece of home. Our customer relations department in Seattle donated hundreds of pounds of coffee to the sailors in the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group. These are just a few examples of our partners supporting the troops. We recognize and appreciate the very personal connection that customers have with us and how they might miss their Starbucks Experience while overseas.

Thank you again for writing and ask you to accept our deepest appreciation to servicemen and women and hope you remain a valued Starbucks customer. If you have any additional feedback or would like to discuss this further, please feel free to contact us at (800) 235-2883 or email us at info@starbucks.com.

Sincerely,
David Campbell
Customer Relations
Starbucks Coffee Company

Text of Sgt. Wright's Email:

Dear Readers,

Almost 5 months ago I sent an e-mail to you my faithful friends. I did a wrong thing that needs to be cleared up. I heard by word of mouth about how Starbucks said they didn't support the war and all. I was having enough of that kind of talk and didn't do my research properly like I should have. This is not true. Starbucks supports men and women in uniform. They have personally contacted me and I have been sent many copies of their company's policy on this issue. So I apologize for this quick and wrong letter that I sent out to you.

Now I ask that you all pass this email around to everyone you passed the last one to. Thank you very much for understanding about this.

Howard C. Wright
Sgt USMC
1st Force Recon Co
1st Plt PLT RTO

Well, that is the official stance from the Starbucks Co. It is good to hear that they support the troops, if only in spirit.

On the flip side it is a bit upsetting that they didn't say such a terrible thing, I was looking forward to tearing them to shreds. Not that I have anything against Starbucks, but I have to admit that I did expect it to be true seeing how Starbucks was founded here on the left coast.

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 09:16 PM | Comments (8)

September 14, 2004

No News Is Just Plain No News

Sorry, we had night firing today. I didn't read a newspaper, look at a news broadcast, surf the web or browse my favorite sites on the blogosphere.

I enjoy shooting and teaching, but spending 14 hours on the range shooting both 9mm pistols and M4 Carbines gets a bit tiring.

I should be back in the real world tomorrow.

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 11:40 PM | Comments (2)

September 13, 2004

The Near Loss Of One Of Our Own

I received an email today that saddened me a bit. Security Forces almost lost one of our own. A Senior Airman, whom I won't name out of respect for his privacy, almost lost his life in Iraq.

The Air Force Cop was standing only 10-20 feet away from a mortar impact. After being evacuated to Germany he has finally made his way back to the states where he has undergone several surgeries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

His condition is currently listed as fair after the "successful" amputation of his right hand and both legs above the knee.

My thoughts are with his family. I hope his recovery is speedy and his adaptation to his new life goes well.

At only 22 years old he paid the ultimate price (short of death) for his country. True patriots will be forever indebted to this young man and the many men and women of the armed forces who live every day in harms way to better secure our nation and the world.

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 09:37 PM | Comments (7)

10,000 Hits At The Slaughterhouse

I had my 10,000th visitor here at the Slaughterhouse today.

How cool is this...

My wife was the 10,000th visitor. It happened today at 1737 hrs local PST.

I said in my last milestone post that I would only mark every 5,000 hits. I expected it to take a little longer than it has.

I have had 10,000 hits in just over 4 months. That may not be huge, but to know that many people have read what I have to say is very cool.

Now all that bloggers have to do is win this election!

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 05:37 PM | Comments (3)

Once Again, Jack Finds The Links That Reveal How Big A Liar Kerry Is And How Jacked Up The "Main Stream" Media Really Is

Front Page Media.com outs the Kerry campaigns plans to bash the Presidents service record before Waffles campaign got the chance. FrontPageMedia.com
**Note** This is the bomb that Dan Rather screwed up royally and the blogosphere put a hurtin' on the mainstream.

Bush's National Guard Service. The truth comes out. Click Here

United States Navy gets further inquiry over Kerrys War Hero Status. Judicial Watch.org

Kerry campaign aid and widely advertised veteran is his own downfall. Kerrys Band Of Liars.

Islamic Cleric supports targetting children. UK Telegraph

Looks like Kerry's world is about to unravel, the IG is looking into the matter, yet he won't come clean about his "credentials". World Net Daily

Letters home from the Middle East are making a difference. Yakima Herald

Marine speaks out against John Kerry

As usual Jack proves how valuable he is as a surfer of the information super highway.

Thanks Jack

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 03:18 PM | Comments (2)

Satans Sister (A Little Humor)

We all know I am not much of a religious person, however I can appreciate a good joke.

Satan visits church...

A few minutes before the services started, the townspeople were sitting in their pews and talking. Suddenly, Satan appeared at the front of the church. Everyone started screaming and running for the front entrance, trampling each other in a frantic effort to get away from evil incarnate.

Soon everyone had exited the church except for one elderly gentleman who sat calmly in his pew without moving, seeming oblivious to the fact that God's ultimate enemy was in his presence.

So Satan walked up to the old man and said, "Don't you know who I am?"

The man replied, "Yep, sure do."

"Aren't you afraid of me?" Satan asked.

"Nope, sure aint!" said the man.

"Don't you realize I can kill you with a word?" asked Satan..

"Don't doubt it for a minute," returned the old man, in an even tone.

"Did you know that I could cause you profound,horrifying, physical AGONY for all eternity?" persisted Satan.

"Yep" was the calm reply.

"And you're still not afraid?" asked Satan.

"Nope"

More than a little perturbed, Satan asked, "Well, why aren't you afraid of me?"

The man calmly replied, "Been married to your sister for 48 years

Know the feeling?

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 07:49 AM | Comments (3)

September 12, 2004

Conspiracy Theory

I am not one for conspiracy theories, but this is an interestin compilation of thoughts, pictures and video.

This link asks the question, What if it wasn't a plane that hit the pentagon?

http://pixla.px.cz/pentagon.swf

Things that make you go HHHmmmmmmm

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 08:54 PM | Comments (5)

Bloggers Put The Smack Down On The Biased "Main Stream" Media

Bloggers have made a dent in the biased Main Stream Media and they're aware of it. They'll be on the attack now. Take a look at The Grandforks Herald. Now you can see why we do what we do!

Posted on Sun, Sep. 12, 2004

EDITORIAL: New century finds a new journalism

If you're a media buff - and who isn't, in America in 2004? - then circle Thursday, Sept. 9, on your mental calendar. Because that's the day weblogs came into their own.

And politics and journalism never will be the same.

What happened Thursday is that webloggers or "bloggers" latched on to a controversial "60 Minutes"/CBS News story - and then worked the thing, with a stubbornness and tenacity that would have done credit to a pack of bulldogs or a turn of snapping turtles - or, yes, an army of investigative reporters.

As a result, CBS was forced to respond within a single news cycle. And although the network eventually stood by its story, more holes are showing up in the thing almost by the hour, and there's a fair chance the network will have to retract.

This may have been the first time a TV network was forced to respond so quickly to an Internet critique. But it won't be the last time for America's networks, newspapers or other institutions, because bloggers now are responding to events not as opinion writers but as fact-checkers and skilled reporters.

Here's the short form of what happened. Wednesday night: CBS's "60 Minutes" program broadcast a powerful and damaging report about President Bush. A young George W. Bush pulled strings not only to get into the Texas Air National Guard but also to be eased out without fulfilling his obligations, the report claimed.

And among other things, it cited a handful of newly uncovered documents as proof.

That's when the bloggers - especially conservative bloggers - chomped down. CBS posted copies of the incriminating documents online. But within hours, a poster named Buckhead at www.freerepublic.com saw that the documents looked more like the product of 2004 word processing than a 1972 typewriter.

Power Line, a Twin Cities-based weblog - it's at www.powerlineblog.com and is well worth reading, especially if you're new to the weblog phenomenon - posted Buckhead's comments. Then, in a clattering crescendo of keystrokes, the issue exploded in cyberspace. Soon www.indcjournal.com had interviewed a "forensic document" specialist who agreed the documents likely were fakes. Then www.littlegreenfootballs.com retyped the memos using Microsoft Word and showed them to be a perfect typographic match. Then retired Air National Guard officers and enlisted clerks weighed in, noting that the memos broke many 1970s-era rules of military style.

And that was only a hundredth of it.

The most amazing thing is that these developments could be followed in real time by anyone owning a computer. CBS issued periodic statements throughout the day Thursday, but by Friday, the cyberweight of the bloggers' (and, by then, talk-radio, TV and newspaper) reports couldn't be ignored. So Dan Rather on "CBS Evening News" defended the original report.

But a Saturday cybertour found more experts frowning at the documents, more newspapers publishing their own critical reports and even a CBS source or two walking away from the original story.

If CBS winds up retracting, the credit will have to go to the "blogosphere," a new and powerful force in journalism. Twin Cities blogger James Lileks of www.lileks.com said it best: "The Internet smells blood and leaps, and that has turned the game around, for better or worse."

Tom Dennis for the Herald (Authored this piece)

SlagleRock Out!!!

Posted by SlagleRock at 08:33 PM | Comments (2)

September 11, 2004

September 11, 2001

On this day just three short years ago we were attacked. America was attacked by psychopathic Muslim extremists, as the media likes to call them. I just call them cowards. Like the cowards that they are, they chose to hijack civilian aircraft and use them as missiles by flying them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Maybe they are smarter than we think. They new better than to attack the US Military, so they went after innocent civilians, killing people from many different nations. The Afghanis probably had a false sense of manhood after handing the communist USSR its ass for nearly a decade. We showed them what a real military was capable of in Ashcanistan and Iraq.

Clearly the World Trade Center must have been a secret military headquarters? Perhaps it was a cover up for the world’s largest nuclear weapons? Maybe the children in the towers were really secret US agents under cover as innocent children.

NO, none of these are true. The World Trade Center was a civilian commerce center. It was a landmark building that housed thousands of civilians who probably never gave thought one that they may be killed at work. Civilians, non-combatants, Men, Woman and Children, Innocents lost.

In my line of work Muslim extremists are a topic of discussion on a nearly daily basis. That is easy to understand when you look at all of the places that Airman are serving abroad.

September 11th was a tragic day in our history no doubt. For a few minutes Lady Liberty wept. That was likely the effect the terrorists were looking for. What they hadn't counted on was that while Liberty was crying for the loss of more than 3,000 of her children, Uncle Sam was sharpening his bayonet. Moments after the first tower fell the people I serve with were crawling over one another to volunteer to help secure the attack zones. They were volunteering to leave behind their wives, husbands, sons and daughters. They were willing to leave the comfort of home to go fight this evil. Where were they going? No one knew, but damn it we were all ready to take on whomever this was wherever they were hiding.

The terrorists need to remember that Americans are strong because we have to be. When you are the biggest dog in the junkyard all the little dogs want to make a name by getting a piece of you. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

We have an election coming up and my only hope is that people will consider what a Dem in the Whitehouse means for terrorism. Look at how poorly the Democrats have handled our military in the past and it is easy to see how the terrorists of 9/11 were able to spend the better part of a decade planning their attack on the WTC and the Pentagon. The Clinton administration made us look like fools in Somalia, only half dedicated us in Bosnia and Clinton sure didn't openly appreciate us as a Commander in Chief should.

I for one am very grateful that George Bush was the President when terror knocked on our front door. I shudder at the thought of what would have happened had Al Whore been elected President.

Bow your heads for innocents lost this day 3 short years ago.

Never Forgive, Never Forget.

SlagleRock Out!

Surf around the blogosphere for many great reflections on this tragic day in our history. Here are a few great blogs to start with: The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Mamamontezz, American Warmonger, Blogs For Bush, Cox and Forkum, Red Falcon, Bonfire, Castle Aarrgghh, BlackFive, In Bills World

If I left anyone out, I apologize, but I also know that via these links most of your are covered.

Posted by SlagleRock at 05:53 PM | Comments (4)

September 10, 2004

Remember 9/11: Stop Sanitizing The Killers

Michelle Malkin offers a great OpEd on the media and its relationship with terrorism.

Here is an excerpt:

The third anniversary of Sept. 11 is upon us. We remain at war -- and the media remains in denial.

How many times have you picked up a newspaper and read about terrorist attacks perpetrated not by Muslim terrorists, but by generic "militants" or "guerrillas" or "rebels" or, as Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes noted the Pakistan Times called them, "activists"?

Contrast the media whitewashing of our Islamofascist enemies with the press coverage of the Waco, Texas, siege in 1993 -- which constantly reminded us that David Koresh and his Branch Davidian followers were members of a "peculiar religious sect" (New York Times, March 3, 1993) and "a group of religious zealots with a known propensity for violence" (Washington Post, March 2, 1993) who were steeped in a "culture of Christian extremism" (San Francisco Chronicle, April 20, 1993).

To read the entire post click here.

Sometimes it is just best to leave an opinion or article alone. Michelle as always has done a stellar job.

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 08:30 AM | Comments (2)

September 09, 2004

US Military Death Toll In Iraq Hits 1,000

Saddly as of this past Tuesday the American Military death toll in Iraq has reached 1,000.

According to Yahoo News the death toll that was at 990 will officially reach 1,000 after the families of the fallen are notified.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld earlier that the 1,000 death toll would soon be passed. But he insisted that Iraq was better off than before the US-led invasion in March 2003.

"Soon the American forces are likely to suffer the 1,000th casualty at the hands of terrorists and extremists in Iraq. When combined with US losses in other theaters in the global war on terror, we have lost well more than 1,000 already," he said.

Rumsfeld and General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said insurgent attacks on US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan were likely to intensify as elections in the two countries approach.

Anytime an American life is lost it is a tragedy. However in this crucial moment before the elections Americans need to keep this number in perspective. The U.S. Military has now lost 1,000 of its finest men and woman. Think back to another unpopular war, Vietnam, and remember that more than 50,000 were lost in that conflict which as far as we were concerned ended unfavorably.

We won the war in Iraq and now we are fighting to help the newborn government sustain order. Any person of reason must realize that lives are lost in war. It hurts to see 1,000 of my brethren pass on but they knew why they were there and I know their families are proud.

**SlagleRock Bows His Head As 1,000 Of His Brothers And Sisters Have Passed On**

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 02:57 PM | Comments (2)

September 08, 2004

By The Way I Served In Vietnam...

Thanks belong to Bill!

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 07:10 AM | Comments (1)

September 07, 2004

10 Of 32 Terrorists At Beslan Were Arab Nationals With Al Qaida Ties

Mamamontezz found this link and posted an update on the terrorist attack on a High School in Beslan.

Russian investigators said Arab operatives linked to Al Qaida played a major role in the takeover of a Russian school in which 400 people were killed.

Russian officials said authorities have determined that 10 of the 32 suicide attackers who took over a high school in Beslan in North Ossetia last week were nationals from several Arab countries. Most of the attackers were Chechens and Ingush who had been trained at Al Qaida camps in Afghanistan.

The 10 Arab nationals came from Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Syria, officials said. They said security forces seized notebooks in Arabic in the school taken over by insurgents. Officials said survivors told authorities that some of the captors spoke Arabic during the three-day hostage ordeal.

All of the captors were said to have been killed, but three accomplices were arrested, Middle East Newsline reported.

Odd how nearly every single act of global violence is linked to the Arabian Peninsula. We need to cut ties with our "allies" the Saudis.

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 06:54 AM | Comments (2)

September 06, 2004

OpEd: Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold

September 02, 2004

Written by Barbara J. Stock and featured on Opinion Editorials.com

Over 30 years ago they put away their medals and their uniforms. They buried their anger and bitterness and moved on with their lives--and they waited.

Revisionists are trying to change history, claiming the returning Viet Nam veterans didn’t suffer all that much when they returned home. All that talk of being labeled animals has been exaggerated over the years. But the veterans know better. They were there.

On the radio last week, one man related that he had unpacked the uniform that he wore home from Viet Nam all those years ago. It had not seen the light of day for over 30 years. He showed it to his children and grandchildren and, for the first time, spoke of the day that he returned home from war and was spat on, cursed at, and literally had to run a gauntlet of protesters who threw human waste and rotten fruit on him and his fellow vets. With the words “baby killers” ringing in his ears he was warned by laughing policemen not to retaliate or he would be arrested. So he ran. The able-bodied helped the wounded as they do on any battlefield because those on crutches or in wheelchairs were not spared the profanity and bags full of feces that were thrown at them by the raging anti-war protesters.

This now middle-aged vet went on to tell his family that he had hid in the bathroom at the airport for over two hours, bewildered and afraid. He wondered if he had landed in some foreign land where Americans were hated. Finally, he cleaned up the uniform he was still proud to wear as best he could and made his way to his plane, where he suffered more insults from the passengers. When he got home, he packed up his medals and his dirty uniform, just as it was, and he knew that one day, he would take it out again and he would have his say. That day has come.

Please click continue reading for the rest of this Opinion Editorial

One POW stated that he had never put a face to the name until he heard the words “Genghis Khan” pronounced only as John Kerry does and suffered his first flashback to the time he was being tormented by Kerry’s words in a North Vietnamese prison camp.

They buried their anger and the bitterness --and they waited. Most of them didn’t know who or what would be the signal to make their move, but they knew they would recognize it when it happened.

On July 29, 2004, it happened. John Forbes Kerry came to the podium at the Democratic Convention and uttered three words that made many Viet Nam vets skin crawl: “Reporting for Duty!” At last the time had come for these long-suffering veterans.

The past was staring back at these wrongly disgraced vets from their television sets. The face it bore was that of John Kerry, the man who had shredded their honor without a thought and climbed over the bodies of their fallen friends to launch a political career. Kerry had stripped them of their dignity the day he sat before Congress in his fatigues and portrayed them as “baby killers” and “murderers.” Kerry did the unspeakable. He had publicly turned on his fellow vets while they were still in harm’s way and American prisoners were still in the hands of the enemy. Kerry accused them all of being out-of-control animals, killing, raping, and pillaging Viet Nam at will. The anti-war movement--the protesters--had their hero and he was a Viet Nam War veteran, an officer, a medal winner, a wounded warrior: John Forbes Kerry.

Many Viet Nam vets buried the memories of their less-than-welcome homecoming, and John Kerry moved off the national scene. The feelings of betrayal had faded, but they were never resolved. The unprecedented injustice inflicted on the Viet Nam vets has always lain just under the surface, waiting for a chance to be uncovered. The war had stolen their youth and innocence and John Kerry stole their dignity and rightful place of honor in history.

Like an unlanced boil, the anger festered but there was nothing that could ease the pain. These vets didn’t ask for “forgiveness” because they had done nothing wrong in serving their country. They never asked to be treated as heroes, just good soldiers. All they have ever wanted was the respect due all the men and women who have worn the uniform of this country. Being allowed to march in a few parades wasn’t enough. A long over-due memorial was not enough. The Viet Nam Veterans moveable wall only brought back the suffering as they searched for the names of their fallen friends whose memory had been defiled and disgraced by people who considered them rampaging killers instead of men who died with honor for their country.

Now before them stands this man who would be president--this man who holds his service in Viet Nam up as a badge of honor now that it suits his purposes. This man Kerry brags about his medals and his tiny wounds and demands the respect they were denied, yet he offers no apologies for what he did to them. “I will be a great leader!” Kerry proclaims, because of his brief and self-proclaimed valiant service while wearing a uniform--the very same uniform that they wore and were spat upon because of it.

All across America, soiled uniforms and memories of being shamed and humiliated have resurfaced and Vietnam vets demand their rightful place in history. John Kerry seems bewildered by the reaction of his “fellow vets.” He has become defensive and angry because now his service and honor are being questioned. Kerry seems oblivious to the pain he caused three decades ago when he stole all honor and dignity from those same “fellow vets” for personal gain. Now he wants to use them again, for the same reason.

All across America, Viet Nam vets are smiling. At last, perhaps they can bury their demons. These angry vets are demanding that this man who sentenced them to being shunned as criminals, tell the world that he was wrong and that he is sorry for what he did to them. Kerry must admit that he lied about them.

For many, it would still not be enough. Satisfaction and hopefully peace will come when Viet Nam vets see and hear John F. Kerry give his concession speech the night of November 2, 2004 with the knowledge that it was their votes that helped defeat him. There are approximately 2.5 million Viet Nam veterans in America and they have not forgotten.

Kerry denied them their rightful place as heroes and they will deny him his dream of the presidency. Angry Viet Nam veterans, silent for so long, will finally have their say. Payment in full will be delivered to John Kerry on November 2, 2004. Revenge is indeed a dish best served cold.

Well written, I too hope that he pays for his evil past.

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 12:47 AM | Comments (4)

September 05, 2004

No Word For It But Slaughter

As always Jack comes through. He provided this link to the Blog Mama and she posted it on her site. The horror speaks for itself. Take a look. This link says it all. Mark Styne a columnist for several newpapers had this to say about the sad situation at the school in Beslan. So far more than 350 innocent children have been slaughtered and the number is likely going to increase.

The worlds children are it's future. It is they who will inherit the earth. What if they never get the chance because of terrorism?

**SlagleRock Bows His Head For The Innocents Lost**

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 11:15 PM | Comments (1)

Bill Faith Is In The House

I've recently added another great blogger to my links. Bill Faith, Owner/Operator of In Bills World.

I have linked some of Bills posts in the past and at one time I believe I added him to my gutter, but somehow Bill vanished. He is back and he is here to stay. Bill is relatively new to the blogosphere, much like I am.

To quote his banner he is a, "Baby boomer, nerdy kid, Vietnam vet, engineer, daddy, grandpa. Politically Incorrect. Proud Anti-Idiotarian."

And the quote he has added to his banner hits very close to home:

"For those who have fought for it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know."

Spin on over to Bills place and take a look. Welcome to the Slaughterhouse Bill!!

And thanks a ton for the Gmail Invite.

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 10:33 PM | Comments (1)

September 04, 2004

Bin Ladin Close To Capture?

According to Yahoo Usama (Osama) Bin Ladin could be within moments of capture (Moments being a relative term):

U.S. Near Seizing Bin Laden, Official Says

1 hour, 51 minutes ago

By MATTHEW PENNINGTON, Associated Press Writer

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The United States and its allies have moved closer to capturing Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) in the last two months, a top U.S. counterterrorism official said in a television interview broadcast Saturday.

"If he has a watch, he should be looking at it because the clock is ticking. He will be caught," Joseph Cofer Black, the U.S. State Department coordinator for counterterrorism, told private Geo television network.

Asked if concrete progress had been made during the last two months — when Pakistan has arrested dozens of terror suspects including some key al-Qaida operatives — Black said, "Yes, I would say this."

Black, who briefed a group of Pakistani journalists after talks with officials here Friday, said he could not predict exactly when bin Laden and other top al-Qaida fugitives would be nabbed.

"What I tell people, I would be surprised but not necessarily shocked if we wake up tomorrow and he's been caught along with all his lieutenants. That can happen because of the programs and infrastructure in place," he told Geo.

Bin Laden and his top associate, Ayman al-Zawahri, are believed to be hiding some place along the rugged border between Pakistan and Afghanistan (news - web sites). Officials have divulged no solid intelligence about bin Laden's precise whereabouts, and it's not clear if they have any.

Pakistan is a key ally of the United States in its war on terror, and Black's visit comes weeks after Pakistani security forces captured Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian wanted for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in east Africa, and Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan, a Pakistani computer expert allegedly linked to al-Qaida operatives around the world.

The arrests led to a terror warning in the United States, and arrests in Britain and the United Arab Emirates.

Black attended a meeting of the Pakistan-U.S. Joint Working Group on Counterterrorism and Law Enforcement in Islamabad on Thursday and Friday.

During the talks, Pakistan asked U.S. officials for more helicopters, surveillance and communications equipment to help Pakistani forces guard border areas near Afghanistan "more efficiently," a Pakistani official at the talks said.

"We got a positive response from the American officials," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Pakistan has deployed about 70,000 troops along the Afghan border and conducted several military operations this year in its lawless and largely autonomous tribal regions against al-Qaida suspects and their local supporters.

Black hailed Pakistan's efforts in counterterrorism — despite criticism from Western officials who say that elements of the former ruling Taliban regime in Afghanistan still operate inside Pakistan.

"In terms of national programs and effectiveness, I would put Pakistan up against anyone else ... If you look at the arrests they have made, the information they have developed and the lives that have been saved, Pakistan is doing a great job," he said.

He added, however, that, "you can always do more."

Here's to crossing your fingers!!!

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 09:29 PM | Comments (0)

September 03, 2004

Shift In Perception

As we all know John Kerry lost ground after the Democratic National Convention. Isn't that a bit purpose defeating, but good news nonetheless.

George Bush gained ground after the Republican National Convention. Good news for his supporters.

I talk politics with people from all walks of life, from the factory worker, to the farmer to service men and woman. I have had discussions about this "most important" presidential race with people of all ages from my brother of 18 to an Uncle in his 60's.

Some people believe that GW has it in the bag and others believe the election is for John Kerry to lose.

As you have already seen here at the Slaughterhouse I hope the election is GW's. I can't stand the thought of taking orders from a Commander in Chief who condemned his fellow men and woman at arms.

So I was thinking tonight...

What sort of events would seal the deal for either candidate?

First, the capture of Bin Ladin, which we hear is getting closer and closer. This needs to happen regardless and I hope it does. I am sure it would close the door on Waffles chances.

Second, gas prices. All over America people bitch that they are paying $2 a gallon for gas. Yeah, that sucks but take a look at Europe or Asia. The Japanese pay almost three times what we do for gas, and it is double what we pay in much of Europe. Another sure bet for GW, somehow force gas prices to drop dramatically.

So what you may ask would seal the deal for John Effin Kerry? I thought and thought and thought and I came up with two possibilities.

First, every member of the United States Military both Past and Present would have to mysteriously disappear from the face of the Earth. I truly believe it will be the Veterans of all wars past and present that will decide this race.

Second, the only other possibility would be a giant meteorite from outerspace striking the President.

Since both of these scenarios are highly unlikely I truly hope we see the outcome that our military and our nation need.

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 11:00 PM | Comments (1)

September 02, 2004

United States Navy Challenges Waffles The "War Hero"

According to News Max the United States Navy has called Kerry on his bullshit.

Hopefully this will be every bit as damning as it can:

Navy Challenging Kerry's Medals The United States Navy is challenging the authenticity of Sen. John Kerry's Vietnam War medals, in a development that could prove to be the most damaging yet to the embattled Democrat's presidential campaign. A Navy spokesman is calling Kerry's Silver Star citation with Combat V "incorrect" as it appears on his campaign Web site, explaining in an interview with Chicago Sun-Times reporter Thomas Lipscomb that the Navy has never issued a Combat V at any time for the Silver Star. The Navy also is questioning the listing on Kerry’s Web site of four bronze campaign stars for his service in Vietnam. The official naval record credits Kerry with just two Vietnam campaigns. "That is sufficient for the wearing of the Vietnam Service Medal for one campaign bearing one campaign star for the additional campaign — not four," reports Lipscomb in today's New York Sun. Kerry's campaign has repeatedly cited the Navy as the ultimate authority on the candidate's war record, saying the Navy wouldn't have awarded him medals he didn't deserve. But with the Navy now publicly challenging Kerry's decorations, that defense has been rendered inoperative. Noting that Kerry has refused to authorize the release of his full military records, the legal watchdog group Judicial Watch called on Kerry this week to remove any questionable citations from his Web site pending a formal investigation by the Navy. "It is to your best interest to have your record in good order," Gen. Thomas Wilkerson, the president of the U.S. Naval Institute, told Lipscomb. "If it is wrong, you are accountable. And if you use it to advance your career, it is even more important.”

Hey wait a minute...

... is that the same US Navy that is strictly forbidden to take sides in political races? Does that mean that they are simply identifying one more of John Kerry's lies?

Ouch!

You'll likely see several great blogs that touch on this one. For example take a a look at Obnoxious Droppings, and Mamamontezz.

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 08:01 PM | Comments (5)

What's GMail You Ask?

Have you heard of GMail? It is a new free email service being offered by Google, hence the name GMail.

In a nutshell GMail is:

If you haven't already heard about Gmail, it's a new search-based webmail
service that offers:

- 1,000 megabytes (one gigabyte) of free storage
- Built-in Google search that instantly finds any message you want
- Automatic arrangement of messages and related replies into
"conversations"
- Text ads and related pages that are relevant to the content of your
messages

As of now GMail is available by invitation only.

My buddy Bill at In Bills World has 5 available invitations for GMail for Active Duty Military Personnel Only.

Why would a military member want ANOTHER email account/address? Well first of all, GMail is a search based email account. What does that mean? You will have access to all of your saved emails from any computer. Your files are saved by Google instead of on one computer like most mail accounts.

So if you want one of these accounts scoot on over to Blackfive or In Bills World and see what you can do. They are both offering these to any active duty member from any branch of service.

Thanks for pointing me in this direction Bill, I truly appreciate you thinking of me!

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 05:26 PM | Comments (1)

September 01, 2004

"Oops I Only Heard Part Of The Statement And Took It Out Of Context"

As we all know it is election time. In the final weeks of the campaign the fecal matter will surely strike the rotating oscillator.

The mud flinging will pick up and the biased media will misuse and abuse any and everything the opposing opinion says, prints or advertises (Yes I realize that applies to both parties).

On the 30th of August I wrote a post (Dated 2 Nov 04) entitled Make Your Vote Count. The purpose of the post was to provide links so that service members, both at home and abroad, could contact the appropriate agencies to either register to vote or ensure that they receive and properly submit an absentee ballot. Link, forward and trackback the election post; the links could be invaluable to a service member.

Being the Pro Bush/Anti Jean Fux sKerry blogger that I am I did take a few jabs at Waffles. Well this is my site so I really don't care if you disagree or dislike it.

My Father and I clearly disagree about the candidates. Please realize this is a rarity, on most issues and events I tend to agree with my Father very much. I have called my Father "my hero" on more than one occasion and I meant it. I have been blessed with a great Father and a great childhood. I couldn't have asked for more.

That aside, I need to respond to a comment left by PappaSlagle in my Election Post. PappaSlagle made issue with a statement made by The President. In an interview GW was quoted as saying, "We can't Win the War on Terror".

First of all I agree that the statement by itself is a bit damning for a President whose claim to fame are the actions of the US post 9/11. However, what kind of a naive retard believes that one country, albeit the most powerful on Earth, could possibly single handedly put a stop to all terrorism.

Second, like most things 'quoted' by the left they chose to only include what they felt was the most damaging.

Take a look at Blogs For Bush and read the entire text of the conversation.

Here is a portion of it:

Lauer: “Have you ever thought, President Bush, about what the first four years of your presidency might have been like were it not for 9/11?” President Bush: “No, I haven't because I haven't had that luxury. Well, I haven't had the luxury because it was defined by 9/11. You know every day, as I tell the people, every day I wake up thinking about how better to protect America. It’s just the nature of the presidency right now--one of those moments in history that is a defining moment for all of us. I really haven't sat down and had that luxury of thinking what it'd be like.”

Lauer: “You said to me a second ago, one of the things you'll lay out in your vision for the next four years is how to go about winning the war on terror. That phrase strikes me a little bit. Do you really think we can win this war on terror in the next four years?”

President Bush: “I have never said we can win it in four years.”

Lauer: “So I’m just saying can we win it? Do you see that?”

President Bush: “I don't think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world –- let's put it that way. I have a two-pronged strategy. On the one hand is to find them before they hurt us, and that's necessary. I’m telling you it's necessary. The country must never yield, must never show weakness [and] must continue to lead. To find al-Qaida affiliates who are hiding around the world and … harm us and bring ‘em to justice –- we're doing a good job of it. I mean we are dismantling the al-Qaidaas we knew it. The long-term strategy is to spread freedom and liberty, and that's really kind of an interesting debate. You know there's some who say well, ‘You know certain people can't self govern and accept, you know, a former democracy.’ I just strongly disagree with that. I believe that democracy can take hold in parts of the world that are now non-democratic and I think it's necessary in order to defeat the ideologies of hate. History has shown that it can work, that spreading liberty does work. After all, Japan is our close ally and my dad fought against the Japanese. Prime Minister Koizumi, is one of the closest collaborators I have in working to make the world a more peaceful place.”

Now, having read that portion of the statement somehow it just doesn't have the damning impact the left was looking for now does it?

Disclaimer: no Father/Son relationships were harmed in the making of this post.

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 06:35 PM | Comments (6)