Cape League Baseball...America's Game played in Diamonds by the Sea....

Cape League Baseball is and has been the best showcase for what Baseball is really all about - playing for the "Love of the Game"...I have been lucky to be able to see about 45 seasons of it and all have been a great experience....I cheer my town's team, The Cotuit Kettleers, on to victory, and they have been a great team to follow.....here's some words about it from the WSJ...

Take in a game, you won't be dissapointed.

The Amateur's Big League
By SKIP ROZIN WSJ
Cape Cod, Mass.

Tired of big-league baseball—of paying about $50 for a typical bleacher or top-deck seat at a Yankee or Red Sox game, only to cringe among beer-swilling fans and watch superrich players unwilling to run-out ground balls? Welcome to the Cape Cod league, where admission is free, no booze is allowed and everybody hustles.

On paper, the Cape Cod Baseball League resembles most other summer leagues, where college-age athletes play 30 to 45 games. But it is during real, live baseball that this league stands out.

This is Cape Cod, one of America's favorite vacation spots, a finger of land in the Atlantic Ocean. From mid-June to mid-August, residents and tourists can enjoy golf or the beach and then watch the very best amateur players. They're here to impress major-league scouts who, equipped with note pads, stopwatches and radar guns, decide who to draft next year or how much to offer this year's crop.

"The Cape Cod League is the big leagues of amateur baseball," said Matt Merullo earlier this summer; he's an Arizona Diamondbacks scout, a former player in the Cape league and the majors. "Other leagues have good players, but the competition doesn't compare."

The league is proud of its record, with 217 alumni in the majors in 2009. But those 217 came from 17 Cape seasons; the odds are against players in any one summer. Still, the fantasy burns bright. "Historically, guys who get to the Cape not only get drafted but go to the major leagues—that's my dream," said outfielder Steve Selsky, son of a former major leaguer and now in his second Cape league season.

Few of the locals who populated the league at its birth—in 1885 or 1923, depending on your source—had such dreams. Now, with teams in Bourne, Brewster, Chatham, Cotuit, Falmouth, Harwich, Hyannis, Orleans and Yarmouth-Dennis on the Cape and Wareham across the bridge, they are rampant. Credit two changes: switching in the mid-'60s to all college players, and converting in 1985 to wood from aluminum bats, still popular in high school and college.

This combination draws scouts, who cannot accurately assess potential professional hitters or pitchers when aluminum bats are used, and are delighted to view 10 teams no more than 50 miles apart, the distance from Orleans in the east to Wareham in the west. All this attention draws the best college talent and offers a boost toward the pros; Tim Lincecum, Mark Teixeira, Kevin Youkilis, Chase Utley and Carlos Peña were all 2009 All-Stars who played here.

But this is more than about launching careers. The Cape experience separates itself from a pro-sports model that deifies talent. All players, no matter how highly touted, stay with host families, renting a spare room for $50 to $75 a week. The teams reimburse players about $250 for travel, and those needing additional expense money are offered jobs, either at the youth clinics the clubs use as fund- raisers or at a local business.

And while players are selected for their baseball skills, behavior counts. "We want players who are gentlemen and can fit in with the host family—host families are that important," says Cotuit manager Mike Roberts. "I don't want jerks."

The league, a tax-exempt nonprofit organization, could not function without community support. While field managers, coaches and umpires are paid, volunteers fill all league and team administrative posts. The more than $2 million budget comes from national and regional sponsors, club fund-raisers and donations given at each game. As it does with other wood-bat leagues, Major League Baseball gives an annual grant reported to be $100,000, a figure unconfirmed by the league.

The Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce estimates that the league boosts the local economy by more than $2.6 million every summer, calculated from the nights spent and food eaten by family members and friends of players and coaches, scouts and fans who are attracted to games. Furthermore, league volunteers collect food for needy Cape families at Thanksgiving, ring Salvation Army bells at Christmas and work on the annual March of Dimes telethon. "We ask fans to come out and support us all summer long," said league president Judy Walden Scarafile. "The flip side of that is that we need to do our part to support the community."

But it starts with baseball. Games are redolent of this place and its people. While attendance early in the season is sparse—only 600 showed up for the opening game in Wareham on June 13—by July, when school is out and tourists abound, crowds often reach 1,800. Stands fill early, and at Eldredge Park in Orleans, where the preferred seating is on the terraced hill behind first base, beach chairs and towels are positioned long before the first pitch, marking places for fans who return at game time. Dress is casual; pets are common.

Nature is the X factor here. Even the hottest days end with cool evening breezes. Rain canceled 65 games last season—64 were made up—and fog rolls in thick enough to suspend play. A pair of red tailed hawks likes to dive across Veterans Field in Chatham during late innings; at Hyannis's McKeon Field, two ospreys nested in the old right-center field lights in the 1990s, prompting the club to turn them off so the hot bulbs wouldn't cause fire. (New lights were installed in 2007 with a platform for the birds.)

This is the stuff of Cape Cod baseball, where everybody plays hard but winning is secondary. "We're not here for wins and losses as much as the player's development," says John Schiffner, manager of the Chatham Anglers. Harwich manager Steve Englert agrees: "Winning is just not the end-all."

Such thinking is antithetical to big-time sports, but a good fit here. Mike Bordick played only three weeks on the Cape in 1986 before signing with Oakland and playing 14 years with four major-league teams. "Back then, you're going to the beach and playing the game you love—it's just great," he said in a telephone interview. "Later, when you get signed and money enters into it, everything changes."

Even when big-league dreams come true, a Cape league summer is an experience to be savored.

Mr. Rozin writes about sports for the Wall Street Journal.

The Third Depression....Harsher Measures to Follow...

Not that I want to throw a wet blanket on anyone's hopes, but it seems we are in for a round of " Harsher Measues to Follow".

The picture painted by this Noble Prize winning Economist is NOT rosy and if anything, makes me really wonder how much longer we will need to wait before we see improvement....After all, while I appreciate my job, I really, really, (REALLY) don't want to be out here in the AFGHN wasteland for too long a period of time....Glad to work, glad to have to job, good company, just like to be able to be home on a more regular basis if you know what I mean...ugh!

Here is the wet blanket - guess we are all in for a bumpy ride....make sure your seatbelt is fastened and your tray-table is in its locked and upright position.....

NY TIMES - June 27, 2010

The Third Depression
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Recessions are common; depressions are rare. As far as I can tell, there were only two eras in economic history that were widely described as “depressions” at the time: the years of deflation and instability that followed the Panic of 1873 and the years of mass unemployment that followed the financial crisis of 1929-31.

Neither the Long Depression of the 19th century nor the Great Depression of the 20th was an era of nonstop decline — on the contrary, both included periods when the economy grew. But these episodes of improvement were never enough to undo the damage from the initial slump, and were followed by relapses.

We are now, I fear, in the early stages of a third depression. It will probably look more like the Long Depression than the much more severe Great Depression. But the cost — to the world economy and, above all, to the millions of lives blighted by the absence of jobs — will nonetheless be immense.

And this third depression will be primarily a failure of policy. Around the world — most recently at last weekend’s deeply discouraging G-20 meeting — governments are obsessing about inflation when the real threat is deflation, preaching the need for belt-tightening when the real problem is inadequate spending.

In 2008 and 2009, it seemed as if we might have learned from history. Unlike their predecessors, who raised interest rates in the face of financial crisis, the current leaders of the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank slashed rates and moved to support credit markets. Unlike governments of the past, which tried to balance budgets in the face of a plunging economy, today’s governments allowed deficits to rise. And better policies helped the world avoid complete collapse: the recession brought on by the financial crisis arguably ended last summer.

But future historians will tell us that this wasn’t the end of the third depression, just as the business upturn that began in 1933 wasn’t the end of the Great Depression. After all, unemployment — especially long-term unemployment — remains at levels that would have been considered catastrophic not long ago, and shows no sign of coming down rapidly. And both the United States and Europe are well on their way toward Japan-style deflationary traps.

In the face of this grim picture, you might have expected policy makers to realize that they haven’t yet done enough to promote recovery. But no: over the last few months there has been a stunning resurgence of hard-money and balanced-budget orthodoxy.

As far as rhetoric is concerned, the revival of the old-time religion is most evident in Europe, where officials seem to be getting their talking points from the collected speeches of Herbert Hoover, up to and including the claim that raising taxes and cutting spending will actually expand the economy, by improving business confidence. As a practical matter, however, America isn’t doing much better. The Fed seems aware of the deflationary risks — but what it proposes to do about these risks is, well, nothing. The Obama administration understands the dangers of premature fiscal austerity — but because Republicans and conservative Democrats in Congress won’t authorize additional aid to state governments, that austerity is coming anyway, in the form of budget cuts at the state and local levels.

Why the wrong turn in policy? The hard-liners often invoke the troubles facing Greece and other nations around the edges of Europe to justify their actions. And it’s true that bond investors have turned on governments with intractable deficits. But there is no evidence that short-run fiscal austerity in the face of a depressed economy reassures investors. On the contrary: Greece has agreed to harsh austerity, only to find its risk spreads growing ever wider; Ireland has imposed savage cuts in public spending, only to be treated by the markets as a worse risk than Spain, which has been far more reluctant to take the hard-liners’ medicine.

It’s almost as if the financial markets understand what policy makers seemingly don’t: that while long-term fiscal responsibility is important, slashing spending in the midst of a depression, which deepens that depression and paves the way for deflation, is actually self-defeating.

So I don’t think this is really about Greece, or indeed about any realistic appreciation of the tradeoffs between deficits and jobs. It is, instead, the victory of an orthodoxy that has little to do with rational analysis, whose main tenet is that imposing suffering on other people is how you show leadership in tough times.

And who will pay the price for this triumph of orthodoxy? The answer is, tens of millions of unemployed workers, many of whom will go jobless for years, and some of whom will never work again.

Beliefs

Beliefs –

I saw that there was a webpage posted by a highly regarded milblogger about what he stated were his beliefs…..this sounded like a healthy exercise in putting some thoughts on paper ….or electronic webpage as it were….Here’s my swipe at it…tried not to get too wordy (sorry) but needed to cover the subject well:

I believe in the US Constitution and have sworn to uphold it against all enemies foreign & domestic; including willingly giving my life to defend it…Retirement from the military has not altered this agreement nor will any condition alter it during my lifetime.

I believe in the USA….always have, always will. My country is a global force for good as we are and have been the last best hope for much of mankind. That said, I believe that the less intervention Government has in our lives, the better. Our Government is a model for others and in need of constant updates/revision as it is an ever changing entity and in need of constant improvement. Our Government is designed to serve the people, and not the other way around.

I believe in the inherent goodness of people and have an optimistic outlook on humanity as a whole, well grounded with a firm understanding of the demonstrated history of man’s inhumanity towards his fellow man and all other living creatures. Free will was given to us by our creator along with all the responsibility that comes with it.

I believe History is an important subject and one that too many ignore – we can learn more about ourselves through history than many other fields of study….History is a deep and fascinating subject as it is more compelling than any piece of fiction written.

I believe that my wife and I are truly meant for each other as God has a wry sense of humor…My Wife has been the best thing in my life and has made me a better person, as I hope I have done for her also. That said, I know that we are in love, a love that is our blessing in this life and that our love is sacred. She is the one I love and I have pledged my life to her, in all ways, in all manner as she has also done for me.

I believe that Family is one of the most important factors in life and one the shapes us all….Family can be good and families can also have issues….Parenting is the toughest task you will ever take on but one that returns the greatest rewards – I believe Children need parents who are their moral teachers and life-leaders – That they need love, affection and most of all to be taught a sense of responsibility. This job is a lifetime appointment.

I believe that we are not here by accident and that we all have a purpose in this life, ordained by a heavenly God. The idea that any one religious belief has moral or ideological superiority over others is somewhat amusing as I feel that those that preach that ideal will be in for a rude awakening when they do finally meet their maker. Like many things, religious beliefs can be misused and that is a travesty. I feel that the ideal of religious freedom is one that is sacrosanct, and included in the US Bill of Rights as it was one of the reasons our country was founded. Kinda important if you ask me….

I believe that we all will have an opportunity to obtain everlasting life through our belief in our God and I will look forward to meeting with Him to discuss this issue in approximately 50-60 years from now or longer.

I believe in the Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, Boston Bruins and the Boston Celtics as they are the best representatives of our modern major league sporting teams. I also believe that most of the players are highly over-paid for playing games that are inherently designed for fun, not as money making enterprises. Nonetheless, I understand that people will pay the price to attend and watch the games, so more power to them.

I believe in not allowing the enemies of free men to go unchallenged and assisting all who seek to be free. This is accomplished through many means up to and including sending young men & women to defend liberty where it is in the most dire straits…This has been the course our country has chartered for the past 234 years or so….it is what separates us from the timid and less capable countries and those who will be conquered because they lack the understanding that Freedom is not free.

I believe in the United States Navy and all that she represents….Her history is one that has shaped the nation and the world….We (Navy & Marine Corps Veterans) are her legacy and we will always represent the ideals of Honor, Courage & Commitment. I also believe that the Navy will prevail at the ARMY-NAVY game in December….as it should be.

I believe in the friends I have cultivated through my life and that I owe them a great debt as they have been instrumental in assisting me along life’s path. The friends I have are like family and I treasure each and every one of them. They are the people who have made life’s journey enjoyable and well worth taking…I also believe a few of them are serious knuckleheads and would not want them to change one bit. I also believe in sharing a good cigar & beer with them is a great exercise in what friendship should be ….a lifelong relationship built on trust, admiration and learning from each other.

I believe in working on old cars is one of the pure joys in life as the automobile significantly shaped our American life…..The enjoyment imbued in the design, function and simplicity of all older vehicles (those built before 1975) is something that is sorely missing in the computerized and overcomplicated pieces of junk the automakers are producing these days. Regulations and a push to lighten autos has taken away some of the things that made the older cars superior. The older cars were built to LAST and made of steel….steel that would protect the occupants and give the car character…..chrome, tailfins, large steering wheels and large engines….all things related to internal combustion engines and automobiles are very cool….some cooler than others obviously.

I believe in the following companies as they have made awesome machines and products – Chevrolet, Pontiac, GM, Porsche, Volkswagen, Bugatti, All companies past & present that produced outstanding military vehicles such as North American, Vought, Curtis-Wright, Grumman, Northrop, Bell, etc. etc. – They have provided the things that have taken us to all four corners of our globe and back….I also deeply believe in Man’s exploration of Space and all that it represents as we travel beyond the shores of our small and beautiful globe.

I believe in our unbreakable bond with our K-9 companions – 15000 years ago or so we made an unwritten, unspoken pact with their ancestors…We would provide warmth, shelter and easy access to food…in return, they would protect us from the things that lurked in the darkness that wanted to harm us or have us for dinner….This pact has been unbroken since and likely is that longest unbroken agreement in the history of man.

I believe in the following words regarding our K-9 Companions: "He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." – Author Unknown

I believe in the beauty of music, art, film & the written word…all these things have increased our understanding of the human condition and provided great insight into humanity as a whole…..Music is something I would find very difficult to live without...I also believe in Scientific research & knowledge as it will supply us with the answers to many things that have plagued mankind…..Science is a tool and like many tools, it can be used for ultimate good and ultimate evil if misused.

Lastly, I believe whole heartedly in the concept of Honor, and that it is one area where all good men of conscience cannot compromise – I came across these words, spoken by US Senator John McCain when he was presented the Profiles in Courage award by the John F. Kennedy Museum in 1999 for his political courage, and I believe in these words with all my heart and my soul:

“ I wish I could pretend to you and to myself that my efforts were comparable to the courage with which I have seen many good men live and die, and whose inspiration has given me heart in difficult times. But I cannot. For my actions are less a profile in courage than a profile in shame.

When I was a young man, and all glory was self-glory, I responded aggressively and often irresponsibly to anyone who questioned my honor.…. But as I grew older, and the challenges to my self-respect became more varied and difficult, I was surprised to discover that while my sense of honor had matured, its defense mattered even more to me than it did when I believed that honor was such a frail thing that any empty challenge could threaten it.

The courage of the living and the dead taught me that. They taught me to dread dishonor above all other injuries.”

Remarks delivered by U.S. Senator John McCain, recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award Ceremony, awarded on May 24, 1999 at the JFK Library in Boston, MA.

This list is a living document and will be subject to update as life goes on…hope you find some nuggets of truth herein. I also firmly believe that I will need a beer or two once I get on R&R….oh yeah,that's something I really believe in...

McChrystal for (Fill in the blank here)

There is an interesting OPED piece by Frank Rich at the NYT today.....

" The 36 Hours That Shook Washington " - While it goes into some of the "back story" regarding the Sacking of the General, it touches on some themes that lead me to another place.

" What we saw was this: 1) Much of the Beltway establishment was blindsided by Michael Hastings’s scoop, an impressive feat of journalism by a Washington outsider who seemed to know more about what was going on in Washington than most insiders did; 2) Obama’s failure to fire McChrystal months ago for both his arrogance and incompetence was a grievous mistake that illuminates a wider management shortfall at the White House; 3) The present strategy has produced no progress in this nearly nine-year-old war, even as the monthly coalition body count has just reached a new high. "

The casual reader will know that there is much there "in-between" the lines as there is in the words that were written. The indictment of the culture of WASH DC and the present Administration is evident in the anti-incumbent fever that is sweeping the land.

So that leads us to the next point, who better to take on the festering system that is our Government than a Military Leader who has a great disdain for all that represents bloated, ineffective and inefficent systems & structures. This clip from the Rolling Stone article illustrates the point perfectly:

'How'd I get screwed into going to this dinner?" demands Gen. Stanley McChrystal. It's a Thursday night in mid-April, and the commander of all U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan is sitting in a four-star suite at the Hôtel Westminster in Paris. He's in France to sell his new war strategy to our NATO allies – to keep up the fiction, in essence, that we actually have allies.....

"The dinner comes with the position, sir," says his chief of staff, Col. Charlie Flynn.
McChrystal turns sharply in his chair.

"Hey, Charlie," he asks, "does this come with the position?"
McChrystal gives him the middle finger.

Dressed in off-the-rack civilian casual – blue tie, button-down shirt, dress slacks – McChrystal is way out of his comfort zone. Paris, as one of his advisers says, is the "most anti-McChrystal city you can imagine." The general hates fancy restaurants, rejecting any place with candles on the tables as too "Gucci."...

McChrystal takes a final look around the suite. At 55, he is gaunt and lean, not unlike an older version of Christian Bale in Rescue Dawn. His slate-blue eyes have the unsettling ability to drill down when they lock on you. If you've (f'ed) up or disappointed him, they can destroy your soul without the need for him to raise his voice.

"I'd rather have my ass kicked by a roomful of people than go out to this dinner," McChrystal says.
He pauses a beat.

"Unfortunately," he adds, "no one in this room could do it."
With that, he's out the door."

The key point illustrated is that he is a " Pattonesque" leader who has been tried in the fires-of-battle that would wither the average politician who has never even heard a shot fired in anger....His mettle is genuine, brusk and decidedly UN-P.C., which is the breath-of-fresh air that sorely needs to be interjected into the whole of WASH DC.

He has not been adverse to making some unpopular decisions also. Taking the Burger King & other fast food joints out of AFGHN FOBs as they were unrequired went over like a lead-balloon with the troops but he stood by the decsions as it was likely what was best. We NEED leaders who will know what MUST be done, regardless of the popularity factor. That is the sign of a true leader.

McChrystal also has baggage, as he was involved in the Pat Tillman issue, and that has yet to be finalized to many people's satisfaction. Regardless, as Colin Powell has rejected the political path, the " Insurgent General " might be the very answer to our country's issues with putting someone in power who can deal with the " Wimps in Washington"

Gotta be a far sight better than the empty-suit who occupies the office presently. No doubt about it.

I would relish seeing a true leader that would tell the establishment that there's a new sheriff in town, and he doesn't play by the old rules, in fact, he is willing the throw the rule book out the window. In the new geo-political environement, it may be the move we need to make to keep the wolves at bay.

" Some must go to fight the Dragons" - General McChrystal understands that better than anyone else in Washington other than Senator John McCain. If we can't have McCain as POTUS, let's take a long look at McChrystal...He may be just what we need in these perilous times.

Apologies not being offered at this time...so sorry.

There has been a marked increase in the whole " Apology " concept in our society....we see daily demands from one politician that another has done something and the allegedly aggrieved person is now demanding an apology. We hear a constant stream of people from politics, business and all other spectrums demanding apologies for some slight....we see that people are being counseled to be "more sensitive" to others so as not to offend....We have POTUS running around on his " World Apology Tour" telling our allies and enemies that America is sorry for all the things we allegedly did....

Hold on, I just threw up in my mouth a little...geez.

Can I ask, “WHERE in this God's green Earth did the need for all this apologizing come from and who decided that it needed to be done in the first place???"

Google News reports that the word “Apology" in news stories generates 27,800 hits .....Are you kidding me???? What the heck happened that every little slight now must require a public lashing and an apology??? How Oprah-fied has this country become that whenever anyone complains, we all need a Dr. Phil intervention and a group dissertation AND a public apology.....Give me a Frickin break.

This all goes back to the lack of accountability that has been the hallmark of the people in power now who were the Hippies, a.k.a. as " Flower Children". They took the " Do whatever feels good" philosophy into later adulthood and raised a whole group of idiots who were told, " Well, we don't want to damage his self esteem...", as if correcting little Johnny on when he does something patently wrong would somehow wreck his psyche for life.

I have heard these idiots spouting off about, " Well we don't want to offend anyone.." - I disagree, we NEED to offend some people especially when they act like idiots and expect everyone else to tilt toward their warped view of the world....Offending some is the only way you can snap them out of their self-indulgent comas.....It is " Political Correctness" gone astray - like "Micro-management", it is a flawed concept from it's inception.

I grew up in a house where you were held accountable for your actions and also expected to follow the rules. You were also taught that the world doesn't owe you anything and you need to have a bit of a thick skin. Nowadays, we have a world full of crybabies who take any slight as reason to throw a hissy fit and demand the whole world cater to their self-indulgent sense of outrage and need for an apology.....Like we really cared about how they "feel" about anything.

Here's a clue for you little Johnny and your Parent/Leaders/Whomever who thinks they need an apology for whatever you feel has been done to you, real or imagined - and this goes especially for the alleged indignant religious fanatics who say we have defamed their beliefs - ready??

GET OVER YOURSELF....you are not the center of the universe and the world and others don't owe you an apology. You need to pull your head outta the place you stuck it, and get back to doing the work instead of focusing on the imagined slights you have manufactured...You need to have a little bit more of a thick skin.

Those of us who are adults, that have a well placed sense of honor and understand what really must be done are sick & tired of your petty arse stupidity...It was rejected by society when you were immature adolescent hippies and we STILL reject it now that you are aging politically correct hippies.

That's also why those in charge in Washington are being rejected by the American people - Pelosi, Reed, POTUS, Napolitano, Geitner - They are all from this ilk of addled brained idiots who think the world revolves around them and their view of how things "should be" is correct when in reality, the majority of clear-minded people can't stand to listen to how clueless these idiots are....That's why the November 2010 election cycle will be a joy to witness.....the idiots in WASH DC will be getting some "friendly fire" that's for sure.

The rules of how real men/women behave have not changed and the world could give a rat's arse less about your need for an apology. You haven't done anything worthy in your life and the sooner you get out of the way, the sooner the rest of us can go about the business of doing what is needed, and not worrying about your warped sense of indignation.

Waiting for an apology from me for whatever it is you think I've done to offend you??

Good Luck with that - you are in for one hell of a long wait.... you got a better chance of seeing the President show up at his next news conference in a pink party-dress than thinking I will ever subscribe to your need for an "apology" over every little slight.....or supply one to you....what a joke.

" I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you," and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest that you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to..."

That quote from A Few Good Men" just about sums it up...

I am accountable for my actions and will recognize a mistake when it is made but have no patience for the self-appointed idiots who think they have the right to inflict upon the rest of us what they believe is right/wrong in life....you have no more moral ground to stand on and definitely have no right to lecture to me, or anyone else. That is my main gripe with the Oprah/Dr. Phil idiots - They are "self-appointed" as no one told them they could be the deciders of what's right or wrong in life - they just decided to appoint themselves and expected everyone to blindly follow them.....Get lost.

It's in line with what Clint Eastwood's character Gunny Highway said to the Officer who was his perrinial pain-in-the-neck in the movie Heartbreak Ridge;

" With all due respect, sir, you're beginning to bore the hell out of me.."

Then followed up with the other line that fits from the Colonel who admired Gunny Highway for being a hard-charger and wonders why Highway and Sgt. Major Choozoo are still standing there after they finished up their assault on the enemy

Colonel Meyers: “What the hell are you two sorry assed individuals looking at? Get the hell off of my LZ !”

That's what I feel like telling these self-indulgent Oprah-fied/Dr. Phil, Hippie-philosophy, Politically correctness, apology requesting idiots can do -

Get the Hell off my LZ !

Editorial Cartoons Tell It Like It Is......

US Navy Diver Robert Stetham's Killer gets what's coming to him....IN SPADES !

Ladies & Gents - There's GOOD NEWS tonite !!!!

Lebanese citizen Mohammad Ali Hamadeh has been killed in Saturday's U.S. drone attack on al-Qaida hideout in Pakistan's North Waziristan, the German news agency DPA reported.

DPA has it that Hamadeh returned to Lebanon in December 2005 after being secretly released in Germany, where he was serving a life sentence for the 1985 hijacking of a TWA jetliner and killing of a U.S. Navy Diver Robert Stetham.

Hamadeh had been released from a German prison in 2005 on bail after spending nearly 19 years in prison.

DPA, citing intelligence information, said Hamadeh fought along Hizbullah before moving to North Waziristan where he joined "Islamic Jihad" which has links to al-Qaida.

A U.S. drone attack on Saturday destroyed an al-Qaida hideout in North Waziristan, killing 11 militants in the tribal redoubt on the Afghan border, security officials said.

AWESOME use of the technology Dude....radical !!!

The scene from the movie " The Peacemaker" resonates....George Clooney plays Col. Thomas Devoe, a bit of an old fashioned Rogue:

Col Devoe is tracking the bad guys and the run-away nukes when he calls the bad guy on this cell phone while surveiling him via satelite:

[Devoe phones Kodoroff, who is driving a truck loaded with stolen nuclear warheads]

Devoe: You watched CNN during Desert Storm. You remember all those television shots from the nose cone of the GBU missiles slammin’ into those trucks? Remember that picture? How it kept gettin’ closer and bigger on the screen…

You’d just about see the faces of those drivers and then… Zap! The picture went dead, we didn’t get to see what happened next. Well guess what, Alek? You will.

=================

To the SHITE-HEAD Terrorist bast-rd who got what was coming to him, have a nice time in Hades, where you will be spending the rest of eternity....getting what you deserve...IN SPADES.

POTUS & ARSE KICKING - No Worries, Mr. President, it's coming...

When POTUS stated he was looking to "know whose ass to kick", he couldn't have been more insightful....The American Public has been deliberating the same issue and it is likely that Barry from Chicago won't have to wait long to get the answer.....

From the WSJ/NBC poll released today:

Americans are more pessimistic about the state of the country and less confident in President Barack Obama's leadership than at any point since Mr. Obama entered the White House, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

Amid anxiety over the nation's course, support for Mr. Obama and other incumbents is eroding. For the first time, more people disapprove of Mr. Obama's job performance than approve. And 57% of voters would prefer to elect a new person to Congress than re-elect their local representatives, the highest share in 18 years.

Just 44% of Obama voters—those who voted for Mr. Obama in 2008 or told pollsters they intended to—now express high interest in the midterm elections. That's a 38-point drop from this stage in the 2008 campaign.

By contrast, 71% of voters who supported Republican John McCain in 2008 expressed high interest in this year's elections, slightly higher than their interest level at this stage in that campaign.

No worries, Mr. President - The "Arse Kicking" you've been asking about is coming.....and it will be a great time for the American people to tell you in no uncertain terms how they feel about you and your political performance.....and all the crappola your Congressional Cronies have been putting out.

Stand by for incoming...

REVISIONIST HISTORY...A HALLMARK OF THE LOONEY LEFT

I am more of a middle-of-the-road person politically....consider myself a " Jack Kennedy" sort of person - while believing that no one should be hungry or lacking a place to sleep in our great country, fiercely Conservative in all matters of Defense and fiscal policy....It was what Kennedy believed in and exhibited.....

SO....when today's DEMS act like the world doesn't remember what they did and when, it shows they are without morals or integrity.

The Media Wags are all applauding POTUS for replacing General McCrystal with General Petraus, BUT the memory of these liberal weenies is short....while the rest of us remember what they said before....

" WASHINGTON (Friday, September 21, 2007) — The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a measure condemning MoveOn.org for a newspaper ad it ran last week attacking Gen. David Petraeus. The move came as President Bush accused Democrats of cowering to the liberal political action group.

. . . Partisans also took the opportunity to slam Clinton and Obama for not voting on the amendment.

“Senators Clinton and Obama need to decide whether they’re running for America, or running for MoveOn.org. If Clinton and Obama cannot bring themselves to take a stand against a vicious attack on the man leading our forces in Iraq, why should American voters believe they are capable of demonstrating the leadership we need in a commander in chief?” said Republican National Committee chairman Mike Duncan."

HEAR, HEAR....we echo the words of the learned Gentleman from the RNC.

Liberal Idiots think we are either unable to remember or that their actions have no consequences.....both choices show them to be lacking any sense of right and wrong....

The American people are smarter than they believe and they will see what they get when November rolls around.

Some must go to fight the Dragons.....

I am writing this blog from the midst of Helmand Province, Afghanistan at Camp Leatherneck. The casual observer will note that the relation of the facts here and what is put out via the " Established Media" are two vastly different things.

I recently ordered a book titled " The Blogs of War" which is an account of War Blogs from Iraq & Afghanistan. war Blogs have provided an avenue of unfettered information on what happened here and in Iraq since 2001.

The book starts with Chapter 1, titled " Some Must Go To Fight the Dragons". It is a perfect metaphor as in our country, only some go and fight the Dragons. The rest sit in comfort and watch the effort from the sidelines while some political types try to adjust the battle from the far side of the world with a 7500 mile long screw driver....

Either way, the account is a must-read to give the reader a greater sense of what it is like to be under fire on the field of battle and what our warriors go through.

As part of the book, the author quotes a famous speech given by the Athenian leader Pericles after the first battles of the Peloponnesian war. We need to ensure that our country remembers why we have Freedom in this day - It is because " Some Must Go Fight The Dragons..."

I am humbled to be among those who have gone & fought the Dragons. My present status is acting in prime support of the Dragon-Fighters, and I share the AOR with them each day.....it is a singular privilege and one of the great perks here.....to be among such great Men & Women each day.

A quote from Pericles' Funeral Oration

" I would have you day by day fix your eyes upon the greatness of Athens, until you become filled with the love of her; and when you are impressed by the spectacle of her glory, reflect that this empire has been acquired by men who knew their duty and had the courage to do it, who in the hour of conflict had the fear of dishonor always present to them, and who, if ever they failed in an enterprise, would not allow their virtues to be lost to their country, but freely gave their lives to her as the fairest offering which they could present at her feast.

The sacrifice which they collectively made was individually repaid to them; for they received again each one for himself a praise which grows not old, and the noblest of all tombs, I speak not of that in which their remains are laid, but of that in which their glory survives, and is proclaimed always and on every fitting occasion both in word and deed. For the whole earth is the tomb of famous men; not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions in their own country, but in foreign lands there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men. "

WTF??? - WE (the US Taxpayers) are paying the Taliban (indirectly)

We need to start with Ethics 101 - The definition of the word, " Ethical"

eth·i·cal – adjective
1. pertaining to or dealing with morals or the principles of morality; pertaining to right and wrong in conduct.
2. being in accordance with the rules or standards for right conduct or practice

OK - so now that we have established what " Ethical " means, we can easily say the what our government is doing in this instance is UNETHICAL and highly immoral...we are providing funding to the bastards that are actively killing our Soldiers, Marines, Seabees and Airmen....What part of this makes sense to Anyone???

What's worse is the indifference to loss of the lives of our military by a senior official of the President's staff when asked for comment;

" I think it's much too early to draw a negative conclusion," said a senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. "I think there's more positive than negative. We're heading toward a year-end assessment, which will be a big one for us."

ARE YOU F'ing KIDDING ME?? More positive than Negative???

I believe in fighting for freedom but funding the enemy ?? "More positive than negative??"

Yes, that would be the answer from some pansy-arse who is sitting comfortable in WASH DC while our soldiers sweat it out in the 125 degree heat.

We need to stop this practice - Kudos to Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.) for taking the lead on reporting this reprehensible practice.....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/21/AR2010062104628_pf.html


U.S. indirectly paying Afghan warlords as part of security contract
By Karen DeYoungWashington Post Staff WriterTuesday, June 22, 2010;

The U.S. military is funding a massive protection racket in Afghanistan, indirectly paying tens of millions of dollars to warlords, corrupt public officials and the Taliban to ensure safe passage of its supply convoys throughout the country, according to congressional investigators.

The security arrangements, part of a $2.16 billion transport contract, violate laws on the use of private contractors, as well as Defense Department regulations, and "dramatically undermine" larger U.S. objectives of curtailing corruption and strengthening effective governance in Afghanistan, a report released late Monday said.

The report describes a Defense Department that is well aware that some of the money paid to contractors winds up in the hands of warlords and insurgents. Military logisticians on the ground are focused on getting supplies where they are needed and have "virtually no understanding of how security is actually provided" for the local truck convoys that transport more than 70 percent of all goods and materials used by U.S. troops. Alarms raised by prime trucking contractors were met by the military "with indifference and inaction," the report said.

"The findings of this report range from sobering to shocking," Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.) wrote in an introduction to the 79-page report, titled "Warlord, Inc., Extortion and Corruption Along the U.S. Supply Chain in Afghanistan."

The report found no direct evidence of payoffs to the Taliban, but one trucking program manager estimated that $1.6 million to $2 million per week goes to the insurgents.

In my humble opinion, that is $2 million per week too much.....

I support the effort to provide freedom to the Afghan people BUT not running the war effort like a three ring circus with the CLOWNS in charge.

We need to stop this practice and devote our resources to destroying the Taliban and providing freedom for the Afghan people.