Abuse in Guantanamo?

No one doubts the handful of abuses that have taken place at the prison in Guantanamo.

There are those who will go out of their way to tell you how these abuses are ordered from on-high, without explaining why only a few are following these imaginary orders. They'll also selectively ignore the fact that the military is a microcosm of the U.S. population and - just as there are Americans who will not follow the rules, there are service members who do not follow the rules as well.

While these same people are (intentionally?) misleading you about the prisoner abuses, they're also conveniently leaving-out the rest of the story.

Duncan Hunter, House Armed Service Cmte Chairman, recently sent for the menu at Guantanamo - so the average American could fully grasp the extent to which we are brutalizing these prisoners. On the menu for last Sunday:

- Orange glazed chicken
- Fresh fruit
- Steamed peas and mushrooms, and
- Rice pilaf

Want to know what one of these abuses these prisoners had to endure was?

- Eating the same Meal Ready to Eat (MRE) that American Soldiers eat on a regular basis.

That's torture?

Want to know what one of these abuses these prisoners had to endure was?

So, while the prisoners are eating better than they ever have, they're also receiving copies of their holy book - the Quran - at U.S. taxpayer expense. Additionally, their five-times-per-day prayer schedule is reinforced by their American torturers.

How's about these critics tell you that we're not even permitted to carry our religious books in many of the countries our captives call home... and God save us should we be so brazen as to pray in front of them just once - forget five times a day!

Granted, many of the critics would just assume defecate on American service members than deliver the complete truth about the prisons, but let's remove me and my comrades from the picture for just a second. These critics are cut from the same cloth that has brought milk and cookies to the American prison system. How do you suppose the critics are going to reconcile that the military feeds its prisoners better than the prison system feeds its prisoners?

It's things like the menu and religious freedom that are reinforced from our leadership, not torture. Anyone who wants to pretend otherwise knows better - and will stop at nothing to regain partisan power. Their goal is not to provide leadership, but to weild power... and that goal is no different than the goal of terrorists worldwide.

Is it any wonder the critics aren't telling the truth about the abuses in Guantanamo? The true abuses lie in the critics' abuse of the whole truth. Had any of them the courage to serve - and find out for themselves firsthand - they might realize that truth.

The Truth About Hillary

John Kerry never did go after The SwiftBoat Vets for the claims they were making against Kerry. You'd think if Kerry knew those claims were false, he'd have taken them to the cleaners.
That Kerry chose to not do so, speaks volumes.

Enter Edward Klein, who pretty much lays it on the line in his new book The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She'll Go To Become President.
Klein makes some pretty crude accusations about the night Chelsea was conceived - and the Clinton camp is, well... pissed. Drudge reports a close aide of Hillary's was quoted as saying, "Mrs. Clinton told me she would considering suing him for outright libel," and "This is the right wing attack machine on crack!"

We shall see...

Klein either is telling the truth - and ought to be able to prove his claims, or he is lying - and Hillary ought to be able to nail him for libel.

Klein, however, is an unlikely member of the "right wing attack machine." He is the former editor of Newsweek, former editor-in-chief of The New York Times Magazine, and is a frequent contributor to Vanity Fair and Parade magazines. These aren't exactly bastions of right-wing attack media..

It's going to get interesting...

Thanks Howie

Howard Dean says the Republicans are "pretty much a white, Christian party."
Thanks Howie! Thanks for making it that much more likely that moderates and conservatives will maintain and likely increase their influence in politics. Lucky me... a birthday present a day early!

Democrats, Socialists, etc... If you don't like this, I'd recommend doing something about Howie and the rhetoric of the far-left, but I wouldn't blame the right for putting Howie in power. That was the product of your collective decisions, not someone else's.
With that - I dunno how many times I've gotta remind you that you simply can not win national elections by hating the other guy... not even by really hating the other guy. It didn't work in '04 - and driving the party further to the left on the way to '08 will only weaken the party even more.

I stand by my prediction that our generation will see the rise of a legitimate third party... and Howie's my ace in the hole.



Update: Meanwhile, back at the ranch... RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman is Jewish, not Christian. How much more "Ready. Fire. Aim!" does the left truly want to TOLERATE from their DNC Chair?!

Supreme Court Backs Marijuana Laws

Dealing a well-deserved blow to those who prefer that our justices legislate from the bench, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that state's "medical" marijuana laws do not trump the federal ban on the drug.

Writing the 6-3 decision, Justice John Paul Stevens realized the necessity in offering-up a civics lesson to those who don't know how the law works. He reminded them that Congress may change the law to allow medical use of marijuana.

The ruling allows Federal authorities to prosecute "medical" marijuana users under the Controlled Substances Act.

What I don't get is why "medical" marijuana users would choose uncontrolled delivery of a drug containing over 400 chemicals, of which, less than 10% have been studied - especially when perfectly legal and viable alternatives, with controlled delivery rates, exist.

That's right, true Medical Marijuana already exists. It's called Marinol, only it's controlled - and you don't load a bunch into a bowl and smoke away. If someone truly needs medical marijuana, they should truly talk to their doctor about the legal alternatives.

Boycott Newsweek

Mark Whitaker, editor of Newsweek, writes "We regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the U.S. soldiers caught in its midst."

Uh, Mark? You think you're a bit frickin late there?!

In your drive to sell another magazine your print incorrect information about the Koran flushing incident based on a "knowledgeable government source" who later stated he could not be certain he had seen an account of the incident in the military report he supposedly quoted?

Did you ass wipes not learn a thing from Rathergate? Is it so important for you to trash the military or attempt to embarass the administration that you rush to press with un-verified, or un-verifiable information? Does journalistic integrity mean nothing to you, as well?

The violence that your bogus news report caused has cost - so far - 16 people their lives and more than 100 others have been injured. And you? You're sympathetic? How sweet. I'm sure that will assuage the victims created by your journalistic endeavors.

Where do you and your magazine get off, Mark? How's about you go and spend time with each of the families who have lost a loved one because you don't care enough to verify a story? When you're done with that, you can go visit every single one of the people your piss poor reporting has got injured. And when you're done with that... if you don't have the integrity to launch yourself off a cliff - how's about if you report to the nearest Mosque and try doing what you claimed our interrogators did. Then, maybe then... you'll get your due.

Lawrence DiRita of the Pentagon got it right about the supposed credible source when he said, "People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said. How could he be credible now?" Michael Isikoff and John Barry, the authors of the original story, ought to be proud of themselves - and hanging from the same rope Newsweek's "leadership" hangs itself from... right after they give-up their supposed "credible source."

Newsweek, however, plans no disciplinary action against their staff. They claim to have attempted to be transparent about exactly what happened... and they leave it to their readers to judge them.

Transparency? Give up the name of your source, you pieces of shit, or you're going the way of Dan Rather. How's that for transparent?

I hope your readers... your former readers anyway... launch a boycott on Newsweek. I'm certainly not spending another dime on that rag.

I'm going to stick to the 50% Fact-checking Department at The Enquirer where the Bat-Boy story is more credible than Newsweek's tripe. At least the Enquirer isn't getting anyone killed in mass riots based on their stories.

Boycott Newsweek

Learn to Dissect a Living Dog!

Wanna learn how to dissect a living dog?!

I know you do...

You can learn how at Gunnison Valley High School, in Gunnison, Utah. No kidding.
Substitute biology "teacher," Doug Bjerregaard thinks it's a "good experience if (students) could see the digestive system in the living animal."

Kirk Anderson, the school's principal, agrees. He explains the dog was going to be euthanized anyway. So, like... duh.... it's cool, then.

Despite the student/parent/community uproar, Bjerregaard is standing by his decision and Principal Anderson supports the lesson and will allow it to continue because "the students are learning."

You think?!

Those students would be learning if we did the same thing with a human! And hey, why not?! We already cut loose with Terri Schiavo! What's one more?!

What in the HELL are these people thinking?!

Give them a piece of your mind...
Gunnison Valley High School
(435) 528-7256

Doug Bjerregaard, apparently, also the Mayor of Mayfield Town, Utah
(435) 528-3255 .... until I confirm with WKMG, try not bugging the Mayor, but my call is in it to John at WKMG - and I'm waiting...

Kirk Anderson
kirk.anderson@ssanpete.k12.ut.us
and the phone number at Gunnison Valley HS


... send them my regards.

PFC England

As trainees in Basic Training, each and every one of us are drilled beyond the point of indoctrination that each and every one of us have the General Military Authority and the Duty to refuse to carry-out illegal orders.

That Authority is rooted, at least partially, in our Duty to preserve the Dignity and Integrity of our fellow man... comrade, enemy, or otherwise.

So, what the hell does that mean?

It means we each have they duty and authority to refuse to carry out illegal orders and none of us are left confused about it. I don't know how to break it down any further... it's that plain and simple.

Unless, of course, you find yourself in the midst of Abu Ghraib and your Defense Lawyers feel like pinning your hopes to a Barrel of Monkeys defense.

Stacked on top of PFC England's Barrel of Monkeys defense is the mercy-appeal... er, uh - claim that she was oxygen-deprived at birth.

Oxygen deprived...

Lucky for Lynndie, she's not up for Capital Punishment - or who knows, she could be facing the Schiavo sentence: death by starvation and dehydration.

Still, regardlesss of what the presumably competent defense team pulls out of their keister, PFC England knew what her Rights and Duties were... and she blew them off to join in with the others.

She wants leniency?

Talk to me after she personally apologizes to each of her victims and their families... then I'll consider an appeal for mercy.

She's lucky I'm not on the jury.


* I speak for myself and in no way represent an official position of any part of the United States Military.

Hillary's Selective Memory on DPRK Nukes

Along comes Hillary - slinging her selective memory regarding the DPRK's nuclear abilities...

She blames President Bush for North Korea's ability to hit the Northwestern United States with an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). "They couldn't do that when George Bush became President, and now they can," she says.
Nevermind the fact that North Korea developed the ability to produce nuclear weapons in 1999, when her husband was defiling the Oval Office.

Guess what?

Clinton GAVE Kim Jong-Il nuclear technology in exchange for the promise that he wouldn't make weapons. This, despite a House Advisory Group's warning that if Kim Jong-Il broke his promise, he would have the capacity to produce nearly 500 Kilograms of plutonium each year. That's enough for 100 nuclear bombs per year.

The Clinton-Gore fiasco went against nine previous U.S. administrations in 1994 and made North Korea not only the largest recipient of U.S. Foreign Aid in the Asia-Pacific, but they stipulated that aid would primarily fund the construction of nuclear reactors worth up to $6 Billion.

Oh, and that advisory group that Clinton-Gore ignored (no doubt in favor of a publicity poll) - that advisory group warned that North Korea would soon be able to hit the U.S. with ICBMs due to Clinton's facilitation of North Korea's nuclear programs.

How much dee-ploh-muh-see would Hillary and friends like to see before we go and deal with Kim Jong-Il on more certain terms? Another 12 years, perhaps? 17 more failed UN Security Council Resolutions?

Or, should we pretend that a "man" who is content to let his countrymen subsist on worms, grass and tree bark so his military can stay strong is stable enough to handle nuclear weaponry?

Crimeless Victim

It appears this will be my new home... for now.

AOL has decided the yank my long-standing journal from their space due to a violation they refuse to identify. They, actually Mark Gurmmond who claims to be the "highest" level of customer satis... no... dissatisfaction, identified the specific "violating" entry and the existence of a "pro-bulimia" link in that entry, but would not expand on the "violation."

In review, the only link to any bulimia site in that entry is a webmd-aol link supported by AOL which provides medical information regarding the disease. It is NOT a "pro-bulimia" link. If it were, then it could accurately be stated that AOL hosts a "pro-bulimia" site.

Until AOL gets their collective IQ of 6 together and tanks my interim AOL Journal, you can check the AOL Customer Service Chronicles at http://journals.aol.com/armandt/sense1 ... but not for long, I'm sure.

Victimless Crime

Does anyone contend, anymore, that there is such a thing as a victimless crime?

I know of a few people who still try and sell prostitution, and gambling as "victimless" ... and it simply makes no sense!