The Working Patriot

Duplicity III

2006-11-12T18:33:00.000-08:00

'Curiosity killed the cat' is my password,
when you're feeling a bit frisky come and see,
The limitless and wonderful possibilities
that you will experience when I get you in that ‘V’…

A special guide is what you're in need of,
someone confident and knows his way around,
Just call me your own ‘Silver Tongued Devil',
I’ll be your personal, ‘Man around town.’

As an ora(l)tor my skills are impeccable;
and my knowledge is second to none…
When I take you there time will escape you,
‘cause you’re immersed in the dance of my tongue.

Your path is wet and things are getting slippery
and yet you will never feel so alive…
I’ll take you there, and there, and back again,
so just lay back and enjoy as I drive.

Like Lady Godiva, I’m your stallion…ride me anywhere!
Arch your back as you beckon me for more
I’ll keep you going until you're intoxicated with pleasure;
making clear my obtuse metaphors.

Seeing that tatt’ on yo' back is my plezsa,
seeing you glisten like dat, I adore.
Now you know what can be
when I get you into that 'V'
And after you nap you can come back for more.

The Drive

2006-10-23T15:35:00.000-07:00

Tucked away in the passenger-side of the backseat
He dozes off as we travel the same long country road…
His new ball cap covers his brow…
The rearview mirror shows him at peace…but is he?

A mile or so earlier…his stare was distant…sad…withdrawn…
He knows we make this trip every week.
He knows that his time has to be split between the two of us…
But each time…he stares out the window…distant…withdrawn…

I tickle him a little, just under his ribs…’Hey buddy, we’re here.’
He stirs, stretches…and looks around…
‘C’mon…get your stuff’
His movement is slow, methodical…
He’s on the border of two worlds; two worlds he wishes were the same…like they were before.
What a challenge for an eight-year-old to process.

‘I’ll be back to pick you up on Tuesday.’
Only then do I catch a glimpse of his eyes for the first time since we got in the car…
”Tuesday?!?” he asked excitedly.
‘Yeah Buddy, I’ll see you Tuesday.’
We hug tightly…

He walks up the drive transitioning into the other world,
backpack, ball cap, and pillow in hand…
I call out to him….‘I love youuu….’
“Bye Dad, I love you too!”
He exclaims as he closes the door behind him…

I start the drive back to my world…

Bad Blood

2006-10-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

No bad blood,
just pain and confusion,
about the delusion of was once a union
of marital bliss.

No bad blood,
Just faded distractions,
about how she was acting,
when the love was gone.

No bad blood,
just lives that are in shambles,
and this is the preamble;
The pain’s only begun.

No bad blood.
Pallbearers on station;
Carrying away love beyond resuscitation.
Second Line is dancing to the funeral sound,
while Saints mourn the love that they placed in the ground.

No bad blood,
Just a gaping hole;
A vortex of love,
and the death of a soul.

No light can escape.
All things are raw.
No bad blood,
from the pain that you caused.

The setting of Ages (Revised)

2006-10-02T19:50:00.000-07:00

The renaissance of man
has come to an end.
Mankind has met the Age of awakening
...by snoozing into oblivion.

The love of Architecture, of Music, of Literature, and Science
has been replaced with political correctness and sectarian violence.

Where narcissism trumps genocide and anti-Semitism trumps peace,
where apathy is a badge of honor and beheadings are on TV.

The fusion that ended wars and that powered exploration
is now the weapon of tyrants and madmen
hell bent on destroying nations.
We say there's still hope...we pray and cry out for peace
but the age of man's innocence has long been in jeopardy.

Our lives as we know them are changing for sure...
We've gone from Mutual Assured Destruction to
checking every bag at the door
of every plane and mode of transport
to every container, envelope and package
our liberties have restrained us from even dealing with this madness.

There was a time when the term 'tolerance',
meant the respect of others lives,
but now it means subjugation to hate filled radicals; less we die.
We have those who hate America. We have those who hate the Jews.
We have incident after incident chronicled on the news.

To fight back would make us warmongers,
to acquiesce would mean our deaths.
There's no possible way to appease everyone,
so the end of age is all that's left.

So enjoy life while you have it,
tomorrow there's no guarantee.
Sufficient are today's worries...
In this age of "liberty".

The renaissance of man
has come to an end.
Mankind has met the Age of awakening
...by snoozing into oblivion.

Moonrise over Julliard Boulevard

2006-09-26T18:29:00.000-07:00

I awoke last night to the sound of your name
coming from my lips.
The air was thin; the pressure suffocating.
The pressure pressing down on my chest
caused me to cry out your name!

...in pain
...in frustration
...in dispair
...for loss

Panicked, I open my eyes.
I can feel them dilate, straining and pulling for just a remnant of light;
but darkness was my only reward.
'These aren't my surroundings.'
Even in the darkness, I knew.

I reached out for you.
Not with my arms but with my spirit...my chi...my radar for those I love.
I scanned every corner; felt every corridor
but you weren't there.
The apartment was empty.
It was just me, and the sound of your name echoing through the walls.

It was just me, and the sound of your name echoing through the walls.

New Photos Coming Soon...

2006-09-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

Life's Changes

2006-09-18T10:45:00.000-07:00

One cannot predict the challenges that life will bring. One can only do their best to deal with those challenges and learn from the experience. I have been learning a great deal of late.

Attn. Illegal Immigrants: NOW HIRING

2006-07-11T07:58:00.000-07:00

That's right. You read the headline correctly. The Country of Mexico is seeking thousands to assist in the recount of their national election.

No experience, no ID, and no proof of residency is required. Just head on down to Mexico City and report to the nearest recount booth for instructions. If you're early, just rally in front of the Mexican Government buildings until called to begin the recount.

Good luck.

Axis of Weasels

2006-07-10T20:43:00.000-07:00

by Mike DiBartolo

Idn't funny how these liberal/progressive (L/P) are now criticizing the Bush Administration on how they're dealing with North Korea and Iran? When Bush called Iraq, Iran, and North Korea the "Axis of Evil" some of these L/P's 'bout blew a gasket. They couldn't understand why Bush would make such a claim.

Now, with North Korea creating instability in Central Asia and Iran threatening to wipe Israel off of the map...those same critics are now saying Bush should do more than forge a diplomatic solution. These same critics of the war in Iraq...these same people who are calling for Bush's impeachment for taking the fight to the terrorist and removing Saddam from power are now questioning why he is not using a preemptive policy when dealing with North Korea.

But it doesn't end there.

If they're not criticizing why Bush isn't implementing the "Bush Doctrine" then they are criticizing the Bush Doctrine as a failed policy.

You can't win with this nutters and they will continue to draw absolutely mindless conclusions to the world we find ourselves in. It's absolutely insane. How can anyone trust their security to these people and the political party they represent? They have taken the philosophy of attacking both sides of every issue in order to condemn all that the US is doing around the world.

On Fox I listened as Allan Colmes drilled some talking head who was invited on the Hannity & Colmes show...suggesting that the Bush Doctrine isn't working. Colmes suggested that Afghanistan and Iraq are failed democracies and that the Bush Doctrine (promoting democracies in troubled areas of the world) is a complete failure. I guess the free elections in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lebanon are failures. I guess the opening of elections in Egypt and the surrendering of WMD technology by Libya are also failed policies.

Then on CNN's 360...Anderson has some other talking head on his show talking about how Bush has abandoned his own doctrine when dealing with North Korea and Iran. They suggested that the Iraqi Front in this war on terror has stopped Bush from doing anything else around the world. No mention that Bush forewarned of these governments more than 3 years ago. No mention of our troops successes in the Horn of Africa or our intelligence success that have thwarted numerous terrorist plots around the globe. These success have occurred despite factions in the main stream press like the New York times who seem to enjoy disclosing any and all efforts to win this war regardless if the efforts are classified or not.

The L/P's are attacking the Bush administration for anything that is happening around the world. They won't mention the UN's inability to deal with North Korea. They won't mention the EU's failed attempts to stop Iran from developing WMDs. And they won't mention any US successes in the war on terror.

In the Democrat's effort to undercut the war effort in Iraq, they have fostered an atmosphere that undercuts our efforts in the overall war on terror. What is truly frightening is that in 2008 we will have a new administration who will inherit a foreign policy that is mired with 'shoulda-woulda-coulda' second guessers and they will of course point the blame elsewhere when asked about their own efforts to undermine US foreign policy.

They are the Axis of Weasels and it is they who are doing their best to sway the American people to think as they do rather than inform the American people of the world around us and how we are engaging this world in the 21st Century.

North Korea: Real Threat or barking dog?

2006-07-06T10:16:00.000-07:00

By Mike DiBartolo

If mankind has a death wish then Kim Jong-il and North Korea is leading the charge to their own destruction. Kim Jong-il is the leader of a starving nation with antiquated technology. The ability to blow a missile up or shoot it into the sea does not a nuclear power make. There's a reason why they aren't "test firing" any more missiles...they can't. Their systems are out dated and their ability to replace what they use is extremely limited.

Kim Jong-il is the Castro of the Eastern Asia. He's the barking dog in a junkyard and he poses no real threat to the US or Japan. His million man army does not even have the ability to project power off of the Korean peninsula. Kim Jong's military is the 8 track to our modern military ipod. Clinton thought he bought him off...and in a way he did. Kim Jong-il has spent all that he received back in '94 and the Bush Administration has seized the counterfeit money Jong was using to finance his shenanigans today. Jong is shooting missiles-to bark louder-to get more scraps from the US...but this time were not buying it.

Sure, we could threaten to blow N. Korea back into the dark ages, but if you've seen a recent satellite image of North Korea, then you would know that they are already there.
The main stream media continues to show us the file footage of Jong's army goose stepping across a parade square...what they should show us are the starving people of N. Korea and the decrepit infrastructure that couldn't support an open air concert let alone a military offensive.

So not to worry...Jong is a street drug peddler...who just happen to find a kilo of smack and now he wants respect from the Colombian Cartels. I say we do to N. Korea what we've done with Cuba...just ignore them.

NY Court of Appeals rules in favor of Democracy

2006-07-06T09:01:00.000-07:00

By Mike DiBartolo

In a 4-2 ruling handed down today, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that a marriage between a man and a woman did not violate the constitutional rights of same sex couples in that state.

Judge Robert Smith writing for the majority said New York's marriage law is constitutional and clearly limits marriage to between a man and a woman and that any change in the law should come from the state Legislature.

Judge Smith wrote,

"We do not predict what people will think generations from now, but we believe the present generation should have a chance to decide the issue through its elected representatives,"

This is a blow to the ACLU's campaign to change America's laws through court action rather than through the Democratic process. Four cases were filed in New York two years ago after Massachusetts' State Supreme Court ruled that Massachusetts' Constitution must be amended to include gay marriage. The Court gave the state Legislature 6 months to make the amendment to their Constitution. This Massachusetts ruling bypassed the Legislative process and gave the state court the power to legislate from the bench.

Knowing that New York would not pass a law to legalize gay marriage, the ACLU and other advocate groups tried to force the State of New York to recognize gay marriage through court action. They were hoping for the same results as Massachusetts...they were hoping that the courts would change the Constitution rather than the Legislature doing so on the people's behalf.

In his conclusion, Judge Smith writes,

"We do not imply that there are no persuasive arguments on the other side -- and we know, of course, that there are very powerful emotions on both sides of the question...

We therefore express our hope that the participants in the controversy over same-sex marriage will address their arguments to the Legislature; that the Legislature will listen and decide as wisely as it can; and that those unhappy with the result -- as many undoubtedly will be -- will respect it as people in a democratic state should respect choices democratically made."

This ruling and the deferment to the Legislative process is a shot across the bow of the ACLU. You cannot force through litigation what you fail to accomplish in legislation. It is my desire that other states facing similar challenges would look to this ruling for clarity of our democratic process. The Courts interpret the law...they do not make law. My hats off to the NY Court of Appeals.

Islamo Fascist kill two for watching a soccer match

2006-07-05T23:26:00.000-07:00

By Mike DiBartolo

Somalia, the new safe haven for Islamo Fascist who filled the vacuum left after Bill Clinton withdrew our troops from that region, have killed a business owner and a young girl for watching the semi-finals of the World Cup Match.

According to reports, Islamo Fascist gunmen loyal to the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts (SCIC) arrived to close down the cinema in the town, where a crowd had gathered to watch the Germany-Italy World Cup semi-final.

Some of the football fans began to protest and according to reports, the gunmen fired in the air in an attempt to disperse them. When this failed, shots were fired at the demonstrators and two people were killed, leaving at least four injured.

The Islamic courts, endorsed by the terror organization Al Qaeda, first began to close down cinema halls showing Hollywood and Bollywood films last year as their influence expanded, arguing that the presentations contravened their strict interpretation of Islam.

Somalia now ruled by The Islamic Courts is quickly becoming the worlds newest Taliban Government. As a result, Somalia will be a puppet government for Al Qaeda and a haven for radical Islamic extremist from all over the world.

Contributors to this report:
Chinadaily.com

Iraq IS NOT a WMD-Free Zone!

2006-07-05T08:36:00.000-07:00

by Mike DiBartolo

In a briefing held on June 29th to the House Armed Services Committee, Army Col. John Chu of the National Ground Intelligence Center and Army Lt. General Michael D. Maples, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, gave a frank assessment of the WMD program in Iraq and the potential hazard these weapons could cause if in the wrong hands.

According to Col. John Chu, there have been more than 500 weapons found in Iraq since 2003 that constitute Weapons of Mass Destruction(WMD) and though these munitions have degraded, the weapons are still very toxic and potentially lethal.

"These are chemical weapons as defined under the Chemical Weapons Convention, and yes ... they do constitute weapons of mass destruction," Army Col. John Chu told the House Armed Services Committee.

According to Samantha L. Quigley with the American Forces Press Service,

"the Chemical Weapons Convention is an arms control agreement which outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. It was signed in 1993 and entered into force in 1997."

The likelihood of more weapons being found is high. Saddam Hussein's regime carried out an elaborate hide, evade, and dissuade policy that left a great deal of the WMDs within that country unaccounted for.

"I do believe the former regime did a very poor job of accountability of munitions, and certainly did not document the destruction of munitions,"

says Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples.

"The recovery program goes on, and I do not believe we have found all the weapons."

Maples says that Iraq is not a "WMD-free zone" and that the search for WMDs is ongoing.

The main stream press has once again neglected to report on this briefing leaving the American People under the impression that WMDs were never present in Iraq following the first Gulf War. This view has been repudiated with physical WMD evidence and confirmed during this briefing with the House Armed Services Committee.

We hold these truths to be self evident...

2006-07-04T11:58:00.000-07:00

By Michael DiBartolo, The Working Patriot:

It seems fitting that the Space Shuttle Discovery fired its powerful rockets and propelled itself into space on the 4th of July, the birthday of this great nation. The US space program is as patriotic as it is scientific. The culmination of thousands of hours of preparation and thousands of components working together to lift the Shuttle and her payload into space exemplifies the American Spirit.

We face challenges head on...and at full throttle. We declare the boundaries of space an obstacle to overcome not a yoke that holds us back. The vastness of space presents opportunities to explore and the chance to discover new horizons. Just as our fore Fathers paved the way for our country to overcome the challenges we faced in the past...so too does the our space program reveal our resolve to face challenges today.

From Crispus Atticus to Martin Luther King Jr., thousands of people investing thousands of hours of their time, their energy, and their hopes for a better tomorrow, have enabled the American Dream to continue on. From George Washington to George W. Bush the American Spirit continues to overcome the obstacles we face today, never to be yoked by doubt and apprehension...blazing a path for future generations.

Just as the signers of the Declaration of Independence pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to the freedom that we all enjoy...Today, July 4th 2006, we too must renew our pledge for freedom and to the principles that have kept our country strong and united. We too must work together to elevate our nation to new horizons.

Traveling at 17,500mph the Space Shuttle Discovery will encounter a sunrise every 45 minutes for the next 13 days before they fire their thrusters and re-enter the earths atmosphere. Our nation will also encounter new horizons and we must work together, as one nation, to keep our course true to the principles that unite us.

Happy Birthday America!

It was with God's guidance and inspiration that our Nation was born and it is with His providence that we will continue on.

Shuttle's Foam Crack Could Delay Launch

2006-07-03T12:30:00.000-07:00

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA inspectors have found a small crack in the foam insulation of the space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank, prompting mission managers to discuss whether to press ahead with Tuesday's third launch attempt or stand down for repairs.

Somalia: Bin Laden Planning Chaos In Somalia

2006-07-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

Zainab Osman

(SomaliNet) According to the Somali Prime Minister,Mohammed Gedi,

"Osama Bin Laden has training camps in Somalia and is intent on plunging the country into further chaos."

North Korea threatens nuclear war against U.S.

2006-07-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

North Korea has threatened the United States with nuclear war if any pre-emptive military strikes are launched against the isolated communist country.

Did Politics fail the People?

2006-06-30T11:43:00.000-07:00

The US Supreme Court released their ruling today regarding the jurisdiction of Military Commissions (by Executive Order) to adjudicate charges against those terrorist we've captured while prosecuting our war on terror. The Court ruled in a 5 to 3 split decision that the Federal Government,

"Pursuant to Congress' Joint Resolution authorizing the President to "use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed or aided" Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), 115 Stat. 224, note following U.S.C. 1541 (2000 ed., Supp. III)

does not have the Constitutional authority to hold Military Commissions hearings in lieu of the Geneva Convention and/or historical precedence.

The Court did not rule that the Bush Administration was committing a crime, rather that the Administration did not receive the authority from the Congress to hold such hearings. The 185 page opinion states (pg. 15),

"Congress' rejection of the very language that would have achieved the results the Government urges here weighs heavily against the Government's interpretations."

In other words, Congress did not enact the War Powers Act nor did they declare war against Islamo Fascism and the terror organizations they use around the world. Instead, Congress gave Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). They played politics with our security and tied the Presidents hands with ambiguous statements of authorization. Take the Patriot Act for example; it is the direct result of Congress' inability to make a clear distinction in war so they instead have to institute different 'Acts' in order to empower the Executive Branch, which is directly responsible for the safety and security of the country.

Today's Supreme Court ruling reveals how toothless the AUMF really is. Congress should have known that our military would take prisoners in this conflict. How were they expecting the Executive Branch to deal with these prisoners? Did Congress address this issue at all? ...Obviously not. They gave an authorization without considering all that it entails. Once the Executive Branch made decisions regarding these and other issues, then members of Congress would wale and lament...stating that the Executive Branch is abusing its power. Where were they (Congress) when the Executive Branch went to Congress requesting authorization to use force? Why would their AUMF require additional 'Acts' of Congress in order for the Executive Branch to prosecute this war?

To make it clear: I agree that to award any Administration the authority to wage an open ended war against a global terror threat is a tough pill to swallow, especially when some of the enemy agents could be on our own soil. However, Congress should have dealt with these challenges in their 'Authorization'. Placing 'sunset' clauses in their Declaration could have been one way to keep the Executive Branch accountable. Not giving the Executive Branch the authority to detain, charge, and prosecute enemy combatants for their actions in the war on terror is just as egregious as not having properly armored vehicles sent to the front line to protect our troops.

Congress left the teeth out of their 'Authorization' only to have the Government challenged in our own courts by an enemy of the state; the personal driver and body guard to Osama bin Ladin. How insane is that???

Congress needs to pass a clear law/declaration/Authorization giving the Executive Branch the authority to hold Military Commission Hearings for those captured in the war on terror...PERIOD!

Congress needs to make it clear that the United States will not stop short of victory in this war on terror. Our Executive Branch as well as our military, law enforcement, border security, and intelligence services must be supported and authorized to conduct this war with only one goal in mind: Total Victory.

So, this time...let's think this through shall we? Let's not allow politics to get in the way of our security and our road to victory.

Mike DiBartolo
TWP

WMD's: From Saddam to Palestine with love...

2006-06-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

As Hans Blix and the 'No WMD's in Iraq' crowd continue to dismiss the evidence of WMDs existing in Iraq after the 1991 cease fire agreement, other terrorist groups have been able to get their hands on the very weapons we've been so concerned about.

Back in 2003, the Al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigades (the militant wing of Palestinian Authority), declared that they possess chemical weapons. It just so happens that the same type of weapons disappeared from Iraq the same year that the Al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigade declared that they possessed them. Could it be that Saddam was sending more than paychecks to the terrorist waging war against Israel? The world continues to pressure Israel to absorb the attacks by the terrorist and respond 'with restraint' when using force. The Palestinian terrorist continue to attack. In fact the Al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigade has upped the ante.

After an increase in hostilities in the Middle East which included border intrusions and abductions of Israeli soldiers by the Palestinians and Israeli air strikes against bridges and power grids in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinians have now stated that they have launched chemical weapons into Israel.

According to a Sydney Morning Herald report:

A spokesman for gunmen in the Gaza Strip said they had fired a rocket tipped with a chemical warhead at Israel early today.

The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the claim by the spokesman from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement. The group had recently claimed to possess about 20 biological warheads for the makeshift rockets commonly fired from Gaza at Israeli towns. This was the first time the group had claimed firing such a rocket.

"The al-Aqsa Brigades have fired one rocket with a chemical warhead" at southern Israel, Abu Qusai, a spokesman for the group, said in Gaza.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said the army had not detected that any such rocket was fired, nor was there any report of such a weapon hitting Israel.

This report, which is suspiciously missing from the US mainstream press, speaks directly to the need for the US lead war on terror: State sponsored terrorism, as carried out in Iraq (through Saddam Hussein) and Syria (through Hezbollah) has now placed chemical weapons in the hands of Islamo-Fascist who would use them at a whim and with no regard for innocent life. The UN's inability to stop the proliferation of said weapons has open the door for many innocent lives being lost. The current death toll brought on by terrorism may be just the tip of the iceberg. Free societies must stand together if we are to defeat the enemies of freedom.

Michael DiBartolo
TWP

Schwarzenegger misses the mark....AGAIN! Refuses to send additional Guard troops to the border

2006-06-24T08:23:00.000-07:00

Arnold Schwarzenegger has denied the Federal Government's request for California to provide additional manpower to help secure our southern border. According to Schwarzenegger's spokesperson, Adam Mendelsohn,

the governor believed sending more troops would create an inappropriate burden on the state and disrupt the guard's training schedule.

Oh really? Arnold's double talk is so apparent that it's sickening. He says the borders need to be secured but he doesn't see that he has a role in securing them. He says the Federal Government is responsible for the border, and then denies the Federal Government's request for additional troops to secure said border.

I believe this is my third post telling Arnold Schwarzenegger that he can't have it both ways. He can't be a leader then blame others when they aren't leading him. He can't speak rhetoric about securing the border and kowtow to the illegal population in California because it's an election year.

Denying the request for Guardsmen/woman by the Federal Government only undermines the Government's attempt to control the border. We finally get the Feds to recognize the scale of the illegal immigration issue and now our own governor is refusing to help provide the manpower needed to secure the border once and for all.

Governor Schwarzenegger, by refusing to support the effort to secure our southern border, you are writing your own pink slip for departure in November. This isn't a political issue no matter how much the congress plays around with it. This is an issue that runs deep and has lasting effects on our economy, on our security, and on our National Identity.

Tell me Governor, where do you think all of the major meth labs get their chemicals from? They come from Mexico. Tell me governor, how many non-Mexicans have crossed the border in the past year? I bet you don't even know the number. Don't you realize that California is just as rich a target area for terrorist as DC and New York are? You are playing games with our soldiers and you are failing the electorate.

Governor Schwarzenegger, if you truly believe that California cannot afford to send an additional 1000 Guardsmen/Women to help secure our border and to train on border security and surveillance then you need to show us where our short falls will be. Taking your word for it isn't enough. You need to show the people of California why you refused the Federal Government's request for assistance.

If you had any kind of vision, you would create a California Volunteer Organization who will be trained and then assist the Fed's in the building of the border fence and the securing of our borders. You could still send the bill to the Federal Government and address the border at the same time, but instead...you give us political double speak.

We have volunteers in the prison system who help the California Dept. of Forestry fight fires so why not set up some volunteers to help build the fence? Their hard labor can be rewarded with shorter sentences for the non-violent offenders.

Schwarzenegger, I was actually considering voting for you in November despite your waffling on certain issues...but for you to play games with the border and refuse to give whatever assistance is required to make our borders secure, you are showing that you don't deserve my vote.

Why can't you understand that people want a leader in the Executive Branch of our government. You're not the leader of the State Legislature, you're the (so called) leader of the Executive Branch of our State government and you answer directly to the people of California. If you actually tried leading and stop politicking then perhaps you would see what I mean.

So, Mr.Schwarzenegger...you need to show the electorate of California how sending an additional 1000 troops to our southern border will "create an inappropriate burden on the state and disrupt the guard's training schedule."

You need to hold a press conference and let your rational be known to all Californians. And don't try playing the trump card...'I'm the Governor' crap! You answer to the People of California and if there's any one group you need to answer to, it is the people of this great state.

Reconsider your decision Mr. Schwarzenegger or lose all chances of winning the election in the Fall. One thing this current political climate is doing; it's showing us that leadership is needed in order to tackle the issues we face as a state and as a nation. Sure you can compromise when necessary but when your compromises undermine the will and desire of the electorate then you need to lead and let the will of the people of California be known.

Denying the Federal Government troops to help secure our border is not the will of the people. Wake up Arnold or face the alarm clock in November...

And remember, Tom McClintock can win as Lt. Governor and you can still lose as Governor...so don't become over confident...you can be replaced just as Grey Davis was replaced. We want a governor who looks out for the people of California. We already have a legislature who are so aloof that they have no clue as to will of their constituents...we don't need a governor doing the same thing.

Reconsider your decision Mr. Schwarzenegger...support our nation's efforts to secure our southern border or we'll support a different candidate for Governor in 2006.

Mike DiBartolo
TWP

Saddam vows hunger strike until Lawyers are protected (...or until dinner, which ever comes first)

2006-06-23T14:47:00.000-07:00

After another one of Saddam Hussein's defense lawyers was killed by militants, Saddam and his co-defendants went on a hunger strike. Khalil al-Dulaimi, the chief lawyer for the Butcher of Baghdad was in Jordan when he broke the news.

“They pledged not to end the strike until international protection is provided to the defense team,”

said al-Dulaimi.

But I don't think that Saddam thought this through. After just missing one meal, Saddam made sure to partake in the evening's culinary cuisine.

According to Reuters(BAGHDAD),

Saddam Hussein ended a brief hunger strike after missing just one meal in his U.S.-run prison,

said a spokesman for the U.S. military.

Is it me, or is this just comical? I don't know which is more absurd. Saddam taking a stance for someone other than himself or his lawyers for believing that he'd follow through with his hunger strike on their behalf.

This ranks up there with with Baghdad Bob saying that the Iraqis were beating back the US forces and in the background you can see the US Marines driving by in their tanks.

Nice one Saddam!

I can see it all now...Saddam gets the news that one of his attorneys was killed and he starts his tirade,

'That's not fair! My attorneys deserve protection.'

(pounding the plexiglass to his cell, Saddam begins to yell)

'STRIKE! STRIKE! STRIKE! STRIKE!'

(Still yelling, Saddam notices the menu for Tuesday hanging on the wall by the guard, his yells now become a soft whisper)

'strike. strike? stri...'

(Saddam calls to the guard)

'Excuse me, Guard...'

(Saddam's co-defendants still yelling "STRIKE!" in the back ground, the sound now muffled)

(Saddam asks, with a noticible concern in his voice)

'...did I read this right? You're serving lamb for dinner tonight?'

**The guard says nothing**

(Saddam sits down and begins to read a magazine while his co-defendants continue with their mantra)

'strike. strike. strike.'

lol...

md/twp

House Minority Leader places 'brown bag' over Black Caucus

2006-06-23T13:31:00.000-07:00

The House Democrats, lead by Nancy Pelosi, has marginalized almost the entire Congressional Black Caucus in recent months. Leading me to ask the Dems, yet again, what is it about the Democrat Party that is so alluring? Why do you remain so loyal to a party and a philosophy that has failed to improve the condition of black America for four decades?

During the Reconstruction Period and through-out the Jim Crow Era, blacks who had once found acceptance in certain parts of American society based on the shade of their skin, now found themselves all lumped in the category of 'Colored' or 'Negro'.

What lighter skinned minorities (Creoles) did to address this and to maintain their self-imposed hierarchy was to do the 'grocery bag test' to determine who was and who wasn't allowed into their little sub-groups. How the brown bag test worked was if you approached a house with a brown grocery bag on the mailbox and your skin tone was darker than the bag then you were too dark to enter.

Well Nancy Pelosi has started her own version of the (political) brown bag test for the House of Representatives. If you're black and there's controversy surrounding you on any 'unapproved' issue then you are too dark to be on Nancy's team of congressional leaders and she will do what she can to reduce the attention you are receiving; up to and including removing you from key leadership positions.

Take William Jefferson for example. He is an eight term Democrat representing District 2 in Louisiana. He was the ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee until Minority leader Nancy Pelosi called for him to step down due to controversies surrounding his conduct in office. When Jefferson refused the Democrats, lead by Pelosi, voted to take away his committee seat. Jefferson has yet to be charged by any law enforcement agency for criminal wrong doing.

Is there incriminating evidence? There's tons of it. Throw in his two associates who named him as a beneficiary of their illegal shenanigans and you have quite the political stew. But none-the-less, he has not been charged with any crime.

Jefferson, like McKinney, and Waters have become political liabilities and Pelosi could give a rip about due process if there's a chance to gain power in the House. Presumption of innocence? Not if you're darker than Pelosi's brown bag hanging on the Democrat post in Congress.

In defense of Pelosi's actions, there have been many who have cited the Republican's rule that requires members to step down from leadership positions if they have been charged with a crime. That would be fine if Jefferson was actually charged with a crime.

Republican Majority Leader, Tom Delay was under scrutiny for a number of issues during his political career. He maintained his position as House Leader throughout. It was not until he was formally charged in his home state of Texas did he "temporarily" step down from the Majority Leader position. Pelosi, on the other hand, can't afford to keep Jefferson in the lime light while conducting her campaign against the "culture of corruption" she accuses the Republicans of fostering. It obviously does not matter if Jefferson has been charged...just being accused is enough for Pelosi...

Oddly enough, the other members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) remained relatively quiet. Some expressed concerns but when given the opportunity to disclose who voted for Jefferson and who voted against...the CBC remained silent allowing the vote to remain private. It's being reported that the CBC issued a statement saying that Jefferson was entitled to the constitutional presumption of innocence...but that's as far as they took it.

A statement?

Wow.

Good thing we weren't dependent on the CBC for civil rights in the 1960's...they would have just issued a "statement" and then remained silent.

According to an ABC/AP Story,

James E. Clyburn from the 6th district in South Carolina told reporters that most members of the Congressional Black Caucus did not want a vote, despite their accusation that Pelosi was subjecting Jefferson to a sanction without a rule or precedent to justify it.

So they knew it was wrong...they just didn't have the resolve to ensure that Jefferson received the same treatment as any other member of Congress.

But wait a sec'...

While Pelosi was leading the charge to remove Jefferson from the Ways and Means committee, she was also telegraphing her intentions to remove the current ranking Democratic leader of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Rep. Jane Harman of California, and replacing her with Rep. Alcee Hastings of Florida.

This is where Pelosi's brown bag test comes to light. Pelosi leads the charge to remove Jefferson from his committee seat, saying repeatedly that Democrats will be held to the highest possible ethical standards. Then she earmarks one of the most sensitive positions in the House of Representatives, for a representative who has not only been accused, but who has been impeached for conduct that even exceeds the accusations made against Jefferson.

According to a Washington Times Op/Ed piece;

Hastings had 17 counts in his impeachment as a US District Court Judge. These counts included; perjury, fabricating evidence, and leaking information to obstruct an investigation. Hastings was ultimately removed from the bench only to be voted into Congress by Florida's electorate.

Now, Pelosi wants to make Hastings the leading Dem on the House Intelligence Committee and she's made no mention of the "culture of corruption" when speaking of Hastings' past exploits.

Why the double standard? What gives? Why is the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) silent? Pelosi has made it clear to the CBC that to oppose her is to find your way to the shortest route to marginalization. She has set the hierarchy and no one is to challenge it...the brown bag is on the mailbox and if you're too black then you can't come in.

For some reason the CBC continues to believe that the Democrat Party has their best interest at heart. 40 years have passed since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Democrats controlled the Congress for 30 of those 40 years.

So 40 years later: Blacks have the second highest high school drop out rate, the second highest percentage of teen pregnancies, a shamefully disproportionate number of blacks in the prison system (see pages 10-11), the highest unemployment, and the highest percentage of sub-groups testing positive for HIV; and that's just the top five issues black communities face today. For 30 out of the 40 years of this 'black experience' the Democrats held the majority in Congress...and look at what's become of us.

Pelosi holds certain black members of Congress to a higher standard than others and the CBC does nothing. The Black Democrats are in a party that doesn't appreciate them being there and they're too afraid to join (or start) a party that would allow them to grow, express and lead as they are qualified to do so.

Even after 40 years, even after becoming a Congressman/woman they still wait for a handout instead of standing on their own and plowing a new direction for their constituents and for the Country.

This is exactly the reason why I cannot be a part of the Democrat Party. I know nothing of William Jefferson's politics. All I know is that he deserves the presumption of innocence despite the political atmosphere Pelosi finds herself in. The Congressional Black Caucus is nothing but a club for the disregarded. The brown grocery bag is posted and none of them will dare challenge it.

What they need to do is take the grocery bag down, ball it up, place it in their pocket and proceed inside. True leaders forge new paths. Waiting for others to build the road for you will always leave you on the bus. Rosa Parks got us to the front of the bus. Why can't the Congressional Black Caucus lead in getting us off the bus completely?

Michael DiBartolo
TWP

500 wmds found in Iraq since the Iraq war began!

2006-06-21T17:10:00.000-07:00

June 21, 2006
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, joined Congressman Peter Hoekstra, (R-MI-2), Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, today to make a major announcement regarding the release of newly declassified information that proves the existence of chemical munitions in Iraq since 2003. The information was released by the Director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte, and contained an unclassified summary of analysis conducted by the National Ground Intelligence Center. In March, Senator Santorum began advocating for the release of these documents to the American public.

“The information released today proves that weapons of mass destruction are, in fact, in Iraq,” said Senator Santorum. “It is essential for the American people to understand that these weapons are in Iraq. I will continue to advocate for the complete declassification of this report so we can more fully understand the complete WMD picture inside Iraq.”

The following are the six key points contained in the unclassified overview:

• Since 2003 Coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent.

• Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq’s pre-Gulf War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist.

• Pre-Gulf War Iraqi chemical weapons could be sold on the black market. Use of these weapons by terrorists or insurgent groups would have implications for Coalition forces in Iraq. The possibility of use outside Iraq cannot be ruled out.

• The most likely munitions remaining are sarin and mustard-filled projectiles.

• The purity of the agent inside the munitions depends on many factors, including the manufacturing process, potential additives, and environmental storage conditions. While agents degrade over time, chemical warfare agents remain hazardous and potentially lethal.

• It has been reported in open press that insurgents and Iraqi groups desire to acquire and use chemical weapons.

What does Al Qaeda see that the Dems continue to miss?

2006-06-21T08:16:00.000-07:00

An Iraqi car thief...

a fugitive,

and a terror cell leader go into Iraq...

What do they find???

Nothing but grief.

According to a recently translated document of a senior Al Qaeda operative in Iraq, the US led war on terror and the liberation of Iraq is succeeding and Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQ) are at their wits end to do anything about it.

The documents, captured in mid - April by US forces and translated in early May were released by the USCENTCOM on May 9th. The documents reveal the frustrations of the terrorist group and their inability to gain the upper hand in anything they attempt. Noting that all they are able to do is to take sniper shots at wayward police patrols and/or plant booby traps among civilians with the hope that they may hit an American or Iraqi official. The document states;

"these activities could be understood as hitting the scared and the hiding ones, which is an image that requires a concerted effort to change, as well as Allah’s wisdom."

The document, titled 'Baghdad State of Affairs', reads like a frank assessment by an internal auditor or adviser recruited to identify problems in one of their satellite offices. It identifies areas of concerns, speaks of foreseeable problems, and identifies those who are helping and those who are hurting the operation.

After reading the document, it is quite clear that the terrorist do not believe that they can hold Baghdad if the new Iraqi government succeeds.

"the Americans and the (Iraqi) Government were able to absorb our painful blows, sustain them, compensate their losses with new replacements, and follow strategic plans which allowed them in the past few years to take control of Baghdad as well as other areas one after the other. That is why every year is worse than the previous year as far as the Mujahidin’s control and influence over Baghdad."

You ask, where does the Mujahidin fit into all of this? Well, in a 2003 the Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) report, defined the Mujahadin as an umbrella terrorist organization,

"...(who are) led by radical Islamic elements, and includes Taliban, al-Qaida and other Arab fighters who entered Iraq to fight against the Americans." Al Qaeda established this umbrella group in attempt to coordinate the different factions waring against the US and Coalition troops. So take caution when listening to anyone stating that the war in Iraq is a civil war between Iraqis. Refer them to this letter by a senior Al Qaeda operative and ask them to define the 'Mujahidin of Iraq' in terms that only include Iraqis.

In this letter, two particular "leaders" are discussed:

The car thief -

"...has little and simple experience in the military field and does not have a clear vision about the current stage and how to deal with it Most of his work at al-Rassafah County is to take cars to the Jubur Arab Tribes, convert them into booby traps and take them back inside Baghdad for explosion."

and,

the fugitive -

"...The current commander of Northern al-Karkh (Abu-Huda) is very concerned because of his deteriorating security situation caused by being pursued by the Americans, since they have his picture and voice print. Therefore, his movement is very restricted and he is unable to do anything here. We should remove him from Baghdad to a location where he can work easier; otherwise he is closer to become totally ineffective."

"Totally ineffective" and lacking a "clear vision" says a lot about AQ's recruiting drive. They have limited resources and they lack leaders with any experience to wage their war against us successfully. The document detailing these and other observations was intercepted prior to Abu Musab al Zaqawi meeting the business end of two 500lb bombs courtesy of the US military. After losing Zaqawi, AQ has been scrambling to replace him and to establish themselves as a relative force in the war on terror. Despite the bleak assessment made by one of Al Qaeda's own, they know that they can still paint the illusion of significance by performing brutal and/or spectacular acts of terror which draws the main stream media like moths to a flame, thus aiding Al Qaeda in their war of propaganda.

This propaganda seems to be all that the Democrats are able to see. Their myopic view of terrorism in Iraq only allows them to see what would benefit them politically causing them to miss the entire forest of terror we find ourselves in. One such act happened about a week after Zaqawi was killed. Following an ambush, two US servicemen were abducted from a check point in southern Iraq. Days went by with no word of their condition; then our soldiers discovered two unidentifiable bodies amidst explosives rigged to kill anyone trying to render aid.

According to a CBS/AP report,

the director of the Iraqi defense ministry's operation room, Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Mohammed said that the bodies showed signs of having been tortured. "With great regret, they were killed in a barbaric way," he said.

The claim of responsibility was made in the name of the Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of five insurgent groups led by al Qaeda in Iraq. The group posted an Internet statement Monday claiming it was holding the American soldiers captive.

"We give the good news... to the Islamic nation that we have carried God's verdict by slaughtering the two captured crusaders," said the claim, which appeared on an Islamic militant Web site where insurgent groups regularly post statements and videos.
"With God Almighty's blessing, Abu Hamza al-Muhajer carried out the verdict of the Islamic court" calling for the soldiers' slaying, the statement said.

Assuming these reports are true, AQ has managed in one act to elevate themselves back into the limelight of butchery and barbarism and the Democrats have bought into it hook, line, and sinker. Instead of bringing to al-Muhajer what we brought to Zaqawi, they want our troops to withdraw. Leaving these butchers free to plot and scheme to perform even more atrocious acts in the future.

What this new leader of AQ fails to realize is that our military will not take lightly what they have done. Our resolve will increase, our tenacity will multiply, and our troops will be avenged. AQ has lashed out like a cornered animal and they have drawn more innocent blood, but their acts of barbarism in the name of their "religion" will only bring American/Iraqi justice to them even faster.

They may have convinced the Dems and the main stream press that they are winning this war, but in reality, they are being squeezed tighter and tighter by our operations in Iraq and soon....very soon, they will no longer be an effective force in the Iraqi theater.

I'm sure that they are watching the events happening in Somalia very closely. Staying in Iraq will only afford them with two options; retreat or die.

Michael DiBartolo
TWP

War on Terror: US using more than bombs

2006-06-14T09:46:00.000-07:00

Despite the rhetoric being tossed around in liberal/progressive circles of dissent, the war on terror is being fought on multiple fronts and we are accomplishing a great deal. There's so much more to what our sailors, soldiers, airmen, and marines are doing in this global conflict than what's being reported in the main stream media.

Case in point: The US Central Command (USCENTCOM), headed up by General John Abizaid, has the motto, 'Defending, Protecting, Training, and Rebuilding for a Better Tomorrow' which they have embraced wholeheartedly and it is making a difference in our war on terror and the pursuit for peace.

USCENTCOM is responsible for all US Forces in the Middle Eastern Theater. According to Jay E. Hines, the Command Historian,

"(USCENTCOM) is responsible for planning and conducting United States (U.S.) military activity in a region consisting of 27 countries in Northeast Africa, Southwest and Central Asia, and the island nation of the Seychelles."

But rather than focus on the History of CENTCOM, which is rich with accomplishments ranging from the Liberation of Kuwait and the toppling of the Baathist regime in Baghdad, to the humanitarian relief in Somalia that staved off a famine that was reaching Biblical proportions. I wanted to note the work being done today to advance America's goal for peace and the dismantling of global terror networks like Al Qaeda and the environment in which the spawn.

I received my weekly news letter from the US Central Command and the leading stories spoke volumes to the work being done to improve the lives of those we have liberated from oppression and tyranny and also for those we are helping to maintain a free society in an ever changing world.

The following reports are on actions that you will not read about in the Editorials of our large news papers nor will you see in an Expose from the leading cable and broadcast media forums. They find the time to give you the latest report on the Duke Rape Scandal and/or the missing person report from Aruba but they just can't seem to squeeze in time to report on the accomplishments of our troops; our US Ambassadors to the world:

Iraq commissions their first female police officers

Women Join Iraqi Police
By Petty Officer 2nd Class John J. Pistone, Multi-National Security Transition
Command - Iraq

Although women throughout Iraq have been given the right to vote and are accepted in the army and police academies, the city of Irbil was the first city to allow women to hold positions of power.
“We knew that like so many successful and stable nations around the world, our views on women had to change,” - Iraqi Police Lt. Col. Aswar, the Khabat station commander

“We are equals, so we must work together,” says 2nd Lt. Lana Abdulwahad “No longer are there barriers for women.”

For the complete text click here.

US Medical Clinic doing more than handing band-aids

Airmen Pitch in for Worthy Cause in Iraq
By Air Force Staff Sgt. Bryan Bouchard, U.S. Central Command Air Forces Public Affairs

“I think there’s a humanitarian in all of us who voluntarily pursued a career in medicine and dentistry,” says Col. (Dr.) Mark McHenry. “I like knowing I’m able to alleviate at least a little pain and suffering in a population that has experienced so much already. Perhaps someday the people I treated can look back and realize the Americans are an honorable people who are really here to help.”

“Seeing these kids laugh and smile, despite the fact there’s a war going on, that’s just amazing,” says Airman 1st Class Jesse Theophilopoulos. “We’re trying to give them a future.”

For the complete text click here.

Middle School Students in the Horn of Africa receive new digs courtesy of the US Navy SeaBees

Seabees ahead of schedule on school dormitory in Djibouti
Story by U.S. Navy PH2 (AW/NAC) Scott Taylor

The Seabees began construction on two school dormitories April 18 in order to provide shelter for (150) students attending Dikhil Middle School.

“Working on this project is very rewarding, especially when you see the kids’ faces,” said Utilitiesman 1st Class James Penny, project manager. “With morale being as high as it is, the project should be finished ahead of schedule.”

For the complete text click here.

Afghan students carry torch of tradition and excellence to new facility

From Ashes and Rubble Rises a School by Master Sgt. Orville F. Desjarlais Jr.
455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

“You can judge by the smiles of our children how important it was to open this new school,” said Jabar Taqwa, the governor of the Parwan Province. “Although the old school had a rich tradition, this new school will be good for our future and I hope all our students study hard.”

For the complete text click here.

The work being done in the CENTCOM area of operations is but a small picture of the work being done by our service men and women around the world. It's unfortunate that the main stream press is unable or unwilling to report on the work being done by our military forces. I am grateful to the US Central Command Weekly News letter staff for sharing this news and for keeping those who are interested and supportive of our work abroad, informed and connected.

by Mike DiBartolo
The Working Patriot

Iraqi Troops and Government "standing up" to terrorist/insurgents

2006-06-13T07:48:00.000-07:00

75,000 forces to be deployed in Baghdad

Security officials said tens of thousands of Iraqi and multinational forces would deploy Wednesday throughout Baghdad, securing roads, launching raids against insurgent hideouts and calling in airstrikes if necessary.

For the complete story click here

Bush drops in on new Iraqi PM in Baghdad

2006-06-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

BAGHDAD, Iraq - President Bush met newly named Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in a surprise visit to Baghdad on Tuesday...

Where's Arnold? Action Hero Governor avoids Iraq

2006-06-08T20:23:00.000-07:00

According to a Department of Defense (DOD) report detailing the Reserve and National Guard deployments as of June 7th 2006, California has third highest number of troops deployed in the war on terror.

California has a total of 3,924 reservist and national guard memebers currently deployed in this war on terror, down from 8,089 in July of '05. These men and women are serving our country and representing the Great State of California with honor and yet I could not find any information regarding a visit by our beloved Governor to express the appreciation that all Californians have for their service and sacrifice.

So where's Arnold? Why can't he go and show support for the true heroes that he portrayed on the big screen, earning him millions of dollars?

I did some checking and I was surprised at what I found...

Alamaba's Governor was there and that state has 2,401 troops on active duty.
Wyoming Governor paid our troops a visit and they only have 253 troops on active duty.

So where's Arnold??? Does he not support the troops? Does he not believe that California's guard and reserves, who has the lion's share of active duty soldiers operating in the war on terror, deserve a personal thank you?

In fact, here's what I discovered:

STATE / # TROOPS DEPLOYED

Iowa / 1,391
Montana / 496
Georgia / 6,224 (2nd highest number of guard and reserves deployed)
Texas / 6,248 (highest number of guard and reserves currently deployed)
Florida / 3,034
Wisconsin / 2,778
Massachusetts / 851
Virgina / 1,719
Nevada / 865
W. Virgina / 674
Mississippi / 1,481
Illinois / 1,591
Indiana / 1,504
New York / 1,822
Wyoming / 253
Vermont / 502
Alabama / 2,401
Arkansas / 969

The Governors of all the states listed above have paid our troops a visit to show them our un-wavering support...but where's Arnold? Why is he missing in action?

If I may share a thought with you Governor Schwarzenegger:

In Hollywood...Leadership is implied but not exercised. It comes with the paycheck. The bigger the star, the more the people look to you for leadership and guidance without you having to actually demonstrate the qualities of a leader. Whether your guidance is flawed or not, they continue to kow-tow to your whims(as an actor) because it's Hollywood and you're Arnold Schwarzenegger.

As Governor of California, you have to actually earn our respect as a leader based on how you actually lead. There's no script, there's no special effects, only the people of California waiting for you to actually lead in this state and not behave like some lap dog waiting for scraps from the democratically controlled legislature.

Showing our deployed Reserve and National Guard troops that you're willing to head over to Iraq and personally thank them for their service and sacrifice would be a step in the right direction. Be a leader Governor...represent the People and the great State of California and thank our deployed troops on our behalf. Don't stand around and "let the courts decide"...stand up, call the US Central Command, and advise them that you are headed to Iraq to express your support for our servicemen/women and to asses the conditions on the ground. Do this, then come back and report your findings to the people of California.

Come out from under your rock and show our soldiers that you are willing to brave Iraq long enough to express your support of their service to our country and for our state. My employer may allow me to accompany you if you want a fresh perspective on this whole issue. So make the call, and get back on the radar.

Don't neglect the troops Governor Schwarzenegger. Support them as they support and defend our Constitution, the Iraqis, the Afghans, and our way of life. They deserve that much.

Mike DiBartolo
TWP

HoooAhhhhh!

2006-06-08T20:18:00.000-07:00

al-Zarqawi is Dead!

Iraqi Defense, Interior, and National Security Ministers are approved by the newly elected Parliament.

Iraq has turned yet another corner in their march towards a free and peaceful Iraq. Staying the course has produced another milestone in the liberation of Iraq and caused a fatal blow to the Al Qaeda network operating in the Iraqi region.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was a blood thirsty butcher who could have fallen to a worse fate other than blowing up from a US 500lb laser guided ordinance.

He didn't see his fate coming. He wasn't bound and slowly decapitated while his executioners sang 'America, America' so it would be the last thing he heard in this life. He wasn't tortured for days on end only to be shot in the head and thrown in the ditch of some back road in Iraq. He wasn't dragged from a school bus in absolute fear, or lining up for employment at the local police dept. and then slaughtered in the street. No...He was in his safe house plotting to do more harm against the people of Iraq and the US coalition.

al-Zarqawi deserved much worse than he got...BUT HE'S GONE. And we have the US military in conjunction with Iraqi and Jordanian intelligence to thank for it. My only concern is that the 25 million dollars(US) offered as a bounty for his death or capture won't find itself in the hands of Al Qaeda.

There are some reports being circulated that people within al-Zarqawi's own circle were key in finding out where he was hiding and when he would be there. If these reports are true and the US honors the 25 million dollar bounty offered for al-Zarqawi's head, we could be financing future attacks by Al Qaeda...I wouldn't put it past a desperate Al Qaeda operation to go to such lengths in order to finance there efforts to destabilize Iraq. al-Zarqawi had become less and less important in the eyes of the Iraqi insurgents so turning him over to the US for some spending money would be a good way to facilitate a change in command while inciting others to join the cause. If the bounty is to be paid, I hope that the Iraqi government and the US intelligence knows exactly what type of character is receiving that kind of cash and how they intend to spend it.

But for now...let us rejoice that a mad butcher like al-Zarqawi will no longer reign terror on the people of Iraq and against the coalition troops.

Right On!

High Five!

(singing) 'Ding Dong the witch is dead, the ugly witch, the witch is dead...
ding dong al-Zarqawi is dead'

So, in memory of aL-Zarqawi, I like to dedicate this oldie but goody...

Geeeehaaaad!
(Sing to the melody of 'The Beverly Hillbillies')

Let me tell you a story about
Akmahl Ahmed
Middle class Muslim
Who wish the Zionist were dead

And then one day
he had nothin’ better to do
So he picked up the Koran
an’ became a babblin’ foooo'

Fooool that is…
Taliban,
Islamo Fascist.

Well the first thing ya know
Ahmed’s a terrorist
Kin folk said,
‘Kill all the Zionist!’

Kill all the infidels
Is what you ought to do
So they loaded up the trunk
With a lot of cow pooooo

Poo that it is…
Homemade bombs…
IEDs

After a few attacks
People start to get scared
ACLU said,
‘Profiling isn’t fair!’

They said,
It’s not JUST the Muslims
who want to kill you
So be politically correct
and check the Christians tooooo

Jesus that is,
Little old ladies,
5 year old kids.

Well the next thing ya know
Liberals turn against the troops
The activist say,
‘What’d they ever do to you?’
They say,
‘their killing us because their lives are so sad.’
So they declared a jihad
and they move to Baghdaaaad

Iraq that is,
Killing Iraqis,
Blowing up kids.

Well the worst thing you can do
To Akmahl Ahmed
Is fight his reign of terror,
And hang a Koran over his bed…

They say it’s their religion
But it’s really a façade,
and that’s all I have to say
About the Islamo Geehaaaad

War that is,
Kill the infidel
Kill us all

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now it’s time to say goodbye to
Ahmed and all his friends
‘cause they’re just intent on killing us
For living in our sins

I hope to see you all next week
To see if we’re still free
‘cause Al Qaeda’s heaping doses
of nothing but hos-tili-teeee

Y’all come to Iraq now…
Ya hear!

Geeeehaaaad!

By American Zulu
© 2005 The Working Patriot

Mike DiBartolo
TWP

The War on Terror: A Clinton Legacy

2006-06-07T17:34:00.000-07:00

On February 26th, 1993 not quite a month into Bill Clinton's Presidency, the United States was attacked by the terrorist group Al Qaeda. Using Iraqi passports and trained by Iraqi bomb makers, the Al Qaeda terror cell exploded a bomb underneath the North Tower of the World Trade Center, killing 6 and wounding over 1000 people. The admitted goal of this attack was to cause the North Tower to collapse into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, bringing both down in a hail of destruction. Rather than see this as an attack against our homeland, Bill Clinton saw this as a criminal act and prosecuted a trial against the attackers and no further significant action was taken against the Al Qaeda network.

On October 3rd, 1993 Bill Clinton was faced with his first real time situation as Commander-in-Chief. 18 US Army Rangers were killed and 84 other soldiers were wounded in the country of Somalia. One US soldier's body was dragged through the streets of the Capital, Mogadishu, provoking anger and the cry for justice from the American people.

While Bill Clinton talked a good talk, as Commander-in-Chief, he did not show the testicle fortitude needed to bring to bear the power of the US military. Bill Clinton pulled our troops out of Somalia within 5 months of that dreadful day. This pull out and the lack of follow through with the February attack, made a lasting impression on a certain Osama bin Ladin and other extremist in that region.

The terrorist were embolden by Clinton's inability to respond forcibly to the blatant attacks against our country and our soldiers. Osama said it best, when he addressed the Clinton Administration directly...

"But your most disgraceful case was in Somalia; where, after vigorous propaganda about the power of the U.S.A. and its post-cold war leadership of the new world order, you moved tens of thousands of international forces, including twenty-eight thousand American solders, into Somalia. However, when tens of your solders were killed in minor battles and one American pilot was dragged in the streets of Mogadishu, you left the area in disappointment, humiliation, and defeat, carrying your dead with you. Clinton appeared in front of the whole world threatening and promising revenge, but these threats were merely a preparation for withdrawal. You had been disgraced by Allah and you withdrew; the extent of your impotence and weaknesses became very clear. It was a pleasure for the heart of every Muslim and a remedy to the chests of believing nations to see you defeated in the three Islamic cities of Beirut, Aden, and Mogadishu."

In June of 1996, the Khobar towers were attacked; 19 US soldiers dead, 515 people wounded.
In August of 1998, 3 US Embassies were attacked; 220 dead, 4,000 wounded.
In October of 2000, the USS Cole was attacked; 17 US Sailors dead, 39 wounded and a US Naval Ship rendered inoperable.

In all of these attacks, Bill Clinton did not respond as the Commander-in-Chief but as a polished politician. Sure, there were some limited "strikes" against targets of opportunity and a couple of terrorist were prosecuted in court but the terrorist continued to wage a war that Bill Clinton refused to acknowledge.

In 2001, just eight months after Bill Clinton left office, the largest and most horrific attack against the United States occurred on Sept. 11th where 3000 Americans were killed and thus finally began the US response to the Global Terrorism. A US led war on terror.

We are now almost 5 years into the US led war on terror and there hasn't been an attack against our homeland since that day. We have lost approximately 2400 military service men and women in this war on terror and we have liberated more than 50 million people from tyrannical Islamo fascist rule and brutal dictatorship.

Now, a new front in the war on terror has developed. Somalia, the land that Bill Clinton abandoned more than a decade earlier has been over-run by Islamist who share the same ideology as Al Qaeda and the Taliban. In their rhetoric, they are mindful to remind the US of our hasty departure back in 1993. Citing it as a lost for the US and a victory for the Islamic movement.

Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the chairperson of the Islamic courts that have battled warlords for four months in Somalia, said the US would face a disaster similar to a botched 1993 intervention that left 18 US army officers and 300 Somalis dead.

"If US forces intervene directly against us in Mogadishu, then we are ready to teach them a lesson they will never forget and repeat their defeat in 1993," Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed told Saudi-owned daily Asharq al-Awsat.

Yes, terror attacks have killed US Citizens around the globe long before Bill Clinton was in office, but in the post cold war era...where the US was the remaining super power, no organization should have been able to wage such a campaign against us and we have Bill Clinton to thank for this.

Surprisingly, in a NPR Article titled, Somalia: Decades of Unintended Consequences written by Ted Koppel, there is barely a mention of Bill Clinton's contributions to the current war we find ourselves in. In fact, Koppel goes out of his way to blame both Bush Sr. and G.W. Bush for the "unintended consequences" he writes about in his article. The US and our allies are in battle against Islamic extremist for the safety of the modern world and Koppel has time to blame Bush for the unrest in a country Bill Clinton abandoned a decade ago. Koppel even went so far as to blame Bush Sr. for Bill Clinton's zero response to the killings in Rwanda where 800,000 people were slaughtered in less than a year.

"when the Canadian commander of U.N. peacekeeping forces in Rwanda desperately appealed for reinforcements to stop the killing, Washington, in particular, was not about to risk U.S. troops on another humanitarian mission in Africa."

said Koppel. A humanitarian mission that just so happen to have been started by Bush Sr. in 1992 in the country of Somalia.

I hate to disagree with such a distinguished media personality but this war and the unintended consequences we find ourselves in, is the legacy of the 2nd President in US history to be impeached; William Jefferson Clinton.

The war on terror is Bill Clinton's lasting legacy for the American people.

Mike DiBartolo
The Working Patriot (TWP)

Contributors to this article:
npr
US Dept. of State Terror Report
Mail&Guardian-online

Islamist continue their campaign in Somalia: Bush voices concern

2006-06-06T21:23:00.000-07:00

"This is a long Islamic struggle and it will continue until the whole country comes under Sharia law,"

Fuad Ahmed, a militiaman loyal to the Islamic side, told Reuters.

"We are ready to shed our blood in order for that struggle to succeed."

When asked about Somalia, President Bush had this to say,

"(Our) First concern of course would be to make sure that Somalia does not become an al Qaeda safe haven, doesn't become a place from which terrorists plot and plan. So we're watching very carefully developments there,"

President Bush made these remarks in a question and answer period during his two state trip through New Mexico and Texas to express his support for the Border Patrol and to encourage Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration package that addresses all of America's concerns with regard to illegal immigration and border security.

The African Union Chief, President Denis Sassou Nguesso, asked the United States on Monday to find ways to end the crisis in Somalia without supporting the warlords battling for control of that region.

Mike DiBartolo
The Working Patriot (TWP)

Look, up in the sky...It's a bird, it's a plane...

2006-06-06T20:50:00.000-07:00

It's the Special Forces flying in from over a hundred miles away to bring a special op near you. Yes, according to an article written in Daily Mail;

this lightweight carbon fibre mono-wing will allow special forces to jump from high altitudes and then glide 120 miles or more before landing - making them almost impossible to spot, as their aircraft can avoid flying anywhere near the target.

Fitted with oxygen supply, stabilisation and navigation aides, troops wearing the wings will jump from a high-altitude transport aircraft which can stay far away from enemy territory - or on secret peacetime missions could avoid detection or suspicion by staying close to commercial airliner flight paths.

The manufacturers claim the ESG wing is '100 per cent silent' and 'extremely difficult' to track using radar.

According to SAS insiders, very few operational parachute jumps have taken place in recent years, with teams tending to rely more on helicopters or other means of transport.

Sure helicopters have their purpose but imagine a SEAL team infiltrating an OA and the enemy none the wiser. This equipment could be a stop gap for operations that aren't close to large bodies of water where a sub could be used for the incursion.

The article also mentions a model with 'small turbo-jet drives' installed so self extraction is also a possibility after a mission has been completed.

Pretty interesting stuff...

Mike D.
The Working Patriot

Terrorist Plotted to storm Canadian Parliament and behead PM

2006-06-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

Canadial Officials released an eight page report detailing charges against 12 of the 17 men arrested in terrorism charges today. The charges include:

~ Training terrorist
~ Receiving terrorist training
~ smuggling weapons and explosives with the intent to do terrorist acts
~ Taking over media outlets
~ Storming the Parliament Bldg. and holding government officials hostage
~ Beheading the Prime Minister of Canada
~ attacking power grids in Canada

Canadian Officials moved on this group after they puchased 3 tons of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer that can be used to make a powerful explosive. Two of the 12 adults accused in this plot were arrested late last year as they were attempting to smuggle weapons from the US to Canada.

Speaking outside the courthouse in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, defense attorney Gary Batasar said that his client, Steven Vikash Chand, is accused of plotting an attack on Canada's Parliament and planning to take over media outlets, including the studios of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

"There's an allegation apparently that my client personally indicated that he wanted to behead the prime minister of Canada," Chand's lawyer, Gary Batasar, told reporters.

Mr. Batasar also stated that the government papers laid out a plot to storm the Gothic Revival buildings of Parliament in Ottawa and take hostages. The hostages would be beheaded if the terrorists' demands that Canadian troops to be pulled out of Afghanistan were not met.

Investigators have said little about the evidence they have gathered against the suspects. At a news briefing on Saturday they showed a computer tower, a crude cellphone detonator and other electronic equipment they had seized. They also showed a bag of ammonium nitrate fertilizer that they said was like the three tons of material the suspects had planned to use to make bombs.

American officials, who have acknowledged being involved in the yearlong investigation, said Canadian authorities had monitored Internet chat rooms, e-mail messages and telephone conversations to learn of the activities of the suspects.

5 of the men arrested are minors so information regarding their names and charges were withheld.

News Contributors:
Reuters
NPR
The New York Times

666

2006-06-06T09:03:00.000-07:00

666? Can you say Hype, hype, hype! Now I have to give it to the producers of The Omen (the remake); marketing the release of their film today was a great idea...but for everyone else?

Give me a break! In the year 666 AD there was hardly a world event that occurred... I believe Sicily was raided around that time but in 2006 we have churches all over the globe having 'pray-ins' I guess that's like having a sit-in only...you pray???

I'd put this day of hype up there with the Y2K Bug as far as hype is concerned. I'm sure there are some nutters who are doing their best to talk to their ol' pal Satan on this unholy of days...but for the rest of us...

IT'S FRICKIN TUESDAY MAN!!!

If you really want to look for the mark of the beast, I'd check the following hairlines for a number comparison:

~ Hillary Rodom Clinton
~ Any lawyer affiliated with the ACLU
~ Nancy Pelosi
~ Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
~ And those people on the corner of my street who refuse to maintain their yard. They probably have 666 weeds growing there right now!

Mike D.

Super....man?????

2006-06-05T21:19:00.000-07:00

How is it that Superman has gone from this:

DC Comics 2005

And this...

DC Comics 2005

To this...

Superman Returns 2006

and...what the Hell is this all about?!?!

Superman Returns 2006

I mean, C'mon!!!

How is it that the Superman character dipicted in the DC comics evolved into...oh, I don't know.... A MAN! and the director of Superman Returns, a 2006 Summer Movie Release, comes up with this Yo-Yo who, if he looked any more feminine, would challenge the performer Prince for the Best Looking Male in Tights catagory.

The movie pics are from an actual link titled "bluetights.net" that is located on the Superman Returns Official web site.

Bluetights??? are they serious?

In the comics, people like Jim Lee and Jeph Loebe have developed the Superman character into something worth reading about. An alien, who looks human, with superhuman abilities following his instincts to save us from ourselves. Other's need him...but can they trust someone with that much power?

The guy I see in the TV ads and on the movie posters for Superman Returns is nothing close to the character that Jeph Loeb has personified and Jim Lee has captured in his art form. This guy Brandon Routh has an acting career that contains more gay rolls than straight and more small/supporting rolls than leading rolls. And now he's superman...???

The Director, Bryan Singer, does have X-Men and X-Men United under his belt but even there,
characters like the"Storm" played by Halle Berry, fell far short of the character Storm's true potential and the character's rich history. While Halle was nice eye candy for the big screen, the character Storm left a lot to be desired. So it's not a far reach to assume that Mr. Singer is unable to capture the true essence of Superman just as he missed the mark with Storm in the X-Men series...how he did that while having an Academy Award Winning actress like Halle Berry playing the part is still a mystery to me.

So say what you want about this movie; I am very cautious about the whole production. I'm still trying to figure out what they spent 300 million dollars on... I hope the movie is good, but my spider-sense tells me otherwise. It's up to Director Bryan Singer and actor Brandon Routh to prove me wrong and make Superman Returns one of the best summer releases since Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith. We shall soon know the truth about this movie and it's chances for a sequel.

Mike DiBartolo

Islamist gain ground in Somalia: Capital Mogadishu under their control

2006-06-05T20:31:00.001-07:00

Islamist fighters declare victory in Somali capital

Islamist warlords have announced that that they have taken control of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, after weeks of the worst fighting in a decade.

Islamists take Somali capital, four warlord-ministers sacked

Mogadishu - An Islamist militia announced Monday it had seized control of the Somali capital Mogadishu from an alliance of warlords, after the worst fighting in the country in recent years that claimed over 350 lives.

Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi also confirmed he had sacked four ministers in the transitional government over their involvement in the unrest.

African Union (AU) seeks US help in Somalia

Sassou, who said the AU was struggling to find a solution to the crisis, urged the Bush administration to do more to help put a government in place there without providing aid to warlords battling for control on the country.

Northrop's unmanned Global Hawk: Second to none

2006-06-05T20:18:00.000-07:00

"Global Hawk is providing the department a combination of unmanned persistence, reach and (intelligence) collection that no other program can provide," the Pentagon said in a statement about the restructuring, which follows a 60-day review triggered when the program's cost growth exceeded 25 percent.

Canadian terror probe expands to 7 nations

2006-06-05T20:15:00.000-07:00

A U.S. law enforcement official said investigators were looking for connections between those detained in Canada and suspected Islamic militants held in the United States, Britain, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Denmark and Sweden.

AB 2948 not the answer to disenfranchised Voters

2006-06-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

AB 2948 attempts to address the Electoral College by forming an alliance with other states to submit their entire electoral vote count to the popular winner of the national Presidential/Vice-Presidential election.

On the surface this may seem like a grand idea but what it does is prop up the current two party system and continues to alienate viable third party candidates by allocating all of the electoral votes to one political party candidate. This accomplishes the same affect as the current 'winner-take-all' program. Millions of Californians who may have voted for a different candidate than even the popular vote winner of other states would still be mandated to award that popular vote winner (of other states)all of California's 55 votes. This does not represent the congressional districts within the State. It trumps their popular vote results for those of other states within the union.

To fairly represent the will of each Congressional District, the popular results of each district should dictate where that particular electoral vote will go. The national popular vote winner will receive the two electoral votes that represent the US Senate Districts but each House Congressional District will award their vote according to the will of the people within their respected districts.

While we are voting on a national ticket, our voices are better heard through our Congressional representation. If three districts in California believe that the Green Party Candidate is best suited for the President/Vice-Presidential office then their votes would be awarded to reflect that. If another four Congressional Districts believe that the Libertarian Candidates are the best suited for the job then their votes would reflect their local, political, and popular will.

Each State must keep its unique rights within the constitution so making packs with other states to affect the Presidential Election circumvents the will of the people who are seeking representation within those states.

AB 2948 falls short of what is required to best represent the will of all Californians participating in our national elections.

This bill requires a veto by our Governor, and the Assembly should seek the will of Californians and not those of other states within the Union when trying to best represent their will in a national election.

Michael DiBartolo

A Year in the Blogosphere

2006-06-01T07:50:00.000-07:00

In January of 2005, inspired by Hugh Hewitt, I started my own blog. Being totally new to the concept of blogging, I was unclear as to where I was going with my new web log and the caliber of bloggers I was reading, I felt, far exceeded my own abilities to produce a comparable web page. Months went by before I decided to rethink and reinvent my blog.

So, today, June 1st 2006, it is my official one year anniversary of actually maintaining my web log and the 18th month since its creation. The year has been pretty interesting. I've gone from writing indictments of the State Legislature to poems about the threats we face from China.

I've found over the past year that trying to create a blog that rivals those like La Shawn Barber's Corner or The Mudville Gazette just wasn't in the cards. Those are two of many great blog sites maintained by very competent and capable people. They serve a need on the Internet and I serve an audience of one (sometimes two)...which is cool with me.

What my blog serves is an outlet for me to express my thoughts and opinions. I like it, it has a great many options as far as editing and formatting and you always have that slight chance that someone may come across it and say...'Wow! This is a pretty cool Blog.' Well, even if they do or don't, I find this new forum of communication interesting and on the cutting edge for news and opinions.

So in recognition of my one year anniversary, I'm going to list what I think are my 12 most interesting blogs covering the last 12 months (in no particular order):

* Enemy of the State
* Senator Schumer shifts legislative powers to Supreme Court
* It was Americans
* Geeeeehaaaaad!
* Europe had Chicken Little, Russia had Peter and the Wolf, The US has the Main Stream Media
* Reliant City: (Part of the Hurricane Katrina: Trail of Tears essay)
* Rosa Parks: A Conscience of black America
* Iraqi Freedom
* What Border Problem?
* Islam: The World’s Ghetto
* All I have is America
* Text: Criminal Indictment of the California Legislature

Ok...maybe they weren't that interesting. I hope that my next annual report will be full of positive news and opinions re: the world in which we live. Until then...stay informed and stay in touch; and remember...words don't make a difference...People do.

Mike D.
a/k/a American Zulu

Protect traditional marriage

2006-06-01T07:45:00.000-07:00

Respect for the democratic process compels this Congress to protect traditional marriage in the face of a coordinated effort to redefine marriage through the courts.

Marriage, the union between a man and a woman, has been the foundation of every civilization in human history. It is incorporated into the fabric of our culture and civic life. It is the platform on which children, families and communities are nurtured.

Unfortunately, the U.S. Constitution is being amended to reflect a new definition of marriage - not by democratically elected members of Congress, but by unaccountable and unelected judges.

As a result, I introduced an amendment to the Constitution that simply defines marriage as the "union of a man and a woman," while leaving to state legislatures the freedom to address the question of civil unions and domestic partnerships. The amendment would not overturn current state and local laws dealing with these arrangements.

Democracy and representative government are at the core of this debate. In 2004 and 2005, voters in 14 states overwhelmingly passed constitutional amendments protecting marriage. Today, 19 states have constitutional amendments protecting marriage, and 26 have statutes designed to protect traditional marriage. The will of the people is clear on this issue.

Unfortunately, dissatisfied with the outcome of these votes, activists have intensified their campaign to circumvent the democratic process and redefine marriage through the courts. Currently, nine states face lawsuits challenging traditional marriage laws. Among these lawsuits are challenges to state constitutional amendments passed by an overwhelming majority of voters.

Recent decisions by activist judges not only fail to respect the traditional definition of marriage, they also highlight a lack of respect for the democratic process. The courts are driving a redefinition of marriage contrary to democratic principles.

The process to amend the U.S. Constitution is one the American people can trust.

My amendment reflects a belief that the institution of marriage is too precious to surrender to the whims of a handful of unelected, activist judges. The American people should have a say in the matter. If we in Congress fail to define marriage, the courts ultimately will not hesitate to define it for us.

Sen. Wayne Allard (news, bio, voting record), R-Colo., is the author of the Marriage Protection Amendment.

Semper Fidelis

2006-05-31T16:29:00.000-07:00

In this media firestorm that has surrounded the reports of unlawful engagement of unarmed civilians in Haditha, I just wanted to take this time to say that I support the Marines and all that they stand for. They have protected America's honor and they have sacrificed for liberty ever since their inception in 1775. The main stream media, along with such characters as John Murtha (a former Marine), have already tried and convicted these Marines before the official investigation has even concluded.
John Murtha calls them murderers who 'killed in cold blood', the media has used terms like, 'Blinded by hate', 'Massacre', and 'The Shame of Kilo Company' to paint a vivid picture of an incident that we do not even have all facts.

The authorities are investigating and I am confident that they will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law if these allegations are found to be true, but to jump ahead of the investigations and perform a media trial instead of an investigation and trial in a judiciary does everyone a dis-service...especially those serving honorably in this war.

So to the hundreds of thousands of soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen who have served honorably in this war on terror I continue to support and defend you. I am grateful for your service and sacrifice. May the Lord bless each and every one of you. May He give you courage under fire and wisdom under stressful conditions and circumstances. May HE protect you all and bring you home with the honor you so deserve.

Semer Fi'!

THE MARINE HYMN

From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli
We fight our country's battles
In the air on land and sea.
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to bear the title
Of United States Marines.

Our flag's unfurled to every breeze
From dawn to setting sun;
We have fought in every clime and place
Where we could take a gun.
In the snow of far-off Northern lands
And in sunny tropic scenes;
You will find us always on the job --
The United States Marines.

Here's health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve;
In many a strife we've fought for life
And never lost our nerve.
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven's scenes,
They will find the streets are guarded
By United States Marines.

Mike D.

Moscow Mayor says we (the West) can learn a thing or two from them...

2006-05-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

"Our way of life, our morals and our tradition -- our morals are cleaner in all ways. The West has something to learn from us and should not race along in this mad licentiousness,"

Hmmmmm, does he have a point? Even with all the that Russia isn't doing for their people with regards to democratic freedoms; should we throw the baby out with the bath water? Should there be a line in the sand? Is our behavior a reflection of our moral character or is it something else.

Women hurled eggs and fruit (no pun intended) at the Gay Activists trying to complete an illegal march on the monument of the unknown soldier who had fallen during the war to defeat Nazi Germany. All the while shouting, "Moscow is not Sodom".

I assume, the activist are implying that to not tolerate homosexual behavior is to be a Nazi...but I can't say for sure.

One thing is true in the West, we do have our own Sodom and I for one will not travel there. San Francisco has become our Sodom and perhaps if we had made a more earnest effort to make a moral stand for our country then perhaps we would not be where we are today where children are indoctrinated at an early age to accept and on some levels experiment to determine their sexuality as if there isn't a natural design of sexuality for our species.

The Mayor of Moscow might just have a point. We can tolerate ones own behavior but that does not mean that we must redefine our own or our history to accommodate what is an obvious choice in lifestyle.

AZ

Black Republican a Dem nightmare

2006-05-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

May 29, 2006

BY ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. -- Richmond Myrick, the principal of Largo High School, is a registered Democrat in overwhelmingly Democratic Prince George's County next to Washington, D.C. He has not been active politically and is not recorded as having made any contributions to candidates for federal office. Yet recently, he stood in the parking lot of Prince George's Community College adjoining his school to introduce Republican Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, whom he has endorsed for the U.S. Senate.

Myrick is African American, as are most students at Largo High. So is Steele. If enough non-political blacks follow Myrick's course, Steele will become the first black Republican elected to the Senate in 32 years. That is the Democrats' worst nightmare. Democratic dominance in Maryland has been based on maintaining a hammerlock over the state's substantial African- American vote. Steele threatens that domination.

Steele sees national implications and put it to me this way in a conversation before the recent rally in Upper Marlboro: ''It's a breaking point. I've heard the talk: 'Hillary, Bill, Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, all are coming in to campaign against you. They can't bear to see you win this race.' If I win this race, I am sure that the whole dynamic changes.''

This is a potential bright spot in a dreary 2006 election vista for the Republican Party. Two other African-American Republicans are running for governor: Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell in Ohio and former professional football star Lynn Swann in Pennsylvania. A victory by any one of them would constitute a rare GOP breakthrough in the black vote, but a Steele win in Maryland would be most exceptional.

Maryland typifies the pattern of blacks supplying nearly unanimous support for Democrats but getting little to show for it in the way of major offices. The party's choice this year to fill the Senate seat left vacant by the retirement of Paul Sarbanes is Rep. Benjamin Cardin of Baltimore, a hardworking toiler in the vineyards during 40 years as a state legislator and congressman. The feeling in political circles is that Cardin's time was due after so many years of tireless if unexciting service.

The flamboyant Kweisi Mfume, former head of the Congressional Black Caucus and the NAACP, has waged a serious Democratic primary challenge against Cardin. Mfume is so underfunded that he is unlikely to win, but the scars of the intraparty conflict could drive blacks to Steele in November.

Democratic leaders were not happy when Steele, as running mate in 2002, helped pull even a mere 5 percent of the black vote for Robert Ehrlich, the winning Republican for governor. Running by himself for the Senate, Steele will surely do much better. His own surveys show 14 percent, with an upside potential of 44 percent. If Steele gets 25 percent of the black vote, he is probably the winner.

I asked Myrick why he had endorsed Steele. ''He came to school, not just for a brief visit, but spent the whole day,'' the principal told me. ''He showed he cared about the students and teachers.'' What about Cardin? ''He hasn't been here,'' said Myrick. When I asked if he even knew who the veteran congressman was, he said he did not.

Steele is a conservative and is pro-life on abortion (balancing Ehrlich's pro-choice views on the '02 ticket). He says he became a Republican at age 18 when he heard Ronald Reagan address the 1976 Republican National Convention.

But at Prince George's Community College, with Myrick at his side, Steele whacked President Bush's educational policies (especially defunding support for low-income college students). In his brief remarks, he could not find anything favorable to say about the president.

He was even tougher on Bush in talking to me: ''In the eyes of blacks, [Hurricane] Katrina was a 9/11 event. You didn't fly over 9/11. You got on the ground in the rubble. You should have been on the ground for Katrina.'' Republican regulars don't mind this sort of talk. They know Steele, their former Republican state chairman, from fish fries all over the Free State. He can say whatever he wants to score a historic victory of national proportions.

'My Country 'tis of thee' on Memorial Day We Sing...

2006-05-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

"HERE REST IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD"

My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountainside,
Let freedom ring!

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills,
Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees,
Sweet freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

Our fathers' God, to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King.

Our Freedom has been paid for in blood.
To all those who have sacrificed thier all for the freedom that I enjoy, the freedom that my children frolic in, the freedom that is the envy around the world, I salute you. You are the unsung heroes behind the ink of our free press, you are the unknown patriarchs behind the pulpits of our churches and synagogues, you are the thread that holds together the stars and stripes of Old Glory, you are America at its greatest; selfless sacrifice for freedom and liberty. On this Memorial Day I want to take the time to thank you. My flag flies in your honor. May God Bless the men and women who serve our country today and may His peace be upon those who have given thier all in the service of others.

Michael DiBartolo

California's Electoral College: From disenfranchisement to political revolution

2006-05-24T13:56:00.000-07:00

Argument:

With more than 37 million people residing in the state of California; California is by far, the most populated state in the Union. This diverse population ranges from the farming communities in the Central Vally, to the tech communities of the San Francisco Bay to the 10+ million people who reside in the Los Angeles Basin. California's diversity isn't just based on race or geographic location but also in political philosophy. The densely populated coastal regions have a political outlook that differs greatly from those in the Valleys or rural mountain regions.

California's ever growing population, which rivals the population of Poland at 38 million people, requires that the state maintain 53 congressional districts, more than any other state in the Union. From District 53 which covers San Diego to the US/Mexico border to District 1 which is 800 miles to the north and is home to the California Redwoods and the North-Pacific Coast, California's congressional make-up is as divers as the nation is as a whole.

Just as our Founding Fathers found it necessary to institute the Electoral College to secure the fair representation of each state in a National Presidential Election and ensure that the choice of president would not be decided solely by the largest, most populous States with little regard for the smaller ones; so too must California ensure that the entire state electorate is heard from in our national elections and not just the densely populated areas located in coastal regions.

The current winner-takes-all statute of the California Electoral College causes for millions of Californians to be disenfranchised, making their votes null and void when selecting the highest office in the land.

Example:

In 2004, 12,383,678 Californians participated in the State wide election. Of the 12.3 million voters who participated; 6.7 million votes went to the challenger John Kerry who received all 55 of California's electoral votes leaving 5.6 million voters disenfranchised. The winner-takes-all statute does not fairly or accurately reflect the will of the electorate of California. Not only does the winner-takes-all statue disenfranchises millions of California voters, it also props up the two party system awarding one party the lion's share of the electoral vote while leaving all other political parties without any standing and potential funding for the next national election.

Californians can change all of this. Californians can demand that our law makers change the winner-takes-all system to a system that provides a more accurate representation of the political make-up of our state and ensure that millions of California voters are no longer being disenfranchised in the political process.

Proposal:

In order to support a free, open, and democratic society, it is the responsibility of the State of California to ensure that no one vote is weighed more than another, and that no one congressional district has the right or authority to receive or convey the Electoral Representative vote of another district.

It is the will and desire of the people of California that each congressional district within the State of California cast their electoral college vote according to the popular vote within that district. It should be mandated that the selected representatives of the Electoral College cast the vote that represents the popular vote of their particular district and not of the State or the political party they may be affiliated with.

It is also the will and desire of the people of the Great State of California that the two electoral votes that represent the two US Senate seats be awarded to the candidate in a national election who wins the overall popular vote of the state.

Expectations:

This proposal is binding. The people of California will accept nothing less from our State Legislature and our Electoral Representatives. Our law makers are expected to work with due diligence to facilitate the will of the People in this regard.

Californians can no longer tolerate political apathy while millions go disenfranchised and the two party system continues to monopolize the political process. Californians expect full compliance in time for the 2008 national election.

Signed,

The People of California

submitted by
Mike DiBartolo

Text: Criminal Indictment of the California Legislature

2006-05-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

California District Court
Every District in the State of California

INDICTMENT
ref. Cal. Gov't Code §§ 3060-3074
--------------------------------------------x
The People of the Great State of California
- V -
The California State Legislature,

a/k/a "California Oligarchy,"

a/k/a "California State Assembly,"

a/k/a "California State Senate,"

a/k/a "California Law Makers,"

a/k/a "California State Officials,"

a/k/a "Belly of the Beast,"

a/k/a "The Kids Under the Dome,"

a/k/a "The 'left' Coast,"

a/k/a "The People's Republic of California"

Defendants.
--------------------------------------------x

COUNT ONE

Willful or corrupt misconduct in office

The Grand Jury Charges:

Background: California Legislature

1. According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia;

The California Legislature is the legislative branch of the state government of California. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the Assembly, and an upper house, the Senate. There are 80 State Assembly Members and 40 State Senators. The State Legislature meets in the state capital, Sacramento.

According to the California State Constitution, each elected official must take an oath of office prior to conducting the business of the electorate. At all relevant times from in or about March of 2000 until the date of the filing of this Indictment, the California Legislature has circumvented and/or directly opposed the will of the People and Electorate of the Great State of California.

2. The Legislature opposed the will of the People of California for several reasons. First, the will of the people, as revealed through Propositions, was considered by the Legislature to be outdated and regressive. Second, the electorate of California was viewed as too conservative and ruled by religious dogma. Third, the Legislature opposed the California Electorate becoming better informed and empowered to affect the direction of California law and social growth.

3. The Legislature functioned both on its own and through some special interest groups (a/k/a the Union Lobby and other un-named lobby groups and associations). These groups used their financial and social resources to influence the electorate, mainly by disseminating their views through mass media outlets who are supportive of their overall goals.

4. The Legislature, in direct dereliction of their sworn duties, allowed the public school system to become the focal point of groups who maintain a social-political agenda and who have willfully and purposefully attempted to guide the moral, social, and political views of the children enrolled in our public school system. The Legislature, and members therein, are working cooperatively with these groups and associations to influence the social development and moral compass of the children within the Great State of California, circumventing the rights and responsibilities of the parents and guardians ultimately responsible for the development of their children.

4a. The Legislature knowingly, willfully, and recklessly opposed legislation that would provide for better protection of our children and our society from sexually violent predators (svp) and pedophiles.

5. The Legislature, and members therein, have also forged alliances with groups like 'MECha' and 'La Raza'who maintains that California is not the sovereign land of the United States, but part of land identified as 'Aztlan'. These lawmakers, and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, unlawfully, willfully, and knowingly joined and/or agreed in principle with the goals of these organizations to interfere with and obstruct the will of the electorate and the citizens of the Great State of California.

Overt Acts

6. In furtherance of said violations, and to effect the blatant disregard of their oath of office, the following overt acts, among others, were committed:

a. At various times since 1994 the Legislature has refused to support the spirit of Prop. 187 which was a clear desire by the electorate to gain control of the illegal immigration problems running rampant within the state. The Legislature put forward the following bills that were in direct opposition to the desired will of the electorate as revealed in the passing of Prop. 187:

~ SB60 - award driver's licenses to illegal residents
~ SCR113 - Legislature's endorsement of 'May Day'; a Socialist/Communist day of celebration and walk-out by illegal immigrants across the United States
~ AB540 - Free college tuition awarded to illegal residents

b. At various times since 2000, the Legislature refused to respect the will of the People of the Great State of California and the Constitution of California by proposing and approving bills meant to undermine Prop. 22, which states that

“Only marriage between a man and a woman
is valid or recognized in California.”

. The following are bills submitted by the California Legislature contrary to the implied will of the electorate:

~ AB205 - California Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act of 2003
~ AB1967 - Redefining Marriage
~ AB19 - Gender-neutral marriage
~ AB849 - Gender-neutral marriage
~ AB1437 - Requiring school books (K-12) to disclose sexual orientations of those who contributed to California
~ HR16 - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans gender (LGBT) Pride Month (June 2005)
~ AB2920 - Services for Gay Seniors
~ AB2051 - grants for domestic violence programs for gays
~ HR51 - Gay and Lesbian Pride month (2002)
~ AB2651 - recruiting gay foster parents for the promotion of placement of gay youth
~ AB1338 - Civil Same Sex Unions are recognized the same as Civil Marriages
~ ACR108 - Gay Pride Month (2003)
~ HR53 - Gay Pride Month (2004)
~ ACR85 - 'Respect for All'; a film series to celebrate "family diversity"
~ AB606 - Additional protection from discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation real or perceived

c. At various times since 2000, the Legislature opposed legislation that would have provided additional protection for our children from sexually violent predators (svp) in direct violation of California Government Code, Chap. 9, Article 3. The Legislature, and members therein, opposed or held up in committee the following bills:

~ SB588 - Jessica's Law; The Sexual Predator Punishment and Control Act
~ AB231 - Jessica's Law; The Sexual Predator Punishment and Control Act
~ AB864 - Sexually violent Predators: terms of commitment
~ SB865 - Clearly defining a "Sexually Violent Predator"
~ SB1098 - Sexually violent predators: definition
Refusing to act on these bills places the Legislature in direct violation of California's State Constitution; Article 1, Section 1 & Section 28a which states:

SECTION 1. All people are by nature free and independent and have
inalienable rights. Among these are enjoying and defending life and
liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing
and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy.

SEC. 28. (a) The People of the State of California find and declare
that the enactment of comprehensive provisions and laws ensuring a
bill of rights for victims of crime, including safeguards in the
criminal justice system to fully protect those rights, is a matter of
grave statewide concern.
The rights of victims pervade the criminal justice system,
encompassing not only the right to restitution from the wrongdoers
for financial losses suffered as a result of criminal acts, but also
the more basic expectation that persons who commit felonious acts
causing injury to innocent victims will be appropriately detained in
custody, tried by the courts, and sufficiently punished so that the
public safety is protected and encouraged as a goal of highest
importance.
Such public safety extends to public primary, elementary, junior
high, and senior high school campuses, where students and staff have
the right to be safe and secure in their persons. To accomplish these goals, broad reforms in the procedural
treatment of accused persons and the disposition and sentencing of
convicted persons are necessary and proper as deterrents to criminal
behavior and to serious disruption of people's lives.

d. On February 10th, 2004 the newly elected Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, declared Proposition 22 unconstitutional and directed the County Clerk of San Francisco to change the forms and documents used to apply for and issue marriage licenses to be changed to allow for same sex couples to marry. Thousands of marriage licenses were issued to same sex couples in the County of San Francisco in direct violation of the State Constitution; Article 3, Section 3.5 a,b & c which states:

SEC. 3.5. An administrative agency, including an administrative
agency created by the Constitution or an initiative statute, has no
power:
(a) To declare a statute unenforceable, or refuse to enforce a
statute, on the basis of it being unconstitutional unless an
appellate court has made a determination that such statute is
unconstitutional; (b) To declare a statute unconstitutional;
(c) To declare a statute unenforceable, or to refuse to enforce a
statute on the basis that federal law or federal regulations prohibit
the enforcement of such statute unless an appellate court has made a
determination that the enforcement of such statute is prohibited by
federal law or federal regulations.

The State Legislature took no action in the face of this blatant violation of state law.

e. From at least 1994 until the date of the filing of this Indictment, the Legislature has allowed Justices to legislate from the bench in direct violation of the State Constitution, Article 3, Section 3 which states:

SEC. 3. The powers of state government are legislative, executive,
and judicial. Persons charged with the exercise of one power may not
exercise either of the others except as permitted by this
Constitution.

f. From at least 1998 until the date of the filing of this Indictment, the State Legislature has allowed the English language to diminish as the official language of the State of California. This is in direct violation of the State Constitution, Article 3, Section 6 which states:

SEC. 6. (a) Purpose.
English is the common language of the people of the United States
of America and the State of California. This section is intended to
preserve, protect and strengthen the English language, and not to
supersede any of the rights guaranteed to the people by this
Constitution.
(b) English as the Official Language of California.
English is the official language of the State of California.
(c) Enforcement.
The Legislature shall enforce this section by appropriate
legislation. The Legislature and officials of the State of
California shall take all steps necessary to insure that the role of
English as the common language of the State of California is
preserved and enhanced. The Legislature shall make no law which
diminishes or ignores the role of English as the common language of
the State of California.
(d) Personal Right of Action and Jurisdiction of Courts.
Any person who is a resident of or doing business in the State of
California shall have standing to sue the State of California to
enforce this section, and the Courts of record of the State of
California shall have jurisdiction to hear cases brought to enforce
this section. The Legislature may provide reasonable and appropriate
limitations on the time and manner of suits brought under this
section.

g. From at least 2000 until the date of the filing of this Indictment, the State Legislature, and members therein, have failed to uphold their oath of office by having a total disregard for the will of the Electorate in violation of the Article 1, Section 3a of the State Constitution which states:

SEC. 3. (a) The people have the right to instruct their
representatives, petition government for redress of grievances, and
assemble freely to consult for the common good.

h. From at least 2001 until the date of the filing of this Indictment, the Legislature has awarded certain college tuition privileges to illegal residents of this state in direct violation of Article 1, Section 7b and Section 31a of the State Constitution which states:

SEC. 7. (b) A citizen or class of citizens may not be granted privileges
or immunities not granted on the same terms to all citizens.
Privileges or immunities granted by the Legislature may be altered or
revoked.
SEC. 31. (a) The State shall not discriminate against, or grant
preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of
race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of
public employment, public education, or public contracting.

i. From at least 1994 until the date of the filing of this Indictment, the California Legislature, and members therein, have violated their oath of office by expressing support and/or allegiance with groups and organizations who, as part of their agenda, have vowed to separate California from the United States and incorporate it into a region known as Aztlan. This association with members of the Legislature and those determined to separate California from the Union is a direct violation of Article 20, Section 3 of the State Constitution which reads:

SEC. 3. Members of the Legislature, and all public officers and
employees, executive, legislative, and judicial, except such inferior
officers and employees as may be by law exempted, shall, before they
enter upon the duties of their respective offices, take and
subscribe the following oath or affirmation:

"I, ______, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support
and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Consti-
tution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign
and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the
Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the
State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without
any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will
well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about
to enter.
"And I do further swear (or affirm) that I do not advocate,
nor
am I a member of any party or organization, political or other-
wise, that now advocates the overthrow of the Government of the
United States or of the State of California by force or violence
or other unlawful means; that within the five years immediately
preceding the taking of this oath (or affirmation) I have not
been a member of any party or organization, political or other-
wise, that advocated the overthrow of the Government of the
United States or of the State of California by force or violence
or other unlawful means except as follows:
________________________________________________________________
(If no affiliations, write in the words "No Exceptions")
and that during such time as I hold the office of ______________
________________________________ I will not advocate nor become
(name of office)
a member of any party or organization, political or otherwise,
that advocates the overthrow of the Government of the United
States or of the State of California by force or violence or
other unlawful means."

(CA Gov. Code 3060 - 3074)

Indictment filed by:

Michael DiBartolo
Resident, Citizen, and Electorate
of the Great State of California

** This Indictment lays out clear offenses, disregard, and blatant obstruction of the State's Constitution and the will of the people of California. This indictment is meant to edify the electorate to the abuses taking place in our State Legislature and to encourage the Electorate to take immediate action to hold the Legislature accountable for their actions by removing all those who have violated their oath of office by voting them out of office in the elections slated for 2006 and 2008 and to hold all elected officials accountable to the Constitution and the will of the people.
If you are in agreement with these charges and the resolution to regain control of our legislature, please sign your name to the comment section of this Indictment and then forward this Indictment to all those who care about the direction California is heading. **

Another Milestone reached in Iraq

2006-05-20T20:09:00.000-07:00

On May 20th 2006, the newly elected Prime Minister of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, presented his new cabinet to the Iraqi National Assembly for confirmation. Applause filled the chamber as each member of Iraq's new cabinet was named and approved.

This is a long awaited milestone for the Iraqi people. After more than 5 months of haggling and just two days before the constitutional deadline to submit a cabinet, al-Maliki was able to put together a government that was accepted by the entire parliament. The challenges do not end there; there are some critical appointments to this knew Iraqi cabinet that have yet to be filled. While Maliki acknowledges the challenges ahead, he should take pride in what he and the Iraqi people have accomplished thus far. In spite of all that the Iraqi people are enduring, despite the pessimistic views and energy being directed towards anything that has to do with Iraq, the people of Iraq continue to press forward with unwavering determination to take full control of their country and their future.

While I see this event as an absolute positive, the reactions around the world range from cautious optimism to down-right hope of failure. Notwithstanding the violence that is occurring in Iraq, I see the Iraqi people determined to overcome this violence and to bring their country into a era of peace. They have taken hold of the freedom they have long desired. This isn't an American philosophy being forced upon them but it is an Iraqi desire for self determination, self-rule and peace that draws the good people of Iraq to defend their country from the insurgents and terrorist who wish only for the complete opposite of the Iraqi people.

The semantics and style of reporting used by the media reveal how they would like to paint the picture of Iraq. No good news in Iraq is reported without a death toll from recent attacks. In contrast, the United States can have the position of the CIA Director vacant while the Senators debate the qualifications of the next person to take that seat and no one will say the US Government is weak or treads on a thin alliance to govern. The President of the United States can announce the signing of a bill that would best serve the people of the United States and never a mention will there be of the murders committed in Washington D.C. or the nation as a whole.

Iraq can't have a school open, or a Government Cabinet formed without a list of the most recent deaths and/or attacks listed in the middle of that same report. They don't want the thought of death in war to be far from any news of peace.

According to the Associated Press, there is "no guarantee of success"
and their report went on to note; "As the Cabinet was sworn in, at least 33 people were killed in a series of attacks across Iraq, and police found the bodies of 22 Iraqis who apparently had been kidnapped and tortured by death squads that plague the capital and other areas."

The AP story also cited "Many (nameless) analysts" who say that Iraq has taken on the characteristics of an "irregular civil war". An "irregular civil war"??? I assume this is a civil war that isn't...but those reporting on it desire it to be in order to justify their continuous assault against the entire effort to remove Saddam and free the Iraqi people. What next? Analysts are going to discover the 'irregular diet'?

The LA Times sees the Iraqi government as "too diverse to prevail"
. The LA Times also suggests that the Prime Minister of Iraq "has a Cabinet so wide-ranging that it could collapse, a 34-point program aimed at satisfying each faction, and a disillusioned, weary nation to govern."

Though the LA Times did not mention an "irregular civil war" they did feel it pertinent to present the new and freely elected Iraqi government as an act of appeasement, "On the surface, the Cabinet of Shiites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds unveiled Saturday appears to be just the body to appease a torn nation. Urbanites keen for a secular state sit alongside religious Iraqis in search of Islamic rule; advocates of loose federalism vie against leaders demanding a strong central government."

I guess according to the LA Times, people of different backgrounds, ethnicities, and religious views aren't able to form a government for all the people of Iraq. In light of that, I wonder how they view the United States Congress?

The Iraqi people continue to press forward despite the fatalistic views of such groups as the LA Times and the Associated Press. I applaud their success and I support their efforts to continue down the road of freedom and democracy.

Mike DiBartolo

War on Terror is a Global Effort

2006-05-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

Ambassador Henry Crumpton, the State Department coordinator for counterterrorism gave his assessment of the State Dept. annual report on terrorism. Crumpton's prepared testimony was submitted to the House International Relations’ Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation.

The report cited efforts on every Continent, from single country and multilateral efforts to counterterrorism initiatives.

The report states:

Some areas in which we witnessed positive trends in 2005 include Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Colombia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Canada. Specifically:

~ Afghanistan embraced a new democratic government, a remarkable feat even while violence along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border increased.
~ Pakistan continued its efforts to wrestle South Waziristan from al-Qaida influence.
~ Iraqis bravely participated in democratic elections and recently agreed to form a national unity government, a critical step in ending the violence.
~ Saudi Arabia captured or killed the top 26 senior al-Qaida operatives inside the country by the end of 2005. The government also took steps to counter radicalization, and opened its Financial Investigation Unit.
~ Algerian forces reduced the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat’s (GSPC) strongholds in Algeria to small isolated pockets.
~ Colombia demobilized in 2005 10,418 United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia fighters, made some progress in engaging the National Liberation Army into negotiations, and kept the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on the strategic defensive. Bogota now boasts police forces in all 1,098 municipalities throughout the country, and is trying to work with bordering countries to combat the FARC. Kidnappings in Colombia numbered less than 300 in 2005 -- down from more than 2000 a year at its high point -- and the Colombian government cooperated with our efforts to recover three U.S. citizens kidnapped by the FARC in February 2003. These efforts continue.
~ Indonesia intensified its broad counterterrorism campaign after the second Bali bombing in October 2005, and its campaign continues to gain momentum. This includes successful prosecution of terrorist operatives, an emphasis on moderate religious theology to blunt radicalization, and the death of Bali bomb maker Azahari bin Husin in a November shootout.
~ With U.S. Government assistance, the Philippine Government now has increasing control of the island of Basilan and is beginning to create stability on the island of Jolo, both areas of operation for Jemaah Islamiya and the Abu Sayyaf Group.
~ U.S.-Canadian counterterrorism cooperation continued to be strong, and rests on our joint efforts to safeguard the northern border. This bilateral cooperation, which also extends internationally, is characterized by a number of established and new fora, including the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, the terrorism sub-group of the Cross Border Crime Forum, and the Smart Border Accord. The latter led to an agreement to expand the number of Integrated Border Enforcement Teams covering the border to 15.

Crumpton's report goes on to say,

Our strategy to defeat terrorists, however, does not stop there. Rather, our strategy is structured at multiple levels -- a global campaign to counter violent extremism; a series of regional collaborative efforts to deny terrorists safe haven; and numerous bilateral security and development assistance programs designed to build partner CT capabilities, as well as liberal institutions, support the rule of law, and address political and economic injustice.

To view the text of the report click here.

Terror Leader arrested in Iraq

2006-05-16T07:07:00.000-07:00

Baghdad/Cairo - Iraqi security personnel have captured in west Baghdad the suspected head of a terrorist cell linked to al- Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the country's interior ministry said Tuesday.

'Terrorist Omar Ahmed Saleh, alias Abu Jibril, one of the leaders of al-Tawhid al-Jihad (the former name of the al-Qaeda-linked group), was arrested in his house,' the ministry said in a statement.

Arms including explosives, RPG launchers, ammunition and a bomb- laden vehicle were also seized in the raid, the statement continued.

© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

President of Iran asked Bush...'What would Jesus do?'

2006-05-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK, May 9 (UPI) -- A rambling letter to U.S. President George Bush from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suggested Bush return to Christian teachings.

"Can one be a follower of Jesus Christ, the great Messenger of God ... But at the same time, have countries attacked: the lives, reputations and possessions of people destroyed," the 18-page letter said

Click here for UPI story.

Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQ) frustrated that their efforts are for not...

2006-05-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

writer says that the American and Iraqi government forces "were able to absorb our painful blows," enlist new recruits and "take control of Baghdad as well as other areas, one after the other."

For the complete AP story, click here.

Insurgents are having a change of heart: they’ve been "fighting the wrong enemy."

2006-05-02T10:41:00.000-07:00

There seems to be a paradigm shift occurring in Iraq, which is under-reported and under appreciated. This started with the four month grid lock to select a leadership in the Iraqi government being overcome by negotiations and compromise, and has now continued through the peaceful negotiations by Iraqi insurgent groups, leading Iraqi clerics, and the Iraqi government.

Upon Secretary Rumsfeld’s return from an impromptu visit to Iraq, he was interviewed by radio talk show host, Laura Ingram where he stated that the progress in Iraq was happening more than he appreciated from Washington DC.

"I met with the advisors to the Ministry of Interior and the Iraqi Minister of Defense and the progress they're making there is notably faster and better than I had appreciated from Washington."

In the interview with Laura Ingram, Secretary Rumsfeld applauded the announcement of the top leadership for the Iraqi government as well as the support from the local leading clerics of the Iraqi people.

"It is an historic event for the Iraqi people to vote and then for a new government to be formed with the top seven officials announced. The meetings we had with them could not have been better. One listens to their comments and you can't help but come away encouraged that they understand the importance of having a unified government; of governing from the center; of having non-sectarian ministers administer the government on behalf of the Iraqi people. The recent remarks by Sistani against militias and the government's announcement that they intend to address the militia issue. It is clearly an encouraging time in Iraq and it's important that it be noted."

Couple Secretary Rumsfeld’s assessment of the progress in Iraq with the news being reported from the office of the Iraqi President, Jalal Talabani stating that President Talabani has been meeting with seven armed groups in hopes of agreeing to a deal to include them in Iraq's political process. The spokesperson for the Iraqi President’s office stated:

"These groups who are holding talks with the president are those who believe in a prosperous Iraq. Their will to fight America has waned,"

According to a CNN report, 'a source close to the Iraqi President said the meetings have been under way for some time.
The groups are realizing that Americans are not their true enemy, the source said, and that they have been "fighting the wrong enemy."
"[These groups] are coming to the realization that one day the Americans will leave -- and that the most important thing is an Iraq that is free from Iranian influence," the source added.'

One should ask, how does this progress and new leadership affect the terror operatives for Al Qaeda in Iraq? Well it marginalizes the Al Qaeda terrorist and places them at odds with all that the Iraqi people are striving for; …. Peace.
According to a statement released shortly after al-Qaeda frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi released a tape condemning the US and the Iraqi government, the President of Iraq declared al-Zarqawi an enemy of the Iraqi people.
"Al-Zarqawi has launched a genocide against the Iraqi people, branding the Shi'ites as rawafidh [rejectionists], the Kurds as traitors, and the Sunni Arabs as renegades…The Iraqi people hate his brutal crimes and he is now isolated,"
"The best way to deal with the al-Zarqawi phenomenon is through national reconciliation and restoring security and stability,"

Progress in Iraq continues despite the main stream media’s attention being focused on anything but success in Iraq. If projections by the US commander in Iraq, General George Casey hold true; the US forces will be reduced by 30,000 by the end of the year bringing the total force in Iraq equal to the number of forces we have in Germany (100,000). This reduction would highlight the continued progress in Iraq and the overall success of the Iraqi campaign.

Mike DiBartolo

"Melting pots that do not melt become pressure cookers, and diversity carried too far is dangerously divisive."

2006-05-01T10:32:00.000-07:00

Richard Lamm, governor of Colorado from 1975 to 1987, is director of the Center for Public Policy and Contemporary Issues at the University of Denver. He was a Reform Party candidate for the presidency of the United States.

His comments over the past two decades have often sparked debate as well as controversy. An email circulation of a 5 minute speech by Mr. Hamm, titled ‘I have a plan to destroy America’ continues to circulate around the country causing many to take pause and evaluate where our country is today. While researching Mr. Hamm’s writings, I came across a piece titled, ‘The Ten Commandments of Community’, first published in the Chronicles in 1996. In it Mr. Hamm writes,

In short, "diversity" is only an asset if it is secondary to unity. The emphasis must be on the unum not the pluribus. We should respect diversity, but we should celebrate unity.

To which I wholeheartedly agree. Mr. Hamm also addresses Community responsibility and national identity. It’s an interesting read that provokes reflection on where we are today and where we plan on being in the future.

Mr. Hamm provided a complete text of his speech, 'I have a plan to destroy America’ to Snopes.com, which reads,

I HAVE A PLAN TO DESTROY AMERICA
RICHARD D. LAMM

I HAVE A SECRET PLAN TO DESTROY AMERICA. IF YOU BELIEVE, AS MANY DO, THAT AMERICA IS TOO SMUG, TOO WHITE BREAD, TOO SELF-SATISFIED, TOO RICH, LETS DESTROY AMERICA. IT IS NOT THAT HARD TO DO. HISTORY SHOWS THAT NATIONS ARE MORE FRAGILE THAN THEIR CITIZENS THINK. NO NATION IN HISTORY HAS SURVIVED THE RAVAGES OF TIME. ARNOLD TOYNBEE OBSERVED THAT ALL GREAT CIVILIZATIONS RISE AND THEY ALL FALL, AND THAT "AN AUTOPSY OF HISTORY WOULD SHOW THAT ALL GREAT NATIONS COMMIT SUICIDE." HERE IS MY PLAN:

I. WE MUST FIRST MAKE AMERICA A BILINGUAL-BICULTURAL COUNTRY. HISTORY SHOWS, IN MY OPINION, THAT NO NATION CAN SURVIVE THE TENSION, CONFLICT, AND ANTAGONISM OF TWO COMPETING LANGUAGES AND CULTURES. IT IS A BLESSING FOR AN INDIVIDUAL TO BE BILINGUAL; IT IS A CURSE FOR A SOCIETY TO BE BILINGUAL. ONE SCHOLAR, SEYMOUR MARTIN LIPSET, PUT IT THIS WAY:
THE HISTORIES OF BILINGUAL AND BICULTURAL SOCIETIES THAT DO NOT ASSIMILATE ARE HISTORIES OF TURMOIL, TENSION, AND TRAGEDY. CANADA, BELGIUM, MALAYSIA, LEBANON-ALL FACE CRISES OF NATIONAL EXISTENCE IN WHICH MINORITIES PRESS FOR AUTONOMY, IF NOT INDEPENDENCE. PAKISTAN AND CYPRUS HAVE DIVIDED. NIGERIA SUPPRESSED AN ETHNIC REBELLION. FRANCE FACES DIFFICULTIES WITH ITS BASQUES, BRETONS, AND CORSICANS.

II. I WOULD THEN INVENT "MULTICULTURALISM" AND ENCOURAGE IMMIGRANTS TO MAINTAIN THEIR OWN CULTURE. I WOULD MAKE IT AN ARTICLE OF BELIEF THAT ALL CULTURES ARE EQUAL: THAT THERE ARE NO CULTURAL DIFFERENCES THAT ARE IMPORTANT. I WOULD DECLARE IT AN ARTICLE OF FAITH THAT THE BLACK AND HISPANIC DROPOUT RATE IS ONLY DUE TO PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION BY THE MAJORITY. EVERY OTHER EXPLANATION IS OUT-OF-BOUNDS.

III. WE CAN MAKE THE UNITED STATES A "HISPANIC QUEBEC" WITHOUT MUCH EFFORT. THE KEY IS TO CELEBRATE DIVERSITY RATHER THAN UNITY. AS BENJAMIN SCHWARZ SAID IN THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY RECENTLY:
...THE APPARENT SUCCESS OF OUR OWN MULTIETHNIC AND MULTICULTURAL EXPERIMENT MIGHT HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED NOT BY TOLERANCE BUT BY HEGEMONY. WITHOUT THE DOMINANCE THAT ONCE DICTATED ETHNOCENTRICALLY, AND WHAT IT MEANT TO BE AN AMERICAN, WE ARE LEFT WITH ONLY TOLERANCE AND PLURALISM TO HOLD US TOGETHER.
I WOULD ENCOURAGE ALL IMMIGRANTS TO KEEP THEIR OWN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE. I WOULD REPLACE THE MELTING POT METAPHOR WITH A SALAD BOWL METAPHOR. IT IS IMPORTANT TO INSURE THAT WE HAVE VARIOUS CULTURAL SUB-GROUPS LIVING IN AMERICA REINFORCING THEIR DIFFERENCES RATHER THAN AMERICANS, EMPHASIZING THEIR SIMILARITIES.

IV. HAVING DONE ALL THIS, I WOULD MAKE OUR FASTEST GROWING DEMOGRAPHIC GROUP THE LEAST EDUCATED - I WOULD ADD A SECOND UNDERCLASS, UNASSIMILATED, UNDEREDUCATED, AND ANTAGONISTIC TO OUR POPULATION. I WOULD HAVE THIS SECOND UNDERCLASS HAVE A 50% DROP OUT RATE FROM SCHOOL.

V. I WOULD THEN GET THE BIG FOUNDATIONS AND BIG BUSINESS TO GIVE THESE EFFORTS LOTS OF MONEY. I WOULD INVEST IN ETHNIC IDENTITY, AND I WOULD ESTABLISH THE CULT OF VICTIMOLOGY. I WOULD GET ALL MINORITIES TO THINK THEIR LACK OF SUCCESS WAS ALL THE FAULT OF THE MAJORITY - I WOULD START A GRIEVANCE INDUSTRY BLAMING ALL MINORITY FAILURE ON THE MAJORITY POPULATION.

VI. I WOULD ESTABLISH DUAL CITIZENSHIP AND PROMOTE DIVIDED LOYALTIES. I WOULD "CELEBRATE DIVERSITY." "DIVERSITY" IS A WONDERFULLY SEDUCTIVE WORD. IT STRESSES DIFFERENCES RATHER THAN COMMONALITIES. DIVERSE PEOPLE WORLDWIDE ARE MOSTLY ENGAGED IN HATING EACH OTHER-THAT IS, WHEN THEY ARE NOT KILLING EACH OTHER. A DIVERSE," PEACEFUL, OR STABLE SOCIETY IS AGAINST MOST HISTORICAL PRECEDENT. PEOPLE UNDERVALUE THE UNITY IT TAKES TO KEEP A NATION TOGETHER, AND WE CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS MYOPIA. LOOK AT THE ANCIENT GREEKS. DORF'S WORLD HISTORY TELLS US:
THE GREEKS BELIEVED THAT THEY BELONGED TO THE SAME RACE; THEY POSSESSED A COMMON LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE; AND THEY WORSHIPED THE SAME GODS. ALL GREECE TOOK PART IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN HONOR OF ZEUS AND ALL GREEKS VENERATED THE SHRINE OF APOLLO AT DELPHI. A COMMON ENEMY PERSIA THREATENED THEIR LIBERTY. YET, ALL OF THESE BONDS TOGETHER WERE NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO OVERCOME TWO FACTORS . . . (LOCAL PATRIOTISM AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS THAT NURTURED POLITICAL DIVISIONS . . .)
IF WE CAN PUT THE EMPHASIS ON THE "PLURIBUS," INSTEAD OF THE "UNUM," WE CAN BALKANIZE AMERICA AS SURELY AS KOSOVO.

VII. THEN I WOULD PLACE ALL THESE SUBJECTS OFF LIMITS - MAKE IT TABOO TO TALK ABOUT. I WOULD FIND A WORD SIMILAR TO "HERETIC" IN THE 16TH CENTURY - THAT STOPPED DISCUSSION AND PARALYZED THINKING. WORDS LIKE "RACIST", "XENOPHOBE" THAT HALTS ARGUMENT AND CONVERSATION.

HAVING MADE AMERICA A BILINGUAL-BICULTURAL COUNTRY, HAVING ESTABLISHED MULTICULTURALISM, HAVING THE LARGE FOUNDATIONS FUND THE DOCTRINE OF "VICTIMOLOGY", I WOULD NEXT MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO ENFORCE OUR IMMIGRATION LAWS. I WOULD DEVELOP A MANTRA - "THAT BECAUSE IMMIGRATION HAS BEEN GOOD FOR AMERICA, IT MUST ALWAYS BE GOOD." I WOULD MAKE EVERY INDIVIDUAL IMMIGRANT SYMPATRIC AND IGNORE THE CUMULATIVE IMPACT.

VIII. LASTLY, I WOULD CENSOR VICTOR HANSON DAVIS'S BOOK MEXIFORNIA — THIS BOOK IS DANGEROUS — IT EXPOSES MY PLAN TO DESTROY AMERICA. SO PLEASE, PLEASE — IF YOU FEEL THAT AMERICA DESERVES TO BE DESTROYED — PLEASE, PLEASE — DON'T BUY THIS BOOK! THIS GUY IS ON TO MY PLAN.
"THE SMART WAY TO KEEP PEOPLE PASSIVE AND OBEDIENT IS TO STRICTLY LIMIT THE SPECTRUM OF ACCEPTABLE OPINION, BUT ALLOW VERY LIVELY DEBATE WITHIN THAT SPECTRUM." — NOAM CHOMSKY, AMERICAN LINGUIST AND US MEDIA AND FOREIGN POLICY CRITIC.

Both Governor Lamm and the writer of the e-mail misidentify the author of the book Mexifornia, whose correct name is Victor Davis Hanson.

With all that is going on across the globe, it is hard for one to ignore the signs we find ourselves in and what our responsibilities are. If we are to remain ‘One nation under God’ then we need to take action to preserve this great nation for the next generation. Pacifism will not preserve our future. Apathy will not preserve our future. Shopping will not preserve our future. Only active citizens who are willing to do their part to preserve and protect our democracy, can change (for the better) occur.

AZ

(Thank you, to Dr. J. Dave Toler w/Abbaquest Ministries for forwarding this email to my attention)

Less We Forget

2006-04-27T10:06:00.000-07:00

The post 9/11 world first began for America on United Airlines Flight 93. The passengers and crew came into the shocking reality that our nation was under attack, and our very attackers had taken control of their plane and were using it as an 850,000 (take off weight) pound missile.

The battle cry, “Let’s Roll” has been forgotten. The heroic efforts of these every day American citizens has been lost in the political fray of blame, hate, and denial. On April 28th this will all change; the movie titled ‘United 93’ will be released across the country and every American should take the time to see it and remember that fateful day for what it was; an unprovoked attack on our nation.

On April 25th, the families were able to view the premier of this movie and this is the opinion of one family member whose son sacrificed his all in the protection of American liberty.

“In this case and at this time, it is appropriate to get a dose of reality about this war and the real enemy we face. It is not too soon for this story to be told, seen and heard. But it is too soon for us to become complacent.

There are those who would hope to escape the pain of war. Can't we just live and let live and pretend every thing is OK? Let's discuss, negotiate, reason together. The film accurately shows an enemy who will stop at nothing in a quest for control. This enemy does not seek our resources, our land or our materials, but rather to alter our very way of life.

Be reminded of our very real enemy. Be inspired by a true story of heroic actions taken by ordinary people with victorious consequences. Be thankful for each precious day of life with a loved one and make the most of it. Resolve to take the right action in the situations of life, whatever they may be. Resolve to give thanks and support to those men, women, leaders and commanders who to this day (1,687 days since Sept. 11, 2001) continue the counterattacks on our enemy and in so doing keep us safe and our freedoms intact.”

David Beamer; father of Todd Beamer, a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93.

I would encourage you to read his entire article and would implore you to watch ‘United 93’…less we forget.

AZ

The US, Iran & Nuclear Energy: stuck between a centrifuge and a hard place

2006-04-25T15:03:00.000-07:00

When discussing nuclear energy and the potential to convert that energy into military weapons, the rhetoric coming from the government of Iran continues to escalate the consequences of not having a united front.

On Tuesday, April 25, 2006, the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced that the nuclear technology that they are developing may not remain in Iranian hands.

"Iran's nuclear capability is one example of various scientific capabilities in the country. ... The Islamic Republic of Iran is prepared to transfer the experience, knowledge and technology of its scientists,"

These remarks came as Ayatolla Ali Khamenei was meeting with the President of Sudan, President Omar al-Bashir. Sharing this type of technology with nations such as Sudan or splinter terrorist groups like Hammas is what THE TREATY ON THE NON-PROLIFERATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS ( NPT ) was designed to prevent.

The UN’s inability to provide a clear and concise message from the other world leaders; continues to embolden the Iranians to go forward, not only with their rhetoric but with their development of nuclear materials. While it is the right of each member of the NPT to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, this right becomes questionable when a member state (such as Iran) speaks publicly of wiping other nations “off the map”.

Throw in two permanent members of the UN Security Council, Russia and China, who continue to provide leverage for the Iranians to move forward with their nuclear ambitions when they make statements such as:

"We see no alternative to the negotiations process,"

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov

We maintain that there is still room for the solution of this issue through negotiation, and the international community should not quit its effort.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang

It isn’t the international community who’s sending mixed messages regarding the Iranian nuclear issue, it’s Iran. China and Russia seem to have no stomach for economic sanctions being placed on Iran and Iran seems to have no interest in changing thier current policy of rhetoric while developing nuclear materials.

This conundrum places the US, EU and the UN in what can only be called a difficult situation. Iran continues to posture and the only real teeth the UN has is through the IAEA and the Security Council which China and Russia refuses to unleash. A new ‘balance of power’ is emerging from the Middle East, the Far East, and Russia and America seems to be a spectator in world events. 2006 will prove to be a very challenging year for the State Dept., with regards to Iran.

Mike DiBartolo

Welcome to California

2006-04-25T10:49:00.000-07:00

California:

The Golden State;
with hundreds of miles of beautiful beaches and majestic mountains.
Giant Redwood and Sequoia’s that scratch the stairs of heaven.
Lakes as blue as emeralds, and valleys that stretch for hundreds of miles.
With over 30 million souls from Crescent City on the north coast to
Blythe in the Sonoran Desert, California represents every walk of life and nationality.
Known for being laid back, California is a dream land for many who call it home.

When the President of the United States pays California a visit: how is he greeted?

The Governor treats him like the last kid to be called ‘over’ in the game ‘Red Rover! – Red Rover!’
He shuns him as if the President had anything to do with his own declining approval ratings,
and a liberal state legislature who’s run-a-muck.
Yet the Governor tolerates the President because he has something the Governor wants; Money.
With hat in hand the Governor begs for money from the Federal Government to fix the problems he is unable to address with the California Legislature.

Following the Governor’s lead, how do the people of California greet the President?

With jeers and protest! Demanding his removal from office and likening him to Adolf Hitler.
They declared the War on Terror a failure and the President a criminal.
They declare; that to dissent is to be patriotic and they have the right of expression and assembly.
While waving flags of terrorist states and Communist regimes, they demand that the President leave California immediately!

If anyone in this crowd of ‘Californians’ dared to express support for the President;

They were shouted down and told to leave California with the President.
Expletives were used to express the disgust that these ‘Californians’ had for them and the President that they supported.
While children were present, they would continue their barrage of verbal attacks causing the supporters of the President to seek the protection of the local police. These ‘Californians’ demanded and expected their right to dissent but they would not tolerate ANY other opinion other than their own.

How do the Californian dissenters support one another?

One brings a backpack filled with wires and tubing and drops it in the middle of this demonstration. The police pursue this person into the crowd and eventually apprehend him. The Bomb Squad is called in to defuse what turns out to be an elaborate hoax.

All this from Californians…
All this from a society that prides itself on the rule of law and democracy…
All this because of a visit to California by our President…

Dear Mr. President,

What happened during your visit is an embarrassment to California. On the behalf of those who weren’t represented either by our Governor or those rabid protestors in the streets, we would like to apologize. We are a decent people who respect the law and our elected officials. Voting for you is not a prerequisite to showing a sense of decorum when you pay us a visit. Those who chose to show you the underbelly of our society did so of their own accord and in no way reflect the views of the 30+ million souls who call this state our home.

Sincerely,

The People of Great State of California

"60% of Iraq is at peace right now.”

2006-04-19T10:41:00.000-07:00

In an interview with Radio Talk Show Host, Hugh Hewitt; Jeb Babbin, author of the new book “Showdown”, navigates through the fog of the main stream media and paints a realistic picture of the progress being made in the Iraqi theater, Donald Rumsfeld’s roll as Defense Secretary, and the ‘night of Generals’, where 6 retired generals call for the resignation of the Defense Secretary. The transcript of this interview can be found on Radioblogger.com.

On April 18th , Jeb Babbin was part of a 15 person panel of military commentators who interviewed the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Pace, and the assistant director of operations for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Carter Ham just to name a few.

During Hugh Hewitt’s interview, he noted how that there are very few reports on the cities just outside Bagdad which are prospering in this new era for the Iraqi people. He said,

“There's a New York Times story on the Babylonian excavations, and damage done or not done during the war, and how the restoration of Babylon is going on. But it mentions almost matter of factly, that Hilla, which is the city outside of Babylon, is perfectly...it's only sixty miles south of Baghdad, it's perfectly peaceful. There are no Sunni insurgents, there aren't Shiite militias. In fact, "factories are churning, Iraqi security forces are patrolling, and the streets pulsate with life, children bounding to school, crowds wading into markets, taxis gliding by. The mayor says I want restaurants, gift shops, long parking lots, he said." It's not at all what you normally get from the media.”

To which Babbin replied,

“if all you're going to do is sit at the bar at the Al Rasheed Hotel, and then run out and take pictures of the most recently blown up car, you're going to get a little bit of a different view of Iraq. In fact… 14 out of 18 provinces are utterly at peace. There is a very concentrated insurgency, and by no means should we discount that or minimize it. But the vast majority, 60% of Iraq is at peace right now.”

In response to questions regarding the ‘Night of the Generals’, Babbin stated,

“I sat there today, and I heard the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Peter Pace, and he said, and I'm not quoting directly, because I didn't write it all down, but basically, he said look, we have gone through these war plans. These are not only Mr. Rumsfeld's plans. They're Tommy Franks' plans. They're all the combat and commanders' plans. They're my plans. They're the Joint Chiefs' plans. This is not somebody who overrides his military advisors. Yeah, he is tough. Yeah, he may be a bit impatient. But this is not a guy who is out there on some wild frolicking detour. He's a very serious guy. He's fighting a very serious war.”

For the complete interview, go to Radioblogger.com.

AZ

Flight 93

2006-04-13T11:16:00.000-07:00

Many imagine what they’d say or do,
When faced with death or trouble brews.
But for 37 souls above our skies,
A choice was made to end their lives.
Not by them but by men of terror,
Attacking our country, but they made one error;
They attacked Americans on that fateful day,
With cell-phones ringing expressing dismay.
They chose to fight to defend our land,
Even if death would be their final stand.
They weren’t soldiers, officers, or armed with guns,
They boiled water as a weapon, and a cart for a gun.
They fought back valiantly on that day of terror.
They caused the terrorist to note their crucial error.
‘HOLD THE DOOR!’ The terrorist cried.
Americans were fighting from the other side;
To thwart the decision to attack our land
In the Pennsylvania sky, they made their stand.
‘Let’s roll!’ is what these Americans said,
Causing these men of terror to know our dread.
This land is ours and defend it we will,
Despite all our flaws, it’s our country still.
At 10:03; no more sounds or sensations,
The heroes of ’93 had defended our nation.

AZ

Deja Vu

2006-04-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

Theories and relativities;
Visions and causalities.
Ever changing the orbit of history,
But never changing the gravity.
That our predicament is heaven sent.
For Freedom’s gains, is Evil’s bent.
An anti-christ with nuclear power,
Has broke the seal in this history’s hour.
Men fail to fear what they can’t comprehend,
Each Day of Judgment, with a moment begins.
Evil’s desire is now Evil’s gains;
It’s ascension to power and humanity’s pain.
A moment, a sliver, a second in time,
Marks the woes of humanity and freedom’s decline.
It’s here, it’s upon us; the circle is complete.
Evil preys upon the innocent,
Because good men chose to sleep.

April 11th, 2006, the President of Iran announced that his government has successfully enriched plutonium for nuclear purposes.

AZ

Daddy's Song

2006-04-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

I was six weeks old when you decided to leave.
You left my Moms standing there with a child on her sleeve.
No note, no pictures, not even a card.
You just abandoned me, you ditched me;
it wasn’t even hard for you to take off and leave you son your own flesh and blood.
It’s just me and Moms now, trying to face the world.

As the years went by me lies got better and better,
About who my Daddy was, man I was getting so clever.
You were a pilot in ‘Nam, you were a Captain in the Navy;
A trucker, a constructions worker, the lies were getting so shady.

To keep them in the dark, my lies cam faster and faster;
I couldn’t let anyone know that you made me a bastard.
A son without a Dad for no fault of his own;
Was a fact to keep silent until I was grown.

In my teens it really bothered me to be without answers,
My lies were getting deep, eating me up like cancer.
Because of you I had to lie,
because of you I had to cry,
Because of you I had to become a man on the fly.
Moms did her all; she did the best that she could.
But what could she really teach me about manhood?

That’s when I hit my knees and began to pray,
‘Lord I can’t keep this up day after day.’
What if I get married and I have a son?
Can I lie to him too, ‘bout what his grand-daddy done?

It’s not his fault that you committed this crime!
That you abandoned your son;
that you wouldn’t take the time to show me some love, some guidance and support;
play some one-on-one basketball, maybe help build a fort.

But my quest to find you was finally fulfilled.
I actually located my Dad; man, could this be real?
We look more alike that I could ever imagine.
But even though I had found you, my soul was still lackin’.

Then one summer’s day when all Daddy’s are honored;
God filled my soul; my life was changed forever.
‘It was you that I was searching for all of this time,’
Said my soul to the God the Father that helped me find mine.
He filled me with something that my Daddy could never do.
He filled me with peace. He filled me with truth.

He said you’re not a bastard; you’re a child of Mine.
I have always loved you, even before I created time.
Don’t fret my son, and be of good cheer!
I am the Lord your God you have nothing to fear.

You can stop those lies, all that bitterness and pain.
For we are together now, your life will surly change.
I will teach you how to love.
I will teach you how to live.
I will bless you with a son, and a fort you two can build.
I have never forgotten the cries of your heart my son.
I will bless and protect you,
Like a Father to His son.

AZ

All I have is America

2006-03-29T09:20:00.000-08:00

Those people over there
Protesting our immigration laws
And saying they’re not fair
Waving flags from other countries
And All I have is America

Those people on them shows
Saying that we’re all immigrants
None are native to this land
None are indigenous
And All I have is America

Look at me
My race did not come here for free
We paid in sweat and toil
We paid with slavery spoils
And All I have is America

Some came as servants
Some came as cargo,
Some hung from trees
Not so long ago
We did not migrate here
But we’re here all the same
All I have is America
And American is my name

I have no second language
My roots were severed in the passage
There is no one ‘back home’
A hyphened name is all I own
And All I have is America

Those before me fell in Boston
Those before me fought in Virginia
Even though most weren’t free
We still fought to protect this democracy
And All I have is America

Our children have died
Our mother’s have mourned
We have overcome the obstacles
That bigotry had born
And All I have is America

I am a patriot
because this is my home.
Though my people suffered greatly
We held our own
I am an American
I take the good with the bad
I don’t ask for nothin’
But what my Forefathers had

A chance to live in peace
A free people are we.
Our sojourn has ended
I am an American you see.

So let them wave the flags of their origin
Let them speak the language of their home
For me and mine, our flag is Ole Glory
For me and mine, this is our home.

All we have is America
And that’s quite alright with me.
I’m and American in language, borders, and culture
And I live in liberty.

By Michael DiBartolo
March 29, 2006

Cut and Run

2006-03-21T15:05:00.000-08:00

Tens of thousands
are starving and dying,
Somali Warlords
rule the land.
The world watches
while children are crying,
So send in
the Americans.

'This is a bad idea!',
said Congressman Murtha,
'This is not our fight.
Bring our troops home.
I demand
an immediate withdrawal!
Vietnam taught us
to leave well enough alone.'

He pressured the President
for withdrawal,
Even before
the Blackhawk went down.
Dragging our soldiers bodies
through the streets of Mogadishu,
made Clinton think
Murtha's logic was sound.

Clinton vowed
to bring about justice.
A short while
later our troops had withdrawn.
We'll help the Somalis,
just not like this.
Was John Murtha
right all along?

Osama watched
with great interest.
As we showed
that we don't stick to our guns.
He said,
'America
is just a paper tiger.'
America
will always cut and run.

In Iraq,
John Murtha's demanding withdrawal.
There are others
who stand with him too.
What they fail to see
in 9/11,
Is that
this started in Mogadishu

"But your most disgraceful case was in Somalia whereafter vigorous propaganda about the power of the USA and its post cold war leadership of the new world order you moved tens of thousands of international force, including twenty eight thousands American solders into Somalia. However, when tens of your solders were killed in minor battles and one American Pilot was dragged in the streets of Mogadishu you left the area carrying disappointment, humiliation, defeat and your dead with you. Clinton appeared in front of the whole world threatening and promising revenge , but these threats were merely a preparation for withdrawal. You have been disgraced by Allah and you withdrew the extent of your impotence and weaknesses became very clear. It was a pleasure for the " heart" of every Muslim and a remedy to the " chests" of believing nations to see you defeated in the three Islamic cities of Beirut , Aden and Mogadishu. "

Osama Bin Ladin, 1998 Declaration of War against the United States

by AZ

War, Terror, Stability, and Hope

2006-03-20T14:36:00.000-08:00

3/20/06 the 3rd anniversary of the US campaign in Iraq against Terrorism
President Bush addresses a group in Ohio:

Tal Afar

So today I'd like to share a concrete example of progress in Iraq that most Americans do not see every day in their newspapers or on their television screens. I'm going to tell you the story of a northern Iraqi city called Tal Afar, which was once a key base of operations for al Qaeda and is today a free city that gives reason for hope for a free Iraq.
Tal Afar is a city of more than 200,000 residents, roughly the population of Akron, Ohio. In many ways Tal Afar is a microcosm or Iraq. It has dozens of tribes of different ethnicity and religion. Most of the city residents are Sunnis of Turkoman origin.
Tal Afar sits just 35 miles from the Syrian border. It was a strategic location for al Qaeda and their leader, [Abu Musab al-]Zarqawi.
Now, it's important to remember what al Qaeda has told us -- their stated objectives. Their goal is to drive us out of Iraq so they can take the country over. Their goal is to overthrow moderate Muslim governments throughout the region. Their goal is to use Iraq as a base from which to launch attacks against America.
To achieve this goal, they're recruiting terrorists from the Middle East to come into Iraq, to infiltrate its cities, and to sow violence and destruction, so that no legitimate government can exercise control.
And Tal Afar was a key way station for their operations in Iraq. After we removed Saddam Hussein in April 2003, the terrorists began moving into the city. They sought to divide Tal Afar's many ethnic and religious groups and forged an alliance of convenience with those who benefited from Saddam's regime and others with their own grievances.
They skillfully used propaganda to foment hostility toward the coalition and the new Iraqi government. They exploited a weak economy to recruit young men to their cause. And by September 2004, the terrorists and insurgents had basically seized control of Tal Afar.
We recognized the situation was unacceptable so we launched a military operation against them.
After three days of heavy fighting, the terrorists and the insurgents fled the city. Our strategy at the time was to stay after the terrorists and keep them on the run. So coalition forces kept moving, kept pursuing the enemy and rooting out the terrorists in other parts of Iraq.
Unfortunately, in 2004, the local security forces there in Tal Afar weren't able to maintain order, and so the terrorists and the insurgents eventually moved back into the town.
Because the terrorists threatened to murder the families of Tal Afar's police, its members rarely ventured out from the headquarters in an old Ottoman fortress.
The terrorists also took over local mosques, forcing local imams out and insisting that the terrorist message of hatred and intolerance and violence be spread from the mosques.
The same happened in Tal Afar schools, where the terrorists eliminated real education and instead indoctrinated young men in their hateful ideology.
By November of 2004, two months after our operation to clear the city, the terrorists had returned to continue their brutal campaign of intimidation.
The return of al Qaeda meant the innocent civilians in Tal Afar were in a difficult position.
Just put yourself in the shoes of the citizens of Tal Afar as all this was happening.
On the one side, you hear the coalition and Iraqi forces saying they're coming to protect you. But they'd already come in once and they had not stopped the terrorists from coming back. You worry that when the coalition goes after the terrorists, you or your family may be caught in the crossfire and your city might be destroyed. You don't trust the police. You badly want to believe the coalition forces really can help you out, but three decades of Saddam's brutal rule have taught you a lesson: Don't stick your neck out for anybody.
On the other side you see the terrorists and the insurgents. You know they mean business. They control the only hospital in town. You see that the mayor and other political figures are collaborating with the terrorists. You see how the people who work as interpreters for the coalition forces are beheaded. You see a popular city councilman gunned down in front of his horrified wife and children. You see a respected sheik and an imam kidnapped and murdered. You see the terrorists deliberately firing mortars into playgrounds and soccer fields filled with children. You see communities becoming armed enclaves. If you're in a part of Tal Afar that was not considered friendly, you see that the terrorists cut off your basic services like electricity and water.
You and your family feel besieged and you see no way out.
The savagery of the terrorists and insurgents who controlled Tal Afar is really hard for Americans to imagine. They enforced their rule through fear and intimidation, and women and children were not spared.
In one grim incident, the terrorists kidnapped a young boy from the hospital and killed him, and then they boobytrapped his body and placed him along the road where his family would see him. And when the boy's father came to retrieve his son's body, he was blown up.
These weren't random acts of violence. These were deliberate and highly organized attempts to maintain control through intimidation.
In Tal Afar, the terrorists had schools for kidnapping and beheading and laying [improvised explosive devices]. And they sent a clear message to the citizens of the city: Anyone who dares oppose their reign of terror will be murdered.
As they enforced their rule by targeting civilians, they also preyed upon adolescents craving affirmation.
Our troops found one Iraqi teenager who was taken from his family by the terrorists. The terrorists routinely abused him and violated his dignity. The terrorists offered him a chance to prove his manhood by holding the legs of captives as they were beheaded.
When our forces interviewed this boy, he told them that his greatest aspiration was to be promoted to the killer who would behead the bound captives.
Al Qaeda's idea of manhood may be fanatical and perverse, but it serves two clear purposes: It helped provide recruits willing to commit any atrocity and it enforced the rule of fear.
The result of this barbarity was a city where normal life had virtually ceased.
Colonel H.R. McMaster of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment described it this way: "When you come into a place in the grip of al Qaeda, you see a ghost town. There are no children playing in the streets. Shops are closed and bordered. all construction is stopped. People stay inside, prisoners in their own homes."
This is the brutal reality that al Qaeda wishes in impose on all the people of Iraq.
The ability of al Qaeda and its associate and its associates to retake Tal Afar was an example of something we saw elsewhere in Iraq. We recognized the problem and we changed our strategy.
Instead of coming in and removing the terrorists and then moving on, the Iraqi government and the coalition adopted a new approach called clear, hold and build. This new approach was made possible because of the significant gains made in training large numbers of highly capable Iraqi security forces.
Under this new approach, Iraqi and coalition forces would clear a city of the terrorists, leave well-trained Iraqi units behind to hold the city, and work with local leaders to build the economic and political infrastructure Iraqis need to live in freedom.
One of the first tests of this new approach was Tal Afar. In May, 2005, Colonel McMasters' unit was given responsibility for the western part of Nineveh province, where Tal Afar is located. And two months later, Iraq's national government announced a major offensive to clear the city of terrorists would soon be launched.
Iraqi and coalition forces first met with tribal leaders and local residents to listen to their grievances. One of the biggest complaints was the police force, which rarely ventured out of its headquarters. When it did venture, it was mostly to carry out sectarian reprisals.
And so the national government sent out new leaders to head the force. The new leaders set about getting rid of the bad elements and building a professional police force that all sides could have confidence in.
We recognized it was important to listen to the representatives of Tal Afar's many ethnic and religious groups.
It's an important part of helping to remove one of the leading sources of mistrust.
Next, Iraqi and army coalition forces spent weeks preparing for what they knew would be a tough military offensive.
They built an eight-foot high, 12-mile long dirt wall that ringed the city. This wall was designed to cut off any escape for terrorists trying to evade security checkpoints.
Iraqi and coalition forces also built temporary housing outside the city so that Tal Afar's people would have places to go when the fighting started.
Before the assault on the city, Iraqi and coalition forces initiated a series of operations in surrounding towns to eliminate safe havens and make it harder for fleeing terrorists to hide.
These steps took time. But as life returned to the outlying towns, these operations helped persuade the population of Tal Afar that Iraqi and coalition forces were on their side against a common enemy, the extremists who had taken control of their city and their lives.
Only after all these steps did Iraqi and coalition authorities launch Operation Restoring Rights to clear the city of the terrorists.
Iraqi forces took the lead. The primary force was 10 Iraqi battalions backed by three coalition battalions.
Many Iraqi units conducted their own anti-terrorist operations and controlled their own battlespace, hunting for the enemy fighters and securing neighborhoods block by block.
Throughout the operation, Iraqi and coalition forces were careful to hold their fire to let civilians pass safely out of the city.
By focusing on securing the safety of Tal Afar's population, the Iraqi and coalition forces began to win the trust of the city's residents which is critical to defeating the terrorists who are hiding among them.
After about two weeks of intense activity, coalition and Iraqi forces had killed about 150 terrorists and captured 850 more.
The operation uncovered weapons caches loaded with small arms ammunition and ski masks, RPG rockets, grenades, machine-gun ammunition and fuses and batteries for making [improvised explosive devices].
In one cache, we found an axe inscribed with the names of the victims the terrorists had beheaded.
And the operation accomplished all this while protecting innocent civilians and inflicting minimal damage on the city.
After the main combat operations were over, Iraqi forces moved in to hold the city. Iraqis' government deployed more than 1,000 Iraqi army soldiers and emergency police to keep order. And they were supported by a newly restored police force that would eventually grow to about 1,700 officers.
As part of the new strategy, we embedded coalition forces with the Iraqi police and with the army units patrolling Tal Afar to work with their Iraqi counterparts and to help them become more capable and professional.
In the weeks and months that followed, the Iraqi police built stations throughout Tal Afar, and city residents began stepping forward to offer testimony against captured terrorists and inform soldiers about where the remaining terrorists were hiding.
Inside the old Ottoman fortress, a joint coordination center manned by Iraqi army and police and coalition forces answers the many phone calls that now come in through a new tip line. As a result of the tips, when someone tries to plant an [improvised explosive device] in Tal Afar, it's often reported and disabled before it can do any harm.
The Iraqi forces patrolling the cities are effective, because they know the people, they know the language and they know the culture. And by turning control of these cities over to capable Iraqi troops and police, we give Iraqis confidence that they can determine their own destiny, and that frees up coalition forces to hunt high- value targets like Zarqawi.
The recent elections show us how Iraqis respond when they know they are safe. Tal Afar is the largest city in western Nineveh province. In the elections held in January 2005, of about 190,000 registered voters, only 32,000 people went to the polls. Only Falluja had a lower participation rate.
By the time of the October referendum on the constitution and the December elections, Iraqi and coalition forces had secured Tal Afar and surrounding areas. The number of registered voters rose to about 204,000 and more than 175,000 turned out to vote in each election, more than 85 percent of the eligible voters in western Nineveh province.
It came only after much trial and error. It took time to understand and adjust to the brutality of the enemy in Iraq.
Yet the strategy is working. And we know it's working because the people of Tal Afar are showing their gratitude for the good work that Americans have given on their behalf.
A recent television report followed a guy named Captain Jesse Sellers on patrol and described him as a pied piper with crowds of Iraqi children happily chanting his name as he greets locals with the words "Salam alaikim" which means, "Peace be with you."
When the newswoman asked a local merchant what would have happened a few months earlier if he'd have been seen talking with an American, his answer was clear: "They would have cut off my head; they would have beheaded me."
Like thousands of others in Tal Afar, this man knows the true meaning of liberation.
Recently, Senator Joe Biden said that America cannot want peace for Iraqis more than they want it for themselves. I agree with that. And the story of Tal Afar shows that when Iraqis can count on a basic level of safety and security, they can live together peacefully.
We saw this in Tal Afar after the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra.
Unlike other parts of Iraq, in Tal Afar, the reaction was subdued, with few reports of sectarian violence. Actually, on the Friday after the attack, more than 1,000 demonstrators gathered in Tal Afar to protest the attack peacefully.
The terrorists have not given up in Tal Afar. And they may yet succeed in exploding bombs or provoking acts of sectarian violence.
The people of the city still have many challenges to overcome, including old-age [sic] resentments that still create suspicion, an economy that needs to create jobs and opportunity for its young, and determined enemies who will continue trying to foment a civil war to move back in.
But the people of Tal Afar have shown why spreading liberty and democracy is at the heart of our strategy to defeat the terrorists.
The people of Tal Afar have shown that Iraqis do want peace and freedom. And no one should underestimate them.
…
The kind of progress that we and the Iraqi people are making in places like Tal Afar is not easy to capture in a short clip on the evening news. Footage of children playing or shops opening and people resuming their normal lives will never be as dramatic as the footage of an [improvised explosive device] explosion or the destruction of a mosque or soldiers and civilians being killed or injured.
The enemy understands this, and it explains their continued acts of violence in Iraq.
Yet the progress we and the Iraqi people are making is also real, and those in a position to know best are the Iraqis themselves.

The Declaration of Christ' Redemption

2006-03-14T08:06:00.000-08:00

IN THE BODY OF THE LIVING CHURCH, THIS DAY,
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD.

The unanimous Declaration of the entire Redeemed World,

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for all People to dissolve the sinful Bands which have connected them with certain eternal death and separation from God, and to assume the true design of creation, have a personal and inseparable Loving relationship with God the Father. Keeping our decent respect to the will of God requires that we should declare the truths, which impel our reconciliation.

We hold these truths to be self evident, that all mankind is created equal and has been awarded the opportunity for salvation, that We have been endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights and responsibilities, among those are to share the Life and Love of Jesus the Christ, walk in the Joy and Liberty that the LORD has given us, and diligently pursue the Great Commission by making Disciples of all the Nations in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That to secure these rights and responsibilities we have received freely the grace of God revealed through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus the Christ, for the remission of our Sins. The just Power of His sacrifice is derived from the consent of the Father, that whenever any form of Sin becomes destructive to these Ends it is the Right and Will of the Father to abolish it through the Blood of His Son, Jesus the Christ, and to institute forgiveness and mercy, laying down His foundations on such Principles, and organizing His Powers in such Form, as to Him and Us shall be the perfect effect for our Salvation and Fullness of Joy.

To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World. ___ He has offered His Son for our Transgressions (Isaiah 35:5). ____He has declared us free from all condemnation of Sin for Loving Jesus (Romans 8:1). ____He has declared us a New Creation in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). ____He has given Us Eternal Life (John 3:16). ____ He has given us His Laws, the most Wholesome and necessary measure of Moral Good (2 Timothy 3:16). ____He has made plans for Peace and Hope for all of Us (Jeremiah 29:11). ___He is Faithful and Just to Forgive us (1 John 1:9). ____He has Willfully taken upon Himself Our Due punishment (Hebrews 2:9). ____ He has Delivered us from Darkness (Colossians 1:13). ____He has Loved us since before the Foundation of the Earth (Jeremiah 1:4-5). ____

We therefore, the Redeemed of the LORD, Assemble and appeal daily to the Supreme Judge of the World, Jesus the Christ. We declare our Intentions in the Name, and by the Authority of Jesus the Christ that these Redeemed people of the World are, and by His Cleansing blood of Atonement, ought to be, Free and Christ-Redeemed children of God; that Christ has absolved all of our Allegiance to the World and that all Sinful connection between Us and the world, is and ought to be totally Dissolved; and that as a Free and Christ-Redeemed people, We have received full Power by His Holy Spirit, to levy War against Sin, conclude the Peace of God with All Mankind, express our Sincere Love towards God the Father, Jesus the Christ our Savior, and our Brothers and Sisters in Faith; Worship, Pray and do all other Acts and Things which Christ-Redeemed People may of right do. ____And for the Support of this Declaration, with firm Reliance on the Protection of His divine Providence, We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor. We declare this in the Blessed Name of Jesus. Amen.

© 2006 Declaration of Christ’s Redemption
by Michael DiBartolo
All Rights Reserved.

It's No Surprise

2006-03-04T23:03:00.000-08:00

It’s no surprise
when they come at our kids.
They tell them,
being a man doesn’t mean what it did.
There’s no right and wrong,
only left and right.
If you must believe in a god, then keep ‘her’ out of this fight.

It’s no surprise
when they use emotion
and moral relativism,
to replace logic and reason in the class room and on television.
Revising our history,
and ignoring the truth;
finding evil conspiracies in everything we do.

It’s no surprise when they decided
to stop debating men
and began indoctrinating children; that it was the beginning of the end.
Our courts have lost their power
because our laws have lost the truth.
It’s how you feel which rules this hour
national pride is now taboo.

It’s no surprise our country’s weaker
It’s no surprise our children are too.
It’s no surprise our country’s lacking
moral clarity and the respect for truth.

It’s no surprise they hate their country
they actually despise the red, white, and blue.
They say that we’re the terrorist – warmongers
and it is their hope that we get our due.

It’s no surprise
a tempest is stirring
a dark day is coming for me and you.
The sound we’ll hear is freedom crying;
terror and relativism succeed in their coup

History ignored
is history repeated
a house divided will never survive.
It’s no surprise our will is diminished.
It’s no surprise when freedom dies.

DENIAL

2006-02-20T13:11:00.000-08:00

They're under constant persecution;
they are just, really, innocent pawns.
In the great game of capitalism
and the incessant greed which it spawns.

Their hate and distrust;
to be fair, have their merits.
Feelings shared and opined,
by local peaceful clerics.

It was our oil interest,
And photos of Abu “Grahb”
That sparked all this hatred,
and the rioting mobs.

Those darn Danish Cartoonist
and the wealthy Zionist
are in cahoots with Neocon - Christians
and voracious Capitalist.

Car bombings and beheadings?
They’re really just crying out.
A place at the International Table
Is what this is all about.

We should just peacefully engage them.
Give the PLO their land.
Sever ties with all of Israel,
and secure rights for all of Islam

They have a right to be so angry.
They are Just in their cause for war.
It is such a small sacrifice for freedom.
Isn’t peace worth striving for?

When they say,
they ‘want the whole world to be Islam!’
They just mean,
that ‘we should all live in peace!’
If we give them the respect they deserve,
this peace will become a reality.

So, soon they will gain understanding,
and soon we’ll stand hand in hand.
Going forward as one in humanity,
is the desire of all denominations.

Islam: The World’s Ghetto

2006-02-14T09:58:00.000-08:00

In modern societies there have always been pockets within these societies where crime, fear, and distrust run rampant. Ghettos were first designed to segregate Jews from other areas of European cities. In more modern times it has become a poor densely populated city district occupied by a minority ethnic group linked together by economic hardship and social restrictions.

As a result of these conditions, fear is a welcomed tool used by both the authorities and those who prey on the innocent. In the United States the police encounter resistance or no cooperation at all when investigating crimes in these ghettos because of the fear of those who live there and the threat of reprisals by those who commit the crimes. The people within these neighborhoods become prisoners within their own homes and the only way to survive is to remain silent.
In Mexico, the drug cartels have harvested fear to a point where even the free press is too afraid to speak out against their actions. Their communities are enslaved by fear and death and they can only look to communities in the United States and Europe and dream of how it is to live in relative peace.

Masters of this tactic, those even deadlier than the drug cartels of Mexico or the gangs in US ghettos are those within the Islamic faith who have hijacked their mosks and preach hate and violence under the threat of death and retaliation to anyone who would dare speak out. Violence has become synonymous with Islam. Across the globe, Islamic rebels, terrorist, and Jihadist have forced the believers of Islam to cower in their homes for fear that if they speak against these actions that they too will be the focus of this violence. Islam has become the largest ghetto the world has seen. The violence is world wide. Beheadings, burnings, and dismemberments are common place in many Islamic states. Torture, death, and indiscriminant violence is the tactic of those holding the reigns of Islam and the “peaceful’ believers of Islam look at the world just they do from the ghettos of Mexico and the US. They are aware that a peaceful existence exist, they just don’t believe that that existence is meant for them.

There are over a Billion believers of Islam in the world yet the Islamic world can’t produce a global condemnation of the violence being done in the name of their faith. We see global condemnation of issues that the gangs, thugs, terrorist, and anarchist of Islam have earmarked as being wrong, like the cartoons that depict Muhammad, a prophet of the Islamic religion in a distasteful way, but they can’t seem to condemn the beheadings, torture, and violence being done against women, children and innocent people around the world. They have even allowed these same violent men to define who is and who isn’t innocent.

The Islamic world is a ghetto, riddled with violence and fear. The good people of these communities have lost their ability to speak out. They have cowered into the dark corners of blame and justification allowing this mayhem to continue and there does not seem to be an end in sight.

In the days of old, ghettos were walled off, separated from other parts of society. The term, ‘out of sight out of mind’ was common place…in today’s global economy coupled the desire in the west to unite the world under the banner of humanity and the media’s desire to show all things violent we have no means of separating ourselves from this issue and they will not allow us to ignore it.

To the people of Islam I have this to say:

Hiding in the ghetto will only bring a temporary peace…and what is peace if it is enforced by fear?

Michael DiBartolo

Wake Up! The article says it all

2006-02-06T13:57:00.000-08:00

"They want to know whether Muslims are extremists or not. Death to them and to their newspapers,"

says protester Mawli Abdul Qahar Abu Israra

BBC
Muslim cartoon fury claims lives

At least five people have been killed in Afghanistan as protests against European cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad swept across the country.

Two people died when protesters turned on the US airbase at Bagram - although the US has had no involvement with the images, which originated in Denmark.

Meanwhile in Somalia, a teenage boy died after protesters attacked police.

Iran announced it was halting trade with Denmark, as protesters pelted the Danish embassy with petrol bombs.

Police fired tear gas in a bid to keep back hundreds of angry demonstrators, some of whom attempted to scale the wall into the embassy compound. Earlier, the Austrian embassy in Tehran came under attack.

The violence follows attacks on Danish embassies in Syria and Lebanon over the weekend. The cartoons were first published in a Danish newspaper.

Tensions continue to escalate around the world:

· Norway demands compensation from Syria after its embassy in Damascus was set on fire on Saturday

· The Turkish and Spanish prime ministers make a joint plea for respect and calm in an article in the International Herald Tribune

· In Indonesia, protesters target the Danish and US consulates in Surabaya, the country's second largest city. Protests are also held in the capital, Jakarta

· Riot police in the Indian capital, Delhi, fire tear gas and water cannons to disperse hundreds of student protesters

· Shops and businesses across Indian-administered Kashmir close after a general strike is called in protest at the drawings

· In Thailand, protesters shout "God is great" and stamp on Denmark's flag outside the country's embassy in Bangkok, the Associated Press news agency reports

· There are protests again outside the European Union offices in Gaza, following demonstrations there last week.

'Test our feelings'

Hundreds of people took part in the morning demonstration in Afghanistan's Laghman province, in a second day of protests in the city.

Three people died when police fired on protesters after a police station came under attack, a government spokesman said.

Demonstrators shouted "death to Denmark" and "death to France". They called for the expulsion of diplomats and soldiers, who were sent by both countries as part of international efforts in the US-led "war on terror".

CARTOON ROW

30 Sept 2005: Danish paper publishes cartoons

20 Oct: Muslim ambassadors complain to Danish PM

10 Jan 2006: Norwegian publication reprints cartoons

26 Jan: Saudi Arabia recalls its ambassador

30 Jan: Gunmen raid EU's Gaza office demanding apology

31 Jan: Danish paper apologises

01 Feb: Papers in France, Germany, Italy and Spain reprint cartoons

04 Feb: Syrians attack Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus

05 Feb: Protesters sack Danish embassy in Beirut

"They want to test our feelings," protester Mawli Abdul Qahar Abu Israra told the BBC.

"They want to know whether Muslims are extremists or not. Death to them and to their newspapers," he said.

In Bagram district, a peaceful protest in the morning turned violent when around 300 "bandits and gangsters" tried to enter the US base, local police chief Mawlana Sayed Khel told the BBC.

A shoot-out with police left two protesters dead, and six police officers injured, he said.

Elsewhere, hundreds protested in Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif and the north-eastern province of Takhar. Some 200 demonstrators gathered outside the Danish embassy in the capital, Kabul.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai reiterated his condemnation of the cartoons and called on western nations to take "a strong measure" to ensure such cartoons do not appear again. "It's not good for anybody," he told CNN.

'Defending freedoms'

In the autonomous Somali region of Puntland, demonstrators marched through the port city of Bosaso, shouting anti-Western slogans and converging on the UN and international aid agency buildings.

A 14-year-old boy was reportedly trampled underfoot as police fired into the air to try and disperse an increasingly angry crowd.

Peaceful protests were held in several other Somali towns.

The cartoons first appeared in a Danish newspaper in September and caused outrage among Muslims, who consider any images of Muhammad offensive.

One of the cartoons shows Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban.

Newspapers across Europe republished the pictures last week, saying they were defending freedom of expression.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/4684652.stm

Published: 2006/02/06 18:59:21 GMT

© BBC MMVI

Russia: Friend or Foe?

2006-01-31T12:18:00.000-08:00

Putin Touts Russia's Missile Capabilities
Jan 31 9:30 AM US/Eastern

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press Writer

MOSCOW

President Vladimir Putin boasted Tuesday that Russia has missiles capable of penetrating any missile defense system, Russian news reports said.

"Russia ... has tested missile systems that no one in the world has," the ITAR-Tass, Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies quoted him as saying at a news conference. "These missile systems don't represent a response to a missile defense system, but they are immune to that. They are hypersonic and capable of changing their flight path."

Putin said the new missiles were capable of carrying nuclear warheads. He wouldn't say whether the Russian military already had commissioned any such missiles.

He said he had shown the working principles of the missile systems to French President Jacques Chirac during a visit to a Russian military facility.

"He knows what I'm talking about," news agencies quoted Putin as telling reporters after state-run news channels had cut their live broadcast of the news conference.

In April 2004, Chirac became the first Western leader to visit Russia's top-secret Titov space control center, which is also involved in launches of its intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Putin said that the new missiles were capable of changing both the altitude and the direction of their flight, making it impossible for an enemy to intercept them.

"A missile defense system is designed to counter missiles moving along a ballistic trajectory," Putin was quoted as saying.

Putin and other Russian officials have boasted of the new missiles in similar comments in recent years, but they haven't identified them or given any further details other than about their ability to change their flight path on approach to a target.

Most analysts viewed the earlier announcements about "hypersonic" missile systems as Moscow's response to U.S. missile defense plans.

Military analysts have said that the military had experimented with a maneuvering warhead during a missile launch several years ago, but voiced doubt about Russia's ability to deploy such weapons anytime soon.

Analysts said the new warheads, designed to zigzag on their approach to targets, could be fitted to new land-based Topol-M missiles and the prospective Bulava missiles, now under development.

On other topics at the news conference, Putin:

_ Urged the militant Palestinian group Hamas to engage in peaceful dialogue, and said Russia's position on the Middle East differed from that of the United States and Europe.

Hamas should "refrain from extremist declarations, acknowledge Israel's right to exist and put its contacts with the international community in order," Putin said. He said "Russia has never declared Hamas a terrorist organization, but it doesn't mean we support and accept everything Hamas has done and all the statements it has made."

_ Lashed out at the government of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili for its criticism of Moscow over last week's gas pipeline explosion, which resulted in a weeklong cutoff of Russian gas from the Caucasus Mountains nation.

While repair teams were working to fix the pipeline in freezing temperatures, "we only saw them spitting at us," Putin said. "Georgian citizens must know that such a policy toward Russia won't help to improve conditions of ordinary people."

_ Praised his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, for taking Russia on the democratic path amid the turmoil that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"During the time when Yeltsin led Russia, Russian citizens got the most important thing: freedom," Putin said during a wide-ranging annual news conference. "This is a great historic accomplishment of Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin."

Many Russians hold Yeltsin, who turns 75 on Wednesday, responsible for the post-Soviet economic meltdown that led to a dramatic plunge in living standards. Putin owes his rise to power to Yeltsin, who picked him as his prime minister and then named him acting

Hidden Agendas January 2006

2006-01-19T08:32:00.000-08:00

Hidden Agenda January 2006:

American Politics: The Democrats will change their language and posture to infer that the reasons why the country is failing isn’t just President Bush’ fault but because there is a Republican majority in Congress. They will use catch phrases like, Republican Leadership, Republican majority, over the past few years, things are worse, and a whole host of other phrases meant to paint the majority party in a negative light leading up to the elections in the Fall of 2006. Of course, the Dems will be the only ones who are committed to righting this ship and they need to be in the majority to do so.

War on Terror: If the reports of Osama bin Ladin’s call for truce are found to be true. This is meant to create a Vietnam type of war where the US would use military force and then stop the campaign in order to see if the North Vietnamese would capitulate. The North Vietnamese would only take advantage of this lull in bombing and dig deeper under ground or relocate their strategic targets and leadership. If these reports are true, Osama is trying to create the same climate in order to give him and his fellow evil doers time to build, plan, plot and execute more atrocities upon the free world.

EU & Iran: The EU has strong words for Iran and their ambitions to build nuclear material capable of being converted for military use. They are taking a strong stance, not because of the failed negotiations that they spearheaded but because the EU, especially the EU3, are trying to present the European Union as a global military power as well as an economic one. They are trying to save face while showing the US and their own citizens that they do not need the US to fight their battles for them or to be the strength behind the threats of military action through the UN.

AZ

What Border Problem?

2006-01-18T09:26:00.000-08:00

As politicians continue to kowtow to the ever increasing number of Mexican residents (illegal or legal), they do so at the peril of our own sovereignty as a nation. Legal citizens will always have voice in our society but our politicians are ignoring the voices of the majority of legal residents when they ignore the issues on our border. The lethal force being used my Mexican Militia is either being ignored or encouraged by the Mexican Government. They have infiltrated our borders, kidnap our citizens, and escorted drug/people traffickers into our country. The border problem in the US is more than an issue of picking produce but an issue of national security. According to a recent article in the Washington Times:

"A total of 216 incursions by suspected Mexican military units have been documented since 1996 -- 75 in California, 63 in Arizona and 78 in Texas, according to a Department of Homeland Security report.
Attacks on Border Patrol agents in the past few years have been attributed to current or former Mexican military personnel. U.S. law-enforcement officials have long thought that current and former Mexican soldiers are being paid to protect drug shipments bound for the United States.
Several agents said the attacks have escalated in the past two years as U.S. security efforts on the border have increased -- including the July shooting of two agents in an ambush near Nogales, Ariz., by assailants in black commando-type clothing, who fired more than 50 rounds. Authorities said the gunmen used military-style cover-and-concealment tactics to escape back into Mexico. No one has been arrested.

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20060117-121930-3169r_page2.htm

We, as American Citizens need to seriously consider:

• A Guest Worker program: This would give us the ability to discern between those seeking employment and those trafficking drugs; not to mention thwarting the opportunity for terrorist to exploit this ever increasing problem on our southern border
• Southern Border fence/barrier: to assist our law enforcement in curtailing the crossing by illegal means
• National Guard Patrols: both air and ground.
• Additional funding for increased staffing for our border states to employ, train and equip our law enforcement to deal with the unique problems we face at the border we share with our friends down south.
• Your input: What do you believe we need to do to:
o protect our citizens
o repel foreign militias from crossing our border
o allow a smooth flow of those who want to legally enter our country
o curtail the violent drug trafficking

AZ

Iraqi Freedom

2005-12-15T13:37:00.000-08:00

"God will bless you with a great life if you go out and vote. This is your last chance to vote."

These words echoed through the streets of Ramadi, Iraq from a local mosque.

The plea of History…
The plea for peace…
The plea for freedom…
Is within their reach

They came in droves to vote for life
They voted to end the terrorist strife
They have different opinions and different beliefs
But they decided to address them politically

American led
American bled
American Patriots honor their dead
We came to liberate and protect our own
Tyranny has ended
A madman dethroned

Arise New Iraqis!
Arise New Iraq!
Taste and savor the freedom
Three years ago you lacked

The road to freedom’s a long one,
and some areas unpaved
with purple stained fingers to guide you
this is truly your day

The cup of freedom is engraved
With the deeds of brave men
This day will be inscribed
‘The day Iraqi freedom began’

Mike DiBartolo
American Zulu

China: The Red Dragon (Revisited)

2005-12-10T17:46:00.002-08:00

After reading a recent report about Chinese police firing on a crowd of protestors and multiple deaths being reported, I couldn’t help but to think of this poem. There are western corporations and governments alike who are so intertwined with Chinese commerce that they are incapable of speaking out against Chinese oppression. As foretold in this piece, the treat to world peace does not lie in the Middle East but with the union of three regions that will become the greatest threat free men have ever seen.

The US is constantly condemned for how it fights a war against tyrants and Islamic Fanatics yet the world community remains relatively silent while regimes like China and Iran reveal their true nature more and more each day. When there are reports that read:

Hundreds of riot police armed with guns and shields surrounded and sealed off a southern Chinese village where authorities shot dead as many as 20 demonstrators this week," villagers said.

One has to take pause and reassess where China is heading with regards to civil rights, foreign trade, treaties, and military build up. China's ally, the Country and government of Iran,who’s President just recently denied the Holocaust and proposed that all of Israel be relocated to Europe and this came after he called for the destruction of Israel. When the residents of one of the most powerful militaries in the world says:

“The riot police are gathered outside our village. We’ve been surrounded,” she said, sobbing. “Most of the police are armed. We dare not to go out of our home.”

And the story ends with the deaths of those same villagers, one has to REALLY look at the threats the free world faces today and what are those threats doing to increase their position against free and democratic societies?

I wonder how the people of England felt back in the late 1930s as they heard the reports of the Nazi army marching under France’s Arch de Triumph? What was going through their minds as they watched a threat grow stronger and stronger and they remained deluded by the notion there was still no direct threat to their nation?

I fear the answer to my questions will be revealed all too soon. The answer will be that it isn’t history that is repeating itself but lessons that are never learned. Just as the same seals go to the same beaches where they are consumed by the same killer whales year in and year out…so too does mankind repeat the same follies, while making the same excuses, while the same type of madmen continue to reek havoc on our planet.

Enjoy the poem…

Red Dragon

You’ve slept long enough
Centuries have passed and your greatness has not been honored
You were once the center of the universe…reclaim your rightful place
Set the square on fire, bring the world under your feet
No wall can contain you, no boundary can restrict you
Even the oceans will appear as ponds when you breath fire across the heavens
The pearl of the orient is but a gem to adorn your feet
Tyrants have massed a million men to fight on your behalf
Awaken! A billion souls cry out for you to AWAKEN!!
They know not that you will destroy them too, they only know that YOU are the Dragon
The center of the Universe.

The Lady of the Island grows weak and is distracted
She will not be able to slay you or return you to your slumber
Her followers have deserted her, her third eye is blind and her sword is dull
Her words will not penetrate your armor, her shield cannot resist your flame
Her demise will be your ascension, fight she will, but your scales are many
Her sword will not harm you.
Awaken Red Dragon, reclaim your rightful place…
Awaken Red Dragon, a new millennium has dawned.
You have been summoned by the ancestors to carve the world in their image,
they have sacrificed their young for you, they have slaughtered their daughters for you.
Awaken Red Dragon…

It is time.

American Zulu

While we remain distracted with the war on terror, a greater threat rises from the east. China, the Red Dragon, is awakening. The development of Chinese long range missiles, submarines, and nuclear technology along with North Korea's 1 Million man army poses a serious threat not only to the region but to the world. We have forgotten that China did not allow democratic reforms... they crushed it under tanks in Tiananmen Square and arrested the students who wanted freedom. Communist China is up to more than just making cheap goods... They have stolen technology, and continue to develop offensive weapons capable of reaching targets thousands of miles away. If China partners with Iran, Russia, and North Korea… we will have a new world order indeed....

American Zulu
June 10th, 2005

A Statesman

2005-12-07T14:40:00.000-08:00

Some years ago, I listened as a Senator attempted to explain the differences between the US House of Representatives and the US Senate. He stated that the House was, as designed, a direct reflection of the populous and that they embraced the passions and emotions that moved the populous along.

The Senate, however, are statesmen. They have the sometimes daunting task of looking past the passions of the issues and the raw politics of the situations and look at the issue itself to see how America should respond…not just the people of a specific region…but America overall. He viewed the job of Senator as that of a mature American leader who is able to look past the political and emotional fray and see the issues clearly and in the best interest of the American People.

While it’s obvious that many Senators currently seated in Congress missed this poignant definition of a Senator during their orientation, there is one who has decided to embrace the call of Statesman much to the chagrin of the mainstream media. Senator Joe Lieberman has made numerous trips to the Iraqi Front. He as attempted to asses the issues on the ground and deal with them as a statesman should. I am very confident that if Senator Lieberman viewed our efforts in Iraq as futile, he would state it clearly to his constituents and to the American people.

On December 6th, 2005 Senator Lieberman made these remarks at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment Forum on the Next Steps for a Successful Strategy in Iraq. While I am only going to post highlights of his speech, I would encourage you to read it in its entirety by clicking here.

But for the sake of brevity (too late I know), I would like to bring your attention to a few of the views of this Statesman on the war in Iraq and our need for unity if we are to achieve victory.

"The most important debate going on currently here about the war in Iraq is between some people who are focused on withdrawal of our forces regardless of conditions on the ground and the rest of us who believe that our goal in Iraq is not to withdraw but to win, so we can leave with the mission accomplished.

This is a serious and significant debate and in the vitality and health of our democracy will continue to go on. I hope it goes on with a recognition that there are Republicans and Democrats on both sides and that it should be conducted in a spirit of mutual respect and national interest.

…“The war (in Iraq), which arguably began as a “war of choice” has become a “war of necessity” we cannot afford to lose. The costs of victory in Iraq will be large for the U.S. But the costs of defeat would be disastrous for the U.S., Iraq, the Middle East, and most of the world.

The costs of victory will be high in American lives lost and American money spent. But the costs of defeat would be disastrous – they include the collapse of the new Iraqi regime, civil war, regional war, a victory for Zarqawi and Al Qaeda, which will embolden them to attack both other Arab countries and our American homeland, the rollback of democracy in the region, and the painful realization that the lives of American soldiers who have died in Iraq were given in vain. (emphasis mine)

We are there not just to defeat the terrorists – not even mostly to defeat the terrorists – we are there to provide the security for a self-government by the Iraqis where the creation of a modern, open, thriving state in this historic center of the Arab and Islamic worlds. If we accept defeat in Iraq we will have lost the opportunity to create within this great nation a larger victory in the so-called war “for the hearts and minds” of people in the Islamic world and that lost opportunity would be a large cost and a disaster.

Last Wednesday, the President laid out his strategy for victory in Iraq in a speech at the Naval Academy and accompanying 35-page white paper. It described a plan that has developed over the last two and half years since Saddam Hussein was overthrown. It is a plan that has resulted from trial and yes, many errors. It describes the strategy, the tactics, that I saw in Iraq two weeks ago and that I believe are creating progress there.

The President’s description of our “clear, hold, and build” strategy for victory in Iraq and the tactical response of most Democrats suggests that there may be more agreement here than meets the eye and ear in the dueling partisan press conferences that characterize public discourse in Washington today. What I am suggesting here, as I listen and read the statements made, is that there is broad bipartisan agreement on the goals, on the strategic interest we have in the successful completion of our mission in Iraq; there are disagreements about tactics. Accepting this reality and the urgency of the moment in Iraq calls us, I believe, to remember the famous counsel of Senator Arthur Vandenberg, Republican of Michigan that “Politics must stop at the water’s edge.”

…(Vandenburg's statement) that politics must stop at the water’s edge, is altogether relevant to our current circumstances:

“To me, bipartisan foreign policy means a mutual effort under our indispensable two-party system, to unite our official voice at the water’s edge so that America speaks with maximum authority against those who would divide and conquer us and the free world.”

Those last words of Vandenberg’s exactly describe the goals and methods of the Islamist terrorists who attacked us on 9-11-01 and fight us in Iraq today. They aim to “divide and conquer us and the free world.” Vandenburg’s preceding words defining a bipartisan foreign policy should remind us of how much stronger we would be in this critical fight if we “seek national security ahead of partisan advantage.”

…That is why I feel so strongly that it is time for us to set aside for now the arguments about why we got into Iraq so that we can work together on how we can get out best in victory and honor with the job done.

…It is time that America’s leaders, in the White House and Congress, Republicans and Democrats, who agree on our goals in Iraq but disagree on tactics to start trusting each other again so that we can work together again. The distrust is deep and I know it will be difficult to overcome, but history will judge us harshly if we do not stretch across the divide of distrust and join together to complete our mission successfully in Iraq.

It is time for Democrats who distrust President Bush to acknowledge that he will be Commander-in-Chief for three more critical years, and that in matters of war we undermine Presidential credibility at our nation’s peril.

It is time for Republicans in the White House and Congress who distrust Democrats to acknowledge that greater Democratic involvement and support in the war in Iraq is critical to rebuilding the support of the American people that is essential to our success in that war.

… I propose that the President and the leadership of Congress establish a bipartisan Victory in Iraq Working Group, composed of members of both parties in Congress and high ranking national security officials of the Bush Administration. … It would carry forward the cooperative spirit of the Warner-Levin amendment which recently passed the Senate. In our form of government, it would be one of the closet structures we could create to replicate a unity government or a war cabinet that exists in other democratic systems.

I know that some will say that proposing a forum for bipartisan cooperation on the war is, in the current intensely partisan environment in Washington, naïve and impractical. Perhaps they are right. But what is not naïve or impractical is my conclusion that the return of such bipartisanship in the conduct of this war would raise popular support at home, encourage our brave troops in the field, discourage our vicious enemies, and strengthen the resolve of the Iraqi people and the hundreds of millions of others in the Islamic world who want a better way forward than the hatred and death Al Qaeda offers.

In 1941, Winston Churchill came to Rochester, New York and said:

“When great causes are on the move in the world… we learn that we are spirits, not animals, and that something is going on in space and time which, whether we like it or not, spells duty.”

My friends, great causes are clearly on the move in the world today. We were attacked by Islamist terrorists – attacked here at home. The centers of American power, our great cities, were attacked. The main battleground in this war is now Iraq. So I would say, in Churchill’s phrase, that duty calls us now to take ourselves above the ordinary partisan debates of this capital city, to unite for victory, to walk the course together until our mission is completed, our security is protected, and the forces of freedom have once more emerged triumphant from the battlefields of power and of principle."

Let us see if our media will join Senator Lieberman in his move to bring America together in this war on terror. Let us chronicle the behavior and statements of the Bush critics and record their responses to the call of this Statesman to unite in war less we never know peace again.

Well said Senator, well said indeed.

Mike DiBartolo
American Zulu

‘We’re not retreating, we’re advancing in the other direction.’

2005-12-06T09:44:00.000-08:00

This is the so called logic that the Democrats are using in their argument against having our troops on the ground in Iraq. They are so desperate to convey a losing effort in Iraq that they have evoked the spirit of the Vietnam War in order to justify their fears and to solidify their opposition. There’s nothing like the taste of defeat to get the pallet prepared for news about the war on terror. Reminiscing about the Fall of Saigon and troops being spit upon while being called ‘baby killers’ just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy when talking about our current war on terror.

When the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee says,

"the idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong,"

then a true patriot must ask themselves if this Party is committed to the success of US foreign policy or is the acquisition of power more important than Victory in the war on terror, positive moral in our military, and the national pride of our country?

When a leading Democratic Congressman says that our Army is “broken, worn out" and is “living hand to mouth” one can only assume that the Democratic Party’s new platform is that of defeatist and they will do and say whatever it takes to paint our current actions in the war on terror as wrong and a failed policy.

I can’t help but to wonder how would these courageous Democratic Party Leaders, who believe that dissent…especially public dissent strengthens the US war effort and helps elevate the overall moral of our troops would have reacted during the Battle of the Bulge. Here’s a few stats to consider:

BATTLE FACTS
• Over a million men, 600,000 Germans, 500,000 Americans (more than fought at Gettysburg) and 55,000 British.
• 3 German armies, 10 corps, the equivalent of 29 divisions.
• 3 American armies, 6 corps, the equivalent of 31 divisions.
• The equivalent of 3 British divisions as well as contingents of Belgian, Canadian and French troops.
• 100,000 German casualties, killed, wounded or captured.
• 81,000 American casualties, including 23,554 captured and 19,000 killed.
• 1,400 British casualties 200 killed.
• 700 tanks lost on each side, 1,000 German aircraft.
• The Malmedy Massacre, where 86 American soldiers were murdered, was the worst atrocity committed against American troops during the course of the war in Europe.
• The 106th Infantry Division, suffered 564 killed in action, 1,246 wounded and 7,001 missing in action at the end of the offensive. Most of these casualties occurred within the first three days of battle, when two of the division’s three regiments was forced to surrender.
• In it's entirety, the “Battle of the Bulge,” was the worst battles- in terms of losses - to the American Forces in WWII.

In just over a month of warfare the Germans managed to slow the progress of the Allied advance and cause a significant number of Allied casualties.

What would Congressman Murtha say to this? How would Howard Dean respond? What would Nancy Pelosi say after becoming informed of these statistics?

Would they have called for the immediate “redeployment of American Troops”? Would they state that it is time that the French and Belgians take on the Germans and the US assume a supportive role from a friendly neighboring country, oh say like….England where strike teams could be used?

With a few exceptions the only time I hear the Democratic Party Leaders even speak on a war footage is when they are speaking about President Bush and fighting against anything he may be for. As a whole they are in denial about the war we are currently facing and they are undermining our nations resolve with their seditious words and leaks of US policy in order to gain any ground possible in the war of ‘Opinion Polls’.

Our current political system in disarray and in desperate need of a fresh infusion of ideas and backbone. A Third Party needs to rise from the two major parties dominating the American Political Discussion and a new voice must be heard in the halls of Congress if our way of life is to be preserved for the next generation.

Mike DiBartolo
American Zulu

“If you're reading this, then I've died in Iraq”

2005-12-02T07:32:00.000-08:00

On November 30th, President Bush addressed the faculty and midshipmen of Annapolis Naval Academy. In the President’s speech he laid out the progress we have made thus far in our war on terror in particular, the Iraqi Front. The President made it clear that we are winning this war and that our resolve must remain steadfast if we are to see this war to completion with a victory. Towards the end of the Presidents speech he read a portion of a letter written by a Marine who faught and died in Ramadi. This Marine, Corporal Jeff Starr, left these words on his laptop computer…

"If you're reading this, then I've died in Iraq. I don't regret going. Everybody dies but a few get to do it for something as important as freedom.

"It may seem confusing why we're in Iraq; it's not to me. I'm here helping these people so they can live the way we live, not to have to worry about tyrants or vicious dictators.

Others have died for my freedom; now this is my mark."
Cpl Jeff Starr

The President ended the reading of Corporal Starr’s letter with these words,

“There's only one way to honor the sacrifice of Corporal Starr (ph) and his fallen comrades. And that is to take up their mantle, carry on the fight and complete their mission.

We will take the fight to the terrorists. We will help the Iraqi people lay the foundations of a strong democracy that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself. And by laying the foundations of freedom in Iraq, we will lay the foundation of peace for generations to come.

You all are the ones who will help accomplish all this. Our freedom and our way of life are in your hands, and they're in the best of hands.

I want to thank you for your service to the cause of freedom. I want to thank you for wearing the uniform. May God bless you all, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.”

President G.W. Bush

Many try to change or water down the reasons why we are in Iraq. Some even paint the US as the evil aggressor and the terrorist as freedom fighters but reading Cpl. Starr's comments brings our mission into perspective. America is fighting that others may be free and in doing so, this strengthens American Freedom. We are not an Imperialist Nation hell bent on ruling the world or the worlds oil supply. We are Americans and fighting for freedom is what we do.

Thank you, Cpl.Starr for your service and ultimate sacrifice. Thank you for understanding what so many seem to doubt...You are all heroes and you are fighting for the freedom we all cherish.

Mike DiBartolo
American Zulu

Support our Troops this Christmas Season

2005-12-01T09:17:00.000-08:00

“Most of my soldiers are very young; this is their first deployment and first time away from home during the holidays. Anything that you would like to send would be great since we really do not have anything.”

CPT Robin-Desty Husted
Commander

Soldiers' Angels, an all-volunteer non-profit organization that provides support to deployed soldiers and wounded soldiers as well as their families, is hard at work on their annual Holidays For Heroes stocking/gift box drive, where gift boxes (stockings) are stuffed with small but welcomed items which are then sent to soldiers who are deployed in the Middle East combat areas and hospital units.

Please support our troops this Holiday Season. If you would like more information click here

Merry Christmas!

American Zulu

AI: Hellooooooo!

2005-11-26T18:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I heard yet another report about Artificial Intelligence Technology making another step in its evolution. Now they’re making robots that would be able to speak to each other, this; according to the Associated Press. Apparently there are some “Scientist” in Moscow, Idaho who believe that they are advancing robotic technology by creating robots that would be able to speak and learn from each other AND from their own experiences. Is it just me? Or is there something way wrong with building robots who think for themselves? I just have a few points to make:

~ War Games
~ Terminator 1
~ Terminator 2
~ Terminator 3
~ I Robot
~ Matrix 1
~ Matrix 2
~ Matrix 3
~ Space 2001: Space Odyssey
~ Battle Star Galactica: The SciFi Series

And a whole host of B movie productions on the SciFi channel that would make it clear to even the most casual observer that: WE SHOULD NOT BE MESSING WITH ROBOTS WHO THINK FOR THEMSELVES!!!!!

Oh sure, they start off inspecting underwater power lines and performing mine removal service for the Navy but what happens when they become self aware? What do we do when they decide to turn their skills against their creator? Hunh? Hunh! Then what?!?

You gotta watch these scientist who are obviously too busy to catch a good scifi flic to know the true dangers of AI technology. Sit them down… buy them some popcorn and then pop in the Matrix DVD so they can see what can happen to the “real world” if their little inventions grow to maturity. It’s the only way… ;^)

Mike DiBartolo
American Zulu

Thanksgiving: Truly American

2005-11-26T17:00:00.000-08:00

It’s a time for family, good eats, and thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is one holiday that is truly quintessentially American. We give thanks to our Christian God for blessing us here in the good ole U.S. of A. We eat until we are full and then we eat some more. We enjoy the company of friends and loved ones and relax in the peace of the society we call America.

During this time there are community and religious outreach programs meant to bring this day of thanksgiving to all Americans, including the homeless and poor across our country. On Thanksgiving, bellies are full, debate topics are worn thin, and all around the world Americans take time to give thanks. There could be no greater representation of the American heart and the American spirit. We want to enjoy the life that God has blessed us with and we want to share with others the blessings bestowed upon us.

Thanks to God for American Freedom and the blessings that come with this cherished right. Thanks to all those defending and protecting Freedom against oppression and thank you to those who stand watch on America’s streets keeping us safe at home. You are all American heroes and without you doing what you do, America would not have a Thanksgiving at all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The State of America @ War

2005-11-22T09:28:00.000-08:00

Michael F. Scheuer, a 22-year veteran of the CIA, and someone who served as chief of the agency's Osama bin Laden unit at the Counterterrorist Center gave a frank assessment of our current war on terror and the political quagmire that has been created by a government who lacks the resolve to win this war decisively. He revealed a political climate which lacks the ability to rise above the political correct fray within our community and courtrooms and conduct a global war on terror with VICTORY as our ultimate goal.

In the Op-Ed piece in the Washington times, he lays out 8 points to consider if we are to gain and keep the momentum in this war on terror and achieve ultimate victory in that region or fail miserably by losing our resolve to win the war on terror. Failing to recognize the true threat we face today is #1 on his list. Scheuer states,

"America's bipartisan leaders fail to accept that we are at war with militant Islamists terrorists — if you prefer, because of our policies in the Muslim world — not because of what we think or believe. Willful blindness on this score ensures our defeat by the growing number of young Muslims rallying to al Qaedaism. The equation is immutable: Fail to know your enemy and you always lose."

While we continue to allow ourselves to believe that this war isn’t about Islamism (the conversion of the entire world to the Islamic faith) and more directly, Islamo Fascism (the forced conversion and adherence of extreme Islamic Law) our collective will and resolve is slowing being eaten away. Our troops continue to fight with valor and pride understanding the stakes that America faces but the public, lead by our vacillating Congressional leaders and a gangrenous main stream media can’t help but to lose their resolve and focus.
Scheuer, continues to address our inability to deal with the reality of war when he says,

“As a society, we have failed to teach children that war's nature never changes, that wars are tremendously bloody and should not be entered lightly, and that when war is joined, annihilation of the foe is the only moral goal. The result is a lengthening list of lost or failing wars because we fight for issues unrelated to U.S. interests — Somalia, Haiti, the Balkans — or refuse to fully apply the power of the earth's greatest military when our interests are at risk — Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. Simply, our leaders do not know how to wage war, and the Pentagon's uniformed bureaucrats lack the guts to tell them their wrong. In big wars, America's goal is desolation of the enemy, not an exit strategy. The former yields victory, the latter yields quagmire.”

America’s resolve is under attack and I fear that our resolve is losing the current battle. What would it take for Americans to understand the price we have to pay to stay free? When will our elected leaders understand that it is ill-advised to politicize this war. We must remain united if we are to achieve victory.

While there is yet another campaign to remove ‘Under God’ from our currency and while that campaign receives more press than any positive news story of our efforts in the war on terror, there is another saying that has been clearly ignored by Conservatives and Liberals alike. This phrase located on every piece of US currency in circulation. This phrase symbolizes the strength of America and her ability to overcome every obstacle that would hinder her growth as a free nation. This phrase “E Pluribus Unum” – ‘Out of Many, One’ is what has brought America through its darkest hours before and unless we understand what those words mean to us today, Scheuer’s prediction may yet come to pass.

Mike DiBartolo
American Zulu

CNN's Freudian Glitch

2005-11-21T23:16:00.000-08:00

It’s 11:04am, 8:04am on the West Coast, and the Vice President is handing the opponents of the war in Iraq another highlight filled speech. CNN, obviously not happy with what’s being said by the vice-President unintentionally decided to reveal their true feelings about the VP.

According to the Drudge Report, “a large black 'X' repeatedly flashed over the vice president's face!
The 'X' over Cheney's face appeared each time less than a second, creating an odd subliminal effect.”

The Whitehouse expressed concerns about the CNN Report.

Appearing on Hannity & Colmes, Drudge said the X's appeared for "less than a 15th of a second" each. "It was almost subliminal," he said. "However, when you slow down the tape you see Dick Cheney's face with a large X on it." "I think they've gotta give an explanation," Drudge added.

According toTVNewser, CNN gave the following explanation, "Upon seeing this unfortunate but very brief graphic, CNN senior management immediately investigated. We concluded this was a technological malfunction not an issue of operator error. A portion of the switcher experienced a momentary glitch. We obviously regret that it happened and are working on the equipment to ensure it is not repeated."

Alan Colmes read CNN's response on the air at the end of H&C, citing TVNewser. But Drudge wasn't satisfied.

"It glitched over and over again, eh?," he asked. "The timing of the glitch is interesting..."

Click here for the complete transcript of the VP's remarks

Ends Justifying The Means: by SGT Walter J. Rausch

2005-11-21T08:40:00.000-08:00

“My fellow countrymen and women, we are not overseas for our country alone but also another. We are here to spread democracy and freedom to those who KNOW the true taste of it because they fight for it everyday.”

Ends Justifying The Means
To anyone who ever had the gall to doubt your own country….or freedom.

Sure Fire says,

Mom,
Be my voice. I want this message heard. It is mine and my platoon’s to the country. A man I know lost his legs the other night. He is in another company in our battalion. I can no longer be silent after watching the sacrifices made by Iraqis and Americans everyday. Send it to a congressman if you have to. Send it to FOX news if you have to. Let this message be heard please…

My fellow Americans,
I have a task for those with the courage and fortitude to take it. I have a message that needs not fall on deaf ears. A vision the blind need to see. I am not a political man nor one with great wisdom. I am just a soldier who finds himself helping rebuild a country that he helped liberate a couple years ago.

I have watched on television how the American public questions why their mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters are fighting and dying in a country 9000 miles away from their own soil. Take the word of a soldier, for that is all I am, that our cause is a noble one. The reason we are here is one worth fighting for. A cause that has been the most costly and sought after cause in our small span of existence on our little planet. Bought in blood and paid for by those brave enough to give the ultimate sacrifice to obtain it. A right that is given to every man, woman, and child I believe by God. I am talking of freedom.

Freedom. One word but yet countless words could never capture it’s true meaning or power. “For those who have fought for it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know.” I read that once and it couldn’t be more true. It’s not the average American’s fault that he or she is “blind and deaf” to the taste of freedom. Most American’s are born into their God given right so it is all they ever know. I was once one of them. I would even dare to say that it isn’t surprising that they take for granted what they have had all their life. My experiences in the military however opened my eyes to the truth.

Ironically you will find the biggest outcries of opposition to our cause from those who have had no military experience and haven’t had to fight for freedom. I challenge all of those who are daring enough to question such a noble cause to come here for just a month and see it first hand. I have a feeling that many voices would be silenced.

I watched Cindy Sheehan sit on the President’s lawn and say that America isn’t worth dying for. Later she corrected herself and said Iraq isn’t worth dying for. She badmouthed all that her son had fought and died for. I bet he is rolling over in his grave.

Ladies and gentleman I ask you this. What if you lived in a country that wasn’t free? What if someone told you when you could have heat, electricity, and water? What if you had no sewage systems so human waste flowed into the streets? What if someone would kill you for bad-mouthing your government? What if you weren’t allowed to watch TV, connect to the internet, or have cell phones unless under extreme censorship? What if you couldn’t put shoes on your child’s feet?

You need not to have a great understanding of the world but rather common sense to realize that it is our duty as HUMAN BEINGS to free the oppressed. If you lived that way would you not want someone to help you????

The Iraqi’s pour into the streets to wave at us and when we liberated the cities during the war they gathered in the thousands to cheer, hug and kiss us. It was what the soldier’s in WW2 experienced, yet no one questioned their cause!! Saddam was no better than Hitler! He tortured and killed thousands of innocent people. We are heroes over here, yet American’s badmouth our President for having us here.

Every police station here has a dozen or more memorials for officers that were murdered trying to ensure that their people live free. These are husbands, fathers, and sons killed every day. What if it were your country? What would your choice be? Everything we fight for is worth the blood that may be shed. The media never reports the true HEROISM I witness everyday in the Iraqi’s. Yes there are bad one’s here, but I assure you they are a minuscule percent. Yet they are a number big enough to cause worry in this country’s future.

I have watched brave souls give their all and lose their lives and limbs for this cause. I will no longer stand silent and let the “deaf and blind” be the only voice shouting. Stonewall Jackson once said, “All that I have, all that I am is at the service of the country.” For these brave souls who gave the ultimate sacrifice, including your son Cindy Sheehan, I will shout till I can no longer. These men and women are heroes. Their spirit lives on in their military and they will never be forgotten. They did not die in vain but rather for a cause that is larger than all of us.

My fellow countrymen and women, we are not overseas for our country alone but also another. We are here to spread democracy and freedom to those who KNOW the true taste of it because they fight for it everyday. You can see the desire in their eyes and I am honored to fight alongside them as an Infantryman in the 101st Airborne.

Freedom is not free, but yet it is everyone’s right to have. Ironic isn’t it? That is why we are here. Though you will always have the skeptics, I know that most of our military will agree with this message. Please, at the request of this soldier spread this message to all you know. We are in Operation Iraqi Freedom and that is our goal. It is a cause that I and thousands of others stand ready to pay the ultimate sacrifice for because, Cindy Sheehan, freedom is worth dying for, no matter what country it is! And after the world is free only then can we hope to have peace.

SGT Walter J. Rausch and 1st Platoon
101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)
http://passthebrass.com/2005/11/ends-justifying-the-means/

ANWR Veto: The Battle for America’s future

2005-11-14T23:00:00.000-08:00

The US Congress has developed the attitude of …’Every incumbent for himself!’ and they seem to be increasing the speed of their departure away from the issues that have polarized the nations views surrounding the President and the war on Terror. It would appear that the Republican Congress does not have the leadership or the wherewithal to withstand the continuous Democrat attacks on their policy and their President.
"We need moderate Republicans to truly step over the line today and give their blood oath that they are not going to vote for a bill this month, next month or next year that contains the Arctic," said Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash.

The Republican Party has failed the American People by pulling the budget for drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR). It is vital to our strategic interest and that of a stable economy to wean ourselves from our dependence on foreign oil. ANWR has the oil and our nation needs the oil. There is no rational explanation for pulling ANWR from this year’s Federal Budget. Our politicians have placed their personal interest ahead of the nations and then shield themselves behind their constituents when asked to explain their decision.

Ron Talley, spokesman for the Main Street Partnership consisting of six anti-drilling Republicans, led by Rep. Charles Bass of New Hampshire said, “This is nothing against Sen. Stevens. This is nothing against the leadership or the President this is basically preservation for these people in local politics."

Sarah Chamberlain Resnick, executive director of the Republican Mainstreet Partnership, said she expected that the group's moderate lawmakers would show added independence in coming months. "This is to maintain the majority, and, if somebody has to show a little separation to maintain the majority, I assume the leadership will understand that," she said.

It’s painfully clear that the Republicans cannot stay united on the issues that are important to Americans. It’s time for the President to use his own ‘nuclear option’ and veto any budget that does not include drilling in ANWR. President Bush needs to lead the nation domestically just as strongly as he does for national security. A veto threat by the President will draw attention to the ANWR issue and reveal the true nonsensical politics that have polluted the issue and has placed in jeopardy our nations future energy needs. President Bush needs to remind the Congress that he is a separate power within our government and he has the ability to stop foolish legislature and redirect the attention of the Congress to the issues that the American people demand that they address. Gas prices are high on the list of concerns for the average American voter and the Congress needs to recognize that and act in the best interest of the American people.

The President needs to make it clear to the people of the US what drilling in ANWR will do for our nation. An area less than 1% of the entire ANWR region has enough oil to supply the US for 30 years. The truth needs to be aired before the American people and the President needs to bring all of his options to bear to ensure that the people understand what their elected leaders are doing for their long term energy goals.

M. DiBartolo
American Zulu

Some information in this story
came from Anchorage Daily News.

2005-11-13T11:57:00.000-08:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Veterans Day 2005

2005-11-11T09:04:00.000-08:00

This years Veterans Day comes during trying and disturbing times in our nation. Not only do we have veterans who are currently in harms way protecting our way of life, we also have a consorted effort within our own borders by those who would undermine our men and women in the service.
Disagreeing and even protesting during a time of war is a right that’s protected by our constitution. Undermining our military, dishonoring their service and sacrifice, and sending a message that their efforts aren’t appreciated is a travesty.
Cities like San Francisco have gone so far as to restrict all military recruiting within their city limits. They have also voted to undermine the constitution that our men and women have sworn to protect by placing a ban on the sell and possession of any firearms within their jurisdiction. This speaks directly against the 2nd Amendment of our Constitution which guarantees our right to bare arms.
The City Council of Sacramento, the capitol of California, has taken it upon themselves to not only officially condemn the war on terror but they have called for the immediate withdrawal of our troops from the Iraqi region; A region where our troops have performed heroically in the defense of freedom and they continue to perform above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that the war on terror does not reach our shores again.
So as our troops, our veterans, our American heroes are fulfilling their oath to serve and protect the Constitution of the United States; we have activist groups, detached politicians, and aloof liberal voters who are going out of their way to speak against our troops and undermine their efforts while demoralizing their spirits.
San Francisco may have a beautiful panoramic view of the bay, and a skyline that causes envy across the globe, their attitude towards our military is ugly and their behavior is embarrassing to those Americans who understand the cost of freedom.
This Veterans Day, I would encourage you to make a conscience effort to show your support to those who have taken the oath to place their lives ahead of ours in the defense of our nation.
• Shake a hand
• Say a prayer
• Look them in the eye and say thank you
• Tell your children about those military heroes of your past and of those who serve today
• Attend a Veterans Day Parade
• Show your support to those who stand watch over America’s freedom
• Adopt a Soldier/Airman/Sailor/Marine

When you’re done, be sure to boycott San Francisco.
• Don’t fly out of their airport
• Don’t visit as a tourist
• Don’t support their sports teams
• Don’t do business in that City whatsoever

Take time this Veterans Day and show you care about our men and women in harms way.

Mike DiBartolo
American Zulu
http://theworkingpatriot.blogspot.com/

California Special Election: November 8th, 2005

2005-11-02T09:30:00.000-08:00

In less than a week, Californians will go to the polls to vote on issues that are important to the survival of democracy in our state as we know it. The current situation in the State Capital consist of powerful special interest groups including unions combined with politicians who draw their own districts, vote in their own raises, and either delay or vote against measures that would protect our children from sexual predators. Our state government is in disarray; an actual oligarchy with special self interest groups pulling the strings is what is running the State of California. The current Governor is doing his best to right this ship but he is going up against a very powerful foe. The combined efforts of the politicians and the special self interest groups are outspending the governor twenty to one to stop the changes demanded and expected by the people of California.

The issue of complacency has already been addressed in this blog and what we are witnessing the week prior to the special election is complacency run a muck and the power of television advertisements to influence those who choose not to think for themselves. Californians have an opportunity to speak with a loud voice that our government will be ran by the people and not by special interest and power grubbing politicians. The question remains…Will we take advantage of this opportunity or will we allow ourselves to be dooped yet again by those who wish our state to remain under the control of a select few while being paid for by ever increasing laws, taxes, fees, and bonds that are levied against the rest of us for just living in California?

On Nov. 8th Californians will vote on issues that will protect parent and family rights (Prop 73), level the playing field of special self interest groups and their funding of political issues and campaigns (Prop 75), take the power of redistricting from the politicians and placing it in the hands of the people (Prop 77), ensure that those who are hired to teach our children in public schools are committed to the success of our children’s education and more importantly that they are qualified to meet the goals set by the state to ensure our children’s educational success before they receive tenure (Prop 74), and setting restrictions on how our representatives establish a state budget to reduce wasteful spending and growing deficits (Prop 76).

In 2003 Californians made history by recalling a sitting Governor who had failed the people of California and sent our state spiraling out of control and almost into bankruptcy. It was a bloodless revolution and the voice of the people did not die there. This special election has come under fire by special self interest groups and politicians across the state. They have spent hundreds of millions of dollars; first trying stop the special election altogether and now to undermine each proposition in a effort to keep things as they are…regardless of the benefits to the people of California. They have made it clear that the best interest of Californians is not their primary concern and it is up to you, the voter, to send them a loud and clear message; that the People California run this state and not the money or the assumed power of special self interest groups.

Regardless if you were for or against the recall of our last governor, the people of California have to continue to move forward in our recovery and these measures deserve your consideration and vote. Don’t vote a particular way because someone tells you to, but consider carefully what each proposition means for the state of California and vote as an informed voter who’s concerned about the state in which they live. This is not the time for political payback; this is the time for the people to reclaim that which is theirs…the voice of our government and legislature.

Vote Nov. 8th. Vote for California. Vote for democracy.

M. DiBartolo
American Zulu

Rosa Parks: A Conscience of black America

2005-10-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

Rosa Parks
1913 - 2005

The death of Rosa Parks reveals a couple of things (to me) about black America then and how it may apply to black America now.

THEN:

Rosa Parks wasn’t a civil rights leader or an agitator against the government demanding social change. She was an everyday working class woman who was tired of being treated like a second class citizen at the whims of any white person who saw fit to remind her of such. While we celebrate her courage to say “NO!” and remember the cause that was started by her actions, we should also take a look at how her actions sparked such a significant united response by the black community in the south. Rosa Parks represented the mental and emotional fatigue of all of Black America but, it appears, none were willing to speak to this fatigue. The black community, as a whole, continued to live under the ‘Jim Crow’ mentality that gave a reality of being worth less than whites. The outcry and response by the black community to take an ‘any means necessary’ approach to the Montgomery Boycott showed how long and how desperate the black community had become living under such conditions. This desperation did not spark violence but it did spark a ‘collective sacrifice’ where churches, communities, and private citizens carpooled in an act of defiance towards what was almost a century of discrimination that had followed centuries of slavery. Rosa Parks said what every black in the south wanted to say to an oppressive government….NO! Her ‘no’ was heard around the world. But her NO also sparked unity instead of violence, her ‘no’ sparked organized effort not individual protest. Rosa Parks spoke to a complacency that kept an entire class of people separated from the promise of America…the promise of freedom. In her passing, let us pay respect for her courage and in her memory let us address the complacency that has yoked the black community for decades if not centuries.

NOW:

The black community in America has benefited from the sacrifices that were made to advance civil rights in America. These sacrifices were being made as recently as the late 1960s. Today, 2005, black America continues to struggle for self reliance and the promise of the American Dream. We have allowed complacency to replace our outrage for better schools and safer communities. We have allowed complacency to turn a blind eye to the high rate of abortions and STDs that plague the black community. We have allowed complacency to allow an entertainment genre to rise and become the soul identifier of Black America. Our complacency has allowed the father figure in the black family to be replaced by a social welfare system. Our complacency allows for the excuses of poverty and education to justify crime and social cannibalism as we feed on each others grief and frustrations. Our complacency has allowed teens to become roll models and parents and parenting to become obsolete. Our complacency allows us to attack those would speak of our ills today instead of uniting to overcome them. Rosa Parks’ ‘NO’ spoke to the mental and emotional fatigue of Black America then but who will speak to our fatigue now? There’s no bus driver to point at to blame for this problem…only a mirror. There’s no bus system to boycott…only a mirror. Black America has to look at themselves to understand why we are still living in the ‘Post Civil Rights’ era and not in the ‘American Dream’ era. Just as we looked to one another to overcome the inequality taking place in Rosa Parks’ time, so too must we look to one another to overcome our complacency, our collective poverty, and our lack of social awareness today. While black America is free according to the constitution, we are still in bondage according to our own behavior and lack of social growth. We blame history for our condition, and fear a future of change. Like Rosa Parks from a generation before… I am here to say ‘NO!’ I’m tired of our disproportionate representation in the prison system. I’m tired of the public school system failing our children. (To fail our children is to fail our future)
I’m tired of the token accomplishments of a select few being aired in front of the population to suggest victory when in fact we are still in the struggle. I’m tired of looking to ‘the man’ for help when we don’t help each other. I’m tired of prehistoric civil rights leaders attempting to keep us in a ‘one size fits all’ political philosophy while our communities wither on the vine. So to the politicians of convenience; seeking our votes while dodging our circumstances, I say ‘NO!’ To the civil rights leaders and organizations of days gone by with no vision of the future, I say NO! To those who look elsewhere to fix the problems in their own communities, I say NO! To those who feed the hate but not our children, I say NO! To those who tear down the family unit but not the crack houses, I say NO! Are you as tired as I am? Are you as tired as Rosa Parks was and you’ve had enough? Then stand, organize, educate, and equip each other for the future that men like King, Shabazz, Du Boise, and Washington dreamed of. Let’s get off of this bus and work together to carpool into a future we can be proud to pass on to our children.

Thank you Rosa Parks. Thank you for the courage to stand for change. We will carry your torch into the next generation.

M. DiBartolo
American Zulu

Iraq: Evolution of Democracy

2005-10-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

Iraqi Elections will succeed

The Iraqis are ready for change and they're ready for peace. The Terrorist have made it clear that their enemy is self determination and the rule of law. By their actions they will draw out even more Iraqis to participate in these elections and turn a corner in their history that will be remembered for generations to come.

This is happening because America took action to depose a tyrant whose threat in the region was real and his influence and support for global terror was ever increasing.

The Iraqis will succeed and the terrorist will fail. Each attack diminishes their popularity. The Women of Iraq will vote for the first time in history. What we will witness on Sunday will be nothing short of historic; a monumental change in a region who in the past was riddled with doubt and hopelessness.

Those who wish ill or failure in this process want nothing more than mayhem and lawlessness to reign supreme. Those pessimists, who believe that this will never be successful, want nothing more than the continued bloodshed of American and Iraqi forces. Those who believe that Iraqis aren't capable of keeping a democracy together, insult the abilities of all people of Islam and especially that of the Iraqi people.

They will succeed, and freedom will reign in the Middle East.

AZ (Posted on 1/26/05)

Freedom has spoken in the Middle East. The Iraqis braved death threats, walked miles, and waited for hours to exercise their right to self determination. As rockets fell around them, and suicide bombers tried to murder them, they stood fast and declared that FREEDOM and SELF DETERMINATION is the right course for them and their children.

The world must embrace our new friends of peace, our brothers and sisters of democracy; the Iraqi people. We must show the extremist that there is no turning back. "Freedom is on the March."

History occurred this day. Some of you would not want to admit it, but if you asked any of those on the streets of Iraq... they would tell you that this is a day that they will not soon forget. Even the left wing press could not spin what occurred in Iraq. Even they were at a loss and simply reported the news as it happened.

God bless the US and Coalition forces, God bless the brave Iraqi people who embraced the same driving force that drove men to sign the Declaratoin of Independence and the same force that drove Martin Luther King to 'have a dream'. Freedom!

AZ (Posted 1/31/05)

Parliament Elects Iraq's First Kurdish President
By Mariam Karouny

Quote:
"This is the new Iraq -- an Iraq that elects a Kurd to be president and an Arab former president as his deputy," parliament speaker Hajem al-Hassani said after the vote.

Saddam Hussein watched Talabani's election on video from his jail cell outside Baghdad later in the day and was shaken by the experience, Iraq's human rights minister said.

"He was clearly upset. He realized that it was over, that a democratic process had taken place and that there was a new, elected president," Bakhtiar Amin told Reuters...

Each step is a success for Democracy and a step closer to a lasting peace in that region. The 1500+ American lives, and the thousand of Iraqi and coalition forces have made the ultimate sacrifice to free a country from a tyrant and to cause a serious blow to Islamic terrorist and their war on democracy. Our continued support for this fledgling democracy will help the war on terror in ways we have yet to realize.

AZ (Posted 4/7/05)

Bush Says Trained Iraqi Troops Now Outnumber U.S.
Tue Apr 12, 7:14 PM ET Politics - Reuters
By Steve Holland

Quote:
FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) - President Bush said on Tuesday trained Iraqi security forces now outnumber U.S. troops in Iraq and are playing a greater role in fighting insurgents.

Bush's comment followed remarks by senior military officers that U.S. forces could begin to be drawn down in significant numbers early next year if violence remains low at that time.

...

He said security operations in Iraq are "entering a new phase" in which the United States and its coalition partners are increasingly playing more of a supporting role and Iraqi security forces are more self-reliant and taking on greater responsibilities.

"Like free people everywhere, Iraqis want to be defended and led by their own countrymen," Bush said. "We will help them achieve this objective so Iraqis can secure their own nation and then our troops will come home with the honor they have earned."
For the full story go to: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=sto...2/pl_nm/bush_dc

Iraq is expected to grow up in a very short period of time, and much will be expected of their leaders and military forces... but as so many other nations have made this journey and become peaceful states within and peaceful neighbors throughout their region, so to will Iraq. We can't abandon them for the sake of political 'I told ya so'... they are trying to become a democratic society and each step should be congratulated.

AZ

Reports of Iraqi Hostages Cited as Rumor
Date Posted: Monday, April 18, 2005
Quote:
MADAIN, Iraq, Apr 18 (MASNET & News Agencies) - Iraqi forces regained control of a lawless town near Baghdad, but failed to find any hostages, contradicting reports that Sunni gunmen had seized scores of Shiite residents and were threatening to kill them.

The three-day standoff around Madain, fueled by rumor, suspicion and sharply contradictory reports, had threatened to spiral into all-out national crisis as Sunnis and Shiites negotiate on the formation of a new government, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

There was no resistance and no captives were found in the agricultural town of about 1,000 families, evenly divided between Shiites and Sunnis, reports the Associated Press (AP).

"The whole city is under control. We've secured houses where people said there were hostages. We could not find any. I don't think we'll find any," said Iraqi Brigadier General Mohammed Sabri Latif after a 1,500-strong Iraqi force backed by U.S. soldiers swept into town.

There are others, even in this forum who are reporting this hostage situation as fact when they don't have all the facts from that region. They are those who wish for failure rather than success. They revel in the thought that US, Coalition, and Iraqi forces would fail. This is sad...

AZ

Initial Successes in Iraq Schools Reconstruction

BAGHDAD, April 9, 2005 — Amid the danger for U.S. troops and civilians in Iraq there's also plenty of hope: The American mission includes reconstruction projects that are revitalizing parts of Iraqi society, especially the schools.
Iraqi schoolchildren are eager to learn, and many people say the country's school system is one of the bright spots in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion two years ago.

Perhaps, over time, the children will see what the adults of today cannot... Hope is what we bring. Democracy is a hope for something better.

AZ

Posted on Wed, May. 04, 2005
Al-Jaafari

Iraq swears in its new democratically elected leaders
The Washington Post

Quote:
BAGHDAD, Iraq — As Iraq's first democratically elected government was sworn in Tuesday, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari appealed to those who have taken up arms against his Shiite-dominated government.

“Come back to our people with atonement and apology so you can take part in the process of rebuilding and development,” al-Jaafari said. “Our heart is big and can encompass you all, unless you shed blood or violated the integrity of others.”

...

“The dialogue of words will take you to what the language of bullets and the ethics of perfidy failed to do,” he said.

It took the United States 13 years to form a government after we declared our independence. It has taken the Iraqis 3 months. People continue to say that the insurgency will undermine the democratic efforts taking place in Iraq and despite an increase in the brutality, the Iraqis have formed a government and made another significant advancement towards a peaceful Iraq. Iraq is the only predominately Muslim country in that region that has a freely elected government which also includes women.

It's funny how the main stream press has managed to stay distracted from this news with more pressing issues like 'the runaway bride' and what Paula Abdul said on 'American Idol'. They will spoon feed you bullshit to keep you distracted from any positive news that could possibly in any way cause you to feel proud or hopeful.

For those of you who are against this war regardless of the success and you looks for the negative news in every ray of sunshine I say this:

Yes the attacks continue; But the Iraqis are united against it.
Yes troops have died; But in 3 years we have lost no more than 2000 troops in this war on terror and in that process we've managed to liberate 50 million people. You may not think that is not worth the price paid but I would disagree. We paid a much higher price in Europe, Korea and the Pacific and freedom continues to strive in those areas without a controlling American presence.

This is another milestone for the Iraqis and all free nations and peoples should congratulate them for their accomplishments.

AZ

Iraqi posts unfilled as Cabinet sworn in
Bid for agreement with Sunnis fails
By Thanassis Cambanis, Globe Staff | May 4, 2005

This article is an example of those who see nothing but failure in the war on terror. Of course if things aren’t perfect then they must be failing! Those who spread this type of doubt in the progress being made in Iraq ignore so many facts it's not even funny. For instance...

Israel, a democratic/parliamentary system of government, has routinely left certain post open as they have put a new government in place. The Prime Minister of Israel has routinely served as defense minister while they continued to debate and discuss who would fill the last remaining posts. What has happened in Iraq is a huge accomplishment and anyone who would site that because Iraq has 'only filled 39 of the 42 post' has somehow missed the mark of accomplishment is just a pessimist wishing nothing but failure for the Iraqi people for the sake of their own abstention to the war in Iraq and the policies of Bush 42. This is a sad state of affairs and why there is such a deep divide between those for freedom and those for so called pacifism by any means.

AZ

Iraq's Dulaimi Named Defense Minister, Completes Cabinet
Quote:
May 9 (Bloomberg) -- Saadun al-Dulaimi was yesterday appointed Iraqi defense minister and Bahr al-Ulum oil minister as Iraq's National Assembly approved the final six members of a national unity government.

…
Quote:
Iraqi politicians also say that a Sunni defense minister will stem a Sunni-led insurgency that has raged since the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. Supporters of Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime, who lost their status when the regime fell, have been blamed for much of the violence in Iraq.

Quote:

A former officer in Saddam Hussein's army, al-Dulaimi went into exile during the Iran-Iraq war and retuned to Iraq after the ouster of Hussein who had sentenced him to death and confiscated his assets, AFP said. He then set up the Baghdad- based Iraq Center for Research and Strategic Studies, an analysis institute, which has conducted most of Iraq's public opinion surveys, it said.

AZ (Posted 5/9/05)

Sunnis end boycott of Iraqi politics

GROUP THAT SAT OUT JANUARY ELECTIONS VOWS TO HELP DRAFT CONSTITUTION, COMPETE FOR VOTES
By Ellen Knickmeyer and Naseer Nouri
Washington Post

Quote:
BAGHDAD, Iraq - More than 1,000 Sunni Arab clerics, political leaders and tribal heads ended their two-year boycott of politics in post-Saddam Iraq on Saturday, uniting in a Sunni bloc that they said would help draft the country's new constitution and compete in elections.

Quote:
Most Sunnis boycotted national elections in January that put the long-suppressed Shiite majority in charge. Meanwhile, a Sunni-led insurgency appears to have become increasingly unpopular among ordinary Iraqis as the death toll from bombings and other attacks climbs.

AZ

History Unfolds
The people of Iraq have made another historic step in their march towards democracy and the rule of law and tolerance. Today, October 15th 2005, millions of Iraqis will walk past fliers that threaten death to those who would vote today; walk past the IEDs set explode when families are passing by; walk by the concrete barriers meant to protect them from the Islamo fascist who are hell bent on destroying the progress of democracy as well as the hopes and dreams of the Iraqi people. Today, the Iraqi people vote on their Constitution.

In a couple of days we will have the official results of this election and we will see the will of a free people decided with ballots instead of bullets. The Middle East continues to make historic progress towards peace. The progress made today will be an ally to peace loving societies and ideologies everywhere while separating it from those societies and ideologies that encourage the spread of intolerance, hate, and violence. As stated in the beginning of this blog...the Iraqi people are tired of war and desire peace for themselves and for their children. The terrorist may get the headlines but the Iraqi people get the ballots and they will be the ones to decide the future of their country...not the Islamic extremist.

AZ

Compassionate Conservatism: The testing of America.

2005-10-03T08:56:00.000-07:00

The debate over who should pay for the recovery of the gulf region from Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita has only begun. So called “compassionate conservatives” across the country have made it clear that tax payers should not bare the brunt of the cost for that region to recover from the devastating affects from both storms. These soft hearted conservatives claim to be compassionate all the while complaining about their tax money going to help areas and people who should be responsible for their own recovery based on the fact that they chose to live in a region prone to those types of storms. This view is very disappointing. They’re compassionate alright! Compassionate for their friends and family in need but not for those on the gulf coast. However, their unwillingness to share their tax contributions to help our fellow citizens has some merit.

America prides itself on being a giving nation. Our sitting President, George W. Bush has run both of his campaigns on premise of being a compassionate conservative. The relief effort in the gulf region gives the US and the President the opportunity to put our words and our pride where our money is. Helping those affected by these two storms shouldn’t be the primary role of the Federal Government but of those moved to help people in need. The Federal, state, and local governments should support the efforts of those who are on the ground helping the residents of the gulf region recover but it should not take the leading role. Those who are moved by compassion should be the ones on the front lines ensuring the repatriation of New Orleans and the rebuilding of that region. President Bush should push for donations not for more government to take action to help the masses. The initial emergency response to most any major disaster needs the government’s resources and ability to respond in a timely manner. But the long term recovery and rebuild should come from the people pulling together to do what needs to be done to bring life back to that region, not the federal government. If we truly are compassionate then there should be enough help to get the job done with more to spare. It’s not just our government leaders and other compassionate conservatives who I put on notice to put up or shut up…

I also call on the so called leaders and organizations of the black community who make a living on making grandiose statements with little results. I call on people, groups, and businesses such as;

Dr. Bill Cosby
Oprah Winfrey
Reverand Jessie Jackson
Reverend Al Sharpton
Dr. Mike Dyson
Minister Farrakhan
The Urban League
The NAACP
BET
UPN
President Bush

I call on them to put a coalition together to raise private money to assist all those affected by the hurricanes in the gulf region. I call on them to put their differences and ambitions aside and unite behind a common cause: The rebuilding of the gulf region (both residential and business). Finding true leadership in the black community has been a challenged for decades and now is the time for real leaders to rise above the spoon fed strife offered to us daily by the main stream media and to do what is best for the advancement and recovery of our own people; Americans devastated by these storms.

People of compassion, faith, and social justice should all be united behind this one cause. Encouraging people to act on their compassion through private means removes the need of our federal government to be responsible for every calamity that happens within the nation. Doing the latter would make our government an even larger bureaucracy intruding in every aspect of our social development and becoming less and less effective as it does so. People need to rise and up and take care of each other. Looking to our government to fix each and every detail of our lives makes the government our conscience and our expression of identity instead of being our mirror, reflecting who we are to the world.

This is our test America. Are we going to remain helpless and codependent on our federal government to think, act, and fund all that we need and thus define who we are? Or are we going to rise to the challenge of helping our neighbors, friends, and fellow citizens to recover from one of the worst devastations our country has every seen? I believe Americans are the key ingredient to any recovery not the federal government…it is our work, our belief, and our sweat that will reclaim the gulf region from the rampage of Hurricane Katrina and Rita… not taxes, not congress, and not the main stream media.

I call on these ‘leaders’ to unite and show solidarity in an effort to help all Americans affected by this storm. I call on these black ‘leaders’ to unite and ensure that the minority culture and heritage of New Orleans will not be discarded with the debris from the floods of these storms. I call on these men and women to put their position below the effort to help and do what they can in an cooperative effort to assure the survivors of these storms that we will not leave until every home, every store, and every apartment that was formally occupied by gulf region residents will once again be there for any and all who would want to come back.

Compassionate conservatism has met its greatest need of compassion…will it answer? The black community has met its greatest challenge for blacks affected by a natural disaster…with they answer?

We need not look to our government for all the solutions, cause our government to grow larger than it is, or give it more power than it previously had because we are less inclined to get dirty helping our neighbors. We need to do what’s right. We need to stand up and be men and women of conscience and help those in our hemisphere…our own countrymen who are in need. They need assurance by fellow Americans that their lives will be restored because our prayers, our sweat, and our finances are in place to help them through.

Let’s see if our affluent leaders, business people, and politicians are as eager to help and they portray on T.V. Let’s see if they are putting the needs of our communities above the needs of their ratings, revenues, or opinion polls.

AZ

Europe had Chicken Little, Russia had Peter and the Wolf, The US has the Main Stream Media

2005-09-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

Crying wolf, over reacting, and embellishment have become the ‘IN’ for the main stream media. While it’s no surprise to this blogger that the main stream media isn’t a trusted source of information, it seems to be a huge surprise to the masses who have endured years of exaggerated reporting, fabricated stories, and political pundits who salivate at the opportunity to add their two (non)cents to the “story”.

Hurricane Katrina, The New Orleans fiasco, and Mayor Nagin have revealed the main stream media’s inability to vet out the truth for fear of not being the first to have an exclusive. Images broadcast around the world accompanied by commentary of rapes, murder, death, and disease have fueled lies and misinformation that the main stream media was unable to discern. They have, yet again, shown their inability to report facts but instead incite emotion. The reports were false. The allegations were exaggerated and in a world of 24hr news, the media needs to take responsibility for their so called reporting of the news. Let’s take a walk down memory lane. Let’s go back say…6 years to 1999 and let’s just see how our news sources have informed the pubic on issues that pertain to them.

1999 – The Millennium Bug (the greatest hype in world history)
2000 – The Presidential Election (announcing polls closed and declaring the winner before the election was complete…only to protest the actual outcome)
2001 – 9/11- There are 15,000 dead…no wait, 10,000 dead…no wait 8,000
2002 - Enron destroys economy…no wait the Housing bubble will burst
2003 – NY Times reporter tells the truth, no wait…NY Times reporter resigns after truth is told, no wait…100,000 Iraqis killed by US, no wait… chemical agents were used on US troops, no wait… Saddam isn’t so bad, no wait…
2004 – Kerry is for the war, no wait… Kerry is against the war, no wait…Kerry is a war hero, no wait…Bush is a draft dodger, no wait…
2005 – Koran desecrated at GITMO, no wait…20 murders in the Superdome, no wait, 20 rapes in the Superdome and 10 murders, no wait…thousands dead all over New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, no wait…People are eating the dead in New Orleans, no wait…It’s the Presidents fault, no wait…It’s FEMA’s fault, no wait…It’s the Mayor’s fault, no wait…It’s the Red Cross’ fault…

A trusted source of news our main stream media is not. They are reactionary talking heads who will sensationalize any story for ratings and prestige. The actual act of reporting news is taking place in grass root publications and blogs who look for the story behind the hype that is spoon fed to us on a daily basis. The press has lived under a delusion that they are on the front lines between the government and the people. But, in truth, they have become just as big, just as biased, and just as dysfunctional as any polarized special interest group – only they control the means to communicate to the masses…at least they used to.

Unless, we the people, we the consumer, we the tax payer demand more from our out of touch media pool, we will continue to be fed the misinformation that they propagate for their own business and political gains.

The emperor (media) has been exposed…and the emperor is butt ass naked, drooling, and has absolutely no clue to his surroundings…

Call me crazy, but if you got your news from the crazy naked person standing on a street corner screaming how horrible things are, would you consider yourself an informed citizen? Well if you continue your regiment of daily main stream media you will definitely find yourself swayed by the tirades occurring on the street corners of America’s cities.

BE YE WARNED!
THE MAIN STREAM MEDIA HAS ESCAPED AND THEY ARE SPREADING THE DISEASE OF FEAR, DOUBT, AND PESSIMISM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. ONLY COMMON SENSE AND REASON CAN COUNTER THE INFESTATION BROUGHT ON BY THESE MODERN DAY FABRICATORS, LIERS, AND EMBELLISHERS OF WORLD EVENTS.

AZ

Semantics or hidden agenda? The mainstream media; Let's take a closer look.

2005-09-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

“Cindy Sheehan, the California mother who drew thousands of demonstrators to her 26-day vigil outside Bush's Texas ranch last month, won a roar of approval when she took the stage in Washington. Her 24-year-old son, Casey, was killed in Iraq last year.” http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/24/antiwar.ap/

‘Killed in Iraq’ vs. ‘Died in the line of duty’

Our society is based on the principle of Law; a stated view or idea mutually agreed upon and upheld. These laws consist of words which hold great meaning. Words are used to foster peace or to engulf in war. How we use these words reveal our motive of meaning or our direction of persuasion.

“Killed in Iraq.” While there may be some pragmatically detached individual who views what Army Specialist Casey Sheehan did as simply being ‘killed in Iraq’, I am not such a person and the words used by CNN devalue the heroic sacrifice made by Army Specialist Casey Sheehan who died in the line of duty.

Army Specialist Casey Sheehan had already completed his first enlistment tour and ‘re-upped’ for another four years. While serving his country in the Iraqi Theatre of the War on Terror, Army Specialist Casey Sheehan volunteered to assist in a rescue mission. Army Specialist Casey Sheehan died during this mission and he received a bronze star and purple heart for his sacrifice. Army Specialist Casey Sheehan died in service to his country, he died in the line of duty.

CNN’s reporting of Army Specialist Casey Sheehan’s sacrifice reveals their true motive(agenda) to support the anti-war rally in Washington D.C.. They purposely omit the truth surrounding the service of Army Specialist Casey Sheehan in order to support his activist mother and those she associate with. When CNN makes such insensitive and irresponsible statements regarding the service of a U.S. serviceman/woman who died in the line of duty, they lower his/her sacrifice to that of random crime brought on by a crooked sheriff. CNN and others within the mainstream media have denied the truth behind the story to further the agenda of anti-war activist who benefit from the lie or the omission of the full truth.

Our words still have meaning. How we report the service and sacrifice of our military servicemen/women will reveal how we truly view their actions abroad. CNN does not serve to honor the sacrifice of Army Specialist Casey Sheehan but instead us his sacrifice as a sticking point to further the agenda of those who would spit on Army Specialist Casey Sheehan before shaking his had. Was he simply “killed in Iraq” or did he die in the service of his country? CNN has made their view and motive clear… Will you?
AZ

Trail of Tears: (part of the Hurricane Katrina: Trail of Tears Essay)

2005-09-19T22:51:00.000-07:00

It started with a promise…
‘take food and water to the
Superdome, and you’ll be alright.’

But what was said, tongue-in-cheek
Caused thousands to be stranded facing
rising waters and dwindling supplies.
Tension and desperation merged and
New Orleans became a chain of islands
where only watercraft and helicopter could reach.
The Trail of Tears brought on by the
flood waters of Pontchartrain had begun.

Air-mattresses became life-rafts.
Overpasses became the high-ground.
Families separated by age, gender, and
medical necessity were dispersed across the U.S.
Tens of thousands arrived in Houston.
What once was a sports complex had now
become a shelter/refugee camp.
The conditions, though better than the flooded
Streets of New Orleans, continued to add to the
Trail of Tears streaming down the concourse
where ‘residents’ reside,
huddled around power outlets
in order to plug in their connections
to the ‘real world’.
Houston P.D. secured the perimeter.
Reliant Security secured the buildings.
Mounted Police patrolled the grounds.
The more residents that arrived were greeted with
invitations to all points away from this region…
calls to adopt a family became sheik…
the neo-pets of the elite.

‘I just want to go home, clean up my house and rebuild.’

is but a faint cry,
enveloped by the sounds of cash cards and housing vouchers.
New Orleans ain’t dead! …

Trail of Tears

Now Boarding! Colorado, California, Utah,
and Georgia! Arizona, New York, and Missouri!

One-way tickets only, Please….

Trail of Tears

AZ

Reliant City: (Part of the Hurricane Katrina: Trail of Tears essay)

2005-09-17T18:41:00.000-07:00

Bring me your tired, your poor,
your huddled masses.
Unless, of course, you been sittin’
on your lazy black asses!

Yea, we brought you here from Nawlins,
and you didn’t even ask.
We put you in a stadium,
this wrist band is your pass.

You’re told to go over here,
and to walk over there.
There’s police at every gate,
grounds security is everywhere.

Welcome to Reliant,
Please begin the line right here.
Women on the right,
and men go over there.

At Reliant we don’t discriminate,
we pat everyone down.
If an 86 year old needs water?
Tell the rest to go around.

Those doors are ‘Exit’ only,
and thru those you can come in.
Keep those little babies quiet,
and the lights go out at ten.

We’ll let the media film you sleepin’;
Put a camera in your face.
Y’all gots to be outta here by Saturday;
We don’t care where…just leave this place.

It’s not that we don’t like ya,
we just got other shit to do.
What’s a gentle of way of putting it?

‘You’re just another venue.’

Sure there are people trying to help ya,
and yo’ families at the gate;
but unless they have an escort,
then they just gone have to wait.

Reliant City isn’t pretty,
and you know it’s all you got.
It’s gotta be better than the Superdome,
at least here you have a cot.

So be grateful that we brought ya…
We coulda left yo’ ass behind.
Accept our good will graciously,
the first to complain goes to the back of the line.

AZ

Leadership

2005-09-04T16:25:00.000-07:00

The following is an email addressed to the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. While his web site does contain a pathway to 'contact the governor' the link is apparently on Labor Day break just as our beloved Governor is...you can't email the governor...you only get routed to 'Cannot find server' page. We know you're listening Governor; we know you're keeping track of the pulse of your voters so heed this email... take action and be the Governor the state of California.

Governor Schwarzenegger,

California needs to do its part and take in survivors of Hurricane Katrina. We can begin building temporary housing that will be their residence until New Orleans has been revived. Don't second guess the need to help and house those affected by the storm...Californians will help and you should lead in that effort by welcoming survivors to California.

I am a registered voter and I am still a supporter of yours. The need for you to rise and show leadership for our state hasn't been greater. I am aware that you have a great many things to deal with, but don't hesitate like the local governments did in New Orleans. Your ability to rise above the political fray and lead Californians on issues with such a moral impact will be your litmus test for a next term or for any other aspirations of political representation that you may have.

You can no longer ride the fence Governor; you can no longer lean on phrases like...'let the courts decide'...You have to be a leader and choose the direction you want Californians to go. You have to stand for something or fall for everything. People are in need in the Gulf region and we have to help them... it's the right thing to do...it's the Californian thing to do...

Californians are aware of the oligarchy you are up against in the California Legislature...but YOU are the Governor and YOU are the Chief Executive of this state and YOU have to lead and state clearly where you stand...and if you stand with the people... then you don't wait on the courts to decide... you stand with the people...

The phone is ringing Governor Schwarzenegger, it's the people of California...will you answer?

Michael DiBartolo
Registered Voter
Sacramento, CA

Help is on the way! Donate now to Gulf area relief.

2005-09-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

The Working Patriot (TWP) is supporting the efforts to relieve the refugees affected by Hurricane Katrina. I will be heading to Houston with the Red Cross to assist in the recovery effort. Our brothers and sisters need our help, our prayers, and our donations. Depending on where I am assigned... I will update this blog site with reports from the front line. There are human stories, personal tragedies, and personal heroes in every corner of the gulf region and we not only need to report those stories but we need to do all that we can to help families unite with lost loved ones... I will forward the names of those I come across to this blog to help get their message out that they are alive and OK. There will be many who are not OK but we need to do what we can to bring that region under control....' And let me be the first to invite you to Mardi Gras 2006. We will be there to celebrate the recovery of that region and the spirit of our nation... As often stated in TWP... it's not the government but the people who make America great. Pray for us all... AZ

Update: 9/3/05

I just got in touch with my sister Kenya [praise God!], she has given me an update on the rest of my family on my Dad's side: My Dad was in New Orleans just before the storm, he flew back to his home in Atlanta on Saturday and upon seeing the news re: Katrina, he called and told my sisters to come to Atlanta. Kenya and my sister Tanya had decided to stay for a multiple of reasons; finances and the fact that their Mom decided to stay in town and ride the storm out were top on their list. My Grandfather was just as intent on riding out the storm.

On Sunday, Kenya had a dream that troubled her. She dreamt that they would not survive if they stayed. She shared this with her mom and they decided to load up everyone and go on a 15 hour ride to Atlanta. They had evacuated on Monday. My younger brother made it to Atlanta on Tuesday and Grandfather is also with them safe and sound. My Uncle Mike is on his way to Austin after escaping New Orleans a day or so ago. My Sister Sonya was already in Atlanta and her mom is also safe in Texas. With all that good news there are still people trapped in that city and the surrounding areas.

Kenya's brother is a New Orleans police officer who, despite the pleads to leave, remained to do what he could to help those in need. She also has a friend who's still trapped in her home. My Aunt Maude, and cousins Michael (and his kids) and Mary are across the river from the flooded area in Marrero, they're home has been damaged by fallen trees but there's no flood damage that we've heard about. The last report I have was that they were still in the home. I have an Aunt Von whose home is in the shadow of the Superdome...we have no information on her, her children or grand children. My Cousin Ashley had just left from Arizona for college at Alcorn State in Mississippi. We have no information on her whereabouts or condition. My Sister's street was completely flooded. The water had risen to the roofs of 2 story homes in their area.

There are families affected throughout this region and the nation...When talking with Kenya she remarked that this was the first day that she hadn't started the day crying. She was beginning to think that the worst is over...I pray that she's right. AZ

Update 9/4/05

Just got off the phone with my Dad. He has been in communication with people in New Orleans via Nextel radio. My Uncle Graylin evacuated his family before the storm hit. He's in charge of security at one of the local (5 star) hotels. During this entire ordeal, it has been his voice that was heard more than most over the radio, keeping is team calm, reassuring those who took refuge in the hotel (this includes the Mayor of New Orleans). He's told my dad that he will see this through...his family is safe and his city is in need. Graylin is the one my dad would refer to when speaking with those who chose to ride this storm out... he would tell them to get to the hotel and that they would be safe. Those who did take his advice are safe, thanks to people like Graylin.

My Dad now has 15 souls in his home and 7 are children. They are safe from harm but still harmed by what they have experienced. My nephew, who's 5, asked my Dad...'PauhPauh, what if the storm comes here?' To a child this storm is a menace who is still out there hurting people...I told my dad that there's some truth to that...that there were two storms...one natural and one man made.

My Grandfather was taken to the local hospital last night with a fever and feeling very ill... the test came back negative leading them to believe that the stress of the entire ordeal has taken its toll on everyone. My two sisters and brother have gone to a Red Cross command station to register for assistance. My family has also registered the kids for school in the Atlanta area. The local school districts aren't requiring any documentation, they are just going to take the kids in, test them for placement, and give them something other than this disaster to think about.

Atlanta has opened their City Zoo to all those who have children from this tragedy to come and try to enjoy the park and the animals...again trying to give the kids something other than this event to think about.

Three homes are completely underwater, two with wind damage and another 3 or 4 that I just don't have any information on.

People are donating clothes and school supplies to my Dad to help them get settled...he will let me know what other needs there are so we can get that help to them as soon as possible.

I still have no word on my family in the east bank, my cousin in Mississippi just north of New Orleans, and my two Aunts who lived in the neighborhood around the Super Dome. Your continued prayers and assistance to any and all families affected by this disaster would be appreciated.

Side Bar:

Texas is now asking for assistance. They are asking that other states take in some of the tens of thousands of 'displaced citizens' that have been evacuated to Texas cities. This is more than one state can handle. California has more land than it knows what to do with. There's no reason why our state could not offer state land to help house these survivors until we revive New Orleans! I think I'll email the Gov. right now....AZ

9/6/05 Update (submitted by Mitch):

Hi, Mike,

I didn't know that Ashley, Walter's daughter was in Mississippi, so I haven't heard
anything from or about her, yet.

I talked to Mama's sister, Maude (known to us as Aunt Tee) on Saturday. She's in her
house in Marrero and her daughter, Brenda, and son, Michael, are staying with her. They're all safe and sound, although Aunt Tee's houses was hit by a tree. It didn't sound like it did a
tremendous amount of damage, though.

Brenda said that her house, also in Marrero, is fine, although it suffered a little
roof damage. Her kids and grandkids are staying there. Brenda, who was a
quality control manager in the VA Hospital there, said that the hospital was
flooded and evacuated but that employees will be paid for the next 60 days
anyhow and will have the option of transferring to other VA hospitals.
She's thinking about transferring to the one in La Porte, TX, (I think that's the name) where
her brother, Ivan (also known as Junior) lives.

I tried calling Cousin Kenneth yesterday but the phone system
isn't working where he and his family evacuate to. They're staying
with Marqulyn there. I'll try again today.

As of Saturday, Aunt Maude hadn't heard from her sister, Aunt Sandra,
who had lived near the superdome but evacuated before the storm
and went to stay with her daughter in Biloxi.

Cousin Lanika has been in Florida all along and doesn't seem to
have been affected by the storm or flood.

I talked to your Aunt Jean on Sunday and she said that we had an uncle,
Shorty Lawson, living in NO but no one has heard from him. I'll call Mama and
Daddy today to see if they've heard anything.

Anyhow, that's the story. Like I said, I'm going to try to get updates today.

Take care,

Mitch

9/7/05 Update:

Red Cross has dispatched me to Baton Rouge to help with the mass causalities...I will update as soon as I can. Your prayers are greatly appreciated.

I have added a link for Katrina Survivors Family Locator for Red Cross

Update 9/18/05

Thank you all for your prayers. We have located all but one family group (the Lawsons) and we are still praying for their safe return. I have searched the shelters where I was assigned as well as search multiple data-bases looking for them to be registered in shelters from Oklahoma to Georgia...but to date... there's been no info.

If you're looking to help families affected by this tragedy, then please consider fall and winter clothing (sweaters, jackets, gloves, knit caps). Thousands of residents from the gulf region are now in climates where the seasonal change will be drastic and they are ill prepared for these changes. Your assistance in this area would be greatly appreciated.

My experience in Houston was heart wrenching. I witnessed the outpouring of love from around the country and I witnessed the heart-ache of those devastated by the storm and the aftermath. Red Cross, local churches, and good people from around the country did all they could to assist the residents at Reliant Park. I will share some of my thoughts along with photos in this blog as an essay of the experience. If you're debating on whether or not you want to help... I would encourage you to do so. From volunteers to victims, from Houston P.D. to FEMA one thing I heard consistently was the enormous response from across the country...California to New York, Minnesota to Puerto Rico Americans came to help. We didn’t wait on the ‘mobilization’ of the Federal Government or the local media. We went because a cry for help was heard by all and they still need our help, our prayers, and our unity to go with them through this entire experience.

Update 9/20/05

(Submitted by my Uncle 'Mitch')

Here's an update on our kinfolks down in New Orleans and Mississippi, who were affected by Katrina and the levee flood.

-- Aunt Tee (Maude) and her kids and their families are all OK. None of their homes suffered major damage

but both Aunt Tee's house and Brenda's do have rooof and ceiling damage. Aunt Tee's house just got the electricity back on today. Prior to this, they've been using a diesel generator to power the house.

-- Brenda, who worked as a manager at the VA hospital that was flooded, has moved to Houston with Junior (IVAN), and has gotten a job at the VA hospital there.

-- Kenneth, whose daughter was to attend Xavier this fall, has reenrolled her in the University of Texas at Houston, because Xavier was flooded. Kenneth's house in Harvey is fine.

-- Michael, who lives with Aunt Tee, along with his son, is still off work, but getting paid. He said he's going back to work next week.

-- Aunt Von (Sandra) has reported in and she's OK.

-- Uncle Shorty is still unaccounted for.

-- Ashley, who is attending Alcorn State University near Jackson, MS, has been located and is fine.

She and many other students had evacuated the school before the hurricane hit and was out of contact for a while.

-- Mike DiBartolo took leave from his job to go down to Houston to volunteer for the Red Cross. He has seen a lot. He heads back to Sacramento this week.

-- Ivan (Junior), who lives in Houston and works for FEMA as an assessor, has been called in to report to New Orleans. He figures he’ll be on the job for six-eight months.

-- Still haven't been able to get in telehone contact with Marqulyn, in Vasherie, LA.

Mitch

AZ