Snow Day Blogburst

It is a snow day today, so I'll make my rounds from home instead of in person. While Ive waiting for everyone to wake up, I've been checking out the local situation in western North Carolina.

First, let's see what's on the local blogs:

Winter weather
With an impending storm, but no actual precipitation falling, WLOSers had to do the "storm prep" story. They hit us up with Mike Cuevas in the weather center calling for the veritable "mixed bag" of precip - snow, sleet, rain, freezing rain. All that means is he really doesn't know what's going to happen. He said it was snowing in Atlanta.

Source: Ashvegas, who also has a story about the
Pauleroid Blimp, which they use in a fashion like the Carolina Stompers tried last year with a commercial on WLOS. The resultant firestorm was designed to shut down speech that was disagreeable to the left. Funny how the lefties aren't trying to shut these people down. Maybe I should start taking donations, and kick this blog, and my other efforts up to the next level, using the Carolina Stomper and Pauleroid Blimp donation plan. Of course, the Pauleroids are useful to the left...so they (ahem) can continue to fly under the radar.

Anyhow, that brings me to Tony, who, along with Bernard Carman,
got to ride on the blimp recently.



That is all I can do for now, so on to the photo section...

I checked out several webcams (always a risky proposition from a dial-up connection) and here are a few of the sharable ones:


Train tracks at Spruce Pine


Downtown Franklin



And some pix from Southwestern Community College in Sylva:








And then a few shots from the house, after it started raining at about 4 am, starting the inevitable melting process:


The truck


The sideyard


Why put it in the fridge when it's cold outside?


Anyhow...my java has somehow been turned off, and I must attend to it.

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Winter Weather For WNC

Winter Storm Warning


Winter Weather Advisory

Click on the links above to see what's forecast for your area of the mountains.

Source: National Weather Service








According to the forecast for my little corner of WNC, I can expect anywhere from 1 to 2 inches of snow, and up to a quarter inch of ice, which will be lovely if it doesn't interrupt my power.


So, if I 'm not posting tomorrow, you'll know what's up.

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Democrat Debate Videos from Nevada

The whole debate can be watched here, each clip will play in turn.

Hat Tip: You Decide 2008

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911 Audio Released From Tiger Attack

Here is yet another incident where an armed citizenry could have defended themselves if they had only had firearms.

Here are a few articles:

SAN FRANCISCO - "It's a matter of life and death!" the caller screamed, but a 911 dispatcher said there was a delay: Paramedics needed to make sure the tiger loose in the San Francisco Zoo wasn't going to attack them.

Either Paul or Kulbir Dhaliwal made the 911 call from outside a zoo cafe on Dec. 25, asking that a helicopter be brought in to rescue his brother, according to a recording of the call released Tuesday.

By the time the call heard on the nearly seven-minute recording ends, the escaped Siberian tiger already had killed the Dhaliwals' friend, 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr., outside the animal's enclosure and was creeping closer to the cafe.

"At the cafe, we have the tiger!" an officer shouts into his radio just after 5:27 p.m., according to a recording of police dispatch traffic, about four minutes after the call between the brother and the 911 dispatcher ends. "We have the tiger attacking the victim!"

Source: Charlotte Examiner
Related: San Fransisco Zoo Correspondence sent to members and supporters.

You can listen to the audio at SFGate, if you have the stomach for it.

Commentary

I wonder if the San Fransisco Zoo has a "No Guns Allowed" policy? Perhaps the survivors should look into suing the Zoo because they were disarmed, and proper protection was not not provided by the facility?

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Delegate Count After Michigan

Here is what I have so far:

GOP:

1. Romney.....66
2. McCain......30
3. Huckabee..17
4. Thompson..8
5. Paul..........4
6. Uncomm.....3
7. Giuliani.......1
8. Hunter........1

So, from all the Legacy Media coverage, you would think that Romney, McCain, and Huckabee were all somehow roughly equivalent to another so far. Not so. In the delegate count, Romney has more than twice the delegate count as does MCain, and McCain has a little less than double the number Huckabee has, who, in turn, has twice what Thompson has, and we are only four states in!


Dems:

1. Clinton....97 (24 w/o MI)
2. Uncomm.55
3. Obama....25
4. Edwards..18
   

If the Michigan delegates are counted, Hillary has a commanding lead over Obama, and if they are not, she is behind by one, with the uncommitteds being double what they have. Edwards is still in it, with 7 delegates less than Obama.

I expect a real fight at the Democrat Convention over whether or not to count the Michigan delegates.

February the 5th will be the date that separates the contenders from the pretenders.

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Press Release: Mumpower's Last Stand: Shuler Being Used by Corrupt Tribal Interests?

Press Release/Position Statement

-From the desk of the Candidate-

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Mumpower's Last Stand: Shuler Being Used by Corrupt Tribal Interests?

A front-page story in last Sunday's Asheville Citizen-Times revealed that the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians spent over $100,000 last year to influence members of Congress, including $4,600 to North Carolina Congressman Heath Shuler. Yet, due to special exemptions, Indian tribes are not required to publicly disclose those contributions – as must other pressure groups like unions, political action committees, and corporations.

None of this comes as any surprise to 11th District Republican candidate Carl Mumpower, who last October criticized the tribe as having become a "corrupted special interest" at odds with the "common interests of the taxpaying citizens of Western North Carolina."

"Add the Federal handouts and entitlements to the fact that their lobbyists aren't bound by the same campaign finance laws as everyone else...it all just stinks," said Mumpower. “The Cherokee dole out their cash to elected officials for the same reason as any other lobbyist does: to buy influence, plain and simple. Remember, Mr. Shuler sits on the congressional committee that oversees Indian Affairs. Just follow the money...it looks to me like Mr. Shuler's influence is an attractive purchase for the Cherokee."

Mumpower has previously announced that he will accept no campaign funds from unions, businesses, political action committees or other influence groups during his run for the seat currently held by Shuler. "Of course, money is a part of any serious campaign," said Mumpower, "but ultimately, our success will come from consistent and principled positions and the support of the voters. My focus on the common good and the needs of ordinary folks cannot be bought through the shady dealings of influence peddlers with deep pockets...no matter what the color of their skin or sense of entitlement."

Carl Mumpower is a candidate for the US House of Representatives.

His website is here.

End of Press Release.

---

For a better understanding of this issue, you may refer to the AC-T article by clicking here, or if it is no longer available, click here for my saved copy.

And, there are people fighting the corruption of the Cherokee Tribal Leaders, and I stand with them in their fight against their corrupt leaders, and the capricious editing at the AC-T [link to published letter] [link to my saved copy].

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Mitt Romney Wins Michigan! Thank You Krazy Kos Kidz!

I am not sure what kind of effect the Daily Kos Endorsement of Mitt Romney had on the primary, but I like to think it had the effect of putting him over the top of McCain:

1. Mitt Romney..........39%
2. John McCain..........30%
3. Mike Huckabee......16%
4. Ron Paul..................6%
5. Fred Thompson.......4%
6. Rudy Giuliani...........3%

Now, if someone else can win South Carolina, even if it is the hated Huckabee, we will see John McCain's Campaign begin to suffer. The superfast primary schedule will help mitigate the effects of a loss...but repeated losses will have an effect.

I think only Huckabee, McCain, Paul, and Romney campaigned in Michigan, and accordingly, they got the top four slots.

Here are the Democrat results:

1. Hillary Clinton......56%
2. Uncommitted........39%
3. Dennis Kucinich....4%
4. Mike Gravel...........1%

The Democrat Michigan primary was a weird affair, with the delegates not going to be seated at the party convention because they moved their primary up against the approval of the Democrat Party Elites. Clinton, Kucinich, and Gravel were the only ones to campaign. The kooks Kucinich and Gravel only managed 5% between them, proving that even the Democrats cannot stomach their insane stands on the issues.

Edwards and Obama urged their supporters to vote uncommitted in the contest, and 39% did so.

So, in a very unlikely turn of events, I wish to thank the Krazy Kos Kidz for whatever help they have lent to conservatism by supporting a candidate more conservative than John McCain!

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You Can't Make This Stuff Up

I found this little gem of absurdity on Crooks and Liars:

Part of being pro-choice is actually respecting choices that would not be the one that you personally would make. That said, and as a mother myself, I have to say that I HATE Crisis Pregnancy Center, who has a very prominent banner sign very close to my local high school. Bullying and lying to a teenager to get her to keep a pregnancy that she may not be emotionally, physically or financially able to handle is just child abuse in my opinion.


The blogger was noting a Huckabee visit to the Carolina Pregnancy Center.

So, according to the blogger, child abuse is worse than murder. Only from the mouth (or keyboard) from the anti-life would one hear that absurdity. They hate life so very much, they do not even want the young women to give their babies up for adoption, preferring to sacrifice them to their dark god(s).

At least Huckabee gets it right on the ongoing holocaust that is abortion.

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(VIDEO) Iraqi Freedom Minute 01-15-08

Frustrated that I can't find the embed code for these videos, I went ahead and downloaded it myself. You can see more videos at MNF-Iraq, where I swiped this one.

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West Carolina Report for Jan 15th Updated with video

I've updated West Carolina Report for today.

And yesterday, Rush Limbaugh conducted the best opening monologue I have ever heard him give...and that is saying something!!!
The background music is "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," and I associate it with one of my favorite movies of all time, "Dr Strangelove." It was only when I was in High School that I found out the movie was supposed to be anti-war. Go figure, I thought it was pro-war, and I still thoroughly enjoy it!

Enjoy the video version, which I understand has the added value of Rush on the dittocam:


part one

part two

Source: Greatest Rush Monologue Ever? The Democrat Party Uncivil War

I also have a stereo version I may upload later today that I recorded yesterday while the show was in progress.

A thoughtful reader notified me that the videos weren't working, so I tested them, and they are working for me, but I will use the opportunity to create a playlist so the two videos will play one after the other. Feel free to embed them on your own website, as I believe all should be able to observe greatness in action!

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Senator Lamar Alexander Says: Stopping The Road To Nowhere 'A Good Christmas Present For Tennessee'

From the desk of Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander about a North Carolina problem:

December 21, 2006


The Honorable Mary A. Bomar
Director
National Park Service
1849 C Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20240

Dear Director Bomar,

I am writing to suggest that a good Christmas present for the people of Tennessee and North Carolina would be a National Park Service decision to abandon the proposed $600 million "Road to Nowhere" through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Environmental Impact Statement review for this proposed road is near a conclusion. Now is the time to bring this dispute – which has lasted since World War II – to an end. There is surely a federal obligation to the people of Swain County, North Carolina, but the U.S. Supreme Court has said there is no legal requirement to satisfy it by building this road. Common sense, as the elected Swain County Commissioners and the governors of Tennessee and North Carolina have said, suggests a cash settlement instead.

Source: The Rest of The Story, who has been on the forefront on the issue of forcing the Federal Government to live up to their promise to the people of Swain County made during World War II.

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Obama Concedes To Clinton Machine, Now Running For Vice-President (Update Myabe Not)

Here are some explosive observations you should read:

Barack Obama conceded the Democratic Party presidential nomination today to Hillary Clinton. Most of the media, including all of conservative media, missed it out of ignorance. Parts of the MSM didn’t miss it, but, given their complicity with the Democratic Party, refused to report it.

isn't that the Legacy Media modus operandi? [SNIP]

Obama, too, indicated he wants a truce, saying at a media availability in Reno, Nev., that the campaign “shouldn’t be personal.”

“Bill and Hillary Clinton have historically and consistently been on the right side of the civil rights movement,” Obama said.

Obama also said he didn’t want the campaign “to degenerate into so much tit-for-tat, back and forth that we lose sight of why all of us are doing this.”

IT, shouldn’t be personal, Barack? What does civil rights support have to do with IT? The campaign has already degenerated into tit for tat.

Hillary & Co. have relentlessly bitch-slapped the guy as a possible drug dealing, shuck and jiving, mere speech giving empty suit, fairy tale telling Muslim spade, worker. And he says nothing.

Obama effectively is running for Vice-President now. He won’t win that race either, and it has nothing to do with anything mentioned above.

There you have it. Obama has given up. [SNIP]

You see, the modern day Democratic Party was built on “hits” that create victims, dependant on them for their self worth, or lack thereof, and subsistence existence in the Welfare State.

Johnson pointed to Obama’s book which described the fraudulent manipulation of the ignorant poor and mostly black in detail for all the world to see. It would be as if A.Q. Khan were alowed to publish a book on how to make a nuclear weapon, for convincing people they can’t make it in evil America without their Big Government help is the Dems’ nuke.

Clinton Inc. may have made an offer to Obama he couldn’t refuse, with the stick of certain personal destruction politics and the carrot of a possible VP slot, but the Dems MUST do all they can to distract ALL attention from the chapters of Obama’s book that reveal their vile modus operandi.

So, Barack will be relegated to a sideshow, as all Blacks in the Dem Party are ultimately resigned. Oh, they get “seats at the [Dem] table, but never, NEVER, the head seat.

Source: Race 4 2008

Commentary

And I'll just bet 99% of Obama Supporters will never know that their candidate gave up after just two states to the Democrat Establishment.

update 8.10 am Jim Quinn has a different take on the whole episode, and breaks it down according to Alinsky jujitsu. I am editing the audio and will have it available by 8.45am once I take the commercials out. Ugghh! This is gonna take longer than I thought. My MP3 player clipped the audio pretty bad in some spots, I think it is damaged too badly to repair. I'll try to take notes on a re-listen by tomorrow. [TP]

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Liberals Love John McCain

Never get between John McCain and a camera. He will run you over to get in front of it.

Here are some libs loving on a McCain GOP Nomination:

Republican voters are clearly fascinated by the novelty and inspiration of Governor Huckabee's plain-spoken, faith-based messages. But in the final analysis, Senator McCain is a better fit of the traditional Eisenhower-Reagan conservative values of most Republican voters over the last half-century.

One prediction: If the nominees end up to be Senator Clinton and Senator McCain, it should be one of the highest level presidential campaigns waged in U.S. history. They are both personal friends. They both respect each other. Both have been on the vicious receiving ends of the politics of personal destruction. And both believe it is possible, indeed imperative, to debate the issues and to disagree agreeably.

Source: Lanny Davis, writing in Huffington Post (see his record)


And in the Politico:

In short, McCain is getting a free pass, and it’s beginning to show. In campaign events across western Michigan, voters are once again being reminded of the qualities of character that have made him an admired figure on the national political scene, without the distraction of ads designed to muddy that image.

Asked why she likes McCain, Tina Wolfis of Kalamazoo pointed to “his honesty, his straight-forwardness.”

Other voters, Republicans all, cited similar qualities. Pressed about issues, some mentioned federal spending or the war.

“He puts country ahead of politics,” added David Hassenger, a Republican official in St. Joseph County, just south of Kalamazoo. “[Republicans] deserved to have their asses kicked in the last election. ... We’ve forgotten what we were supposed to be doing there.”

Source: Jonathan Martin, writing in the Politico (see his record)

Commentary

Both are puff pieces, one from an liberal at the HuffPo, who can't be blamed for pimping a RINO the GOP base will reject if nominated, giving the election to the candidate of his party.

Jonathan Martin is more of a puzzle, having come from the National Review. Perhaps he is a RINO as well.

What neither writer addresses is the very high negativity of John McCain. I believe his negatives may be as high as Hillary Clinton's are, certainly within the ranks of conservatives who hate him for his support of amnesty, the quelling of free speech, the strangulation of businesses, and his political assassination of the beloved Rummy.
The anti-American war protestors (and Ron Paul Supporters) hate him because of his support for the surge, which he claims to have inspired, and the progressives hate him for his friendship with Joe Lieberman.

I view a McCain Presidency as potentially as disastrous to America as a Ron Paul Presidency. The former would destroy us with his domestic policies, and the later would destroy us with his foreign policy. And neither possess the skills to get the other side of their policy through Congress.

No, John McCain would be a disaster for the Conservative Movement, and America. He served our nation well in a time of war, and has since chosen the path of evil.

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Mr Amnesty Booed in Michigan

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, winner of last Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, drew cheers and jeers from an audience of over 500 conservative activists in Michigan over the weekend.

Just days ahead of the Michigan primary, McCain was one of three Republican presidential hopefuls, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, to visit the Americans for Prosperity Summit held Saturday in the Detroit suburb of Livonia.

McCain was alternately cheered and jeered by the vocal, pro-growth, “limit-the-government” activist crowd. He was cheered for his military service and for his pledges to maintain a strong defense, to cut taxes and to veto earmarks, but he was booed for his stances on immigration and the environment…

Read more at Michelle Malkin

Commentary

Don't let the Legacy Media tell you for one second that this guy is liked by anyone even remotely conservative, for he is not a conservative. Stand by for more on this subject in the coming week.

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New York Times Declares War on Veterans

New York Times has declared war on vets returning from the war:

Town by town across the country, headlines have been telling similar stories. Lakewood, Wash.: "Family Blames Iraq After Son Kills Wife." Pierre, S.D.: "Soldier Charged With Murder Testifies About Postwar Stress." Colorado Springs: "Iraq War Vets Suspected in Two Slayings, Crime Ring."

Individually, these are stories of local crimes, gut-wrenching postscripts to the war for the military men, their victims and their communities. Taken together, they paint the patchwork picture of a quiet phenomenon, tracing a cross-country trail of death and heartbreak.

The New York Times found 121 cases in which veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan committed a killing in this country, or were charged with one, after their return from war. In many of those cases, combat trauma and the stress of deployment - along with alcohol abuse, family discord and other attendant problems - appear to have set the stage for a tragedy that was part destruction, part self-destruction...

Read more about the story at Blackfive, and see where the numbers prove the New York Slimes have just been caught in yet another lie about the war they have hated so much. The numbers add up to about half the rate for the civilian population in the same age group. They try to make you think the number is beyond proportion, then fail to provide comparative stats. Remember that there is no lie the left won't tell in order to advance their agenda.

It is too bad that dueling has gone out of style. It would at least keep them somewhat honest if they knew they would be held to account for disreputable behavior.

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Sheepdog in Iraq

One of my blogger pals I have exchanged comments with is in Iraq, and you can read of his experiences here. I couldn't help but swipe a little of his last to post:

Note: If you ever go somewhere exotic, like Iraq in the winter, and your company, or the Army tells you you don't need to pack a sleeping bag because linens will be provided at your destination, don't pay any attention! The heater in your tent WILL break on the coldest frackin' night, and you will be shivering in your jacket and running to the BX the next day only to learn they are closed for inventory. You will survive, congratulate yourself for not getting sick like everyone else, then promptly get sick a couple days later. Murphy and his stupid law strike again.

He is on my prayer list for the duration.

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Conflict With Taliban Heating Up

Right on the heels of Pakistani Forces killing the local Taliban leader in Wazirisatn, the Taliban are acting up:



The Taliban continue to strike at military, government, and civilian institutions in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier province and beyond. The Taliban ambushed a paramilitary convoy in the tribal agency of Mohmand, while a bombing in Karachi occurred as President Pervez Musharraf was visiting the city.

The Taliban ambushed a convoy of paramilitary troops of the Mohmand Rifles as it travelled from Ghalanai, Geo TV reported. The military claimed seven soldiers were killed in the ambush, while 23 Taliban were killed after it launched a counterattack. Artillery and helicopter gunships were said to be used in the counterattack.

Maulavi Omar, the Taliban spokesman for the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, the unified Taliban movement in the Northwest Frontier Province, said no Taliban fighters were killed, while 17 members of the Mohmand Rifles were captured. "We'll not stop our fight until the government withdraws forces and ends operations in tribal regions and Swat," Omar told Reuters by telephone. The Pakistani military and government has inflated enemy casualties and denied its troops have been captured multiple instances in the past.

The day prior to the Mohmand ambush, the Taliban fired six rockets at the main military installation in Ghalanai. Counter battery fire from Pakistani troops resulted in one civilian casualty and on home destroyed.

Source: The Long War Journal

While the Democrats stand in the way of progress, warriors are dying on the battlefield as they oppose the followers of a 7th Century Death Cult.

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Sunday Morning Blogburst

First, I'll start local, then swing out national and international if my internet connection will hold that long.


Sound Off Buncombe sits down with Congressman Howard Coble:



The full program will air on URTV Public Access on Channel 20 later this week. [note from TP]I have updated the video so that it will play through the entire posted 3 video series.



One of the local blogs, Petulant Rumblings, has a photo of a Battlestar Galactica-themed Last Supper based on the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci.

Another local blog, Where's The Outrage?, has this to say:

For years, we, the American people, have been waiting for real progress in Iraq. There has been none. Yes, the violence has decreased. This is nice but it hasn’t made the Iraq politicians have been unable or unwilling to take the next steps. Oil sharing deal. Re-Baathification law.

Well, is appears there has been a re-Baathification law.

Source: Finally progress in Iraq, to which I might add that we have that progress despite your willful ignorance of our progress, and despite the Democrat opposition of that progress every step of the way. The modern Democrat Party will be remembered as being kindred spirits with the Democrats who opposed Lincoln every step of the way. I only wish President Bush had some of them escorted out of the country as well!

Here is another, more sane take on the same story as B5 TV News reports on President George W. Bush, the 43rd President, doing a victory lap:




In national news, Rush Limbaugh notes the Democrats are trying to use fear (something they always say we republicans are doing...calling us fear-mongers) of an economic recession to further their evil agenda:

RUSH: Now the economy. I noticed after the debate last night, I did get home in time to watch the post-debate roundtables, the wastes of time on the Drive-By cable news networks last night, and I detected a theme. The Democrats are doing two things. They're bringing back, not the Iraq war, but the surge. Nancy Pelosi has issued a press release yesterday proclaiming the surge to be a total failure, on the same day that we're told we're about being ready to be able to turn over Anbar province to the Iraqis!

Eleven out of 18 provinces in Iraq are soon to be turned over to the Iraqis, and yet the surge didn't work! The second thing that the Democrats, the commentators on the Democrat side, are really pushing is the economy. It's horrible, it is rotten, it is bad. Of course, the one guy on the Republican side that's going right along with them and echoing that sentiment is Mike Huckabee -- and this whole notion of angst (panting) and uncertainty and fear about the future of the economy has got people on edge. And, of course, the Democrats, the Drive-Bys are eager for that impression to take hold because even though for the last eight years the economy has not been an issue that will have an effect on elections, because Bush was the president, all of a sudden, guess what's back? Iraq's off the front page, the economy is on the front page, and guess what? The economy is rotten. The economy is bad. Let me share some things with you. You can turn on any financial news network or read a newspaper, and you can find what you think are disasters in the making. The price of gold is way up. The price of oil is way up. Stocks are plunging, the subprime crisis, banks having to refinance with foreign money and so forth.

And the USMC Commandant, James T. Conway, has this to say:

One way the Marines are clearly changing is in the vehicles troops use to patrol in Iraq. “If you look at the table of equipment that a Marine battalion is operating with right now in Iraq,” Gen. Conway explains, “it is dramatically different than the table of equipment the battalion used when it went over the berm in Kuwait in ‘03, and it is remarkably heavier. Heavier, particularly in terms of vehicles.

“I mean the Humvees were canvas at that point for the most part. Today they are up-armored and we’re looking at vehicles even heavier than that. We’ve got a whole new type of vehicle that we’re patrolling in, conducting operations in, that’s the MRAP [Mine Resistant Ambush Protected], a 48,000 pound vehicle. . . . these type of things, make us look more like a land army than it does a fast, hard-hitting expeditionary force.”

SOurce: WSJ Interviews Marine Corps Commandant James T. Conway


Let's try some World War I history via the world's oldest milblogger:

I have today received the latest posting of the Battalion's War Diary. As could probably be predicted from the recent patrols, Harry is now back in the front line.

This section of the War Dairy is extremely difficult to decipher, but I will do my best to update the blog of the War Diaries as the entries occur.

Source: Back in the front Line


And Here is some interesting World War II history:

Of all the stories that have been written, and movies that have been shown, about the 8th Air Force, very little attention has been given to what was involved in assembling 1200 B-17’s and B-24’s each day, to get them in formation to carry out a strike against Germany. Certainly showing bombers under attack by fighters, or encountering heavy flak, was a reality, and are interesting to watch. Also, stories about some of the rougher missions make interesting reading. But what was going on over England, each morning, could get just as scary to the crews as the time spent over some of the targets. The planning, and coordination, that had to be accomplished during the night, by the operations planners of each Group, so that the crews could be briefed, was unbelievable. If the planners had failed to do their jobs properly, there would have been a free for all among Bomb Groups, in the skies over England.

The rendezvous points, altitude, and times had to be precise, and known by all of the crews, before the Eighth Air Force could get in formation. The success of the planners, in accomplishing their mission, enabled the Eighth Air Force to become the most powerful air armada ever assembled. In my view, how this was accomplished is one of the major untold stories of the war.

Source: News Flash: The Mighty Eighth

News from Afghanistan:

During 2007, Afghanistan experienced its most violent year since the overthrow of the Taliban regime in early 2002. Suicide attacks, improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, and small arms attacks reached new heights in 2007.The Taliban, with its sanctuaries in the Northwestern Frontier Province and Baluchistan in Pakistan, have stepped up attacks against the Afghan military and the International Security Assistance Force in an attempt to destabilize the Afghan government and force the Western governments to withdraw.

The southern, southeastern, and eastern regions, all which border Pakistan, experience 73 percent of the Taliban-inspired violence in Afghanistan. Kunar, Kandahar, Khost, Nangarhar, and Paktia provinces, all of which border Pakistan, experience the most Taliban-driven attacks in Afghanistan. Kunar, which borders Pakistan's Bajaur province, an al Qaeda command-and-control hub, is Afghanistan's most dangerous province.

The charts below look at the data over the course of 2007. With special thanks to Tim Lynch and Sami Kovanen at Vigilant Strategic Services Afghanistan (VSSA), who compiled the data and created the graphics.

Source: Afghanistan: Charting the violence in 2007

I think that is good enough for this morning. If you want more news, you can refer to my widgets in the right-hand sidebar. The top widget is from my google reader's shared items, so you'll know what I have found interesting enough to pass along. The other widgets are divided by categories, such as "Watching The Jihad", where I have listed several bloggers who offer commentary and analysis on the progress of the Third Great Jihad around the world and here in the United States. The there is "Thunder Pig 2008", which I created to keep track of some of the websites covering the 2008 Presidential Election process, and one covering military bloggers. I have more widgets available at West Carolina report, and am creating more to cover ever more narrow niches of information which are always available, and updated constantly, 24/7/365.

I guess you could say that Thunder Pig is becoming Web 2.0, which if it fits with the rest of my efforts, will be just in time for Web 3.0 (whatever that is) to become popular!

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Dirty Tricks by Liberals in Michigan GOP Primary

Yet another good reason to keep party primaries CLOSED to members only:

The liberal Web site Daily Kos, hoping to “make mischief for the Republican Party — and bolster the Democrats’ chances for taking the White House” — is urging Democrats in Michiagn to cross over and vote for Mitt Romney in Tuesday’s state primary.

It’s a classic dirty trick, but perfectly legal. And while Machiavellian political ploys of this sort rarely work, the author’s logic is thus:

A Romney victory in Michigan will keep him in the presidential race. And the more candidates slugging it out among the Republicans, the better for the Democrats.

John McCain is riding high after his resounding win in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday, and Mike Huckabee’s star is still shining following his Iowa win. With South Carolina posing an opportunity for either candidate to continue the momentum, Romney needs to win in his native Michigan to stay competitive.

The former Massachusetts governor is already spending almost all his time there, and he repeatedly says he’s going to win.

Says the Kos, “And we want Romney in, because the more Republican candidates we have fighting it out, trashing each other with negative ads and spending tons of money, the better it is for us. We want Mitt to stay in the race, and to do that, we need him to win in Michigan.”

Source: Race 4 2008

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Human Events Endorses Fred Thompson

I guess this was the big announcement Fred was referring to on the blogger conference call yesterday:

The 2008 presidential election is the most unusual and most important in many years. It’s been more than five decades since such a race didn’t feature an incumbent President or Vice President. Since World War II, America has not had a presidential election at a time when the stakes were higher. Conservatives have to win this election, and to do so, we have to identify a candidate around whom we all can rally.

Fundamental Beliefs

We begin by recalling the profound words of Ronald Reagan at the Conservative Political Action Conference Feb. 15, 1975: “A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency or simply to swell its numbers.” We believed that then, and we believe it now. The issue for us -- and for the conservative community -- boils down to which of the candidates is most representative of the fundamental conservative principles we believe in.

The answer is Fred Thompson.

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If Fred keeps doing what he did last night, then he'll stay alive in the primaries. He is my first choice, as well.

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