Woody's Things

Ramblings and Opinons of an old man!

Simple site to log thoughts on current events and activity. Please feel free to give your comments.

Tracking Them Down and Killing them

US-led forces kill 24 militants on Pakistan border - Reuters.com
I for one am glad that this boarder is not preventing our military and coalition forces from defending themselves or tracking down and eliminating the enemy.
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) - U.S.-led forces killed 24 suspected Islamist militants on the Pakistan side of the Afghan border, Pakistan's military spokesman said on Friday.
The fighters, believed to belong to pro-Taliban and al Qaeda forces, were killed crossing into Pakistan late on Thursday near Lowara Mandi, a border village in the North Waziristan tribal region, Major-General Shaukat Sultan said.
"They are foreigners and suspected Taliban. They could be Afghans and people of central Asian origin," he added.
[...]
Pakistan has bridled in the past at U.S. forces' sorties across the border in the area around Lowara Mandi. [So What!]

Chinese Thirst for Oil Comes to America

This is another issue that I am a little late on but there is a bidding war for Unocal and my "knee jerk" response is that we cannot allow China to obtain this or any energy companies.CBS 5: Chinese Company And Chevron Face Off For Unocal
(CBS 5) A former CIA director is warning that a Chinese oil company's attempt to take over Unocal poses a threat to national security, and those fears could help Bay Area-based Chevron win the bidding war.

Muslim Leaders Condemn London Bombing

I am late posting this, but here is a little of what was sorely missing in America after 9/11... Muslim leaders in call for action, the leaders in the England's Muslim community have spoken up and this action goes a long way to quieten possible racism and building solidarity... I hope the American Muslim community is watching at the promptness and condemnation of the statement -- how long did it take for any American Muslim leaders to speak up after 9/11? (here are some excerpts)
Britain's top Muslims have branded the London suicide bombings "utterly criminal, totally reprehensible, and absolutely un-Islamic".
A joint statement of condemnation came as 22 leaders and scholars met at the Islamic Cultural Centre, in London.

Hero At Work

Soldier survives attack; captures, medically treats sniper (Video)
Something that want be reported in the MSM -- a solider doing what he is trained to do and doing it heroically.
After tracking down the now-wounded sniper with a team from B Company, 4th Battalion, 1st Iraqi Army Brigade, Tschiderer secured the terrorist with a pair of handcuffs and gave medical aid to the terrorist who'd tried to kill him just minutes before.
Read an account of the incident here (PDF) or see a partial VIDEO.
(Hat tip: Michelle Malkin)

Terrorists are Terrorists- Call Them That

Call Them What They Are: Those who murder Iraqi civilians are terrorists
Dallas Morning News ignores MSM terminology to call it like it is. Ooh Rah!
Today, this editorial board resolves to sacrifice another word - 'insurgent' - on the altar of precise language. No longer will we refer to suicide bombers or anyone else in Iraq who targets and kills children and other innocent civilians as 'insurgents.'
The notion that these murderers in any way are nobly rising up against a sitting government in a principled fight for freedom has become, on its face, absurd. If they ever held a moral high ground, they sacrificed it weeks ago, when they turned their focus from U.S. troops to Iraqi men, women and now children going about their daily lives.
They drove that point home with chilling clarity Wednesday in a poor Shiite neighborhood. As children crowded around U.S. soldiers handing out candy and toys in a gesture of good will, a bomb-laden SUV rolled up and exploded.
These children were not collateral damage. They were targets.
The SUV driver was no insurgent. He was a terrorist.

This Just in -- Durbin's Source Discredited

Report Discredits F.B.I. Claims of Abuse at Guantanamo Bay - New York Times
Lest we forget Senator Durbin utilized "a report from an FBI agent" to compare our military to Nazis -- see my comments here. Well I suspect this is the same report that has been discredited and reported in the "liberal's bible" -- The New York Times.
WASHINGTON, July 13 - A high-level military investigation into complaints by F.B.I. agents about the abuse of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, concluded in a report released Wednesday that their treatment was sometimes degrading but did not qualify as inhumane or as torture.

MORE INFORMATION: No Gitmo torture, Senate panel told - The Washington Times
FBI agents assigned to the prison complained of what they considered abusive treatment. Based on 26 e-mails sent in 2002 by the agents, the Pentagon ordered U.S. Southern Command, led by Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, to investigate.
Gen. Schmidt said the e-mails, and surveys of all 493 FBI agents who worked at the camp, boiled down to nine purported cases of abuse out of 24,000 interrogations. Two were unsubstantiated; five were substantiated, but authorized by the Army Field Manual or by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld; and two were substantiated as unauthorized tactics that resulted in abuse.

Liberals Wrong - Tax Revenue UP!

Sharp Rise in Tax Revenue to Pare U.S. Deficit - New York Times
Well what do you know -- what the conservatives have been saying about the tax cuts is correct. What a shocker, at least to liberals, cutting taxes equals greater economic activity.
WASHINGTON, July 12 - For the first time since President Bush took office, an unexpected leap in tax revenue is about to shrink the federal budget deficit this year, by nearly $100 billion.
On Wednesday, White House officials plan to announce that the deficit for the 2005 fiscal year, which ends in September, will be far smaller....

The Journal's Take on Karl Rove

OpinionJournal - Karl Rove, Whistleblower
Here is an interesting take on the "Rove" issue -- they believe Rove should be praised for outing a "fraud".
Democrats and most of the Beltway press corps are baying for Karl Rove's head over his role in exposing a case of CIA nepotism involving Joe Wilson and his wife, Valerie Plame. On the contrary, we'd say the White House political guru deserves a prize--perhaps the next iteration of the 'Truth-Telling' award that The Nation magazine bestowed upon Mr. Wilson before the Senate Intelligence Committee exposed him as a fraud.
For Mr. Rove is turning out to be the real 'whistleblower' in this whole sorry pseudo-scandal. He's the one who warned Time's Matthew Cooper and other reporters to be wary of Mr. Wilson's credibility. He's the one who told the press the truth that Mr. Wilson had been recommended for the CIA consulting gig by his wife, not by Vice President Dick Cheney as Mr. Wilson was asserting on the airwaves. In short, Mr. Rove provided important background so Americans could understand that Mr. Wilson wasn't a whistleblower but was a partisan trying to discredit the Iraq War in an election campaign. Thank you, Mr. Rove.
Media chants aside, there's no evidence that Mr. Rove broke any laws...

Get Out of the Closet No Matter What

WorldNetDaily: Lawmakers seek protection for homosexual employees
Well what I have said would happen is... I disagree with the "people are born homosexuals" concept and wholeheartedly believe it is a choice and further believe in marriage being defined as "between a man and women"; however, it is still is not my business what they do in the bedroom. Now if these eleven representatives get their way we will have to answer a question like "please circle one a) homosexual b)heterosexual c) bisexual d) undecided -- on employment applications. Not COOL, and where is the compassions for homosexuals that want to "stay in the closet".
A group of 11 representatives in the House want Congress to add 'sexual orientation' to the list of protected characteristics used in regulating workplace discrimination in federal employment.

Liberal Tactics

FrontPage:The Left's War Against the Military At Home
Wonder if other liberals have the same outrage for this LACK of support for the military as they have about deceitful recruiting practices, practices that if proven true I have a problem with... My guess the left champions outfits like these.
Code Pink instructs its members on how to harass and shut down military recruitment offices. One of the tactics it prescribes involves having members schedule meetings with recruitment officers under the pretense of being potential recruits and then showing up for the meetings with groups of rowdy anti-military protesters. Protesters are urged to block doors, directly harass recruiters and stage "die ins" in front of recruitment centers. Code Pink's website displays a deep animosity towards military recruiters, referring to them as "warmongers and liars."

Move.org Concerned About Image?

DRUDGE REPORT FLASH 2005 - TAKE 'BUSH LIAR' T-SHIRTS OFF
Moveon.org had parties over the weekend and advised their invitees to clean up their act... Well maybe some might be getting it -- but is it too late -- have they already show their true colors?
The MOVEON host reminded his guests: "We don't want to come across as leftist, liberal activists. We want to come across as we are- regular folks who are finally saying enough is enough to the extremists; that we're not falling for their extremist rhetoric anymore and we're finally going to expend the effort necessary to get our country back."
Fazio: "Please stay on message and just know that ANYTHING you say can be taken out of context and used against the effort."
One last suggestion from Fazio to his liberal MOVEON party-goers: "Oh, because a photographer will be here, might I suggest we put away our "Bush is a Liar" t-shirts. Let's look like they do."

Hollywood's Blue-state Bigotry

Box office blues stem from blue-state bigotry
Well I must have not been paying attention because I had not heard the claim from "War of the Worlds" screenwriter David Koepp -- was trying to decide if I wanted to go see it and this helped, I ain't not going.
Hollywood's box office has hit the skids, and the entertainment media are in overdrive trying to explain why. The most obvious explanation for box office malaise is consistently overlooked: Hollywood's ruling liberal elites keep going out of their way to offend half their audience.

Constant gibes about Republicans, Christians, conservatives and the military litter today's movies and award show presentations like so many pieces of trash on theater floors.

Took a Long Weekend -- Weekend in Review

1. Well my heart goes out to all those that lost lives in the terrorist attacks in London last week… This barbaric act should serve as a reminder of whom we are battling, what we have to win or loose, why it is worth fighting, and the kind of cowardly people we are dealing with.
London rocked by terror attacks
At least two people have been killed and scores injured after three blasts on the Underground network and another on a double-decker bus in London.
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was "reasonably clear" there had been a series of terrorist attacks.
He said it was "particularly barbaric" that it was timed to coincide with the G8 summit. He is returning to London.

UDATE: London bombing death toll rises
RESCUE workers today continued to work in difficult conditions in a London Underground tunnel in search of remains and evidence from last week's terror bombings, as the official death toll rose to 52.


2. Barbara Boxer is one the "one issue" argument -- IRAQ. The left will not address any issues except IRAQ -- well maybe to issue their standard line "NO"…
Boxer criticizes Iraq
"The insurgents are winning the propaganda wars now,'' she said.
"Terrorism is a result of this war,'' Boxer said, amid applause at the Commonwealth Club of California-sponsored speech at the Renaissance Parc 55 Hotel.

Winning the propaganda war -- gee, why - who gives them the sound bites to do battle in this "propaganda war"? Let's see, Senator Durbin, yourself, and the democratic leadership.
By the way, to ensure you have a degree of reality -- you are aware that terrorist were attacking governments, including the United States before either Bush administration and during Clinton's administration -- so your "Terrorism is a result of this war" comment is a lie!

3. Good read -- excellent article of how the "sexual revolution" has effective our society negatively and continues to do so.
Designed for Sex
These principles are the real reason for the commands and prohibitions contained in traditional sexual morality. Honor your parents. Care for your children. Save sex for marriage. Make marriage fruitful. Be faithful to your spouse.
Let the sexual revolution bury the sexual revolution. Having finished revolving, we arrive back where we started. What your mother-no, what your grandmother-no, what your great-grandmother told you was right all along. These are the natural laws of sex.

Winning Friends and Influencing People

Qaeda says will kill Egypt's Iraq envoy
Guess the is the "radical Islamic" way to "win friends and influence people" -- just my opinion -- it is not the best way to accomplish the goal.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's wing in Iraq said on Wednesday it would kill Egypt's top envoy, kidnapped in Baghdad four days ago.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Sunni radicals made the threat in a Web statement titled 'Sharp sword against the infidels' ambassador.'

Actor to Shepherd "New" Supreme

CNN.com - Bush names former senator to guide Supreme Court nominee
I don't know - I found it a little funny(odd) that the "who" in this justifies an "official" announcement especially before the choice is made. Wonder if Fred will "steal" the spotlight from the nominee - wait maybe that is the plan.
GLENEAGLES, Scotland (AP) -- President Bush has named former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson to help shepherd his yet-to-be named Supreme Court nominee through the Senate, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Wednesday.
Thompson, a Republican and actor on the NBC television series 'Law & Order,' agreed to accept the post in a telephone conversation with the president on Monday, McClellan said.
He said Thompson would serve as an informal adviser to shepherd the nomination through the Senate.

Hate Crime?

'SHE HAD TO DIE' FOR BEING WHITE
Although I disagree with "hate crime" legislation I want to follow this story... If history is any indicator this 'animal' will not be charged with a hate crime. Of course, not only do I believe he should not be charged with a "hate crime" I don't believe "hate crime" should be the case if the races were reversed. I am big on successfully prosecuting a murderer for murder, an act that always involves some level of hate - IMO.
July 6, 2005 -- A racist ex-con confessed that he fatally stabbed a beloved mother of two at a White Plains mall because he wanted 'to kill a white person.'
'She was not innocent. She was white,' convicted rapist Phillip Grant confessed in a chilling videotaped statement to cops that was played in White Plains City Court yesterday the same day victim Concetta Russo Carriero was laid to rest.
[...]
Westchester DA Jeanine Pirro said she would charge Grant with murder as a hate crime if the panel thought it was appropriate. [We will see?]