Shmuley on 'Hotel Rwanda'

Bill Clinton's infamy with regards to Rwanda will tarnish his presidency forever

This is an amazingly gut-wrenching article written by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. It's a painful read. I have yet to see the movie "Hotel Rwanda" but I do intend to do so. While a movie cannot supplant acurrate historical information, I think I can get the gist of the horror. I can recall my bewilderment at the governments' lack of intervention during the genocide. I had the same bewilderment as U.S. troops landed on the shores of Haiti under the halogen camera lights of CNN and the other alphabet soup networks. I could not understand why we were having live television coverage of an humanitarian mission that looked like an oddly orchestrated invasion. These are the scenarios that occur when politicians who "loathe the military" get involved with commanding those same forces. Interestingly enough, Clinton deployed the armed forces more often than any other U.S. President. Not bad for a guy who loathed them!

General: U.S. captures car bomb ringleaders

Good news from Iraq that would be even better had the perpetrators of the car bombings been dispatched in their apprehension. Strange how a significant story like this is buried under headlines like "Autopsy: Anna Nicole Smith Overdosed", or "Scars From Iraq",

How three U.S. troops share the visible and invisible wounds of war and how it changed their lives and impacted their loved ones.

The car bombers had killed 265 Iraqi's and wounded 650 others since early February and here we are talking about a sad pop-culture icon and how war leaves scars on soldiers (no kidding!).

Change is Good

Something new for the eyes to taste. I've had the same look for quite some time so I thought I would change it up a bit. Hope you like it.

See What Friends I keep?

IMAG0206
Originally uploaded by sharkzfan.

Just needed to get this off my chest.

Inspirational Quotes on Winning Wars

This couldn't be said in a better way. The batttle we are fighting is that of our very existense. The Islamo-fascists want to see the destruction of all that is western. The Great Satan. Got to love that "religion of peace" mumbo jumbo!
I gleened this quote off of the Victory Caucus website. It is a must read for those of you tired of the MSM blather. It has a nifty quote generator in the sidebar with some very inspiring words of wisdom.

You ask, What is our aim? I can answer with one word: Victory - victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival."

-- Sir Winston Churchill

This Kennedy quote is nearly as good as the Churchill. Not quite, but nearly. I do think the mention of commitment to others is something that has been forgotten in just a few short years.

"We stand for freedom. That is our conviction for ourselves; that is our only commitment to others."

-- John F. Kennedy

Short and sweet but oh, so true from the man who ended the cold war by defeating the Soviet Union. There certainly isn't anything to argue with in this stark truth.

"We win, they lose."

-- Ronald Reagan

Last but not least....

"Once we have a war there is only one thing to do. It must be won. For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in war."

-- Ernest Hemmingway

Taget Stores Catering to Religious Belief's of Muslims

Some Target Stores Change Duties for Muslim Cashiers Who Object to Ringing Up Pork

AP, via FOX News, USA
Mar. 17, 2007


One quote from the above linked article says, "Islam teaches that eating pork is forbidden, and some Muslims feel selling or handling pork is also forbidden because it would make them complicit in the sins of others."

Fortunately a Target spokeswoman said the situation was a local problem only. Boy am I glad she's omniscient!

“It is not an issue in most of our stores in the Twin Cities,” she said in separate comments via e-mail. “There is also no indication that this is an issue in the Minnesota market overall or nationwide.”

I object to working on Sunday because it interferes with the practicing of my faith. I can only attend church services four months out of the year because my job requires me to work on Sunday's. However, if I told my superiors that I was no longer willing to work Sundays because I can't go to church, I wouldn't have to worry about working Sunday or any other day of the week, for that matter. Why do the muslims get their tushs' kissed? Is Target afraid of being targeted by radicals? Why would they believe that the problem is "local" and only ocurring in Minneapolis? Are there no muslims in any other part of the country? Why am I asking so many questions?

Micromanaging the War in Iraq

From the infinite wisdom of elected officials (read: clueless idiots) comes the House Emergency Supplemental Bill. This is essentially an attempt at manipulating the authority that the President has to be the Commander-in-Chief. Here's a link to the Victory Caucus page that has excerpted text from the bill. It's truly mind-boggling. The same Viet Nam era war protesters who complained about how the war was mismanaged now hold elected offices and are battling to have their chance to mismanage a war. Let the President prosecute the war.

Stumbled Across PodBean.com

I seem to be doing alot of stumbling lately. Whether it's in life or on the job or even, yes, on the web. I've most recently stumbled across PodBean.com while trying to find a way to post audio to my blog. Unfortunately you can't. Previously we were able to do an audio post on Blogger with a phone call, kind of nifty. No mas (that's "no more" for those of you not living in Mexifornia). So here's a site that allows you to podcast for free. Anyway, this is my PodBean page. After you read the post you have to clink the link in the right hand column to hear the song. I was a newbie and didn't find out about that until after I entered my text!! Maybe my buddy Joe will get sucked into the podcasting vortex as well. I would actually love to listen to his rants more than I would read them. He has such a quiet and demure way of getting his point across (luv ya Joe!)

Suave and Debonair

I just had to post this pic of my father in 1957. He was on a date with my mother. They were on Mackinac Island in New York. My father says he doesn't remember ever seeing this picture. I think he looks quite elegant with his hankerchief in the breast pocket of his jacket. While the quality of the picture is 1957 it doesn't change the image of him in that moment in time. When folks went out in that era, this is how they dressed. You went to the movies or theater and you dressed up. Out to dinner? Dress up. He recently had his 75th birthday and when I was putting together his memory book of the party, I came across a lot of old photos that were really great pictures.

How to Appraise an Heirloom

That's a really good question. I was updating some insurance information when I realized I did not have the grandfather clock listed in with my posessions. This clock was actually made by my Grandfather, William Harris Jackson. He finished the clock in 1979. He had been a welder for Container Corp. of America and when he retired he took up woodworking. I can remember being in awe of the clock when he gave it to my mother. I was a teenager at the time and marveled at the fact that MY grandfather made that! He has since passed on and now I display it proudly in my living room. I know that the kit he purchased was $200 in 1977 or '78. The time piece was another $100 dollars and he paid someone to install the glass panes. How can you put a price on someones labor of love? He made it as a gift. Can you put yourself in his mindset while he was crafting this? I'm sure he was thinking "I have to make this just right". I believe that I would have to personally appraise this clock at priceless.

Vintage Portraits

We threw a 75th birthday party for my Dad a couple of weeks ago. I put together a scrapbook / photo album of pictures from 1933 to now. I really enjoyed the pictures of him as a kid in the late 1930's and early 1940's. It was such a diffent world.

Archeologists Dicover Bones of First Politician

What more is there to say?