LEATHERNECKM31

Ground Control to Major Tom...

Anti-Sadrday musings and colorful bits from around the world (while it holds):

As an ardent fan of The Beatles I vividly recall the keruffel The Lads caused in '63-64; to some adults they were the end of the world as they knew it, while others simply sniffed at Beatle music insisting nothing could ever rival Lawrence Welk or Glenn Miller.

I knew better and told my father that "yeah, well, we'll be listening to these guys' songs for the next 50 years" which of course at the time seemed like an eternity to me.

Nonetheless, I was more right than I could have ever imagined. Here, then, is a flash back to a kinder and gentler time before things turned dark.

From a 1964 US World and News Report interview with Harvard sociologist David Reisman, a noted author on social trends:

Q: Professor Resiman, is the furor over the singers who call themselves the Beatles a sign that American youngsters are going crazy?
A: No crazier than hitherto. In the first place, any large city will turn out a minority capable of nearly anything. One mustn't exaggerate and attribute to the vast majority the reactions of the minority.

Read on, it'll make you feel better, better, better, better, ahhhhhhhh..

And here, ladies and germs, you have the proof any 10 year-old boy already knew:

Having a dog provides enough dirt of the right kind, the new German study suggests. But it may be important that baby meets dog early enough to affect the immune system as it develops. “Our results show clearly that the presence of a dog in the home during subjects’ infancy is associated with a significantly low level of sensitization to pollens and inhaled allergens,” said Joachim Heinrich of the National Research Centre for Environmental Health in Munich.

The same protective effect was not seen in children who had frequent contact with dogs but none at home.

Robotic suit could usher in super soldier era

Everything Robert Heinlein wrote about in "Starship Troopers" is correct! Read on.

And... to close out our little space and music confab here are The Top Ten Songs to Orbit Earth selected by a 14-year-old Norwegian girl, Therese Miljeteig, who won a competition staged by the European Space Agency (ESA)---and did a great job in my opinion (except I would have subbed David Bowie's "Major Tom" for anything by pedophile R Kelly):

Here Comes The Sun - Beatles
- Come Fly With Me - Frank Sinatra
- Rocket Man - Elton John
- Up Where We Belong - Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes
- Imagine - John Lennon
- Flashdance - What A Feeling - Irene Cara
- Walk of Life - Dire Straits
- Fly - Celine Dion
- Rockin’ All Over The World - Status Quo
- I Believe I Can Fly - R Kelly

Comin' in on a bi-wing and a prayer

Talk about your hypocrites....

The democrats' media hammered on Mitt Romney's religion to point that most Americans never learned anything else about him, but that he is LDS.

Mike Huckabee, a preacher, wanted to take a break (and separate himself from the GOP pack) with an appropriate Merry Christmas ad instead of the usual invite to the knife and gun club.

Result.... he was excoriated by the democrat media for placing a "floating cross" in the background as he wished "peace on earth and good will to men", women and feminists.

Never mind that it turned out that the "cross" was simply the juncture of bookcase shelves, the Rorschach-susceptible atheists in the newsrooms howled their outrage.

Yet what happens when Obama panders in the most gratuitous display of politics in religion ever seen?

Nothing.

"Faith" now trumps "hope" and "change"...?

Amen.

Peggy Noonan wrote yesterday that the GOP was "falling apart... dying"; although I believe she's begun to to fly less-than-conservative colors in the past several months, she's on the right track.

"What happens to the Republicans in 2008 will likely be dictated by what didn't happen in 2005, and '06, and '07. The moment when the party could have broken, on principle, with the administration – over the thinking behind and the carrying out of the war, over immigration, spending and the size of government – has passed. What two years ago would have been honorable and wise will now look craven. They're stuck."

While I disagree with her about the war, she's in the 10-ring with the other calamities that Bush and the GOP congressional leadership (sic) allowed to happen.

As a direct result, we face a stacked deck in November--a choice of the lesser liberal.

And that lesser liberal is a man who is reaching out to the left wing nutroots and going hat-in-hand around the country explaining that not only is he for hope and change... he can get cozy with the other side.

Why is it that "reaching across the aisle" always means conservatives have to compromise and not the other way 'round.

McCain is the father of the "Gang of 14", the porous border, amigo, and the pledge that a McCain administration will contain democrats. Unless he picks Harry Reid, San Fran Gam Nan Pelosi, or Barney Frank he'll be skewered for choosing not near liberal enough. The same idea worked out so very well for Bush didn't it?

The Constitution and the wishes of the citizens of California were trampled yesterday as thousands of fat women with crew-cuts and Birkenstocks prepare for the mass mockery of marriage.

I'm torn; on one hand, I say let 'em get married, they should be as miserable and as poor as the rest of us; because "marriage" means "divorce" and divorce... even a diverse divorce... means attorneys and money... lots of it, will be sucked right outta their chained up wallets.

You absolutely can prove you bought that collection of tea cozies long before you and Percival met? Doesn't matter... it's gonna go in a big "community property" pile and the judge will determine what you own.

Serves you right, dumbasses.

On the other hand, I'm reminded of the scene when Charleton Heston loses it after he descends the mountain with the tablets to behold a spectacle that if filmed today would be far more historically accurate.

Edward G. Robinson is leading a conga-line around the Golden Calf and urging on all manner of shenanigans, just before Chuck hurls Commandments I through V, blowing up the calf and a lot of people in robes and disrobes.

Anyone who believes "gay marriage" is not proof of a society losing its moral path didn't see the movie.

Dissenting from the 4-3 California decision, the minority wrote that the court should have deferred to the legislature and the voters, particularly in view of the increased protections for same-sex couples enacted in recent years.

Exactly.

It is time for the substantial majority of Americans who don't want the institution of "marriage" turned on its head, to pass state laws banning the gay marriage as well as a federal law. That's the way it's done in our Republic... not by handing the decision to a handful of people in robes... remember what happened to them in the second reel?

Greens... the new Reds

Random shots in a target-rich environment:

As expected, the cuddly, 1200-pound polar bear is now officially on the Interior Department's "threatened" list, giving enviro-whackos another limited victory as we probe the frontiers of $4-gallon gas.

The Stealth Commies will use this to destroy our economy by suing to regulate, thwart and undermine anything that could possibly contribute to "global warming" and thus "threaten" the "threatened" ursines.

More importantly, try finding the following story anywhere in the MSM the last couple of days; increasingly the New Media... talk radio and the blogosphere... is our only source of non-leftist information.

Yesterday Senate Republicans fell four votes short of the 60 needed to overcome a democrat-led filibuster threat against an up or down vote on oil exploration the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR); the usual suspects, Obama, Clinton and McCain voted to continue the ban on drilling, now in place for the last 25 years.

And if that's not enough you may have also missed the following:

Cuba is exploring and potentially developing oil fields in Cuban waters within 50 miles of Florida. Cuba is partnering in the exploration projects with China, Spain, France, and Canada.

These fields are estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey to have more oil than the ANWR.

So while the rest of the world drills away and gas prices now increase on a daily basis, chances are your senator and/or congressman prevents us from achieving oil independence from the Middle East.

And yet more to make your head explode:

The White House said on Thursday that President George W. Bush would not veto a final bill from Congress that orders a halt to filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve while oil prices are very high.

The Senate late on Wednesday approved a measure previously cleared by the House of Representatives that would stop deliveries of crude to the U.S. emergency petroleum stockpile until the price of oil fell below $75 a barrel.

The United States started the petroleum reserve in 1975 after oil supplies were cut off during the 1973-74 oil embargo.

"Good" you say?... not from where I watch the dollar amount on the gas pump blur past while the gallon amount could be timed with a sun dial.

We're at war in the very region which supplies a ot of our oil... gee, what could happen? Besides, making availabele the 70,000 barrels daily that were pumped into the 701-million-barrel reserve--a system of salt caverns on the Gulf coast--won't make a penny's worth of diff at the pump.

This is just another empty gesture by pandering politicians--like the "gas tax holiday" which is supported by Clinton and Maverick. Obama, in a rare display of clear thinking, opposes it.

Those taxes are used to fund badly needed road repair; and giving me 18 cents a gallon in return hardly makes a dent in cost of a full tank which is surely making its way to $100.

One day social scientists studying this era will shake their heads, stunned that the greatest democracy in world history committed suicide while the rest of the world ran wide open.

Purple Heart

Thanks to faithful reader Saint Di who brought the following to my attention a couple of days ago: 

Stars and Stripes reports that last week a military psychologist suggested a major change in the criteria for the Purple Heart that would include awarding the decoration to troops diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  Story here.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said last week Fortunato's was an “interesting idea”, adding that the issue is “clearly something that needs to be looked into.”

A politician's answer.

First of all comrades, this is going nowhere; Psychologist John E. Fortunato, chief of the Recovery and Resilience Center at Fort Bliss, Texas, is simply expressing an opinion. He is a man who obviously cares for his soldiers-patients, but he's dead wrong.

He suggests that having the Purple Heart would help "remove the stigma" of PTSD, an anxiety disorder that affects an estimated 20 percent of current combat veterans.

Debatable; it's more important to have the patient understand that this is not the life he expected to be living, but it's the one he thankfully has. While the medal would provide him with an "external" justification for some of is behaviors, there is far more important, old-fashioned work to do toward recovery.

It is easy to dispense with all this, and in the interest of full disclosure, I am a Purple Heart Recipient with a 30-percent PTSD disability rating and 20 years experience treating PTSD sufferers:

The Purple Heart is awarded to military members killed, wounded or injured as a direct result of combat with an enemy of the United States, while on a "peace-keeping mission" or in a terrorist attack.

As a practical matter, medical treatment is a requirement within the combatant's branch of military, unless you happen to be John Kerry.

The problem with including PTSD as a qualifying "wound" is that the diagnosis for PTSD requires a subjective assessment from a psychologist; thus, such a determination can be flawed or in complete error.

Moreover, there are numerous cases of people receiving compensation for PTSD who clearly do not deserve it or have even fabricated their service to defraud the VA. In fact, PTSD is specifially excluded as a criterion.

The award of the Purple Heart should be simple and straightforward, not the outcome of dueling psychiatrists.

The Purple Heart is the only military award that does not require someone's recommended... physical injury is clearly proof. Therefore it must continue to be the nation's most objectively-awarded earned military decoration.

History:

America's only military award in the Revolution was established in 1782 by Gen. George Washington. The Badge of Military Merit was a purple-colored, heart-shaped cloth badge. It was awarded to soldiers in the Continental Army for both heroism and meritorious service. Only three, like the one at left, survive.

Then it was promptly forgotten for 150 years. In 1932, when Gen. Douglas MacArthur revived the award as a full-sized medal, he looked to Washington's badge only for inspiration, since the new Purple Heart had an entirely different purpose.

The War Department soon decided that any veteran who had been wounded in any Army campaign could apply for the new decoration. As a result, about 10 Union veterans from the Civil War applied for--and received--the Purple Heart. So did a small number of soldiers who had served in the Indian campaigns, Spanish-American War (1898), Philippines War (1899-1902), Boxer Rebellion in China (1900) and the Punitive Expedition into Mexico (1916).

Before '32, WWI our doughboys wore a cloth "wound stripe" on the sleeve of their uniform.

In the course of our history more than 800,000 Purple Hearts have been awarded.

Of course over the years there have been controversies and changes to improve the criteria while still protecting the medal's integrity. 

From 1942 to 1997, civilians serving or closely affiliated with the armed forces--as government employees, Red Cross workers, war correspondents and the like--were eligible to receive the Purple Heart. About 100 men and women received the award, the most famous being newspaperman Ernie Pyle, right, who was awarded a posthumous Army Purple Heart after being killed by a Japanese sniper in 1945.

This was opposed by Military Order of the Purple Heart which was successful in getting Congress to passed legislation prohibiting future awards of the Purple Heart to civilians. Today, the Purple Heart is only for those men and women in uniform.

Besides, civlian employees in support of military missions now have the Defense of Freedom Medal, an award recognizing wounds suffered during the performance of their duties.

The most recent Purple Hearts presented to civilians occurred after the terrorist attacks at Khobar Towers, Saudi Arabia, in 1996--about 40 U.S. civil service employees received the award for their injuries.

d

Purple Heart Highlights:

--  In 1917 Gen. John J. Pershing, left, originated the idea of a "third medal" which would become the Purple Heart. At that time, the U.S. Army had only the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross and Distinguished Service Medal available to recognize heroism and meritorious Service.

-- Maj. Gen. Douglas MacArthur was issued Purple Heart #1. All Purple Hearts manufactured prior to WWI were individually serial numbered. MacArthur received the first one because he was the Army chief of staff. He was wounded  in WWI.

-- No Purple Hearts were manufactured for the Army for 25 years after WWII.  In anticipation of the invasion of Japan, approximately 500,000 Purple Hearts were manufactured. This stock lasted through the Vietnam War.

-- Before WWII all Purple Heart medals were officially engraved; many presented in WWII were engraved, but today's medals are not engraved. Posthumous medals are supposed to be engraved before presentation to kin.

I have the utmost respect for women who serve honorably in our military... the first female recipient I ever met was an Army nurse and Pearl Harbor survivor.

But I will never get used to today's young American women being placed in harm's way despite being non-combatants in a war that simply has no front or rear lines.

Regardless, here's the story of one such young trooper with the marvelous name of Marine Lance Cpl. Erin Liberty who survive a massive IED and today wears the Purple Heart.

And a tip of the helmet to the gentlemen writers of the 2004 VFW article, The Purple Heart: separating fact from fiction.

Sadr ends with a whimper, not a bang....

While the nation is held breathless in the grip of The Clinton Death Watch, Nouri al-Maliki's government's forces, with U.S. support, has punished the Mahadi army, essentially forcing Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to tighten the cease-fire agreed to last August.

The agreement turning over control of Sadr City and recognizing the elected government as the sole legitimate authority in Iraq was signed earlier today.

But don't confuse this with surrender, unless surrender has come to mean allowing your enemy to remain an armed military force.

Ed Morrissey of HotAir.com appropriately warns that the leftist U.S. news media will credit Sadr not Maliki for the reduction in combat, and he notes that even the NYT has been forced to report this qualified success.

Must have ground molars throughout the Times newsroom... formerly, home to actual journalists.

McCain channels The Goracle:

Instead of bringing a truck load of olive branches to the conservative core of the GOP, John McCain -- "Maverick"-- is pandering to the 'ute vote with his “climate change tour” which began today in Portland.

As I recall pointing out some time ago, "climate change" is the new lefty code phrase for "global warming". Clever what? Now that it's clear GW is nothing more than a shuck and jive street corner scam, the left just changes terms... even more vague, if that's possible.

So what's "climate change"? Anything you want it to be; old timers used to call it "weather."

"I will not permit eight long years to pass without serious action on serious challenges. I will not accept the same dead-end of failed diplomacy that claimed Kyoto," McCain said today.

The fiery Filipina, Michelle Malkin, nails Mac with fact, from almost five years ago in a column by Iain Murry:

"(McCain) is on record as saying that the reason he became interested in global warming in the first place is because he recognized how much hotter it was getting at his home in Sedona, Ariz. Unfortunately, the data don't back him up on this. If we look at the temperature records from the nearby Childs weather station, we can actually see a downward trend in temperature of slightly over 1° F. since 1986, when McCain was elected to the Senate."

Today's quote:

"It's pretty clear to me that the Democratic agenda is to turn us into France; Americans may want change, but the question is, what kind of change?"

          -----Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

Ya can't get to Heaven with blood on yer hands...

Long ago I used to used to be shocked, angered and left slack-jawed by the pathological ignorance and cynicism of liberals and leftists, but now.... hardly.

So here on Mother's Day I give you the most callous, cynical and manipulative example of how liberal and leftists stand ready to turn this society into a Godless cesspool.

Below is an direct mail begging solicitation from the president of nation's foremost baby killers--Planned Parenthood. You ever wonder what kind of "planned parenting" young unmarried girls receive when walk into a Planned Parenthood center?

The non-aborted Cecile Richards even included a picture of herself with her non-aborted toddler daughter and her non-aborted dead mother, who, as a result, became the governor of Texas.

Nonetheless.... Happy Mother's Day to all real women who do more in a day than most people do in a week; the second-most important task in the world is raising children.... the first is not killing them in the womb.

I thank my mother everyday for my life.