and here he is skinning and caping an adult buffalo for the Feast of San Geronimo with only a knife made from a rock!
OK, its obsidian, but still a damn rock he sharpened (napped) with a deer antler
This guy is a true artisan, warror, brave.
you can see his work on my blog!
Spitting on the Marines [Michael Ledeen]
Here is an e-mail from a Marine chaplain recently returned from Iraq. The story speaks for itself—lousy treatment of our troops at our own airports. He writes about Oakland, and while checking around I find that this is a common experience. I hope that one of our leaders will find a way to put an end to such behavior.
Marines and Soldiers Returning from Iraq not allowed into Oakland terminal.
On September 27th 204 Marines and soldiers who were returning from Iraq were not allowed into the passenger terminal at Oakland International Airport.
Instead they had to deplane about 400 yards away from the terminal where the extra baggage trailers were located.
This was the last scheduled stop for fuel and food prior to flying to Hawaii where both were based. The trip started in Kuwait on September 26th with a rigorous search of checked and carry on baggage by US Customs. All baggage was x-rayed with a “backscatter” machine AND each bag was completely emptied and hand searched. After being searched, checked bags were marked and immediately placed in a secure container.
Carry on bags were then x rayed again to ensure no contraband items were taken on the plane. While waiting for the bus to the airport, all personnel were in quarantined in a fenced area and were not allowed to leave.
The first stop for fuel/food and crew change was in Leipzig Germany. Troops exited the aircraft and took a bus to a reception area in the terminal, where there was a convenience store, phones, Internet and restrooms. As we excited the bus we were given a re-boarding pass. Three troops remained on the plane with the rifles and pistols. There was no ammunition on the plane and the bolts of the rifles had been removed. After about 2 hours troops re-boarded the plane and flew to JFK in NY.
At JFK the procedure was similar to Germany, 3 troops stayed on the plane to guard weapons while the rest deplaned. At the gate we were each given a re-boarding pass and spent about 1.5 hours in the terminal, at which time we re-boarded and flew to Oakland.
As we came in for the final approach to Oakland a Lieutenant who served in Afghanistan with the same unit in 2006 mentioned how when they landed in Oakland they were not allowed in the terminal. He said, “they made us get out by the FED EX building and we had to sit out there for 3 hours”. He also indicated he was almost arrested by the TSA for getting belligerent about them not letting the Marines into the terminal.
Well the same thing happened again. This time we did not park by the FED EX building, instead we were offloaded near the grass that separates the active runway from the taxi ramp, about 400 yards from the terminal. When we inquired why they wouldn’t allow us in the airport they gave us some lame excuse that we hadn’t been screened by TSA. While true, the screening which we did have was much more thorough than any TSA search and was done by US Customs.
Additionally, JFK didn’t seem to have a problem with our entering their terminal, nor did security in
Germany.
It felt like being spit on. Every Marine and soldier felt the message loud and clear, “YOU ARE NOT WELCOME IN OAKLAND!”
- Chaplain Brandon Harding
1ST BN 3D MARINES
Source: The Corner Blog
Cap. Trade. Grow.
by Tucker Eskew
September 17th, 2007
That’s the title of a terrific new 10-minute video we’re highlighting at the top of Terra Rossa’s home page that makes the case for a market-based cap and trade with benefits that matter to conservatives.
Reduce our dependence on foreign oil from nations in the Middle East that are hotbeds for terrorist activity? Check. Ret. Gen. Chuck Wald (USAF), former deputy commander of U.S. European Command, discusses why he thinks our energy security is among the top three threats we face today and how cap and trade can address it.
Provide entrepreneurs and farmers with new opportunities to make money? Check. Iowa farmer Phil Sundblad talks about the wind energy turbines he has installed on his farm.
Attract investments in new clean-energy innovations that will make America more competitive and transform our economy? Check. Learn how Silicon Valley’s leading lights think “going green could be the largest economic opportunity of the 21st century.”
Cap carbon emissions. Create a market where businesses can trade credits in carbon emissions. Grow our economy. This video produced by Environmental Defense, the sponsors of this blog, is something all pro-market, anti-tax and spend conservatives should see. Check it out. Then forward it to a friend.
U.S. Snipers 'Bait' Iraqis
Associated Press | September 25, 2007
WASHINGTON - Army snipers hunting insurgents in Iraq were under orders to "bait" their targets with suspicious materials, such as detonation cords, and then kill whoever picked up the items, according to the defense attorney for a Soldier accused of planting evidence on an Iraqi he killed. Gary Myers, an attorney for Sgt. Evan Vela, said Monday his client had acted "pursuant to orders."
"We believe that our client has done nothing more than he was instructed to do by superiors," Myers said in a telephone interview.
Myers and Vela's father, Curtis Carnahan of Idaho Falls, Idaho, said in separate interviews that sworn statements and testimony in the cases of two other accused Ranger snipers indicate that the Army has a classified program that encourages snipers to "bait" potential targets and then kill whoever takes the bait.
The Army on Monday declined to confirm such a program exists.
"To prevent the enemy from learning about our tactics, techniques and training procedures, we don't discuss specific methods targeting enemy combatants," said Paul Boyce, an Army spokesman.
Boyce also said there are no classified programs that authorize the murder of Iraqi civilians or the use of "drop weapons" to make killings appeared to be legally justified, which is what Vela and the two other snipers are accused of doing.
The transcript of a court hearing for two of the three accused snipers makes several references to the existence of a classified "baiting" program but provides few details of how it works. A copy of the transcript was provided to The Associated Press by Vela's father.
The Washington Post, which first reported the existence of the "baiting" program, cited the sworn statement of Capt. Matthew P. Didier, the leader of a Ranger sniper scout platoon.
"Baiting is putting an object out there that we know they will use, with the intention of destroying the enemy," Didier said in the statement. "Basically, we would put an item out there and watch it. If someone found the item, picked it up and attempted to leave with the item, we would engage the individual as I saw this as a sign they would use the item against U.S. forces."
The Post said the program was devised by the Army's Asymmetric Warfare Group, which advises commanders on more effective methods in today's unconventional conflicts, including ways to combat roadside bombs.
Within months of the "baiting" program's introduction, three snipers in Didier's platoon were charged with murder for allegedly using those items and others to make shootings seem legitimate, according to the Post.
The Post said that although it doesn't appear that the three alleged shootings were specifically part of the classified program, defense attorneys argue that the program may have encouraged them by blurring the legal lines in a complex war zone.
The court martial of one of the accused Soldiers, Spec. Jorge Sandoval Jr., is scheduled to begin in Baghdad on Wednesday. Also facing premeditated murder charges are Vela and Staff Sgt. Michael Hensley.
They are part of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska.
Sound Off...What do you think?
(from one of my favorite sites www.military.com go there and look up an old buddy or check on your VA benefits)
Group Points Out O'Reilly Race Comments
By DAVID BAUDER – 1 hour ago
NEW YORK (AP) — After eating dinner at a famed Harlem restaurant recently, Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly told a radio audience he "couldn't get over the fact" that there was no difference between the black-run Sylvia's and other restaurants.
"It was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people were sitting there, and they were ordering and having fun," he said. "And there wasn't any kind of craziness at all."
O'Reilly said his fellow patrons were tremendously respectful as he ate dinner with civil rights activist Al Sharpton.
The comments were made during O'Reilly's nationally syndicated radio broadcast last week. The liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America called attention to them by distributing a transcript and audio clip on the Internet.
"This is nothing more than left-wing outlets stirring up false racism accusations for ratings," said Bill Shine, senior vice president for programming at Fox News Channel. "It's sad."
O'Reilly spoke during a general discussion about racial relations with Fox News analyst Juan Williams. O'Reilly said he believed black Americans were "starting to think more and more for themselves" and backing away from a race-based culture encouraged by Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.
He said he treated Sharpton to dinner to thank him for appearing on his Fox News Channel show.
O'Reilly pointed to the lack of difference between Sylvia's and other restaurants as a marker of racial progress. He also noted that he went to an Anita Baker concert recently where the audience was evenly mixed between blacks and whites.
"The band was excellent, but they were dressed in tuxedoes, and this is what white America doesn't know, particularly people who don't have a lot of interaction with black Americans," he said. "They think the culture is dominated by Twista, Ludacris and Snoop Dogg."
Williams concurred that too many people believe there's little else in black culture beyond profane rap.
"That's right," O'Reilly said. "There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, `M.F.-er, I want more iced tea."
Sharpton said he was taken aback that anyone would be surprised at how blacks acted at Sylvia's and will ask O'Reilly on "The O'Reilly Factor" Wednesday to explain what he meant. Nothing O'Reilly said at the dinner was offensive, said Sharpton spokeswoman Rachel Noerdlinger.
Karl Frisch, a spokesman for Media Matters, called O'Reilly's comments "ignorant and racially charged."
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Thoughts and photos from my 2nd trip to Iraq
Posted: September 24, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
One of several helo trips around Al Anbar
Stars and Stripes reported last week about my fifteen-base visit in Iraq. Unlike my United Service Organizations tour last year, our goal this year was to also visit many outlying posts where celebrities don't often go. This trip was also unique because we were able to meet some Iraqis citizens and the Iraqi army.
So, for several days, we were transported around the Al Anbar province and beyond, from Fallujah to the furthest western border of Iraq with Syria, and from Al Qa'im to Ali al Salem in Kuwait. Most bases we visited several hours and some overnight, talking and eating with the troops.
What we found, however, at every location was unexpected and to some degree caught us off guard.
The crew who flew
'Team Norris'
I was honored again to travel abroad with Lt. Gen. James Amos, Gen. Bob Magnus and their aides Col. Pete Vercruysse, Maj. Mike Olness and Maj. Dan Shipley. But after just one day in Iraq, we split up into two teams with the purpose of covering more of the country's territory.
"Team Norris" consisted of Scott Past, MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) manager, who did a great job of planning and leading our group. Capt. and Chaplain Mike Langstrom, who oversees the chaplaincy ministry in Iraq and Afghanistan, was an exceptional host, help and leader as well. Religious Program Spc. 1st Class Donnie Roland, USN, a formidable and faithful body guard fittingly nicknamed "Juggernaut," was an exceptional example of service and defense for us all. Documentary expert Mike Slee, who has long been one of the most creative, courageous and unbiased film makers in the field, joined us as well –then left for Baghdad on another ride along assignment with the troops. Jeff Duclos, my friend and publicist who has helped me in so many ways over the years, was there for a second time as well. Last, but not least, to join our group was my prayer partner and pastor, Todd DuBord.
'Stunning' stability and peace advances
Visiting with some troops in Al Anbar
We were truly amazed at the advances (not absence) of stability and peace in the Al Anbar province. When I traveled the same area last year, there were hot spots everywhere, flooded with insurgence, imminent danger and military on high alert. Fallujah, Ramadi and even Al Asad, to name a few.
Today it is quite a different story. For example, an officer in Fallujah told me how it had been six months since a mortar was fired upon the base. At Al Qa'im, troops were telling us how good their relations were with the locals. At Ramadi, officers were testifying to their good rapport with vicinity sheiks and imams and how they had to offer little more than stability assistance in maintaining peace in most of the surrounding territories. The troops were jovial and relieved as we recollected tense stories of danger from when I was there a year earlier. At another camp, U.S. soldiers and the Iraqi army were arm-in-arm, joking and laughing with one another. And in another encampment, troops told me how they pulled together their own money to paint a local Iraqi school.
Encouraging the troops in Fallujah
Similar sentiments were shared at several of the bases. So profound were those peace and stability advances in Al Anbar that Gen. Magnus later described them as "stunning."
Despite liberal media portrayals, the surge is working. What Gen. Petraeus shared with America is true; "monthly attack levels in Anbar have declined from some 1,350 in October 2006 to a bit over 200 in August of this year."
The great news too is that our military is using the methods that are bringing the coalition and Iraqi army success in Anbar and is adopting them in other areas, including Baghdad.
Though these good reports are by no means the only reports, it sure would be nice to hear a few more of them run on our more liberal news networks. There's nothing wrong with printing negative aspects of war, but, if there's positive news, then let's print that too.
Meeting with Iraqis and the Iraqi army
Outside of meeting with the troops on the outskirts of Iraq, one of the great joys of the trip was being able to meet the Iraqi people and those being trained for the Iraqi army and police. How wonderful it was to see their smiles and hear their stories – with an interpreter of course! At one base where our military trains domestic armies, we even shot AK-47s with the soldiers-in-training at their target range. And, after shooting their guns, the Iraqis began to shoot photos of me.
Me with Iraqi and American troops
One of the officers began to speak in Arabic to me, smiling and holding his hand up to his mouth and biting as if he were inviting us to dinner. The interpreter told us what the Iraqi officer was trying to convey to me with his hand motions. In the movie "Missing in Action 2," he wanted to know, "Was that a real rat you had in your mouth?" I told him, "It was a real rat!" It was a scene in which a bag is placed over my head with a rat in the bag and I am hung upside down by my ankles with a rope. I finally killed the rat with my teeth. We all began to laugh hysterically when we saw the disgusted look upon his face, realizing I had put a real rat in my mouth!
It truly was an awe inspiring event to see large groups of Iraqis and Americans enjoying one another and even laughing together… in a war zone!
The great American dilemma Of course, no one is naïve enough to believe the battles are anywhere near over. There is no Pollyanna-like view of war. Casualties remain vivid reminders of its painful and hellish nature. Again, as Gen. Petraeus put it, "The situation in Iraq remains complex, difficult, and sometimes downright frustrating, [but] I also believe that it is possible to achieve our objectives in Iraq over time, though doing so will be neither quick nor easy."
The great majority of troops concur. Their morale is up – way up! These young men and women are making a difference there, and they believe in due time that they can win the day and the war and give the Iraqi people full ownership of their land. The courage and sacrifice of soldiers like 21-year old Cpl. Raymond D. Hennagir and his platoon are vivid examples of just how brave these patriots are.
I'm not saying whether this war is right or wrong. All I'm saying is that we are committed, and progress is being made. Let's win this war and bring our troops home!
A mom's letter to me about her son in Iraq
Before we even returned to the states, my official website was receiving e-mail from the family and friends of our servicemen and women thanking me for going abroad.
Cindy Jackson's letter is just one example. I think it will touch your heart. It did mine.
- Dear Mr. Norris, an honorary Marine, This past Friday, Sept. 14, you visited with Marines at Camp Fallujah in Iraq. My son was one of those Marines, and I know by the smile on his face that his spirit was uplifted that evening. God bless you for your efforts in supporting our troops. I hope you were able to hear of the great success our guys are having in making Fallujah a safer place. As a marine mom AND an American, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for caring about our guys and gals over there.
Until we meet in heaven,
Cindy Jackson
Proud mom of Cpl. Andrew P. Jackson
Thank you Mrs. Jackson. And, most of all, thanks to your son and all who serve the cause of freedom, here and abroad. They are the real heroes.
(Next week I'll be discussing the most powerful and overlooked forces in the war, in an article I'm titling "Angels of war.")
This is the current law in the State of CA on tasers:
Every person who commits an assault upon the person of another with
a stun gun or a taser shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail
for a term not exceeding one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison
for 16 months, two, or three years.
I just wonder how many people buying these things for personal protection realize this?
I am waiting for the next wave of taser assaults by criminals to rob people, etc.
Also I think in the future a lot of women will be attracted to tasers due to their LTL (Less Than Lethal) alternative provided for their protection.
There are all kinds of possibilities inherent with these very powerful devices.
Think about it.
Yet another Haditha Marine, Capt. Lucas M. McConnell, is exonerated.
The dismissal of the charges, officially dated Sept. 12, amounts to a full exoneration for McConnell, who was one of four officers charged with crimes related to the aftermath of the shootings.
"It's long overdue," said Kevin McDermott, McConnell's civilian attorney. "It is clear that everything these guys knew went up the chain of command."
Another captain -- a battalion lawyer -- was also cleared. Two officers, including the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani, still face charges. Murder charges are outstanding against two Marines who killed people in Haditha, but an investigating officer has recommended that one of the cases be dropped.
July 24, 2007 we showed you a letter to Murtha from Darryl Sharratt, Proud American, Proud father of L/Cpl Justin L. Sharratt, taking John Murtha to task for his public condemnation of the Haditha Marines before they had even been tried.
Murtha's words:
On Wednesday, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said the accounts are true.
[...]
Murtha, a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq, said at a news conference Wednesday that sources within the military have told him that an internal investigation will show that "there was no firefight, there was no IED (improvised explosive device) that killed these innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood."
[...]
The Marine Corps issued a statement in response to Murtha's remarks:
"There is an ongoing investigation; therefore, any comment at this time would be inappropriate and could undermine the investigatory and possible legal process. As soon as the facts are known and decisions on future actions are made, we will make that information available to the public to the fullest extent allowable."
Murtha held the news conference to mark six months since his initial call for "redeployment" of U.S. forces from Iraq.
He said U.S. forces were under undue pressure in Iraq because of poor planning and allocation of resources by the Bush administration.
Then after L/Cpl Justin L. Sharratt had charges against him dropped, we asked if John Murtha was going to issue a public apology, as publicly as he originally asserted their guilt. We also provided detailed instructions on how to get to Murtha's office, email him and all the numbers to call to ask him the same question.
Hot Air got the answer when John Murtha's office hung up on them.
Yesterday Hot Air provided a video of John Murtha being confronted on the issue where he STILL is refusing to issue an apology.
As we showed you above, Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani is still facing charges and the investigators have already recommended all those charges be dropped.
Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani has already stated he will initiate a lawsuit against John Murtha for his libelous public accusations against the Haditha Marines and I hope he wins and is awarded every last cent Murtha has to his name.
Brian Rooney, one of the attorneys at Michigan's Thomas More Law Center representing Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani and a former Marine captain himself told NewsMax.com that his client, who is alleged to have failed to fully investigate the killing of 24 Iraqis in Haditha November, 2005 and not reporting an alleged Law of War violation, may follow the example of another Haditha Marine, SSgt. Frank Wuterich who is suing Murtha for libel.
Murtha set off a media firestorm last year when even before the matter had been fully investigated he charged members of Kilo Company, 3rd Bn, 1st Marine Regiment had gone on a rampage and slaughtered 24 Iraqi civilians in cold blood to avenge the killing of a member of their unit in an IED explosion. He also said that the incident occurred in the absence of any firefight, although it occurred as part of a day-long battle with insurgent ambushers that wounded 11 Marines.
Rooney told NewsMax.Com that his group that, if as they expect, Chessani is cleared just as one officer, Capt. Randy Stone and two enlisted men have either been exonerated of had a hearing officer recommend exoneration they will seek to hold Murtha accountable.
John Murtha deserves to be held accountable and I am glad that he is being confronted on this issue publicly and I would hope that he continues to be confronted every single time he gets in front of a camera.
The man is a disgrace to the uniform he once wore.
More from Weekly Standard
 I don't eat eggs because I don't eat animals, no matter how they're treated. But for those of you who still eat eggs and do so only if they are say "free-range" and/or "cage-free," you should read Jewel Johnson's "A Rare Glimpse Inside a 'Free-Range' Egg Facility." Johnson visited two facilities, including "a well known Free-Range Organic Egg farm." and they were nothing like Old McDonald's farm, the image I conjure when I think about free range and organic. The reality is that free-range facilities can be just as cruel, intensive and filthy as the factory farm of your worst nightmares.
From debeaking to the early slaughter of male chicks to standing on grates with nothing to build a nest with, surrounded by metal and cement and never seeing the light of day, the environment the hens live in is as bleak as it gets. It may be "organic," because the feed is organic, and it may be "cage-free" because there are no individual cages (just one big one: a shed), but does the description match what you think you're getting when you buy eggs? The organic farmer, as Johnson attests, is probably "doing the best job that could possibly be done to raise egg laying hens for profit," and he has gassed about 80,000 hens (no company will take them for slaughter for dog food or soup).
The point isn't to hate the farm owner or the workers. The point is that if you're going to be competitive in the marketplace, and run your business like a business, it must be efficient. If you think about every aspect of the farms Johnson visited, as well as other "factory farms," efficiency is key. There is no room for compassion, and there is no room to consider the animals as individuals who might have an interest in not being tortured.
There have been farmers and ranchers of all kinds over the years who have ceased their operations due to some sort of epiphany about the suffering they've caused. You hear about those people (like the Howard Lyman: Mad Cowboy, who's against factory farming, and not really due to the suffering but for health reasons) because they aren't the norm. But most farmers and ranchers aren't going to sprout a conscience anytime soon. They cannot be counted on to do the right thing so we must do it for them. We must boycott all animal products and send the message that our primary desire isn't for comfort for the animals. Our desire is for their freedom, and there's only one way that's going to happen, and the comfort issue is taken care of simultaneously.
I was stationed with White Horse Division of ROK in VN. One of my best buds (I don't have many) flew up there in the back of a C7 Caribou;
His name was Msgt Woo. He was ROK Infrantry commander (they have different structure - he was like God to them I found out later) even though he was only an NCO (maybe they knew better than us?)
The C-7 hit turbulence and we were just the two of us back there in that little fuselage with netting we were trying to "sit" in. He was scared! This guy who had seen more shit that we ever will had never been in a plane like that with the levers, hydraulics, etc. going on steam coming out, etc. all in plain view and he was scared! You see hee couldn't control it.
He looked at me and said "Sahgent, are we OK?"
I almost laughed and bit my lip and said "Sarge, just sit back and enjoy it like a mamasan in Cholon." He busted up laughing. Somehow I knew he had been not just sampled Saigon bars but Cholon (Chinese women) as well. He was probably laughing also at my typical American GI ignorance in the use of "mamasan" which all of us used but really is Japanese <grinning>
We became best freinds. He would come to Army compound and look me up and bring me chopper pilot first mission gift = bottle of ginseng wine with root and all in bottle. Have to eat root - which made me sick. He wouldn't talk to any other grunts but me. Everybody teased me about my "merc body guard". I told them he's nobody's merc. He kept sending his guys to get me to Tae Kwan Doe with them in firebase "gym". I didn't want to embarrass myself. I just lifted weights (ammo boxes on poles). They were REALLY good at their martial arts!
Months later, I saw some ROK's walking down road with 16's dragging and asked them where was Msgt Woo. They all went down to knee and said in unison "he gone".
I made sign of cross and told them through tears: "I sorry. He good man. He BEST MAN. HE MY MAN." They got up, bowed to me like in Tae Kwan Doe and moved on.
I will NEVER forget that moment!  __________________
"Every dog, we are told, has his day, unless there are more dogs than days." ~~Bat Masterson
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/...
Female chimpanzees are "selling" sex to the males that gather the most fruit, according to new research.
Behavioural psychologists found that female chimps mate with the males that give them the most fruit, while male chimps steal "desirable" fruits such as papaya from farms and orchards in a bid to woo potential mates.
Oranges, pineapples and maize are among the most sought after crops, with bananas proving far less popular.
The scientists also discovered that the chimp that gathered the most fruit in the "food-for-sex" trade received more grooming from females than the group's alpha male.
Researchers from Stirling University released their findings after studying the behaviour of chimps in the West African village of Bossou in the Republic of Guinea.
Dr Kimberley Hockings said the findings provided the first evidence of large-scale plant food sharing among chimpanzees with a sexual motive. (more)
So then, I guess that we could say that prostitutes and their Johns are just "monkeying around". 
It does seem to show, however, that prostitution is quite a natural thing, and where the practice of prostitution in humans originated.
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