4 Mile Creek

The Shot Heard 'Round The World

I learned this poem as a wee lad

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

Their flag to April's breeze unfurled.

Here once the embattled farmers stood,

And fired the shot heard 'round the world.

I believed that then, as a youngster.  But it was just a belief back then; that the freedom I enjoyed, was longed for 'round the world.  Now I know.  I've lived in many different countries 'round this world, and I've never failed to meet many people in each of those countries that want to go to America.  Some to be Americans, some just to see what it is like to live in freedom if only for a short time.  Most of these people have a rather skewed view of the freedoms that exist in the US.  The sad part is that they don't know how many freedoms we actually have.  In guessing, they always guess low.  They ask about those freedoms that they most long for; most of them can't even imagine the abundance of freedoms that we have as Americans.  Quite literally they can't imagine them, because that life is so far from their reality.  It is heartbreaking at times to know how little they ask for, knowing how much we have.

But That Was Weeks Ago!

When the whole world was against war in Iraq, Lefties were screaming that Bush needed to pay better attention to what the world was saying. 

How times have changed. 

One of the protesters accused Mr Howard of supporting Israel at Lebanon's expense.

"The whole world is supporting Israel, the whole world is watching innocent people dying today as we speak," he said.

It's a Kerryish world after all. 

(vie Tim Blair)

Not Suprising

It's good to find out that cold hard facts support what I already knew. 

(via Tim Blair)

Move Over Michael Moore

Al Zawahiri released a tape saying that all the world is a battlefield for the current war of islam against the civilized world.  He sounds like Bush, for crying out loud!

That's gotta hurt his chances of ever getting invited to sit beside Jimmy Carter in the VIP box at the next Democratic National Convention.  A couple more proclamations like that, and Senator Kerry might change his mind once again. 

Cole Would Have Fit Right In

From Yale Global online, comes the brilliant insight that illuminates nothing except why Foggy Bottom, full of Yalies, is completely out of touch in the War on Terror. 

Explaining how the US can defeat the islamic fascists while winning over the much ballyhooed but never seen "moderate arabs", Fawaz A Gerges, the Christian A. Johnson Chair in Middle East and International Affairs at Sarah Lawrence College, states:

"Notwithstanding the weakening of Al Qaeda, the struggle against this transnational network cannot be won on the battlefield. The most effective means to put the global jihad out of business is to complete its internal marginalization in the Muslim world. Muslims almost universally reject Al Qaeda’s global jihad. Yet the Bush administration only pays lip service to the war of ideas, and has not taken effective measures to win Muslim minds. US priorities should include extracting American troops from Iraq, earnestly promoting reconciliation and peace between Palestinians and Israelis, and investing socio-political and economic capital in the rule of law and democracy in Muslim lands."

Aren't the first two requirements for winning over the "moderate arabs" also the first two demands made by the islamic fascists?  So we can win the war on terror by giving the terrorist their two most desired goals, then making the moderate arabs rich and content?  This fits every single disproved stereotype of the war on terror perfectly.  That the islamic terrorists are poor, that they only yearn for democracy, that they are angered by the imperialistic stance of the US in the middle east, that they believe the US needs to support the arabs as much as we support Israel in order to be more fair.  Should this scholar ever bother to do more than read AP and watch CNN, he'd be pretty suprised to find out that for every scholar like him, there are a hundred imams who preach hate of everything western, and death to every infidel.  But there will be people who believe this babble and ignore the world that stands stark and threatening in front of them. 

How very Chamberlain.  How very diplomatic.  How unbelievably stupid. 

Not Much Clearer Than This

I keep reading about Democratic Party leaders who use one version or another of this theme, here stated by Nancy Pelosi:

"With no criticism of the (Democratic Party 2004 - ed) presidential candidates, I don't know if the message they had, reached these same people whose interests are served by a Democratic agenda but voted Republican for president."

It is apparent that what she means here, and what Democrats mean each time they state this meme, is that people should be voting for the party that will provide them with the most personal gain. 

So to take this a bit further, why are some voters not voting for personal gain?  Who should they be thinking of when they vote, if not themselves?  Well, if they are voting for Republicans, which they are, and it’s not for personal gain, then it must be that they are voting for the candidate who they think is best for their family, neighborhood, town, city, state, or country.  In fact, Republican voters are voting as if they are a citizen of a larger group, as say, and American, and they owe it to that larger group to vote for the candidate who has the best interests of the group, rather than how the Democratic Party wishes they would vote, entirely on what brings the most personal gain. 

How much clearer can it be, stated by one of the Democratic Party’s leaders.  Democrats shouldn’t vote for the good of the nation, they should vote for personal gain.  And if they can only convince a few hundred thousand more voters to vote selfishly this fall, they are back in power.  This is the wish of Nancy Pelosi, the senior member of the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives.  This is the wish of most of the senior leaders of the Democratic Party.

Thank you Nancy for stating it so clearly.  Republican voters are patriotic for voting for the greater good of the country, Democrats are....well, encouraged to not vote that way.  By their leaders. 

Be a good progressive: Think Globally, Act Locally, Vote Personally

Can I call them unpatriotic now? 

910 in Dog Degrees

I've been told that we reached 130 degrees today.  Sure felt like it. 

Not That "Revealing"

Honestly, I thought they were all gay.

Yeah, Let's Keep Looking

At first, it reads like a clear-cut case of police brutality, even manslaughter.

One witness to the shooting, Ty Snitko, an employee at the Jitter Beans coffee shop on Main Street , said he saw the trooper pull over a man in front of the shop. He said the man (Yuksel) got out of the car when asked, but began resisting when the officer put his hands on him.

“The two of them then started fist-fighting and slap-fighting and whatnot,” Snitko said.

After a few minutes, the man started walking toward the cruiser. The trooper walked up and pepper-sprayed him in the face, said Snitko.

Snitko said the man was “obviously blinded by the pepper spray and started flailing around.”

Snitko and another witness said the officer then pulled out his gun and shot the man in the abdomen at point-blank range.

“Right in the gut,” said Snitko of Peterborough. “No ‘freeze.’ No nothing.”

Sounds like some bitch-slapping turned into a deadly encounter for some guy just driving around, perhaps on his way for a double-latte, extra cinnamon, low-fat natural goat milk at the Jitter Beans Coffee Shop.  But of course, there is always two sides to a story. 

Hollis police charge that Yuksel beat his mother, Senka Fallon, 65, and gouged at her eyes, and beat her husband, Robert Fallon, 69, unconscious early Monday morning, in the home where they all lived. Both of the Fallons were seriously injured, but police believe they will survive, Hollis police Lt. James Sartell said.

Yuksel had a history of domestic violence incidents and convictions involving his mother, Nashua District Court records show, but Sartell said police have no information on what prompted the attack Monday morning.

…“He’s a big, strong guy. Very strong, very athletic,” Sartell said.

Senka Fallon called 911 at about 3:10 a.m. to report the assault, Sartell said.

“She felt that she was bleeding to death, that her son was going crazy, and she thought he had gouged her eyes out,” Sartell said. “She thought her husband was dead inside the residence.”

Police sent a bulletin asking police throughout New England to be on the lookout for Yuksel and his silver 2005 Pontiac G6, Sartell said. The notices warned police that Yuksel might be dangerous or suicidal.

“Our history with him is that’s a great possibility that he may have some desire to hurt himself or kill himself,” Sartell said.

…Yuksel had several prior domestic violence convictions, all involving his mother, Nashua District Court records show. Yuksel is a British citizen, but grew up in Hollis and had lived with his mother for the past 1½ years, Sartell said. Yuksel also has lived in Nashua , court records show.

Yuksel was arrested in Nashua on charges of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer April 30, 2004, court records show, but the charges were dismissed after Yuksel complied with an order to undergo counseling, court records show.

He served two months in jail after being convicted of shoving his mother into a hallway wall April 14, 1999, court records show. Yuksel told police he’d lost his temper because his mother had nagged him about getting a job.

…Police cited prior cases involving Yuksel and his mother, including a 1992 domestic violence assault charge that was dropped at her request, and a 1996 conviction for which he got a suspended jail sentence. Nashua District Court staff were unable to find immediately the file on that old case, but their computer records confirm that he was convicted March 28, 1996, in a case stemming from a Dec. 30, 1995, domestic violence arrest.

So the cops have information in hand that this guy is dangerous, has beaten his mother and her husband, and that he’s dangerous.  And then they have this guy saying that the cop shot Yuksel “point-blank”, “no freeze, no nothing”. 

Hmmm… what to do.  What to do. 

Well, considering who the weirdo is that gave them the “eye witness” description of the shooting, they did the only thing they could logically do!

Investigators are asking witnesses to the Marlborough incident to call state police at Troop C in Keene at 271-1158.

Yup, that might be a good idea.  Get a real witness

Spot the Difference

It's not too tough.

I received two emails within minutes of each other.  One was from Spirit of America, a conservative group, and the other was from MoveOn.org, a "progressive" group. 

The Spirit of America email reported on all the work they had done over the last few months to help people around the world.  They had bought soccer balls for kids in Africa.  They had helped refurbish schools in Afghanistan.  They had sent medical supplies, tools, sewing machines, and more to Iraq. 

The MoveOn.org site was crowing about one thing, and one thing only.  Giving Republicans their version of "just desserts" by Opposing Bush.   

That about sums up the entire difference between progressives and conservatives right now.  While I don't agree with about half the conservative agenda (I disagree with their stand on prayer in school, gay marriage, stem cell research, the "don't ask/don't tell" policy in DoD, and a host of other agendas), I can honestly say I disagree with all of the progressive agenda which can be summed up thusly...whatever it takes to defeat Bush.  It's like they don't even realize that he can't run again. 

Some of the things I disagree with conservatives on are little things. Some are BIG THINGS.  But none of them are as big to me right now as making sure we win the war on terror.  From what I can gather in their writing, progressives don't even believe we are fighting a war on terror.  If they acknowledge a "war on terror" at all, it is the personal terror they have of a Bushitler bootheel against their neck.  Though that's never happened to them, they are sure that it will, and soon.  As a group they show a remarkable lack of faith in the inherent strength of America and Americans.  They clearly see an American the Brutal, America the Imperialist, America the ever so frail.  It's like their vision of Bush; to them he is either the moronic chimp, or the evil genius turning back over 200 years of American freedoms.  Both images of Bushs and both images of America fit their world view, even though they can't be true at the same time.  That's the schizophrenic vision offered by MoveOn and other progressives.  It's a vision I don't even understand, never mind share.

It doesn't take much of an imagination to know who I will be voting for this fall.