Year 2, Day 247 (Look Beyond The Smokescreen)

Some interesting developments have occurred over the past few days. It's no secret that rioting and attacks upon our embassies and missions have been taking place in the Middle East. Somehow, this furor has been in "protest" over an anti-Islam movie on the internet. A few interesting facts:

1) this "movie" - which is actually very low-budget - was uploaded onto YouTube back in July, by its director, who goes by the pseudonym of Sam Bacile;

2) The present home of this director is in California;

3) Those who are "protesting" have, in the past, shown to be, not only well organized, but also computer savvy... so why such a delay in the "uproar"... such as to "coincide" with 9/11?

Another point to consider is that, in the aftermath of the attacks (and subsequent murders of diplomats and embassy staff), President Obama was quoted as saying,

"As we mourn their loss, we must also send a clear and resolute message to the world: those who attack our people will find no escape from justice. We will not waver in their pursuit. And we will never allow anyone to shake the resolve of the United States of America,"

Yet, last night (as reported by The Guardian) a man named Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, who is thought to be the director (or as the article says, the writer & producer) behind the aforementioned "movie" (a.k.a. Sam Bacile), was brought in for questioning by police in California. Not arrested, just brought in for questioning.

Voluntarily.

At around midnight.


Going back to the President's comment:

"Those who attack our people will find no escape from justice. We will not waver in their pursuit."

Last I checked, Nakoula did NOT "attack our people". The only crime that he can be charged with at this point is violating parole, for using an alias (he had been on parole stemming from previous charges of bank fraud). The article from The Guardian was also reference in a shortly followed blog post by Glenn Reynolds on the InstaPundit website. What I find very eerie - and some of you may call me paranoid - is that the photograph (shown in both of the above links) is of Nakoula being escorted by the police, whom, ironically enough, were wearing brown shirts (reminiscent of the Nazi regime). That may be a coincidence, but there have been too many coincidences with this administration, linked to Nazi-era Germany. If this develops into the direction I suspect, Nakoula could face more serious charges, or be extradited to the Middle East... which gives rise to the thought that Sharia Law may be one step closer to being embedded here in America. Again, so much for "separation of Church and State". Granted, the talk is that Nakoula filmed the "movie" in a way that its cast "didn't know what the film was about" and there were times of obvious overdubbing of some lines, but if what I mentioned earlier, that would set a new precedent... one we DON'T want... punishment for what can be perceived as blasphemy, especially if those offended are of ONLY one religion: Islam. We've seen the deteriorating of all other religions/faiths, while, at the same time, the building up of laws protecting Islam and Muslims.

Another blog of note on this subject is the recent posting by Mark Steyn of The National Review, which is quite scathing, but very much on target (both blogs were brought to my attention by the Facebook postings of Kevin Jackson of The Black Sphere website).

In closing, my wife - and a mutual friend of ours - posted something on Facebook that is right on the money:

"They will burn our flag, but they won't burn our currency."

Year 2, Day 244 (Have We Really Become So Jaded?)

The other day there were multiple protests/attacks on our embassies in the Middle East, more specifically, Egypt and Libya. Ironically this occurred on 9/11, yet our inept media outlets, such as CNN, even have the audacity to ask if the attacks were related?! Not only were they coordinated with one another, but with the date thay were to take place. In Egypt, it's reported that Ambassador Anne Patterson did not permit the Marine guards to have live ammunition. In Libya, Ambassador Christopher Stevens and several others were killed in the attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. What infuriates me is that our Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, actually made the statement that Libyan citizens were "carrying the Ambassador to the hospital." Just because she is clueless about Middle Eastern culture doesn't mean the rest of us are. I have not gone to school and studied their culture, but I do have a better understanding then the majority of people I know.

I'll let you in on how I've come to this basic level of understanding: the Bible. For Christians, and their pastors, in America - which has their origins from a European mindset, but deeply rooted from a Greek/Roman cultural mindset - and study from the Bible - which was written in a Middle Eastern mindset - yet expect it to make sense, is not only absurd, but also futile. For example (and this will shed some light on current events), for the Libyans to drag the body of Ambassador Stevens through the street is not only an insult, but the severest form of disrespect and desecration. It's in the Old Testament.
Muslims demanded that we honor their religious practices when Osama bin Laden was killed. The Muslims are not stupid. They are not even brilliant. But they use against us what we ourselves fail to use: common sense. They know we have a predominately "politically correct" society; they know we want to "honor" other religions and not offend them; they know that we have judges, lawyers, and lawmakers that are sympathetic to the Muslim religion, and want to be sure they are afforded certain leniencies in a court of law, that the rest of us would be fully prosecuted for. The Muslims know all of these things... and exploit them! Think of the states whose courts allow for Sharia Law exemptions. So much for separation of Church and State.

There is a reference I have made in the past when talking about the U.N. making resolutions against Iraq (and Saddam Hussein) in the years following Desert Storm, and I think it still holds true today for us. Many of you remember the Looney Toons cartoons. There is one where Bugs Bunny is confronted by Yosemite Sam. Bugs draws the line in the sand and tells Sam, "I dare you to cross this line!" When Sam does, Bugs draws another line and repeats the same words, the process is repeated several times.

We are Bugs, the Muslims are Sam.

Only this time, Bugs Bunny is the one that will fall off the cliff.

Year 2, Day 242 (Remembering A Tragic Day)

11 years ago today tragedy struck our nation. It was on this day in 2001 that we all heard the terrible fate that had befallen the Twin Towers in New York City, and most importantly, the innocent lives that were lost as a result, both from the attack on the towers, and the ongoing war in the Middle East that followed. We all know this is the day memorialized as 9/11, but, sadly, many still need a reminder. Should we have sought out those parties responsible? Yes! Should politicians have been given a say in military operations and tactics? Absolutely not! The late Senator Ted Kennedy, early on, referred to our Middle Eastern military operations as "George Bush's Viet Nam." That (in my opinion) inevitably set the ground work for what became the Viet Nam of our generation. Just take a look at the similarities: both wars were ripe with political influence and agendas; both lasted longer than was necessary, and - more importantly - both told the military forces what their jobs were, then prohibited them from doing that job. The difference between the two is that we lost far more troops in Viet Nam than we have in the present cycle.

What should have started as retaliation with righteous indignation has become nothing more than socialist politicians using the military troops as pawns in their sick little game, then blaming others because their agendas didn't pan out the way they wanted, or their pockets didn't get lined as much as they hoped. It's also unfortunate that the socialist leaning politicians come from both "sides of the aisle". It seems that the only time Democrats and Republicans truly work together is to block another political party from getting into the game.

We have a Presidential election coming up in a few months... one in which we really don't have a qualified candidate to choose from. Romney hasn't released his tax statements? So what... Obama has sealed important government documents that prove an injustice had been done ("Fast & Furious" ring a bell?). Obama won't release his college transcripts? Big deal... "RomneyCare" was the basic model for what is now referred to as "ObamaCare" (do you really think Romney would overturn something that pays homage to his own "brilliance"?).

Thomas Jefferson once said, "A revolution every 50 years makes for good government." When was the last time we had a viable revolution? This coming from the same man that also said. "When the government fears the people, there is freedom... when the people fear the government, there in tyranny."

Tyranny is upon us... most just haven't opened their eyes to it.

Day 254 (Rebuttal To A Comment From Yesterday)

Today Chuck and I delivered our load on the north end of the Atlanta area. Once we finished unloading, we headed to the nearest truck stop to wait for our next load. When it came in this afternoon, we headed to the customer, which is just a couple miles from where we unloaded, though, because of a mixup between the customer and the broker, this has quickly become quite the fiasco (one of the reasons I don't care to deal with brokers). The broker has said the load is scheduled to deliver in New Albany, MS tomorrow at 2130, yet, the customer (where I'm loading) is saying it doesn't load until 2000 tomorrow. I'm letting Monica (my Fleet Manager) - along with our CSR - try to get it hashed out with the broker.

On another note, the blog I posted yesterday garnered a response on the blog's "comment" section. I usually get comments on either Facebook or Twitter in regards to the posts, but every once in a while I get one on the blog itself. As I posted at the end of my post for Day 245, I will post all comments, unless it takes on the appearance of "spam," so this comment I treated as a regular comment. This particular comment rather amused me. As a general rule, "spam," by definition, is trying to sell or market some type of service or technological assistance. I'll first post the comment (unedited), then analyze its content:


brinkka2011 says: How is it that just anyone can publish a blog and get as popular as this? Its not like youve said anything incredibly impressive more like youve painted a quite picture through an issue that you know nothing about! I dont want to sound mean, right here. But do you genuinely think that you can get away with adding some quite pictures and not truly say something?


Here's my rebuttal to "brinkka2011" - A) This was in my inbox as a post from "anonymous"; why not identify yourself?, B) *ahem* "as popular as this" - really?! Even the most basic research wasn't done! Had this person even looked, they would see I have 10 subscribers through Blogger, and another 5, via Networked Blogs, and (I'll be nice and just cover 3 areas), C) "an issue you know nothing about" - that statement alone is laughable. 9/11 is an issue I know nothing about... now that's rich! "brinkka2011," when if you have a desire for a real debate, bring some facts - and some SOLID issues to discuss - and we can address this like intellectual adults... until then, go trolling on somebody else's blog!

I could go on a brutal tirade with "brinkka2011", but I'm in good spirits today: I got a funny comment on yesterday's post AND I got my trademark coffee (grande triple Marble Mocha Machiatto) from Starbucks... a pretty good Monday (even if I am waiting until tomorrow to load).


- Another rant via BlogPress