Someone who is supporting the troops

Matt Hicketheir is a young Marine completing his training before shipping to Iraq for a year. His father and mother took him to The Fort, a very expensive restaurant in Morrison, CO, this past Tuesday to celebrate before their only son left. President Clinton ate at this same restaurant when he visited Denver a few years ago.

The entire family dressed up. Matt wore his dress blues and his mother and sister wore their best dresses. They spared no expense in their dinner on this special occaision even though it was a hit on the pocket book. They drank champagne and ordered exotic dishes like rattlesnake, quail eggs and buffalo tongue to enjoy the time they had with their son and brother. This occaision was a special one that deserved some indulgence.

When they were finished, the restaurant told them another customer had given the manager his credit card and told him to keep the Hicketheir's tab open. "Anything they order is on me," he told the manager before he left. The man only insisted on one condition, that he remain anonymous. The Fort has kept the man's confidence admitting only that he's a businessman from Texas who was in town for a few days. He had been sitting at a nearby table and apparently was able to gather why the family was there.

This man's kindness was great example of someone demonstrating love their country and the troops who fight for freedom. His avoidance of attention for his actions show what a truly kind heart this man has.

Update:
A number of people beat me to this story including:
Peenie Wallie
Michelle Malkin
Hugh Hewitt

PETA Kills Animals

The following story is from This is True dated 17 July 2005. It is
Copyright 2005 Randy Cassingham, all rights reserved, and reprinted here
with permission:

"Ethical" Defined

After more than 100 dead dogs were dumped in a trash dumpster over
four weeks, police in Ahoskie, N.C., kept an eye on the trash receptacle
behind a supermarket. Sure enough, a van drove up and officers watched
the occupants throw in heavy plastic bags. They detained the two people
in the van and found 18 dead dogs in plastic bags in the dumpster,
including puppies; 13 more dead dogs were still in the van. Police say
the van is registered to the headquarters of People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals, and the two occupants, Andrew B. Cook, 24, and
Adria Joy Hinkle, 27, identified themselves as PETA employees. An autopsy
performed on one of the dogs found it was healthy before it was killed.
Police say PETA has been picking up the animals -- alive -- from North
Carolina animal shelters, promising to find them good homes. Cook and
Hinkle have been charged with 62 felony counts of animal cruelty. In
response to the arrests PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said it's against
the group's policy for employees to dump animals in the trash, but "that
for some animals in North Carolina, there is no kinder option than
euthanasia." (Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald) ...Oops, my mistake: that's
"Playing God" Defined.

In his author's notes section, Cassingham had more to say about this
story:

The more I learn about PETA, the less I think of
them. The story of them killing animals isn't even unusual. According to
PETA's own filings, in 2004 PETA killed 86.3 percent of the
animals entrusted to its care -- a number that's rising, not falling.
Meanwhile, the SPCA in PETA's home town (Norfolk, Va.) was able to find
loving homes for 73 percent of the animals put in its care. A shortage of
funds? Nope: last year PETA took in $29 million in tax-exempt donations.
It simply has other priorities for the funds, like funding terrorism
(yes, really). But don't take my word for it: I got my figures from
http://www.PETAkillsAnimals.com -- and they have copies of PETA's state and federal filings to back it up. The bottom line: if you donate money to PETA because you think they care for and about animals, you need to think some more. PETA literally yells and screams about how others "kill animals" but this is how they operate? Pathetic.

And you know what I wonder? PETA's official count of animals
they kill is 86.3 percent. But if they're going around picking up
animals, killing them while they drive around and not even giving them a
chance to be adopted, and then destroying the evidence by dumping
the bodies in the trash, are those deaths being reported? My
guess: no. While 86.3 percent is awful, the actual number is probably
much, much higher. How dare they lecture anyone
about the "ethical" treatment of animals!

(This is True is a weekly column featuring weird-but-true news
stories from around the world, and has been published since 1994. Click
the link for info about free subscriptions.)

How they suck you in

My brother had the deep thought of the day:

"What I can't figure out is why it's free to apply for a credit card, but then they charge you postage to pay the bill."

Internet bill paying to grow

The U.S. Post office is asking congress to allow them to raise postal rates. They want to increase the price of a first class stamp to 39 cents.

It keeps getting more expensive to pay your bills if you mail them in. Watch Internet bill paying services get more subscribers as well as companies develop ways to pay them directly without have to send in a payment.

Doing fine

Good news.

Honeybun is out of surgery and is doing fine. No complications. Doc said, she should be back to 100% in a few weeks.

Doing fine. Honeybun just got

Doing fine. Honeybun just got out of surgery and everything is good. No complications.

Honeybun isn't doing well

Early this morning I had to take Honeybun to the hospital. They ran some tests and found she has appendicitis. She's going into surgery in a couple of hours. I came home to take a shower and grab a couple things before heading back (who needs sleep?).

Please pray for Christy for a successful surgery and healthy recovery.

Idiot of the day

A rapper is complaining about get firing as an airport screener for recording songs that talk about commiting terrorism.

In an interview on Fox News, the rapper said, "It's just entertainment."

The good news is that the Transportation Security Administration didn't get cowed by claims of free speech. Common sense finally prevailed.

Would you want this guy screening bags at the airport you were traveling through?

Best golfer ever?

Tiger woods won his second British Open today. It is his tenth major championship title. It seems only a matter of time before he beats Jack Nickalaus record of 18.

Karl Rove: Political Genius?

Instapundit.com has a round up on the implosion of a scandal. For those who don't know - and that's most of you because only political junkies and left-wing wackos care* - Karl Rove is being attacked by Democrats who are calling for him to resign.

I know, who is Karl Rove? He is President Bush's Chief of Staff. Karl Rove was also the strategist behind the Presidents campaign for election. He is also considered the ultimate evil by radical liberals (i.e. most Democrats it seems).

Bear with me for a little background. Karl Rove is accused of "outing" a covert CIA operative who is the wife of a U.S. diplomat who criticized President Bush. The accusation is that Rove outed Valerie Plame to get even with her husband.

Democrats are calling for Rove's resignation and they are trying to pass a law to revoke security clearances for anyone revealing the name of a covert agent. Dems think they can put Rove out of a job by getting his clearance revoked.

The problem is it looks like Rove didn't break any laws. Plame was not an covert agent.
- She had been working in Langely for years.
- She was married to a U.S. diplomat (not a good cover for an agent).
- She freely admitted to friends and neighbors she was a CIA employee.

Rove didn't reveal her name. The press told him who she was. You can't reveal facts to people who already know the facts.

So what it sounds like is a U.S. diplomat who was lying about President Bush got caught lying. His deflection was to blame the administration for pointing out that he lied (How dare they!).

Here is where the genius comes in. The administration seems to have a strategy for dealing with accusations made against the president.

1. Don't immediately respond to allegations.
2. Let your accusers work themselves up into hysteria.
3. Weather the storm until the truth comes out.
4. Truth comes out and discredits your accusers.
5. You are now in a stronger position because your accusers and political enemies have been shown to allow their hate of you to affect their judgement.

It happened with Dan Rather's memogate. It's happening now.

Simply brilliant.

It takes patience, and a thick skin to allow your enemies enough rope to hang themselves.



(*I guess that makes me a political junkie but I'm in a program to overcome it.)

Abortion clinic boming Christians

Last week USA Today published letter's from infamous abortion clinic bomber Eric Rudolph who eluded capture in the mountains of North Carolina for five years. He had been held up as the poster child of all that is wrong with the Christian right.

The only problem with that, he isn't a Christian. In a letter to his mother he wrote about his prison experience printed in a USA Today article.

"Many good people continue to send me money and books," Rudolph writes in an undated letter. "Most of them have, of course, an agenda; mostly born-again Christians looking to save my soul. I suppose the assumption is made that because I'm in here I must be a 'sinner' in need of salvation, and they would be glad to sell me a ticket to heaven, hawking this salvation like peanuts at a ballgame. I do appreciate their charity, but I could really do without the condescension. They have been so nice I would hate to break it to them that I really prefer Nietzsche to the Bible."

But there was not a word about how his radical athiestic views ("God is dead") were the cause of his evil - unlike when the press thought he was a Christian extremist.

Stupid news of the day

We have the evening news cast on right now. They just reported a story about the space shuttle. Tuesday when a window cover fell off the shuttle and damaged thermal tiles near the tail.

The local news cast report that cover was held on by tape and that officials did not yet know why the cover fell off.

Something tells me that it fell off because it was held on by tape!

Islamacists - a time to review

Yesterday terrorists attacked London by bombing a bus and subway trains. Before the smoke had cleared, the blame-America-first crowd was...well, blaming America. Hugh Hewitt posted a transcription of Al Franken's interview with Pat Oliphant. Here is a sample of the exchange:

Franken: Or have we made things worse...

Oliphant: Or have they gone in the wrong direction...

Franken: Right

Well, it is time to review exactly what al Qaeda is demanding from the U.S. Back in November of 2002, bin Laden wrote an open letter to the U.S. Here are his demands:

(1) The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam.

(2) The second thing we call you to, is to stop your oppression, lies, immorality and debauchery that has spread among you.

(i) You are the nation who, rather than ruling by the Shariah of Allah in its Constitution and Laws, choose to invent your own laws as you will and desire.

(3) What we call you to thirdly is to take an honest stance with yourselves - and I doubt you will do so - to discover that you are a nation without principles or manners, and that the values and principles to you are something which you merely demand from others, not that which you yourself must adhere to.

(4) We also advise you to stop supporting Israel, and to end your support of the Indians in Kashmir, the Russians against the Chechens and to also cease supporting the Manila Government against the Muslims in Southern Philippines.

(5) We also advise you to pack your luggage and get out of our lands. We desire for your goodness, guidance, and righteousness, so do not force us to send you back as cargo in coffins.

(6) Sixthly, we call upon you to end your support of the corrupt leaders in our countries. Do not interfere in our politics and method of education. Leave us alone, or else expect us in New York and Washington.

(7) We also call you to deal with us and interact with us on the basis of mutual interests and benefits, rather than the policies of sub dual, theft and occupation, and not to continue your policy of supporting the Jews because this will result in more disasters for you.

If you fail to respond to all these conditions, then prepare for fight with the Islamic Nation.

According to Osama bin Laden himself, al Qaeda is fighting to spread Islam. They demand we abandon our constitution and accept Islam. Isn't it amazing that Franken and Oliphant are suspicious of President Bush's motives and at the same time don't believe bin Laden when he says he hates Western culture?

Bin Laden wrote over two years ago how he hates our lifestyle and culture, and the Franken-phants thinks we are the problem. I'd like to know when the Franken-phants are going to give up their western culture and start facing east and pray?

Amazing Health News

Male circumcision cuts AIDS risk

Male circumcision reduces the risk that men will contract HIV through intercourse with infected women by about 70 percent, according to a study reported in The Wall Street Journal.

After discovering the dramatic results, French and South African researchers halted the study about nine months in order to offer the uncircumcised men the opportunity to undergo the procedure, the newspaper reported.

This may explain why heterosexual AIDS is so rampant in Africa yet rare in the U.S.

Vacation from the vacation

We came back from Las Cruces a couple of days ago. I needed to do finish a paper for school and we both thought a couple days of vacation from taking a vacation would be good.

Las Cruces was HOT! I did get to golf (and I use the term loosely) a couple of times. I should really practice and play more often. Maybe I could hit a ball that way.

How American are you?

You Are 89% American

You're as American as red meat and shooting ranges. Tough and independent, you think big. You love everything about the US, wrong or right. And anyone who criticizes your home better not do it in front of you!

How American Are You?