1 Hr. This really DOES make you sit up and think about your own personal priorities and "issues" and put them into perspective. I sat in my seat of the Boeing 767 waiting for everyone to hurry and stow their carry-ons and grab a seat so we could start what I was sure to be a long , uneventful flight home. With the huge capacity and slow moving people taking their time to stuff luggage far too big for the overhead and never paying much attention to holding up the growing line behind them, I simply shook my head knowing that this flight was not starting out very well. I was anxious to get home to see my loved ones so I was focused on "my" issues and just felt like standing up and yelling for some of these clowns to get their act together. I knew I couldn't say a word so I just thumbed thru the "Sky Mall" magazine from the seat pocket in front of me. You know it's really getting rough when you resort to the over priced, useless sky mall crap to break the monotony. With everyone finally seated, we just sat there with the cabin door open and no one in any hurry to get us going although we were well past the scheduled take off time. No wonder the airline industry is in trouble I told myself. Just then, the attendant came on the intercom to inform us all that we were being delayed. The entire plane let out a collective groan. She resumed speaking to say "We are holding the aircraft for some very special people who are on their way to the plane and the delay shouldn't be more than 5 minutes. The word came after waiting six times as long as we were promised that "I" was finally going to be on my way home. Why the hoopla over "these" folks? I was expecting some celebrity or sport figure to be the reason for the hold up.........Just get their butts in a seat and lets hit the gas I thought. The attendant came back on the speaker to announce in a loud and excited voice that we were being joined by several U. S. Marines returning home from Iraq!!! Just as they walked on board, the entire plane erupted into applause. The men were a bit taken by surprise by the 340 people cheering for them as they searched for their seats. They were having their hands shook and touched by almost everyone who was within an arm's distance of them as they passed down the aisle. One elderly woman kissed the hand of one of the Marines as he passed by her. The applause, whistles and cheering didn't stop for a long time. When we were finally airborne, "I" was not the only civilian checking his conscience as to the delays in "me" getting home, finding my easy chair, a cold beverage and the remote in my hand. These men had done for all of us and I had been complaining silently about "me" and "my" issues. I took for granted the everyday freedoms I enjoy and the conveniences of the American way of life I took for granted others paid the price for my ability to moan and complain about a few minutes delay to "me" those Heroes going home to their loved ones. I attempted to get my selfish outlook back in order and minutes before we landed I suggested to the attendant that she announce over the speaker a request for everyone to remain in their seats until our hero's were allowed to gather their things and be first off the plane. The cheers and applause continued until the last Marine stepped off and we all rose to go about our too often taken for granted everyday freedoms......... I felt proud of them. I felt it an honor and a privilege to be among the first to welcome them home and say Thank You for a job well done. I vowed that I will never forget that flight nor the lesson learned. I can't say it enough, THANK YOU to those Veterans and active servicemen and women who may read this and a prayer for those who cannot because they are no longer with us. GOD BLESS AMERICA! WELCOME HOME! AND THANKS FOR A JOB WELL DONE !!!!!
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,60629,00.html What a great time to witness politics. God forbid any of these guys to get anywhere near the nulcear button. HAHAHAHA 02:00 AM Sep. 30, 2003 PT Wesley Clark: Rhodes scholar, four-star general, NATO commander, futurist? During a whirlwind campaign swing Saturday through New Hampshire, Clark, the newest Democratic presidential candidate, gave supporters one of the first glimpses into his views on technology. "We need a vision of how we're going to move humanity ahead, and then we need to harness science to do it," Clark told a group of about 50 people in Newcastle attending a house party -- a tradition in New Hampshire presidential politics that enables well-connected voters to get an up-close look at candidates. Then, the 58-year-old Arkansas native, who retired from the military three years ago, dropped something of a bombshell on the gathering. "I still believe in e=mc², but I can't believe that in all of human history, we'll never ever be able to go beyond the speed of light to reach where we want to go," said Clark. "I happen to believe that mankind can do it." But on the other hand hey, if nuclear war does happen we can all just time travel outta here, in a hurry. lol
Ace of Spades 1.) The Ace of Spades Has Been Played http://www.justsaywow.com/funpages/view.cfm/972 AOL Link 2.) Good Night Saddam http://www.justsaywow.com/funpages/view.cfm/993 AOL Link
General Hawley's Politically Incorrect Message > > > >This Air Force General should have been a Soldier. What a magnificent and > > >insightful view of what this war on terrorism is actually about. > > > >Please read and pass on as you see fit. > > > >General Hawley, is a newly retired USAF 4 star general. He commanded the > >Air Combat Command [our front-line fighters and bombers] at Langley AFB, > >VA. He is now retired and no longer required to be politically correct. > A > >true patriot! > > > > "Since the attack [9-11], I have seen, heard, and read thoughts of such > >surpassing stupidity that they must be addressed. You've heard them too. > > >Here they are: > > > >1) "We're not good, they're not evil, everything is relative." Listen > >carefully: We're good, they're evil, nothing is relative. Say it with me > >now and free yourselves. You see, folks, saying "We're good" doesn't > mean, > >"We're perfect." Okay? The only perfect being is the bearded guy on the > >ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The plain fact is that our country has, > >with all our mistakes and blunders, always been and always will be the > >greatest beacon of freedom, charity, opportunity, and affection in > history. > > If you need proof, open all the borders on Earth and see what happens. > > > >2) "Violence only leads to more violence." This one is so stupid you > >usually have to be the president of an Ivy League university to say it. > >Here's the truth, which you know in your heads and hearts already: > >Ineffective, unfocused violence leads to more violence. Limp, panicky, > >half measures lead to more violence. However, complete, fully thought > >through, professional, well executed violence never leads to more violence > > >because, you see, afterwards, the other guys are all dead. That's right, > >dead. Not "on trial," not "reeducated," not "nurtured back into the bosom > > >of love." Dead. > > > >3) "The CIA and the rest of our intelligence community have failed us." > >For 25 years we have chained our spies like dogs to a stake in the ground, > > >and now that the house has been robbed, we yell at them for not protecting > > >us. Starting in the late seventies, under Carter appointee Stansfield > >Turner, the giant brains who get these giant ideas decided that the best > >way to gather international intelligence was to use spy satellites. > "After > >all, (they reasoned,) you can see a license plate from 200 miles away." > >This is very helpful if you've been attacked by a license plate. > >Unfortunately, we were attacked by humans. Finding humans is not possible > > >with satellites. You have to use other humans. When we bought all our > >satellites, we fired all our humans, and here's the really stupid part. > It > >takes years, decades to infiltrate new humans into the worst places of the > > >world. You can't just have a guy who looks like Gary Busey in a Spring > >Break '93 sweatshi rt plop himself down in a coffee shop in Kabul and say > >"Hiya, boys. Gee, I sure would like to meet that bin Laden fella. "Well, > > >you can, but all you'd be doing is giving the bad guys a story they'll be > >telling for years. > > > >4) "These people are poor and helpless, and that's why they're angry at > >us." Uh-huh, and Jeffrey Dahmer's frozen head collection was just a > >desperate cry for help. The terrorists and their backers are richer than > >Elton John and, ironically, a good deal less annoying. The poor helpless > >people, you see, are the villagers they tortured and murdered to stay in > >power. Mohammed Atta, one of the evil scumbags who steered those planes > >into the killing grounds is the son of a Cairo surgeon. But you knew > this, > >too. In the sixties and seventies, all the pinheads marching against the > >war were upper-middle-class college kids who grabbed any cause they could > >think of to get out of their final papers and spend more time drinking. > >It's the same today. > > > >5) "Any profiling is racial profiling." Who's killing us here, the > >Norwegians? Just days after the attack, the New York Times had an article > > >saying dozens of extended members of the gazillionaire bin Laden family > >living in America were afraid of reprisals and left in a huff, never to > >return to studying at Harvard and using too much Drakkar. I'm crushed. > >Please come back. Let's all stop singing "We Are the World" for a minute > >and think practically. I don't want to be sitting on the floor in the > back > >of a plane four seconds away from hitting Mt.Rushmore and turn, grinning, > >to the guy next to me to say, "Well, at least we didn't offend them." > > > >SO HERE'S what I resolve for the New Year: Never to forget our murdered > >brothers and sisters. Never to let the relativists get away with their > >immoral thinking. After all, no matter what your daughter's political > >science professor says, we didn't start this. Have you seen that bumper > >sticker that says, "No More Hiroshimas"? I wish I had one that says, "No > >More Pearl Harbors." > > > >THIS NEEDS TO STAY IN CIRCULATION FOR THOSE WHO HAVE OR WILL FALL FOR THE > >STUPIDITY GOING AROUND. PLEASE PASS IT ON! > > ______________________________________
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=6125 The authentic John F*ing Kerry: I'M GLAD YOU ASKED THAT First it was former Vermont Gov. Howie Dean seemingly planting sick people around him so he could appear to be a healer while on the campaign trail. (Recall that early in the campaign, Dean was often coincidentally close by to aid people who had either fainted or fallen ill at his campaign events.) Now John Kerry's campaign is planting volunteers at his appearances in order to make him appear tougher. At a rally yesterday at which he accepted the endorsement of Maine Gov. John Baldacci, Kerry faced down a heckler in the Portland audience who called out, "Why don't you tell them about your vote on the war and the Patriot Act?" Kerry responded that he would -- but in time. "I never run away from anything, especially George Bush," Kerry said. The candidate seemed to be quick on his feet in the response, and his retort garnered applause. Perhaps his quick thinking was the result of knowing the jibe was coming. According to a Kerry campaign source, the campaign has been looking to plant local volunteers in crowds to mix it up, and to make it appear their man is facing down tough questioning. "This kind of confrontation pushes him up the line in news coverage," says the staffer. "Instead of facing a tough question from a reporter, the news guys have this seeming give and take to report on." buwaahhahahahaa
From a preacher in California > >As some of you may know, one of my son's serves in the military. He is >still stateside, here in California. He called me yesterday to let me >know how warm and welcoming people were to him, and his troops, >everywhere he goes. Telling me how people shake their hands, and thank >them for being willing to serve, and fight, for not only our own freedoms >but so that others may have them also. > >But he also told me about an incident in the grocery store he stopped at >yesterday, on his way home from the base. He said that ahead of several >people in front of him stood a woman dressed in a burkha. He said when >she got to the cashier she loudly remarked about the U.S.flag lapel pin >the cashier wore on her smock.The cashier reached up and touched the pin, >and said yes, I always wear it. > >The woman in the burkha then asked the cashier when she was going to stop >bombing her countrymen, explaining that she was Iraqi. A gentleman >standing behind my son stepped forward, putting his arm around my son's >shoulders, and nodding towards my son, said in a calm and gentle voice to >the Iraqi woman: "Lady, hundreds of thousands of men and women like this >young man have fought and died so that you could stand here, in MY >country and accuse a check-out cashier of bombing your countrymen. It is >my belief that had you been this outspoken in YOUR OWN country we >wouldn't need to be there today. But, hey? if you have now learned how to >speak out so loudly and clearly , I'll gladly pay your way back to Iraq >so you can straighten out the mess you are obviously here to avoid." ___________________________________ [] ><- <>- ><- <> ~~~ ><- <>- ><- <> ><- <>- ><- <> ~~~ ><- <>- ><- <>
IT'S A-COMIN' Three strangers strike up a conversation in the airport passenger lounge in Abilene, Texas awaiting their flights. One is an American Indian passing through from Oklahoma City. Another is a Cowboy on his way to Fort Worth for the livestock show, and the third passenger is a fundamentalist Arab student from the Middle East. Their discussion drifts to their diverse cultures. Soon, the two Westerners learn that the Arab is a devout, radical Muslim and the conversation falls into an uneasy lull. The cowboy leans back in his chair, crosses his boots on a magazine table and tips his big sweat-stained hat forward over his face. The wind outside is blowing tumbleweeds around, and the old windsock is flapping; but still no plane comes. Finally, the American Indian clears his throat and softly he speaks, "At one time here, my people were many, but sadly, now we are few." The Muslim student raises an eyebrow and leans forward, "Once my people were few," he sneers, "and now we are many. Why do you suppose that is?" The Texas cowboy shifts his toothpick to one side of his mouth and from the darkness beneath his Stetson says in a drawl, "That's 'cause we ain't played Cowboys and Muslims yet, but I do believe it's a-comin'."
Prisoners I am not condoning what happened to the Iraqi prisoners... however, I think it is vitally important that, in my head, I have these matters in proper perspective... * Saddam had Iraqi men, women and children put to death, in human meat grinders, on a daily basis... NO OUTCRY FROM THE IRAQI PEOPLE OR THE ARAB COMMUNITY... *Saddam had people thrown off of 3 - 4 story buildings, while their relatives were forced to watch... NO OUTCRY FROM THE IRAQI PEOPLE OR THE ARAB COMMUNITY... * Saddam had people's tongues cut out, limbs chopped off and even beheaded, while their families were forced to watch... NO OUTCRY FROM THE IRAQI PEOPLE OR THE ARAB COMMUNITY... * Saddam's sons, as well as other administrators and military personnel, raped and sodomized Iraqi girls - some as young as 8 years old - on a daily basis... NO OUTCRY FROM THE IRAQI PEOPLE OR THE ARAB COMMUNITY... * Saddam's regime indiscriminately put to death millions of Iraqi citizens, on a daily basis, during the term of his brutal dictatorship, as evidenced by the mass graves recently uncovered, in various parts of Iraq... NO OUTCRY FROM THE IRAQI PEOPLE OR THE ARAB COMMUNITY... * Terrorists recently exploded several car bombs in Baghdad, killing 17 innocent Iraqi children and several dozen innocent Iraqi citizens... NO OUTCRY FROM THE IRAQI PEOPLE OR THE ARAB COMMUNITY... * Terrorists have been killing American/Coalition soldiers,on a daily basis, since we sent our troops (many of whom died to liberate the Iraqi people... NO OUTCRY FROM THE IRAQI PEOPLE OR THE ARAB COMMUNITY... * Four Americans were killed in Fallujah. Their bodies were burned, mutilated, dragged through the streets and hung on a bridge while Iraqi people cheered and stoned them... NO OUTCRY FROM THE IRAQI PEOPLE OR THE ARAB COMMUNITY... AND NOW... A few Iraqi prisoners have been humiliated (poor babies)... A pair of women's underwear was put on their heads... A few naked photographs were taken... AND THE IRAQI PEOPLE GO BALLISTIC...ALONG WITH THE ENTIRE ARAB COMMUNITY... GIVE ME A BREAK!!! As said, I don't condone what happened to the prisoners, but, until the Iraqi people and the Arab Community, as a whole, get their act together... WE ARE AT WAR! AND I DON'T WANT MY PRESIDENT TO APOLOGIZE TO THE ARABS FOR ANYTHING! If you agree, you might want to forward this. If not, Just Delete It. Never read the fine print. There ain't no way you're going to like it.
