(*a.k.a. Rule Five Friday)
Morning Mistress
54 minutes ago
I love the fact that Venezuela is running out of toilet paper. This is a great socialist tradition. Forget Margaret Thatcher's axiom about the trouble with socialism being that eventually you run out of someone else's money. The problem with socialism is that they promise you a kingdom of heaven on earth but can't even deliver the t.p.-Jonah Goldberg
O'Sullivan's Law: Any institution that is not explicitly right-wing becomes left-wing over time.-John O'Sullivan
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. As a platoon leader in the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), 1st Lt. Marm demonstrated indomitable courage during a combat operation. His company was moving through the valley to relieve a friendly unit surrounded by an enemy force of estimated regimental size. 1st Lt. Marm led his platoon through withering fire until they were finally forced to take cover. Realizing that his platoon could not hold very long, and seeing four enemy soldiers moving into his position, he moved quickly under heavy fire and annihilated all 4. Then, seeing that his platoon was receiving intense fire from a concealed machinegun, he deliberately exposed himself to draw its fire. Thus locating its position, he attempted to destroy it with an antitank weapon. Although he inflicted casualties, the weapon did not silence the enemy fire. Quickly, disregarding the intense fire directed on him and his platoon, he charged 30 meters across open ground, and hurled grenades into the enemy position, killing some of the 8 insurgents manning it. Although severely wounded, when his grenades were expended, armed with only a rifle, he continued the momentum of his assault on the position and killed the remainder of the enemy. 1st Lt. Marm's selfless actions reduced the fire on his platoon, broke the enemy assault, and rallied his unit to continue toward the accomplishment of this mission. 1st Lt. Marm's gallantry on the battlefield and his extraordinary intrepidity at the risk of his life are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.
“A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces, but also by the men it honors; the men it remembers.”
"Just because there are conspiracy kooks around, doesn't mean there are no conspiracies!"-Proof
"I have had some of the pro-gun lobbyists on here saying to me, the reason that we have to be armed is because of tyranny from our own government. I have always laughed at them. I have always said don't be ridiculous, your own government won't turn itself on you. But actually when you look at this, it has nothing to do with guns, it is vaguely tyrannical behavior by the American government. I think that what the IRS did is bordering on tyrannical behavior. I think that what the Department of Justice to the AP bordering on tyrannical behavior."-Piers Morgan
Justice without force is powerless; force without justice is tyrannical.-Blaise Pascal
The collapse of an Interstate highway bridge in northern Washington state is a wake-up call for the entire nation, the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board says. Investigators need to find out what happened at the I-5 span 60 miles north of Seattle and if it could be repeated at similar bridges around the country, Debbie Hersman said Saturday.
"This is a really significant event and we need to learn from it, not just in Washington but around the country," Hersman said after taking a boat ride on the Skagit River below the dramatic scene where a truck bumped against the steel framework, collapsing the bridge and sending two vehicles and three people falling into the chilly water. "At the end of the day it's about preventing an accident like this," she said.
"According to the Republican budget that was passed, for example, we would have to eliminate transportation funding by a third. We’d have to cut transporting funding by a third. You remember when that bridge in Minnesota collapsed with all those people on it? And there was a big hue and cry: How can this happen in America? Well, the National Society of Engineers, they’ve looked around and they give us a 'D' when it comes to infrastructure. Our roads, our bridges, our sewer systems are all deteriorating."
"We don’t even have a serious high-speed rail infrastructure in this country," Obama continued. "Our broadband lines are slower than places like South Korea. Well, so what, we cut transportation by another third, and what’s going to happen to America? We’re just going to have potholes everywhere? We’re just going to have bridges collapsing everywhere?"
“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was the inadequate load capacity, due to a design error,” the NTSB states in its 2008 report on the incident.
In fact, the NTSB reported that on the day of the collapse, the bridge was in the process of being refurbished, further contradicting Obama’s claim that the collapse was evidence of a lack of infrastructure spending. “On the day of the collapse, roadway work was underway on the I35W bridge, and four of the eight travel lanes (two outside lanes northbound and two inside lanes southbound) were closed to traffic,” reads the NTSB report.
"We'll create 2 million jobs by rebuilding our crumbling roads, schools and bridges."
A short scene in the blockbuster that features a semi nude Alice Eve has caused such furor that the film's producer has publicly apologized for it. Damon Lindelof used his Twitter account to say sorry for the clip which has been deemed 'misogynistic' and unnecessary by some viewers. He posted: 'I copped to the fact that we should have done a better job of not being gratuitous in our representation of a barely clothed actress.'
The troublesome scene sees Eve's character Dr Carol Marcus get undressed out of her work clothes in front of Captain Kirk, played by Chris Pine. The rather racy shot, which was also heavily featured in the trailer for the film, has been questioned for its surplus nature.
The modern world is too frightened of tyrants to denounce them as tyrants, and too slavish to say much about slavery.-G.K. Chesterton
Drew Ryun applied (to the IRS) for permanent nonprofit status for a group called "Media Trackers" in July 2011. Fifteen months later, he'd heard nothing. So he applied again under the eco-friendly name of "Greenhouse Solutions," and was approved in three weeks.-Mark Steyn
The earlier story better fit Obama’s modus operandi, which is to disappear in times of crisis. His brief legislative career was about voting “present” because he prefers to be absent when accountability knocks. . . . He is not a commander-in-chief for the battle but the armchair general of the postmortem.-Roger Kimball
The president went on to complain that we “dishonor” the American officials who were killed by “extremists” (i.e., jihadists) “when we turn things like this into a political circus.” Well no, we dishonor them when we fail to get a full accounting of the events and decisions that resulted in their killing — things like exactly what the president was doing, minute by minute, during the many hours that Americans in Benghazi were under siege, and what actions — if any — he took to come to their rescue.-Andrew C. McCarthy
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Lynch (then Sp4c.) distinguished himself while serving as a radio telephone operator with Company D. While serving in the forward element on an operation near the village of My An, his unit became heavily engaged with a numerically superior enemy force. Quickly and accurately assessing the situation, Sgt. Lynch provided his commander with information which subsequently proved essential to the unit's successful actions. Observing 3 wounded comrades Lying exposed to enemy fire, Sgt. Lynch dashed across 50 meters of open ground through a withering hail of enemy fire to administer aid. Reconnoitering a nearby trench for a covered position to protect the wounded from intense hostile fire, he killed 2 enemy soldiers at point blank range. With the trench cleared, he unhesitatingly returned to the fire-swept area 3 times to carry the wounded men to safety. When his company was forced to withdraw by the superior firepower of the enemy, Sgt. Lynch remained to aid his comrades at the risk of his life rather than abandon them. Alone, he defended his isolated position for 2 hours against the advancing enemy. Using only his rifle and a grenade, he stopped them just short of his trench, killing 5. Again, disregarding his safety in the face of withering hostile fire, he crossed 70 meters of exposed terrain 5 times to carry his wounded comrades to a more secure area. Once he had assured their comfort and safety, Sgt. Lynch located the counterattacking friendly company to assist in directing the attack and evacuating the 3 casualties. His gallantry at the risk of his life is in the highest traditions of the military service, Sgt. Lynch has reflected great credit on himself, the 12th Cavalry, and the U.S. Army.
“A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces, but also by the men it honors; the men it remembers.”