Compromise Is Not An Option

 

We heard today that one of the Floggers has recently had a change of heart and has suggested a compromise for the flying of a Confederate Flag on the grounds of Confederate Memorial Park, now desecrated by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA). Apparently, another Flogger has chimed in, chiding us for “refusing to support a compromise offered”.

Refusing to support a compromise?

FIRST of all, we have never heard of this “offer”, as we do not read the garbage posted on these hate-filled blogs, so we did not “refuse” anything.

SECONDLY, neither of these amateur historians/bloggers speaks for the VMFA, that we know of, so NEITHER of them has the authority to “offer” anything... especially from their homes in MASSACHUSETTS and ARIZONA!

THIRDLY, even if there was an ACTUAL offer made by folks who are ACTUALLY authorized, we would ABSOLUTELY refuse compromise in any way, shape or form. The ONLY thing that will end the Flagging of the VMFA, is for the Confederate Battle Flags to be returned to the portico of the Confederate Memorial Chapel. NO compromise! NO retreat!

FINALLY, if these Floggers had any idea of what is going on in the Capital of the Confederacy, they would know that their “compromise” suggestion is as irrelevant as their attempt to insert themselves into our endeavors, since research by the Va Flaggers has determined that the Anti-Confederate behavior by the VMFA is not limited to the removal of the Battle Flags from the Chapel. In a March 31, 2010 meeting of the Executive Committee of the Board Trustees, the following motion was made...and carried UNANIMOUSLY...

“Motion: proposed by Mr. Moore and seconded by Mrs. Goode that the Museum is opposed to flying the Confederate Battle Flag or any of its derivatives on the Museum property. Motion carried unanimously.”

Yep… that’s a motion opposing ANY derivative of a Confederate Flag ANYWHERE on museum property. This is particularly egregious when you consider that the "Museum Property" they speak of is actually is located on Confederate Memorial Park, as specified in an agreement between the State of Virginia and the United Confederate Veterans.

Complete meeting minutes can be found here: http://www.vaflaggers.com/mins03312010.pdf

~ Grayson Jennings
   Va Flaggers





"I hold concession or compromise to be fatal. If we concede an inch, concession would follow concession — compromise would follow compromise, until our ranks would be so broken that effectual resistance would be impossible."

--John C. Calhoun

Alert: Protect Sergeant Phillip Monk from Air Force Court Martial

Via Cousin John

I write to you on a matter of great urgency. After reading this letter, please sign this petition to Acting Secretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning.

Today, I learned that the Air Force chain of command at Lackland Air Force Base (San Antonio, TX) has read Senior Master Sergeant Phillip Monk his Miranda rights. This is a serious matter. When a member of the armed forces is Mirandized it is a strong indication that those officials believe there has been a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

As you may recall, Sgt. Monk was relieved of his duties on June 25^th when he refused to agree with his openly lesbian commanding officer, Maj. Elisa Valenzuela, that a subordinate's expression of opposition to same-sex marriage constituted discrimination. Later, on August 20^th Sgt. Monk filed a petition for redress with Valenzuela under the UCMJ (Article 138).

As I understand it, Sgt Monk is now under investigation for making false official statements (UCMJ 107) for stating publicly and to the press that he believed he was being discriminated against due to his Christian beliefs. These are not even official statements, friends. These are trumped up charges.

This investigation is nothing more than intimidation. The Air Force is telling Christian service members that if you are a target of religious discrimination, you must remain silent about it or risk court martial.

Sign our petition to Acting Secretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning as we ask him to intervene immediately and protect the religious liberties of all service members -- not just Senior Master Sergeant Monk alone.

Sincerely,

Lt. Gen. (US Army-Ret.) William "Jerry" Boykin
Executive Vice President

The Shortest Books of All Time

Via Cousin John

 

MY BLACK GIRLFRIENDS

By Tiger Woods

__________

MY CHRISTIAN ACCOMPLISHMENTS

AND HOW I HELPED AFTER KATRINA

By Rev Jesse Jackson & Rev Al Sharpton

__________

THINGS I CANNOT AFFORD

By Bill Gates

__________

THINGS I WOULD NOT DO FOR MONEY

By Dennis Rodman

__________

THINGS WE KNOW TO BE TRUE

By Al Gore and John Kerry

__________

GUIDE TO THE PACIFIC

By Amelia Earhart

__________

HOW TO LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST

By Dr. Jack Kevorkian

__________

TO ALL THE MEN WE HAVE LOVED BEFORE

By Ellen de Generes and Rosie O'Donnell

__________

GUIDE TO DATING ETIQUETTE

By Mike Tyson

__________

THE AMISH PHONE DIRECTORY

__________

MY PLAN TO FIND THE REAL KILLERS

By O. J. Simpson

__________

HOW TO DRINK AND DRIVE SAFELY

By Ted Kennedy

__________

MY BOOK OF MORALS

By Bill Clinton

With introduction by The Rev. Jesse Jackson

__________

MY COMPLETE KNOWLEDGE OF MILITARY STRATEGY

By Nancy Pelosi

__________

THINGS I DID TO DESERVE THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
By Barack Obama

Obama relying on student's spin on Syria?

 

McCain, Kerry also informed by 26-year-old at Georgetown

Evidence is mounting that the strategy by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Secretary of State John F. Kerry to cast members of the Free Syria Army as “moderates” among the rebel forces opposing the government of Bashir al-Assad was the brain-child of Elizabeth O’Bagy, a 26-year-old graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in Arab studies and political science at Georgetown University, who is working on a dissertation on woman’s militancy.

In his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, Kerry cited O’Bagy, arguing that the war in Syria is “not being waged entirely or even predominately by dangerous Islamists and al-Qaida die-hards,” but rather the struggle is being led but “moderate opposition forces – a collection of groups known as the Free Syria Army.”

Kerry was citing an opinion piece O’Bagy wrote for the Wall Street Journal on Aug. 30 titled “On the Front Lines of Syria’s Civil War.” It ran with a tag-line “The conventional wisdom – that jihadists are running the rebellion [in Syria] – is not what I’ve witnessed on the ground.”

The O’Bagy narrative, however, is contradicted by intelligence estimates and experts specializing in the region.

More @ WND

No choice but to attack Syria........

Via Blue

Remington, Lapua lower prices on premium ammo and components

 

With ammo returning to store shelves in fits and starts, it’s clear that most ammunition manufacturers have focused their tooling on the common and popular calibers, leaving many niche shooters out.

Some types of ammo, like 300 AAC Blackout and 6.5 Grendel are nearly worth their weight in gold, if you can find them.

The good news is that Remington and Lapua are working to get hard-to-find ammo and components into shooters’ hands.

More @ GUNS

San Jose man killed in San Mateo gunbattle during robbery

Via Equal Force

 

A San Mateo man was wounded during a gunbattle late Wednesday with three thieves -- that left a San Jose man dead and another suspect hospitalized -- after they burst into his home, police said.

Bryant Ma, 23, was the alleged armed robber killed in the gunfire that erupted about 11:30 p.m. inside a home in the 1500 block of Lodi Avenue, according to the San Mateo County Coroner's Office. The two other suspects, whose names were not released, were expected to be arrested on murder charges for his death, San Mateo police Deputy Chief Mike Callagy said.

The 24-year-old resident who fired at the alleged robbers was wounded in the shoulder but was expected to survive his injuries. Callagy declined to say what the thieves took during the home invasion robbery and said it remains unclear why the suspects targeted the home on a typically quiet residential street. Police said they are not aware of any previous problems at the home that could be related to the robbery.

                                                               More @ Mercury News

PL 101 Concept

Via szhaman

Polish to English translation

Car Direct Support
conceptual model

DIRECT SUPPORT CAR TRACK IS combat armored vehicle, which significantly improve the potential POLISH ARMED FORCES FIGHTING. VEHICLE has high mobility and good firepower AND HIGHER LEVEL OF PROTECTION CREW.

The main task of the Direct Support Car is destroying armored targets and manpower potential adversary that could endanger other vehicles such as wheeled armored personnel carriers and infantry combat vehicles which are not equipped with adequate resources to fight the fire to allow such a threat.

 

An Open Letter to Barack Obama from a Vietnam Veteran: "The Muslim Brotherhood are the BAD GUYS and everyone else COULD be our friends."

Mr. Barack Obama
The White House
Washington, D.C.

Mr. Obama:

While watching the news recently (there is only ONE channel that actually broadcasts "news" so you most likely missed it) there was much discussion about your all too familiar inability to make a decision that would actually benefit this country in addressing the escalating disaster in the Middle East.

I felt it my patriotic duty to try to help you sort through this mess that you have single handedly created. Please keep in mind that I am trying hard not to be overly critical of your performance in dealing with what is fast becoming a second holocaust but am simply trying to help. It would be totally inappropriate for me to be critical of someone who is so uniquely unqualified, ill equipped and massively conflicted as to what to do.

So let me offer some professional advice. Unlike yourself and your academic cronies, anarchist criminals (i.e. Bill Ayers) and your America hating Jeremiah "God Damn America" Wright that you surround yourself with, I have actually lived in the Middle East for a number of years (i.e. Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc. etc.).

I was close to the throne when Mr. Jimmy Carter threw the Shah of Iran under the bus and you are following closely in his footsteps but with far more dangerous and far reaching consequences.

More @ Freedom Outpost

Speaker of Syrian People’s Assembly to US: “If You Bomb Us, Shall We not Bleed?”

 

In a passionate letter, dated September 4, 2013, the Speaker of the People's Assembly of the Syrian Arab Republic Mohammad Jihad al-Lahham wrote to Speaker of the House John Boehner and asked that he read it before the Congress.

In the letter, al-Lahham pleaded with the United States Congress to listen not only as "fellow Parliamentarians," but also as "fathers and mothers….human beings" asking, "if you bomb us, shall we not bleed?"

The Speaker also pointed out that many innocent people would be harmed in such an attack. "Local tragedies become regional wars that led to global conflict because of the lack of communication among nations," al-Lahham writes. "We urge you to communicate with us through civilized dialogue rather than the language of fire and blood."

The Syrian Speaker says that Syria and the United States have a common enemy in what he refers to as the "Wahhabi Jihadist Ideology." In fact, he states "the hatred Wahhabi Jihadist Ideology adopted and financed by Saudis" was "the main factor of 9.11 attacks."

Al-Lahham pointed out that Syria is the "last living genuine secular state in the Middle East" and that it was the "first country that faced fundamentalist fanatic terrorism in the late seventies." His country is now facing "tens of thousands of none (sic) Syrian jihadists."

He then quotes President Franklin D. Roosevelt,

"I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made."

More @ Freedom Outpost

Syrian Woman Rips Into McCain At Town Hall

How things look off the coast of Syria

Via LH

Bare Naked Islam

ENLARGED

While the leaders of the two superpowers are shaking hands for the camera in St. Petersburg, their Navies are sending a different message. Here is the latest  breakdown of the world’s key Navies in the Mediterranean theater of Naval operations as of last night.  There are also reports the Chinese have joined the fray on the Russian side.

Democrats Blame Bush For Syria

 

Albert Einstein said: "You can't blame gravity for falling in love."

There is virtue in assigning blame to yourself when it is appropriate to do so. That seems like an obvious statement—and it is—but we live in such a self-centered society that selflessness is something quite rare. We are quick to pin the blame on anyone else but ourselves, so long as people will believe us. We've become a blame-centric culture because, if you're a good enough manipulator, you'll never feel the repercussions of being at fault.

A group of people specially designed for pinning blame is the Democrats. It's as if they were born for it. If any Democrat makes a bad judgement call or a poor decision, it is never their fault.

On the O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly interviewed Democrat pundit James Carville. O'Reilly makes a point that Americans are beginning to see Obama as incompetent because of the Syrian debacle:

O'Reilly: "...But the element here, Carville, is that many people think that Barack Obama is incompetent and he can't -- he can't do this."

Carville: "Well, I will definitely -- he's handled the Middle East pretty well so far. Bin Laden --"

O'Reilly: "Libya a mess. Iran is defiant...it doesn't seem to be any clear vision on the part of President Obama. He doesn't have -- 'here is what I want.' He doesn't have that."

More @ Last Resistance

Marine Infantry Combat Veteran Bryan Bates at John McCain Tucson Town Hall, September 5, 2013

Via LH

Spitfire 944

Via Cousin Colby

Graham: Nukes In Hands Of Terrorists Could Result In Bomb Coming To Charleston Harbor

 

Via comment by Anonymous on China Sends Warships & 1000 Marines to Syria, Accu..

  Just shut up.

South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham says he’s convinced that Syrian President Assad used chemical weapons on his own people.

Graham told reporters in Goose Creek on Tuesday that taking action against Syria in response to the situation is not a question of yes or no, but rather a question of bad or worse choices.

He says if there is no U.S. response, Iran will not believe America’s resolve to block Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Graham also says those nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists could result in a bomb coming to Charleston Harbor.

More @ CBS

China Sends Warships & 1000 Marines to Syria, Accuses the U.S. of lying About Syria And Ignoring International Laws. Russia Sends another Amphibous Assault Ship. Turkey Sends More Troops to Syria Border

Via Billy

Russia is sending its large landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov towards the Syrian coast, state news agency Interfax quoted a navy source as saying on Friday.

More @ Investment Watch

Map: Where You Don’t Want to Be When It Hits the Fan

Via WiscoDave

(For a complete list of the counties highlighted on this map click here)

When it hits the fan America’s population centers will explode in violence, looting, and total breakdown of law and order.

It’s a theory put forth by numerous survival and relocation specialists, and one that makes complete sense if you consider what happens in a truly serious collapse-like scenario.

Survival Blog founder James Rawles calls them the golden horde:

Because of the urbanization of the U.S. population, if the entire eastern or western power grid goes down for more than a week, the cities will rapidly become unlivable. I foresee that there will be an almost unstoppable chain of events:

Power -> water -> food distribution -> law and order -> arson fires -> full scale looting

In his recent documentary Strategic Relocation, retreat expert Joel Skousen echoes Rawles’ warnings:

More @ SHTF Plan

Why the Ron Paul Homeschool Curriculum?

NC: Take Local Control and Rid Your School of Common Core Standards

Via avordvet

 

If you live in a “local control” state in terms of public education – and chances are you do – here is some enlightening news.

Your local school board probably has the legal right to remove your school district from the new Common Core academic standards that are being forced on school districts around the nation by state education officials.

It’s true in my home state of Wisconsin, and it’s been confirmed by state education officials in Ohio and North Carolina.Legislators and (state education departments) have, in my opinion, kept this information very close to the vest. That is deceit of the ugliest kind.

 

I contacted the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and asked the following question: 

If a school district decides to reject Common Core standards and replace them with a superior set

of standards, will that school district still receive state and/or federal funds?I received the following response from Emilie Amundsen, director of the Common Core State Standards Team at DPI: 

More @ The Blaze

Revealed: How US and UK spy agencies defeat internet privacy and security

Via avordvet

 

 • NSA and GCHQ unlock encryption used to protect emails, banking and medical records
• $250m-a-year US program works covertly with tech companies to insert weaknesses into products
• Security experts say programs 'undermine the fabric of the internet'

US and British intelligence agencies have successfully cracked much of the online encryption relied upon by hundreds of millions of people to protect the privacy of their personal data, online transactions and emails, according to top-secret documents revealed by former contractor Edward Snowden.

The files show that the National Security Agency and its UK counterpart GCHQ have broadly compromised the guarantees that internet companies have given consumers to reassure them that their communications, online banking and medical records would be indecipherable to criminals or governments.

The agencies, the documents reveal, have adopted a battery of methods in their systematic and ongoing assault on what they see as one of the biggest threats to their ability to access huge swathes of internet traffic – "the use of ubiquitous encryption across the internet".

More @  The Guardian

Colorado Prepares for First-Ever Recall Election – and It Could Have Far-Reaching Implications for Gun Owners in the State

Via avordvet

 

Colorado’s first-ever recall election is set for Sept. 10 – and it could have far-reaching implications for gun owners in the state.

Colorado voters say the recall election is about two state senators refusing to respect the Second Amendment and shutting constituents out of the legislative process, NRA News’ Ginny Simone reports.

Democratic state Sens. John Morse and Angela Giron are each facing recall over their support for the state’s new gun control laws, including one that limits magazine capacity and another requiring background checks on gun transfers. The new laws were passed in a furious effort to impose tighter gun control following the tragic Sandy Hook shooting.

In a captivating video report, NRA News spotlights the six “regular guys” who got together to launch the recall effort:

More with video @ The Blaze

Liberals reject Obama's case for Syria strikes; believe Obama and Kerry are lying

 

President Obama’s liberal activist base is adamantly opposed to military strikes in Syria, according to a new survey the Progressive Change Campaign Committee released Wednesday.

PCCC says more than 57,000 of its activists weighed in, and 73 percent of them opposed the U.S. taking action in Syria. Just 18 percent supported strikes, and just 14 percent said the U.S. should go ahead unilaterally if it can’t find any allies.

Indeed, a majority of the activists don’t believe Mr. Obama and Secretary of State John F. Kerry are being honest when they lay out their justifications for taking military action.

Four out of five activists also said they believe U.S. action will lead to deeper involvement in the civil war.

PCCC detailed the findings, which came from a three-day survey of its activists, in a memo to congressional Democrats.

More @ The Washington Times

NC: GPD dressed as road construction crew cite 52 drivers

Via Christina

 Cops or construction workers? Officers went undercover as part of the Aggressive Driving Campaign on Wendover Avenue on Thursday afternoon.

Greensboro police say they are seeing too many speeders, too many people not wearing seat belts and too many drivers not paying attention in construction zones.

“We get a lot of complaints from the workers in these construction zones, how motorists just come through there with disregard to their safety,” explained Greensboro Police Officer J.B. Price.

Officers ditched their cop uniforms, put on a hard hat and reflective vest and acted like construction workers on the corner of Meadowood and Wendover Avenue. They even used cones to block off a turn lane, to make it look like a construction zone.

Two officers patrolled the “construction zone” and kept an eye out for violators. When they spotted a driver breaking the law, the undercover officer called it in to other officers who waiting on each of Wendover to pull them over.

In an hour and a half, police handed out 52 tickets — 35 of them for seat belt violations.

More @ Fox

Iran threatens brutal attacks on Americans, Obama family if US hits Syria

 

As Congress debates whether to support President Obama’s call for a limited strike against Syria for the alleged use of chemical weapons, Iran is vowing to back Bashar al-Assad’s regime to the hilt and threatening to unleash terrorism should the U.S. strike.

Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Forces, Wednesday told the Assembly of Experts — the body that chooses the supreme leader — that “[w]e will support Syria to the end.”

And in an unprecedented statement, a former Iranian official has warned of mass abductions and brutal killings of American citizens around the world and the rape and killing of one of Obama’s daughters should the United States attack Syria.

More @ The Daily Caller

Russia: Strike on Syria could mean nuke disaster

Via Billy

 

Moscow to warn IAEA of 'catastrophic' results if atomic facilities hit

(Times of Israel) Russia is warning that a US strike on Syria’s atomic facilities might result in a nuclear catastrophe and is urging the UN to present a risk analysis of such a scenario.

The warning comes from Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Alexander Lukashevich. He said in a statement Wednesday that a strike on a miniature reactor near Damascus or other nuclear installations could contaminate the region with radioactivity, adding: “The consequences could be catastrophic.”

Poll @ WND

Judge Napolitano: US Strike on Syria Would Be War Crime

A U.S. strike against Syria would be a war crime says former Judge Andrew Napolitano.

Appearing on Fox News Channel on Thursday, Napolitano said that even a limited strike is illegal under international law and violates the U.S. Constitution.

"You can use military force to attack somebody that's attacked you, or you can use military force to attack somebody that's about to attack you," Napolitano said. "You can use military force to come to the aid of an ally that has been attacked when the ally asks for your assistance."

More @ Newsmax

Texas Teens Save Alleged Kidnap Victim Who Mouthed ‘Help Me’ From Car

Via WiscoDave

A just-released 911 call reveals the dramatic moment when two Dallas-area teens were able to help save a woman who had allegedly been kidnapped after they saw her mouth the words “help me” from the back of a moving vehicle.

Charles Atkins Lewis, 37, was arrested Aug. 22 after allegedly kidnapping the woman, 25, who has not been identified, at gunpoint and forcing her into his car in downtown Dallas. The two teenagers noticed the woman from their car as Lewis allegedly drove her through Kaufman County, according to the recording.

“Yes, I’m on the highway. I’m witnessing a robbery. Not a robbery, a kidnapping,” Aaron Arias, 19, told a 911 dispatcher. “It’s me and another guy. So we’re checking out the girl in the backseat because we’re like, ‘OK, she’s kind of attractive’, and then all of a sudden the guy is turned back, looking at us.

“We looked in the backseat and the blond female in the back was saying, ‘Help me,’ or something, whispering it. So I’m assuming it is a kidnapping.”

More with video @ ABC

FSA al-Qaeda Terrorists Vow to Slaughter All of the Christians Once the U.S. ‘Liberates’ Syria

Via LH

 

While U.S. leaders continue pushing for war against the Syrian government, today “Al-Qaeda-linked rebels,”reports AP, “launched an assault on a regime-held Christian mountain village in the densely populated west of Syria and new clashes erupted near the capital, Damascus, on Wednesday…  In the attack on the village of Maaloula, rebels commandeered a mountaintop hotel and nearby caves and shelled the community below, said a nun, speaking by phone from a convent in the village. She spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.”

 

Arabic news agency Al Hadath gives more information concerning this latest terror attack on Syria’s Christians, specifically how the al-Qaeda linked rebels “terrorized the Christians,threatening to be avenged on them after the triumph of the revolution.”

 

Thus al-Qaeda terrorists eagerly await U.S. assistance against the Syrian government, so they can subjugate if not slaughter Syria’s Christians, secularists, and non-Muslims — even as the Obama administration tries to justify war on Syria by absurdly evoking the “human rights” of Syrians on the one hand, and lying about al-Qaeda’s presence in Syria on the other.

 

Update: 

 

More information on yesterday’s al-Qaeda led attack on the Christian village of Maaloula near Damascus, Syria. Not only did they firebomb the village, and threaten to slaughter all Christians once the U.S. helps “liberate” Syria, but they also fired missiles and mortars at two ancient churches, St. Alias Church and St. Grace Church, while spraying the entrances of the churches with bullets. 

 

 More @ Sharia Unveiled

Obama on Verge of Historic Rebuke Over Syria

 

The biggest losers in the battle, Towery says, may be House Leaders John Boehner and Eric Cantor, because they have voiced support for the measure.

"I don't think this will be a history-making failure on Obama's part, because I think his presidency is basically at a point where it is viewed as ineffective and pretty much at its end anyway. This may be the bow at the top of the package marking the ineffectiveness in the second term. But I don’t think this will be a new emblem of failure. I mean, we’re already there," Towery said.

But he added: "It would be very difficult for Boehner and Cantor to be re-elected to leadership of the House, with this sort of revolt on their hands."

He also called the division within the GOP between the leadership and the base "a harbinger of things to come."

"A Republican Party that is barely holding itself together at the seams in my opinion is splitting itself apart," Towery said. "In my opinion, that’s almost as big a story as a president who in his second term is proving to be almost completely ineffective."

********************************************* 

President Barack Obama appears to be dangerously close to what would be an historic rebuke at the hands of Congress, if the current whip-count projections on the authorization to attack Syria continue to hold.

Pundits on both sides of the aisle say losing the high-stakes bid for congressional authorization would make Obama an instant lame-duck, and might well endanger his entire second-term agenda.

The resolution authorizing an attack on Syrian strongman Bashar Assad, as punishment for his use of chemical weapons against his own people, is still expected to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate.

But the real question mark all along has been whether the administration could muster enough support to get the attack resolution through the House. And there, the situation for the administration appears to be growing dimmer by the hour.

Various news organizations are contacting members of Congress to see where they stand on the attack authorization. While each outlet has different numbers, the ominous sign for the administration is that all of them show the "no" votes outpacing the "yes" votes by a more than a 3-1 margin.

Most alarming for the administration may be The Washington Post whip count.

The Post has contacted 371 of the 435 members of the House. Of those contacted, 204 representatives are against authorization or leaning against it. That compares to 24 members in favor and 143 members who are undecided, and 48 of the undecided representatives are Republicans.  

More @ Newsmax

Chino's Planes of Fame

Via WiscoDave

The Planes of Fame Air Show in Chino, CA was an excellent opportunity to get my fill of WWII vintage warbirds. Many different types of fighters and bombers were flying for the show including:

P-51s, P-40s, P-38s, F4Us, Zeros, Val, Spitfire, Hellcat, Wildcat, Firefly, Bearcat, Fury, B-25s, and a B-17. As a bonus, there was a WWII ground reenactment (complete with tanks and halftracks) which provided the icing on the cake!

The light was great for photography, but the heat at times was unbearable! It's only May, but Chino was well over 100 degrees F that day (someone said 110F). Using my camera was like putting a hot plate to my face! Even thinking about it makes me thirsty now. Good thing I escaped getting heat stroke.

Used a Nikon D200 and D50 w/ a 70-300mm VR lens, and 18-55mm lens. Prop planes shot in shutter priority exposure mode (mostly between 1/160 and 1/320sec), with continuous autofocus. The jet shots were around 1/1000sec.

Updated 7/18/08: Added addtional information in the captions for the Corsairs from emails I received. - Bernard Zee

 More @ BZ's

Laughing in the face of death: Revealed, a poignant treasure trove of memorabilia from the trenches

Via WiscoDave

Imperial War Museum reopens with brand new First World War galleries for 100th anniversary of 1914-1918 conflict 

Previously unseen photos from IWM archives revealed in DAILY MAIL 'Citizens' War' and 'Life on the Front' galleries will focus on human impact

Here's one Great War medal that was never worn on parade. But, then, it was not awarded for gallantry or leadership or distinguished conduct. It was awarded to the winner of a vegetable-growing competition for the military near Le Havre in 1918.

Alongside the medal sits a calling card from a Madame Juliette, proprietor of an extremely dubious address in Arras. ‘Where are we going tonight??’ it asks, above an invitation to ‘Voir ces Dames’ (literally, ‘see these ladies’). 

Then there’s a smart red leather medical wallet from royal chemists Savory & Moore, sent by a worried family to a Lieutenant at Gallipoli. The various sachets include cocaine — for ‘a tickling cough’ — and opium — for ‘diarrhoea and dysentery’. No prescription needed, it seems. They are just a few examples from the most extraordinary collection of World War I memorabilia in existence. After almost a century under wraps, much of it is being prepared to go on display in what will be the most comprehensive exhibition on the Great War ever mounted. 

More @ Daily Mail