Friday, October 19, 2012

Weighty memento: war veteran's secret revealed after his death

Via Daily Timewaster 

War hero's cremation leaves huge pile of shrapnel

Ronald Brown stepped on a land mine while on a mission in France in August 1944.
The blast peppered his left leg with red-hot fragments and he was forced to crawl two miles to safety.
But because of medical conditions of the day it was thought safer to leave shrapnel in his body.
He survived the war but only ever told his family the basic story and said the accident had left him with a 'bad knee'.

Mr Brown told loved ones he still had a 'bullet' in his leg and asked his grandchildren not to sit on his knee because of the pain it caused.
But when he died last week aged 94 his family had him cremated and were stunned when staff handed them back a big bag of shrapnel.

The bag contained a whopping 6oz of bomb shrapnel that he had been carrying around for 60 years.

Obama Supporter: Mitt Romney Is a Communist

 

..........Americans will follow the Soviets and British into the same trap the Afghans have so ably set for every invader.

Via WRSA


“One day you will take a fork in the road, and you’re going to have to make a decision about which direction you want to go. If you go one way, you can be somebody. You will have to make your compromises and … turn your back on your friends, but you will be a member of the club, and you will get promoted and get good assignments. Or you can go the other way, and you can do something, something for your country and for your Air Force and for yourself. … You may not get promoted, and you may not get good assignments, and you certainly will not be a favorite of your superiors, but you won’t have to compromise yourself. … In life there is often a roll call. That’s when you have to make a decision: to be or to do.”                                                                                                                 -COL John Boyd

John Boyd did the intellectual heavy lifting after WWII to offer a new strategic paradigm to orchestrate warfare and deeply analyze why the larger nation-states would have increasing challenges that neither technologies nor big budgets would solve.  The purpose of this research paper is to configure a Boydian lens over the current American conflict in Afghanistan in general and examine the green-on-blue violence phenomenon in detail to illustrate how the insurgent forces have commandeered the operational level.  Green-on-blue violence is the instantiation of hostile action against allied forces by indigenous coalition forces.

John Boyd was a visionary and much maligned defense intellectual who pioneered a number of theories and grand strategic suggestions which were almost counterintuitive to the accepted precepts and nostrums of the classical and neo-classical military philosophers and thinkers who had influenced the post-WWII Western vision of how military organizations train and fight.  He was the polar opposite of celebrated but fatally flawed modern strategic thinkers like Herman Kahn and John Von Neumann.  He realized that the future fight and the evolution of warfare would still be ultimately reliant on people and not technology.
 
Boyd discovered and pioneered the modern Air Force combat fighter pilot methodology and contributed in deeper philosophical waters with an examination of how to build cost effective fighting organizations, prescient predictions of new (due to historical amnesia by the West) modes of conflict such as Fourth Generation Warfare and was one of the key innovators in designing the F-15 and F-16 fighter aircraft.  One of the peculiarities of Boyd the man was that he did not write books and most of his intellectual legacy has been written by others. What makes Boyd even more interesting, if not enigmatic, is he is rather hard to pin down for a legacy in the pantheon of modern strategic thought except through his followers and acolytes.

Boyd always emphasized dynamism in thinking and the willingness of large and small organizations to adapt to emerging changes and threats.  Purpose and not merely process were driving attitudes that imbued his work and thinking; a purpose to react in conflict in a fashion that would gain advantage by striking weakness or leveraging surprise.  Nothing Sun Tzu would find scintillating or irregular.
Boyd then extrapolates these seemingly ordinary nostrums into human decision cycles.  His prognostication on the Observe, Orient, Decide and Act (OODA) Loop provides an elegant explanation on the way humans do their everyday business and wage war.  His influence has spread far beyond the war-room to the corporate boardroom. As with all intellectual contests, he has his share of detractors who find him shallow, derivative or unoriginal.

Colin S. Gray describes as eight attributes of the American approach to strategy. [1]  While Gray hails from an ultra-Clausewitzian school of strategic thought and has on occasion taken a dim view of Boyd, they happen to agree on these approaches and why most are pathologically wrong-headed.

More @ ZeroGov

Goodies from the Moneychanger


On 19 October 202 BC the invading Romans under Scipio Africanus at the battle of Zama in North Africa beat Hannibal Barca, Carthaginian general who had invaded Italy and wreaked havoc on Rome for decades. Zama ended the Second Punic War, and Carthage had to accept terms that forever removed it as a challenge to Roman control of the Mediterranean. Fifty years later in the Third Punic War the Romans captured Carthage, razed it, and *sowed the ground with salt. 

Oddly enough, on 19 October 439 a.d., over 600 years later, the Germanic Vandals led by King Gaiseric took a re-built Carthage from the Roman empire.

On 19 October 1781 Cornwallis, trapped at Yorktown, Virginia by a French fleet & combined French & American army, surrendered to George Washington & Count de Rochambeau. His surrender effectively ended the War for Independence in an American victory.

*Man, if I heard that one time, I've heard it a hundred from my mother.

For UN Day: Work to Get US out!


Here it is again, UN Day on October 24. This year the United Nations Association of the USA, along with others, is celebrating the 67th anniversary of when the United Nations Charter went into effect. Once again, the United Nations Association is asking its chapters and members to: (1) write to their governors to ask them to proclaim October 24 as UN Day; and (2) write letters to their congressmen asking them to support full funding for the UN.

On the other hand, The John Birch Society has been warning about the threat to our national sovereignty posed by the UN ever since our founding meeting in December 1958. There's a good chance you've seen one of our signs with our Get US out! slogan.

We've just produced a new educational tool for this long-standing action campaign, "United Nations: On the Brink of Becoming a World Government." You can read this article online or buy reprints of it for distribution to others.

The subtitle of the article says it all. The UN is really on the brink of becoming a world government. And that means we're on the brink of losing our national independence and our personal freedoms. Be sure to read this new article. It is complete with maps and photos of UN installations around the world.

Another new educational tool is the recently released, entertaining, but very eye-opening film exposé, U.N. Me, on DVD. Click here to see the official theatrical trailer. Click here to buy U.N. Me on DVD. Show it to friends and opinion-molders in your sphere of influence. It will even create doubts about the UN in the minds of your liberal friends.

Here's Your Action Plan for UN Day
Further Resources
Thanks.

Your Friends at The John Birch Society

The Libertarian Party

Via Arbat
 

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Into the Cannibal's Pot: Preparation for Genocide

Via Matthew

 

When most Americans think of South Africa, the first thing that comes to mind is the campaign led by Nelson Mandela to end the apartheid . Nelson Mandela who was considered herioc was championed by Hollywood Celebrities and the American media for fighting to end the evil white supremacist system. However as soon as Mandela's African National Congress took power the rest of the world stoped paying attention to what is going on it that nation.

Genocide Watch which is a well respected mainstream organization recently upgraded South Africa to a stage 6 which is preperation for genocide from stage 5 which is polarization. They point out that "Julius Malema, then the Marxist racist President of the African National Congress Youth League," openly would sign the anti-whote song "“Shoot the Boer," and that he has "called for expropriation of white owned land when he was in Zimbabwe visiting Robert Mugabe." Genocide watch has concluded "that violence against whites is now being planned and incited by one of the most important leaders of the New South Africa," and that "it will keep at stage 6 prepreation until Julius Malema is removedd from his position of growing power."

Despite the double standards that the politically correct establishment always tends to view whites as the oppresors its hard not to see parrales between the pressent situation in South Africa and the events that led up to the Genoicde against the Jews in Nazi Germany. While are leaders are always talking about promoting democracy abroad the situation in South Africa proves that majority rule democracy does not protect the rights of unpopular minorities.

Illana Mercer who was born in South Africa and who's father Rabbi Ben Isaacson, who was active in the anti-Apartheid movement has a book out "Into the Cannibal's Pot: Lessons for America from Post Apartheid South Africa." Mercer makes comparisons between the United States and South Africa where the founding European stock yields power and dominace in the interested of justice and liberty. However the Black population in South Africa chose to seek vengence rather than persue those enlightenment qualities. Mercer expresses great concern that if the United States does not change course it will follow doen the same path of South Africa.

In the firs chapter "Crime, the Beloved Country" she deals with the horific autrocities being commited in South Africa. Mercer points out that during Apartheid the nation, which was based on Roman and Dutch Law, was relatively safe. The South African Police had zero tollerance for barbaric traditions such Ritual Killings, Human Sacrifices, "Necklacing(placing a diesel doused tire around ones neck and igniting it), and the practise of raping infants to cure AIDS.

On Colonels, Sergeants, and Privates

Via Terry

Encouraging.


VERBATIM

A lot of folks think that I had died, fallen off a cliff, or been stampeded.  Thanks for all of your concern and if I didn’t answer your email I’m sorry – the internet connections where I was at sucked big time.  I have actually been overseas for the last few weeks on a short term contract and despite dealing with the typical DoD and DoS bullshit I had a pretty good time and made some shiny change to boot.

The defense piece will pickup again next week but I want to relay something I encountered while abroad and the feeling is still fresh in my gut.  Being an old troop one of the things I revel in is spending time with young troops just shooting the breeze.  During this trip I got to spend some quality time with a lot of troops from various different types of units.  And what I heard was both encouraging and alarming in a positive way at the same time.  Yeah I heard the normal bitching, whining, moaning, and complaining that troops do but there was a deeper theme.  Almost to the man when it came around to politics I hear one common theme: “Fuck the president”.  From a private this wouldn’t be alarming but folks I had a Colonel say that to me.  A full chicken war college grad made that statement in a semi public environment.  That’s serious – a senior leader publicly slamming the commander in chief.  And no I will not identify him so you DoD fucks don’t even bother asking.

The bottom line is almost every Soldier, Sailor, Airman, and god blessed Marine I spoke with pretty much hates Obama.  From the Rules of Engagement (RoE) that ties their hands and causes a helluva lot more casualties nowadays to the lack of real leadership and genuine concern at the cabinet level the theme is the same – they feel shit on.  Guys I talked with a Master Sergeant that has had one extraordinary career and is lined up to go to the Sergeants Major Academy and is being fast tracked to Command Sergeant Major (CSM) flat out state he’s retiring as soon as he gets back because he’s tired and isn’t willing to lead under (and I’m quoting as well as my memory serves) ” this chickenshit spineless policies of this circus clown administration”.

You know what else I saw?  A metric fuckload of Gadsen, OathKeeper, and Molon Labe patches and stickers.   There’s been talk lately stateside about how the growing numbers of folks have turned libertarian and started prepping for when TSHTF.  And the military folks I ran into ain’t no different – they’re turned on to the fact something bad is coming and they ain’t planning on sticking around for it.

Take it for what it is but remember that these kids (and not so young kids) are getting just as much if not more of the shitty end of the stick as the rest of us.   They’re fed up and tired of an administration that has become not only aggravating but lethal to them.

14 yr-old special-needs student with cerebral palsy assaulted by 18 yr-old Football player

Via Nancy

 

Authorities have confirmed a complaint has been lodged alleging a special-needs student was assaulted by another student Thursday at George County High School.

Shonna Pierce of the George County Sheriff's Office said deputies were told an unnamed student allegedly thought the disabled student had thrown a soda can at him so he beat up the student.
A hospital emergency room called the sheriff's office about the incident, but since it happened on a school campus, the school resource office is leading the investigation at the present, Pierce said.
School security chief Al Hillman said any information about the incident would have to come from the district superintendent's office.

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2012/10/19/4253454/special-needs-student-assaulted.html##storylink=cpy

The district office could not be immediately reached for comment Friday morning.

More @ Sun Herald

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2012/10/19/4253454/special-needs-student-assaulted.html#storylink#storylink=cpy

Letter to Nancy Pelosi 2009

Via Bill