Check in with Zo

H/T to IMAO once again. Here's the latest from Zo:

Penn and Teller take down of Obama

Obviously, a language warning here. It's Penn and Teller after all.

For Obama, anything to get elected

From Mohammed over at Iraq The Model we have Obama’s Meddling Undermines Future U.S.-Iraq Relationship regarding the status of forces agreement and attempts by Obama to undermine it for political gain.

• While Iraqi and American negotiators and decision makers are doing what they can to finalize the agreement and reach a compromise on disputed issues, we find that everyone outside the negotiations is trying to put the stick in the wheel. But those are mostly parties that don’t want any good for Iraq and consider America a malicious intruder at best and a blood enemy at worst. What I find surprising is that someone from America is trying to obstruct the treaty. Believe it or not, there’s actually a guy who has no executive authority whatsoever — except in opinion polls — who is trying to bypass the actual top diplomats of the United States and undermine their negotiation efforts with a friendly state, at a time of war.I was hoping that presidential candidates would not put their electoral objectives above those of their nation. Alas, blinding greed and selfishness seem to prevail sometimes.
  

How low will he go to get himself elected? As low as it takes, apparently.

Another one from Zo

* Update - It isn't viewable through some browsers so go to Zo's website to veiw it *


And, once again, he nails it.

H/T to IMAO, once again.

Check out Zo's website, too.

He wants to be President?

Would he even bother showing up for the job?

H/T to RedWing over at Redstate

Another worthwhile video

Hopefully, you have a spare 11 minutes. I don't normally like to post long videos, but this one is too good to pass up.

Interesting read about Media bias

From ABC news, no less. Media's Presidential Bias and Decline

• The traditional media are playing a very, very dangerous game -- with their readers, with the Constitution and with their own fates. The sheer bias in the print and television coverage of this election campaign is not just bewildering, but appalling. And over the last few months I've found myself slowly moving from shaking my head at the obvious one-sided reporting, to actually shouting at the screen of my television and my laptop computer.

H/T to JPH over at Redstate

What he said

H/T IMAO

Fred's message to voters

Joe the Plumber

So, how'd we get in this mess, anyway...

Michael Reagan on Sarah Palin

Personally, I don't think of Sarah Palin as the resurrection of anyone but rather the first Sarah Palin, but Michael Reagan sees it differently. He says Welcome Back, Dad

• I’ve been trying to convince my fellow conservatives that they have been wasting their time in a fruitless quest for a new Ronald Reagan to emerge and lead our party and our nation. I insisted that we’d never see his like again because he was one of a kind.

  I was wrong!

Hat tip to Pat Dollard

So, how do we get more Governor Palins?

You might think that's just pure luck, but there's a way to get more of this. Fred Thompson has started a Political Action Committee to promote true conservatives like Governor Palin and to help get them elected to office wherever he may find them. I've signed on and I have a widget up on the top right of the page where you can go contribute. You can also go and sign up at FredPAC.com to do other valuable things to help. If you can only dig up $25 of so from time to time, just hit the widget and Fred and I thank you.

I think Colorado just went back red

It's hard to get a solid read on things viewing just my tiny little slice of Americana, but Governor Palin's speech last night looks to go down as truly historic. A lot of the fence sitters, be it Democrat, Independent, or Republican, became committed to Palin. We'll see next week when the poll watchers chime in, but my unscientific polls indicate a huge grab by the McCain/Palin ticket. I think they ended up being a lot like me and have decided to vote for Governor Palin and whoever that Yahoo is she's got running with her...

I also know why. It's purely on what she's done. She managed to work her way from being a member of the local PTA all the way up to candidate for Vice President of the United States of America. She either didn't encounter any glass ceilings (we Republicans are funny that way) or she just totally obliterated them. Either way though, it takes a strong personality and sharp mind to accomplish what she's accomplished. America sees something they like.

Now, just to put me on cloud nine, the Democrats are livid. Even better is, there's totally nothing they can do about it They can't undo her record.

That was their only shot, because option B for them is to convince everyone to un-like her...

Hey, someone buy Governor Palin a beer! It's on me!

Governor Palin. YOU DA MAN!

As you all know, Governor Sarah Palin delivered a speech at the RNC last night and man, did she nail it. Listening to the media review it and downplay it because it was written for her and all she had to do was read it (which just so happens to be what all the candidates do), then to find out this morning that her teleprompter broke partway through and she just winged it the rest of the way makes me understand just how impressive this woman really is.

The VP debate is going to be very interesting. Joe Biden, meet Sarah Barracuda...

Couple of other interesting thoughts on last night:

Our girls are so much better looking than the Democrat girls.

It was mentioned in one of the earlier speeches that Palin garnered more votes running for Mayor of that little town in Alaska than Biden got running for President.

I watched most of the events on CSPAN so I didn't have to put up with the media slant and got to hear Michael Steele's speech. It was another great speech that got the crowd worked up pretty good. You may have heard the catch phrase "drill baby drill" throughout the night and that was from his speech.

Sarah Palin proved beyond a shadow of a doubt she is ready to be "a heatbeat away from the Presidency".

Can we start the Palin/Jindal 2012 campaign yet?

What a rockin' VP pick!

I certainly didn't get my presidential pick, but at least my top VP pick is made. Now, I can actually support McCain. Palin's likeabilty factor is off the charts.

The real story about that Georgia/Russia war

It's apparently pretty much just the opposite of what you've been told by the media. Michael J. Totten investigated and verified The Truth About Russia in Georgia. You'll be amazed how badly wrong the reports on the whole deal actually are.

• TBILISI, GEORGIA – Virtually everyone believes Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili foolishly provoked a Russian invasion on August 7, 2008, when he sent troops into the breakaway district of South Ossetia. “The warfare began Aug. 7 when Georgia launched a barrage targeting South Ossetia,” the Associated Press reported over the weekend in typical fashion.

  Virtually everyone is wrong. Georgia didn't start it on August 7, nor on any other date. The South Ossetian militia started it on August 6 when its fighters fired on Georgian peacekeepers and Georgian villages with weapons banned by the agreement hammered out between the two sides in 1994. At the same time, the Russian military sent its invasion force bearing down on Georgia from the north side of the Caucasus Mountains on the Russian side of the border through the Roki tunnel and into Georgia. This happened before Saakashvili sent additional troops to South Ossetia and allegedly started the war.

And, for more on this also see Redstate's BatMasterson and his Russian Journalist Oleg Panfilov "Putin is solely responsible. Saakashvili had no choice" : Kremlin Stooge Kokoity Started War

So, are you still a racist?

If you aren't going to vote for Obama, you'll need to be prepared for that question. I've said all along that many people are going to vote for Obama merely under the false assumption that it will end racism. They will be dead wrong. The Democrats will never allow racism to end. My view is an over simplistic version of what the actual deal is though.

John Hawkins over at Right Wing News covers it much better as he explains The Faustian Bargain At The Heart Of Obama's Campaign

• People who are honest will admit that race is a double edged sword for Barack Obama. Yes, there are certainly racist Democrats and independents out there who will not vote for Barack Obama because he's black. On the other hand, if Barack Obama weren't black, he could have never gotten this far. A white man with his experience and abilities wouldn't have even been considered qualified to run for the presidency, much less actually become the party's nominee.

TheSophist over at Redstate explains that the Democrats are already laying the groundwork with his Dems Already Making Preemptive Excuses

• Tell me if you've had this happen to you recently. You're conversing/debating with a known leftist friend or colleague, and the topic of Obama comes up. They spend several hours praising The One, how he's so brilliant, so articulate, so charming, so... everything this country needs.

  Then they say, "But I don't think he's going to be elected" with despair in their voice.

  Naturally, you ask, "Why would you say that?"

  The answer: Because the country is too racist to vote a black man for President.

Read both and you will clearly see that this is a question you will be presented with. In certain instances, they may even throw in the "are you still beating your wife?" one too.

Me? I'm not voting for Obama for many reasons and none have to do with race. If we would have followed his lead in January 2007 we would have had all our troops out of Iraq by March 2008. That was what he said we had to do. That would have left Iraq to Al Qaeda.

Yeah, but he has Joe Biden on the ticket now, so he has foreign policy expertise, you say? Right, Joe Biden's answer at the same time was not any better. He wanted to split Iraq into 3 pieces, pin a sheriffs badge on someone, then high tail it out of there. That leaves Iraq to Al Qaeda too, although they may have just settled for a third of Iraq. Not much of an improvement.

There are more, like the fact that Obama thinks $4.00 a gallon gas is a good thing, but it just went there too fast, and his wanting a bigger chunk out of any capital gains I might get.

I'll still be called racist though, you know...

What will Obama's economic plan do for the U.S.?

From Right Wing News it's broken down pretty well in Entitlements or Strength?

• The WSJ connects the dots between Obamenomics and military weakness:

  Given the hearty support Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama received in Europe last month, he must have noticed the surprise and skepticism among some Germans when he asked that Europeans contribute more for defense. Many Europeans argue they cannot afford such an additional expenditure.

  Better even to be as dependent on the endlessly demonized USA as a baby bird on its mother than to try to pay for military strength they cannot afford, having squandered their wealth on entitlement programs that politically are easy to grant but almost impossible to repeal.

  Obama would put us in the same boat, except that America will have no protector to turn to:

Let me introduce you to "The One"

It ain't Barak Obama.

It's an eight year old guitar phenom named Tallan Latz. When he was four, he saw a Joe Satriani video and told his parents that's what he wanted to do. His parents gave him an acoustic guitar and then, for his fifth birthday, one of the birthday present options was an electric guitar. He passed on the remote controlled boat and went electric. He's been playing in two bands in the bars in Wisconsin, but has been recently kicked out because of his age. Now, he can only play in fairs and festivals.

Well, and youtube...

Allow me introduce you to T-Man. Here he is playing Hendrick's "Red House". Trust me, it'll be seven minutes of your life you won't regret.

Ya gotta love the shades...

I'm never gonna figure out these people

Okay, guys and gals driving Volkswagens. If you are sitting next to me as I sit in the '05 Mustang GT at a light, give it up! You are not going to cut me off.

I don't care if it's the girl that hangs back 3 or 4 car lengths and tries to hit the light on a roll, or the guy who jumps on it when the light changes. I'm not allowing it to happen.

You will lose!

You are, however, not helping my gas mileage when you do that...

If your piddly ass cars were better, I might even enjoy running a little, but gimme a break, you're driving Volkswagens for crying out loud...

Ahhh, isn't that special...

The Obama people are pushing a new symbol, or salute if you may. Hat tip to Moe Lane at Redstate for this.

Yep, it's a big ol' goose egg. The zero symbol. The sign of nothingness. On the Autobahn you would get written a ticket for "insulting" by displaying this to another driver.

Not the sharpest sticks in the woodpile, are they?

Humorous side effect of this is that, right about now, there's 200,000 German's wondering why the Obama people decided to use as their symbol the universal sign for a$$hole...

Here's a must read for you

It's a long, but really well written piece by Dan McLaughlin at Redstate called Why Obama's Flip-Flops Matter

• If you looked at Barack Obama's record, public statements and campaign platform as of any time before June 3, 2008 (the last day of the Democratic primaries), you could detect a trend: on issue after issue after issue, there was a conservative position, a moderate position, a liberal position...and then there was an Obama position.

Well, well, well, Mookie gives up

From David Hinz at The Minority Report - Moqtada al-Sadr Surrenders -- Disbands Mahdi Army

• The United States had the opportunity in 2004 to either capture or kill cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, but refrained from doing so because we feared turning him into a martyr. A few short months ago, his Mahdi Army held the Sadr City stronghold in Baghdad, and routinely fired rockets and mortars into the Green Zone.

  Today he officially disbanded his army, from his exile in Iran, effectively ending his struggle for power in Iraq, according to a piece in Wednesday's Opinion Journal.

That's a nice little capper for the week, isn't it?

Another good read, also

Again, from Right Wing News. This one is Jed Clampett And Rethinking The American Dream By Harold S. Witkov

• Old Jed Clampett sure had me fooled. As a young baby boomer, I thought the Clampetts were living the American Dream. Only in America, could an impoverished mountain family just outside Bugtussle, Arkansas, strike it rich, move to a Beverly Hills mansion, and enjoy the good life.

  Now, however, I find myself asking challenging questions about Jed and his family. Did the Clampett's live the American Dream, or were they, in fact, un-American?

Something I hadn't thought of...

...from Right Wing News The HuffPo Post Of The Day: The Coming Liberal Sell-Out Of Afghanistan

• One of things that liberals often say, but don't believe (There's a lot of that going on with the left) is that we need to get out of Iraq so we can focus all of our attention on Afghanistan.

  However, once you understand liberals, you come to realize that they believe in talking with America's enemies, sympathizing with them, and trying to understand "how we made them hate us," but they don't believe in aggressively confronting them.

After we win in Iraq, he's right, the left might just try that surrender thing again only this time with Afghanistan. It's a thought provoking read, so check it out.

Moron Obama's energy plans

Crap, is it moron or more on.... whatever, it's one of them...

In the spring, Obama came out against the call for a "gas tax holiday" over the summer for us consumers as it would only amount to about a half a tank of gas over the summer.

Now? Obama says we need to release 70 million barrels of oil out of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help out us consumers. After you do the math using Obama's stats for average usage, it amounts to one third of a tank of gas. ...and he has the balls to call me ignorant...

I think it needs to be pointed out that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is there for a reason. I'm ignorant, so bear with me here, I'll stumble through this as best I can. The need for us to have an emergency supply of oil on hand is just in case somewhere..... oh... say... the middle east erupts in war. If.... say....oh I don't know... Iran were to develop weapons of mass destruction like.... I don't know... how about nuclear weapons, and have also stated that it was a goal of theirs to wipe another nation in the region off the map.... like, oh I don't know..... Israel... we'd want to have some supply on hand to get us through for a month or two while the war worked itself out, or we could re-establish the lines of oil exportation.

Yeah, but I'm ignorant, so what do I know.

Cross posted at The Minority Report

Where does Udall stand on energy?

Looks like it's right there next to Nancy Pelosi.

Hat tip to Moe Lane at Redstate.

Here's how Obama wants to help you with the "pain at the pump"

He says he wants to give you $1,000 and he's going to make "big oil" pay for it.

The first obvious fact, to everyone except Obama anyway, is that the consumer will be stuck with paying it right on back to "big oil" as they can't afford to stay in business running at break even and so the only option they will have is to raise gas prices to cover the cost. Obama's logic for this? He believes the Democrat lie that the oil company's are making obscene amounts of money. They are not. You can see for yourself every quarter as the companies all release their financial records to the public. The last statement from Exxon had their profit margins at around 11% which is lower than McDonald's, if I remember it right.

So, who is making obscene amounts of money off the price of gas? Your Federal government, that's who. Obama might have been wiser to just offer to pay it out of the obscene tax collections they get from "big oil". The Feds make about 3 times (or more) as much as the oil companies make off the product.

So, you tell me, is Obama going to help you out much with this proposal of his?

Obama says I'm ignorant

Dang it! I was hoping I had half a brain.

On July 30th he stated that, if we just properly inflated our tires and got a tuneup we could save as much oil as "all the oil that they're talking about getting off drilling".

Today, he says I'm ignorant if I believe he said that.

In case you're wondering, Powerline did the math to see just how close we could get with the tire inflation in their Get This Man A Teleprompter! article on July 30th. As you can see, if we can somehow get every single car out there that has under inflated tires up to the proper air pressure, in just a short 11,308 years we'll have saved enough to offset the amount of oil we can drill for right now, here in America.

Yeah, no where near Obama's claim.

Hat tip to Kevin Holtsberry at Redstate.

So, how's it feel to be played like a fool...

The lead Democrat is making sure you have to pay a high price for gas because she will not do anything about it. She's sitting on her hands because she thinks she'll have more Democrats elected in November and isn't going to tackle anything substantial until she has more of her boys on board. From Haystack over at Redstate we have Democrats: “There is no crisis on our side of the aisle”

• Via Politico, we have an excellent montage of quotes and comments to help us better understand why there will be no energy legislation before the next Congress is sworn in...and a clearer picture of the depths of hell Democrats are willing to drag us through in order to expand their power in Washington:

Oh those pesky Republicans...

Nancy Pelosi shut down the House of Representatives early on Friday and sent all of our reps home for a 5 week paid vacation. The Democrats and a lot of Republicans headed off, but a handful of Republicans stayed and kept the House open. They decided to stay and debate an energy policy because it didn't seem right to them that the American people have to suffer under astronomical gas prices while the Senate goes off to vacation for 5 weeks on the tax payers dime. You saw little press on it, but it's gaining some momentum. The rabble rouser's were back today to carry on.

Pelosi had the lights shut off, the mics turned off, and the cameras shut down. Our Republican representatives don't care. They give speeches, they embrace the tourist coming through on tours, and continually call on Pelosi to come back to work.

It's a pretty historic moment. It's also a beautiful thing...

I was really glad to see that Colorado's own Representative Marilyn Musgrave, who was in the air flying back on Friday when she heard the news, went back over the weekend to join the riff raff.

Republican Eric Cantor is emailing a petition you can all sign to call on Pelosi to come back and open up the shop to do an up or down vote on an energy bill.

If you want to support it then let's Call Congress Back.

Come on, it's good to encourage our representatives to do the peoples business...

Al Qaeda second in command killed?

Several reports of the last week have Zawahri killed in a U.S. air strike in Pakistan last week. I think Scott Ott over at Scrappleface has the real story in his post BREAKING: Zawahiri Dead, Global Warming Suspected

• (2008-08-02) — CBS News foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan, in an exclusive, Friday reported that al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri may be dead, and a local Taliban leader blames global warming.

It's a must read since it's scrappleface...

Somewhere in America, last night

I guarantee you this exact conversation happened:

Wife - I need you to put more air in my tires

Husband - Why? I just checked them this morning and they have 32 lbs. in them just like Ford and Bridgestone both recommend

Wife - I was listening to Obama today and he says if we just put more air in our tires we won't need to ever import any oil ever again

Husband - Huh?

Wife - Oh, and you need to do a tune up on my car, too, that's the other part.

Husband - Oooookaaay. Did Obama happen to say just exactly what it is I am supposed to do to your car then? I mean, it's 3 years old and has 20,000 miles on it. The spark plugs are supposed to last 100,000 miles and the fuel injectors 50,000. Everything else is controlled by a computer.

Wife - You better call the Ford dealership then because we need to do both

Husband - Right, I'll go add some air to your tires and then I'll call Ford from the office tomorrow.

Also guarenteed is that the husband went out to the garage, turned on the compressor, squirted the hose a little, then came back inside. Today at work, he never lifted the phone up but he told his wife that he'll take the car in this evening because Ford can do the tuneup in a half hour. He then takes a leasurely drive...

Why should you vote?

Because if you don't, the liberal idiots in Colorado will vote in morons like Ken Salazar. Here he is refusing to allow OCS drilling to increase our domestic oil supply even if the price of a gallon of gas hits $10. Yep, you read it right. See for yourself and make sure you vote so we can try and get sane people elected from Colorado.

Hat tip to Moe Lane at Redstate

Some of the best writing covering the mesiah, ever

God I love British humor. From Gerald Baker of The Times Online is one of the best written pieces you'll get the pleasure of reading mocking the great Obama. It's called He ventured forth to bring light to the world

• And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.

  The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.

That's just the start, go read the rest. Imagine where you would go from there, and you will find yourself coming up short as to where Gerald takes it... It's a beautiful piece of work.

Friday humor

Update on a milblogger I pointed you to

Awhile back, I point you to a new milblogger to follow called Kaboom, A Soldiers War Journal. I hope you had a chance to read some of his stuff because it was really good. He's been taken offline by the Army over a blog he wrote. The site is still up and his girlfriend updates it from time to time about what's going on with Lt G and the rest of the Gravediggers, but all the original content is gone.


The Washington Post has a good article on Lt G and what happened called Silent Posting you should go read.

• There was a boy who went to war, like many other boys before him. Maybe it made him a man, maybe it didn't. Maybe he already was a man, maybe he wasn't. Maybe it doesn't matter, maybe none of it does, maybe it all does. Maybe.

  -- Lt. G, March 4

In case you never made it over to his site, the article gives you a taste of some of the highlights and there's a link to an archive server with more that a friend of his has up.

A good read

The new Redstate is kind of clunky so I need to link you to a blog there that should make it up onto the recommended list, but probably won't as that doesn't seem to be changing much.

If you've ever wanted to know what a veteran's opinion of Iraq and Afghanistan is, go over and read A Veteran's Opinion.

• As a veteran of both the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan, I am constantly asked if we (The United States of America) are doing the “right thing over there." I am here to assure you that, with out a doubt, we are doing what is right.

Also, if you have a Redstate account, you could give it a recommend and we can see if we can get it up on the recommended list. Even NightTwister would probably go for that and he's holding the top spot right now.

Another take down of Obama's Iraq position

Steve Schippert at ThreatsWatch.org informs the messiah That Was Counterterrorism, Senator

• Presidential Candidate Obama’s statements in and about Iraq in the past 24 hours have been nothing less than shameless and disgraceful. While we strive to avoid political discussion at ThreatsWatch, criticism of his words transcends rank political partisanship if for no other reason than his claims are simply and flatly untrue, made in a war zone, during a time of war and while running to become the Commander in Chief of US Military Forces. This simply cannot stand unchallenged.

  Not only does Senator Obama apparently think the Anbar Awakening and the Shi’a militia stand-downs that have occurred are somehow separate developments from the surge, which is a remarkable feat of logic in and of itself, but he is implying that they are part and parcel indigenous to what his ‘plan’ for ‘political progress’ would have afforded.

It just gets better from there, so go read the whole thing.

Obama is Dog

Recycling an old saying some of us had for Eric Clapton.

With the increased fawning of attention to Obama by the old media I feel the need to point you to some good analysis on this whole Obama/Maliki supposed agreement on getting out of Iraq. To put it in the proper perspective, Peter Wehner over at The Corner explains Obama's Use of the Maliki Comments

• In an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel magazine released Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said U.S. troops should leave Iraq "as soon as possible" and he called presidential candidate Barack Obama's suggestion of 16 months "the right timeframe for a withdrawal." The national security adviser to the Obama campaign, Susan Rice, said the senator welcomed Maliki's support, saying, "This presents an important opportunity to transition to Iraqi responsibility, while restoring our military and increasing our commitment to finish the fight in Afghanistan." Iraqi spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh quickly stated that Maliki's comments had been "misunderstood, mistranslated and not conveyed accurately." Max Boot analyzes Maliki's statement and subsequent clarification and context over at Contentions.

Go read the rest to see an anology that points out how ludicrous this is.

Just how wrong is Obama on Iraq?

Well, let's see, he wants us out ASAP. He believes the Iraqi government has done nothing to meet any benchmarks. He thinks we need to abandon Iraq and move everyone to Afghanistan to fight Al Qaeda and invade Pakistan.

To see just how horribly wrong he is, you need to read what The New Reality in Iraq is. Written by Fred Kagan, Kim Kagan, and Jack Keane of The Wall Street Journal via IraqStatusReport

• All of the most important objectives of the surge have been accomplished in Iraq. The sectarian civil war is ended; al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) has been dealt a devastating blow; and the Sadrist militia and other Iranian-backed militant groups have been disrupted.

  Meanwhile, the Iraqi government has accomplished almost all of the legislative benchmarks set by the U.S. Congress and the Bush administration. More important, it is gaining wider legitimacy among the population. The attention of Iraqis across the country is focused on the upcoming provincial elections, which will be a pivotal moment in Iraq's development.

And, Obama isn't the only one wrong on Iraq

His whole party is right there with him. From Peter Wehner at The Daily Standard is Obama, the Democrats, and the Surge

• This is the week that the Democratic party ran up the white flag when it comes to the surge in Iraq. Leading the surrender was none other than Barack Obama, the Democratic party's presumptive nominee for president and among the most vocal critics of the counterinsurgency plan that has transformed the Iraq war from a potentially catastrophic loss to what may turn out to be a historically significant victory.

Hat tip to Pejman Yousefzadeh at Redstate for the link. It's a great writeup so go read the whole article, and if you have time, Pejman's too.

Friday humor

Yeah, it's early, but I'm on a roll tonight ...

She is obviously a Democrat and recognized him as a Republican...

A spinning barstool

Courtesy of the McCain camp, via Steven Foley at The Minority Report

You could get almost as dizzy sitting on a barstool and having your kids or spouse spin you around, but this one is pretty effective too.

Within the "Margin of error"?

So the man made global warming scam has now been mathematically confirmed to be a total scam. From Right Wing News (cuz you obviously won't see this anywhere from the MSM) is Mathematically Confirmed: There Is No Climate Change Crisis

• WASHINGTON (7-15-08) — Mathematical proof that there is no "climate crisis" appears today in a major, peer-reviewed paper in Physics and Society, a learned journal of the 10,000-strong American Physical Society, SPPI reports.
  

  Christopher Monckton, who once advised Margaret Thatcher, demonstrates via 30 equations that computer models used by the UN's climate panel (IPCC) were pre-programmed with overstated values for the three variables whose product is "climate sensitivity" (temperature increase in response to greenhouse-gas increase), resulting in a 500-2000% overstatement of CO2's effect on temperature in the IPCC's latest climate assessment report, published in 2007.

Yeah, but what do they know, they're just 10,000 or so physicists...

Sweeeeeet...

Hat tip to NightTwister for this one.

I always love to see a Republican smackdown of a double talking Democrat. Bob Schaffer handed an all time classic to Mark Udall in a recent debate. For your viewing pleasure, here it is:

Ya gotta just love it when that happens...

Iraq update from Michael Yon email

From the latest Yon email:

• 
  We have won the war in Iraq. By "we" I mean the Coalition and the Iraqis. Unless there is some unexpected reversal, what lays ahead is the challenge of building a better Iraq. There is still violence. We have lost four soldiers to combat this month, but there were times when we lost that many on an average day. There still are attacks, though we have finally reached the point where all that's left are truly "dead-enders." Al Qaeda is still a problem, but their numbers are decreasing in Iraq. The Iraqi people are sick of the violence. The Iraqi Army is filled with courageous soldiers who can fight. It is possible that by the end of the year we can really say, "Mission Accomplished," except for the continued support that Iraq will need.
  
  Personally, my optimism has never been higher for Iraq. Please click for some statistics.
  
  Very Respectfully,
  
  Michael

Also, check out his website and his Success in Iraq post

• Now it's time to rebuild the country, and create a pluralistic, stable and peaceful Iraq. That will be long, hard work. But by my estimation, the Iraq War is over. We won. Which means the Iraqi people won.

So, what do you think, should we take back this great country?

Well, to me, this is "must see TV".

We need to always remember George Carlin

May he rest in peace.

And yes, you may be offended. Suck it up.

This is the Carlin I will truly miss the most, even though his politics were no where near my own. If I could pick one liberal that should have lived forever, it's probably him.

You want more? See here and here

Let's check in on Iraq

Well, let's check out Town Hall's Charlie Krauthammer and his reporting on Obama's Plan for Defeat

• WASHINGTON -- In his St. Paul victory speech, Barack Obama pledged again to pull out of Iraq. Rather than "continue a policy in Iraq that asks everything of our brave men and women in uniform and nothing of Iraqi politicians. ... It's time for Iraqis to take responsibility for their future."

  We know Obama hasn't been to Iraq in more than two years, but does he not read the papers? Does he not know anything about developments on the ground? Here is the "nothing" that Iraqis have been doing in the last few months:

And then, COB6 over at Black Five brings us a Really Big Deal that the MSM Won't Report

• The Iraqis are taking over Anbar Province within 10 days!

  BAGHDAD (AFP) - The US military is to hand over security control of the former Sunni insurgent bastion of Anbar province to Iraqi forces in the next 10 days, a US military spokesman announced on Monday.

  "The handover of Anbar is expected to take place in the next 10 days," Lieutenant David Russell told AFP, declining to provide an exact date.

  This could be the biggest news from Iraq since the terror attack on the al-Askari Mosque but I doubt you will see it on the news tonight.

That's amazing news and he's right, you won't see it on any major news network.

Friday humor

Thaddeus McCotter and how to "Speak Democrat".

Iran supplying Mookie with "new" weapon

Bill Roggio over at The Long War Journal reports that the Mahdi Army uses “flying IEDs” in Baghdad

• The explosions in the Sha'ab neighborhood in the Baghdad district of Adhamiyah, which killed 16 civilians and wounded 29 more, have been "misreported," according to the US military. The explosions in the Mahdi Army stronghold were initially reported in the media as a car bomb attack that targeted a police commander. The attack was held up as the largest bombing in Baghdad since mid-March.

  But the US military has refuted the reports, saying the explosions were caused by the premature detonation of a Special Groups improvised rocket launching system. The system, which has been described as a flying improvised explosive device, or airborne IED, had received little attention until yesterday’s explosions in Sha’ab.

Michael Yon email update

In case you don't get them, Yon's latest email:

Greetings,

The trend lines are clear. Iraq war seems to be winding-down. At this rate it is entirely conceivable that at the end of 2008 we will be able to say, in good conscience, that the Iraq war has ended.

Of course this is speculation.

Grabbing headlines today is the news that Australia is drawing down it’s forces from Iraq . The Australian military is comprised of some of the finest soldiers in the world. Yet the Australian government’s commitment to the war in Iraq has been militarily insignificant. The loss of the Australian military contingent is strategically irrelevant.

I’m in constant communications with forces on the ground in Iraq . al-Qaeda continues to be hammered into the dirt. The Iraq Army has demonstrated great competence in Sadr City . They are at the fore front of destroying al-Qaeda in Nineveh province.

Washington Post reports growing success in Basra by the Iraq security forces. Violence in Iraq is reaching an all time low, perhaps lower than at anytime in several decades. But make no mistake Iraq and it’s people have been ravaged by decades of war. Finally they are getting their chance at freedom thanks to the sacrifice of the men and women who have set them free from tyrants. With any luck, on my next trip to Iraq I will see little to no combat.

There are several new dispatches on the website. Free copies of Moment of Truth in Iraq are available with a one year subscription to Town Hall Magazine.

V/R
Michael

I just finished Moment of Truth in Iraq tonight. I highly recommend you buy it and give it a read. Michael Yon comes at the Iraq war from a middle of the road perspective, politically, so his view of it should be read by all.

Long overdue NightTwister update

I've been a little remiss at this, but better late than never.

For you NightTwister fans, he moved his blog and is actually blogging fairly regularly. The new blog is also named Night Twister. I'll update my blog roll with the new site.

Just in case you were wondering...

...of what the state of Al Qaeda worldwide is these days, Peter Wehner of Commentary Magazine has a post up at Iraq Status Report called Al Qaeda and the Turning Tide which fills you in.

• CIA Director Michael Hayden gave a noteworthy interview to the Washington Post this week. According to the Post:

  Less than a year after his agency warned of new threats from a resurgent al-Qaeda, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden now portrays the terrorist movement as essentially defeated in Iraq and Saudi Arabia and on the defensive throughout much of the rest of the world, including in its presumed haven along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. In a strikingly upbeat assessment, the CIA chief cited major gains against al-Qaeda’s allies in the Middle East and an increasingly successful campaign to destabilize the group’s core leadership. While cautioning that al-Qaeda remains a serious threat, Hayden said Osama bin Laden is losing the battle for hearts and minds in the Islamic world and has largely forfeited his ability to exploit the Iraq war to recruit adherents.

If we were a nation united and full of patriots, this story would be front page on every newspaper tomorrow. We're not, so you won't see it unless I point you to it.

A metrosexual President?

Yeah, I'm going on the assumption that we all agree that Obama is a classic metrosexual. He's from the generations of males that the feminists have focused time and energy into demasculizing. The question we need to look at is, will that work for a Commander in Chief or not. The liberal left is sure it's very doable, and it'd make the world safer. I have always held that demasculizing men was a bad idea and therefore wished the males of that generation would have fought it off, somehow. At least some held on and joined the military.

As far as the metrosexual as President question goes though, you need to read Grim's well written post Masculinity and Martial Courage that is up over at Black Five to help you further evaluate what an Obama Presidency would mean.

• Jimbo is right to say that Obama is wrong for a dangerous world. Let's talk about exactly why he is wrong for it. The key clue comes from listening to some of his supporters talk about why they don't want Senator Jim Webb to serve as Obama's Vice President. I supported Webb for the Senate, and would have no problem supporting him for President -- but to them, he is a bad choice.

Well worth the time to read, in my opinion.

Interesting Iraq news

Greyhawk over at The Mudville Gazette has Good News From Iraq

Monty Python and the Holy nomination

From Boo Boo Kitty of Redstate and The Minority Report fame:

For the complete story go to her Attention Holy Grailists post over at The Minority Report.

So, who is this Obama guy, anyway?

I'm actually trying to keep an open mind this election season. None of the prospective Presidential candidates are conservative, so none of them fit the bill all that well for me. With Obama, I try to give him the benefit of the doubt and figure most of what he espouses is pandering to his ultra liberal left supporters where the money is. I'm not all that sold on it though, as he keeps on with the "I'll get us out of Iraq" mantra which is the worst possible move he could make on that front.

Anyway, I've come to the point where I really need to figure out who he is and what is in his core. He's trying to help in that regard, too.

Earlier this year he claimed that the march in Selma, Alabama was a personal connection for him. His claim was that his parents met and were so inspired by all of it that they got married and had a little Obama. Nice connection actually, except for the fact that he was born in 1961 and Selma happened in 1964.

This past weekend he presented his family connection to World War II and the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps by claiming his Great Uncle was attached to Patton's 3rd Army and he was one of the first in to liberate Auschwitz. There were two problems with this one though. One, his Great Uncle enlisted in the Navy and Auschwitz was liberated by the Red Army, not Patten's third. So, Patten must have been packing a his own Navy along with him, and then loaned them to the Russians, or it's possibly not true.

There ya have it. Obama is?

Forest Gump....
.

Michael Yon interviewed on Fox and Friends

Hat tip to Steven Foley over at The Minority Report.

Instead of global warming, here's something we should actually worry about

Hadrian over at The Minority Report has a great post up called The Real Link Between Solar Energy, Ocean Cycles And Global Temperature that does a great job of using reasoned thinking to look at the actual facts about climate change. I hope he's wrong in his predictions, but I believe he's more likely correct. His post has tons of great info and links and he lays it all out along with his conclusions for you to agree or disagree with. I'd like to see a legitimate argument from the global warming alarmists as to where his thinking might be wrong. I don't see any of them having it.

• This article shows that they are wrong and that, in fact, solar energy is and always has been the overwhelming primary driver for global temperature with CO2 such a minor component that it should be ignored. Due to the differences in scale between the solar effect and the effect of CO2 the latter is only ever going to have a marginal effect at and around the peak of any natural warming trend and is unlikely to activate any tipping point that would not have been activated by natural cause. Indeed, during natural cooling spells CO2 will be a wholly beneficial mitigating factor.

I can see/hear the global warming alarmist now, fingers in ears, going "lalalalalalalalala"

A couple of videos

Grim over at Black Five has up "Spitballs." you should check out. Especially the second one, but do both to understand.

Michael Yon email

Greetings in the United States and dozens of other countries:

Filmmaker Michael Moore is using my work without my permission. Please click for details.

Very Respectfully,

Michael

And, just a little off color humor...

Operations ongoing in Mosul

Bill Roggio over at The Long War Journal reports that Al Qaeda “Prince” reported captured in Mosul

• Iraqi security forces, backed by US forces, are pressing the offensive against al Qaeda in Iraq and allied insurgent groups in Mosul and Ninewa province. The operation, which initially was called Lion’s Roar but has morphed into Operation Mother of Two Springs, has netted more than 1,100 al Qaeda and insurgent operatives. Today, the Iraqi Army reported it captured the “Prince of Ninewa” during a raid. The Iraqi government is planning an amnesty and may be forming an Awakening in Mosul proper, a source told The Long War Journal.

To get an Iraqi perspective on the Mosul operations we have Mohammed over at Iraq The Model with his Iraq Hunts Al-Qaeda in Its Last Urban Stronghold which he has posted in it's entirety over at Pajama's media.

• Operations are now underway in Mosul to rid the city of al-Qaeda. The streets are calm, indicating that the terrorists realize they are too weak to fight.

Another good read from ITM

Omar over at Iraq The Model has Iraq Quietly Confronts Iran With Evidence of Weapons Trafficking which is another good read.

• The Iraqi minister of defense pushed the debate with the Iranians over their provision of weapons to Shia militias one more step on Monday. Minister Abdul Qadir Obeidi indirectly confronted the Iranians, without naming them, with new findings that prove their involvement in the arming of Shia militias.
  On Monday, state-owned al-Sabah published a statement by the minister in which he spoke of the capture of a certain type of rocket that was never found in militia-held caches until now:

In case any of you are still checking in from time to time

I'm going to put up a few posts tonight to try and get back on track with the blogging.

For starters there is Mohammed over at Iraq The Model who posts Do Iraqis Want an Arab Nuclear Bomb? which is a pretty interesting read on some Iraqi viewpoints on Iran wanting to develop a nuclear bomb, not that they'd ever consider doing that...

• The change that took place in Iraq was not only a political one but also, and more importantly, a change in awareness; something that isn't easy to detect.
  This is what I see clear in the nature of Iraqi dialogue among the public, and I'm always pleased by the degree of awareness and open-mindedness that emerged in the years that followed the change. I believe it is an important indication about the future.
  
  Recently I've been reading through one of the BBC forums whose topic is basically "do Arabs have the right to possess nuclear weapons?". I didn't hesitate to read all the contributions, which numbered over 600 from various Arab countries. I wasn't surprised by the nature of Iraqi contributions to the discussion. I had always called these "singing outside the Arab flock".
  This "singing" is almost always faced by attacks from the rest of Arabs who often generously use the word "traitors" when addressing their Iraqi counterparts just because they have different views about one issue or another.

Yon's "Moment of Truth in Iraq"

Yep, I got a review for you. No, not by me, I'm only half way through it and have absolutely no way to tell you if he's right or wrong on his take, but Michael J. Totten does. He has his review of it in his The Real Iraq

• Iraq is where ideologies go to die. Arab nationalism, Baathism, anti-Americanism, al-Qaidism, Donald Rumsfeldism, and Moqtada al-Sadrism have either died there or are dying. Conventional liberal opinion, more or less correct about the foundering American war effort from 2004 to 2006, has been severely bloodied—along with Iraq’s worst insurgent groups and militias—by General David Petraeus’s leadership of the American troop surge. Even post-9/11 fear of Islam has proven unsustainable for those who regularly interact with ordinary Iraqis. Independent journalist Michael Yon, who has spent more time embedded with combat soldiers in Iraq than any other reporter, is a refreshingly unideological analyst of the war. His self-published dispatches have earned him a loyal following around the world, and he has set out to reach even more people with the publication of a terrific new book, Moment of Truth in Iraq.

And, I also recommend the book, even though I haven't finished it yet. It really does look to me like Pulitzer. The cover has his photo of Farah, the Iraqi girl killed by Al Qaeda in, what I still consider to be, the photo and story that captures the Iraq war like nothing else ever could.

Well done Yon and to all of you who contributed to keep him in camera's and equipment.

And he thinks he's ready to be President

President Bush delivered a speech yesterday in Israel to members of the Knesset. This part is from the text of the speech from The Wall Street Journal.

• Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: "Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided." We have an obligation to call this what it is – the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.

Reading that you see a pretty large blanket aimed at Jimmy Carter, Nancy Pelosi, and tons of people that feel we need to sit down with the terrorists and talk. This asinine idea is the last thing any right minded individual would recommend, but the liberals all over the world keep promoting it.

No one said a word about it until Obama decided it must have been aimed at him. Instead of doing the wise choice and just letting it go he responded thusly.

• "It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political attack," Obama said.

  "George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the president's extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel,"

What a moron...

White House reaction to Obama.

• The White House said Bush's comment wasn't a reference to Obama.
  "It is not," press secretary Dana Perino told reporters in Israel. "I would think that all of you who cover these issues and have for a long time have known that there are many who have suggested these types of negotiations with people that the president, President Bush, thinks that we should not talk to. I understand when you're running for office you sometimes think the world revolves around you. That is not always true. And it is not true in this case."

Man those hanging curve balls can really get launched, can't they?

The Democrats are all up in a tizzy now, which is even more entertaining since this part of his speech is exactly the same thing he's been saying for years. Obama just went ahead and put the shoes on...

Cool

The Mustang feeds again

Tonight it was a carload of kids in a Crown Victoria ex-cop car. Alaska plates. They had the K&N sticker in the window so you knew they had tinkered it up a little. We left the light and I was just going through first normally, when I looked over and they were racing. Alrightythen..., shifted in to 2nd and left them in the dust. Had them by 10 or so car lengths by the time I shifted to 3rd. Game over...

A meal a day! Ah, life is good for The Mustang.

Mmmmmm.... Camaro

So, there I was driving into work this morning. In front of me is a mid to late eighties Camaro. We are all bottled up in traffic, but he and I had picked the lane that was moving the best. He had a V-8 as I soon found out as he was all about tromping on the gas and closing with the car in front of him, then mellowing out. He'd charge, then dive into the other lane, mellow a little....

If the idiot had just looked in his mirror he'd have seen a very hungry Mustang just tagging along.

Anyway, we came to a right hand turn and he was the first in line and the road was clear. He "ran to daylight" and I had to push the Mustang about 3/4 throttle to keep up (chuckle, chuckle). He ran it about a block and backed off, then looked into his mirror and got that "smile" from the front of my Mustang. I slid around him as if he was slowing me down and just cruised on down the road...

The Mustang has been fed...

So, how's Maliki doing you ask?

Ed Morrissey over at HotAir comments on it, but I'll route you via Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive who says Maliki Roars

• Maliki has been much maligned in the press as unable to create unity or at least put Iraq on the path to reconciliation. Much of that criticism ignored the fact that reconciliation is near impossible during sectarian violence and until the people could feel safe in their homes and markets nothing was going forward. Well, we accomplished that and lo and behold old feckless Maliki turned out to have a whole bunch of feck.

The additional commentary by Uncle Jimbo is your bonus for going this route, but don't forget to read Ed's initial post.

Which one are you voting for?

From an email that went around at work:

That, to me, pretty much covers our three liberal presidential candidates.

Teflon Don

While hitting some of the milblog sites I ran across this from Teflon Don at Acute Politics called Musings and Memories

• Who's up for some war stories? Ok, maybe not *exactly* war stories, but I've been mumbling through old memories of Iraq recently. This post will be pretty much stream-of-consciousness, so continue reading only if you want a look inside.

Not sure what brought this on...

...but Uncle Jimbo over at Black five has up his 30 things I believe today that's typical Uncle Jimbo.

• 7. I believe America is the greatest nation yet to exist on this earth, and anyone who disagrees can kiss my ass.

  8. I believe that bacon is actually a vitamin

You obviously need to read the other 28...

Not the guy

You've probably heard it already, but Al Qaeda's #1 guy in Iraq hasn't been captured. The Iraqi's nabbed someone with a similar name.

Even without that though, The Sadrists are getting beaten badly and Mookie has tried to make peace again. The jury is still out, but it looks as if the ISF and coalition forces are continuing to thin the Mahdi army ranks. Mookie is becoming lesser and lesser as each day goes by.

Al Qaeda in Iraq leader possibly captured

From Bill Roggio over at The Long War Journal is a breaking news story - Abu Ayyub al Masri, al Qaeda in Iraq’s leader, reported captured in Mosul.

• An unconfirmed report from the Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman said al Masri has been captured in the northern city and is in Iraqi Army custody. The US military has not confirmed al Masri’s capture.
  

Quick Michael Yon update

Yon has been in the States for awhile promoting his new book called Moment of Truth in Iraq. I purchased a signed copy when he first announced it was going to be available, but unfortunately, haven't got to reading it yet. I'll try and start on it tonight. In the meantime, from email Yon sends along an update I thought I'd share with you:

Some folks have asked if I plan to do book signings in stores. None are planned because I need to take care of business here before heading back to the war, but I have been making dozens of media appearances and many more are scheduled this month. The big issue at hand is the launch of my book Moment of Truth in Iraq. Doesn't do any good to spend all that time on the battlefields if I do not take time to convey the facts to folks at home.

I'll try to sign one more gigantic stack of Moment of Truth before heading back to the war, but for those folks who were buying signed copies for Christmas presents, now is the best time as we still have about a thousand signed copies.

Amazon.com is fully stocked and has the lowest current price--$17.97 as I type this.

Moment of Truth is available at all Barnes & Noble stores and at BN.com at a reduced price. Please click the link and enter your zip code to check availability of Moment of Truth in Iraq at nearby stores. This function maps nearby stores with copies in stock.

Great to be back in America but sure comes with a lot of work before heading back to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Next time you see a service member in an airport, please say "thank you" to him or her. Those simple words go a long, long way. Back in the war, I often have heard combat soldiers saying how good it made them feel when someone in an airport simply said "thank you" and kept on walking. Very powerful words. They hugely appreciate those words.

Your correspondent,

Michael

While it's important to promote his book (even without reading it yet), that last point is a great one for us to pass along to everyone we know.

JBA axle backs installed!

Well, that was a little bit of work. Not too bad, but the exhaust hanging brackets are in some real tight quarters. I see why the need for the ratcheting box end wrenches. A couple of those bolts needed that. Anyway, successful wrenching on the Mustang, with the exception of some alignment issues. I'll have to loosen some clamps and maybe bend some mounting rods to get the pipes centered in the bumper cutouts. I'll fuss with that sometime over the weekend.

The sound? Excellent. Nice deep throaty rumble at idle, and mean and nasty at wide open throttle. Sounds hungry. I took it out for a feeding but didn't run across any "game". I'll park it for the night and feed it another night. I swear I heard it mumbling "Camaro....Camaro..." . Might be my imagination.

Now, for the well deserved beer reward.

Ready? One, two, three....

Ooooooooohhhh..... Ahhhhhhhhhhh......

I left the packing on the chrome tips so I don't ding them up when installing.

Out for delivery!

The JBA axle backs are on a UPS truck somewhere in Northern Colorado. They'll be here when I get home from work. Or, when I get home from the bars, anyway...

So, I'm on track for wrenching on the Mustang this weekend!

Update on the JBA axle backs

They've made it to Salt Lake City from Sparks Nevada. Expected delivery date you ask? Friday! Yahoo!!

Since you guys are making me work on modifying the Mustang some more, I had to stop by Sears after work. I picked up the coveted ratcheting box end wrench set, and decided to get the 3 ton floor jack kit complete with jack stands and 3' creeper for $99. Who knows what the next Mustang mod you'll be making me do will be..

I got a little nervous when it took two of the loading dock guys to load the floor jack set into the back of the Mustang. I figured I was past the point of no return since I'd already purchased it, so onward and upward. It was a pretty good grunt to get it unloaded when I got home, but I got it done. The man cave is even more functional now. I didn't realize a 3 ton floor jack would actually weigh 3 tons...

Well, I'm pretty well set to do the exhaust upgrade this weekend. I think the only thing I overlooked is some safety glasses to keep the under car junk out of my eyes, so I'll hit Lowes, Home Depot, or Sears once more before the weekend and get that taken care of.

The blogging should pick up some shortly as we've been a little short handed at work and I've been trying to time manage by reviewing stuff every night so that no customer gets left in the dust. The teammate who managed to shoot himself is due back to work tomorrow, so the pressure should abate some over the next week or so. We will all enjoy letting "Festus" know what we really think of him milking that for 2 and a half weeks, so the humor level will be up pretty good, too.

Spending the rebate check

So, we get a tax rebate and we need to spend it to help stimulate the economy. Also, we all know that I always do as I'm told without questioning it. The key is for us to buy American.

In that vein, I figure Summit Racing is as American as it gets, so I ordered up some new parts for the Mustang. Now I have the "warm fuzzy s" that always accompanies waiting for auto parts to arrive via UPS. I need to spend part of the rebate on bills, so I only spent some of it at Summit Racing.

I went with the JBA axle back exhaust system. Minimal HP gain, but great look and sound. Here's what they supposedly sound like:

Notice the great, deep, sound and those sharp looking 3" rolled stainless tips.

If it works out right, I'll be crawling around under the Mustang this weekend. Just need to stop at Sears for a 13 MM ratcheting box end wrench and I should be ready to go.

The Maliki vs Mookie war

Omar over at Iraq The Model and Pajamas Media has a good read posted on it called Iraq's Moment of Truth in Baghdad and Basra

• The battle between criminal gangs and the state continues, yet the war is far from being over. Public statements keep coming from both sides and they don’t seem to promise a diplomatic resolution for the crisis.
  The latest exchange included a pledge for a “final battle” by Sadr’s spokesman Bahaa Aaraji and an assertion by Maliki that the government will not stop pursuing gangs militarily and politically. Telling Sadr that his movement cannot take part in elections unless he disbands his militias and surrenders weapons is a turning point in Iraqi politics, especially because a broad political front including leading Sunni, Shia, and Kurdish powers emerged to back this new trend in dealing with this issue.

Sons of Iraq info

Teflon Don from Acute Politics has a post up over at The Long War Journal called When Sons of Iraq grow up which is pretty informative on the current situation with the Sons of Iraq, AKA Concerned local citizen groups, AKA The Awakenings. Make sure you check out his slide show too.

• During General David Petraeus' testimony to Congress on the progress of the war in Iraq, he referred to the great security gains of the last year, which largely hold even in the face of clashes between Shia militias and government forces in Sadr City, Basrah, and much of the South. General Petraeus credited a substantial portion of those security gains in many areas of Iraq in the last year to the duel phenomena of Sahawa (Awakening) councils and the formation of local security teams from out-of-work men fed up with violence.

In case you forgot, TD was a Marine in Anbar Province for most of 2007 and saw first hand the Anbar Awakening.

Gee, no "benchmark" questions?

Petraeus and Crocker reported back to Congress last week, as scheduled. Did you happen to notice that the Democrats ditched that benchmark angle they used so much last time?

Frederick W. Kagan at The Weekly Standard reports Progress, Actually

• The last time General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker reported to Congress on the state of the Iraq war, "benchmarks" were all the rage. Congress had established 18 criteria in early 2007 both to pressure the Iraqis and to keep score on their progress. And in September, Congress faulted the Iraqi government for failing to meet many of those measures. Concocting a checklist of laws and actions that would lead to national reconciliation in Iraq was always a fool's errand and misunderstood the complexity of the situation. But having laid down this marker, Congress would want to hear an update, surely. Not so. The word "benchmarks" was scarcely heard last week when Petraeus and Crocker reappeared before Congress. Crocker testified that the Iraqis have actually met about two-thirds of the benchmarks, including four or five of the six key legislative benchmarks and all of the benchmarks measuring their contribution to their own security. In reply, the congressmen who insisted on legislating these benchmarks now say benchmarks are a poor way to measure progress in Iraq.

Just livin' the dream

Tinkering instead of blogging

Okay, so I've been seriously lacking in the blogging department lately. Sorry about that. I've been tinkering with the Mustang. That, of course, means tinker a little, then drive it for awhile, then tinker some more. I finally picked up all the car parts and shipping boxes out of the living room so I think I'm caught up on the Mustang. At least for now anyway.

The Mustang now has higher voltage coil packs for the spark plugs, it's running on the 91 octane torque tune from Bamachips, and has sequential turn signal taillights.

The coil packs weren't really to add HP, but just to get a hotter spark in an attempt to keep any carbon build up from forming as I only really drive it to work and back. Recommended by my crew chief.

The sequential taillights were pure vanity.

New Iraq link

Gideon1789 over at Redstate has posted about The New "One-Stop Shop" For News & Analysis About Iraq

• I encourage you to check out the Iraq Status Report web site, http://www.IraqStatusReport.com.

  This new site is a collaborative effort by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), and The Long War Journal providing the “one-stop-shop” on the Internet for news, commentary and analysis related to the U.S. Mission in Iraq.

The old adage is true

Money buys speed.

I've got the Mustang running great. There's more speed to be had, but unfortunately, I'm out of money...

Dang it!

Oh well, I'll just enjoy what I got.

Ah, bolt on horsepower

Received my SCT Xcaliber 3 tuner from Bamachips today. Douglas had it loaded up with 3 custom tunes for my Mustang. Half hour in the garage to swap back in the K&N cold air induction system and to reprogram the computer on the Mustang and I've gained about 30 hosses. That's with the most conservative of the three tunes. Should be in pretty good shape with the 91 octane torque tune, as well as the 91 octane performance tune. For now I'll stick with the 87 octane performance tune.

Yeehaw!

Anyone need me to go to the store or anything? You buy I'll fly!

Oh, and another thing. I don't see any reason anyone needs to tell Dave Cruise about this. I've closed the horsepower gap between the Mustang and the Eagle Talon. He'll find out the next time we go for a beer after work. Hehehehehehe....