Got my first tattoo Monday...in honor of the Hawks of course. Wanted the old school Herky rather then the more common Tiger Hawk...

Iowa Basketball will be upon us this Friday against Idaho State, starting the Todd Lickliter era. Enthusiasm has been tempered anyway with the departure of Tyler Smith to Tennessee, so the news of Tony Freeman, Iowa's most experienced player, going down with a broken foot did us absolutely no favors going into this year. I have no idea what to expect from this team with that news. We have been picked anywhere from 8th to 10th, so expectations are low. We will see how the team does Friday for some analysis on just where we may be heading. I am excited to see how this team will do under who Coach Lick.

Picked myself up a tattoo on Monday, I will post pics of it when I can. Fantastic looking old style "Herky", the flying bird that used to be on the floor of the old Fieldhouse and CHA, and on the wall. Very detailed. Kudos to the artist.

A little bit about a lot of things...

Been quite a while since my last post in April.

Sports-wise, the Cards had a bad year defending their 2006 World Championship. Losing all their pitchers from the World Series and having a sub-par Jim Edmunds as well as losing Scott Rolen and having Albert not be Albert spelled doom for the Cards. Worst off, the Chubs win the weak Central Division. Oh well. At least they were beaten in the playoffs by Arizona. Here's hoping that St Louis hires a competent GM to replace Walt Jocketty and the ownership decides to spend a little money getting some quality SP.

Football of course has been in full swing for a couple of months. The Hawks have done nothing but disappoint, as Jake Christensen has struggled in his first year startign role at QB. Losing Dominique Douglas to "trangressions" set a bad tone to start, and the ISU debacle pretty much spelled out what we had in store, despite a strong defensive effort most of the year. All is not lost however, with the elevation of so many freshman playing pivotal roles and the Hawks winning 3 of 4, we have a real shot of winning our last two (both at Kinnick), and securing a Bowl bid. An extra month of practice and that experience will do wonders for this team, IMO. Let's beat the hell out of the Rodents and W. Michigan. Getr Done!

The Vikings have been disappointing as well, but a nice win over SD and the rise of Adrian Peterson sure has made them fun to watch at times. Setting the NFL rushing record in your rookie season is quite an accomplishment, he has a chance to set the season record if he continues at his blistering pace. Let's beat the Fudge Packers Sunday.

Next post: Iowa BB, some politics, Army stuff, and a new tattoo....

Stay tuned!

Alford to New Mexico, Hawkeyes hire Todd Lickliter

Well, it happened, and none too soon it seems, for most Hawk fans' tastes. Steve Alford saw the writing on the wall, and exited Iowa City a little over a week ago, after his team's dismal performance in Chicago at the BTT. After Iowa AD Gary Barta essentially gave him a vote of no-confidence ("we expect better"), Alford escaped post-haste to the desert, leaving for New Mexico and the Pit in Albuquerque.

After 10 days of speculation and rumor-mongering, no, we didn't hire Bruce Pearl, Rick Majerus, Dana Altman, Billy Gillespie, Lon Krueger, Reggie Theus, Tom Crean, or any other "BIG NAME" coach.

We hired what appears to be an extremely competent, defensive-minded, results oriented Coach who was just name NABC Coach of the Year over all of the above named individuals. With a 29-7 year at Butler and pushing national champion Florida to the limit (9 point lead with less then 10 minutes to go), we now have a coach that can wash away the mediocrity of the Alford years with some stingy "D" and a hustling team that will give 100 percent. I am excited. Iowa basketball is back!

http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070402/SPORTS/70402036/1008/sports

Sickening...

As I said before, the left sure supports our troops, right?

These punks need hung up by their buster browns and beaten:

It's been a while...

My Hawks looked absolutely pathetic 11 days ago with an awful showing in the Big Ten Tournament. To add insult to injury, they then were left out of the NIT. How bad is it when you can't even make that tourney? Oh well. Only one BT team left in the big dance. And I think that will go by the wayside soon enough.

HAWKS HAVE A SHOT

It was nice to see the Hawkeyes bounce back from their miserable outing at East Lansing and get a nice win over a hot Purdue team at home last week. The Hawks had 5 players in double figures, a balance that seemed to work well as they man-handled Purdue.

With the last week of the Big Ten season approaching, Iowa has two huge games, essentially elimination games. First up is last place Penn St, a team Iowa throttled at home a month ago, but also a team that played No. 1 Ohio State close twice, nearly winning at State College, where the game will be played Wednesday night. After that they play arch-rival Illinois on Saturday, senior day for Mr. Haluska and Mike Henderson. Two very winnable, but dangerous games.

My take? I think the Hawks win their last two, no particular reason other then the fact that I think they are better then Penn St, and Illinois is depleted, and it's at CHA.

My predictions for final standings in the Big Ten, and the tourney matchups for the weekend of March 8-9-10-11:

W L
Ohio State 15 1
Wisconsin 13 3
Indiana 10 6
Iowa 10 6
Purdue 9 7
Illinois 9 7
Michigan State 8 8
Michigan 8 8
Minnesota 3 13
Northwestern 2 14
Penn St 1 15

The matchups would then be like this:

Thursday, at United Center, Chicago:

Michigan-Minnesota
Michigan St-Northwestern
Illinois-Penn State

Friday:

Mich-Minn winner vs Ohio State
Iowa-Purdue
MSU-NW winner vs Wisconsin
Ill-PSU winner vs Indiana

According to the local paper, no team that has finished in third or tied for third in the Big Ten (excepting teams on probation) has ever NOT made the NCAA tourney.

It all starts Wednesday. Go Hawks!

String him up...

Another American "Taliban", al Qaeda, or whatever else you would like to CALL IT.

Maldonado told FBI agents in Kenya that he went to Somalia to fight "jihad," or holy war, for a true Islamic government, according to the complaint.

"I would be fighting the Somali militia, and that turned into fighting the Ethiopians, and if Americans came, I would fight them, too," he is accused of telling the agents. He also told the agents he had "no problem" with killing Americans or with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the complaint says.

Why waste money on this jihadist freak? Treason is a very reasonable charge here. And it shouldn't be hard to prove.

If I didn't like his music so much...

God, how I wish Hollywood/celeb types would just shut their holes sometimes, rather then blurt out this IDIOCY:

Singer John Mellencamp on the ‘Charlie Rose Show’ said the removal of the Taliban after 9/11 was wrong, but further Mellencamp stated if the United States knew exactly where Osama bin Laden was it would be wrong to drop a bomb on OBL’s head.

Mellencamp: I think what would have been appropriate is exactly what we’re going to have to do right now.

Rose: What’s that?

Mellencamp: Talk to people.

Rose: Who do we go talk to? Do we call him up and say, “Osama, can we talk about this? We’re not real happy about this. Can we talk about it?”

Mellencamp then said we should talk to “the Muslims” and ask “where are we so far apart here?”
Later in the interview Mellencamp says he doesn’t know how he’d respond to the attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II because he doesn’t really know what happened. He says he’s read books, but he doesn’t know if history is always right.

Hey John, why don't you go over to Afghanistan and "talk" to those guys, preferably the guys who cut off Daniel Pearl's head, and see how interested they are in "talking" to you...

What an idiot.

Mosul troop right on target...

NAILS IT!

Big time. What an elequent letter this troop writes from my former home for a year. Thanks to Cal Thomas for bringing this letter to print, and for allowing Americans to see the honor of our military. God Bless them.

LET'S GIVE UP!

"A vote of disapproval will set the stage for additional Iraq legislation, which will be coming to the House floor," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said. She was one of 54 Democrats and 37 Republicans to speak on the issue during 11 hours of debate Tuesday.

No, it would set the stage for insurgents and al Qaeda to win the war, sensing bin Laden was right when he said Americans don't have the stomach for a fight.

This is what democrats are. This is what democrats do. Cut and run.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070214/D8N9JA3O2.html

This and that...

HappyValentines Day everyone...

Haven't talked about the Hawks for awhile. The team is playing much better. They currently sit at 6-5 in the Big Ten, 14-11 overall. Certainly not sterling, however, it should be obvious to eveyone they are playing much better as a team overall. There remaining schedule looks less then daunting, home games against Northwestern, Purdue, and Illinois, as well as road games against a bad PSU team and a slipping badly MSU team.

I think a 10-6 finish will get the team a bid to the NCAA's, providing they win at least their first round BTT game. That would put them at 19-13 overall, but a great finish overall (9-3 under this scenario) may get them in. Plus they would be 4th in the Big Ten. Go Hawks!

Mosul, Iraq

A few pics from Mosul, Iraq. Gorgeous sunsets. These are from 2005, from FOB Courage.

How to win the War on Terrorism...

Excellent article from Human Events on how to win the "long" war.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=19228

Americans hear conflicting messages about how to think and talk about terrorism. As a result, the message of freedom and justice is often muted or muddled. Americans can do better. There are core ideas that should serve as a taproot for a consensus on how to under­stand and describe the enemy -- and ultimately how to defeat them. Specifically, we should:

Remember that winning the long war is all about win­ning the struggle of ideas. Such an effort requires (1) understand­ing the enemy, (2) delegitimizing its view of the world, (3) offering a credible alter­native, and (4) demonstrating the will to prevail in the long war. Americans have a role to play in all four tasks. Using the right words and ideas can help to speed the course to victory.

Reject calls for appeasement. Believing that concessions will stem transnational terrorism would be a grave mistake. Osama bin Laden, for example, has promoted attacks by arguing that the West is a "paper tiger" with little stomach for prevailing in a long war. Appeasement would only reinforce this belief. One act of appeasement is the failure to call this conflict "war." Terrorists believe that they are at war with us. From their perspective, our failure to acknowledge this fact is an act of cowardice and weakness. Refusing to recognize that we are at war only encourages the enemy to be more warlike.

Acknowledge that there is no single enemy. Various terrorist networks pose different kinds of local, regional, and glo­bal threats. For instance, while al-Qaeda is the most well known of the terrorist groups, many differ­ent terrorist networks are at work around the world, including ter­rorist groups in the Indian sub­continent, which have carried out attacks in India and Pakistan, and Hezbollah, which has killed hun­dreds of Americans and struck in Europe and Latin America as well as in the Middle East. The distinct threats posed by different terrorist groups require a differentiated U.S. policy custom-made for each group, not a one-size-fits-all approach. Wars and words should be used to divide, weaken, and defeat terrorist groups.

Understand that poverty is not the "root cause" of terrorism. Many poor countries do not produce terrorists. In fact, many terrorists come from middle-class backgrounds and were indoctri­nated and trained in Western Europe. Terrorists purport that violence is an appropriate way to solve societal ills. Discrediting that belief is the first and most essential task in addressing the root causes of terrorism. At the same time, the U.S. and its allies need to offer alternatives to terrorism that are real, credible, and achievable means of making people free, safe, and prosperous.

Accept that a Palestinian–Israeli peace deal will not defuse the terrorist threat. An enduring peace is clearly in the interest of all peoples in the Middle East, but terrorists are opposed to Israel's very existence as a sovereign state, not simply to making peace with it. Additionally, many use the conflict as an excuse to push their own political agendas or to condone escalating violence. Their arguments only obscure the reality that a Palestinian–Israeli accord will not stop transnational terrorism.

Acknowledge that elections alone will not bring freedom and democracy -- the long-term political antidotes to terrorism. Elections alone are not democracy; they are the promise of democracy. Achieving peace and freedom takes years of effort and commitment. As the U.S. has relearned from Iraq’s difficult transition to a demo­cratic society, free and fair elections do not guaran­tee freedom from terrorist attacks. Democracy comes from building the institutions that foster a resilient civil society, including freedom from cor­ruption, upholding human rights, protecting free­dom of the press and religious practice, and ensuring equality of opportunity.

Avoid religious terminology that terrorists use to justify their actions. Terrorists use religious terminology to legitimize their inexcusable acts. For instance, they use the word "jihad," which is derived from the Arabic word jehada and literally means "to strive," to justify what they claim is a "holy war." Using "jihad" or any other religious term to describe terrorists and their actions only helps to legitimize an ideology that the war on terrorism seeks to defeat. Terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda advocate a totalitarian Islamic ideology that manip­ulates religious words and ideas but does not repre­sent traditional Islam. Many terrorists have never received legitimate religious educations.

Remind audiences that many terrorist groups are revolutionary organizations that seek to impose their totalitarian ideology on Mus­lims, as well as non-Muslims, through violence. Although Osama bin Laden seeks to provoke a clash of civilizations, he also promotes a clash within Islamic civilization. Al-Qaeda has killed many thousands more Muslims than non-Muslims. Muslims have a major stake in defeating al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups because they are among the chief victims of its attacks and pay a heavy price when forced to live under terrorist regimes.

Not give up on moderate Muslims. Many Muslims reject terrorism, even in countries where the official rhetoric seems disturbingly warlike. Many Islamic scholars argue that terrorism -- the intentional murder of innocents to achieve politi­cal goals -- is completely illegitimate. In some cases, moderate voices receive little notice in West­ern media. In other instances, individuals are fear­ful to speak out too loudly because of the threat from terrorists and their supporters. The U.S. should encourage Muslim political, religious, and social leaders to denounce terrorism and cooperate in defeating terrorist groups.

Winning the war on terrorism will require understanding the enemy, delegitimizing its view of the world, offering a credible alternative, and demonstrating the will to prevail in the long war. Using the right words and ideas can help to speed the course to victory..

The point about Israel-Palestine is very succinct. There will never be peace there as long as groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, and of course, states like Iran, want to eliminate the Jewish state. It indeed is "the long war". The sooner Americans accept it, the sooner we can join together and unify as a country, rather then be torn apart.

Anti-troop screed, Washington Post style

Blogger William Arkin over at the Washington Post blog site has come under fire for an anti-troop screed, and then an answer a day later to his "critics". Sometimes, it's best to shut your mouth, lest the whole world sees what real ignorance lies beneath:

http://www.rightwingnews.com/cgi-bin/mt331/mt-tb.cgi/2833

"I'm sure the soldiers were expressing a majority opinion common amongst the ranks - that's why it is news - and I'm also sure no one in the military leadership or the administration put the soldiers up to expressing their views, nor steered NBC reporter Richard Engel to the story.
I'm all for everyone expressing their opinion, even those who wear the uniform of the United States Army. But I also hope that military commanders took the soldiers aside after the story and explained to them why it wasn't for them to disapprove of the American people."

LOL! He has it right that most troops feel this way. However, he apparently doesn't like it when the same troops putting their lives on the line for him to vomit his bilge, decide to say some things he doesn't agree with. HYPOCRITE!

Here is the followup blog the next day, consisting of him whining and apologizing for calling the troops mercs. He still gets a nice bash in on our military:

http://www.rightwingnews.com/cgi-bin/mt331/mt-tb.cgi/2839

These men and women are not fighting for money with little regard for the nation. The situation might be much worse than that: evidently far too many in uniform believe that they are the one true nation. They hide behind the constitution and the flag and then spew an anti-Democrat, anti-liberal, anti-journalism, anti-dissent, and anti-citizen message that reflects a certain contempt for the American people.

What I've heard ever since my article "The Troops Also Need to Support the American People" was published on Tuesday are a lot of people telling ME to shut up and be grateful for the sacrifices others are making.

....As the debate about the Iraq war demonstrates, war-making is a shared endeavor and the arrogant and intolerant few who think they are above the people seem to be those who are wearing the uniform."

Wow. Just wow. He doesn't like what the troops are saying because they disagree with him. So he attacks those same troops. If they agreed with him, this whole article would never have seen the blogosphere. What a loser.

This is an excellent article...

http://www.rightwingnews.com/cgi-bin/mt331/mt-tb.cgi/2828

Excellent article taken originally from the NY Times and posted at John Hawkins "Right Wing News" website:

The pro-surrender Democrats are bound and determined to give-in to Al-Qaeda before the surge has a chance to work:
"Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee began laying the constitutional groundwork today for an effort to block President Bush’s plan to send more troops to Iraq and place new limits on the conduct of the war there, perhaps forcing a withdrawal of American forces from Iraq.
...Senator Russell Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat who acted as chairman for the hearing, said he would soon introduce a resolution that would go much further. It would end all financing for the deployment of American military forces in Iraq after six months, other than a limited number working on counterterrorism operations or training the Iraqi army and police. In effect, it would call for all other American forces to be withdrawn by the six-month deadline.
...Mr. Feingold insisted that his resolution would “not hurt our troops in any way” because they would all continue to be paid, supplied, equipped and trained as usual — just not in Iraq.
The panel heard from legal experts, who cited constitutional debates over conflicts ranging from the “quasi-war” with Napoleon in 1798 to peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Somalia in recent years. No war seemed to hang more heavily over the hearing than Vietnam, where Congress brought American involvement to a close by cutting off financing.
Prof. Robert Turner of the University of Virginia suggested that Congress had made itself responsible for the deaths of the 1.7 million Cambodians estimated to have been slaughtered by the Khmer Rouge, by denying funds for President Nixon to wage war inside Cambodia. Similarly, he said Congress bore responsibility for the deaths of 241 marines killed by a suicide bomber in Lebanon in 1983 because it raised the question of forcing a withdrawal there."


That about says it all. Any honest democrat care to add a comment explaining how you are NOT wanting the enemy to win?

Accomplishments in Iraq...

A democrat "Bush-Hater" (is there any other kind?) posted that we have accomplished "nothing" in Iraq. Aside from the absolute ignorance of that statement, what is troubling is the fact that he/she to me seemed to almost not want things to go well over there, in order to make Bush look bad. This same person stuck up for Cindy "Moonbat" Sheehan, also, so that should be taken with a grain of salt. However, I think I should go ahead and post some "good things" to shut "it" up. Problem is, they won't care. They will come on here and SCREAM that things aren't as I or others say. Let's have a look see:

http://www.iraqblc.com/iraq-accomplishments.htm

Assistance has helped Iraq move away from rote learning methodology in decrepit, unsanitary classrooms to interactive learning in rehabilitated buildings. Since 2003, nearly 3,000 schools have been rehabilitated . Over 20 million new textbooks have been supplied. By 2006, more than 133,000 primary school teachers – a third of Iraq’s educators – will have received training and technical assistance. Already, the most recent primary school enrollment numbers show a 19 percent increase from pre-war levels.
Through September 2005, over 2,800 schools have been rehabilitated, and 45 constructed.
Internet access and computers have been installed at the Ministry of Education and in all 21 Directorates of Education. To improve planning and resource management, official baseline data has been gathered and an Education Management Information System (EMIS) is being developed.
Over 47,500 secondary school teachers and administrators nationwide have received training.
More than 80 primary and secondary schools are being established to serve as model schools. At these “centers of excellence,” teachers will receive up to five weeks of training, and schools will be equipped with computer and science laboratories.
Hundreds of thousands of desks and chalkboards have been distributed countrywide.
USAID edited, printed, and distributed 8.7 million Iraqi math and science textbooks.
More than 550 out-of-school youths completed a pilot accelerated learning program. An expanded program, targeting more than 11,000 youths, is being implemented during the 2005–06 school year.
School supplies have been distributed to one million primary school children and two million secondary; sports equipment has been distributed to every school.
An early childhood learning television series is currently being developed.
Through university partnerships, more than 1,500 Iraqi faculty and students at 10 Iraqi universities have participated in workshops, trainings, conferences, and courses in Iraq, the greater Middle East, Europe, and the United States.
At 10 Iraqi universities, 23 specialist libraries, 23 computer laboratories, 20 specialist science labs, and 17 auditoriums or classrooms have been rehabilitated and equipped. These efforts have benefited approximately 50,000 university students in colleges of law, engineering, medicine, archeology, and agriculture. In addition, books and electronic resources have been provided to university libraries.


Health Accomplishments in Iraq
2005 emergency campaigns supported the immunization of 98 percent of children 1-3 years (3.62 million children) against measles, mumps, and rubella. As a result, there has been a 90 percent reduction in laboratory confirmed cases of measles between 2004 and 2005.
97 percent of children under five (4.56 million) immunized against polio during the 2004-05 national polio immunization campaign, enabling Iraq to maintain its polio-free status.
Vaccinated 3.2 million children under five and 700,000 pregnant women, with UNICEF and WHO.
Provided supplementary doses of vitamin A for more than 1.5 million nursing mothers and 600,000 children under two, and iron folate supplements for over 1.6 million women of childbearing age.
Trained 11,400 staff at over 2,000 community child care units to screen for malnutrition and to provide monthly rations of high protein biscuits to malnourished children and pregnant mothers.
Renovated 110 facilities and equipped 600 centers with basic clinical and lab equipment.
Trained over 2,500 primary health care workers, improving access to essential primary health care.
Provided skills training to 3,200 primary care providers and physicians, improving service delivery.
Trained 2,000 health educators, teachers, religious leaders, and youths to assist in mobilizing communities on hygiene, diarrhea, breastfeeding, nutrition, and immunization issues.
Established training and education centers in five governorates to support local health care training.
Vaccines and cold chain equipment provided to selected remote health centers along with training of staff and social mobilization has increased routine immunization coverage from 60 to 74 percent.
Minimized epidemics by re-establishing Iraq’s disease surveillance and response system. Addressed urgent water and sanitation service needs to prevent disease outbreaks: Other USAID programs, particularly in water and sanitation, have immensely contributed to improvements in Iraqi health. USAID partners have repaired 1,700 breaks in Baghdad’s water distribution network. Key supplies have been procured to service water treatment facilities in Baghdad and other cities. Water treatment facilities across four governorates have been rehabilitated. Over 100 sewage pumping stations, rainwater stations, and collapsed sewer lines have been repaired countrywide.


You are welcome to read the rest of the rather extensive list of accomplishments in Iraq at the linked website. As you see, many, many things that haven't been reported to the MSM are being/have been done.

Been a few days, we have had a few things going on. Some of it was a rally Saturday in DC, with my favorite socialists/Marxists taking part. More on that later.

President Bush gave his State of the Union about a week ago.

You can see that here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/01/20070123-2.html

My favorite part of the speech was this:

This is where matters stand tonight, in the here and now. I have spoken with many of you in person. I respect you and the arguments you've made. We went into this largely united, in our assumptions and in our convictions. And whatever you voted for, you did not vote for failure. Our country is pursuing a new strategy in Iraq, and I ask you to give it a chance to work. And I ask you to support our troops in the field, and those on their way.

Here here. But alas, it appears the dems will indeed vote for failure with their cynical vote against the "surge" the President has asked for. It was General Petraeus, if you will remember, who has asked the President for more troops. Then the dems had the audacity during the General's confirmation hearings to wish him good luck, while at the same time pledging to vote against the troops he wants. Did I tell you how bad I loathe dems?

Then they got their panties in a bunch when General Petraeus essentially told it like it was:

During this morning's Armed Services confirmation hearing, Sen. McCain asked Lt. Gen. Petraeus is if he can implement his new plan in Iraq without more troops?

Petraeus answered: “No sir.”

McCain also asked if it would be helpful to the general for the Senate to pass an anti-surge resolution.

Petraeus responded that it would not be "beneficial.”

Sen. Lieberman asked Petraeus what impact he believed such a Senate resolution would have on our enemies in Iraq.

The general said that we are engaged in a “test of wills” with out enemies and that he’d like “the enemy to feel there’s no hope.”

Lieberman went on to ask Petraeus whether he believes passage of an anti-surge resolution would convey to our enemy a lack of unity here in Washington.

“That’s correct, sir,” said Petraeus.

Lieberman continued:

I fear that a resolution of disapproval will send you over there with us saying you’re a good and great General but we don’t agree with what you believe we need to do in Iraq. And so, I want to appeal to my colleagues and consider with regard to the resolution of disapproval or the caps on troops or the cut off of funds to step back for a moment and give you a chance and the 160,000 American soldiers you will be commanding, a chance, perhaps a last chance, to succeed in Iraq. If, God forbid, you are unable to succeed, then there will be plenty of time for the resolutions of disapproval, or the other alternatives that have been contemplated.

Read about that exchange here:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Weblogs/TWSFP/TWSFPView.asp

To add to all this, the commie organizations, United for Peace and Justice, Workers World party, International Answer, Code Pink, etc., all participated in a little America Hating over the weekend with another Che Guevara love fest....at the DC rally, some loser, pathetic excuse for a human actually spit on the ground at a soldier who had lost his lower leg fighting in Ramadi.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/washington/28protest.html?_r=3&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=2&adxnnlx=1170039570-ph+RYDXh0ON25gvKO6enIw&oref=slogin

They support the troops though!

The 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STI.

All STI, all the time. Some other pics of the race car. Some stats:

2.5 liter, 4 cylinder, 300 HP Turbo (intercooled), 0-60 in 4.5 seconds (Motortrend magazine).

Yea, it's fast.

More photos of Longs...

One of my other passions is a little mountaineering. Specifically, Longs peak, seen on the right in this fabulous photo, at sunrise. 14,259 feet, it is in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. No peak in the Rockies is taller northward. I climbed it twice, once in 1986, and again in 1991. I will post more photos of the moutain later.

Support the Troops

Earlier I posted how you cannot support the troops and subsequently say you do not support the war. I personally think the left is using that expression as a defense mechanism to not be attacked for NOT supporting the troops. Lorie Byrd explains it quite well in a column from Townhall.com:

We frequently hear even major opponents of the war say they "support the troops." What we rarely ever hear, though, is much about what the troops have done right in Iraq. I would love to hear anyone who disagrees with me on this one list of a dozen U.S. military accomplishments in Iraq that the average American could name. To say that things have not gone as hoped in Iraq is an incredible understatement, but that does not mean there have not been significant accomplishments made in the face of great difficulty.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/LorieByrd/2007/01/12/replace_pity_with_true_support

366th MPAD in Iraq

Courtesy of the Paradise Iowa Club, who was nice enough to send us dozens of care packages during our stay in Iraq in 2005. Thanks again, guys!

My fellow unit members and I posed for this pic on top of our Public Affairs building in August of 05. I served with the 366th MPAD as the Broadcast NCOIC in Mosul, Iraq, in the Nineveh Province. As always, go Hawks!

Have fun dealing with this crap:


House Democratic leaders were giving their first news conference of the year when the session in the Cannon building was hijacked by Cindy Sheehan and other antiwar demonstrators, some wearing tie-dyed apparel and pins comparing President Bush to Adolf Hitler. Just after Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) vowed, "We're gonna cut the interest rate in half for student loans," hecklers began to chant "De-escalate! Investigate! Troops home now!"
"That is exactly what we're talking about," Emanuel said, trying to appease the protesters. But the hecklers kept chanting, and he fled.

The Democratic leaders in retreat, Sheehan seized the microphone. "We put them back in power," she said of the Democrats. Passing out fliers calling for defunding the Iraq war, Sheehan shouted: "These are our demands. And they're not requests -- they're demands."

Here's a demand, Cindy. Shut that sewer you call a mouth and stop dishonoring your dead son. What a sorry excuse for a human being she has turned out to be.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/03/AR2007010301611_pf.html

Tough way to go out.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas/New Year's.

December 30th was a tough pill to swallow. The Hawkeyes gave it their all and looked like a different ballclub against a tough Texas team...speaking to people who attended (including my Dad), Texas fans were very impressed with the Hawks and the fire they showed.

The call against Chandler (would have made the score 21-3) for not "covering up" was complete bull, not that the right call wasn't made, but that it is rarely ever called. And the Texas player DID step out of bounds at the end of the game, that would have given Tate about 30 more seconds to work.

Despite these things, it was nice to see Iowa "give a damn" and play well, for the most part. But bottom line is winning. Let's hope there is much more of that next year.

As always, GO HAWKS!