





On this day there were some civilians doing construction on the mortuary grounds. As each hearse passed, they would stop working and place their hard hats over their hearts. This was my first sign that my mission with Pfc. Phelps was larger than the Marine Corps and that his family and friends were not grieving alone.Bottom line: I give the movie 2 thumbs up and recommend it for all to see. I only caution you to have a box of kleenex close by.
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The woman behind the counter already had tears in her eyes as I was pulling out my government travel voucher. She struggled to find words but managed to express her sympathy for the family and thank me for my service. She upgraded my ticket to first class.
After clearing security, I was met by another Northwest Airlines employee at the gate. She told me a representative from cargo would take me to the tarmac to observe the movement and loading of Pfc. Phelps. I hadn't really told any of them what my mission was, but they all knew.
When the man from the cargo crew met me, he, too, struggled for words. On the tarmac, he told me stories of his childhood as a military brat and repeatedly told me that he was sorry for my loss. I was starting to understand that, even here in Philadelphia, far away from Chance's hometown, people were mourning with his family.
On the tarmac, the cargo crew was silent expect for occasional instructions to each other. I stood to the side and saluted as the conveyor moved the container to the aircraft. I was relieved when he was finally settled into place. The rest of the bags were loaded, and I watched them shut the cargo bay door before I headed back to board the aircraft.
One of the pilots had taken my carry-on bag himself and stored it next to the cockpit door so he could watch it while I was on the tarmac. As I boarded the plane, I could tell immediately that the flight attendants had already been informed of my mission. They seemed a little choked up as they led me to my seat.
About 45 minutes into our flight, I still hadn't spoken to anyone expect to tell the first-class flight attendant that I would prefer water. I was surprised when the flight attendant from the back of the plane suddenly appeared and leaned down to grab my hands. She said, "I want you to have this, " as she pushed a small gold crucifix, with a relief of Jesus, into my hand. It was her lapel pin, and it looked somewhat worn. I suspected it had been hers for quite some time. That was the only thing she said to me the entire flight.
--Palin: Never Apologize for our Country...
--Ann Coulter on Sarah Palin's Legacy
--A Marine's Journey Home
--HBO Films’ Taking Chance - Kevin Bacon, Michael Strobl Interview
--Taking Chance
--Why Obamacare is Sinking
--And more...
"Not only has the stimulus not worked and the economy not been rescued, the President continues to promote policies that will create more unemployment in America. The national energy tax that went through this House last month will cause millions of Americans to lose their jobs over the next 10 years, at 2.5 million per year.
And we're debating the health care plan, the government takeover of health care, which according to the Presidents council of economic advisors model will cost five million more Americans their jobs."--Rep. John Boehner
--Movie Reviews
--Soldier held in Afghanistan is 23-year-old Idahoan
--Governors Fear Medicaid Costs in Health Plan
--Fly Girls are no longer forgotten
--Obama taps genetics pioneer
--My Take on Sarah Palin
--My Take on Michael Jackson
--Gerald Ford Museum
--And more...
Peter Hoffmann, professor of history at McGill University and a leading authority on the German Resistance, was a consultant for the filmmakers. Hoffmann spoke of the film's accuracy, "[Valkyrie] gives a fundamentally accurate portrait of Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators. There are details which must be counted as liberties. But, fundamentally, the film is decent, respectful and represents the spirit of the conspiracy."My Mom and I were amazed that we had never heard more about the July plot or how widespread the German resistance was. There were a total of 15 assassination attempts on Hitler's life by the time the war ended.
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.Sarah Palin's resignation had barely hit the airwaves and the convulsions and screaming from the left hit an all time high. High pitched squeals were heard about how this was the end of her career, etc, etc...
--From Hamlet (III, ii, 239)
As Bill Kristol, the only DC based analyst who "gets it" said the move also frees Palin to "write her book, give speeches, travel the country, and educate herself on some issues." It also frees her to build a net work of fundraisers and supporters throughout the country - many of whom will be her TV viewers.
Palin will also be more in demand as a dinner speaker, fundraiser and campaigner than any other Republican in 2011. She can suspend her TV career and will have a chance to collect countless political IOUs along the way, campaigning for candidates and raising them money and hitting the State Republican dinner circuit. Demand for the "New Palin" will only increase.
Palin's "star-power," charisma, presence and genuineness can not be discounted. No one can discount her moxie, her energy and her inspirational qualities. Her anti-elite middle-class message can have resonance again when the Obama economic polices likely fail. The Ivy leaguers and Hollywood crowd so high on Obama may be riding for a fall. The media has unfairly labeled her as "dumb." All she must do is disprove this...and she can have sixty minutes each week to do it.
Palin's stunning move guarantees an outsider strategy in which Palin is a movement but not a party candidate. No decision on running should be made until 2011 and focus must be on image repair. This is a woman who held off 36 year Senate vet Joe Biden in a 90 minute debate. She may just be up to the task.
It’s tough to govern and not go broke when the other side has decided to nibble you to death – and to build up a “record of questionable ethics” against you while they do so. The left and the press, who one might characterize as “at war” with Palin and her family, have tossed together a mess of Palin narratives (she’s “stupid,” they’re “trailer-trash,” the daughters are “sluts,” she looks like a “slutty flight attendant,” they are cornpone, she is inept, she “can see Russia from her window” and oh, yeah, she’s really her son’s grandmother, and one of her “slutty” daughters got pregnant just a few weeks after giving birth to that retarded kid that everyone wishes she [or her daughter, winkwink] had aborted) and they have created an enormous battle-hill out of all of that.
And I suspect Sarah Palin has looked around and decided, no – she is not going to die on that hate-constructed hill. I think she’s going to do her thing, forge her own path by her own lights, and eventually head back into politics on her own damn hill – and with (one fervently hopes) a hum-dinger of a speech-writer.
One of the jobs of a believer -whether Christian or not- is to find meaning in what is going on around and within. I suspect Palin is finding meaning in the abuse she’s been handed. I suspect her interior strength and her interior narrative of faith, family and love of homeland are commingling into a strategy, based on that meaning; a strategy that will be broad in scope, takes the long-view and is played close to the vest.
--It was a very nice museum overall
--They had a really nice set-up covering Ford's funeral. They had recordings of the speeches at his funeral and you could hear each of them by pushing different buttons. I was able to hear Cheney, Bush and Rumsfeld's comments.
--A re-creation of what the Oval Office looked like during Ford's term
--They had a temporary exhibit of Caroline Kennedy's Doll Collection which was fascinating.
--Ford was on the Warren Commission and he wrote a book on it
--Ford's vast experience
--That Rockefeller was his initial VP but because he was such a liberal Republican Ford dumped him for Bob Dole when he ran for President because of the challenge by the conservative Ronald Reagan
--I always have to buy fun stuff at the Presidential Museum gift shops. I bought the book to the left by Betty Ford. Although, I didn't choose to get the autographed copy which was $50.
--While Ford and Dole are 2 of the most patriotic and experienced men to be on a ticket, I can't think of 2 more boring men. Is there any wonder why they lost? The best thing they did was deliver us Jimmy Carter who in turn gave us Ronald Reagan.
we will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation.
This is to provide notice to Ms. Moore, and those who re-publish the defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law.
UPDATE #2: Click here for Mark Levin's assessment based on what he knows as of yesterday, not based on 'speculation' as to 'why' she resigned.
photo by Mike's America
A demonstrator throws a Molotov cocktail during clashes between supporters of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and armed forces in Tegucigalpa on June 29, 2009.
And if you want to know who is behind the violence, here's a clue:
A demonstrator holds a banner of the late Argentine-born revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara during a show of support for ousted Honduras President Manuel Zelaya outside the Ministry of Foreign Relations in San Jose July 1, 2009.
Yep, the same old communist evil that has been directly responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands and the oppression of millions more thoughout Latin America.
The original chart (minus the actual unemployment figures in red) is from the Obama's transition team and was used as a scare tactic to insist that disaster would fall on us if we didn't agree to Obama's spending spree.
Reminder: All of the economic forecasts, budget projections and deficit outlooks are based on rosy assumptions by the Obama economic team that have now been proven to be completely false! That means things are likely to be even worse than we originally feared!Q: Rob on Twitter said, "Does it really make sense, Mr. President, to tax me on my health care coverage?"In between all the usual Obama doublespeak one clear message rings out: TAXES WILL GO UP! And if you think only the rich will be paying higher taxes, think again.
OBAMA: let me describe for you how this argument has evolved and where I've stood on it in the past and what's being debated in Congress.
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Now, nobody at this point is -- or not many folks are talking about taxing benefits or completely eliminating the exclusion. What they are calling for now in Congress is to cap the exclusion so that people who have very high-priced health care, at a certain point they can only get a deduction up to a certain point, right? So let's say that the average health care cost for families -- a good health care plan costs $13,000. What they would say is the employer and the employee get an exclusion up to $13,000, but if you get some Cadillac plan that costs $17,000, then what we're going to do is you're going to have to pay taxes on that last $4,000. And the idea that is being debated in Congress right now is, is that a good way to ensure that people don't have these big Cadillac plans but instead have more sensible plans?
Now, I don't think -- and by the way, that also raises some money. So this has been offered as an alternative way to pay for that extra one-third of health care that we're not able to pay for through simply reallocating money.
I think the better way to do it remains the proposal I have to cap itemized deductions. I think that is a way that we can ensure that people who currently have health care aren't suddenly seeing the costs go up to pay for other people's costs going down, but instead everybody's costs can go down effectively.