As of yet I haven't written anything about the events transpiring between Israel and Gaza...Lebanon...Syria...Iran..

Too many others can do a much better job of giving the history of the conflict and updates on the present state of the conflict better than I ever could.

Those that know me already know how I stand, it would just be self-indulgent fluff to try to just reiterate it.

For those that don't know me, let me just say that I believe that Israel has shown a remarkable forbearence in restraining itself in the face of overbearing provacations for many years, and it's far past time that the gloves to come off.

Israel is fighting for it's very right to exist...they tried appeasement, they tried political negotiation, they let their citizens live in an atmosphere of danger, not knowing where,when, or how bad the next act of terrorism would hurt them; without responding in a justified military fury. They have been subjected to UN resolutions calling them genocidal when they took any actions to defend themselves from these predations, and watched in silence as the rest of the world funded those that committed these brutal acts.

Enough is enough. I wonder if the IDF takes 52 year old cardiac patients that don't speak Hebrew?

The United State need do nothing at present other than to watch Irael show how it's done, oldstyle; and supply anything that the IDF/IAF need in the way of armament.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 05:58 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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AutoBlog has a neat post up about an artist that uses a truly unique medium.

Like one commenter noted: "it reminds me of the transient sand paintings done by Buddist Lamas":

I like his Texas politics too...

And if I didn't know better, I'd think he was paying homage to GuyK:

But just to prove that Wade is a true artiste, he reproduces two of the classics, Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" and Van Gogh's "Starry Night":

Too much free time, or a devoted artiste? I just give you the links, the opinion on that, you have to decide for yourself.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 04:48 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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It's amazing the love some people can have for their spouses. GuyK wanted Sweetthing just how much HE cared, so with a little help from WmH, he arranged for a certain sign in Hollyweird to be upgraded to a get well card for her:

(Gee, I wish I had thought of that, and had the photoshop skills to DO it !...)

Last report is that she came through the surgury like the true trooper she is and is doing at or above expectations.

How about going over and leaving her a little note to buck up her spirits when she gets home? Speaking from experience, I know just how important attitude is in achieving a quick recovery, and knowing people really do care goes a long way in lifting those spirits when your going through the pain of rehab.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 04:05 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Shame shame shame, Misha has indulged in hyperboly that was mean and demonstrated a wish to wreak mayhem to a stranger on the Interstate. How damageing to the Conservative cause we both espouse!

I felt compelled to write this lest Glen Greenwald accuse me of not being fair and balanced in my condemnation of such as Deb Frisch.

Sire, you KNOW how much I admire you, leave the hateful speech/wishes of bodily injury to sreangers to the the Leftists we both like to Cluebat...(/sarcastic portion for those the didn't get that)

Oh mighty Greenwald, may this condemnation of "one of my own" bring about a glorious new day of understanding and light, and if not, screw you anyway.

May I have my fatwa now?

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 02:28 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I posted a blond joke the other day and it seemed to garner at least one rave response....I happened to see these redhead jokes over at Curmudgeonisms , and being married to a Redhead, I can attest to the validity of most, if not all of the stereotypes.

Q: How do you get a redhead to argue with you?
A: Say something

Q: How do you get a redheadÂ’s mood to change?
A: Wait 10 seconds

If you love a Redhead, set her free Â…
If she follows you everywhere you go, pitches a tent in your front lawn and puts your new girlfriend in the hospital, sheÂ’s yours.

Q: WhatÂ’s safer: a redhead or a piranha?
A: The piranha. They only attack in schools.

Q: What do you call a Redhead with an attitude?
A: Normal

Q: How do you know when a redhead has been using a computer?
A: ThereÂ’s a hammer embedded in the monitor

Only two things are necessary to keep a redhead happy.
One is to let her think she is having her own way,
and the other is to let her have it.

Q: Why arenÂ’t there any more redhead jokes?
A: Someone told them to a redhead.

Q: How do you know when youÂ’ve satisfied a redhead?
A: She unties you.

Q: What is the difference between a redhead and a computer?
A: A redhead wonÂ’t accept a three and a half inch floppy.

Brunette after sex: "Oh that was great! Love youÂ…wanna marry?"
Blonde after sex: "Next!"
Redhead after sex: "Better start chewing some VITAMINS, kid.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 02:36 AM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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Your "groan" of the day!! Thanks Catfish...just what I needed to start the day off..a groaner of a pun...

GUY WALKS INTO A BAR, SITS DOWN, AND SAYS, "BARTENDER, GOT ANY
SPECIALS TODAY?"

"YES, AS A MATTER OF FACT WE HAVE A NEW DRINK INVENTED BY A
GYNECOLOGIST PATRON OF OURS. IT'S A PABST BLUE RIBBON BEER
AND A DOUBLE SHOT OF SMIRNOFF VODKA."

"WHAT THE HECK DO YOU CALL IT?"

"A PABST SMIR."

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 01:49 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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W.A.R (Wide Awakes Radio) finally seems to have overcome their server problem and is putting out product. It's grassroots commentary from the Right side at it's basic level.

Go help support them by listening/participating/and hitting the tip jar when you can.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 04:54 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Lifted this from Michelle Malkin; I thought it expressed my feeling towards the New York Times perfectly:

I had a long, angry, post providing examples of why I believe the NYT's to be, in some cases, actively working against the security of the United States, but just as I was about to hit the "post" button, my screen blinked and it was all gone.....maybe someone up there was trying to tell me I had gone overboard?

Let it suffice to say: New York Times; you have every right to post whatever you wish to, that is what having a free press is all about, BUT with that right comes responsibility. I suggest that you look up the definition of that word, as you've not demonstrated much of it lately.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 06:39 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Situational Awareness Scenario

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

You are driving in a car at a constant speed.

On your LEFT side is a valley

and

on your RIGHT side is a fire engine traveling at your same speed.

IN FRONT of you is a galloping pig which is the same size as your car
and

you cannot overtake it.

BEHIND you is a helicopter flying at ground level.

Both the giant pig and the helicopter are also traveling at the same speed as you.

What must you do to safely get out of this highly dangerous situation?

to Catfish, one of the most perceptive people I know

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 03:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I am a voracious reader. My main interests for just pleasure reading are science fiction and fantasy. For Learning, history, political theory, and science.

I was thinking of making up a summer reading list to send my daughter, (who gets me books at deep discounts at Half Price Books, where she works) when Catfish sent me a list of some of the worlds thinnest books. I thought it might be good to try to get copies, since they can all be read at a single, VERY short, reading, and you all know how the summer months are the busiest, so short may be best.

Here's the list:

FRENCH WAR HEROES by Jacques Chirac

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MY COUNTRY by Jane Fonda & Cindy Sheehan. Illustrated by Michael Moore

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MY BEAUTY SECRETS by Janet Reno & Whoopi Goldberg

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

ALL THE WOMEN I HAVE LOVED BEFORE by Barney Frank (D-Mass) & Boy George

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MY CHRISTIAN ACCOMPLISHMENTS & HOW I HELPED AFTER KATRINA by Rev Jesse Jackson & Rev Al Sharpton

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THINGS I LOVE ABOUT BILL by Hillary Clinton

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THINGS I LOVE ABOUT HILLARY By Bill CLinton

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MY LITTLE BOOK OF PERSONAL HYGIENE by Osama Bin Laden & Willie Nelson

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THINGS I CANNOT AFFORD by Bill Gates & The 'Donald'

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THINGS I WOULD NOT DO FOR MONEY by Dennis Rodman

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AMELIA EARHART'S GUIDE TO THE PACIFIC

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AMERICA 'S MOST POPULAR LAWYERS

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A COLLECTION of MOTIVATIONAL SPEECHES by Dr. J. Kevorkian

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ALL THE MEN I HAVE LOVED BEFORE by Ellen DeGeneres & Rosie O'Donnell

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THE GUIDE TO DATING ETIQUETTE by Mike Tyson

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DELICIOUS SPOTTED OWL RECIPES by PETA

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THE AMISH PHONE DIRECTORY

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MY PLAN TO FIND THE REAL KILLERS by O.J. Simpson

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HOW TO DRINK & DRIVE OVER BRIDGES by Ted Kennedy

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There you have it....A list of books I could read in a single hour or less....

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 03:42 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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It started out innocently enough. I began to think at parties now and then -- just to loosen up. Inevitably, though, one thought led to another, and soon I was more than just a social thinker.

I began to think alone -- "to relax," I told myself -- but I knew it wasn't true. Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all the time.

That was when things began to sour at home. One evening I turned off the TV and asked my wife about the meaning of life. She spent that night at her mother's. I began to think on the job. I knew that thinking and employment don't mix, but I couldn't help myself.

I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thoreau, Muir, Confucius and Kafka.
I would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking, "What is it exactly we are doing here?"

One day the boss called me in. He said, "Listen, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your thinking has become a real problem. If you don't stop thinking on the job, you'll have to find another job."

This gave me a lot to think about. I came home early after my conversation with the boss. "Honey," I confess, "I've been thinking..."

"I know you've been thinking," she said, "and I want a divorce!"

"But Honey, surely it's not that serious."

"It is serious," she said, lower lip aquiver. "You think as much as college professors and college professors don't make any money, so if you keep on thinking, we won't have any money!"

"That's a faulty syllogism," I said impatiently.

She exploded in tears of rage and frustration, but I was in no mood to deal with the emotional drama.

"I'm going to the library," I snarled as I stomped out the door.

I headed for the library, in the mood for some Nietzsche. I roared into the parking lot with NPR on the radio and ran up to the big glass doors. They didn't open. The library was closed.

To this day, I believe that a Higher Power was looking out for me that night. Leaning on the unfeeling glass, whimpering for Zarathustra , a poster caught my eye, "Friend, is heavy thinking ruining your life?" it asked.

You probably recognize that line. It comes from the standard Thinkers Anonymous poster. This is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker. I never miss a TA meeting. At each meeting we watch a non-educational video; last week it was "Porky's."
Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since the last meeting.

I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home. Life just seemed...easier, somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking. I think the road to recovery is nearly complete for me.

Today I took the final step...........................

I joined the Democratic Party.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 03:52 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Have the Brits lost their spine?!? When a maggot like Omar Brooks can freely spew his hate-filled bile in open forums and belittle the victims of terrorism as he's doing it, things have gone way too far across the big briny.

He's told an audience of teenagers and young families that "he did not want to go to Allah while sleeping in his bed “like an old woman”. Instead, he said: “I want to be blown into pieces with my hands in one place and my feet in another.”

Come over here, Omar, I know plenty of people that would be more than happy assisting you in achieving that goal. Do you mind if we tie you to a hog first ?, gives a little more movement to the procedings and makes the filming ever so much more lively.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 03:13 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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MG of Iraqi Bloggers Central asked the two most important questions of those that are involved in the day to day grind of life in a war zone:

"In the end, do you feel that Iraq was worth your time and effort?"

"And could you tell us why?"

Not all the responses were positive, and thats to be expected,in fact it's good, because it shows that our men and women aren't the "jingoist rah-rah pawns" that the left would have you believe they are; but it seems that the overwhelming majority do believe that what they are doing/did was right and worth the sacrifices made.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 03:54 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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One day a man has a terrible stomach complaint and goes along to see his doctor.

The doctor tells him that he is very ill, but that he can cure his condition with a course of suppositories inserted deep into his rectum every 6 hours.

"Right" says the doctor, "bend over and I'll do the first one for you." The man bends down and the doctor deposited the suppository. He then gives the man his course and sends him home.

At home 6 hours later the man realizes that he can't stick the suppository far enough up, by himself, so he asks his wife to help him insert the slippery bullet. After explaining to her what to do, the man bends over. His wife puts one hand on her husband's shoulder to brace herself and thrusts really hard. To her horror the man lets out a blood curdling scream.

"My God" she cries. "What's the matter? Did I hurt you?"

"No" replies the man. "But I have just realized that when the doctor did it, he had both hands on my shoulders."

to Catfish

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 03:23 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This one is for my nephew, Robby, a newly minted TSgt in the AF. Congrats Rob!

*An Army grunt stands in the rain with a 35 pound pack on his back, 15 lb. weapon in hand, after having marched 12 miles, and says, "This is shit!"

*An Army Airborne Ranger stands in the rain with a 45 lb. pack on his back, weapon in hand, after having jumped from an airplane and marched 18 miles, and says with a smile, "This is good shit!"

*A Navy SEAL lies in the mud, 55 LB pack on his back, weapon in hand, after swimming 10 miles to shore, crawling through a swamp and marching 25 miles at night past the enemy positions, says with a grin, "This really is great shit."

*A Marine Scout/Sniper, up to his nose in the stinking, bug-infested mud of a swamp with a 65 LB pack on his back and a weapon in both hands after jumping from an aircraft at high altitude, into the ocean, swimming 12 miles to the shore, killing several alligators to enter the swamp, then stalking 30 miles through the brush to an FFP, says, "I love this shit."

*The Air Force NCO sits in an easy chair in an air conditioned, carpeted office and says, "My e-mail's out? What kind of shit is this?!?"

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 03:18 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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HERE'S a Carson Fire cartoon that describes the power of the bloggers in a humorous manner.

If you've never read the "Winger" series of cartoons, give yourself a treat and start from the beginning. You just may want to buy some of his original artwork too. Carson Fire deserves to get our support in his endeavors to become established as a full time cartoonist.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 06:59 PM | Comments (160) | Add Comment
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Just got back from a pleasant afternoon with the ex and my elder daughter. We got started late, so we didn't go to the zoo as originally planned, which was fine with me. We ended up just driving aound in the pleasant afternoon sunshine and went to eat at the Olive Garden. (you HAVE to try their new appitizer, mussels steamed in a wine/lemon sauce, it was delicious!) Yeah, the food is generic Italian, but good and filling, at a decent cost.

All in all it was a pleasant afternoon spent. Even if I did have an unfortunate tendendcy to call my "first" family by my "second" family's names, which lead to some awkard pauses in conversation. Erin and I plan on having a father/daughter afternoon on Wednesday..maybe go go see a movie, if we can ever come to an agreement on what to go see. I managed to keep my mouth shut about politics, so there were no tearful anger tantrums. I wish I could do that more often, it makes for a much better time.

Erin is a moonbat, and she considers me a Conservative Facist, so those types of discussions are never an excercise in having a good time, but I have an unfortunate tendency to try to bring up the latest controversy of the day, because that is where my interests lie ...guns, politics, and the politics of guns.

I guess I'm just socially stunted.....I should know better at my age, but dammit, I'm just too old to censor my speech or quail at the thought that a topic may be too "controversial".

Enough for now, I'm going to go try and boil my first batch of peanuts, and pray that they come out to a close approximation of Catfish's. I've been having a real hankering for them ever since I got back from Georgia, and salt content or not, I'm giving in to the yen.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 06:31 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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For the last three years, those of us on the right side of the blogoshere have argued that the MSM has presented a biased, anti-US picture of the action in Iraq, while the left side have claimed that the bias runs in the opposite direction.

Well, that argument will continue to be fought, I'm sure, but while the Leftsiders use their own filters of academics and feelings oriented to demonstrate their POV; I think that most of us on right side will continue to use those that have actually "been there, done that" to show our POV.

In the first week of June, there was a conference of General/Flag officers at Ft. Carson,Co. where some of the differences between the general perceptions of the general public and those that served in theater. were discussed, among other topics pertaining to the conduct of operations.

Here's just a taste:

Public Affairs: We are losing the public affairs battle for a variety of reasons. First, in Iraq, the terrorists provide Al Jazeera with footage of their more spectacular attacks and they are on TV to the whole Arab world within minutes of the event. By contrast it takes four to six days for a story generated by Army Public Affairs to gain clearance by Combined Forces Command, two or three more days to get Pentagon clearance, and after all that, the public media may or may not run the story.

and

Third, the stories that are filed by reporters in the field very seldom reach the American public as written. An anecdote from Col. McMaster illustrates this dramatically. TIME magazine recently sent a reporter to spend six weeks with the 3rd ACR as they were in the battle of Tal Afar. When the battle was over, the reporter filed his story and also included close to 100 pictures that the accompanying photographer took. TIME published a cover story on the battle a week later, allegedly using the story sent in by their reporter. When the issue came out, the guts had been edited out of their reporterÂ’s story and none of the pictures he submitted were used. Instead they showed a weeping child on the cover, taken from stock photos. When the reporter questioned why his story was eviscerated, his editors in New York responded that the story and pictures were too heroic. McMaster had read both and told me that the editors had completely changed the thrust and context of the material their reporter had submitted.(emph mine~D)

The Left says that the MSM is "the corporately owned lap dog of the Administration" while we on the Right have repeatedly pointed out that "stories always seem to be slanted against American interests". Probably both views have a modicum of reality to them (being biased, and a reasonably cogent type, I still subscribe to the Rights view as being the one much closer to the reality, of course).

Enough of my blather however, go read the link and see what you think.

to GuyK for the heads up

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 01:56 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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A blonde woman was speeding down the road in her little red sports car
and was pulled over by a woman police officer who was also a blonde.

The blonde cop asked to see the blonde driver's license.
She dug through her purse and was getting progressively more agitated.
"What does it look like?" she finally asked.

The policewoman replied, "It's square and it has your picture on it."

The driver finally found a square mirror in her purse, looked at it and
handed it to the policewoman.

"Here it is," she said.
The blonde officer looked at the mirror, then handed it back saying,
"Okay, you can go.
I didn't realize you were a cop."

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 02:58 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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Catfish sent me this men's Eye/Concentration Test....go see how you do on it!

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 02:53 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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