"[B]ecause as I look around at the state of this nation and see all
of the weak little pampered candy-asses that are whining about this or
protesting that, I’d be afraid to leave the fate of this nation
entirely up to them." - 1st Lt. Bruce Bishop, 31, a Salt Lake County firefighter, when asked why he was re-enlisting in the Army National Guard [quoted from here]
"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." - Thomas Jefferson [thanks to www.1911pistolgrips.com]
December 14, 2007: Congressional testimony that everyone should watch. It makes crystal clear what the 2nd Amendment is all about.
December 13, 2007: Deja-vu time again. Carson City, Nevada, is continuing to implement a de-facto gun registration agenda! As reported by NRA-ILA. Please contact Sheriff Ken Furlong to ask him to remove the serial number mandate from concealed carry permits, and to really mean it this time. His office can be reached at (775) 887 2020 ext 41901 or via email at KFurlong@ci.carson-city.nv.us.
November 21, 2007: Carson City, Nevada, is no longer implementing de-facto gun registration! As reported by NRA-ILA. Thank you everyone who contacted Sheriff Ken Furlong on this topic.
November 20, 2007: Carson City, Nevada, is implementing de-facto gun registration! As reported by NRA-ILA. Please contact Sheriff Ken Furlong to ask him to remove the serial number mandate from concealed carry permits. His office can be reached at [ED: Contact info removed as the policy was changed next day] or via email at [ditto].
November 10, 2007: Incredible news from the home of the complete gun ban, as reported by NRA-ILA:
In a recent article posted on www.thesun.co.uk, it was reported that Mark Goldberg heard a noise at his window one recent night and discovered a drunken teenager on the ledge, apparently trying to break in. While his wife called police, Goldberg confronted the teen, who then fled. Goldberg pursued and caught up to the teen, tackling him and escorting him back to the scene of the crime. Incredibly, after handing the intoxicated trespasser over to authorities, Goldberg himself was arrested for assault!
Needless to say, we recommend not even sneezing in the direction of a criminal in England, as that might be construed as assault with potentially harmful germs. This is also an example of the gun-free utopia that many of those subscribing to "progressive" ideas want to force on us all.
November 7, 2007: A tale of two houses. We have no easy way to confirm that the information presented at this link is accurate. However, if it is, then it should be world-changing to your next-door left-leaning environmentalist socialist, unless of course he/she/it subscribes to do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do: www.ataleoftwohouses.comNovember 5, 2007: Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November. www.thisnovember5th.comNovember 2, 2007: Media bias is so blatant that even Harvard is showing it in its studies. For example, "newspapers" provide almost 4 times as much negative coverage for Republicans than Democrats. Network evening "news" is slightly more "balanced" as it is only about twice as likely to provide negative coverage of Republicans. PBS is balanced in the negative sense, but in the study it never said anything positive about Republicans, whereas it did 8% of the time about Democrats. Cable "news" are most balanced, probably thanks to Fox News. And NPR is the most biased of all, beating even "newspapers" in its negativity towards Republicans. Read a summary here.October 4, 2007: In case you hadn't noticed. The "media" has effectively ignored 15 years of research by the FBI, apparently only because they don't like the outcome: www.nraila.org October 1, 2007: This sums up our view of a certain group of Americans: www.coxandforkum.com
April 29, 2007: Before rushing off to buy (CIA) Tenet's book on his dealings with the White House during the runup to the Irak war, consider that at least one of his stories is pure fabrication. As reported in the Weekly Standard today, Tenet claims to have met and spoken with Richard Perle the day after September 11. Only problem is, that Mr. Perle was stuck in Europe waiting for the flight restrictions to lift. One figures that September 11 would be sufficiently memorable to get a meeting the next day straight, so either Tenet is fabricating tall tales for his book with a bartsimpsonesque "it wasn't me", or Scotty and the Star Trek transporter beam can be found in the Pentagon Area 51 arsenal. (Or both.) In any case, we'd suggest not wasting time with Tenet's book.
April 23, 2007: We knew Sheryl Crow was somewhat strange, but her plan to combat global warming by limiting the use of toilet paper to "only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where two to three could be required" is off the chart. Read for yourself, from your favorite left-wing outlet, the BBC: Crow calls for limit on loo paper.
April 20, 2007: Fred Thompson shows that he's presidential material in this excellent opinion piece: Signs of Intelligence?. (yes, we do hope that he runs)
April 9, 2007: Some more data that makes a lot more sense in the algorelobal warming theory, like the fact that some tried to expunge data that doesn't fit the 'hockey stick' theory. Read it for next time an environut tries his gospel on you: No Such Thing As a Perfect Temperature.
April 3, 2007: To insert some reality to the discussion on "global warming" here's some more data to offset the "evidence" provided by the algoristic environuts: A CEO with a spine.
March 27, 2007: This probably isn't a surprise to anyone, but the 'democrat' budget plan for this year seems to have a built-in tax hike that is the biggest in US History. It seems to be almost double the Clinton tax hike in 1993. Here is more detail about it. (It's a PDF document; your computer should have a reader for it already; if not, get it here.) Read it and feel very scared about our future.
January 19, 2007: Want some objectivity to the "global warming" discussion? Read the article from this link.
October 10, 2006: A great idea for reducing reoffense rates (reportedly down 70%) from Sheriffs in Texas and Arizona. Check out what pink color for jails can do, from this article from San Antonio's WOAI. Share the link, the article, and if pink really works, let's get all the jails in this country painted pink.
September 24, 2006: Another great example of why lawabiding citizens were given the 2nd amendment right to own guns, just as the leftie-weenies have their 1st amendment right to burn flags as a form of "free speech". In this video from Break.com, two red necks are stopped in their baseball-bat adjustment of some random traveler on the road. Had there not been a gun used in self-defence, who knows what might have happened. Now, however, nobody got hurt, and the bad guys received a good lesson. Note that in California (aka Commiefornia), Canada (Commieda?), all European countries, and most of the rest of the world, the person acting in self-defence would himself be a criminal. If this doesn't make you vote against anti-gunners, then we sure don't know what would.
September 12, 2006: Credit where credit is due. Syrian anti-terrorism forces stopped an attack on the US embassy in Damascus. Friendlies killed reportedly include a Syrian security guard, and one Syrian anti-terrorism forces member. [Breitbart.com, September 12, 2006]
September 11, 2006: In memory of a sad day, Senator Rockefeller reminds us that the world would be better with Saddam still in control of Iraq. This must be a reflection of the "Democratic" party mantra, Iraq to the Iraqis, just like Germany to the Germans in the 1930's. At least one thing is for sure, Abu Ghraib -- now that it's back with the Iraqis -- sounds again to be a place of real torture, and not just "shocking" photos, no blood, and certainly no bloody messes or hangings.
September 2, 2006: If you are worried about Climate Change or "Global Warming", here's some data compiled by those who were ringing the bell, and now are beginning to say oops-nevermind: Science tempers fears on climate change
"Lapdog-Chavez?" -- "Yes, Rigor mortis Fidel?"
August 15, 2006: Another real-world chilling story of where the left wants to take us. See how effective they have been in creating a state of mess in England: Oh To Be In England
June 16, 2006: Proof positive that Kerry and his "democrat" buddies are supporting terrorists. One of the documents extracted from the rubble of Zarqawi's hideout is an analysis of the state of the terrorist activity in Iraq. The analysis states bluntly that the American strategy is working very well, and that the best strategy for the terrorists is to bring about an exit of American troops from Iraq. Thanks to guys like (senator) Kerry and his "democratic" buddies, they almost succeeded.[Fox News, John Gibson, June 15, 2006]
"Gore"
June 15, 2006: It's now shown over and over again that Gore's attempt to outdo the fatguymoore called "Inconvenient Truth" is a blatant fraud (except for Gore and the treehuggers for whom it must be the convenient fraud). Not only is it BS that the polar ice caps are melting (the Antarctic ice cap has been growing in mass), most of the "data" in the film is junk. As summed up by a real scientist: "Gore's circumstantial arguments are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply incredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention." Perhaps Gore made the mistake of using the old Soviet Union definition of "truth", where their main propaganda newspaper - Pravda - was named for the russian word "Truth". [Ed.: maybe there's something there? Is Gore a communist who hasn't stepped out of the closet yet?] Read the article for yourself.
May 27, 2006: We couldn't help noticing that the government agency tasked to oversee our industry has a somewhat misleading name. BATFE includes Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, yet according to the ATF 2005 annual report, 73% of their budget was spent directly on the "firearms industry", and by far the most on "firearms enforcement". Specifically they spent $591 MILLION DOLLARS on enforcing firearms regulations, and $81 MILLION on industry operations. Why not just call it the Bureau Of Firearms and some explosives, alcohol and tobacco(BOFeat)?
Source: ATF 2005 Annual Report
May 26, 2006: We have long known that Airbus side-stick "fly-by-wire" promotes decline in piloting skills. We have even been on an Airbus 320 that had an "interesting" landing. Now we have a video that demonstrates pilot induced oscillations, probably made more severe by the "technology" in the "bus". Check this video from www.ebaumsworld.com:
March 17, 2005:
When it comes to aircraft, may we recommend that you not trust Airbus
products. Apparently Airbuses have a tendency to shed their
rudders. First it was an Airbus 300 flying as American Airlines flight
587 that lost its entire rudder killing 265. Now an
Air Transat Airbus 310 lost part of its rudder, but fortunately was
able to make a safe landing. In pictures on AvWeb you can clearly see that the honeycombed composite structure failed yet again.
This is scary stuff, but then again, what would you expect from
products made in France? [3/21/05 Update: the FAA is mandating a
one-time inspection of all Airbus 300 and 310 rudders. This inspection will be done visually and by tapping,
even though both methods appear to have missed the rudder issues in the
past. This definitely doesn't raise our confidence about these
aircraft.]
January 14, 2005:
We have just learned that Sako has been recalling
some of its hunting rifles due to a material defect in the barrel.
Apparently some of these rifles have failed in the field, with the
barrel peeling apart like a banana. This is an extremely unusual event,
not only because the rifles are test-fired at the factory and no issues
were
detected at that point, but also because Sako is known for its high
quality and craftmanship. If you have a newly purchased purchased Sako
rifle, we recommend that you contact Beretta USA to make sure that your
rifle is not impacted by the recall.
Well Said
General Hawley said of the words now mistakenly attributed to him:
There is a piece zooming around the internet that attributes some pretty forceful statements to me, Dick Hawley - one time fighter pilot, General, thoughtful consultant, neophyte strategist, master of the artful compromise. The words did not flow from my pen, but if the e-mails mean anything, those words are now indelibly linked to my name. So do me a favor - if you receive this, please send it on to the same people to whom you forwarded the one that I did not write. It's not that I don't share many, if not most, of the sentiments attributed to me, but the piece is just not my style.
Here's what I would have said if I'd been asked to comment on those five important issues.
1) Goodness, Evil and Relativity: There are some really good people in this world. They volunteer to help those who need it, and ask nothing in return. There are also some really bad people in this world. They exploit those who need help, or who have less wit or "charisma", and motivate them to join in committing unspeakable acts of cruelty against people they don't even know. Then there are the rest of us. Average people who try each day to do no harm, to provide for their families, to do an occasional act of kindness. The evil that was perpetrated against our land on 9/11 was the product of Mullahs who see our prosperity and power as a threat to their control over the uneducated Muslim masses on whose shoulders they ride through life. And so they preach hate. They are evil.
2) Violence begets violence: It's true. Violence does beget violence. But sometimes there is no alternative but to confront those who would perpetrate evil acts against us. This is one of those times. We are blessed to have courageous men and women willing to put their lives on the line to track down and annihilate those who have been so imbued with evil as to be beyond redemption. But violence is not a strategy. It is a necessary and fully justified reaction to an unimaginable threat. But it is not a strategy. If we are to win this war, we must defeat the Mullahs. And to defeat the Mullahs, we must find ways to separate them from their uneducated flocks. We cannot kill all those who have been taught to hate us, nor should we wish to. Far better to change their minds than to change their state of being.
3) The intelligence community let us down: Well, maybe just a little. Lots of senior and not so senior intelligence people became just as enamored of high tech gadgets as their political masters. The protests over our evisceration of the human intelligence component of the agency were not very loud or forceful. Keeping spies on the ground is a high risk and often dirty business, and it wasn't just liberal politicians who didn't have much stomach for it.
4) Poverty is the breeding ground for terrorists: No, it isn't; but religious extremism is. The Mullahs fear our wealth and power because it shows that a secular society with democratic institutions and a free market economy can do a better job of taking care of its peoples' needs, both spiritual and physical, than the oppressive Islamic regimes that they aspire to lead. The Mullahs are the problem, not poverty, but poverty does make it easier for the Mullahs to spread their evil - as do governments that tolerate and even reinforce their hateful message.
5) Profiling: We are at war here! We are not talking about traffic stops. If we were at war with Iceland, I would expect those charged with our defense to pay very close attention to any Icelander who ventured near our shores. In this war I expect them to pay very close attention to Muslims with ties to the places that spew hatred against us. Random checks when there are no such obvious targets available are a good way to keep the evil ones guessing, but let's not make small children and grandmothers take their shoes off while we watch far more likely candidates walk aboard unchecked.
6) Resolutions:
a. Never forget that what happened on September the 11th of 2001 was an act of war.
b. Never sit silently by while someone tries to justify what happened on that day as an understandable reaction to U.S. policies in the Middle East or elsewhere.
c. Fly our nation's flag proudly - it represents this world's greatest hope to move beyond the pain and suffering that inflict so many across the globe.
Richard E. Hawley
General, USAF, Retired
Former Commander, Air Combat Command
