Army Blogger Ordered To Shutter Site

Orders are orders

A solider in the U.S. Army has been ordered to shut down his blog for writing posts that criticized his superior officers.

Blogging about the Iraq war under the pseudonym "LT [Lieutenant] G" since December 2007 the popular blog called "Kaboom: A Soldiers War Journal," detailed the daily life of the war describing firefights, combat patrols and tribal meetings.

The entry that landed the lieutenant in trouble with his superiors was a May 28 post titled "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage." In the post LT G writes about turning down a promotion to become an XO (Executive Officer).

"I want nothing to do with a lateral promotion to XO (Executive Officer) that involves becoming a logistical whipping boy and terminal scapegoat for all things NOTGOODENOUGH. I've been out here in the wilds too long, dealing with matters of life and death, to go back to Little America for PowerPoint pissing matches."

Willie Nelson Supports Full Funding for Veterans Healthcare

Willie Nelson Records Public Service Announcement for Veterans and VA Healthcare and Benefits

Click and Listen to Audio Now: 30 Second Spot (.mp3) - 60 Second Spot (.mp3)

Operation Firing for Effect (OFFE) and Willie Nelson have recorded a public service announcement in support of U.S. Veterans. OFFE2008.org has a long standing relationship with Willie.

During a recent Willie Nelson Concert in Finger Lake, New York, Operation Firing For Effect’s National Chairman, Gene Simes managed to get a personal package delivered to Willie Nelson after the concert. The package contained OFFE’s resolution for full mandatory funding of veteran’s healthcare, and OFFE T-shirt that says; ‘Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You, Ask What Is Your Country Not Doing For Your Veterans?’

Gene received the following message on his voice mail; “Gene, this is Willie, call me.”

by Wind Bear

Petty Officer 2nd Class (E5)  (Rate: P EOD2)  MIKE MANSOOR, a Navy EOD Technician,  was awarded the  Congressional Medal of Honor,  posthumously for jumping on a  grenade in Iraq , giving his life to save his fellow  Seals.
 
During Mike Monsoor's funeral in San Diego, as his  coffin was being moved from the hearse to the grave site at Point Loma's  Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery , SEALs were lined up on both sides of the pallbearers route forming a column of two's, with the coffin moving up the center.  As Mike's coffin passed, each SEAL, having removed his gold Trident from his uniform, slapped it down embedding the Trident in  the wooden coffin.

Freedom in 2008?  Patriotism? 4th of July? 

Our Forefathers are turning in their graves!   

by John Perna

As we go out to celebrate our freedom this 4th of July let's go over a few things to make your celebration a success.  Most importantly, you must keep all of your thoughts, and words, about defending freedom, and American Independence, IN THE PAST.  Just wave that plastic American flag made by political slaves in Communist China. You don't want to seem un-American do you?

You must not talk about the fact that we are LOSING our American Independence TODAY to sovereignty destroying international forces like the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and the creation of regional government through "trade treaties". For more information, do a Google search using keywords like "FTAA",  "CAFTA" , OR "NAFTA".

True Heros: Veterans Who Fought for our Freedoms in 1776

Signers Tortured, Ransacked, Ramshackled, and Killed During the Revolutionary War

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. 

What kind of men were they?

The longest lived signer of the Declaration of Indpendence

Charles Carroll is the last man standing

Charles Carroll of Carrollton (September 19, 1737 – November 14, 1832) was a delegate to the Continental Congress and later United States Senator for Maryland. He was the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was the longest lived signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Continental Congress. He lived to age 95.

He was born on September 19, 1737 at Annapolis, Maryland, the son of Charles Carroll of Annapolis (1702–1800) (his grandfather was Irish Daniel Carroll) and Elizabeth (Brooke) Carroll. His reputed attendance at the Jesuit preparatory school at Bohemia in Cecil County cannot be confirmed from contemporary records, and he may have been schooled at home before departing for Europe, where he attended the College of St. Omer in France, and graduated from the College of Louis the Grand in 1755. He continued his studies in Europe, and read for the law in London before returning to Annapolis in 1765.

Charles Carroll of Annapolis granted Carrollton Manor to his son, Charles Carroll of Carrollton. It is from this tract of land that he took his title, “Charles Carroll of Carrollton.”

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, having its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient suffrance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

Marines with kids often drop out

Recruits with families — or without high school diploma — are most at risk

For military recruiters, bringing in family men is a dropout risk — even greater than recruiting someone with a criminal record.

In these days of long and repeated warfront tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 10 percent of the male recruits who are married with one or more children, or are financially responsible for a dependent, don't even finish Marine boot camp, according to the Center for Naval Analysis. For women in similar circumstances, the dropout rate jumps to three in 10.

Three-year trends show that recruits who have family responsibilities or did not earn formal high school diplomas are most likely to wash out before they finish initial training. Those recruits also fail more often to complete their first terms of enlistment.

The numbers offer a new slant on recent debates over the Pentagon's acceptance of recruits who have criminal convictions. They suggest that the long slog of war, the Marines' frequent seven-month tours fighting insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan, also take a toll on recruits with families.

U.S. Department of Defense Announces Latest Contract Awards

Point Blank Body Armor, Inc., Pompano Beach, Fla., was awarded on Jul. 2, 2008, an $86,184,060 firm-fixed price contract for improved outer tactical vests. Work will be performed in Pompano Beach, Fla., and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2008. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Two bids were solicited on Mar. 18, 2008, and two bids were received. U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is the contracting activity (W91CRB-07-C-0085).
 
Global Fleet Sales, Inc., Charlottesville, Va., was awarded on Jul. 1, 2008, a $10,390,250 firm-fixed price contract for mobile maintenance vehicles. Work will be performed in Thailand and is expected to be completed by Feb. 4, 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Web bids were solicited on May 18, 2006, and nine bids were received. TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (WHZV-06-D-G002).

INTELLIGENCE ON NUCLEAR PROGRAM

Ex-Agent Says CIA Ignored Iran Facts

By Joby Warrick

A former CIA operative who says he tried to warn the agency about faulty intelligence on Iraqi weapons programs now contends that CIA officials also ignored evidence that Iran had suspended work on a nuclear bomb.

The onetime undercover agent, who has been barred by the CIA from using his real name, filed a motion in federal court late Friday asking the government to declassify legal documents describing what he says was a deliberate suppression of findings on Iran that were contrary to agency views at the time.