Be Careful

This has to be one of the most terrifying stories I've ever read-

"It turns out that someone went through an unlocked gate, and through the unlocked door from the back yard in to the garage. (Both of these security holes have now been fixed.) The dachshunds apparently made a serious effort to stop the intruder, but this guy was very intent on getting in.

He went to the room of Brett's daughter who was visiting from college (Brigham Young University), and actually entered her room--but by this point, Brett was up, and beginning to try and figure out why the dogs were making such an extraordinary racket. His wife then told Brett that there was an intruder. Brett grabbed a gun, and started searching the house. The intruder apparently hid in a bathroom until Brett got past him, and then ran down the stairs and out the front door."

This was the second night that the intruder was at the house- and he entered it despite the two dogs, passed a snoozing son crashing on the couch and went upstairs in a fully occupied home to the daughter's bedroom. And it wasn't an isolated dwelling either. Luckily nothing happened but it's a stark reminder that your home security always has to be as tight as it can be. Don't take any chances folks. And if you live somewhere where you can own a firearm, go buy one and learn how to use it. Now.

The End Days of Great Britain

While Kevin of Smallest Minority muses on the future America faces in March of the Lemmings

A couple of important events happened in the past few days. First of all there was a bit of a fuss about the EU flag being flown over British council offices. As the laws stand it is unlawful to fly anything but the national flag unless prior permission has been approved. Of course citizens of Northern Ireland have been subjected to the Irish tricolour being flown for years.

In the case mentioned the council approved their own decision to fly the EU flag. What this story doesn't mention is that Labour plans to change the law next year so that the EU flag does not require special permission to be flown- in essence granting it the same status as our national flag.

The second event which occurred is the EU decision to create pan-European law- seven offences have been listed which it will force member states to enforce. For the first time in British history law-making will not be done by our duly elected representatives. The EU has more crimes in mind to add to the list at a later date.

" (and it's a bleak outlook, one that worryingly seems to becoming more common), I'm actually watching in real time as Great Britain self-destructs, actually voluntarily handing over our sovereignty to the montrous European Union. The announcement is strongly opposed by Britain and many other member states. The Commission is using powers granted by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, the EU’s supreme court, and governments fear that there is little they can do to prevent it. The court ruled that the EU had the right to require member states to create criminal offences, and could dictate the length of prison sentences."

The European Superstate moves another few steps closer.

Outrageously Petty Behaviour

From The War on Guns-

"A Gary, IN woman was robbed at knifepoint at a CITGO station--and the clerk refused to dial 911! If you have a blog, please consider telling your visitors about this, along with CITGO's contact information."

Unbelieveable. What's worse is that this seems to be standard practice, not an isolated incident.

The word "boycott" springs to mind.

Jacko's Anti-Semitism

My second Michael Jackson post- who'd have thought it?

The "singer" was recorded on voice mail blaming his financial troubles on a Jewish conspiracy-

"They suck ... they're like leeches ... I'm so tired of it," Jackson told former adviser Dieter Wiesner in one of the messages. "The Jews do it on purpose."

Nothing to do with his spending money like it's going out of fashion then?

The Great Betrayal

A bill went before Parliament which would allow 150 terrorists on the run from justice to return to Northern Ireland-

"paramilitary fugitives would have their cases heard by a special tribunal, but, if found guilty, would be freed on licence without having to go to jail."

The bill by passed by 310 votes to 262.

Secretary of State Peter Hain bizarrely "denied the fugitives were getting an easy option."

"It's part of bringing closure to NI's past, just as after the Agreement over 400 paramilitary prisoners were released on licence."

Yes, and it was bad enough seeing convicted murderers released from prison and back onto the streets where they had committed their crimes in an effort to appease an active terrorist organisation. Blair has sent a loud and clear message to all terrorists that Britain is not strong in the face of terrorism- rather, if the terrorists keep up their activities long enough, the British will buckle under the pressure and give in to any demands they make simply to secure "peace". Blair's Britain is a nation I no longer know- never before have we grovelled before aggressors like this, never before has this nation surrended to a band of ruthless bullying murderers for the sake of a quiet life. It is a contemptible, spineless reaction in the face of terrorism. An insult to all of those who were murdered in the long war against the IRA. A final full-stop in the victory of terrorism over a free government.

"Ulster Unionist MP Lady Sylvia Hermon said the bill was "so morally wrong and so morally bankrupt" she could never vote for it."

If only a few more MPs had the sense of this woman.

Quote of the Day

Alcohol

Tobacco

Firearms

Should be a convenience store, not a government agency.

With thanks to Collegiate Warrior.

Border Problems At Crisis Level

There are already serious issues concerning border control along the US-Mexico frontier. Perhaps it's worse than we all thought though.

Murdoc highlights the story of, wait for it, an illegal immigrant in the business of smuggling people across the border, working for the Border Patrol. Bad enough that they didn't discover that he was an illegal immigrant when they hired him but he also had been arrested for trying to smuggle people into the country.

As if that wasn't bad enough, War on Guns has the sort of story I didn't think I'd ever hear-

U.S. Border Patrol agents were backed down this week by armed men, dressed in what appeared to be Mexican military uniforms and carrying military weapons, who seized a captured dump truck filled with marijuana from the U.S. agents and dragged it across the border into Mexico with a bulldozer.

So in essence the United States was invaded by a foreign enemy armed with military weapons. What was the local law enforcement response to this affront to American sovereignty? Well, I'll let Hudspeth County Chief Deputy Mike Doyal tell you that-

"We are very fortunate ... no one got hurt. Everyone had the presence of mind not to cause an international incident, or start shooting."

Isn't that fabulous? Doesn't it make you sleep easier in your bed at night knowing that men like this are all that stand between you and foreign drug dealers, terrorists and invaders? Isn't it fortunate that foreigners were able to reclaim their illegal drugs from law enforcement agents?

Time to sort this mess out once and for all- I'm not sure anyone wants to see what it looks like when it gets worse than it already is.

BTW, this clown Doyal also says that the bulldozer used "is believed to be used regularly to make makeshift crossings over the Rio Grande." If that's the damn case why don't they take it out of operation? Seriously, what's going on down there?

Galloway's A Traitor

I don't know what else this man has to say to be charged with treason-

"So I say to you, citizens of the last Arab country, this is a time for courage, for unity, for wisdom, for determination, to face these enemies with the dignity your president has shown, and I believe, God willing, we will prevail and triumph"

He might be speaking about America but America is Britain's ally in this fight- he had chosen his side and it's not the side the British people are on.

Why the hell haven't charges been pressed against him for lying to the Senate?

The Punishers

I'm sure that by now you'll have read Michael Yon's latest dispatch, The Punisher's Ball. As always it's a wonderfully written tribute to the men of Deuce Four and I just wanted to take the time to highlight this piece. And to take a moment to thank Bruce Willis for attending the ball-

"Bruce had taken the time to fly in as a guest speaker to thank the members of the Deuce Four. He gave the most impassioned speech I can remember, using clear terms—including some well-selected profanities to describe terrorists—to express his admiration and support for the troops. Bruce’s speech was so accurate in his description of the war, and so charged with emotion, that he seemed ready to lead the troops himself back to Iraq; and they were ready to go."

It was damned decent of him to take the time to meet with the men of Deuce Four. However there is another part of the post I want to take a moment to focus on-

"The ghosts of the fallen took their places alongside widows and family of the fallen comrades. One young wife, overtaken by despair, had taken her own life shortly after her husband died in Mosul. The widow of another soldier killed in an attack that I witnessed was left alone to parent four children. A mournful fog skirted the edge of the dance floor all night."

I try to give a few dollars to Soldiers Angels whenever I can but I'd also like to do something for the widows of those men who have fallen in Iraq. I can't begin to imagine what suffering they're going through right now and in a few weeks some of these kids are going to have their first Christmas without their father. If ANYONE can suggest a way to aid them please leave a comment here. Is there a charity set up already to help provide for these women and children?

I'll look into it and see what's around but if you know of something drop me a line here.

UN At Work

We all heard of the single UN employee sacked over the Oil-for-Food scandal-

"Joseph Stephanides, fired May 31...violated staff rules by showing preference to one bidder for an oil-for-food contract."

Of course this being the UN, that bastion of ethics, this isn't quite the end of the story- they've hired him back.

Yep, that's right, he broke the rules in a scandal that benefited a homicidal dictator but the UN has decided that his punishment for doing so was, "too harsh."

Too harsh? No mention of the untold suffering caused to the Iraqi people by the UN's corrupt and simply inept management of the program. Stephanides was sent a letter, signed on behalf of Kofi Annan, stating that-

"the sanction that was imposed on you has been reconsidered in light of all the circumstances in the case and the principle of proportionality."

I'm nit sure what circumstances have been revealed which make this man's crimes less serious, but a UN appeals board has not only reinstated him, they've also,

"issued a written apology and paid about $200,000 — about two years' back pay — for the emotional suffering and damage to his reputation caused by Annan's handling of his case."

If this is UN justice as work they can keep it.

Retraction

It seems that I may have been a bit hasty in providing the link published on Clayton Cramer's blog on the weapons/tactics report from Iraq. The article has also appeared elsewhere on the internet (Survival Blog and Nation of Riflemen forum to name but two) and its provenance has been called into question for several inaccuracies in the piece. Most recently it has appeared on Frontpage. I have contacted them to see if they can shed further light on the author of the article.

The inaccuracies are minor and it could just be that they are a matter of the father of the Marine making simple errors in reporting what his son has told him. They are as follows-

Interceptor body armour weighs 16lbs, not 6lbs.
The M24 rifle is issued to Army, not Marine units and although the action was designed to handle the .300 Win Mag cartridge, it has apparently not been issued in that calibre.
There has been no mass re-issue of the .45ACP pistol or the M14 rifle. According to mil-blogger Collegiate Warrior (currently serving in Iraq) the only units using the .45ACP sidearm are the MEU SOC and SF.
The AK-47 is not chambered for .308 Russian (although as 7.62mm NATO and .308 are generally considered interchangeable this may explain that rare terminology).

It is fairly minor stuff but it has been enough to make some people question the veracity of the whole piece. My advice is to not take it as gospel- and instead read the Collegiate Warrior's take on the piece.

Of course this shows the power of the blogosphere- factual inaccuracies are quickly called into question. I'll keep updating the story as and when more information becomes available.

Bush Gets It!

Maybe George Bush understood it all along but couldn't say it for some reason or another, but now that time is past- and he's (finally!) come out and said it-

"These militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow moderate governments in the region, and establish a radical Islamic empire that reaches from Indonesia to Spain. If they are not stopped, the terrorists will be able to advance their agenda to develop weapons of mass destruction, to destroy Israel, to intimidate Europe, to break our will and blackmail our government into isolation. I make you this solemn commitment: That's not going to happen so long as I'm the President of the United States."

And he doesn't stop there either, he pounds those Democrats who were pro-war at a time when it suited them to be and are now anti's-

"Some of our elected leaders have opposed this war all along. I disagreed with them, but I respect their willingness to take a consistent stand. Yet some Democrats who voted to authorize the use of force are now rewriting the past. They are playing politics with this issue and they are sending mixed signals to our troops and the enemy. And that's irresponsible.

As our troops fight a ruthless enemy determined to destroy our way of life, they deserve to know that their elected leaders who voted to send them into war continue to stand behind them. Our troops deserve to know that this support will remain firm when the going gets tough. And our troops deserve to know that whatever our differences in Washington, our will is strong, our nation is united, and we will settle for nothing less than victory."

As I'm sure others have already said- Bush needs to give speeches just like this from now on. He has to get this message out- and should have been doing so for about a year now.

Liberal Dubai

It looks like Michael Jackson is settling in Dubai quite nicely. He "accidentally" used the ladies bathroom at the Ibn Battuta Mall to adjust his make-up. He just happened to be wearing a ladies' headscarf at the time. When he "mistakenly" was in the ladies' room he was spotted by a woman teacher, who began to take photos of him on her mobile.

"He then reportedly chased after her and a mall security guard attempted to take her phone. She refused to hand it over without compensation and called the police."

Unfortunately for her the police told her she wasn't entitled to any compensation and they took the phone anyway. It looks like the Dubai police are quite happy for Michael to pop into the ladies' whenever he wants. Who'd have thought that they would be so open and liberal about men using the ladies' facilities?

Sadly Celebrity Nooz doesn't have direct links, but the blog can be found here.

Senate Delays Affected War on Terror

"The Defense Department's top spokesman expressed frustration last week over a slow Senate confirmation process that he said is causing challenges within the department."

This is not good- politicians are playing games while the DOD is trying to fight a war. The problem is that Gordon England, the current Secretary of the Navy, has been nominated for the post of Deputy Defense Secretary, but due to Senate foolishness, he has not been able to take over that position. In the meantime, his replacement as Secretary of the Navy has been confirmed- so two men are not stuck in the same post.

"It is unfortunate, and it isn't necessary," Di Rita [the Army spokeman] said of the delays. "The people nominated are eminently qualified people. Nobody has addressed their qualifications. It all has to do with other, unrelated issues, and it's unfortunate."

Politics and point-scoring is one thing, but when the Army's top PR guy has to come out and says that they are having problems because of the Senate's refusal to make an appointment enough is enough- time for the politicians to do what they're getting paid for and stop degrading their own country's ability to conduct a war.

Blair won't back down

It looks like Tony Blair's need to have a 90 day detention period hasn't gone away- despite his embarrassing defeat in the Commons. He intends to re-introduce the legislation with a single caveat, a one year sunset period. If the security services cannot show that it has been used repsonsibly and without curtailing civil liberties then Parliament will be able to get rid of the measure in a year's time. Of course, the chances of Parliament removing a piece of legislation that the police will then claim is "essential" are slim. Just in case this new measure is defeated the government also has another fall-back position- a 60 day internment period.

The compromise measure floated when Blair first introduced this measure was 28 days. In the space of a week, we've doubled the "compromise". The current period is 16 days. I suppose when 90 days is the choice, 60 seems a tad more reasonable.

And amid worries that the step is the first along the line towards a police state, the Labour Party mobilised senior police officers across the country to lobby for the new 90-day legislation. Former Conservative minister Stephen Dorrell has this to say-

“We need to ensure that the distinction is maintained between the process of policymaking, which is properly for the Government, and the enforcement of law, which is properly for police.”

Of course in Tony Blair's brave new world, the police can demand measures and those measures are then proposed as law. This is the same Blair who has done more to transform the British tradition of government than anyone in hundreds of years- and its not a coincidence that he's been stacking the House of Lords with Labour cronies during his time in power. They serve as less of a counter-balance to the excesses of the Commons now and more of a rubber-stamp for Blair policy.

Democrats Need New Hats

In a blow to the right wing uber-conspiracy to take over the world, students at MIT have uncovered one of the most ingenious pieces of propaganda of the VRWC- tin-foil hats don't protect your brain from mind-control signals, they actually serve to amplify them.

Now that the secret is out, the DNC and associated moonbats are expected to rush to alter their preferred headgear for something more effective.

Karl Rove is said to be in the final stages of drafting a contingency plan now that the secret is out. His top-rated mole in the moonbat movement, codenamed "the Deaniac", is due to release the new "information" to the masses this weekend.

In totally unrelated news, there are still NO plans for a draft. The VRWC timetable for the creation of a radio controlled zombie army has not been affected by the MIT leak.

Essential Read

This is a MUST READ for anyone interested in the military or Iraq- Clayton Cramer's awesome blog has a post detailing the opinions of a Marine serving in Iraq on the weapons used in that fight.

Here's a sample-

The M-16 rifle : Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the talcum powder like sand over there. The sand is everywhere. Jordan says you feel filthy 2 minutes after coming out of the shower. The M-4 carbine version is more popular because it's lighter and shorter, but it has jamming problems also. They like the ability to mount the various optical gunsights and weapons lights on the picattiny rails, but the weapon itself is not great in a desert environment. They all hate the 5.56mm (.223) round. Poor penetration on the cinderblock structure common over there and even torso hits can't be reliably counted on to put the enemy down. Fun fact: Random autopsies on dead insurgents shows a high level of opiate use.

I'll say it again, time for the M16 weapon system to be replaced with something more reliable.

UPDATE- It seems that this article may not be 100% accurate. Please read here for more information.

Damn

It's Remembrance Day today- spare a thought for Sergeant First Class Alwyn Cashe and the other men of his squad-

He was commanding a Bradley fighting vehicle that was struck with a roadside bomb, catching fire. The loading ramp jammed, trapping eight inside. The crew was forced to escape through a much smaller hatch in the top of the vehicle. All but one made it out. The medic was left behind, apparently unable to get out. Without concern for his own life, my hero went back in to the burning vehicle to retrieve his friend.

As BlackFive reports, SFC Cashe died of the wounds he suffered that day. In addition-

Staff Sergeant Alexander died of his wounds on October 22nd, Sergeant Robertson died of his wounds on October 25th, Specialist Howe, who was going to try out for Special Forces after his tour in Iraq was over, died of his wounds on November 3rd.

SFC Cashe was, at least, surrounded by his family when he died. Take the time and read about this courageous man and keep him and others like him in your thoughts today.

Now this is frightening

The threat of a terrorist bio attack has always been a huge fear- well it seems that it might be much easier for terrorists to get their hands on the materials required than previously thought. A New Scientist investigation has discovered that-

Armed with a fake email address, a would-be bioterrorist could probably order the building blocks of a deadly biological weapon online, and receive them by post within weeks.

They contacted a number of companies involved in gene sequencing and found that they carry out virtually no security checks whatsoever- including screening the material they're asked to work on for their bioterror threat. Only five out of the sixteen companies, found via Google, screened every gene sequence they were asked to work on.

some firms freely admit that they run no sequence screens. "That's not our business," says Bob Xue, a director of Genemed Synthesis in South San Francisco.

Given San Fran's recent record this "nothing to do with me" attitude is hardly surprising. And it's despite the fact that open source "Blackwatch" software is available to scan for threats. The problem is that terrorists could,

order genes that confer virulence to dangerous pathogens such as the Ebola virus, and engineer them into another virus or bacterium. They could also order genes for a hazardous bacterial toxin - although many of these are also available by isolating the microorganisms from the environment.

So in effect a terrorist could create a super-Ebola-like virus to be used as a weapon. As terrifying as this possibility is, the response is utterly ineffectual-

The US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, set up last year to advise the US government on which advances in biology could be exploited by terrorists, is also considering the issue.

Avian flu is a threat which may or may not occur and yet governments are spending billions of dollars on the possibility of a pandemic- terrorists are a very real clear and present danger and yet there's no security set up with these firms to prevent highly virulent disease strains being "weaponised".

Must be a slow news day

The BBC has a story about how the president of Brazil watched a pirated DVD- just like hundreds of thousands of other people.

I cannot believe that this is a news-worthy item in any way.

Someone got paid to write that story. British TV licence-payers money in action.

American Citzens Pay for Palestinian Ammo

I've written before about the bad deal the United States is involved in- giving money to the Middle East hand over fist and receiving nothing in return but hatred. Seems that it's not just money that the Palestinians are getting from America now-

The Palestinian Authority security forces, many of whom either moonlight as members of various terror organizations or were hired directly from their ranks as part of negotiations between the groups and the ruling Fatah militia, will be receiving new ammunition over the next few days, including rifle bullets – paid for by the United States and delivered from Egypt with the approval of PM Sharon's cabinet.

Maybe it's time the US re-evealuated what exactly its taxpayers money is being used for.

What Hero Are You?

You scored as Indiana Jones. Indiana Jones is an archaeologist/adventurer with an unquenchable love for danger and excitement. He travels the globe in search of historical relics. He loves travel, excitement, and a good archaeological discovery. He hates Nazis and snakes, perhaps to the same degree. He always brings along his trusty whip and fedora. He's tough, cool, and dedicated. He relies on both brains and brawn to get him out of trouble and into it. Lara Croft 75% Indiana Jones 75% Neo, the "One" 71% Maximus 67% The Terminator 63% Batman, the Dark Knight 63% William Wallace 58% James Bond, Agent 007 58% Captain Jack Sparrow 54% The Amazing Spider-Man 42% El Zorro 13% Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0 created with QuizFarm.com

Thanks to Cowboy Blog for the link!

Betrayal

The British government likes to portray itself tough on terrorism, but closer to home things are much, much different.

The government has announced an "historic" review of 2,000 unsolved deaths in Northern Ireland- and British soldiers, some of whom served in SAS operations, could be facing criminal proceedings. The inquiry involves 160 police officers and is expected to last up to a decade. The cost will most likely exceed the Blody Sunday inquiry which cost £150 million.

Patrick Mercer, the shadow homeland defence minister and a former infantry commanding officer, said: "This is the most appalling betrayal of every British soldier who did his duty during the Troubles against a very treacherous enemy."

Bad enough that troops are to be put on trial for fighting terrorist killers- and that there are NO similar plans to investigate the terrorist atrocities carried out which remain unsolved- but it gets worse-

The disclosure [of the Army investigation] comes days after ministers admitted that dozens of IRA and Loyalist terrorists who are "on the run" will in effect be pardoned for their crimes, which will also form part of the review. Many of them are multiple murderers.

Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland Secretary, told MPs that terrorists on the run would be prosecuted, but a letter from David Hanson, the Minister of State for Northern Ireland, reveals that the terrorists will not be required to attend court and will be released on licence immediately.

Microsoft isn't ALL bad

They're certainly not the evil corporation that people paint them to be- they've made a deal with the British Library to scan 100,000 out of copyright books and to make them available online. That's about 25 million pages available for free.

MS has plans to expand the project to more titles in the future and they are paying an initial $2.5 million on the project.

Windows might not be perfect software but I'm much more fond of the company since they brought out XP- it's a bit clunky on old machines but it's a heck of a lot better than 98 and Millennium.

Sheehan is a Traitor

I hadn't thought that I'd ever want to post about Cindy Sheehan again but her speech at the San Francisco World Can't Wait event warrants close attention. Remember, this is the woman described as "the mother of the peace movement"-

"The people that are being killed in Iraq are not terrorists. They're citizens of Iraq, they're members of the human race. They're our brothers and sisters."

Got that? The people responsible for the death of her son are NOT terrorists.

These people have officially sided with the enemy in my opinion.

Thanks to zombie for covering the event. I honestly don't know how he could stomach it.

Sony the Hacker

Maybe this is widely known, but it's news to me. Sony has copyright protected its discs in a most underhand manner-

The software, called Extended Copy Protection or XCP, hides itself on your hard drive using techniques normally reserved for viruses, worms and trojans, which use similar "rootkits" to evade detection.

And if you notice it is there and try to remove it you may stop your computer recognising its CD drive.

The discs prevent the user from using any other player than the one on the disc to listen to the music on your PC.

Fair enough they want to stop music piracy but screwing around with someone's computer like this is beyond the pale. And what if I want to listen to an album I've just bought on my MP3 player- do I have to go out and buy it again?

I for one will not be buying any Sony releases in future.

BTW, when you're buying music make sure it has a proper "Compact Disc" symbol- if it doesn't then chances are it's a copyrighted disc that won't play on your PC.

Better Than Nothing

After the Supreme Court liberals (the conservatives dissented) decided that no one's property in America was safe from property developers under eminent domain, it's fallen to the House to protect one of the most basic, fundamental rights in the US.

Contending that the Supreme Court has undermined a pillar of American society, the sanctity of the home, the House overwhelmingly approved a bill Thursday to block the court-approved seizure of private property for use by developers.
The bill, passed 376-38, would withhold federal money from state and local governments that use powers of eminent domain to force businesses and homeowners to give up their property for commercial uses.

Another good reason for Alito's nomination to be successful.

Time Out

No posting today so far- I've been trying to get some writing done. I've got the first two chapters of a zombie story up over at my Cryptic Fiction page. My intention is to write and then post it chapter by chapter. If you're into survival horror or zombies then hopefully it'll be right up your street.

Because I'm writing and posting straight away there may be a few spelling/grammar errors there. Apologies for that but I'll be re-reading it later. Right now the plan is to write as much as possible, just to get it done. Hopefully I'll be able to slip the odd blog in here or there along the way but if there doesn't seem to be too much here, this is why.

If you're looking for a good blog to read then check out my links- and pay particular attention to the superb War on Guns.

Disturbing Trend

First it was the riots in Birmingham, England (involving black and Asian [read Muslim] gangs), there there's the ongoing violence in France and now it's started in Denmark too.

Are we looking at the beginning of a trend?

Machine Gun Sammy

Yep, that what the Brady Bunch, sorry- Campaign, is calling Supreme Court nominee Samual Alito. You see he believed that a ruling preventing the continued sale of fully automatic weapons was unconstitutional.

Machine Gun Sammy. Savour it for a moment and imagine that a man with such a moniker might be sitting on the Supreme Court for the next 20 or 30 years.

Cool.

Hat tip to Smallest Minority.

Gaya Update

It looks like Walter Gaya's citizenship problems are under control. Michael Yon informs SondraK-

"I spoke with Walt today, and the citizenship matter is under control. I will speak with him tomorrow and ask him about his camera. I can tell you now that he will be very heartened to hear that so many people actually care so much. Walt is a really great guy, and I am very happy to be a part of helping."

BlackFive and LGF have also just posted on Gaya's situation. Good to see the right side of the blogosphere mobilise to support him.

SondraK is apparently trying to contact someone at Fort Lewis, where Gaya is stationed, and will be letting us know what camera equipment, etc. Sgt. Gaya needs. I'll be sure to post here on any fund that is set up.