Your cow smells bad

Gen. Petraeus briefs the Press

A long, yet very worthwhile read.
One which every citizen and politician (especially politicians!) should be required to read and understand.

Teleconference between Gen. David Petraeus, MNF-I commander, and Associated Press reporters, May 8, 2007.

But before signing off, I really feel an obligation to say a few words about the great soldiers, sailors, air men, Marines, and even Coast Guardsmen, and civilians with whom I'm privileged to serve here in Iraq. They have not all been perfect. It is absolutely true; there have been missteps, some serious missteps, by a few of our troopers or units at various times.

But for each trooper who has failed to live up to our country's expectations, there have been thousands of others who have selflessly gone about their mission, doing what they've been asked to do; enduring separation from loved ones; soldiering in crushing heat, terrible sandstorms; battling a truly barbaric enemy; grappling with the complexities and frustrations of working in cultures that are very different from our own; and in some cases giving the last full measure of devotion in carrying out their assigned missions.

As I mentioned earlier, when I was the commander of the 101st Airborne Division in northern Iraq, Tom Brokaw spent some time with us. And before getting back on a helicopter after a particularly good day, seeing the myriad tasks in which our soldiers were engaged, he grabbed me, and over the noise of the helicopter he shouted into my ear, "You know, that World War II generation may have been the 'greatest generation,'" he said, "but surely these troopers here are the new 'greatest generation.'"

I agreed with him then, and I still very much do. Repeatedly in Iraq, I see the concept of our old Army recruiting slogan, the "Army of one" concept, played out -- a concept that holds that each soldier can be the most important person in the life of another soldier at some critical point.

In fact, I've often wondered -- especially while observing soldiers rendering a final salute to a fallen comrade after a memorial ceremony, I've wondered where our country finds such young men and women, who, despite the personal flaws that we all have, serve so selflessly and in the face of enormous challenges, repeatedly demonstrate impressive initiative, determination, innovativeness and courage.

I raise this today because as the discussion over Iraq continues, understandably, it is my hope that our country will never turn its back on those in uniform who have done what their country asked them to do, even though that duty required enormous sacrifices and entailed substantial hardships.

And so today, before this impressive group of editors, writers, publishers and others, I want to express my hope that our country will never forget and never fail to honor the sacrifices of those who wear and have worn our country's uniform.

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11818&Itemid=1

Hit 'em straight

Happy May to me.
Taylormade for me.
Can one buy a game?

Today's adventure

Travel plans?

If you know anyone going to Ukraine, it looks like there's a really nice soccer field there.

Happy Birthday to ME?????

I WANT!

http://spyder.brp.com/

I mus say

There's some nappy headed horse.

Global Warming

Global Warming caused by the earlier than usual start to Daylight Savings Time.
One more hour of daylight every day.
Ergo, warmer globe.
Huh?
Somehow it sounds right, though.

Another war is lost?

Will Harry Reid now declare the war for Philly as "lost"?
How's it much different than Iraq?
They're trying to teach the locals to stand up on their own.
So maybe a surge in troops (cops) will buy them the time to do so?
I say, "It's high time we pull those policeman out of harms way. October deadline at the latest."
Philly, another Democrat run city.
Mission disunreaccomplished.

Philly struggles with rising murder rate
By KATHY MATHESON, Associated Press Writer

A bloody, bullet-filled weekend left 11 people dead across the city, where drugs and disrespect have trumped brotherly love and the murder rate is on pace to be the highest in a decade.

Philadelphia has seen more than one killing a day this year, totaling 127 as of Monday afternoon. New York, Chicago and Los Angeles — whose populations are much larger than Philadelphia's 1.5 million residents — have had fewer homicides this year.

The spike over the weekend was partly blamed on the first warm weather of the season. But rain or shine, Philadelphia police say the chronic problems remain the same: poverty, lax gun laws and a culture of intimidation that keeps witnesses silent and leaves shooters on the streets.

"It's the community's decision right now," Capt. Benjamin Naish said. "They are the people that must stand up and get angry and say, 'Enough is enough.'"

They have, in a way. But the countless candlelight vigils, anti-violence rallies and community meetings have done nothing to stop the murder rate, which is 17 percent higher than last year at this time.

Officials, too, are at wit's end.

"Do something!" District Attorney Lynne Abraham admonished Mayor John Street at one news conference.

Abraham and others have criticized Street for a perceived lack of urgency in responding to violence that killed 406 city residents last year — a nine-year high.

This year, Street has pledged to have 1,000 community activists and clergy trained in conflict resolution. He has paired a tougher juvenile curfew law with stricter enforcement, an effort mayoral spokesman Joe Grace said has reduced shootings by teens in one targeted area.

The city also is spending $3 million to hire 400 parents as truancy officers to keep children in school.

The efforts are commendable, but juvenile crime is a small part of the problem, said Lawrence Sherman, director of the Jerry Lee Center for Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania. None of the murder victims over the weekend was a juvenile.

Most of Philadelphia's killings are by gunfire, most involve young black men and most are the result of arguments, often over drugs but sometimes over trivial insults or perceived slights.

Last month, city officials announced plans to assign 80 additional police officers to a particularly violent neighborhood in southwest Philadelphia, where nevertheless 28-year-old Jovonne Stelly died March 25 trying to get her children out of the crossfire, authorities said.

The next day, police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson announced that top police brass would begin working in uniform in high-crime areas for four hours, one night a week. There were two murders that day.

City officials' repeated calls for tougher gun-purchase laws have gone unheeded at the state Capitol, and Philadelphia does not have the authority to pass its own firearms legislation.

While stricter gun laws would help, so would fewer truants, higher employment and lower poverty rates, Capt. Naish said.

"The commissioner has said a thousand jobs could go further than a thousand police officers," Naish said.

The five Democrats hoping to succeed Street, also a Democrat, have proposed crime plans. Nearly all recommend hiring hundreds of new police officers to buttress the current force of about 6,600; one plan includes spending $15 million to post more surveillance cameras around the city.

At Stelly's funeral, state Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams told the hundreds of mourners that he grew up on the streets that have turned into battle zones.

"The question is, to the politicians of America: What do they do? What can they do?" Williams said. "The answer, truthfully, is: I'm not sure."

Williams, who is black, then asked the black men present to stand. Invoking the names of Stelly's four motherless children, ranging from 6 months to 9 years old, Williams had the men repeat a promise to "protect the women and the children of our 'hood."

"I will be an example that these babies can look up to," the men vowed. "I will no longer be a predator in my own back yard."

Cell Phone GPS Tracking

Here's a pretty cool site that shows you a map of where a cell phone is currently located.
Scary, Big Brother type stuff.

http://www.sat-gps-locate.com/english/index.html

What's for lunch?

Seems the whole world is having a week like this guy had.

A crocodile at a zoo in the southern Taiwan city of Kaohsiung holds the forearm of a zoo veterinarian in between its teeth, April 11, 2007. The crocodile bit off the arm of the zoo veterinarian treating it, an official reported.

All rage today

Get yours today.
Just don't read it aloud on the radio.

No Easter Bunny this year