What the garden looked like on May 16th. 

This is what it looked like today.


Compare and contrast.... 

It's really greened up, with all the rain we've had. The rain gauge stands at 3 inches. Our naked greenhouse looks really odd now. We're forecast for more rain starting Monday. The plants love it, the garden is doing well. But there's that funky smell of rotting leaves and bird seed, especially around the bird feeders, that I could do without. And the humidity today was really not pleasant. When it gets warmer, ick ick ick. *sigh* The joys of living in a southern climate -- well, at least we never have to worry about being snowed in. Not for long, anyway.  

This is one of the hanging baskets I bought at the plant and flower show back at the beginning of April. It seems to be doing nicely, in spite of me. You can see the holly bushes I planted last year, also. Two of them, anyway; there are six. They're doing fine, although they're growing through the fences I put around them to keep them from walking away. Well, no, actually they were to keep the dogs from digging them up. I think it's past time to "set them free," though. And the dogs have never even noticed them.  

Top 9 Suggested Ann Coulter Book Titles

Now this is funny. My favorite is number 7.

From The Nose on Your Face, by way of Conservative Grapevine.

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A Little Learning is a Dangerous Thing

OK, well, I finally figured out how to do trackbacks. Haloscan has a very helpful FAQ on their website, complete with a list of instructions that can be printed out (very handy for those of us whose memory spans can be measured in tens of seconds).

What was I saying?

Oh, yeah. Trackbacks. Anyway, I now have a checklist, and as I am a military veteran this makes me very happy. I am back in my comfort zone. :-)

And now I'm gonna be a trackbackin' fool.

"GITMO DETAINEES DESECRATE QURAN"

Found at Michelle Malkin.

She received an email from an individual in the National Guard who was stationed there as a guard from December 2002 to September 2003. In part: "Your article describing the treatment of detainees and their access to books other than the Koran is accurate. The detainees also have their own medical facility and an exercise yard where they run, play soccer and engage in other physical activities."

"I will never forget seeing an MP waiting at Guantanamo Bay Naval Hospital after being splattered by a detainees bodily fluids. You never hear about these incidents in the media and you never hear about MP's having to be tested for hepatitis and other infections due to these incidents.

"Gitmo, like most detention facilities, will never approach any state of perfection. However, from what I have observed, most injuries to detainees were self-inflicted, such as attempted suicides.

"That notwithstanding, the general atmosphere is not threatening. I cannot count the number of times a detainee would look up at me in one of the towers and give me a friendly smile and wave."

Do you think the detainees in Stalin's gulags ever waved at the guards? Do you think the prisoners in North Korea's concentration camps do?

Also noted: "1.The international media makes regular visits (almost every week when I was stationed there).

"2. The IRC [International Red Cross] is there all the time. They don't just make occasional visits.

"3. The FBI is there all the time. Not just to make inspections."

And you won't see that in your paper or on the network news anytime soon, either.

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Lt Pantano Has Resigned

Before anyone gets upset, there is more to the story than I knew, certainly, and maybe more than you knew, too.

Lt Pantano, in brief, is a Marine officer who killed two Iraqi civilians who rushed him, refusing his order to stop. He was justified in that action, even though the men were not armed, because they did not stop when he told them to. There was no way and certainly no time for him to find out whether or not they were armed or whether or not they meant him or his men any harm. He did what he had to do to protect himself and his men. There was some consideration by leadership of whether or not he would be charged with murder; in the end, he was not. This is a good thing -- to have done so would have set a dangerous precedent and inserted hesitation into the decision-making process of people in combat zones, lest they too be charged. I've never seen combat myself, but anyone who has will tell you: In combat, hesitating gets you and the people around you killed.

The rest of the story can be read at Assumption of Command (follow the link), written by a guy who is boots-on-the-ground in Iraq.

The Readers' Digest version: Lt Pantano fired 60 rounds into the two men and placed a sign above the remains as a warning. The right of self-defense is never denied, but it is the servicemember's responsibility to react in a manner proportional to the situation. Lt Pantano went beyond what was reasonable in his response, even if his response was, initially, reasonable. Placing a sign over the remains smacks of Al Qaeda's tactics. Sorry, but it does.

There is more on Lt Pantano and his statements to his friends about his decision at EuphoricReality.

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Azerbaijan Demands Freedom!

"Supporters of several opposition parties chanted 'Freedom!' and 'Free Elections!' while holding placards with such slogans as 'Down with robber government!' Some carried a picture of Bush with the inscription: 'We want freedom!'

There are some really great photos, too.

Found at Gateway Pundit by way of Little Green Footballs.

In contrast: Protest Warrior, the gallery of lefties. Tons of photos of idiots enjoying their right to freedom of speech, bought and paid for by people they hold in contempt. Click and enjoy.

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Our Strange War

A column by Victor Davis Hanson.

"For now Islamic fascist strategy is to make such horrific news in Iraq that America throws up its hands and sighs, 'These crazy people simply aren’t worth it,'goes home, snoozes — and thus becomes ripe for another September 11."

Found by way of Little Green Footballs.

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Gulags: A Rant

There are gulags, actually.

From Babalu Blog.

Warning: Strong language.

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You Don't Have to Be a Blogger to Fear This -- and You Should Fear This

The FEC is considering regulation covering political commentary on blogs. This will end up affecting not just political blogs, but pogues like me (and maybe you) who follow politics and make the occasional comment. This is a problem.

The reformers who want such regulation have released their comments to the FEC:

"Finally, we do not believe anyone described as a 'blogger' is by definition entitled to the benefit of the press exemption. An individual writing material for distribution on the Internet may or may not be a press entity. While some bloggers may provide a function very similar to more classic media activities, and thus could reasonably be said to fall within the exemption, others surely do not . The test here should be the same test that the Commission has applied in other contexts - is the entity a 'press entity' and is it acting in its 'legitimate press function'?"

Read that carefully. It could be stretched to mean anything. We like our freedom of speech, yes we do. We've had it for so long we take it for granted. That does not mean it couldn't be taken away, piece by piece, bit by bit.

Don't panic. Do something.

Go sign the online petition. Send the message to your friends. Even if you (and they) don't blog, this has very wide-reaching implications.

Online Coalition Petition.

Spread the word, people. There isn't much time.

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The Silver Lining

"One good thing about Amnesty International's Irene Khan calling Gunatanamo Bay facility a gulag: having mined the rich vein of Nazi analogies to tar the modern day's center-right (you know, America is a fascist state, Bush is Hitler, etc.), the international left is now adopting communist analogies to bash the Republicans, thus both expanding their moral vocabulary and implicitly acknowledging that, yes, communism was bad. In fact, as bad as conservatism. It's progress of sorts, but pity that the left can't now retrospectively start campaigning for human rights, freedom and democracy behind the Iron Curtain."

Go and read. Chrenkoff is good.

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South Korea Expels Human Rights Activist to Appease North Korea

"Dr. Norbert Vollertsen, the man who told the world about the horrors of North Korea, reports that he has been expelled from South Korea. Vollertsen, who admits allowing his South Korean visa to expire, had been in South Korea on a series of tourist visas, which require holders to leave and reenter South Korea for extensions. On a previous reentry, Vollertsen had been detained and asked to sign a statement agreeing to discontinue his political activities; he was released when journalists arrived at the location where he was detained. Vollertsen reports that South Korean officials have told him that he would not be granted further tourist visas because of his political activities."

Yeah, we wouldn't want the world to know the cost in human misery that South Korea's pandering to the North is enabling.

Found by way of The Command Post.

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WMD Equipment in Iraq Missing? Really?

How can it be missing if there weren't any WMD?

An AP story by Edith M. Lederer.

"U.N. satellite imagery experts have determined that material that could be used to make biological or chemical weapons and banned long-range missiles has been removed from 109 sites in Iraq, U.N. weapons inspectors said in a report obtained Thursday.

"U.N. inspectors have been blocked from returning to Iraq since the U.S.-led war in 2003 so they have been using satellite photos to see what happened to the sites that were subject to U.N. monitoring because their equipment had both civilian and military uses."

Now, hold on a minute. Now they're saying the stuff is missing (and if you never had something, how can it be missing?). Does that mean all those satellite photographs of large trucks leaving those sites and heading into Syria just before the coalition invaded in March of 2003 might mean that the WMD material might have been on those trucks?

I'm shocked. Shocked.

Nice to know the UN is still right on top of things.

One more thing -- the article says the UN inspectors have been "blocked" from returning to Iraq. This is a lie. The UN asked to come in once it seemed to them the danger was past, they showed up, set up a headquarters, a terrorist blew up a bomb in front of those headquarters, and the UN workers all took off like startled bunnies. They were climbing all over each other in their haste to catch the next flight out.

Blocked? No way. They could have been there all this time; they couldn't stand the pressure. Or maybe it was the lack of available sex slaves or bribe money....

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Your Next Vacation Should Probably Not Involve Australia

Article from the Australian, by Jonathan Porter and Martin Chulov. Found by way of Little Green Footballs.

"The report by Australian Customs detailed a situation of near anarchy at the airport, with corrupt baggage handlers, many with criminal convictions, and Muslim extremists infiltrating airport security."

And I thought my getting from Columbia to Portland, OR, with a screwdriver in my carry-on (I had forgotten it was there) was a breach of security.

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The Gulag Archipelego vs. Amnesty International's 'Gulags'

Found at mypetjawa.

It's a comparison between a real gulag in the Soviet Union, and Guantanamo. Well worth several minutes of your time.

Amnesty International has no credibility left. Zero. None.

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Howard Dean - The Republican Party's Best Friend

At the link you'll find a collection of videos showing Howard Dean making some amazingly idiotic statements. Found by way of Instapundit.

It appears that donations to the Democratic Party have taken a nosedive since he was made chairman of the party. Cause and effect -- what a concept.

BTW -- and for the record -- I'm not a Republican. I'm Independent, and intend to stay that way. I used to lean Democratic, but since the Democrats and the liberals have gone prancing hand-in-hand into lunatic-land, I've not so much moved left as stayed where I was, along with most of the rest of the American citizenry. We found ourselves more on the right than we used to be. It's been something of a surprise.

But as long as the Democrats, and the liberals (which aren't necessarily one and the same) continue to make insane claims and behave as if they were the sole possessors of knowledge, I'm going to stay right where I am.

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Life in Dohuk, Northern Iraq

By Michael Yon.

"I walked into a store called Zanest Computer & Electronics, at 14th Anthar Street, and there I sat with Mr. Abdul Shukry, and asked him about business. Mr. Shukry said business is good, and that the US Army had come a few days earlier and purchased sixty computers and sixty UPS's and gave them all to Dohuk University."

Go and read. Scroll all the way down. The pictures are lovely, too.

Found by way of Instapundit.

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Oh, It's Lovely Weather for Ducks, They Say, Rain, Rain, Rain

As you can see, over the past few days we've received at least (considering evaporation) 2 1/4 inches of rain. Nice for the plants. Great for the lawn (such as it is). Not so good for the roofers. If the rain ever stops, they can come back and finish the job.  

All is soggy.

Of Cats and Squirrels

The reflection makes it difficult to see (a combination of my lack of photography skills and an old camera), but there's a squirrel perched on the back of one of the rocking chairs on the front porch. He walked on the chairs and the window ledge, and climbed all over the window screens, for the next few minutes, driving the cats nearly berserk. He doesn't do this when the windows are open. He's not stupid.  

You can click on the image for a larger view.

Fallujah Rises from the Ashes

Article by Michael Fumento, at National Review Online.

"Critics of the attack on Fallujah last November often invoked the damning (and mythical) utterance from Vietnam: 'We had to destroy the village to save it.' Never mind that the alternative to the massive assault on the city backed by artillery, tanks, and aircraft would either be a huge loss of American lives or simply allowing the al Qaeda cut-throat Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to keep it as the terrorist headquarters. Forget that the city was already crumbling from the neglect of Saddam Hussein’s regime. Today Fallujah is on the mend and then some, a symbol of renewal and American-Iraqi cooperation."

Very good stuff. Go and read.

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A Veteran Blogger Considers Hanging It Up ... But, Thank God, Doesn't

"It’s my belief that God put us—all of us—here for a reason and, for most of us, it isn’t just to hole ourselves up in prayer and contemplation and wait for the end times. Some of us have to get down in the mud and rassle with the hogs, when necessary."

Amen.

I wish I could write as well as she does.

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A Report from Iraq

From Hurl's Blog.

"Yep, we got one of the guys involved in an ambush earlier in Hadithah. It was a flawless raid at about 3am. Howdy and I supported a recon team sent in to snatch a particular fellow who would provide some very critical intel on a lot of the big shots in the area and their organization.

"This guy lived in a house just to the West of the town of Haqlaniyah – just South of Hadithah. We held out to the West and observed with our FLIR as the recon bubbas ingressed and crept up to the house. They did an explosive breach, poured into the house – but nobody was home. Fortunately they had intel that a house nearby was a relatives house.

"They moved to the next house, kicked in the door and entered. It turns out the target individual was cowering in the corner under a blanket, hiding behind some children. He was positively identified, bagged and carried away."

Emphasis mine.

More:

"I am guessing that it doesn’t take much to make these guys talk. All that is needed is to threaten to turn them loose. The torturous death they would probably receive at the hands of their fellow terrorists is more than enough incentive to start squawking. In a recent raid, an Egyptian 'militant' who failed to perform his mission was found tortured, chained to a floor, and buried alive in concrete. These guys are brutal."

And you won't see that on the evening news, will you?

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How We Treat Wounded Terrorists

Found at Blackfive.

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Bloggers for Beef Jerky

I'm in favor of it, myself.

Found by way of The Indepundit.

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The Case for a Minimum Intelligence Requirement for Parents, Part 2

So, did the aneurysm cause the accident, or was it the alcohol? Was the aneurysm exacerbated by her alcoholism? Would she have been able to stop the car if she hadn't been drunk? Did the aneurysm happen before or after she hit the tree?

We'll never know.

She puts her two kids in the car and adequately restrains neither. She doesn't wear a seatbelt, either. Her blood alcohol level is .247 (it takes years of practice, people, to be that drunk and still function at all). Speeding, she loses control of the car and crashes into a tree. No one survives.

Self-destruction is one thing. Taking your kids with you, that's another.

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Rest in Peace, Brothers

The NY Times tells it one way. The guys who are actually there tell it another.

A bit of strong language, nevertheless an excellent read.

Found by way of Blackfive.

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The Truth About Guantanamo Bay

A very good read by Michelle Malkin, on what's really going on at Guantanamo Bay.

Found by way of Neal Boortz.

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Diversity is important in the garden. On the left, we have an opportunistic dandelion which I haven't the heart to yank out. On the right, verbena. Underneath, B-dog does his Carmen Miranda impression.  

The plants were sagging a bit on Sunday. I gave them a good watering and they seem to be fine now. There are several blooms on each plant, and no sign of fire ants. On the left are the crookneck squash, in the middle are cucumbers, and on the right are the bell peppers. In the foreground, we have tomatoes.  

No roofers for several days now. The weekend interfered, and now it's raining. They've left a lot of their stuff up there, and I suppose if they're not worried about it, I won't worry about it.  

A Very Hairy CH-47 Landing in Afghanistan

The link takes you to the page with the streaming video. You might have to scroll up a bit to find the photo, then move your cursor over the picture and click to get it to play. The language at the end is a bit strong, but apparently the special forces guys could not believe the pilot was able to set it down where he did.

Found at The Siegrist Blogs, by way of Blackfive.

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Revenge of the Sith, eh

OK, so we finally went to see it last night. We figured Memorial Day night there wouldn't be a lot of other people (translation: several rude kids whose parents couldn't be bothered to teach them either appropriate public behavior or respect for the other people they're sharing the planet with) in the theater.

There weren't many people, and only one kid. But his adult supervision kept him quiet, which we appreciated. It's rare, people taking that responsibility seriously.

There were some technical problems with the projection system. We didn't get to see all of the commercials, as something quit working (the bulb, maybe? Do they still have bulbs in those projectors, or is it some sort of high-tech luminescing device, a laser, or something?). The sound kept right on, however, so what we couldn't see we could hear. I can't say it was an improvement, although it was marginally less intrusive.

It appears the theater has been bought out by some concern called the Georgia Theater something or other. Once the commercials were over they kindly provided a screen to warn us that the feature presentation was about to start. Which got stuck. We watched that for a few minutes, in silence, until one of a group of guys a few rows ahead of us treated us to his rendition of Darth Vader's breathing. It was pretty good, too, he must have been practicing. Then he said, in his very best Darth Vader voice (which was also not half bad), "I'm your father." One guy behind us applauded. Then we watched a few more trailers, only one of which seemed to suggest a movie we might want to see. Unfortunately it must not have been all that memorable, because I can't recall the name. I'm sure it will come to me later.

About the movie itself, well, the special effects were spiffy. Very well done. And busy. Very, very busy. It was difficult to keep track of what was going on, especially during the battle scenes, which was to George Lucas' advantage as it made it slightly less noticeable that the dialogue was, to be blunt, idiotic. As much money as he has, he could afford a scriptwriter or two. He could have kept final approval on the script if he really felt it was important, but he never should have been allowed to write the thing. Characters were saying things of such remarkable banality, it was often painful. I was rewriting some of the lines in my head as the movie went along (you know what I mean: "What he should have said there instead of 'Another happy landing' was 'Well, any landing you can walk away from....'") Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen is cute, I guess, if you like that type, but his acting chops were not standing up well next to those of the other actors on the screen with him, to include C3PO, although he does seem to have the glowering thing down pat) whined, pouted, sulked, and grumbled his way to The Dark Side. It was remarkable that Senator (later Emperor) Palpatine, aka Darth Sidious, didn't just whack him upside the head in annoyance.

I enjoyed the music. Yeah, I know. If that's the best I can come up with, besides enjoying the special effects, it doesn't say much. There was continuity between the early movies (Episodes IV through VI), which was nice. At the end we got to hear Luke's and Leia's themes. There was an interesting repeat of the scene in Episode IV where Luke is standing at the edge of the excavation where his home is, watching the two suns set, when Obi Wan has handed the infant Luke to Owen and Beru and they stand at the edge of the hole holding the baby and watching the two suns set.

I was a bit puzzled at what seemed to be a disconnect, but may not have been. In Episode VI, Luke asks Leia if she remembers her mother. She says yes, and he asks her what she remembers. She tells him her mother was beautiful, kind, but sad. Padme dies in childbirth; Leia would have had no memory of her at all. Was she remembering Bail Organa's wife? Did they never tell her she wasn't their daughter? Maybe that was it, as Leia refers to Bail Organa as her father in Episode IV in the message R2D2 was carrying to Obi Wan ("General Kenobi, years ago you served my father in the clone wars....")

I bounced some of this off of hubby on the way home. He just gave me That Look. It must be difficult, being married to a Star Wars geek. And as if that weren't enough, I'm a Trekkie, too. Poor man.

Darfur Rapes and Murders Continue

See also Sudan detains aid agency chief over rape report, from ABC (that's the Australian Broadcast Company -- you didn't think the American Broadcast Company would be interested, did you?).

The doctors working with Doctors Without Borders have medical evidence of rapes committed over a four-and-a-half month period. The rapes have been going on a lot longer than that, but this particular investigation covers only that period. One of the doctors was arrested and later released on bail because the agency has refused to hand the evidence over to the Sudanese authorities. Later another aid worker, who is the regional coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in Darfur, was arrested.

Now, why would they refuse to hand the evidence over? Surely the Sudanese authorities would vigorously pursue any information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the people committing these heinous crimes.

Right?

Well, sure. And I've got some oceanfront property to sell you, it's right outside Fairbanks, Alaska, you're going to love the view.

Imagine the conversation taking place sometime after the evidence has been handed over, upon inquiry into how the investigation is going.

"Evidence? You say we have evidence? I don't recall... Well, wait a moment, let me check... Hmmm. Evidence? Medical evidence? I can't seem to find a record of such a thing. To whom did you speak? Ah, well, he is no longer with us. A transfer. His family had issues... Yes, yes, we will contact him as soon as possible, I believe he is on an extended vacation. But we do not seem to have such evidence as you say you gave us, I'm so very sorry. Perhaps you might file a complaint... No, we do not have any forms, I'm so sorry, perhaps you have a sheet of paper you might use?"

Given that the Sudanese government is funding the janjaweed militias who are committing the murders and rapes, I think it's naive at best to believe they would be respectful of any reasonable investigative requirements to preserve any evidence that might point to, say, certain people committing the crimes. Why, that might lead to accountability, and we can't have that.

Found by way of Atlas Shrugs, and Instapundit.

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In Memory of Marlon R. Thomas

In September of 1995, I was stationed at Osan Air Base, Korea. I worked in the MCRC (Master Control and Reporting Center) inside the HTACC (Hardened Theater Air Control Center). It was a big concrete blockhouse, three stories high (and each story was considerably taller than your average structure -- I don't have the stats, but it was whompin' big). It was located across the street from another whompin' big blockhouse called the KCOIC, or Korean Consolidated Operations Intelligence Center, or something like that.

Anyway.

We heard that an AWACS in Alaska had gone down. My career field was never very big, and in later years, with drawdowns and budget cuts, it became even smaller. Eventually, we used to say, you knew everybody in the field. The saying is that everyone in the world is connected by no more than six degrees of separation. In my career field it was probably, at most, two.

Marlon Thomas was a Mission Crew Commander aboard the AWACS that went down on 22 September, 1995. I only knew him casually; he worked at the 601st Tactical Control Wing at Sembach Air Base when I was stationed at one of the Geographically Separated Units in an outlying location. At the time he was at the wing, if I remember correctly, I was at the 622nd Tactical Control Flight in Bad Kreuznach, on Rhein-Grafenstein hill.

I knew this about him, though -- he was a good guy. Decent, kind, intelligent, and dedicated. Those of us out in the field always referred to people at the wing as "wing weenies" (usually accompanied by an exasperated eye roll), but Marlon Thomas was, and remained, a Good Guy.

I wish I had been able to find a photograph of him.

The only comfort in the manner of his death, and the deaths of his comrades, is that it was quick. They were airborne for only 42 seconds; after the E3B ingested several geese into one of its engines on takeoff, there was no time to recover and no room to maneuver.

I still think about him from time to time. I wonder where he'd be today if that AWACS hadn't gone down, and what he would be doing. And I think about his family and how terrible it must have been for them.

I recognize his sacrifice as an honorable one, even as I wish it hadn't happened.

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A NATION'S STRENGTH
Ralph Waldo Emerson

What makes a nation's pillars high
And its foundations strong?
What makes it mighty to defy
The foes that round it throng?
It is not gold. Its kingdoms grand
Go down in battle shock;
Its shafts are laid on sinking sand,
Not on abiding rock.
Is it the sword? Ask the red dust
Of empires passed away;
The blood has turned their stones to rust,
Their glory to decay.
And is it pride? Ah, that bright crown
Has seemed to nations sweet;
But God has struck its luster down
In ashes at his feet.
Not gold but only men can make
A people great and strong;
Men who for truth and honor's sake
Stand fast and suffer long.
Brave men who work while others sleep,
Who dare while others fly...
They build a nation's pillars deep
And lift them to the sky

- In memory of all those who gave their life in service to this country -  

The Faces of Those Murdered at the Pentagon

This one may take awhile to load.

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Remembering the Fallen

This is a site dedicated to the remembrance of American servicemembers lost in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Tribute to the Victims of 911

It's large, 7MB, so it takes awhile to load. It's tremendously moving tribute to the victims of 911, who should be remembered on Memorial Day as much as any servicemember who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our way of life.

Be warned: Some of the images are terrible. It's worth your time, though.

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