Kriplekistan

So the title of this blog serves more than one purpose. On one front, I can finally get back to blogging on a regular basis (for now anyway), as I was subject to the classic "you can't quit, you're fired" situation at work earlier this week. I get the feeling HH Gregg will get along without me. Haha secondly, and I can say without hyperbole a million times more serious, I can finally put together a piece about the peace taking hold in Iraq. The reason I've felt I should hold off on this story (substantial progress in the amount of deaths decreased as well as sectarian violence as a whole has been waning for almost 3 months now) is due in part to the fact that I wanted to make sure the turning tide looked more like a permanent trend as opposed to fortuitous moment, and also as a moment both sides of the political spectrum can enjoy. If you out there in cyberspace absolutely hate GW and the Iraq War, great, go tell your side of the story. The point is, no matt...

United States Marines patrolling the Euphrates river (thats the Haditha dam in the background) show their support for the hottest team in the country, the University of Georgia Bulldogs. Go DAWGS! Sic 'em in the Sugar Bowl!

Ok everyone, first thing's first. I understand there has been a serious decline in the quality and quantity of my postings, I apologize. Working 40+ hours a week in a warehouse while trying to save money for grad school has obviously inhibited my blogging time. So for that I apologize. Second, I know I said back in October I would do a piece on the progress in Iraq, but the good news keeps on getting better, troop and civilian deaths continue to plummet, so lets just continue to pray for the best and hopefully this trend becomes the norm. Now, onto the Republican debate last night. What can we say, it was more of the same, Rudy and Mitt going after each other on immigration, McCain blasting Ron Paul, and Huckabee getting all the laughs. Whats truly amazing from last night isn't what the candidates had to say, but the questions from youtube. As it turns out, "The most trusted name in news" should really be "the most trusted democratic views." 4 of th...

For those of you who haven't known me very long (or for that matter, at all), Spain was the first country I ever visited (excluding British territories in the Caribbean). So naturally, I'll always have a small amount of affection for my first real experience outside of the United States, notwithstanding my first in Europe. Having said that, this entry has nothing to do with said affection. Instead, it has to do with what so many of us who pay attention to the politics of Spanish speaking countries have been waiting to hear for so long. Hugo Chavez, Shut up! Haha excuse me, Calla te! However, it wasn't just that the two-bit dictator was told to shut up by anyone, but the King of Spain himself Juan Carlos; the man who saved Spain from its 2nd attempt at military dictatorship after "el golpe de estado" and kept democracy intact. During the recent Ibero-American Summit in Santiago, Chile, where Spain, Portugal, and their former colonies, consisting of 21 nation...

First of all, I know I've been a little AWOL lately. Moving from the heart of Washington D.C. to the heart of Kentucky (that would be Lexington) hasn't been the easiest transition, and needless to say I'm a little bit out of the loop as far as being an insider on information goes. Having said that, there's still plenty to blog about, and rest assured I will have numerous entries concerning decreasing levels of violence in Iraq as well as the irrefutable progress being made (lets face it, when CNN International does repeated pieces about the progress of the surge, you're hitting on all cylinders). But for now, I'm going to ease back into the swing of things with an actually really cool story. You can read the entire tale here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21689083/ Whats truly amazing to me is that this is not an isolated incident, but as you have now undoubtably read, dolphins have rescued humans from sharks and other dangers for thousands of years. So if th...

Sorry to all of you out there who rely on these weekly postings for mental stimulation, but I'm going to use this one for personal reasons, which will all but indicate my alma mater and subsequent feelings for it. For your entertainment, keep an eye on #77 Trinton Sturdivant. Only a 300+ pound lineman can dance like that....

Michael Ramirez once again accomplishing more than what I could do with a thousand words.

Everyone's seen the fires affecting Los Angeles and San Diego counties the past few days. The Governator has been doing his best to assuage everyone's fears, President Bush declared almost all of Southern California a disaster area and opened up federal money for those affected. 900,000 plus have been evacuated (including my grandparents) with maybe a million in the next few days, and government reports now say that this many people haven't had to relocate since the Civil War. Thousands of homes are now nothing but cinder, leaving thousands of families wondering what they're going to do. This is truly sad to watch on TV. It is what it is, a natural disaster, a tragedy. Once again however, the best in people is coming through, and there is no greater example than what you see coming from the people of San Diego. Similar to Katrina, thousands of people have now taken refuge in Qualcomm Stadium, home of the Chargers. Instead of being littered with garbage, looting,...

The best thing about being a self confessed conservative is that your job against liberals and indeed, Kriplekistanis (bet you thought I had forgotten about them), is so so easy. They basically make themselves look stupid, and all one has to do is point it out. Now remember my very first post, the difference between a liberal and Kriplekistani is the amount of militancy involved. Liberals can be fine, but when they go over the edge they get the upgrade. This week, Randi Rhodes' supporters and network, Air America, are getting a first class ticket into Kriplekistan and all the spotlight (or lack thereof) it garners. Early on Monday morning, Randi failed to show up for her syndicated talk show on Air America. It should be noted at this point that Air America was created to be a liberal/left wing counter to various conservative/right wing talk shows across the country. It should also be noted that Air America is bankrupt after having existed for less than 24 months, but thats ne...

It never ceases to amaze me how hypocritical politicians can be. Both sides are often guilty of it, especially with "conservative" Republicans of the past 2 Congresses spending like a bunch of poets on payday. Once again however, I'm just completely amazed at the absolute hypocrisy of the Democratic party today and the devastating impact its having on our relations worldwide. One of the Democrats' chief complaints during the 2004 election was that George Bush didn't utilize our allies enough to construct a robust coalition for Iraq. Another complaint of the Democratic Party in the 2006 election was George Bush's lack of diplomacy and understanding of world affairs, as well as a failed strategy for Iraq. Having been in office for less than 1 year, the Democratic Party, which obviously has very little shame left, is again completely contradicting itself. Earlier this week, Representative Tom Lantos, who heads the House Foreign Relations Committee, along wit...

So, thanks to a little thing calling HALO 3, I've had a brief hiatus from blogging, but after my 2nd run through, its time to come back to (cyber)reality. As promised, I'm finally covering the historic summit between North and South Korea, which ended earlier today. The problem with these summits is, while they are indeed historic, don't really provide much by way of blogging material. Two Presidents (actually, one President, one megalomaniacal tyrant) come together, shake hands, have a few chats, and call it a nice time. Well thats how this summit was shaping up until today. Western and East Asian political analysts had a field day speculating over the video feeds emanating from Pyongyang, in which Kim Jong Il could barely move his left arm, seemed despondent, showed an overall lack of energy, and could barely muster the words "I'm pleased to meet you" to South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun in front of thousands of well wishers, who we are sure came at t...

While the topic of this blog "SpecOps" is a shortened version of "Special Operations," it is pronounced by most people in the miltary business as "Speck Ops," due to the notion these actions are hard to track and target. Earlier last week the Israeli action on Syria typified that idea completely. During the first week of September (dates are hard to pinpoint due to the nature of this situation), Israeli warplanes (around 5 or 6 American made f-16s and f-15s) flew across not only the Syrian border but more or less the entire country in a daring assault on what had been described as "Syrian weapons caches" near the Turkish/Syrian border. While brazen, this action did not illicit much response by the media or by Israel's usually hostile neighbors. As time went on, the reason for this eerie silence became more evident. By early September, reports had surfaced that a North Korean vessel had docked in the Syrian port of Tartus to deliver a highl...

Pictures are worth a thousand words, even mine. Here are the slides General Petraeus' used in his report to Congress. Gotta love Power Point.

When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross -Upton Sinclair Like many other socialists, both past and present, it turns out Upton was wrong. Earlier this week, the already far left organization MoveOn.org took a sharp turn towards the brink of insanity when it published a full page ad in the New York Times labeling General Petraeus "General Betray Us" before he gave testimony to Congress that his strategy in Iraq is working. The group and its many followers atest that because the General will testify in said fashion, he is a traitor because they do not agree with this assessment. If someone disagrees with you-then they are a betrayer-the hallmark of any totalitarian political movement. It goes without saying that this description of a proven and honorable American military commander leading men in the field is despicable, grotesque, foul, and any other adjective one might imagine. What is truly disturbing is not that a group of peopl...

A few of my memories from 9/11/2001 British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed horror and sent condolences to U.S. President George W. Bush. "There have been the most terrible, shocking events taking place in the United States of America within the last couple of hours," Blair says. "We can only imagine the terror and carnage there and the many, many innocent people who have lost their lives." This was "perpetrated by fanatics who are utterly indifferent to the sanctity of human life, and we, the democracies of this world, are going to have to come together to fight it and eradicate this evil completely from our world." Queen Elizabeth II said she was watching developments in "growing disbelief and total shock." Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told Americans "Our hearts are with you and we are ready to provide any assistance at any time." Israel declared Wednesday a day of mourning and set up a blood bank for the injured. "T...

Osama Bin Laden recently released a tape for all Americans to see. Here it is.

For all of you out there who watched the Republican Presidential debate last night on Fox, you saw a pretty good show. John McCain did a better job than usual, Mike Huckabee is giving a commendable effort, Rudy Giuliani did fairly well, although he focused on his record as the mayor of New York too often for my taste, and Fred Thompson made it official, although he wasn't actually at the debate. But out of the few irrelevant candidates who continue to linger, Ron Paul is actually making a difference. That last sentence may seem a bit paradoxical, so let me explain. Ron has no chance of winning. He just isn't going to. But that doesn't mean he isn't making a tremendous impact on the debate taking place towards the nomination. Between the other 7 candidates, there hasn't been a whole lot of difference. All support the surge in Iraq, and indeed the war itself. All support tax cuts, and to be honest, what Republican doesn't? By playing the wild card in the...

I love saying the word "wow." Simple, effective, straight to the point, it conveys shock on a variety of levels. Here are the past week's reasons to "wow." Appalachian State: WOW! Mississippi has a 30% obesity rate among adults. Ugh...wow. College Football in general: Wow! French President Sarkozy saying that bombing Iran is a real option: Very Wow. Larry Craig: Wow dude.....haha wow. Reps. Ellen Tauscher and James Moran, Democrats from California and Washington respectively. Both members of Congress returned to the U.S. after visiting Iraq, claiming to the Washington Post that they were "slimed" on their visit. As both reps were touring various places in Iraq, they were under constant guard by U.S. troops to ensure their safety. Well, one informed sergeant passed out fliers, or "thumbcards" as they were called, too all the troops in which they could read how the aforementioned representatives voted on Iraq, as well as comments the...

I know I usually at least try to be witty with my titles, but I felt this new post needed to be politically incorrect exactly because of this week's topic. A recent article came up in Newsweek in which a man, Peter Kessner, laments that he had to trade in a "normal" looking hybrid, a Honda Civic hybrid, for a new Toyota Prius because, wait for it...............HE WANTED PEOPLE TO KNOW HE WAS DRIVING A HYBRID. Un-@#$%ing believable. Aside from the 2 inch plate on the back of the civic indicating it is eco-friendly, there is no way to tell the car is an actual hybrid. Therefore, the act of doing a good deed isn't what is important to the self described "devout environmentalist," it was all about the amount of hype his fellow greenies gave him. What is absolutely fantastic about this entire article, is that its not just about the complete ostentatiousness of one man, but AN ENTIRE MOVEMENT. The article continues (here is the entire link http://www.msnbc.ms...

Oh you crazy Russians, you just love to be the center of attention don't you? While you played second fiddle to the United States for most of the Cold War (except 1976-1980 thank you very much Jimmy "History's Greatest Monster" Carter), you at least were a worthy advirsary, until the West discovered that your statist economic system was a total failure. So you disappeared from the world stage for a few years, only to gain headlines concerning your brushfire war with Chechnya. I didn't care, did anyone else care? Well, the past few weeks have been witness to different varieties of Russian activity, activity which in most peoples' minds is antagonistic and worrisome and at best nostalgic for the Cold War. Resuming long range nuclear bomber flights, systematically starving its neighbors of oil and gas when they "act up", poisoning an ex Russian spy in London with polonium, symbolically planting a flag at the bottom of the Artic Ocean claiming it as...

So what if Saddam has been dead for 8 months? So what if this story is over a year old? The expression "that will never get old" exists for a reason and this certainly fits that mold. For those of you who don't wish to read the entire report, it became common knowledge that during Saddam's tenure as a guest of his supermax detention area, U.S. Marines forced him to watch himself be lampooned as the ultra abusive/obsessive gay lover of Satan in both various episodes of South Park as well as South Park the Movie itself. http://animatedfilms.suite101.com/article.cfm/saddam_forced_to_watch_south_park I like to think that before Saddam died, he rediscovered some of that love for the United States and American humor after watching a few episodes of South Park featuring himself. Ah, come on, relax guy! Now all we have to do is catch Osama and show him the South Park episode in which he has microscopic genitalia, makes out with a camel, and has his brains blown out, tha...

Well then, this post has all the makings of the most boring thus far in this collection. The 107 degree heat is absolutely oppressing all of Washington, and indeed stretching across the rest of the country as well. We've also endured a roller coaster of a few weeks, watching the disasters of I-35 near Minneapolis, the trapped Miners in Utah who will hopefully make it out alive, and the stock market swinging like a pendulum in the middle of a category 5 hurricane. So, what exactly has been going on in the past few weeks? The annual discovery channel broadcast of Shark Week, which all but signals the end of summer for kids across American has come and gone. Barry Bonds just became the new Home Run king of baseball last night, hitting number 756. Bear Grylls' pseudo scandal. Michael Vick's ultra big scandal. Two Presidential Debates have come and gone with both Republicans and Democrats having their respective turns. Well, here's a brief synopsis. Shark Week. Goo...

And I'm back! After 19 days of touring various places in Europe, the big guy is about 10 pounds lighter, has a decent beard, and is back to disseminate his various views. I'll be placing pictures up from time to time (including this new one) which have all been taken by me and my trusty Sony Powershot. I hope you all have had an eventful July, as it seems I've missed quite a bit of activity after leaving the better of the two Hemispheres. So lets get started with a common sense issue. Finally, FINALLY, someone from the religious perspective is making the most sense out of this so called "battle" between secularists and believers across the planet. Pope Benedict on July 25th made a statement saying that the Creation vs Evolution debate is an "absurdity" and that evolution and faith can co-exist. Thank you, Pope Benedict. As a Catholic myself, this is the belief I have held from day 1, and I'll explain further in a moment. While he was consider...

There are only so many warnings the West is going to get before its time to realize this is the fight for our lives, our way of life, our very Civilization.

Enough said.

Earlier this week Senator Inhofe, Barbara Boxer's daily sparring partner in the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, told the press a conversation he recalled his nemesis Boxer having with Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton about shutting down, or at least curtailing conservative radio. Evidently, Sens. Boxer and Clinton were outraged at the fact that conservative radio does so well and liberal outfits such as Air America had failed so miserably, and now they were ready to legislate something about it. Both Senators vehemently denied the conversation ever occurred, however, this week Senators Durbin and Kerry have called for a "fairness doctrine" to be implemented, to create national legislation that would make it law to have liberal talk show hosts injected into conservative programs to provide "balance." Conservatives object not only to the intrusion of their workplace, but also to the fact that this alter in programming could affect ratin...

I don't really want to come out and say "I told you so" but, there's no other way to say it. New York Times, CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX NEWS (shocker), local affiliates.....9 to 1 journalists are actively involved in leftist politics. Don't forget to check the fine print, these aren't just Democrats getting money, its far left organizations. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19113485 See the "Gore/Lieberman" and "Dems Deploy" posts to see where I'm going with this.

A few weeks ago, a friend asked me in regards to our upcoming trip to Europe "What should we do if someone tries to pick our pockets or rob us?" I simply replied "Hand over fist ass beating my friend." This might seem a little excessive to our gentler cousins in Europe, who often view American reactions to crimes a bit overboard, but it serves as an effective symbol of what can and will happen if someone tries to violate your person or belongings. In an archaic sense, might makes right. This same "paradigm" is being applied to a lucky number of insurgents in Iraq at this very moment. Although I have recently made mention of the progress made in Iraq with the U.S. military effectively opening up to tribal leaders in the Anbar province, who reciprocated in kind by expelling Al Qaeda from their region, there are still regions which contain die hard jihadists. These last vestiges of the fascist Islamic movement in Iraq, which have no hope or desire for r...

There should be very little discussion about the actual presence of a liberal bias in the news media today. Everyone more or less accepts the fact that it exists, and for better or worse, as a product of those who choose a profession that Bob Knight once dubbed as "two or three steps above prostitution." Just like a gifted athelete on a popular sports team who is oftentimes bombastic, tendencies of those in the profession of journalism to lean towards the left is tolerated because it is seen as a byprodcut of their profession itself. Because a journalist's job includes asking questions and demanding accountability, most people, especially Americans, appreciate this bias because it means never accepting exactly what the government tells its populace, thus providing oversight. However, in the year 2007, it is now also painfully obvious that a double standard exists within liberal journalistic circles, and that oversight is not only desperatley lacking, its becoming nigh...

All across the Southern California valley this month, residents of such a beautiful piece of geography are going to be experiencing what is known as "June gloom," or the onset of foggy conditions brought on by the jet streams and westerly winds. Therefore, I thought it would be prudent to provide some June anti-gloom, or just good old fashioned good news. The war in Iraq has been a source of worldwide gloom running for almost 4 years now, with casualty figures far greater than what we expected, and a John Edwards shopping spree-esque price. That said, any good news coming from Iraq is worth noting, especially when it involves its own citizens rising up against the terrorists now lurking out in those long, dark Arabian nights. I'll spare you the loyal reader from having to put up with more of my rant, while saving myself the time of regurgitating it, by posting the links to the articles below. And just so there's no "conservative bias" charges coming fro...