Smoke Signals 2

Being that I tend to read more news than anything, I found a few stories for you today. In addition to being Friday the 13th, it’s also a full moon. In honor of what is quite possibly the strangest day possible, here are a few stories (though not all of them are “strange”). That being said, AWAY WE GO!

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Man who BIT GIRLFRIEND’S FACE convicted of assaultI know, we live in a country where everyone has the right to a trial and the right to an attorney (thank you Miranda), but I can’t help but wonder just what the defense was in this case? In case you’re wondering too, they claimed that the victim was not “seriously disfigured”, to which the prosecutor replied “I will agree he is not guilty when he can put this back” and then held up a jar containing the flesh this sicko person BIT OFF OF HER FACE. I agree also with the prosecution that this wack-job person should not get a break simply because the victim had a talented plastic surgeon who was able to re-build her face. Therefore, may this (now) inmate ROT IN PRISON as a precursor to ROTTING IN HELL!

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Porn homework cancelled in OhioIt seems that no matter what, some people just don’t get it. A teacher in Brooklyn, OH recently assigned a group of freshmen (14 and 15 year olds) to “research internet pornography” and also to write about any experience they had with it. Well, the parents wouldn’t have this, and many called the school. So far, no mention has been made as to any punishment, but I doubt from the story if there will be any.

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Things that make you go WHAT?I don’t even know what to say here, except that maybe PUBLIC IMPALING of rapists, terrorists and drug dealers COULD reduce the number of those people in society, or at least teach them that their current “life style” is not a good move.

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Well, at least she was “original”A Phoenix woman was recently fined a little over $300 for driving in the HOV lane without another person in the car. When she was stopped and the officer asked her how many people were in the car, she said two, then pointed to her belly to indicate her unborn child. Well, while I do agree that the “fetus” IS a human being and not just a “lump of cells” that BECOMES a human being, I have to side with the court on this one. The last line of the story, which states that if this were allowed, cops would not only have to have cuffs, guns, and other tools, but also would have to carry pregnancy tests, and I have to agree we (as a society) DO NOT want to go there. But, I have a friend of mine who is a local Constable, and when he stops someone for speeding he tells them if they can give him an excuse he has NEVER heard, he’ll let them off with a warning. He’s heard them all, but the best one he told me about (which RUINED all Star Wars excuses from now on) was a teenager who simply replied “you don’t need to see my license, these aren’t the droids you’re looking for”, and he WAS carring several small robots for a class project. After my friend stopped laughing, he did let the kid go.

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I am sorry to say this took place in my part of TexasIt seems that a local Police Chief has something against people of asian descent, and when a Vietnamese man applied for a job as a Farmer’s Branch Police Officer, the Chief (allegedly) said that “as long as I’m police chief, we won’t have any gooks in this department.” I’m sorry, but even IF this man was traumatized during the Vietnam War, this is NOT the way one should act in ANY JOB! I personally hope to see this man FIRED and not able to get a job ANYWHERE as a police officer (or with a PD at all) ever again!

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Mexico DEMANDS the U.S. allow more immigrationWell, if this is the case, I say the U.S. DEMAND that Mexico begin helping us to make sure the immigration is LEGAL and not any way else. I also DEMAND that Mexico begin taking care of it’s own issues, like poverty, drugs, other crime, and so on…..

I guess I just won’t understand it, but it seems that when ANY COUNTRY ON EARTH (except the U.S.) takes measures to protect their borders, they are simply “protecting their home land”, but when America wants to protect our borders, we are “turning our backs” on “the poor and downtrodden” who simply want to “work and earn a living, doing jobs Americans won’t do”. I’ve gotten into this debate on campus quite a few times, and my answer is most often, that if the jobs “Americans won’t do” paid an decent wage (and Ogre, I’m not advocating minimum wage raises) and offered benefits and advancement opportunities, maybe Americans WOULD take the jobs. But, when you can hire 3 or 4 illegal aliens for the same rate as ONE citizen or legal resident, why would you?

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With all the kerfuffal (thanks to Letters from NYC for the new word) over President Bush’s program which uses wire taps on calls to and from KNOWN TERRORISTS or TERRORIST SYMPATHIZERS, I just thought I’d throw out a few links about the DNC’s “golden boy”.Link Number 1

Link Number 2

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Zarqawi to Bin Laden - U.S. Winning in Iraq

CAN IT BE? Is the enemy starting to realize that we (the U.S.) WILL NOT REST until we have his (and his boss’s) head ON A PLATTER? I’m sorry, but I just don’t see how it took THIS STINKING LONG for Zarqawi to realize HE IS GOING TO LOSE, but the real question is, will he realize it before or after he begins ROTTING IN THE GRAVE?

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Cross-Posted at Smoke Signals Blog

This poem has been around for a little while, and has made the rounds on various blogs and other web pages, but it has lost none of it’s power to move me almost to tears. As we prepare for all the fun that comes each year at Christmas, America’s military Men and Women are far from home in many cases, and just as we would, they DO miss their families and friends. Now, I know that it isn’t “popular” to be for the GWOT and all, but these men and women are doing what MUST be done to keep our country safe, and I really don’t care where you stand on the war issue, please DO NOT take out your animosity for the mission on those who have taken it up. These are the finest that America has to offer, and if they don’t take this cause up now, then Americans WILL see another 9/11, and it WILL be worse. To those who are fighting right now for my family, my friends, and for me, I can NEVER adequetly put into words my feelings, but I will say simply THANK YOU, God Bless You, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

‘Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone,
In a one-bedroom house made of plaster and stone.
I had come down the chimney, with presents to give
and to see just who in this home did live.

As I looked all about, a strange sight I did see,
no tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.
No stocking by the fire, just boots filled with sand.
On the wall hung pictures of a far distant land.

With medals and badges, awards of all kind,
a sobering thought soon came to my mind.
For this house was different, unlike any I’d seen.
This was the home of a U.S. Marine.

I’d heard stories about them, I had to see more,
so I walked down the hall and pushed open the door.
And there he lay sleeping, silent, alone,
Curled up on the floor in his one-bedroom home.

He seemed so gentle, his face so serene,
Not how I pictured a U.S. Marine.
Was this the hero, of whom I’d just read?
Curled up in his poncho, a floor for his bed?

His head was clean-shaven, his weathered face tan.
I soon understood, this was more than a man.
For I realized the families that I saw that night,
owed their lives to these men, who were willing to fight.

Soon around the Nation, the children would play,
And grown-ups would celebrate on a bright Christmas day.
They all enjoyed freedom, each month and all year,
because of Marines like this one lying here.

I couldn’t help wonder how many lay alone,
on a cold Christmas Eve, in a land far from home.
Just the very thought brought a tear to my eye.
I dropped to my knees and I started to cry.

He must have awoken, for I heard a rough voice,
“Santa, don’t cry, this life is my choice
I fight for freedom, I don’t ask for more.
My life is my God, my country, my Corps.”

With that he rolled over, drifted off into sleep,
I couldn’t control it, I continued to weep.

I watched him for hours, so silent and still.
I noticed he shivered from the cold night’s chill.
So I took off my jacket, the one made of red,
and covered this Marine from his toes to his head.
Then I put on his T-shirt of scarlet and gold,
with an eagle, globe and anchor emblazoned so bold.
And although it barely fit me, I began to swell with pride,
and for one shining moment, I was Marine Corps deep inside.

I didn’t want to leave him so quiet in the night,
this guardian of honor so willing to fight.
But half asleep he rolled over, and in a voice clean and pure,
said “Carry on, Santa, it’s Christmas Day, all secure.”
One look at my watch and I knew he was right,
Merry Christmas my friend, Semper Fi and goodnight.

©Copyright circa 1991 by James M. Schmidt
(As printers in the December 1991 issue of the USMC magazine, Leatherneck)

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H/T to Blackfive

Listen to the poem - Right click and then select “save as”

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Cross-Posted at Smoke Signals Blog

For those that do not know, I am currently attending school pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science. My campus has a monument dedicated to our fallen heroes in the courtyard area where a dog-tag like marker is placed in memory of a fallen Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine. Yet, it seems that some folks here just cannot stand this, and have been VANDALIZING IT! You see, the picture below doesn’t show it, but there are places left to the right for any names to be added, and they are not added haphazardly, so the “blanks” that you see, SHOULD NOT BE THERE! Is there just no sense of DECENCY any more? Well, I can tell you this, I am going to contact the professor who helped sponsor this monument so that the names that have been removed can be put back in the place of honor they deserve, and I am also going to let the campus PD know that someone feels they have the right to DEFACE this monument.

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Cross-Posted at Smoke Signals