There seems to be something about 20%

I couldn't HELP but but notice the results (for Greece right now, and soon for America) of having a 20% unemployment rate, and at the same time seeing a 20% cut in gubmint staffing levels, along with a reduction in mandatory minimum wages of 20%.

ATHENS CLEANS UP AFTER ENTITLEMENT ADDICTS AND GUBMINT EMPLOYEES BUST UP THE JOINT



I love reading that the German politicians and bankers don't trust the Greek politicians! Imagine that.

To be used against YOU, here in America

Remember the NDAA now opens the door for military tribunal treatment of American's here at home

Remember the principal that when you have a big hammer, all your problems look like nails

Remember that such agencies as TSA are willing to grope your children and your ninety year-old grandma

Remember that our government sees EVERYONE as a terrorist, and the shift is AWAY from Mustafa and TOWARDS Bubba

Listen carefully for the tax-payer fed bureaucrat to say "we're ruling nothing out" in how they use this AGAINST YOU AMERICA!

Random thoughts from The Old Jarhead

Robert Hall has more good sense in his little finger than... well... just about anybody!

This morning's post of his is SO worthy of your time.

PS: He and I don't always agree on everything (I despise John McCain for example) but there is much wisdom in the man nonetheless.

Something good for a change

A little over two years ago my son and his wife gave me my first grandchild: a precious and sweet natured little girl they named Isabelle. She has been a bright shining ray of sunlight across our lives, and a real blessing from Almighty God in every sense of the word.

Over time we discovered that she wasn’t developing in her motor skills at the normal rate, and after many doctor’s visits it was finally determined that she had undergone some oxygen starvation while in the womb. There is actually scar tissue on the surface of her brain. So we have watched as our precious grandbaby has lagged behind in motor development and speech patterns.

The good news, we are told, is that oftentimes the brain can adapt and other parts of the brain that are undamaged can “take up the slack”. Many children with this problem grow up and show no signs of ever struggling to develop normally.

Many children are afflicted to some extent for their whole lives.

Need I say that many prayers have been said over this sweet and wonderful little girl that she will be among those who are able to overcome?

Isabelle shows many signs that her problems are not cognitive, and that is something important to be thankful for. But she has reached the age of two and has not been able to walk without the aid of a walker. She is also way behind in her speech development and articulates very little that even passes for baby talk.

Nonetheless, we all love her very much, and her mother and father have both worked VERY hard with the physical therapy routines in order to give Isabelle every chance to walk and talk like every other precious two year old out there.

I got a text message from her mother this morning that absolutely brought me tears – and I am a man who could stomp the eyeballs out of an enemy and eat a sandwich over the corpse. But I blubbered like a little child when I read this from my DIL:

“Isabelle walked unassisted today without trying to hold onto the therapist. She actually looked like a toddler walking down the therapy hallway. :D”

Praise be to God from whom all blessings flow!

Anyone still wondering why we're on the verge of collapse in America?

Let's give a big round of applause to our teachers and the Dept of Education for THIS:



You have to TRY to be this ignorant!

Here is the best description I have ever read of the economic threat that America faces

Russell at DumpDC has written something that even economically ignorant Americans should be able understand. I implore you in the strongest possible way to read this article and ponder the implications for you and your family!

If you aren't stockpiling food, ammo, medicines, as well as some silver and gold, you're going to deeply regret it in the not too distant future!

They really ARE monitoring what ordinary schmucks say

Two British tourists were barred from entering America after joking on Twitter that they were going to 'destroy America' and 'dig up Marilyn Monroe'. Leigh Van Bryan, 26, was handcuffed and kept under armed guard in a cell with Mexican drug dealers for 12 hours after landing in Los Angeles with pal Emily Bunting. The Department of Homeland Security flagged him as a potential threat when he posted an excited tweet to his pals about his forthcoming trip to Hollywood which read: 'Free this week, for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America?'

Read the whole article here.

GR4U - Ok, this is for all those head-in-the-sand types who keep telling themselves that tyranny can't happen in America! If ordinary schmucks like these two clowns are being monitored, then can we finally accept that Big Brother has truly come to America? The technology is here, the Nanny Staters are firmly in charge, and that pesky Bill of Rights has been completely marginalized.

Where the hell is Capt John Parker when you really need him!

H/T to Joel for spotting this one

He shot a tractor ... and destroyed his own career

Excerpt:

After receiving permission from his battalion commanders, Waddell ordered Marine snipers to open fire on the man, and he was hit. A group of Afghans rushed to the man, put him on a tractor and attempted to flee. Waddell ordered the snipers to hit the engine block of the tractor, disabling it so the man believed to be a bomb maker would not escape. The tractor was hit but no civilians were injured.

Then, about three weeks later, the civilians who helped remove the wounded man from the area were found to be teenagers.

As a result, Waddell was demoted from executive officer, and the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Seth Folsom, determined he had violated rules of engagement that governed when Marines could fire, and at whom. Folsom said Wadell "is not recommended for promotion" and "in violation of [combat rules] during an engagement." The report stated that "noncombatant local nationals" were in the area of direct fire and that "the engagement resulted in a damaged local national vehicle."

Read the entire article here

GR4U - Why the hell do heroic young men want to serve this rotten corrupt empire any longer? Please don't give me any of that crap about having to fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here! Our government is fighting US, it's own citizens! If freedom is being defended by our troops, then someone needs to redeploy our troops to every airport in America, because freedom is under a much more egregious assault in American airports than it is in Afghanistan!

Oh and here's another heroic young man who gave his life for "freedom" and will never see his newborn son

Of steaks, dry cleaners, and little old Japanese ladies

Over thirty years ago I was stationed at Quantico Marine Base outside of Washington while attending Embassy Guard training. A large part of being an embassy guard is looking great in the uniform, and I remember changing uniforms at least twice a day while going thru that program. Consequently MSG students spend a tremendous percentage of their paychecks on dry cleaning costs.

There was a Japanese lady who owned a dry cleaners there in Q-town, and it came as no surprise that she drove a huge Cadillac sedan. She and her staff worked seven days a week, and they did fabulous work too. They weren’t cheap, but you got your money’s worth!

Too many years have gone by for me to remember those lady’s names, but I can remember their faces like it was yesterday. Owner Lady and her sidekick were all business – all the time, but they were always personable, and if they made a commitment to have something done by a certain time, they wouldn’t let you down.

After spending three months there at Quantico learning to be embassy guards and enriching the local cleaning industry, there came the day when me and my buddies received our orders and would soon be shipping out. So when we three came into the cleaners for perhaps the last time, we told the ladies of our impending departure.

Now… allow me to point out here that Quantico is the Marine’s educational command. That is where it trains all of its officers, embassy guards, and a host of other school programs. So young Marines are constantly coming and going there. Thus my friends and I were kinda surprised that the Japanese ladies seemed truly upset that we were leaving soon. After all – we were just three guys among hundreds or even thousands of Marines passing through.

Imagine a thick Japanese accent when reading this: “You boys numba one customa. You boys come by shop Sunday – 2 oclock. I fix you goin away meal!”

As promised, Sunday at 2 oclock we showed up the cleaners – not quite knowing what to expect. The first surprise was that the shop was closed. We knocked on the door which opened quickly and we were ushered inside. We followed our gracious host thru the back part of the building where we’d never been before, and out onto a sort of patio that was the utter contrast of the crowded and cluttered cleaning shop. It was a Japanese garden done in the zen simplistic style. We were bade to sit on mats around a low table and Owner lady served up steaks straight from the grill. We had all the fixings ta boot: salad, vegetables, and various dipping sauces as well.

Owner lady suddenly remembered something: “You… look in coke machine in shop. Door already open. I have beer inside for you boys”. I went and looked and sure enough, she had one whole slot of the coke machine filled with beer!

We were treated to a “numba one” steak dinner and all the cold beer we could drink. The ladies all bustled around waiting on us like we were kings. I have often thought of those ladies, and many times wondered what became of them. I have also wondered many times why they chose to entertain we three particular jarheads out of the hundreds that visited their shop regularly. At the time, to ask “Why us?” seemed liked an act of complete ungraciousness, and there was no way in hell we would have wanted to offend those very proper Japanese ladies by acting so boorishly.

It is a memory that I will cherish the rest of my days, of that I am absolutely certain.

Happy Birthday Old Man

In memory of my father