12/14 Morning Report

Yesterday, John passed on something I didn’t know. The National Guard is 370 years old! It’s a great post, with lots of cool information. Check it out!

On the subject of weapons, the Danes have banned IPSCbecause of safety concerns. That wouldn’t be such a surprise—except that all the testimony (including their own justice department experts) shows there is no such risk.
(…won’t stand up for the press because of cartoons…won’t stand up for the truth regarding safety…this does not look god for the EU and it’s neighbors…)
(…oh…h/t tip to JR for the link…)

Meanwhile, “Wake Up America” had an interesting post. It seems a finally said what we all knew. It’s worth checking out…

On the political front, the Democrats are coming face to face with how thin their majority really is.

Senator Tim Johnson, a Democrat from South Dakota, was in intensive care today after undergoing surgery late Wednesday night for a brain hemorrhage…

The news is sad for Senator Johnson, and his family. Fortunately, surgery went well and hopefully he will recover. On the political side of it, the “mandate” claimed by the Democrats and the media is very small—certainly smaller than the majority gained by Republicans back in ’94, when the media and Democrats didn’t even acknowledge it as a mandate. This sad situation does, however, leave us with the question of what happens if the balance changes? As bitterly divided as Democrats and Republicans, Conservatives and Liberals, are now, what would Washington “gridlock” look like with an evenly divided Senate?

Chickenhawk had a good post on Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida’s trip to the Middle East. He did not respond to suggestions he was going around presidential authority by making diplomatic visits. Too bad. That is exactly what his group is doing. The Constitution gives the Executive branch authority for these types of things—not Congress. It would be nice if Democrats, as they so often accuse Bush and company of not doing—actually obeyed the rules instead of making them up as they go along.

By the way, if you’re looking for information on things Iraq or Middle East, Savannah Daydreamin’ posted this rather extensive list! He got the list from Global Security. Go check it out.

It’s official: Onions are safe! (…my wife is rolling her eyes…) LETTUCE was the culprit at Taco Bell. However…

…none of the other ingredients used at Taco Bell appeared to be associated with the outbreak, Acheson said adding no ingredients have tested positive for the E.coli strain blamed for the outbreak.

(…so…the source is…what, exactly?....)

Blogger News Network had a short article on privacy and free speech. He was writing in response to the ACLU’s discontent over too many cameras being put up in public. I happen to agree with his stance towards this. And, I’ll repeat the question: how do you limit free speech with a camera?

Since we are heading into Christmas, speaking of the ACLU, I thought this article by Business & Media Institute was interesting. While it does point out problems with how Christmas is viewed in our culture, it makes an excellent point about how what the media says affects and shapes our views—no matter what we believe.
(…but…there’s no media bias…nnnooooo…)

And, jarhead John reminds us that there is a lot of mis-information out there on the internet regarding sending support to troops. Now, i will admit there probably are units and individuals out there who get swamped with support stuff. In my experience this is not the norm. At the top of this blog, there is a list of several sites and programs to get support and encouragement to our troops. Simply put, they would not exist if the need was not there. Still don’t believe in the need? Re-read John’s post from yesterday. Then start visiting the sites of current and former soldiers. Drop them an e-mail. See what they say about their days away from home and the need for encouragement. Then go send something to one of our servicemen deployed to the Middle East…or Kosovo…or the Phillipines…or…

(...more to come on this subject...)