MBVD

Friday, August 29, 2008

It Is Official, Sarah Palin Is John McCain's Vice Presidential Running Mate

After weeks of speculation about who John McCain would choose to be his vice presidential running mate, the "John McCain Veep Watch" is over and it is official that Sarah Palin has been chosen by McCain.

Official word has just been reported by AFP, and other news sources. regarding John McCain and his vice presidential pick and it has been confirmed to be Sarah Palin.

Republican White House hopeful John McCain on Friday named Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, US media reported.

Fox and CNN said that campaign sources confirmed the surprise choice of Palin, 44, just minutes away from the start of a rally here where the Republican will make the official announcement.

After early word from Chicago Tribune which stated a Republican source had confirmed Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was John McCain's vice presidential running mate pick as well as early speculation that Palin had arrived in Dayton Ohio, the news has been confirmed that Sarah Palin is, indeed, McCain's choice.

Governor Palin's official website is down for the moment, it is assumed there are changes being made.

Palin was the first and youngest female Governor elected in Alaska in 2006 after she defeated the incumbent governor in the Republican primary, then a former Democratic Alaskan governor in the general election.

According to Associated Press reports Palin likens herself to a maverick as McCain has often been likened to and she is credited with being a candidate of reform.

On the issues, her votes shows her to be pro-life, believes that the definition of marriage only be between and man and a woman, says she would sign a death penalty law if legislators passed it, she believes in fully funding K-12 and support early funding of education, believes ANWR should be open to drilling, she supports the Constitutional right to bear arms and she believes "nuisance taxes" including the tire tax should be repealed.

Definitely not a choice many would call "safe" for John McCain, but definitely a choice that shows a willingness to think out of the box, so to speak.

This will definitely energize the Republican Convention this year, she is a mother of 5 and if the Mccain/Palin team is elected in November, she will be the first Women Vice President of the United states of America.

KUDOS JOHN MCCAIN.

More from Wapo.

[Update] If the McCain/Palin ticket is elected in the November presidential election, this would make Sarah Palin the first woman Vice President of the United states of America.

[Update] Palin will be the first woman ever to serve on a Republican ticket and the first Alaskan ever to appear on a national ticket.

[Update] The official press release from the John McCain campaign announcing the choice of Sarah Palin as his VP pick:

ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain today announced that he has selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate and to serve as his vice president.

Governor Palin is a tough executive who has demonstrated during her time in office that she is ready to be president. She has brought Republicans and Democrats together within her Administration and has a record of delivering on the change and reform that we need in Washington.

Governor Palin has challenged the influence of the big oil companies while fighting for the development of new energy resources. She leads a state that matters to every one of us -- Alaska has significant energy resources and she has been a leader in the fight to make America energy independent.

In Alaska, Governor Palin challenged a corrupt system and passed a landmark ethics reform bill. She has actually used her veto and cut budgetary spending. She put a stop to the "bridge to nowhere" that would have cost taxpayers $400 million dollars.

As the head of Alaska's National Guard and as the mother of a soldier herself, Governor Palin understands what it takes to lead our nation and she understands the importance of supporting our troops.

Governor Palin has the record of reform and bipartisanship that others can only speak of. Her experience in shaking up the status quo is exactly what is needed in Washington today.

This will be up within minutes at the John McCain website.

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BNS*N introduction.:)

My regular readers from Tanker Bros (and other places.lol) are familiar with B*N*S*N. Many months ago a group of bloggers made the decision to set one day aside to focus on only the GOOD NEWS out of this Global War on Terror; you know, the news the msm doesn't think is fit to print. Friday was the day, so we called it Good News Friday!

After a couple of weeks, one of my readers said "That really IS 'No S***, Brat!", and it was voted that my Friday contributions would from there on be called "Brat No S*** News. :) Every week I am overwhelmed with good news that is VERY easy to find (no surprise to any of YOU, of course! lol) But I try and restrict myself to four stories that you won't see in the msm. Miss Beth has asked that I start posting them here, so read this week's stories below!!!

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BNS*N1

Army Spc. Corey Thompson, 420th Engineer Brigade, works with Australian combat engineers as they align two sections of a bridge. U.S. Army photo by Capt. James Reid, Combined Task Force Castle

Engineers Bridge Gaps on Afghanistan’s Highway 1

By Army 1st Lt. Tomas Rofkahr
Special to American Forces Press Service

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Aug. 27, 2008 – Members of the Australian Reconstruction Task Force and Task Force Castle’s 420th Engineer Brigade completed the emplacement of two Mabey Johnson bridges near Andar and Moqur in eastern Afghanistan.

Insurgent attacks during the summer left the bridges impassible, forcing Afghans and coalition forces to use single-lane bypasses.

Work progressed quickly once the Australian and American combat engineers arrived. The first bridge in Andar was erected in just over two days, and forces then moved on to Moqur, where they emplaced the second bridge.

Both bridges are on Highway 1, which connects Kandahar in southern Afghanistan to the Afghan capital of Kabul. Highway 1 is a paved route originally built in the 1960s. The 300-mile stretch that includes the bridges was refurbished in 2002 and 2003 as part of President Bush’s Afghanistan Road Initiative. The U.S. Agency for International Development credits the work with reducing the transit time between Kandahar and Kabul by half....

Read the rest of this B*N*S*N story here.

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BNS*N2

"Afghan Army Has Made Huge Progress"

'"Afghan Army Has Made Huge Progress", Press TV, 3 July 2008

EXCERPT: "A senior Canadian official confirms that the Afghan army has made a "huge progress" and is now capable of leading missions against Taliban. 'We see huge progress with the Afghan army,' General Walt Natynczyk, Canada's Chief of Defense Staff, told reporters on Wednesday [2 July 2008]. 'What is terrific to see here, through the Arghandab piece, was that the Afghan military, the Afghan army that we have trained with this past two years, are actually stepping up. It was their plan, it was their leaders, and with that they have renewed confidence,' Natynczyk added. Natynczyk praised the battle in Arghandab last month, in which about 100 Taliban were killed. He added that the Canadian personnel would focus on training more senior officers with Afghan National Army (ANA) before Canadians leave the country in 2011."

Now that the msm is unable to lead their hourly news with bad news from Iraq, they have turned their attention (kinda, sorta) to Afghanistan. Most stories out of there right now are based on the number of troops and civilians killed. What they forget to tell us is that this IS the season when the Taleban annually up the ante. The military knows this; our troops on the ground see the big picture. General Natynczyk shares the progress here.

That IS B*N*S*N!

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BNS*N3

MOD Police travelling with the military
[Picture: MDP]

MOD Police see progress in Afghanistan

A Military Operations news article

31 Jul 08

The first visit to Afghanistan by the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) has seen officers help train newly-qualified local police in some of the most dangerous locations in Helmand Province.

The six month deployment by the MDP to Afghanistan was spent building the capacity of their Afghan counterparts in a major push to bring rule of law to the country.

The first six MDP officers have returned this week having helped train the Afghan officers in southern Afghanistan, including the towns of Lashkar Gah, Musa Qala, Gereshk and Sangin.

Royal Military Police officers have also been running courses at the British Headquarters in Lashkar Gah, where the bulk of training and mentoring takes place.

Read the rest here.

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SOLDIER"S ANGELS NEEDS YOUR HELP!

The Veterans Hospital in Tucson needs our help!!! They have contacted Soldiers' Angels with a list of needs for their patients. Soldiers Angels needs your help in making some of these come true.

Below you will find just a small portion of needs that are immediate. You can also find this list posted on the Soldiers Angels Forum at www.soldiersangelsforum.com you will be able to find lots of great information there for our deployed and vets.

If you are sending a monetary donation please follow the link and indicate the State you are in.

Donate here;
Ttp://soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=veterans-support

COMFORT ITEMS- $350/MO
Dry Skin Cream
Slipper Socks-No skid
Catheter bag covers
Shaving Cream
Hand Lotion
Baby Shampoo
Hand Soap
Roll on/Spray Deodorant
Denture Cleaner
Underwear (men and women (all sizes)
Toothbrushes
Denture Grip
Socks (white)
Talcum Powder
Nail Clippers
Toothpaste
Ladies hand and body lotion
Backpacks
Disposable Razors
Comb/Brushes
Shawls
Shaving Cream/small
Knitted Caps
Travel Alarm Clocks
Ball Caps
Tote Bags
Shower Shoes
Pocket Size Needle and Thread Kit
Heart pillows for cardiac patients
Lap Robes (3x5 or 5x7)

GUEST SERVICES
30 cup coffee makers
Coffee supplies (reg. & decaf)
Music CDs
Stamps
Writing Paper and Envelopes
Prepaid Phone Cards for patients’

RECREATION
Puzzle books
Crossword Puzzles
Pencils
Video tapes & DVDs (movies, educational)
DVD Player

Sports equipment (basketball, tennis rackets &
Tickets for entertainment & sporting events
Balls, badminton set, Frisbees, football)

If you can send just one item that would be great!!! If each person sends one thing we will make a difference! They are also needing those who can volunteer time at the hospital just contact the Voluntary Services Dept. For information.

Mail Items to:

Department of Veterans Affairs Southern Arizona VA Health Care System – Voluntary Services 9-135, 3601 S. Sixth Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85723

PLEASE HELP US HELP THOSE WHO FOUGHT FOR OUR FREEDOM!

My Favorite Speeches and Other Items of Interest

George Bush's March 28, 2007 Discusses Economy, War on Terror During Remarks to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association;http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/03/20070328-2.html
Mitch McConnell's March 15, 2007 Funding For Troops, Not Timelines for Retreat; http://mcconnell.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=270747&start=1
Ronald Reagan's June 12, 1987 Tear Down This Wall Speech; http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/speeches/wall.asp
Vice President Cheney's March 12, 2007 Remarks at the AIPAC 2007 Policy Conference; http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/03/20070312.html

Winston Churchill Quotes

A prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you and fails, and then asks you not to kill him.
Although personally I am quite content with existing explosives, I feel we must not stand in the path of improvement.
Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed.
Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.
Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter.
Danger - if you meet it promptly and without flinching - you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!
I always seem to get inspiration and renewed vitality by contact with this great novel land of yours which sticks up out of the Atlantic.
I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.
I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.
I like a man who grins when he fights.
I was only the servant of my country and had I, at any moment, failed to express her unflinching resolve to fight and conquer, I should at once have been rightly cast aside.
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time-a tremendous whack.
In war as in life, it is often necessary when some cherished scheme has failed, to take up the best alternative open, and if so, it is folly not to work for it with all your might.
It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.
Moral of the Work. In war: resolution. In defeat: defiance. In victory: magnanimity. In peace: goodwill.
Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
Never, never, never give up.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism.
One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
The first quality that is needed is audacity.
The nose of the bulldog has been slanted backwards so that he can breathe without letting go.
The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.
There is no such thing as public opinion. There is only published opinion.
These are not dark days: these are great days - the greatest days our country has ever lived.
They are decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent.
True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.
Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
War is a game that is played with a smile. If you can't smile, grin. If you can't grin, keep out of the way till you can.
War is mainly a catalogue of blunders.
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.
We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.
When the eagles are silent the parrots begin to jabber.
When you are winning a war almost everything that happens can be claimed to be right and wise.
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

Ronald Reagan Quotes

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant: It's just that they know so much that isn't so."
Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have.
All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk.
Approximately 80% of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation, so let's not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emission standards from man-made sources
Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.
Double, no triple, our troubles and we'd still be better off than any other people on earth. It is time that we recognized that ours was, in truth, a noble cause.
Facts are stupid things.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.
Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.
Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.
Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them.
History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.
How can a president not be an actor?
How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin.
I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress.
I will stand on, and continue to use, the figures I have used, because I believe they are correct. Now, I'm not going to deny that you don't now and then slip up on something; no one bats a thousand.
In Israel, free men and women are every day demonstrating the power of courage and faith. Back in 1948 when Israel was founded, pundits claimed the new country could never survive. Today, no one questions that. Israel is a land of stability and democracy in a region of tryanny and unrest.
Let us ask ourselves; "What kind of people do we think we are?".
Man is not free unless government is limited.
My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose - somehow we win out.
No mother would ever willingly sacrifice her sons for territorial gain, for economic advantage, for ideology.
Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.
Our forbearance should never be misunderstood. Our reluctance for conflict should not be misjudged as a failure of will. When action is required to preserve our national security, we will act.
Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing.
Some people wonder all their lives if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem.
The ultimate determinant in the struggle now going on for the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas - a trial of spiritual resolve: the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish and the ideals to which we are dedicated.
The United Sates has much to offer the third world war.
There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.
To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I did not take the oath I have just taken with the intention of presiding over the dissolution of the world's strongest economy.
Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong.
We are never defeated unless we give up on God.
We have the duty to protect the life of an unborn child.
We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.
We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we will always be free.
Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.
You know, if I listened to Michael Dukakis long enough, I would be convinced we're in an economic downturn and people are homeless and going without food and medical attention and that we've got to do something about the unemployed.