MBVD

Friday, February 27, 2009

Durban II Alert: Take Action!

Durban Alert, February 26, 2009

In the latest Durban II alert, Anne Bayefsky reveals what is happening and why. Here is the conclusion of her report. Click the link above to read the full report..

The Obama Administration has everything it needs to decide the matter. While the Bush administration did not participate directly in Durban II planning, it carefully monitored the dozens of preparatory meetings since they began in August 2007. And now the State Department has added last week's four days of "engagement."

The administration, therefore, knows that Durban II will provide: a global megaphone for anti-semites in the name of combating racism and xenophobia, a forum for religious extremists to play-act as guardians of the freedom of religion, a stage for state sponsors of terrorism to fuel the sentiment that counter-terrorism activities are racist plots - and a vehicle for dictators to champion limitations on free speech in the name of human dignity.

With only a few days of scheduled planning meetings left before the conference, it is decision time for President Obama. Whose side will he be on?

Certainly not on the side of truth, justice & liberty; Barack Hussein Obama is a Chicago politician. He ran on a platform of appeasing the enemy and that is exactly what he will do if left to his own devices.

If our first amendment right of free expression means anything to you, if our alliance with Israel means anything to you then let President Obama and your Senators know about it! Tell them you object to participation in the Durban II hate fest. Tell them exactly why and tell them you won't vote for them again if they don't pull us out of it. http://www.congress.org has a form which lets you send the three emails at once.

If you don't know exactly why Durban II is unacceptable and intolerable, then read: Durban II: Revised; Reject it!, it contains the essential details.

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Thursday, February 26, 2009

BNS*N1

In this file photo, U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Adrienne Brammer documents a joint patrol between U.S. and Iraqi Army Soldiers in Muhandiseen, Oct. 30, 2008. Photo by Staff Sgt. JoAnn S. Makinano, U.S. Air Forces Central.

Combat Camera Troops Record History
Thursday, 26 February 2009

SATHER AIR BASE — When thinking of the word combat, many have visions of fire fights, violent conflicts and warfare. For a few Airmen and Soldiers, the word combat means being armed with a camera.

For these members of the Multi-National Corps - Iraq C39 Joint Combat Camera (ComCam) team, based out of Baghdad, taking still and motion imagery isn’t just a hobby … it is their mission.

“My job documents history in the making and shows folks at home what’s going on here,” said Staff Sgt. Joann Makinano, MNC-I combat photojournalist. “We are unfiltered and unbiased. What we see is what you get.”

“Our job brings the mission home to people around the world,” added Tech. Sgt. Adrienne Brammer, MNC-I combat videographer and member of the 1st Combat Camera Squadron at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. “It makes it accessible to people. Plus, a combat camera team gets to go where a lot of people don’t get to go.”

Many people have probably seen imagery from the war in a magazine, newspaper, online or on television, but may have failed to realize that behind every great photo, behind every great video, stands a person behind a lens.

“After seven years with ComCam and this being my third deployment, it’s become second nature,” said Makinano, who is also deployed from the 1st CCS at Charleston AFB. “Most of the units I’ve gone out with think we’re crazy, but we are Airmen and Soldiers first. And being a member of a team means that protecting your battle buddies is a higher priority, regardless of the job.”...

(By Staff Sgt. Tim Beckham, U.S. Air Forces Central) (Go read the rest of this B*N*S*N here : source MNF-1)

My regular readers know I have always had a soft spot for combat photographers. I wish we saw more of their contribution in the msm ~ but I am happy to highlight their stories here.

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BNS*N2

SATTAHIP, Thailand-U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. James Stinnett, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit civil affairs specialist, writes his name in English for a student at Ban Khao By Si School as her fellow students wait their turn to get Stinnett’s “autograph.” More than 150 31st MEU Marines and sailors gathered here and at nearby Wat Som Nak Katon School to offer their time, friendship and more than 80 boxes of clothing, backpacks and toys during a community relations event held in conjunction with Exercise Cobra Gold 2009., Cpl. Cory Yenter, 2/20/2009 11:41 AM

31st MEU Marines, sailors help Thai school children

2/24/2009 By Staff Sgt. Michael Freeman , 31st MEU

SATTAHIP, Thailand —
SATTAHIP, Thailand —After 10 days at sea, followed by 10 days of hard work and tough training with Royal Kingdom of Thailand service members, Marines and sailors with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit were granted a well-deserved break and released for four days of rest and relaxation in Pattaya, Thailand. While many soaked up every moment of available fun in the sun, more than 150 MEU members sacrificed a few hours of their personal time to continue working alongside their Thai counterparts to serve the people of Thailand one last time before departing the tropical nation.

The men and women of the MEU joined forces with members of the Royal Thai Navy and Marine Corps to help more than 550 elementary school children attending two schools in Thailand by donating more than 100 boxes of clothing, backpacks, toys, teaching English, playing soccer, and sharing smiles.

U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Ray Bailey, the 31st MEU command element chaplain, said it was time well-spent for the U.S. service members and an important aspect of a grass roots international community relations project known as Operation Good Will.

“The purpose is really three-fold,” said Bailey. “The highest priority is to serve as ambassadors for the U.S. Naval services and enhance international relationships between the U.S. and Thailand. It also allows the Marines and sailors a chance to serve unselfishly to help out those in need, while they themselves are blessed and encouraged by it.”...

Coming to an msm front page near you! Okay, just kidding ~ but you can read the rest of this great B*N*S*N story here.

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BNS*N3

Photo credit Dave Melancon

'Cobra King' on Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany, today. During the Battle of the Bulge the tank and its crew led an armor an infantry column that relieved the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. U.S. Army Europe historians and museum curators recently confirmed the tank's identity and lineage.

VILSECK, Germany -- One day after Christmas 1945, "Cobra King" battled its way into World War II history. One day before Christmas 2008, it officially began a new journey to its rightful place as part of the Army's heritage.

Today Cobra King sits overlooking the back gate of Rose Barracks here, a nearly forgotten silent steel hulk. But on Dec. 26, 1945, the same Sherman "Jumbo" tank and its crew led a combined infantry and armor column that relieved Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division surrounded by the enemy in Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge.

The tank's moniker comes from the tank corps tradition of naming vehicles with the first letter of their companies' designations. Cobra King went into battle with tankers from Company C, 37th Tank Battalion.

One longtime U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr civilian employee said the tank has been in place at Rose Barracks for at least 10 years.

Sgt. Brian Stigall of the 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery, said he drove past the tank many times while training on Rose Barracks, but normally paid little attention to it. But after Stigall attended a historical reenactment of the Battle of the Bulge re-enactment, the Jumbo by the base's back gate suddenly stood out in his mind.

A historical marker outside a still-standing bunker on the outskirts of Bastogne displays images of Cobra King that reminded the air defense artilleryman of the tank in Vilseck.

After a tour of duty at Fort Bliss, Texas, Stigall said, he returned to Germany and began a mission to track down the vehicle's history.

He started his quest with Steven Ruhnke, the 1st Armored Division museum curator in Baumholder, Germany, who introduced him to U.S. Army Europe staff curator Gabriele E. Torony.

Torony knew just who to enlist to get to the bottom of Cobra King's identity -- Charles Lemons, curator for the Patton Museum at Fort Knox, Ky. Lemons is considered the Army's top authority on tanks, she said.

Lemons' research and expertise shed more light on the background of the Army's Shermans and unveiled details that suggested the tank in Vilseck might indeed be Cobra King.

Cobra King is one of only 254 M4A3E2 Jumbos built by the Fisher Tank Arsenal, starting in June 1944. The first versions of the 42-ton Jumbos carried a 75mm main gun, two 50-caliber and one 30-caliber machine guns. Cobra King was later upgraded to 76mm in 1945, according to Lemons' findings. The upgrade was ordered by 3rd Army commander Gen. George S. Patton to make Cobra King a more effective anti-tank weapon, Lemons said.

"The tank was simply 'up-gunned' -- a simple process that was done at the order of Gen. Patton in March to April 1945," Lemons wrote in an e-mail to USAREUR historians....

Go read the rest of this very interesting B*N*S*N story here.

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BNS*N4

Bala Baluk, Afghanistan - Illinois Army National Guard Spc. Whitney Meyers writes down vital information on the dressing applied to a 16-year-old truck driver of Herat city, during treatment for an injury he sustained to his foot. The Afghan National Police of the area brought Berza to the base where he was stabilized then medically evacuated to the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Farah where he was treated by U.S. surgeons. (ISAF photo)

Illinois medics treat injured Afghan civilian

Story courtesy of the International Security Assistance Force - Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan (2/25/09) — When an Afghan civilian is injured in a remote area of Afghanistan, there is little chance of receiving proper medical treatment.

But not when it happens right outside the gate of the joint Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Bala Baluk.

A 16-year-old truck driver from Herat, was working on his semi when it rolled backward over his foot, tearing the skin from his toes to his ankle. The Afghan National Police (ANP) officers, who witnessed the event, reacted quickly and brought Berza into the FOB to see the military medics.

In the Afghan Regional Security Integration Command-West (ARSIC-W) medical facility, Illinois Army National Guard Medics, Spc. Dennis Deuth and Spc. Whitney Meyers were on scene along with an ISAF doctor, Italian Army 1st Lieutenant Andrea Carbonara to treat the injured civilian.

“There was a six-inch laceration on the top of the patient’s foot,” said Meyers. “We wrapped it up to try to control the bleeding and padded it with a splint for protection. Finally, we gave him a pain killer and an antibiotic and got him evacuated to a hospital.”...

Go read the rest of this B*N*S*N story 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.