The Conservative Zone

I'm sure you've heard the news. The New York Times revealed a secret program that we were using to track money transfers between terrorists.

Now, if this had been an illegal action, the NYT might have a leg to stand on, but they don't. There was nothing against the law on this project, and all that happened was the NYT told the terrorists that their money is being tracked. Which means they will now use other, possibly undetectable means to move their cash.

Make no mistake about it, this is treason. This is an active move helping the enemy in a time of war. No other word describes the action. The NYT, in their efforts to embarrass "Bushitler" has crossed the line. The only thing that lets them get away with this heinous act is the fact that they published it in their paper instead of giving it to Al Qaeda covertly.

What they did is within the letter of the law, but not the spirit. If this had been a Liberal President, the NYT would have killed the story, "out of respect for the office." No such courtesy for a Conservative.

It used to be that papers would consider the security of the country before publishing things like this, but not any more. It is the Liberals, and make no mistake about it, this is a Liberal paper, that will sacrifice anything, including national security, to embarrass or bring down President Bush. But like a bad sniper, they are killing everybody but the target.

I wonder that would happen to the NYT if another terror attack occurs on New York, and it comes out that it could have been stopped, except that the NYT rendered the necessary operation impotent because they published about it?

Just a thought.

Posted by Mark at 8:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I have pretty strong feelings about people who desecrate the flag. You could best express my feelings as a baseball bat, applied liberally to those who desecrate the flag. Here's why:

To desecrate the flag is to desecrate everyone who has served this country. It desecrates the ideals that this country was founded upon. I personally believe that anybody who desecrates the flag should be boxed up and FedExed to somewhere else, preferably far away where they do allow things like that, say France. You desecrate the flag and you give up your rights and privileges as a citizen. But that's just the Veteran in me talking.

I would vote against this, not because it's the "right" thing to do, but it would be the first time in the Constitution where the People are limited in their actions, not the Federal government. Remember the purpose of the instrument and you can't go wrong.

Posted by Mark at 8:29 AM | Permalink

It's called a Police State.

The United Nations, in their "concern" over illicit trade of arms, is calling for an ultimate ban on private gun ownership. Oh, they're not going to say that out loud, not in that way, but if you read between the lines, that's what they want to do.

Never mind their Blue-Helmeted Stormtroopers are raping and pillaging their way across Africa, having sex-for-food with prepubescent girls, participating in the slave trade (yes, slavery still exists) and on, and on, and on.

This really got me: "Wherever Arms Flow, Violence Follows." Sorry, it doesn't work like that. Wherever violent people flow, violence follows. Look at how many have died under the machete in Africa. Unless the UN is going to take knives away from us as well?

No, they just want to set themselves up as the only people to have guns. That way they think they can control everybody. Which, of course, is their final goal.

Posted by Mark at 8:25 AM | Permalink

I'll let the post author describe the quote author, then the quote itself. If you follow the link back to the original post, then you will find a very interesting story about how he found it.

Dean Alfange was an American statesman born December 2, 1899, in Constantinople (now Istanbul). He served in the U.S. Army during World War I and attended Hamilton College, graduating in the class of '’22. Alfange was the American Labor candidate for governor of New York and a founder of the Liberal Party of New York. He wrote a creed on what it meant to him to be an American. Here it is, as he wrote it:

This was a time when Liberal wasn't the dirty word it has become today. This following quote represents everything that America is supposed to represent; what every American should aspire to.

Here it is:

I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon..If I can. I seek opportunity..Not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me. I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed. I refuse to barter incentive for a dole. I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of utopia. I will not trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a handout. I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat. It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid; to think and act for myself; enjoy the benefits of my creations and to face the world boldly and say, "this, I have done".

All this is what it means to be an American.

"I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me."

"I will not trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a handout."

These words are proud, independent words. Ones that do not represent the Liberals of today. I hope to live up to these words, they make me feel proud and strong. More Americans should live like this. We would not have the problems we have today if more people took these words to heart.

Thanks, Mike.

Posted by Mark at 8:56 AM | Permalink

I have a tendency to call convenience stores around here "Stop-N-Rob's." It's just a simple fact of life in Memphis. Well, via Mike comes this joke, from Jamey Tucker, a former Memphis TV personality:

A couple guys were sitting on an airplane. One seemed very nervous; biting his nails, sweating. The other guy says "hey pal, what's the matter?"

"Oh man, I just found out my company's transferring me to Memphis. I'm scared to death".

"Why?"

"I keep hearing how dangerous it is. Crime, shootings, carjackings, gangs. I hear it's not safe to go anywhere".

The second guy says "Oh, it's not as bad as the media says it is. I've lived in Memphis all my life. Here's what you do. Find a nice home, enroll your kids in a good private school and mind your own business. You'll be just fine."

The nervous guy says "well, I guess I can take your word for it. What do you do there in Memphis?"

"Me? I'm a tailgunner on a bread truck".

Funniest, yet poignant thing I've heard in a while.

Posted by Mark at 8:39 AM | Permalink

You know, Liberals and the peace-at-any-price crowd have been screaming "Bush Lied!" since his "Rush to war" four years ago. They say there are/were no WMD's in Saddam's possession.

Well, that simply isn't the case: Report: Hundreds of WMDs Found in Iraq.

Reading from a declassified portion of a report by the National Ground Intelligence Center, a Defense Department intelligence unit, [Rick] Santorum [R-PA] said: "Since 2003, coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent. Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq's pre-Gulf War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist."

There you go. Five hundred shells, any of which let loose in an enclosed space like a subway would have made 7/7 pale in comparison.

But the Liberals have this little personality quirk, they tend to ignore and shout down any fact that doesn't agree with their world view. Of course, facts do not cease to exist just because they are ignored.

So we do have WMD's out there, Saddam still had them, and who knows what else that we haven't discovered yet. But the truth will be wasted on the Left because they don't want to hear it, sticking their fingers in their ears and going "NAH-NAH-NAH" until we go away.

Posted by Mark at 8:25 AM | Permalink

The stupid are resorting to their standard tactic: Blame somebody else for their mistakes. Teen, mom sue MySpace.com for $30 million.

It's a classic story. Girl, underage, meats boy, supposedly underage, on the Internet. This time, it happens to be through MySpace.com. Girl gets invited out by boy, boy turns out to be a man, who them molests her.

I have only three questions for this witness:

1. Where were the parents throughout all this?
2. Where were the parents throughout all this??
3. Where were the parents throughout all this???

This is not the first time this has happened via MySpace, so where is the parent saying something like "Don't meet people you meet there, no matter how nice they seem, without me." So the parent fails to do their job, and the teen fails the learning curve because she doesn't believe it could happen to her.

Yeah. Right.

So now they are suing the only entity with deep pockets in the equation, MySpace. MySpace was designed to do what it is doing, share information between people. Who you invite in to your personal stuff is just like inviting them into your house. You don't do so until you've gotten to know them. And no one is as they appear to be on-line.

So I say to throw the lawsuit out, or let it go to trial, because to settle now would be to open the floodgates for a thousand other cases like this.

Suing has become a pastime in this country. And the trial lawyers aren't helping matters any. I think we should charge court costs and attorneys fees to the loser, or if the case is thrown out. That way you can introduce some risk in just throwing a lawsuit out there and hoping it sticks to the wall.

Posted by Mark at 8:45 AM | Permalink

Ah, preferential treatment for members of Congress, who'd a thunk it? Union seeks ethics probe of McKinney.

The DA has refused to indict Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) for striking a police officer. It seems that if you yell "HE'S WHITE I'M BLACK! DISCRIMINATION!" loud and long enough, people will give you your way just to shut you up. Of course, this just emboldens her to scream louder the next time a White gets within 10 feet of her.

Anyway, the Capitol Police want an ethics investigation on Ms. McKinney to try and punish her for hitting a police officer. I doubt it will go anywhere, but after removing William Jefferson (D-LA) before charges have even been brought from his seat on the Ways and Means Committee, you never know. The Dems are pretty eager to show they don't "share" in the "culture of corruption" that they accuse the Republicans of having.

Posted by Mark at 8:32 AM | Permalink

My painting skills for Warhammer 40k has improved a lot since I started painting 2 1/2 years ago. Back then, I was under a time crunch and the assumption that the spray paint Ultramarine Blue was the same shade as the paint pot that Games Workshop sold. I made the deadline, but ended up with two tone units.

So, I have been repainting everything, this time by hand. So far, I have completed my 4 Tactical Squads, and a Dreadnought. for a break, I thought I would go after a Rhino Armored Personnel Carrier.

The following pictures I took at maximum resolution so you could see the detail. The pictures below are thumbnails, so click on them for the full picture.

Here is the first Rhino I painted, it even has a guy sticking up out of the top:

This is my "second generation" Rhino, where I've hand painted the exterior the paint pot color, and I've added a second storm bolter (machine gun) on top. This one still lacks any inking, and any real detail paining. I just wanted to get it to the paint pot color.

This, while not quite perfect, is going to stand as the best I can do. I have added special aftermarket doors and face, and I will be adding an aftermarket top when I get the money. I don't know if you can see, but the face was badly made (the aftermarket parts are made out of resin while the rest of the Rhino is made out of plastic) and there are gaps that I will have to address at some time in the future.

Note the different color of the storm bolters, and the aftermarket pieces. I'm still not done with the storm bolters, but the detail I still have to work on is on the far side. Also, notice the extra armor pieces. Those pieces alone doubled the cost of the Rhino, but I think they are worth it in making the Rhino "beefier" and not to mention that 40k is supposed to be a "wysiwyg" game. And I always put extra armor on all of my vehicles in the game because there is a "stunned" result if you get hit, and if you're stunned, you can't move or shoot, but the extra armor knocks stunned down to "shaken" so you can still move, just not shoot. That can be a lifesaver, which is why I always use it.

So, what do you think? Am I getting better? Should I continue to do this, or be just satisfied with what I have?

Posted by Mark at 9:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Mr. William Whittle, one of the best online essayists and proprietor of Eject! Eject! Eject! has surfaced from another long hiatus. He posted yesterday, not an essay, but rather the first chapter of a book, which the following chapters are undoubtedly not far behind.

I haven't had the chance to read it yet, as his posts are quite the opposite of mine. While I am terse and stingy with words, his flows smoothly and eloquently like the water running off a dam. Despite not having read it, I am quite familiar with his work and unabashedly recommend it.

Go. Now.

Posted by Mark at 8:47 AM | Permalink

Natalie Maines, one of the Dixie Chicks, said a couple of years ago that, "They were embarrassed Bush came from their home state of Texas." Of course, you know the story. Since then, American radio stations have stopped playing their music, and they can't fill a teacup, let alone a venue with people wanting to hear them sing. Of course, sales and concerts are going great... In Europe.

Now, Natalie opens her mouth a little further and stuck the backhoe in that she's been digging the grave their careers have been in since she made her first stupid remark. Just read it:

"The entire country may disagree with me, but I don't understand the necessity for patriotism. Why do you have to be a patriot? About what? This land is our land? Why? You can like where you live and like your life, but as for loving the whole country... I don't see why people care about patriotism."

To quote Rob Jungklas in "Memphis Thing," "I can't explain it, I cannot tell you how, it's something you'll never know if you don't know by now."

Patriotism comes from the heart, a love for your country. Everything this country represents can be summed up into one word:Freedom. But you have to understand what freedom means. Freedom in the United States comes from the laws that restrict our government. No where else on Earth are you going to find a place like that.

If you don't think this is a good place to live, than I highly suggest that you get out of the country and go where you are appreciated, because that place is not here.

Posted by Mark at 8:24 AM | Permalink

I just found out that today is Sir Paul McCarthy's 64th birthday. May he live up to his song.

Posted by Mark at 3:58 PM | Permalink

Well, Al Gore is becoming a religious icon. Criss-crossing the country, doing more to destroy the ozone layer than he is doing to save it, Al is becoming a "televangelist for the First Church of the Warming Globe" according to Wesley Pruden.

I wrote about this a long time ago. The eco-nuts believe that we need to go back 100 years (or more) to a "more pristine time," not realizing that we were polluting more back then than we are today. Back when houses were heated with coal, no emissions controls on the newfangled automobile, not to mention the toxic waste dumps of horse manure that was shoveled off the streets and dumped just outside of town.

Then you consider the 80% mortality rate in children due to diseases like chickenpox, women regularly dying in childbirth because of unsterile conditions, and so on, and so on, and so on.

The eco-nuts do not realize what kind of world they are in. There is no turning back the clock to go back to that "magical age" unless we are nuked back to it. Then we'll see just how "magical" that time really is.

Posted by Mark at 9:13 AM | Permalink

I emailed the article for Extreme Rocketry yesterday, and the pictures also arrived yesterday. Now all I have to do is wait for the publication process to do its thing. As soon as the article is published, I'll let you know where you can get the magazine.

This will not be my first article for them (I wrote an article about procedures several years back) but this is my first launch report. As with all things, I feel I could have done more. I could have made more of my pictures come out (about half of the first roll came out badly) I could have been more diligent about recording who's rocket was who's. But, with all things, there is a learning curve. If I do another report next year, then I will do these things and make it a better report. I should also have a better camera than my old Pentax K1000 (It was new technology in 1990 when I bought it, everything is manual on it) like an 8+MP digital SLR camera.

Posted by Mark at 9:01 AM | Permalink

Just a reminder for those bloggers in the Memphis area, tonight at the P&H Cafe on Madison, starting at 7pm. I might liveblog, I don't know. I also have a big rocket to launch tomorrow, plus pit in some time at Fanatic Games. It will be Sunday before I get back to the keyboard, so look for the report then.

See ya later.

Posted by Mark at 2:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well, I've done all I can do. I won my game of 40k tonight, but the 2nd place player had to bow out due to illness. He has until Wednesday if he wants and can get together with his opponent to play a make-up game for the tournament. He can tie me, which is a win for him due to tiebreaker points, but he has to win everything to do it, unlikely against this particular opponent.

So, who do I get for my efforts? Bragging rights, maybe a small trophy, and a small handful of cash. How much I'll know next week.

The levels of winning are Victory, Crushing Defeat and Victorious Slaughter. I managed to make it a Crushing Defeat and get two bonus points in the process. If I had kept one more model alive, I would have gotten a third bonus point and would have been untouchable.

My opponent basically defeated himself. I had two heavy weapons squads sitting out in the middle of the table, and he was so afraid of them that he crowded his entire army into one corner, and tried to push it up a bottleneck along one edge of the board. We had a large forest on my right flank, and only 8" from the board edge. He tried funneling his entire army up this small area, hoping to overload my flank. The problem was, he couldn't do it. Everything was in every other things way. Especially when I started killing vehicles and the wreckage really caused a choke point. It was easy at that point to hold him like Horatius at the Bridge. I managed to kill everything but two jetbikes, while I lost one Dreadnought, one Tactical squad and their APC transport, while another Tactical squad was reduced to just the Sergeant and my HQ squad was under half strength.

My opponent did the best he could. If he would have stayed in range of the heavy weapons squads, they would have torn him to bits. This way, both squads only fired once.

Anyway, I'm exhausted, mentally and physically from that tough game. I think I'm heading off now and I'll see you in the morning.

Posted by Mark at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Wish me luck tonight.

Tonight is the last week of a campaign I have been fighting in for Warhammer 40k. I have managed to go undefeated so far, and as of this past week, I am in first place. This is important, as there is cash on the line. If I win, I get first place. If I lose, I get second place. If I lose and the 2nd and 3rd place players draw (they play each other tonight) then I end up in 3rd place.

I am facing the 7th place player, the pairings for the entire campaign was determined at the beginning of the campaign. I don't know if he can field his entire force (we are limited by cards as to what kind of selections we can use). Like I'm limited to 1 HQ, 2 Elites 3 Troops and 2 Heavy Support. He is limited to 2 HQ, 2 Troops, 1 Fast Attack and 1 Heavy Support. He can force me to start two of my units in reserves, but I have a preliminary bombardment and I can reroll 1's in shooting. I just have to remember these advantages.

My opponent desperately wants to play the spoiler, and I'm going to do my best to win.

Wish me luck, I'm going in.

Posted by Mark at 12:14 PM | Permalink

Al-Zarqawi came face to face with a 500 pound bomb yesterday, dropped from an F-16. He bought it at the hands of his own people, who turned him in.

What does this portend? The insurgency will go on, but it will likely stop trying to instigate a holy war between the Sunnis and the Shiites, and concentrate killing American soldiers. Zarqawi was a nut job, and out of control. Someone replaced him before he even died, since like I said he was turned in by his own people. The new guy will probably keep a very low profile, since it's a given he doesn't want to end up like his predecessor.

On to Hell with you, Al-Zarqawi. Good riddance.

Posted by Mark at 8:39 AM | Permalink

All I can say is, WOW!

I'm pretty sure Southern Thunder 2006 was a resounding success! Two solid days of punching holes in the sky, and getting your tonsils sunburned from looking up into the sky so much.

I myself only got in 5 actual flights. I had a failure on the pad, plus I was taking photos for Extreme Rocketry really cut into my flying time. Plus, when you have a over a hundred people all vying for 10 low power pads and 10 high power pads, plus a couple of "away cells" where you have the BIG projects, then recovery and prep time, you don't get a lot of individual flights in, but a lot of flights for the flightline.

My first flight was on my brand new, virgin Mars Snooper. I received a lot of comments about how nice and cool the rocket. I flew it on the low power pads first, and had a successful flight.

Second flight was my Strong Arm, a mid-power rocket. It flew straight and recovery was easy.

My next flight was going to be on a donated rocket, but waiting for the launch controller to get around to my pad, the pad fell over, and ripped the launch lugs right off the rocket. No way to repair it on the field, so this birds weekend was over before it started.

So, I took the motor meant for that rocket and put it into my Garth R., named for my father. That one jumped straight for the sky and landed perfectly. So ended the first day of rocket flying.

We went back to the hotel, and I loaded up my biggest rocket motor for a flight Sunday.

Sunday came, and we again lumbered out to the field, and I tried my Mars Snooper again, this time on a larger motor. This one I had bought as a reloaded motor, so I wasn't sure it would fly, but fly it did. The bad news is the motor delay was too long and the parachute didn't get a chance to deploy before it hit the sod. Total loss of a $70 rocket. But it wouldn't be rocket science if there weren't a few crashes and explosions to keep you on your toes.

I flew my Strong Arm again, this time on a reloaded motor, and I had quite a walk to recover this one. Who says you don't get exercise chasing rockets? This, unfortunately turned out to be the last flight of the day.

I was about 3/4ers of the way prepping the Garth R for a flight to about 6,000 feet with the motor I loaded the night before, but a storm cell had come into the area, and I didn't want to launch it while it was raining. Things are time critical when you load a rocket with electronics, as the batteries need maximum juice to fire the ejection charges. I need to assemble the entire rocket, then place the batteries and head off to the launch pad within a certain period of time. With the storm cell in the area (it never touched us, but it did shift the wind around) I scrubbed the launch. I'm glad I did, as the wind shift started sending the rockets into the woods near the launch pads. So this motor is sitting waiting for me to launch it this coming Saturday, weather permitting.

Last note, the biggest project of the weekend was a 3/4 scale Coyote, a rocket I had never heard of before. The rocket was about 12 feet tall and 9 inches in diameter. Here is a picture of it launching:

Click on pictures for full size.

Here is a picture of it landing, the bad news is it didn't land under a parachute.

So. What did YOU do on your weekend?

Posted by Mark at 8:45 AM | Permalink