Well, I'm getting ready to attend the 'Ard Boyz Tournament, which is to determine the best player in the US. The initial tournament will be held in just about every gaming store in the country. The top three players that can move on to the next round will move on to the semi-finals, and in our case we will be going to Cleveland, TN just outside of Chattanooga.
I have come in 2nd over the last couple of tournaments, so I'm hoping I can make the top three. I have no doubt I will be eliminated in Cleveland, but to make it to that level is all I'm looking for. If I do place in the top three in Cleveland, I get to go to the Games Workshop headquarters in Glen Burnie, Maryland. That is the finals, and the home stretch to see who's the best.
In usual tournaments, there are what is called "soft" scores, which are how well you painted your army, how well your army is composed, and how nice of a competitor you are. There are no soft scores in the 'Ard Boyz, it's all based on how badly you massacre your opponent.
It was at this minute that America realized it was under attack. It was at this minute, 6 years ago that Flight 11 slammed into the North tower. America has been under attack every second of those 6 years now, and the complacency of today is reaching our pre-9/11 level.
There are several videos in this post. I want you to watch them. Time heals wounds, but this wound we need to keep fresh until terrorism has been eliminated from the world.
Here is a video about the attack.
Here is a video of Flight 175 crashing into the South tower.
Here is a video about Kevin Cosgrove who was on the phone to 911 operators as the buildings burned. You can hear his last seconds of life as the building fell on him.
Have you watched the videos? How do you feel now? Sad, enraged, horrified? Good. That's the way I want you to feel. You need to feel that way, and never forget those feelings. We did not ask for this war, it was thrust upon us by radical Islam. They thought we would cower and beg for mercy. Why not? We had retreated in shame from Vietnam. We snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in Somalia. We have retreated for the past 40 years from terrorism, consistently. We failed to act during the 444 day Iran hostage crisis, and when we did act, we did it half-heartedly and screwed the pooch doing it. We acted swiftly with Kuwait, but failed to finish the job.
Of course they thought America was decadent and weak. We were. Despite our Billion dollar aircraft carriers, our will to use military force against terrorism was weak. We decided to treat them like a law-enforcement matter.
But 9/11 woke us up. There were two unforgettable moments in the lives of my parents, the attack on Pearl Harbor and the assassination of JFK. My father was alive to see 9/11, but was too busy dying from liver cancer to notice.
The horrors of that day, of two buildings falling in on themselves and all of the people inside, shocked us to our core. They brought up something that had been hidden since Pearl Harbor: A white hot poker of anger, of determination to bring a world of hurt to those responsible for this heinous act.
So, where are we today? Four and 1/2 years into Iraq, we have lost 3,760 men and women in combat operations. That number is not to be sneezed at, but let's put that number into perspective. 3,760 works out to be 835 deaths a year. We lose more children in diaper pails in a year. Which is more tragic, a 19 year-old who loses their life for their country, or an 8 month old who is left alone to die in a hot car?
Weather we like it or not, we are in Iraq. The violence there is being stirred up and supplied by Iran and Syria. If those countries weren't supplying the insurgents, we wouldn't be having the "sectarian" violence we are seeing today.
Before I sign off with this post, I have one final video for you to watch, Have You Forgotten By Daryl Worthy:
We have a long way to go and not a lot of time to get there. The peaceniks and Liberals are bearing down on us to "redeploy" (which is Liberal for retreat) and quit before the job is done. We can't let that happen. This is too important. To quit now would be like to say we lost too many during the Normandy invasion and we should surrender. We need to get going and stomp this out and then go home.
I just can't believe it. I can't believe that it has already been 19 years since the day that I stood in an Hawai'ian Heiau and was married to my bride. She has been beside me through thick and thin. When I first crawled into our hall closet screaming from my illness, she crawled in there with me.
I love her with all my heart, and my love for her grows every day.
Today marks the anniversary of the surrender of the Japanese government to the Allied Powers. This document was signed on the Battleship U.S.S Missouri in Tokyo Harbor. It brought to an end a conflict that engulfed to world and was responsible for millions upon millions of deaths.
As a small token of respect, I present to you the two page document. Click on them for full size.
