DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Monday, May 28, 2012
Amid Beach Frenzy, Memorial Day Loses Its Meaning
In an era of beach trips and opening the summer house, some who
take comfort in the true purpose of Memorial Day believe its meaning has lost its
lustre.
It prompts the question on the hallowed weekend of remembrance: What does Memorial Day mean to you?
WTOP's David Burd, a Marine Corps drill instructor veteran, says the smells of his time in the armed forces come to mind first. He remembers Kiwi Shoe polish, moth balls, Mennen after shave (issued to every Marine recruit) and Duraglit metal polish, a chemically soaked cotton substance used to shine brass belt buckles.
"Most young men and women don't join the armed services these days and cannot relate to the sacrifices that are made when you join the service," Burd says. "Our wars are not a shared experience like they were before the draft was halted in 1972."
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It prompts the question on the hallowed weekend of remembrance: What does Memorial Day mean to you?
WTOP's David Burd, a Marine Corps drill instructor veteran, says the smells of his time in the armed forces come to mind first. He remembers Kiwi Shoe polish, moth balls, Mennen after shave (issued to every Marine recruit) and Duraglit metal polish, a chemically soaked cotton substance used to shine brass belt buckles.
"Most young men and women don't join the armed services these days and cannot relate to the sacrifices that are made when you join the service," Burd says. "Our wars are not a shared experience like they were before the draft was halted in 1972."
More
Project Tells Injured Troops' Stories Through Sketches
WASHINGTON - A special project is happening within the walls of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
For one year, five artists have been visiting Walter Reed to capture the stories of wounded troops through illustration.
It's called the "Joe Bonham Project," named for the protagonist in the famous Dalton Trumbo novel "Johnny Got His Gun." The book tells the story of Joe Bonham, a soldier from World War I who lost his face and limbs in an explosion.
In a New York Times video, one illustrator explains the sentiment behind capturing the stories on a sketch pad.
More
For one year, five artists have been visiting Walter Reed to capture the stories of wounded troops through illustration.
It's called the "Joe Bonham Project," named for the protagonist in the famous Dalton Trumbo novel "Johnny Got His Gun." The book tells the story of Joe Bonham, a soldier from World War I who lost his face and limbs in an explosion.
In a New York Times video, one illustrator explains the sentiment behind capturing the stories on a sketch pad.
More
Thousands of Islamists Reportedly Shout at the ‘Ape’ Obama in Tunisia: ‘Obama, Obama, We Are All Osama’
The Middle East Media Research Institute is publicizing
video of thousands of Tunisian Salafis (hardline Islamists) rallying
beneath the flag of al-Qaeda and shouting in unison, “Obama! Obama! We
are all Osama!”
“Let us all cry ‘Allah Akbar’ together!” a speaker cries to the roaring crowd, “so that Obama the ape can hear us! All together now!”
As the crowd obliges, the speaker adds, “So that America can hear us!“ before everyone begins to chant ”We are coming! We are coming!”
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“Let us all cry ‘Allah Akbar’ together!” a speaker cries to the roaring crowd, “so that Obama the ape can hear us! All together now!”
As the crowd obliges, the speaker adds, “So that America can hear us!“ before everyone begins to chant ”We are coming! We are coming!”
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Chris Hayes Uncomfortable with Calling Troops 'Heroes;' Quite Comfortable Exercising Rights They Protect
Just in time for Memorial Day, some MSNBC drone named Chris Hayes has lit up the internet with his confession that dead American troops don’t quite measure up to his exacting standards for what qualifies as a “hero.” Memo to Chris: they are heroes, and you don’t get a vote.
Though he may be shocked to hear it, America’s fighting men and women don’t care whether Chris Hayes considers their fallen comrades heroes or not. First, there’s the practical matter that almost no one – in uniform or out – watches MSNBC or the roster of progressive meat puppets that fill the short stretches between endless reruns of "Lock Up."Care about Chris Hayes’s comfort level? They don’t even know this leftist twerp exists.
But on a deeper level, our troops don’t do what they do to impress the likes of Chris Hayes – though he is perfectly willing to make his living in the shadow of their sacrifice. In the scheme of things, Chris Hayes’s views are important only as an object lesson in what our progressive elites really think about our military. And it’s not much.
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Miami Police Shoot and Kill Naked Man ‘Eating’ Face of Another Man
Miami police shot and killed a naked man on Saturday whom witnesses said was eating the face of another man, the Miami Herald reported:
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According to police sources, a road ranger saw a naked man chewing on another man’s face and shouted on his loud speaker for him to back away. Meanwhile, a woman also saw the incident and flagged down a police officer who was in the area.The attack occurred around 2 p.m. on a pedestrian walkway just south of the Herald’s offices.
The officer, who has not been identified, approached and, seeing what was happening, also ordered the naked man to back away. When he continued the assault, the officer shot him, police sources said. The attacker failed to stop after being shot, forcing the officer to continue firing. Witnesses said they heard at least a half dozen shots.
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Obama’s Land of the LOST
What’s green and blue and grabby all over? President Obama’s new
pressure campaign for Congress to ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty
(LOST).
The fight over LOST goes back three decades, when it was first rejected by President Ronald Reagan. He warned that “no national interest of the United States could justify handing sovereign control of two-thirds of the Earth’s surface over to the Third World.” According to top Reagan officials William Clark and Ed Meese, their boss believed the “central, and abiding, defect” was “its effort to promote global government at the expense of sovereign nation states — and most especially the United States.”
The persistent transnationalists who drafted LOST favor creation of a massive United Nations bureaucracy that would draw ocean boundaries, impose environmental regulations and restrict business on the high seas. They’ve tinkered with the document obsessively since the late ’60s, enlisted Presidents Clinton and Bush, and recruited soon-to-depart GOP Sen. Dick Lugar to their crusade. Ignore the mushy save-the-planet rhetoric. Here’s the bottom line: Crucial national security decisions about our naval and drilling operations would be subject to the vote of 162 other signatories, including Cuba, China and Russia.
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The fight over LOST goes back three decades, when it was first rejected by President Ronald Reagan. He warned that “no national interest of the United States could justify handing sovereign control of two-thirds of the Earth’s surface over to the Third World.” According to top Reagan officials William Clark and Ed Meese, their boss believed the “central, and abiding, defect” was “its effort to promote global government at the expense of sovereign nation states — and most especially the United States.”
The persistent transnationalists who drafted LOST favor creation of a massive United Nations bureaucracy that would draw ocean boundaries, impose environmental regulations and restrict business on the high seas. They’ve tinkered with the document obsessively since the late ’60s, enlisted Presidents Clinton and Bush, and recruited soon-to-depart GOP Sen. Dick Lugar to their crusade. Ignore the mushy save-the-planet rhetoric. Here’s the bottom line: Crucial national security decisions about our naval and drilling operations would be subject to the vote of 162 other signatories, including Cuba, China and Russia.
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Man arrested for fatal hit-and-run in Ocean City
WASHINGTON - A 30-year-old Virginia man has been arrested and charged
in the hit-and-run death of a 22-year-old man in Ocean City, Md.
Ocean City police say Mathew Jude Cheswick of Cooksville, Md., was crossing Coastal Highway at about
1:20 a.m. Monday when an Isuzu Rodeo driven by Diogo Miller Facchini hit him.
Cheswick was pronounced dead at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, Md.
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Ocean City police say Mathew Jude Cheswick of Cooksville, Md., was crossing Coastal Highway at about
1:20 a.m. Monday when an Isuzu Rodeo driven by Diogo Miller Facchini hit him.
Cheswick was pronounced dead at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, Md.
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State Sued Over 'Taxes-As-Fees' Gimmick
Colorado needs to return hundreds of millions of dollars to its
taxpayers, plus interest, because new “taxes” assessed over the past few
years for bridge repairs never were approved by voters, as required by
the state constitution, according to a new lawsuit.
The action was brought by the Mountain States Legal Foundation, a non-profit, public-interest legal organization dedicated to individual liberties, the free enterprise system, limited government and the right to own and use property.
“In clear violation of [the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights], the general assembly enacted and [the Colorado Department of Transportation] implemented a scheme to levy taxes and raise revenues without a vote of the people of Colorado,” said William Perry Pendley, a spokesman for the MSLF.
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The action was brought by the Mountain States Legal Foundation, a non-profit, public-interest legal organization dedicated to individual liberties, the free enterprise system, limited government and the right to own and use property.
“In clear violation of [the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights], the general assembly enacted and [the Colorado Department of Transportation] implemented a scheme to levy taxes and raise revenues without a vote of the people of Colorado,” said William Perry Pendley, a spokesman for the MSLF.
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The 'Last Full Measure': Buglers Return to Play 'Taps'
WASHINGTON - The heavy rain stopped and the heavens opened up with
brilliant, warm sunshine after days of constant rain in April 2009.
Dodging small pools of water, the crowd approached the nurse's statue at
the south end of the memorial. Chatting quietly as they approached,
three striking figures, wearing blue military style uniforms came into
view.
A woman bookended by two men turned and faced the statue. She slowly raised a white, gloved hand into a salute. The men each raised a shiny bugle to their lips and after a short, reverent moment of silence, began to play "Taps".
A small crowd gathered around them. Some cried as they listened. Others placed their hands over their hearts and closed their eyes. As the last of the notes trailed off into the air, a few people broke out into applause. Some just turned and walked away as silently as they approached. Still others, curious about what they had just witnessed approached them to ask what the occasion was.
More
A woman bookended by two men turned and faced the statue. She slowly raised a white, gloved hand into a salute. The men each raised a shiny bugle to their lips and after a short, reverent moment of silence, began to play "Taps".
A small crowd gathered around them. Some cried as they listened. Others placed their hands over their hearts and closed their eyes. As the last of the notes trailed off into the air, a few people broke out into applause. Some just turned and walked away as silently as they approached. Still others, curious about what they had just witnessed approached them to ask what the occasion was.
More
Media Hastily Erase Articles About Malia Obama’s Appearance at One Direction Concert
Several media outlets have again pulled or edited already-published
articles about the activities of President Barack Obama’s daughter, even
though the stories appeared to pose no active security risk to the
first family.
On Thursday, 14-year-old Malia Obama attended a concert by the British boy band One Direction at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va., flanked by Secret Service agents who attempted unsuccessfully to blend in with the crowd of mostly pre-teen girls.
On Thursday, 14-year-old Malia Obama attended a concert by the British boy band One Direction at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va., flanked by Secret Service agents who attempted unsuccessfully to blend in with the crowd of mostly pre-teen girls.
Boy Scouts Lend A Hand To Honor Veterans
For 25 years now, hundreds of boys in uniform swarm Baltimore National Cemetery on Frederick Avenue in southwest Baltimore with one goal in mind - to honor the work and sacrifices of veterans.
One of the adults involved in the Memorial Day service program says that it is important for the boys to understand what veterans mean to the nation.
Gene Shaffer, a longtime Boy Scouts executive and veteran, helped to get the movement started.
He says that 25 years ago, the cemetery superintendent at that time called him for help, he put the word out and they had about 800 boys show up. The number of scouts helping has grown to about 1,200 today, he adds.
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25th Rolling Thunder Comes Roaring into Washington
About 400,000 men and women on motorcycles met up in the parking lot for the Pentagon. At noon, the long procession started the ride to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall.
The riders come from all over the country. Many are veterans themselves, but many are not.
"We're just here to support all veterans, and all the guys out there fighting," says a man riding with his 12-year-old daughter.
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NUGENT: God bless America’s warriors
Freedom isn’t free. Never has been, never will be. Very special
warriors have provided freedom at supreme sacrifice since time
immemorial. Good people will never forget, and we celebrate Memorial Day
with a hard-charging spirit in appreciation for hard-charging warriors.
With his lifeblood pouring out of him from a mortal RPG wound to center mass, Pvt. 1st Class Todd Balding from Texas was, on the surface, but a bundle of red gauze and bandages, a jumble of tubes and numerous electronic apparatus beeping away. He was surrounded by a dedicated team of U.S. military medical experts at the Landstuhl hospital in Germany doing everything in their power to save the young American’s life.
Toby Keith and I literally stood in the young hero’s blood and said a very solemn prayer. Moments later, Pvt. 1st Class Todd Balding died. He was 21 years-old. He died fighting for freedom. That was one of many defining moments that struck me deep inside during my USO tour in 2004, and a defining moment in my life.
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With his lifeblood pouring out of him from a mortal RPG wound to center mass, Pvt. 1st Class Todd Balding from Texas was, on the surface, but a bundle of red gauze and bandages, a jumble of tubes and numerous electronic apparatus beeping away. He was surrounded by a dedicated team of U.S. military medical experts at the Landstuhl hospital in Germany doing everything in their power to save the young American’s life.
Toby Keith and I literally stood in the young hero’s blood and said a very solemn prayer. Moments later, Pvt. 1st Class Todd Balding died. He was 21 years-old. He died fighting for freedom. That was one of many defining moments that struck me deep inside during my USO tour in 2004, and a defining moment in my life.
More