Controversial Statements

Whoops! I posted this, and neglected to post my carefully and lovingly crafted Fly Report! Here's the re-posted real post.

You know, I was just reminiscing the other day about a discussion I had with a group of former soldiers, one of whom had been assigned to the Fourth Infantry Division in Iraq in 2003. For those of you who don't pay attention to the history of the Iraq War (and I can't say as I blame you), it was 4ID that captured Saddam Hussein in a farmhouse outside Tikrit. We were having a charged discussion about the quality of the respective services, and this former 4ID soldier came up with the following quote:

"Fourth ID were the ones who caught Saddam, that's all I've got to say."

It took me a while to think it through and reverse engineer this. I give absolute credit to the soldiers of the Fourth Infantry Division who fought bravely, and who did excellent work in catching Saddam Hussein. However, there's one detail that this young former soldier forgot: if Saddam Hussein was in Tikrit, and 4ID was the lead/sole unit in the Tikrit area at the time, of course they were going to be the ones who caught him. It had nothing to do with the excellent quality of the unit, and everything to do with that unit's assigned location.

(And this is my soapbox, so that's why you're reading it.)

Today's satellite image is the University of Nouakchott in Nouakchott, Mauritania. I had a friend who was in the Peace Corps in Mauritania, so I got to hear/read stories about Nouakchott... And about Senegalese whiskey, but that's another story.

Speaking of controversial subjects, there's a great video by Glenn Beck about a recent development in the so-called "global warming" debate. Long-time readers will know that I, like noted author Michael Crichton (Aliens Cause Global Warming), am an ardent skeptic about global warming in general, and mankind's impact on it in particular. Thus, I was thrilled to see the following video yesterday morning, which exposes both the inconsistency of the "science" and the lack of credibility on the side of climate activists.



Even so, the filthy protesters have their place, as we can see from the following exchange:

Cartman: If you all don't mind, I would like to do my report now. I know what the founding fathers would say.
Stan: He does?!
Kyle: He does?!
Cartman: I learned somethin' today. This country was founded by some of the smartest thinkers the world has ever seen. And they knew one thing: that a truely great country can go to war, and at the same time, act like it doesn't want to. You people who are for the war, you need the protesters. Because they make the country look like it's made of sane, caring individuals. And you people who are anti-war, you need these flag-wavers, because, if our whole country was made up of nothing but soft pussy protesters, we'd get taken down in a second. That's why the founding fathers decided we should have both. It's called "having your cake and eating it too."
Randy: He's right. The strength of this country is the ability to do one thing and say another.
Skeeter: Yeah, but... if it weren't for all you guys protesting, why everyone around the world would hate the American people instead of just the President.
Gerald: And if it weren't for you people flexing your arms, America could easily get taken over by terrorists or, or China.

With that, I leave you for the day, but not without expressing one regret: Twitley wasn't able to make it here, so I didn't get to spend yesterday evening with my little brother. Lousy, but there's nothing I can do about it. A picture of me and Peter will be up early next week, though. And remember, ladies: though you may be tempted, diminuitive men in muscle shirts should be avoided at all costs.