I am truly perplexed that so many people are against mosques being built...
I think it should be the goal of every Western Society to be tolerant regardless of their religious beliefs. Thus mosques should be allowed, in an effort to promote tolerance.
That is why I also propose that two nightclubs be opened next door to the mosque, thereby promoting tolerance from within the mosque. We could call one of the clubs, which would be gay, "The Turban Cowboy ", and the other a topless bar called "You Mecca Me Hot."
Next door should be a butcher shop that specializes in pork, and adjacent to that an open-pit barbecue pork restaurant, called "Iraq o' Ribs."
Across the street there could be a lingerie store called "Victoria Keeps Nothing Secret ", with sexy mannequins in the window modeling the goods.
Next door to the lingerie shop there would be room for an adult sex toy shop, "Koranal Knowledge ", its name in flashing neon lights, and on the other side an off-licence called "Morehammered."
All of this would encourage Muslims to demonstrate the tolerance they demand of us, so their mosque issue would not be a problem for others.
I want to tell you a story about a “journalist.”
I’m pretty sure the journalist in question was Scott Pelley, but for reasons I am about to explain I can’t be 100% sure—I just know it was a major US TV reporter.
August, 2003.
I was the G-4 of the 82nd Airborne Division. The IED threat had just become a real thing in Iraq and the 82nd—having just returned from Iraq—was sent back to the fight.
The “Division Support Area” was earmarked for a place called al Taqaddum, or “TQ.” I led the advance party to occupy the site (we drove from Kuwait). TQ was a huge area on a high bluff, west of Fallujah, and had a cratered Iraqi Air Force airfield. Later in the war it was a plush site with a PX and restaurants, but when I occupied it, it was nothing but a bunch of abandoned buildings, hulks of old Iraqi fighting vehicles blocking the runway, nightly rocket and mortar attacks, and constant probing of the huge perimeter by insurgents.
The IED threat was happening because insurgents were pulling artillery rounds out of abandoned Iraqi army ammunition supply points and turning them into roadside bombs.
We had been on TQ about one full day when the front gate called me on the radio: “All American 4, we have some TV reporters here, they want to come in, what should I do, over?”
After telling the gate to check IDs and do a sweep of their vehicle, I said: “Send them to me, over.”
A few minutes later an armored Mercedes pulls up to our TOC. The “talent” is in the very back where I could barely see him, but I’m pretty sure it was Scott Pelley. (Pelley was definitely in Iraq at the time, I checked.)
His producer gets out from the air-conditioned Mercedes plushness and pulls out a map. He arrogantly points to an Iraqi ammo supply point between TQ and Ramadi and demands: “I need you to escort us to this location.”
(They wanted to do a story with reporter speaking against a backdrop of an ammo supply point, because that’s where the IEDs were coming from.)
“NEED? I’m sorry sir, that site is not secured and I am not putting my paratroopers at risk for your story.”
Big disappointment and head shaking. I’m thinking: “The NERVE of this guy. Does he think I work for him?”
He then asks: “Well what will happen if we go by ourselves?”
My response: “You’ll probably die.”
(Important background: TQ also had a giant Iraqi ammo supply point that was inside the wire but we had not cleared it yet—it could have been booby-trapped, we just did not know at the time.)
He points at the map again: “Well how about the ammunition right here? We can just drive over there, right?”
“No sir, you cannot. We have not cleared that site.”
By this time he was visibly angry, he had a chat with the talent in the back, and then they all got back in and left without even saying thank you or good bye.
(Important point: the ammo on TQ he wanted to use as a backdrop for his “story" was SECURED from Iraqis grabbing any of it, yet they wanted to use that as a backdrop for a story on Iraqis grabbing ammo.)
The point of this story is this: those “journalists” were incredibly arrogant, incredibly dismissive of anyone in uniform with dirty boots, and basically oozed a sense of entitlement as if they were on some sort of noble mission, when in reality their mission was to smear the effectiveness of our operations because Bushitler.
When you hear Scott Pelley talk, oozing with arrogance over his “combat” experience, remember that he is of a breed that all think and act alike. To those "journalists," we were not American fighting men and women in combat. No, we were there for their convenience. It sickened me, and still does.
You think you hate journalists enough...
@mdubowitz@DrEliDavid No leverage. Once POTUS gets all their nuclear materials, SoH becomes a euro/china/saudi problem. We need nothing that flows thru the SoH.
@JoelFeldmanPhD That in my old age I can look back with satisfaction that I actually contributed something worthwhile and made a (small) difference to our country. I wasn't just shoveling $h!t in Louisiana.
Jim Valvano taught us to enjoy life and to cherish every moment.
As we continue this journey, we’re reminded that the Stanley Cup Final is about more than hockey. It’s about people, purpose, sacrifice, and appreciating the moments that bring us together.
"It was the time sheets that made people look into him...."
I wish people could see what the Army finance office will do when a soldier gets overpaid $20.00. Then I would like to show them the oversight that our Travel System (DTS) has for a soldier to get paid for spending one night in a hotel. Next I would show them the weekly Battalion meeting where every leader can see the names of every soldier in their unit who owes money for travel cards/DTS/paychecks. Finally I will show them the withdrawal and clearing process for the various OPFUNDS that are used during overseas operations.
The army will crush a soldier for owing a single penny and this dude signs for $40 Million in Gold bars and puts them in his house....and the ONLY reason they found them was because he cheated on his time sheets.
We have soldiers and their families living in trailers and we will go through their finances with a fine tooth comb.
We have Illegals, Child care center operators, and senior executive band people bilking the Government for MILLIONS/BILLIONS and people seem to discover it by "chance".
Every last fraudster caught with over a million dollars should be dropped from a space shuttle and allowed to re-enter the earth's atmosphere so we can watch them turn into a ball of flame for our entertainment.
@DefiyantlyFree and yet he will get 100's of thousands of votes. just like biden did. hmmmmm, how can that be????? Hint - begins with F and ends with d and there is an rau in the middle.
When the Boomer left at last leave the scene, all the files revealed, and objective review is conducted, Richard Nixon will be vindication and will--rightfully--rise in the ranking of American Presidents.