Only 16 Days to Break Biggest Campaign Promise

As we heard many times on the campaign trail: "I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes." - Barack Obama, 9/12/08

Well, he has already broken that promise: "Today, on the sixteenth day of his presidency, Barack Obama broke one of the central promises of his candidacy: No American earning under $250,000 per year would face any form of tax increase under his administration. By signing the S-CHIP legislation today, Obama has now broken his oft-repeated promise. Obama's signature puts into effect a 156 percent increase in the federal excise tax on tobacco, a hike of 61 cents per pack." - Americans for Tax Reform, 2/4/09

So unless no one making under $250,000 a year smokes (and we all not that isn't the case, quite the opposite), he just raised taxes on millions of people as stated above by 156%! And who will this hurt the most? Oh yeah...the poor! However, I'm sure you didn't hear any of that in the MSM...just like you didn't hear about the very successful election in Iraq this past weekend...yep...that's right...they had another election...and this time all parties, Sunnis, Shia, and Kurds participated to the praises of the international community for a fair run campaign.

HapTip: Muth's Truths

Bush Thankathon

Dee and Mike initiated a week long Bush Thankathon on Monday to highlight all the accomplishments of President Bush over the last 8 years despite his constant barrage of fire from the left and the MSM who don't give him credit for anything.

The biggest success is keeping us safe since 9-11 by stopping multiple attacks that were in the planning stages and who knows how many total besides the several that have been declassified.

One of the main reasons he was able to accomplish this is b/c he took the fight to the terrorists and their enablers. One of the biggest threats and enablers was Saddam. History will be the judge and if Obama doesn't reverse all the progress made over the last year by removing troops to quickly, Bush's decision to invade Iraq and stick with it to the end, especially with the surge, will be a very defining moment in the region that will continue to produce positive results.

Thank you President Bush for staying on course despite the political fallout b/c it was the right thing to do!

The Forgotten War

In case you have been wondering if we are still fighting a war in Iraq being the MSM is no longer covering it, here may be the reason why you are no longer hearing about it. We just turned over the 13th province, Babil, to the Iraqis last week. That leaves only 5 provinces left. So being this is a very positive development, of course you won't hear about it.

I'm Out of Here!

As always in my life change happens fast. I can make all the plans I want and God always finds a way to remind He is in charge. I've been saying for 6 months now that I'd be leaving here Aug. 31st. Well, the prime on our contract decided they want me home earlier, so I'm leaving tomorrow.

That's why I've been very lax on posts lately b/c lots had to be done before I left due to the accelerated schedule.

Being nothing was planned for home these next couple of weeks, I'm going to take advantage of them and get some down time to decompress and more importantly some quality and quantity Mimi time =) So while I'll be home this weekend, I will still be pretty much out of touch for a couple of more weeks and then slowly reenter the wonderful DC pace of life. I'll also take a break from posting unless something major happens like VP announcements.

So, see everyone in a couple of weeks! And thanks so much for everyone's prayers over this past year!

Iraqi Critters Part 2: The Kingfisher

This little dude is a blast to watch. If you have never seen a kingfisher in action, you are definitely missing out. They hover about 10 feet above the water similar to how a hummingbird hovers by a flower, just a huge bundle of energy flapping wings. Then without any notice they go into full dive and disappear into the water, sometimes coming up with a reward for their efforts, but most times not. This particular fellow is pretty camera shy b/c I've been trying to get a pic of him for months now. I was hoping for an action pic, but he wasn't cooperating so I took what I could get.

A Day on the Diamond

On Deck

Another base hit =) 14 for 18 so far on the season!

Team Habibis (Iraqi for dear friends) - our last game with Coach Sarah (we won...whooohooo)

You Know It's Hot When...

• the "cold" water in the shower is hotter than the hot water if used between 2 and 6pm
• after going to the gym, if your hair is wet from sweat, you just take off your hat and the air and wind drys it out in less than a minute
• even at 11:30pm you walk outside for more than 5 minutes and you are sticky from sweat
• you need to buy laptop coolers for laptops inside an air conditioned office
• planes can't land b/c the asphalt is too soft
• you go to the pool and you get out of the water to cool off

Just thought I'd give ya'll a little taste of life in above 120 degree weather =)

Constantly Raising the Bar

A year ago, 8 of the 18 Iraqi governmental benchmarks were at the satisfactory level after only one month of the full surge in place. A year later, 15 of the 18 are at satisfactory level according to the latest Iraqi progress report.

Of course this can't be praised as great progress by the Dems. No, now the bar has been raised that it took too long. And they are placing blame on not removing troops from Iraq. They don't give a single ounce of credit to the surge and in fact place blame on it. Mind you that the only reason the government had the ability to make the improvements is due to the new increased security thanks to the surge.

Just the latest attempt at constantly raising the bar and never admitting that anything the President has done has brought positive results.

Softball in Iraq

Some of the activities held by the MWR (Morale, Welfare, Recreation...kinda like the military's YMCA) here in Iraq are sporting tournaments. Obviously this time of the year is softball. Our coach, Sarah, was able to get our team a sponsor, USSSA, so we did these cheesy baseball card pics to put together as a poster and send to them as thanks for the hats, bats, and balls they sent us.

Our team name is Habibis, which is Arabic for friends. We have played in 3 tournaments so far this summer. It's hard to field a consistent team with rotations of people leaving and new people, but we have held our own (most of the other teams are all Army unit teams and have been playing together for awhile back stateside). We took 4th out of 18 teams in the second one, but didn't do so well in the other two. So far I'm 10 for 13 with 11 RBIs, a sac fly and a walk at the plate, but do have 3 fielding errors in 7 games. We have at least one more tourney before I leave on the 4th of July weekend. It is definitely a great distraction for everyone here.

Combat Showers

I've learned a new term recently, Combat Showers. We are experiencing a VERY dry summer due to hardly any rain this past winter and spring, so the commanders on Camp Victory and other connected bases are putting in water preservation measures. One of those is combat showers.

When it was first announced that we should all start using this showering method, I at first thought it meant to just get in and out as quick as possible, no lingering around under a hot or cold shower to relax or cool off. That however is not the case.

A combat shower for you non-initiated like myself is even more involved and saves even more water than that method. The basic idea is if you aren't using the water to rinse, you turn it off. So you wet your hair, then turn off the water while you are shampooing. Turn it back on to rinse shampoo and lather up the soap, then turn it off while scrubbing. Then turn it back on one last time to rinse off...shower over. We are also using the on and off rinse method for shaving and brushing our teeth.

So, if you want to feel some solidarity with the soldiers and others out here then feel free to adopt the combat shower method and you may even save on your water bill as well. Then use your new found savings to stimulate the economy or at least help with the gas bill =)

My Pic with The Man!!!

If and when Iraq is a stable and prosperous nation, Gen. Petraeus will have had a lot to do with it. I jumped at the chance to shake his hand and thank him for all he is doing and get a pic with him in the process last week (I had done it once before but my pic got lost in cyber space), especially since this was very likely his last photo op in Iraq with his impending promotion to CENTCOM commander. As you can tell by my slightly blurred face, it was a quick 1-2-3 shake and smile pic, but I did get to thank him and he thanked me as well along with about a couple of thousand troops, civilians, and contractors who waited in a VERY long line =)

Shooting Skeet

One of the Iraq blogs in my sidebar, LT James Bernsen, blogged about this neat site he found awhile back near where he lives, Saddam's skeet shooting range. Of course I had to go investigate for myself being the good Louisiana boy I am having done my share of skeet shooting. It was actually kind of hard to find even though it is in plain site due to the trap house being mostly underground. As I've mentioned before the base we are on is one of Saddam's old hunting lodges, so it makes prefect sense that he would have a skeet shooting range on it and like Saddam, he spared no expense, well unless that expense was to actually feed his people but I'm getting off topic ; ) Below are pics from my adventure.

The shooting positions

Underground trap house outside view

Skeet Launcher/Trap

Trap house inside view with what looks like some type of scoring apparatus

Lots of extra skeet for Saddam and the Baathist to enjoy their time away from the torture chambers...darn there I go again getting off topic!

Yes, there is one less stack if you were to go there now. Hope they survive the trip home =)

Sand Storms Are Zero Fun!

It is definitely sand storm season here in Iraq and we have had quite a few lately that have lasted a couple of days. They are definitely zero fun as EVERYTHING is coated in sand and dust, including your entire respiratory system! Below are a few pics to give you a sense of what they are like. They were taken around 3 in the afternoon.

Lake by our office full dust storm

Same view on a clear day (this was taken during the Inaugural Raft Race in case you forgot)

Here is a pic to kind of give you a sense of the color difference from outside compared to inside. The orange is not funny Photoshop work. That is the actual color of the air due to all the dust and sand in it. Doesn't it look just yummy! =)

Toby Keith Rocks!!!

Above Photo Credit goes to Sarah due to me being a lot further back and only having blurry pics =)

When I was here in '06, one of my two favorite USO shows was Toby Keith, the other being Charlie Daniels. Once again Keith came to Iraq last night as he has come every year since the war started and performed an awesome concert. Last night's show was his 115th in Iraq since 2003! He has also been all over Afghanistan as well as many other bases around the world. That shows he doesn't just pop in and do a show here on Camp Victory to punch his support the troops card like some do, but he actually goes all over the country putting himself in actual danger b/c unlike Clinton's Bosnia sniper fire lie he has had to take unintended breaks due to incoming, but as soon as the all clear sounded the show resumed.

As you can see from the second two photos above, the troops and many others showed their appreciation with a huge turnout. Those pictures only represent about maybe 1/4th of the full crowd of several thousand there last night.

Also he announced that if any US military member goes to any of his bars across the country named I Love This Bar after one of his popular songs and shows their military id, they eat free. Now that is really supporting the troops!

Thanks Toby Keith for your great support for everyone here and for all you do to support our awesome US military!

American Heroes

I have two stories today about true American heroes.

The first happened here on Camp Victory where 259 members of the military from 71 different countries became US citizens in the largest naturalization ceremony to ever be held overseas. They have already fought for our freedoms and now they can enjoy all of those freedoms as well.

The second is the epitome of a true American hero. Gunnery Sgt. William Gibson lost his leg during a battle in Fallujah in 2006 when a sniper bullet shattered his knee. Two years forward and he is back in Iraq with a prosthetic leg serving once again with his Marine unit. These are the types of men and women we have fighting for us and why victory is the only option here.

Iraqi Critters

Besides the "neighbors" outside the walls we have to be concerned with, there are also "neighbors" inside the walls that could cause problems as well. There are several wild critters running around Camp Victory. The most abundant are the jackals. They are very skittish though, so they are hard to get pics of. The little guy above is the 2nd deadliest snake in Iraq, the saw-toothed viper. He was found a couple of weeks ago slithering around our work trailers. Needless to say, he didn't survive much longer after this pic was taken.

Thank You, 4000

As the media is hyping the 4000th death in Iraq, CJ over at A Soldier's Perspective has the proper perspective, one of thanks!

Obama, Not McCain, Shows Iraq Ignorance

Obama apparently jumped on a statement that McCain made in Jordan to which the media also tried to make seem as wrong to tear him down. McCain said that Iran is supporting Shiite extremists and Sunni Al Qaeda. The media and Obama tried to say that McCain made a mistake in suggesting that Shia Iran would support Sunnis and that he was confusing the religions as proof he isn't as sharp on foreign policy as he tries to portray. Well, once again we see that Obama and the media have no clue to what is really going on here on the ground because there is plenty proof that not only is Iran arming the Shia extremist but also Al Qaeda and anyone else who they can buy off to try and keep chaos, which is rapidly dwindling more and more every day, going here.

Flintstone Village

It must have been nice to have a grandfather as the dictator of a country who was able to pretty much give you whatever you wanted. Well, apparently the grandkids wanted a village that looks like the Flintstones (I'm sure that is not really what they wanted but as you will see, it certainly is pretty close). Below are some pics over on Camp Slayer, which is connected to Camp Victory, of what has been dubbed, Flintstone Village.

If you zoom in on this pic you will see a very beloved state as part of the graffiti a little to the left of the tree in front.

Very cool designs and must have made for one very awesome playhouse.

However, like most things here, once you inspect closer you realize it was built very cheap

In American fashion as you can see on all the pics, soldiers have left their mark. Here is one I could totally agree with, especially since I just happened to be all LSU'd out that day (and no I didn't do it). GEAUX TIGERS INDEED!!! =)

Soldiers Being Soldiers

As I'm sure is the case in every war, sometimes you have to find humor in the things that cause the most trials. The above sign is on the side of one of the buildings on base and when a co-worker showed it to me, I just had to snap a picture. VBIEDs (army term for car bombs) are definitely not welcomed to park there and hopefully they won't be parking anywhere in Iraq soon.