+
= Ready to rumble!!
Posted on 07/19/2004 12:00:16 AM PDT by SAMWolf
+= Ready to rumble!!
Well things are going slowly.. (as expected) But still holding onto faith that God's got something planned for me. :)
A small blessing, is that I noticed on my "vacation acrual database" that by the end of the month I will have nearly another week of vacation added to it, so that will add some more $$ to my final paycheck.
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Pretty much!
Just I didn't get stung this time around.
Seems every generation or so we have to teach that lesson to some other country. They think because of our democracy and prosperity we are "soft" and won't fight. They don't understand the will of an "aroused democracy," as Ike put it.
Of course, John Effing Kerry and the Democratic Party are doing everything they can to sap that will.
i took my best girl out to eat at a great Thai restaurant today at noon. she LIKED THAT!
the next step is getting the stitches out Wednesday AM! (that won't be fun at all.)
free dixie,sw
RE: #31 not lawyers....plumbers
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
RE: #16 For 50 bonus trivia points where are the F-15s from, eh?
Baronial Regards(snicker)
alfa6 ;>}
LOL. I meant the dumb law, not the pipe! ;-)
RE: #45 I was at Stan "the Man" Musial's last game, too bad I didn't know to appreciatte it at the time. Stan's last game was on my tenth birthday. In his last at bat he got a single. Quite a career for a Polish/Chezk kid from the mines of Donora, PA.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
RE: #72, as a former native of the at times wonderfull St Louis area, of which University City is a suburb thereof I was refering to the power of the plumbers union in the St. Louis area. St. Louis is a BIG union town and the plunbers union, among other unions, has a lot of clout. The plumbers union did not take lightly to the fact that the average person could do plumbing work with nothing more tha a pot of cleaner, glue and a saw.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
OOPS! Looks like trouble in paridise!
AP: Clinton Adviser Probed in Terror Memos
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1174448/posts
By JOHN SOLOMON
WASHINGTON - President Clinton (news - web sites)'s national security adviser, Sandy Berger, is the focus of a Justice Department (news - web sites) investigation after removing highly classified terrorism documents and handwritten notes from a secure reading room during preparations for the Sept. 11 commission hearings, The Associated Press has learned.
Berger's home and office were searched earlier this year by FBI (news - web sites) agents armed with warrants after he voluntarily returned documents to the National Archives. However, still missing are some drafts of a sensitive after-action report on the Clinton administration's handling of al-Qaida terror threats during the December 1999 millennium celebration.
Berger and his lawyer said Monday night he knowingly removed handwritten notes he had made while reading classified anti-terror documents at the archives by sticking them in his jacket and pants. He also inadvertently took copies of actual classified documents in a leather portfolio, they said.
"I deeply regret the sloppiness involved, but I had no intention of withholding documents from the commission, and to the contrary, to my knowledge, every document requested by the commission from the Clinton administration was produced," Berger said in a statement to the AP.
Lanny Breuer, one of Berger's attorneys, said his client has offered to cooperate fully with the investigation but had not yet been interviewed by the FBI or prosecutors. Berger has been told he is the subject of the criminal investigation, Breuer said.
Berger served as Clinton's national security adviser for all of the president's second term and most recently has been informally advising Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites). Clinton asked Berger last year to review and select the administration documents that would be turned over to the commission.
The FBI searches of Berger's home and office occurred after National Archives employees told agents they believed they saw Berger place documents in his clothing while reading sensitive Clinton administration papers and that some documents were then noticed missing, officials said.
When asked, Berger said he returned some classified documents that he found in his office and all of the handwritten notes he had taken from the secure room, but could not locate two or three copies of the highly classified millennium terror report.
"In the course of reviewing over several days thousands of pages of documents on behalf of the Clinton administration in connection with requests by the Sept. 11 commission, I inadvertently took a few documents from the Archives," Berger said.
"When I was informed by the Archives that there were documents missing, I immediately returned everything I had except for a few documents that I apparently had accidentally discarded," he said.
Breuer said Berger believed he was looking at copies of the classified documents, not originals.
Berger was allowed to take handwritten notes but also knew that taking his own notes out of the secure reading room was a "technical violation of Archive procedures, but it is not all clear to us this represents a violation of the law," Breuer said.
Government and congressional officials familiar with the investigation, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the probe involves classified materials, said the investigation remains active and no decision has been made on whether Berger should face criminal charges.
The officials said the missing documents were highly classified, and included critical assessments about the Clinton administration's handling of the millennium terror threats as well as identification of America's terror vulnerabilities at airports to sea ports.
Berger testified at one of the commission's public hearings about the Clinton administration's approach to fighting terrorism. The former president answered the panel's questions at a private meeting.
The former national security adviser himself had ordered his anti-terror czar Richard Clarke in early 2000 to write the after-action report and has spoken publicly about how the review brought to the forefront the realization that al-Qaida had reached America's shores and required more attention.
Berger testified that during the millennium period, "we thwarted threats and I do believe it was important to bring the principals together on a frequent basis" to consider terror threats more regularly.
The missing documents involve two or three draft versions of the report as it was evolving and being refined by the Clinton administration, officials and lawyers say. The Archives is believed to have copies of some of the missing documents.
In the FBI search of his office, Berger also was found in possession of a small number of classified note cards containing his handwritten notes from the Middle East peace talks during the 1990s, but those are not a focus of the current criminal probe, officials and lawyers said.
Breuer said the Archives staff first raised concerns with Berger during an Oct. 2 review of documents that at least one copy of the post-millennium report he had reviewed earlier was missing. Berger was given a second copy that day, Breuer said.
Officials familiar with the investigation said Archives staff specially marked the documents and when the new copy and others disappeared, Archives officials called Clinton attorney Bruce Lindsey to report the disappearance.
Berger immediately returned all the notes he had taken, and conducted a search and located two copies of the classified documents on a messy desk in his office, Breuer said. An Archives official came to Berger's home to collect those documents but Berger couldn't locate the other missing copies, the lawyer said.
He retained counsel, and in January the FBI executed search warrants of a safe at Berger's home as well as his business office where he found some of the documents. Agents also failed to locate the missing documents.
Justice Department officials have told the Sept. 11 commission of the Berger incident and the nature of the documents in case commissioners wanted more information, officials said. The commission is expected to release its final report Thursday.
Congressional intelligence committees, however, have not been formally notified.
"The House Intelligence Committee has not been informed on the loss or theft of any classified intelligence information from the Archives, but we will follow up and get the information that is appropriate for the committee to have," the committee said Monday in a statement. "And if it has occurred, we should be informed. If there has been delay in getting the information to the committee we need to know why."
Berger is the second high-level Clinton-era official to face controversy over taking classified information home.
Former CIA (news - web sites) Director John Deutch was pardoned by Clinton just hours before Clinton left office in 2001 for taking home classified information and keeping it on unsecured computers at his home during his time at the CIA and Pentagon (news - web sites). Deutch was about to enter into a plea agreement for a misdemeanor charge of mishandling government secrets when the pardon was granted.
keep praying for her, PLEASE!
free dixie,sw
The most important arrival at Valley Forge, during the tempestuous winter of 1778 was that of the Baron Steuben, who arrived towards the latter part of February. He was a seasoned soldier from the old battle-fields of Europe, having served in the Seven Years' War, been aide-de-camp to the great Frederick, and connected with the quartermaster-general's department. Honors had been heaped upon him in Germany. After leaving the Prussian army he had been grand marshal of the court of the Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen, colonel in the circle of Suabia, lieutenant-general under the Prince Margrave of Baden, and knight of the Order of Fidelity; and he had declined liberal offers from the King of Sardinia and the Emperor of Austria. With an income of about three thousand dollars, chiefly arising from various appointments, he was living pleasantly in distinguished society at the German courts, and making occasional visits to Paris, when he was persuaded by the Count de St.-Germain, French Minister of War, and others of the French cabinet, to come out to America and engage in the cause they were preparing to defend. Their object was to secure for the American armies the services of an officer of experience and a thorough disciplinarian. Through their persuasions he resigned his several offices, and came out at forty-eight years of age, a soldier of fortune, to the rude fighting-grounds of America, to aid a half-disciplined people in their struggle for liberty. No certainty of remuneration was held out to him, but there was an opportunity for acquiring military glory; the probability of adequate reward should the young republic be successful; and it was hinted that, at all events, the French court would not suffer him to be a loser. As his means, on resigning his offices, were small, Beaumarchais furnished funds for his immediate expenses.The baron had brought strong letters from Dr. Franklin and Mr. Deane, our envoys at Paris, and from the Count St.-Germain. Landing at Portsmouth in New Hampshire, December 1, he had forwarded copies of his letters to Washington. "The object of my greatest ambition," writes he, "is to render your country all the service in my power, and to deserve the title of a citizen of America by fighting for the cause of your liberty. If the distinguished ranks in which I have served in Europe should be an obstacle, I had rather serve under your Excellency as a volunteer, than to be an object of discontent among such deserving officers as have already distinguished themselves among you.
"I would say, moreover," adds he, "were it not for the fear of offending your modesty, that your Excellency is the only person under whom, after having served under the King of Prussia, I could wish to pursue an art to which I have wholly given myself up."
By Washington's direction, the baron had proceeded direct to Congress. His letters procured him a distinguished reception from the President. A committee was appointed to confer with him. He offered his services as a volunteer, making no condition for rank or pay, but trusting, should he prove himself worthy and the cause be crowned with success, he would be indemnified for the sacrifices he had made, and receive such further compensation as he might be thought to merit.
The committee having made their report, the baron's proffered services were accepted, with a vote of thanks for his disinterestedness, and he was ordered to join the army at Valley Forge. That army, in its ragged condition and squalid quarters, presented a sorry aspect to a strict disciplinarian from Germany, accustomed to the order and appointments of European camps; and the baron often declared that under such circumstances no army in Europe could be kept together for a single month. The liberal mind of Steuben, however, made every allowance; and Washington soon found in him a consummate soldier, free from pedantry or pretension.
The evils arising from a want of uniformity in discipline and manceuvres throughout the army had long caused Washington to desire a well-organized inspectorship. He knew that the same desire was felt by Congress. Conway had been appointed to that office, but had never entered upon its duties. The baron appeared to be peculiarly well qualified for such a department. Washington determined, therefore, to set on foot a temporary institution of the kind. Accordingly he proposed to the baron to undertake the office of inspector-general. The latter cheerfully agreed, Two ranks of inspectors were appointed under him,--the lowest to inspect brigades, the highest to superintend several of these. Among the inspectors was a French gentleman of the name of Ternant, chosen not only for his intrinsic merit and abilities, but on account of his being well versed in the English as well as the French language, which made him a necessary assistant to the baron, who, at times, needed an interpreter. The gallant Fleury, to whom Congress had given the rank and pay of lieutenant-colonel, and who had exercised the office of aide-major in France, was soon after employed likewise as an inspector.
In a little while the whole army was under drill; for a great part, made up of raw militia, scarcely knew the manual exercise. Many of the officers, too, knew little of manceuvring, and the best of them had much to learn. The baron furnished his sub-inspectors with written instructions relative to their several functions. He took a company of soldiers under his immediate training, and, after he had sufficiently schooled it, made it a model for the others, exhibiting the manceuvres they had to practise.
It was a severe task at first for the aide-de-camp of the great Frederick to operate upon such raw materials. His ignorance of the language, too, increased the difficulty, where manceuvres were to be explained or rectified. He was in despair, until an officer of a New York regiment, Captain Walker, who spoke French, stepped forward and offered to act as interpreter. "Had I seen an angel from heaven," says the baron, "I could not have been more rejoiced." He made Walker his aide-de-camp, and from that time had him always at hand.
For a time there was nothing but drills throughout the camp; then gradually came evolutions of every kind. The officers were schooled as well as the men. The troops, says a person who was present in the camp, were paraded in a single line with shouldered arms, every officer in his place. The baron passed in front, then took the musket of each soldier in hand, to see whether it was clean and well polished, and examined whether the men's accoutrements were in good order.
He was sadly worried for a time with the militia; especially when any manceuvre was to be performed. The men blundered in their exercise; the baron blundered in his English; his French and German were of no avail; he lost his temper, which was rather warm, swore in all three languages at once, which made the matter worse, and at length called his aide to his assistance to help him curse the blockheads, as it was pretended, but, no doubt, to explain the manceuvre. (On one occasion, having exhausted all his German and French oaths, he vociferated to his aide-de-camp, Major Walker, "Viens, mon ami Walker,--viens, mon bon ami. Sacre--G--dam de gaucherie of dese badauts--je ne puis plus--I can curse dem no more." --Carden, "Anecdotes of the American War," p.341.)
Still the grand marshal of the court of Hohenzollern mingled with the veteran soldier of Frederick and tempered his occasional bursts of impatience; and he had a kind, generous heart, that soon made him a favorite with the men. His discipline extended to their comforts. He inquired into their treatment by the officers. He examined the doctors' reports, visited the sick, and saw that they were well lodged and attended.
He was an example, too, of the regularity and system he exacted. One of the most alert and indefatigable men in the camp, up at daybreak, if not before, whenever there were to be any important manceuvres, he took his cup of coffee and smoked his pipe while the servant dressed his hair, and by sunrise he was in the saddle, equipped at all points, with the star of his order of knighthood glittering on his breast, and was off to the parade alone, if his suite were not ready to attend him.
The good strong sense of the baron was evinced in the manner in which he adapted his tactics to the nature of the army and the situation of the country, instead of adhering with bigotry to the systems of Europe. His instructions were appreciated by all. The officers received them gladly and conformed to them. The men soon became active and adroit. The army gradually acquired a proper organization, and began to operate like a great machine; and Washington found in the baron an intelligent, disinterested, truthful coadjutor, well worthy of the badge he wore as a knight of the Order of Fidelity.
When they faced hardened British veterans in the battles that preceded Valley Forge, the Americans were at a disadvantage because they did not have a standard drill manual. When the new drill master, Baron von Steuben arrived in camp in February 1778 to train the army, he immediately recognized that Washington's men were committed to their cause, but needed more military order. Accordingly, Steuben explained to the dedicated citizen soldiers why a training program was necessary instead of forcing the soldiers to submit to the harsh discipline that ruled European armies of the day.
Von Steuben believed that success on the battlefield went hand in hand with a professional attitude. Before he began to teach the continental soldiers the new manual of arms, Steuben instilled in the boisterous men, the notion that a soldier's bearing echoed a respect for his trade and attention to the task at hand. According to Steuben, a soldier under orders must remain silent and obedient: he "... must not Stir his hands, blow his nose, or much less talk." Within a few months, the dutiful army at Valley Forge was marching with newfound precision and crisply executing Steuben's manual of arms.
These new military skills served Washington's veterans well. The Continental Army forced the British to retreat at the battle of Monmouth, New Jersey in June 1778, and fought with skill in the southern campaigns that led to the victory at Yorktown in 1781. The "relish for the trade of soldiering" that Steuben inspired in the men also enabled the army, despite continuing hardships and spiraling citizen apathy, to stick single-mindedly to their task until they secured independence in 1783.
The commands of the Steuben musket drill seem too slow and deliberate to modern ears to be of efficient use in a battle situation. However, through proper execution of the training commands, the soldiers became a well-synchronized unit. Speed came with practice. In the stress of battle, officers gave shortened combat commands, and Washington's men could fire coordinated volleys of musket fire every fifteen seconds.
1. Half-cock Firelock Soldier pulls musket cock back one notch and opens the steel (frizzen).
2. Handle Cartridge Soldier slaps cartridge box to settle the powder in the cartridges, tears open the cartridge with his teeth, and places the opened cartridge under his chin to protect it.
3. Prime Soldier places a small amount of powder in the pan.
4. Shut Pan Soldier shuts the steel to hold the powder in the pan and casts the musket about in order to place the cartridge in the barrel.
5. Charge with Cartridge Soldier dumps powder down the barrel and then places the paper-wrapped musket balls into the barrel.
6. Draw Rammer Soldier draws the ramrod out.
7. Ram Down Cartridge Soldier rams paper-wrapped musket balls down securely on top of the powder with the ramrod.
8. Return Rammer Soldier returns ramrod to its place beneath the barrel.
9. Shoulder Firelock Soldier holds musket steady on the left shoulder.
10. Poise Firelock Soldier places musket in the ready position.
11. Full-cock Firelock Soldier pulls musket cock back to second notch.
12. Take Aim Soldier levels musket.
13. Fire Fires musket.
1. Load Soldier loads musket using steps 1-9. From the shouldered firelock position, the officers can order the soldiers to charge, retreat, or fire.
If the officers want the soldiers to fire, the commands are:
2. Make Ready Soldier goes through poise position and pulls musket cock back to second notch.
3. Take Aim Soldier levels musket.
4. Fire Fires musket.
Soldiers routinely marched with their bayonets fixed to the ends of their muskets if they were expecting to see any action. Army officers of the day designed an off set bayonet which enabled a soldier to fire his musket with the bayonet attached. It was standard practice in the eighteenth century to use a menacing bayonet charge to force your enemy to retreat from the battlefield. In the same way that musket volleys were most effective when well timed, bayonet charges were more successful when executed with precision. Training at Valley Forge under von Steuben also increased the Continental Army's proficiency in bayonet tactics.
*The musket drill was designed for combat performance and should be respected as a legacy of the continental soldiers. This depiction of the drill is intended for educational purposes only. Historic and reproduction firearms should be treated with the same respect due modern weapons.
von Steuben Musket Drill, Training Sequence--Movie clip
von Steuben Musket Drill, Combat Sequence--Movie clip
Baron von Steuben recognized very quickly that the Americans did not defer to anyone simply because he had a noble title and wore epaulettes.... This meant treating them with respect, making them understand the reasons for orders, and leading by example while sharing their hardships.
If only todays politicians believed and practiced this philosophy.
Matthew Paul, regarding your 69, the attempt at moral equivalence perpetrated by Erica Steinbach vis-a-vis murdered Poles versus inconvenienced Germans has its current parallels:
Palestinian "refugees" are those (or descendants of those) Arabs who were told by their Arab brethren to get out of the line of fire so the Mother of All Jew Killings could go down--oops, those pesky Jews just wouldn't die.
Outrageous but true, Patrick (Go Cheney Yourself) Leahy would have us believe (as would Commissar of Revolution Gorgi Sorosonovabitch) that there is moral equivalence between seven-count-em-seven U.S. soldiers putting thongs on Achmed's head and Saddam putting three hundred thousand in mass graves after chopping, slicing, dicing, shredding, chipping, shooting, jabbing, stabbing, raping, and that sort of thing.
The Germans have a hole where a soul goes and so far its "thanks for playing" and "here's a nice parting gift" (the bird).
Japan played word games over its nonapology apology for WWII for decades and is still at the Clintonian-Poopi Goldberg stage of "gee, we're absolutely devastated if anyone took offense at that".
Poland should tell Germany, "Yes, we must get together on this: your lips, our ass."
Regarding Bergergate at 75, Deutch compromised 17,000 CIA files on his unsecure home computer.
Deutch picked Tenet as his replacement and went to a cushy job on Citibank's board.
Deutch was "investigated" by Nora Slatkin, DO, who did for CIA what Hazel O'Leary did for Energy.
Nora Slatkin was just relentless not and was brought onto the Citibank boardwalk by her "prey" Ivan Deutch.
Richard Miniter, Losing Bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's Failure's Unleashed Global Terror, Regnery, 2003, details how Monsoor Ijaz obtained offers of Bin Laden from Sudan which were refused by Clinton.
Clinton and Berger have tried to deny this.
ALOHA RONNIE has information on this.
If Clinton had put as much effort into getting bin Laden as he did Bill Gates and Elian Gonzalez, September 11, 2001, would have been just another crisp, fall day.
Faith is a good thing to hang on to. And we can all use the small blessings as they come. ;-)
LOL. The Germans aren't doing so good picking their friends lately.
Hi ct.
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