A Few of Fr's Finest....Every Day....11-14-02

JohnHuang2 and Billie

[daisyscarlett]

A Few of FR's Finest.....
......Every Day

FR is a Treasure Trove of talented, compassionate, patriotic, wonderful people who gather every day to discuss the latest news and issues; salute and support our military and our leaders;  tell a few jokes;  learn a new word;  write poetry;  pray for those in need;  and congratulate those who are deserving. Thank you, Jim Robinson, for giving us the vehicle in which we can express ourselves.

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   I can remember lurking when there were only a few regulars who posted, and now there are over 60,000 who have registered for posting privileges. The forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest November 11, 2001

So many people have written me since my original Veteran's Day Tribute, asking how they, or a loved one, could be included in that tribute. Since I can no longer add the photos to the body of the thread, I've been including them in additional posts as I received enough to make another collage.

Still that doesn't seem to be enough. I think there's never been a better nor more appropriate time to keep the faces of our own Veterans and Active Military in front of FReepers--every day! That's why I wanted to do yet another Daily Thread .....ABOUT FReepers .....and FOR FReepers. But not only about our Military FReepers; for all FReepers! Wouldn't it be nice to get to know a few of the other FReepers as well? That's why, in addition to seeing FR's Finest Military Personnel every day, I thought it might be fun to feature a different FReeper (or FReepers) each day. If you would like to be pictured, or know someone who would, please FReepmail me and we'll turn the spotlight - on YOU - for the day!

And do let me know if you'd like your picture added to the groups of Veterans/Active Military below. I will keep this page updated, and continue to add them to the comment section of the original Veteran's Day thread as well.

TOP: Logos, SwedeGirl's hubby, Neil E Wright, FallGuy, 1John, Sneakypete
MIDDLE:  T'wit, COB1, LadyX, Dick Bachert, 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub
BOTTOM:  YankeeinSC, Delta21, JoeSixPack1

TOP:  Bosniajmc, AFVetGal, Archy, A Navy Vet
MIDDLE:  4TheFlag, Aeronaut, 68Grunt, Xinga
BOTTOM:  Codger, AAABest, Clinton's A Liar, Duke809, dcwusmc

TOP:  mc5cents, Norb2569, LBGA's son, VanJenerette
MIDDLE:  Jim Robinson, KJenerette, davidosborne, KG9Kid
BOTTOM:  gwmoore, Equality7-2521, SAMWolf

TOP:  porgygirl, Phil V., MudPuppy, NorCoGOP
MIDDLE:  RaceBannon, OneidaM, rdb3, jwTexian
BOTTOM:  USMC Vet, TheMayor, Vineyard, rhododogma

We now have eleven groups of veterans/active military; we will post each group of three or four twice a week, with thumbnail/links of the remaining seven or eight groups on each thread. Click on any of the thumbnails below to see the group full-size.

         

GROUP 5A: TOP:  spectr17, RightOnline, SERE_Doc, Tet68. MIDDLE:  FutureSnakeEater, RightOnline's wife, CIApilot, Clamper1797. BOTTOM:  usmcobra, onedoug, DiverDave, Joe6-pack.

GROUP 6A: TOP:  g'nad, AgThorn's son Justin, SLB, AgThorn's son Brett. MIDDLE:  fish70, razorback-bert, CheneyChick, Leroy S Mort, Mark17. BOTTOM:  Terry's Take, Taxman, DinkyDau.

GROUP 7A: TOP:  ValerieUSA's son Grant, SK1Thurman, kd5cts, RangerVetNam, dansangel and .45man's son-in-law Tony.BOTTOM:  rangerX, Old China Hand, Trish, Howlin's dad, Mustang.

GROUP 8A: TOP: ohioWfan's son, MamaBear's father-in-law, MamaBear's dad, ladtx. MIDDLE:  The Mayor's niece, M.Kehoe, Beach_Babe's son-in-law. BOTTOM:  deadhead's dad, HiJinx, Severa's hubby, viligantcitizen's granddad.

      

GROUP 9A: TOP: Q6-God, Scan59, Mama Bear and JKPhoto's son, ofMagog. MIDDLE:  Big'ol_freeper, JustAmy's great uncle, Prodigal Son. BOTTOM:  JustAmy's husband, JustAmy's brother-in-law, JustAmy's brother.

GROUP 10A: TOP: dakine's wife, MeeknMing's dad, Auntbee's nephew, MilitiaMan7, AlasBabylon. BOTTOM:  Joe Brower, Temple Owl, Temple Owl's wife, dutchess' dad, Aomagrat.

GROUP 11A: TOP: ladtx #2 son; DiverDave's twin Don; petuniasevan and husband poorman; Mustard; ladtx #1 son. BOTTOM: AlamoGirl's brother Floyd; AG's dad; AG's brother Jim (inset); WVNan's husband; ladtx' Aunt Eva.

                     

They still don't 'get it'

by JohnHuang2

The lawmakers were tough -- real tough --

on the Bush administration, chiefly it's plans on dealing with Saddam Hussein, who faced a Friday deadline on whether to accept or reject a unanimous U.N. Security Council resolution, sponsored jointly by the U.S. and Britain, calling on Iraq to disarm or face "serious consequences", a euphemism for military action. (Saddam accepted Wednesday).

One after another, angry lawmakers rose to the floor, denouncing -- in language which, even by Washington standards, seemed unduly over-the-top -- what they deemed Bush's 'reckless' 'aventurism', his impetuous penchant for unilateralist, diplomacy-be-damned belligerent foreign policy and jingoism. Adding fuel to the fire: A New York Times report Sunday that Bush had tentatively approved Pentagon plans for striking Iraq, using 200,000 to 250,000 troops in a coordinated land, sea and air assault.

Watching the proceedings, it's like I'd been transported to some strange, parallel universe, a world where Tuesday's GOP election resurgence, which gave triumphant Republicans control over the Senate as well as the House, had never happened. It was if Republicans had lost, rather than netted, 2 Senate seats, or Democrats had recaptured control of the Speaker's Chair in the House.

'New tone'? Ha! What 'new tone'?

One high-ranking lawmaker excoriated Bush, calling his policy towards Iraq nothing more than 'a pack of of lies' and 'falsehood', motivated by 'ill intentions.'

The war resolution "does not have the minimum of fairness, objectivity and balance," he lividly told fellow lawmakers in a bitter, blistering speech, adding that Bush's take-no-prisoners approach 'flagrantly ignores' painstaking progress achieved with Iraq "in past years."

I thought to myself, 'man, O man, don't these people get it? Heck, even the U.N. got the message in the form of that U.S.-backed Iraq ultimatum, I thought. Sheesh, we can get even Syria -- still on Foggy Bottom's list of terrorist nations -- to endorse Bush's tough line against Saddam, but we can't get these clowns to budge an inch?

All right, all right; maybe I'm reading too much into Tuesday's midterm results, and perhaps it's ridiculous for me to expect the Iraqi Parliament -- oops, did I mention that by 'lawmakers' I meant Iraqi "lawmakers"? That I was merely talking about the Iraqi "Parliament" all along? -- to knuckle under.

Which brings up an interesting point, in a weird sort of way.

For those who think elections don't matter a lick, that Republicans and Democrats are but 2 sides of the same coin, imagine (if you will) had November 5th gone the other way; imagine a tsunami sweeping Democrats into office Election Day, with the Donkey Party ruinously capturing control of the House and padding its majority in the Senate -- shouldn't be too hard to do, given the bloodbath the White House typically faces during its first midterm elections, costing the party an average of 30 House and 8 Senate seats; imagine waking up Wednesday morning to learn that Nancy Pelosi, the wingnut from San Francisco, was poised to become Speaker of the House, a heart beat away from the presidency (Gephardt had planned to resign his leadership post to run for president, regardless).

What a tragic, calamitous defeat for the White House: A seismic shift in power in a time of war to a party whose seething aversion to military conflict is equaled only by the loathing it harbors for the U.S. military itself.

The world, not just the U.S., would feel the reverberations, the political shock waves spawned as a newly emboldened anti-war party, overwhelmed by a sense of vindication, boisterously seized the reigns.

A landslide for Democrats would mean the U.N. Iraq resolution would still be languishing in the Security Council, headed for certain defeat. President Bush, his prestige in tatters, would no longer command respect on the global stage, his toppled influence a smoldering rubble on the ground.

Elections don't matter, eh?

If that's true, then why was Saddam Hussein secretly rooting for Nancy Pelosi's team?

Think about it, if Saddam could vote, which Party do you suppose he'd prefer: The Party led by one George W. Bush, or the party ruled by a Leninist crackpot, a flag-burning 60s throw-back who idolizes Fidel Castro?

Vice President Dick Cheney or Albert Gore -- which one gets Saddam's vote-of-confidence, as it were?

Condoleezza Rice or Jim McDermott?

Colin Powell or David Bonior?

Donald Rumsfeld or 'Barbra' Streisand?

Any questions?

Didn't think so.

Anyway, that's...

My two cents...

THIS WEEK'S THREADs

11-11-02 Veteran's Day
11-12-02 Temple Owl
11-13-02 Mo1 and The Freeople Thread

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

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[lodwick]

Ariel Sharon, comes to Washington for meetings with George W. For the

state dinner, Laura decides to bring in a special kosher chef and have

a truly Jewish meal.

At the dinner that night, the first course is served and it is matzoh

ball soup. George W. looks at this and after learning what it is

called he tells an aide that he can't eat such a gross and

strange-looking brew. The aide says that Mr. Sharon will be insulted

if he doesn't at least taste it.

Not wanting to cause any trouble, after all he ate sheep's eye in

honor of his Arab guests, George W. gingerly lowers his spoon into the

bowl and retrieves a piece of matzoh ball and some broth. He

hesitates, then swallows and a grin appears on his face. He digs right

in and finishes the whole bowl.

"That was delicious," he says to Sharon. "Do the Jews eat any other

part of the matzoh or just the balls?"

[LadyX]

How exquisitely beautiful, Valerie!
You always amaze me with your composition and lighting in every photograph you take.
Many of us specialize in landscapes so distant one must use a magnifying glass to view them, and grimaces and thumbovers..:))

[LadyX]

You have at least one person laughing, loddy..:)))

[lodwick]

You're

[Feiny]

http://www.madblast.com/view.cfm?type=FunFlash&display=1610

[Mama_Bear]

Hi, lodwick. :-)

Don't ask me why. ;-)

Ummmmmmm.........I'll ask. Why? ;-)

That wouldn't be our louiewolf, would it?

[lodwick]

Afternoon out there!

[Mama_Bear]

Afternoon, lodwick. Hope all is well in your corner of the world. It is a grey day here. The first of many to come this winter. We had our first bad fog of the season this morning.

[ru4liberty]

You do the most incredible work. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.

[GailA]

[lodwick]

Glorious weather here in CenTex - stunningly beautiful. You guys be careful out there in whatever-the-name of that fog is - the pic I found of it surely looked like deadly driving condtions. Yikes.

Bad news on the Turkey Day trip to the coast - family events here, not there, have made me postpone the left coast trip until early to mid spring '03. ;-(

[Mudboy Slim]

Now we're talkin', squawkin', and dancin' a jig...MUD

[Mama_Bear]

Glorious weather here in CenTex - stunningly beautiful. You guys be careful out there in whatever-the-name of that fog is

Tule fog. :-)

- the pic I found of it surely looked like deadly driving condtions. Yikes.

Yes, we can expect one or two massive pile-ups this winter. I don't drive in it.

Bad news on the Turkey Day trip to the coast - family events here, not there, have made me postpone the left coast trip until early to mid spring '03. ;-(

:-( Well, just be sure that you do get out here one of these days, okay? Guess the trip to the boonies will just have to be put on hold. Although the weather will be much better for it in the spring. ;-)

[lodwick]

It's one of those days...

[JulieRNR21]

That's darling! What a cute bunch of wise owls!

WHOOOO created such a splendid graphic?

As usual JH2 your 2 cents article is priceless.

[Aquamarine]

Can you imagine what the crew could do dividing us into two teams and having a Snowman/girl Contest outside your digs?! Utilize their abilities? Now let's see - - what designs might they create - -

How's this?

[FreeTheHostages]

That's a good list, but you forgot:

No matter how bad your headache is, do not under any circumstances attempt to remove your head.

[ofMagog]

Chief Engineer larryjohnson and his Mighty Massive Mutated X#T44E Snowball Thrower and Pickled Popcorn Popper is on my side, as is humblegunner (who may not hit anything but can scream the loudest), feinswinesuksass, and WVNan. Scuttlebutt can referee and provide libations.

By the way, per the rules in a knife fight, you have just been hit by 1436 super giant sized snowballs. Several larger ones are rolling down the hills, picking up snow and getting bigger as they roll. Plus, there are several of my spies on your team, one of whom is relatively sane.

[Billie]

Daisy, thank you for finding some illustrations and posting John's Essay again. Just love having one of your essays debut here every week, John!

Nan, thank you for finding those SIX cute owls - it seemed only fitting to put the Saint Louie) up there, since he and the King (John) have such fun ribbing each other. :)

[Billie]

Thanks, rd - we have a lot of fun with all these 'hostess' graphics. I have to say that I've been sorta copycatting Louie, with making the critters 'talk'. He's done several, and they're so funny!