H&I* Fires, 1 May 2007

Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite.

You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...

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Interesting day in history:

1654 Parliament imposes the Pale on Ireland: The Irish confined west of the Shannon. While itself not the definitive source of the term, "Beyond the Pale" this is an exemplar of what the phrase means - though the Irish might object to certain details of it...
1707 Parliament forms the United Kingdom of Great Britain
1857 Filibuster William Walker surrenders to USN, Nicaragua
1866 Fenian armed schooner Friend takes a British ship off Canada
1869 Folies-Bergere opens in Paris, a beacon for soldiers in two world wars. W-K's and Maggie's sistahs!
1898 George Dewey says, "You may fire when ready, Mr. Gridley"
1919 U.S. anti-radical "May Day Raids"
1960 Francis Gary Powers' U-2 spy plane shot down over Sverdlovsk
2003 GWB declares "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq. And he's going to get his nose rubbed in that today by Ms. Pelosi and Mssr Reid. What he said was accurate. We had accomplished the mission of taking Saddam out of power. We just didn't realize at the time just how much of an intermediate, vice terminal, mission statement that was going to be. -the Armorer

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Speaking of vetoes... Madame Speaker (as of this posting) has not yet sent a signed copy of the bill in question to the President. This prompts a note from Representative Boehner:

NOTE for Leno, Letterman, Conan, and other interested parties: Now we've heard everything. The Speaker recommended the conference report on the war funding bill last week, voted for it last week, and could have sent it to the President as early as last Thursday when the Senate passed it (the House was in session). But NOW she wants to read it?? Wow.

Snerk. Add time management issues and some more foot-in-mouth disease issues for the rookie Speaker. Perhaps if she spent less time auditioning for Secretary of State (last I checked, an Executive Branch position) and more time as Speaker of the House, third in line for the Oval Office, she might have time to get these things done. -the Armorer

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And, while Pelosi fiddles, democracy burns.

What's in your wallet? Because you are going to need every penny before the summer is out paying for gasoline. You can thank a few people for that. One of which his Hugo who, seeming to do what.everyone thinks they should do, paid off his debt to the IMF. Bully for him. He also nationalized oil and is crashing the Venezuelan stock market. One reason why you are paying, paying, paying for gasoline.

At the next BushCo/Chimpy Mc Haliburton/Cheney love fest, I know who I am voting to invade next.

On a serious note, if you are not able to make it to the infamous Milblog Conference this weekend and you are in the Kansas City area, On May 4th, Talking With Heroes is in town and we'd like you to join Soldiers' Angels and Talking with Heroes at Indian Creek Community Center in Olathe, KS starting at 6pm.

Bob Calvert will be recording his show for broadcast on the internet as well as on Dishnetwork Altitude Sports. Several returning marines from 24 Marine and others will give interviews. A troop support fair will be occuring at the site. Please join us.
-Kat

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A victim of his own popularity? Reports potential for al-Masri's (Zarqawi's replacement) death.

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The Milblog Conference looms. Here's the sked.

In three days, the 2007 MilBlog Conference begins. All events will take place at The Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. Schedule of events below:

May 4
8:00 - 11:00
Cocktail Reception
F. Scott Fitzgerald Lobby - 2nd Floor
Winners of the 2006 MilBloggies will receive their awards
Don't forget to bring a baby gift

May 5
8:00 - 4:30
Conference
F. Scott Fitzgerald Ballroom - 2nd Floor

Panel topics can be found here.

Unlike last year, *ahem*, we'll start on time Saturday morning.

The webcast will be available at MilBlogs on Saturday morning for up to 1,000 concurrent users. Mrs. G will be moderating the chat room.

Don't be shy - come up and introduce yourself. I'm the very large grey-bearded fellow in the Imperial Armorer polo shirt. I'll be the one *not* being mobbed by legions of adoring groupies. -the Armorer

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Where's "Deep Throat" for this one? Where's the heroic MSM reporter who will take on... Senator Feinstein? Or is it only a story when that idiot Duke Cunningham is doing it? -the Armorer

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I'm not much of a McCain fan, but this isn't the worst thing I've ever heard. Sort of getting back to what the UN was originally, or a new NATO. I'm sure many will find fault with it, like they found fault with the exclusionary and 'colonialist' bent of the original UN. But it does go toward 'feeding the bulldog'. It's interesting, even if it isn't enough to get me to want to vote for McCain in the primaries.
--ry
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Ry having stolen my thunder on McCain's "League of Democracies" idea, I'll provide some value added by throwing excerpts up here. Like Ry, I don't hold a brief for McCain as a candidate, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have some good ideas to go with his bad ones (McCain-Feingold, anyone?)

Hoover Excerpts: An Enduring Peace Built on Freedom

Now it is our generation’s turn to build. It is our generation’s turn to restore and replenish the faith in our nation and our principles. We have suffered terrible attacks at the hands of a new enemy that relentlessly seeks our destruction. New dangers have arisen, great powers are emerging and seek to shift the international balance of power, and we are in the midst of two wars whose outcome will shape our future. Here at home there is discord and doubt, and our famous optimism as a people has begun to flicker. It must not. Ever since Jamestown , we have displayed courage in the face of adversity. We are a hardy, spirited and steadfast people, a nation of pioneers and inveterate problem solvers. Today, America remains the most attractive of nations, where people the world over wish to visit, study, live, start businesses, invest and look for inspiration in our values and our freedoms. That is why I believe we are about to enter our greatest and proudest years as a nation.

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Almost two centuries ago James Madison declared that the “great struggle of the Epoch” was “between liberty and despotism.” Many thought that this struggle ended with the Cold War, but it didn’t. It took on new guises, such as the modern terrorist network, an enemy of progress that has turned our technological advances to its own use, and in rulers trying to rebuild 19th-century autocracies in a 21st century world. Today the talk is of the war on terror, a war in which we must succeed. But the war on terror cannot be the only organizing principle of American foreign policy. International terrorists capable of inflicting mass destruction are a new phenomenon. But what they seek and what they stand for are as old as time. They comprise part of worldwide political, economic, and philosophical struggle between the future and the past, between progress and reaction, and between liberty and despotism. Upon the outcome of that struggle depends our security, our prosperity, and our democratic way of life.

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Back in 1947, just a year into the Cold War, the Truman administration launched a massive overhaul of the nation’s foreign policy, defense, and intelligence agencies to meet new challenges. Today, we must do the same to meet the challenges of the 21st century. I will have much more to say about this in the future but our needs are clear in the organization, skills, and capabilities needed to prevail in the conflict with violent extremists: an intelligence community that is able to collect and analyze information on and conduct operations against our enemies; a public diplomacy effort that makes our case to the world effectively; a diplomatic corps that understands “stability” does not mean supporting dictatorships; foreign aid programs that foster good governance; generals that understand and learn from past wars and apply those lessons to the future; defense procurement that is transparent, accountable and effective; and civilian defense leadership that is held accountable for results and provides the resources necessary to achieve results. We must never again launch a military operation with too few troops to complete the mission and build a secure, stable, and democratic peace. When we fight a war, we must fight to win.

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Today we need to revive that vital democratic solidarity. We need to renew the terms of our partnership and strike a new grand bargain for the future. We Americans must be willing to listen to the views and respect the collective will of our democratic allies. Like all other nations, we reserve the sovereign right to defend our vital national security when and how we deem necessary. But our great power does not mean we can do whatever we want whenever we want, nor should we assume we have all the wisdom, knowledge and resources necessary to succeed. When we believe international action is necessary, whether military, economic, or diplomatic, we must work to persuade our democratic friends and allies that we are right. But in return, we must be willing to be persuaded by them. To be a good leader, America must be a good ally.

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…We should go further and start bringing democratic peoples and nations from around the world into one common organization, a worldwide League of Democracies. This would not be like the universal-membership – and failed -- “ League of Nations ” of Woodrow Wilson but much more like what Theodore Roosevelt envisioned: like-minded nations working together in the cause of peace. The new League of Democracies would form the core of an international order of peace based on freedom. It could act where the UN fails to act, to relieve human suffering in places like Darfur . It could join to fight the AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa and fashion better policies to confront the crisis of our environment. It could provide unimpeded market access to those who share the values of economic and political freedom, an advantage no state-based system could attain. It could bring concerted pressure to bear on tyrants in Burma or Zimbabwe , with or without Moscow ’s and Beijing ’s approval. It could unite to impose sanctions on Iran and thwart its nuclear ambitions. It could provide support to struggling democracies in Ukraine and Serbia and help countries like Thailand back on the path to democracy. ..

…If I am elected president, I will call a summit of the world’s democracies in my first year to seek the views of my democratic counterparts and begin exploring the practical steps necessary to realize this vision.

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…Today as in the past, our interests are inextricably linked to the global progress of our ideals. The American people have known instinctively for two centuries that we are safer when the world is more democratic. We have a duty to ourselves to be true to those beliefs, to use our great power wisely on behalf of freedom…

I have observed before that the UN is more accurately described as the United Governments. When Pat Hynes, who is McCain's web-guy sent this to me - I sent a note back...

"rulers trying to rebuild 19th-century autocracies in a 21st century world"

More accurately, it's "trying to rebuild 14th Century autocracies, armed with 21st Century weapons, in a 21st century world.

Powerline weighs in here.

Captain Ed holds forth here.

McCain's website will have/has more, here. -the Armorer

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