I miss the Knox

OK, perhaps not-so-much. No, I don't want them back or want to build more - I just have good memories...I think.

That being said - time does funny things with memories. Sure, the 5/54" was a maintenance nightmare and a 1,200 lb steam powered ship was, well, you remember. The SH-2 was a fun and handy, but limited helo. Funny though, I do in some way miss the old ASROC.

Especially some of the fun things it could carry (though not the inspections that came with it).

Anyway. It wasn't all that exciting - though a single screw ship makes you a good driver. Lots of ships with lots of underway time gave you lots of good drivers. At least they had their torpedo tubes internal (easier to sink you ship if they explode that way, ahem) and didn't have the external triple mount MK-32.

Deconstructing Senator Biden

There is plenty of panting out there about what Sen. Biden said: something the is of little shock to those who know the Senator and the Left in general.

“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said. “I mean, that's a storybook, man.”

Let's take that apart.
"..first mainstream African-American.." - He is may be one of the few real African Americans out there. His father was from Africa. His mother was from America. He is not, however, and African American as Sen. Biden meant it. As a matter of fact, he is, literally, as White as Black. Just a fact. I thought only the Klan believed in the one drop rule. Senator Obama has less of a connection toexperienceiance of most all Americans of African extraction in the U.S. His father or any other part of his family has a connection to slavery as it was practiced in the New World. He grew up in Indonesia and Hawaii. He knew about as much discrimination growing up as a White kid growing up in Indonesia and Hawaii. And yes, if you are White, you get plenty of grief as a kid. I know, I had to raise mine there for a few years.

"..who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," - I am almost without words. Articulate, bright, clean. If I said something like that about one of my Sailors whose father was from Kenya I would probably be relieved at worst, in front of the First Flag Officer in the Chain of Command most likely, and rolled out of my present UIC early at best. Benjamin Banneker, G.W. Carver, MLK, Bill Cosby, Justice Thomas, Bill Clinton just to name a few off the top of my head. Senator or not, neither Senator Obama or Senator Biden (or me for that matter) aren't fit to hold the horse of any of those men. Well, maybe the last one.

“I mean, that’s a storybook, man.” - Senator Obama is a well educated, solid, though very Left, politician. Almost garden variety at this stage of the game. "Storybook?" Only if you are telling a story about a standard issue upper-middle class kid who went to the Ivy League and became a college prof and a politician.

This whole thing tells us nothing about Sen. Obama - but what it does tell us is a lot we already knew about the establishment Left politicians who run the Democrat Party. They have a paternacondescendingdsending attitude towards minorities and take them and their vote for granted; because it is. In the 90-95% range every time. They have little respect for those who happily stay on the plantation.

Yea, I wrote that. I come from an old-line plantation family, I know it when I see it; from both sides.

She sings for me

And Lex, Eagle1, and Chap as well. Don't forget Ninme with the FleetAux. I don't think Bubblehead has joined the party - nor Skippy - but at least I know Skippy will watch her ....

Oh, mine is 15" HappySlip.

Carnival of Hyporcricy

Zombietime is a national treasure. Getting tired of all those Lefty bumperstickers on a SUV? This will make you wish you thought of it first.

Senator Chutzpah

This is a serious person? I have heard of arbitrary timetables that have no root in policy - but this is just from another world.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), toughening her tone during a second day of campaigning in Iowa, accused President Bush of trying to pass the problems in Iraq on to the next president and described his actions as "the height of irresponsibility."

"The president has said this is going to be left to his successor. He has said that on more than one occasion," Clinton said during a town hall meeting here Sunday morning. "I really resent it. This was his decision to go to war."

Interesting concept. Perhaps she should discuss it with here hubby concerning this.

---

Hey! Great minds and all should go get some gefite fish together!

The Sailors of the future....

....will be just like the Sailors now. I guess. If you haven't been around Sailors in awhile - or never served - the concepts of PQS, standing watch, and how exactly Sailors communicate may be concepts not very firm in your mind.

Like Bubblehead says, this is the best Sailor Viral - period. The best part is the Sailor to English translator about halfway through.

Yes, it is like that. A little less if a female is in the room - but not much less. Required viewing. The whole series is here. It helps if you have spent some time on a submarine or have stood any kind of engineering watch - but the conversation is about right for any Midwatch.

Lobbyist overdose

I think this has about more ill-informed opinion by a very powerful person per paragraph that I have read in a long time.

“Shipbuilding, shipbuilding. Getting the numbers of the fleet up,” said Gene Taylor, the Democratic representative who counts among his constituents Northrop Grumman’s sprawling Ingalls shipyard here on the Gulf of Mexico. “Numbers do matter.”

Taylor, ranking member of the House Armed Services projection forces subcommittee...

Yes, numbers are important. With even a steady-state ship building budget, to have more hulls you have to control costs. Can we agree?

Taylor noted that the DDG 1000 is too far along to effect changes in its power source — construction of the first two ships will be ordered in 2007 — but he is looking squarely at the follow-on design planned by the Navy, the CG(X) cruiser variant of the DDG design. The service plans to order its first CG(X) in 2011.

“That’s still in the mix,” Taylor said of the CG(X).

“So one of my challenges — and I feel pretty confident that I’ll have the assistance of Congressman Bartlett on the Republican side — is to see that that generation of ships and all subsequent generations of ships are nuclear-powered.”

I am not a nuke, but still. There are HUGE costs involved with a nuclear powered ship. HUGE. How are you going to get your numbers if you want the next cruiser to be a nuke? The math simply isn't there.

Then again, you have this - speaking of DDG-1000.

Taylor emphasized he too would focus on building up the Navy’s fleet. Asked if he supported the Navy’s planned seven-ship buy for DDG 1000, Taylor said “I think we can do better.”

“As the ships perform — they’re magnificently made, they perform magnificently — as the Navy sees these assets my hunch is they’re going to ask for more and I plan on being in position to help them get more,” he said.

I want you to read that again.

How can you say that something is "magnificently made" or that "they perform magnificiently" when one hasn't even been built yet?

Rep. Taylor is one of the better Democrats. Heck, I would probably vote for him if given the chance. What happened? He should know this cold. Someone give this good man a proper brief!!! Sigh.

Hat tip YN3.

The dark side of green

Man, that cluebat hurts when you don't expect it. Spiked with truth: ouch.

Hat tip Chap.

Moonbat weekend asshattery

Age of Hooper is the place to go to see all the things you did not see about the weekend Moonbat festival. Puppets, Communists, Anti-Semites - all the good stuff. Go there to see it all.

Sunday Funnies

But wait....today is a double scoop of fun!

Have you been checking in on the fun over at Davos? Well, just a 106,000 or so Ohio votes away from being the CINC - look who the Junior Senator from Mass. has been hanging out with on Day 4? He is such a patriot.

And who are these wonderful men he is sharing the podium with?

Abdil Abd al Mahdi: Iraqi VP.

Mohammed Khatami: Former Iranian Pres.

Javier Solana Madariaga: Socialist Sec. Gen of the EU.

I bet Vice President al-Mahdi is glad this isn't the bunch he is playing bridge with tonight....

What a gaggle.

Oh, and you know Senator Kerry is standing up for America.

“When we walk away from global warming, Kyoto, when we are irresponsibly slow in moving toward AIDS in Africa, when we don’t advance and live up to our own rhetoric and standards, we set a terrible message of duplicity and hypocrisy,” Kerry said.

And thanks to Powerline, we know that the walked the walk.

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 105th Congress - 1st Session

Vote Date: July 25, 1997, 11:37 AM

Question: On the Resolution (s.res.98 )

Declares that the United States should not be a signatory to any protocol to, or other agreement regarding, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992, at negotiations in Kyoto in December 1997 or thereafter which would: (1) mandate new commitments to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the Annex 1 Parties, unless the protocol or other agreement also mandates new specific scheduled commitments to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions for Developing Country Parties within the same compliance period; or (2) result in serious harm to the U.S. economy.

YEAs 95
NAYs 0
Not Voting 5

Kerry (D-MA), Yea

Who's "duplicity and hypocrisy"? Like BLACKFIVE says; he isn't a traitor. Nope. Great examples at HotAir; praise AllahPundit, the video at the end is must see video.

Hillary sings!!!

My, how deep your voice is!

Hey, I can't see all that well either - but I just stand and don't sing with the anthem.

She needs to brush up on the lyrics a tad. The sound man may want to find a new job; in a new country; under a new name.

Give 4 to the Marines

... and see what they can do with it.

The Proteus is 100 feet long, 50 feet between the outsides of the twin hulls, and is powered by two 355 horsepower Cummins marine diesels. It displaces 12 tons fully loaded. Fuel is stored in the flexible pontoons, and the vessel, Conti says, has a range of thousands of miles.

It can carry 2 tons of cargo, and can be operated by a crew of two.

The cabin, which sleeps four, can be lowered into the water -- "like a helicopter landing," Conti said -- and sail off on its own.

Don't laugh. It may look funny, but it has some characteristics that may be of use. Twin Cummins - that is reliablity and affordability. I wonder what the max range, max endurance and max sustainable speeds are? Mine Hunter capabilities? SPECOPS? Mind boggles. Might be useless - but it is worth the look, a close look if there is a way to engineer a method of folding in the "legs" so that it was somewhat air transportable.

Anyway, I love this stuff - and I'm kind of strange in that way. I also think we should have few USMC C-130 floatplanes in the mix...but that is just me.

Hat tip; reader Andrew.

The price of freedom; personalized

Blogger JR Saltzman (AKA LumberjackInaDesert) was injured back in DEC by an IED. He puts the price in perspective beyond the 2-D pictures and platitudes.

Please remember this when you think about freedom. This isn't a dream, this isn’t some fictional story about patriotism, this isn't some story I'm writing to be a hero. This is my life here at Walter Reed. I am the true cost of freedom. Welcome to my life.

Stop by and pay him a visit this weekend.

Battle or Haifa Street - 24 JAN 07

Via BLACKFIVE - a good demo of US and Iraqi in action.

3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division and the 6th Iraqi Army Division. They miss you Watada.

JPD wears #72 on his New Orleans Aints shirt

Yep; I bet Skippy does too.

Patrick Dewael, the Belgian minister of the Interior, has forbidden the wearing of football shirts displaying the numbers 18 and 88. According to the Liberal minister the number 18 stands for “Adolf Hitler” and the number 88 for “Heil Hitler.” A is the 1st letter of the alphabet, H the 8th.

Paul Belien makes exactly the point that came to mind.

The numbers 37 (Che Guevara) or 13 (Mao) are not forbidden. Neither are the popular T-shirts with Che Guevara’s portrait.

72 has to be next.

Hat tip Brussels Journal.

Fullbore Friday

USS Intrepid. No, not the big girl, the first one. All 60' of her.

Intrepid and Syren set sail 2 February and arrived off Tripoli 5 days later. However, bad weather delayed the operation until 16 February. That evening Syren took station outside the harbor and launched her boats to stand by for rescue work. At 7 o'clock Intrepid entered the harbor and 2 1/2 hours later was alongside Philadelphia. When hailed, they claimed to be traders who had lost their anchor in the late gale, and begged permission to make fast to the frigate till morning. Guards suddenly noticed the ketch still had her anchors and gave the alarm.[1] Leaving a small force commanded by Surgeon Lewis Heermann on board Intrepid, Decatur led 60 of his men to the deck of the frigate. A brief struggle, conducted without firing a gun, gave the Americans control of the vessel enabling them to set her ablaze. Decatur, the last man to leave the burning frigate, remained on board Philadelphia until flames blazed from the hatchways and ports of her spar deck. When he finally left the ship, her rigging and tops were afire. Shore batteries opened up on Intrepid as she escaped only to be answered from abandoned Philadelphia when her guns discharged by the heat of the conflagration.

When Lord Nelson, then blockading Toulon, heard of Intrepid he is said to have called it "the most bold and daring act of the age."

Good enough for Lord Nelson, good enough for Fullbore Friday. And yes, I like out ships to be named Intrepid, Decatur, and Preble - and not Stennis, Carter, Ford etc....

A history lesson for Sen. Webb

We will have none of this "Cafeteria Eisenhowerism" inside these lifelines.

I am feeling like a cheeky monkey today, so I am going to send you to truthout.org to read the Junior Senator from VA's response to the SOTU, but let's focus on his Eisenhower quote.

As I look at Iraq, I recall the words of former general and soon-to-be President Dwight Eisenhower during the dark days of the Korean War, which had fallen into a bloody stalemate. "When comes the end?" asked the General who had commanded our forces in Europe during World War Two. And as soon as he became President, he brought the Korean War to an end.

Let's not cherry pick history (the Korean War never ended BTW, but I won't quibble, I know what he means) - let's see what then-General Eisenhower had to say on the 2nd Anniversary of D-Day.


Want the transcript?

Two years ago on D-day, the American soldier again proved his outstanding worthiness as a fighting man. No obstacle could stop him. No enemy could withstand his outstanding courage, determination, and will to win. We have yet to complete the job, he so well advanced at such great cost; for victory in war is barren until a secure peace has been established. Young men who have not yet done their share must now come forward to help bear the burden. May the memory of what the fighting man accomplished inspire in us a high resolve to see the job through. We, whose strength did so much to end the shooting war cannot afford to become laggard now. That we owe to every man who fell on D-day and so many other fields throughout the world.

I wonder what "Progressive Virginians" would think?

Let me help Senator Webb out. Perhaps he should try this on for size.

As I look at Iraq, I recall the words of former general and soon-to-be President Dwight Eisenhower during the years right after WWII when so much more needed to be done to ensure a lasting peace. Europe had been split in two by the forces of Communism. "Young men who have not yet done their share must now come forward to help bear the burden." asked the General, "We, whose strength did so much to end the shooting war cannot afford to become laggard now."

Maybe next speech.

Hat tip Jonah.

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BTW, click the titlebar of the post or here and give a 5-star vote for President Eisenhower's YouTube video. He deserves it.

Eating the soul of a child: Part II

No electric boogaloo for this one. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. You simply do not do this if you have any real moral center. You don't do this to a child.

At a festival that features several films with sexual content, including full male nudity and a documentary about bestiality, a southern Gothic tale that includes the rape of a young girl is causing the biggest stir.

"Hounddog" is the story of Lewellen, a girl played by 12-year-old Dakota Fanning, who is growing up in the 1960s South. She is a free- spirit obsessed with Elvis Presley and has little supervision by her abusive father and alcoholic grandmother.
...
Kampmeier said it took her a decade to get the film made, largely because of the rape scene, but cutting it was a compromise she was unwilling to make.

"This issue is so silenced in our society. There are a lot of women who are alone with this story," she said.

"When you're shooting a film, it's the images you line up next to each other that create a story," Kampmeier said. "If you have a hand hitting the ground, Dakota screaming 'stop' and you see a zipper unzip _ that creates a rape."

She is a child, a daughter, before she is an actress.

The screenplay calls for Fanning's character to be raped in one explicit scene and to appear naked or clad only in "underpants" in several other horrifying moments.

Saw this coming. Remember, she is 12 now - that means that she was probably 11 when they filmed this and 10 when someone said "This would be a great movie for my daughter to star in."

Sick.

Red State Blues

The good folks over at Red State aren't too happy with the Republican slate for '08.

They are right about Jindal and the future. I have liked him since '02. Good guy.

Congressional military families

One tends to look at the war differently is you have a blood-buy in. I think the father/monther/daughter/son connection is more important than the cousin/in-law etc.

Based on my own family, the cousin niece/nephew/uncle/aunt connection can be either tight or loose.

Give credit where credit is due though.

An incomplete listing and article in USA Today tries to put out who in Congress has a "blood buy-in" in the war. Interesting, but not shocking, is that of those that the majority come from Republican families - that in a Congress that is approx. ~51-49%.

From the USA Today article (not a complete listing I am sure) and a San Diego Trib article from 2004 that fills in some gaps; also this and this. Not all have served in Iraq..

Killed in Combat:
Baucus-D-MT: nephew (USMC)

Family members serving:
Biden-D-DE: son (Delaware National Guard)
Johnson-D-SD: son (Army)
Musgrave-R-CO: son (Navy)
Wilson-R-SC: 3 sons: (2 SC National Guard, 1 Navy)
Skelton-D-MO: 2 sons (Army and Navy)
Aiken-R-MO: son (USMC) plus another son about to graduate from Annapolis
Webb-D-VA: son (USMC)
Emerson-R-MO: stepdaughter (Army)
Hunter-R-CA: son (USMC)
Ros-Lehtinen-R-FL: stepson (USMC) and daughter-in-law (USMC)
Brownback-R-KS: niece (USMC) and nephew (USMC)
Hulshof-R-MO: brother-in-law (Army)
Bond-R-MO: son (USMC)
McCain-R-AZ: son (USMC) plus another son about to graduate from Annapolis

I think Missouri is holding its own. Notice that they all come from the Mountain West, Mid-West/Plains, and the South with one California in the mix. Total count 10 USMC, 7 Army, 3 Navy (+ 2 at Annapolis). 0 Air Force. 0 Coast Guard.

That explains why the Marines have so much support in Congress .... but don't snark too much. Of note, not only are the Marines considered a "elite" force - but they also have the greatest casualty rates percentage of any service. You may be able to say a lot, but you can't say that those Congressional families who serve do not put their loved ones in harm's way.

BTW, I tried to make this as a complete list as possible. Any service, Active, Reserve or Guard. If I missed something, just send it on with a url to back it up.

Euphoric Reality hooks a big one ... maybe

That is the looks of it. You really need to head on over to get the full story. Here is why you should.

Know the SGT Hess and "Discount Mats" story? Well, by pulling the string, bloggers have found a nest of your fellow Americans who, in addition to insulting SGT Hess, have a series of dead-end blogs and cut-n-paste web sites. In addition to being Islamist aggitators, they also happen to have in their little play-pen,

Faisal Khetani’s brother, Salman RamzanAli Khetani, is a Ph.D. with a B.S. in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering from my alma mater, Marquette University, and a fellowship award honorable mention from the National Science Foundation. When you do a google search for Salman Khetani, you’ll find that Salman Khetani is quite knowledgable and involved in toxicity studies, engineered tissue, and disease studies. Might be nothing. At the very least, it’s… interesting.

May be nothing - but being that the good folks at Euphoric Reality have been hacked since they started sniffing around .... worth looking into. If you are going to play hardball, don't complain when you get bruised.

I wonder the Khetani family knows that hacking from the US to the US across state lines is worthy of Federal Law Enforcement attention?

Good digg'n Heidi! Did you get in touch with Jack Bauer?

Michelle Malkin dismounts

Skippy, control yourself. Give her a chance and see her report via video from a patrol with the Army in Khadimiyah.

NAVSEA supports racist extortionists

This just makes me sick. I don't have the url to send you, but from the NAVSEA Newswire, awwww, h311 - I'll post the whole thing. Look here, it is ligit.

NAVSEA and the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Join Together to Advance Diversity
Team Submarine Public Affairs, NAVSEA Newswire, 12 Jan 07

NEW YORK CITY -- The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) intensified its efforts to increase diversity in its workforce by supporting the 10th Anniversary Rainbow/PUSH Wall Street Project Economic Summit and 2007 Wall Street Project (WSP) Career Opportunity and Development Expo (CO&DE), on Jan 6-10.

NAVSEA set two goals for its trip to the "Big Apple" – collect resumes for the Navy Acquisition Internship Program, and inform small, minority-owned, business on how to contract with the Navy.

“I fully expected that we would have a very productive time here,” said Rear Adm. Charles “Chuck” Goddard, vice commander of NAVSEA, “but this far exceeded my wildest expectations.”

Goddard, along with NAVSEA's Elliott Branch, executive director for Contracts; Richard McNamara, executive director of the Program Executive Office (PEO) for Submarines{BTW, what is it with McNamara. Is his job to be PEO Submarines, or be the Diversity Officer? Check out his 2005 Woman-Owned Small Business Conf. NAVSEA (i.e. you) paid for}; and James Thomsen, program executive officer for PEO Littoral and Mine Warfare, collected approximately 70 resumes at NAVSEA’s recruiting booth.

Branch reflected on his own experiences at the CO&DE, “I started as an intern with the government. I know how important it is to get promising young men and women on a profitable career track. Most of the people we talked with today hadn’t thought about becoming civil servants. Now, they are walking away with a different mindset, a different perspective that maybe they did not have before. They also know what NAVSEA does, how we do it, and what we have to offer.”

Goddard said that, “A lot of people were surprised and happy to see a Navy presence at the Career Opportunity and Development Expo. Given the Navy’s and NAVSEA’s drive to diversify our workforce and our industrial base, this event is a perfect fit for us.”

The four NAVSEA representatives also held a Navy Procurement Session, which led by l Goddard, who described NAVSEA’s responsibilities and role in the Navy. Branch then explained how the Navy does business and what they as small business owners need to do in order to compete for and win Navy contracts.

McNamara then spoke about the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Program and the Navy’s use of incentives to entice its prime contractors to utilize small disadvantaged businesses. “In the submarine community, we have a $1 million bounty on each Virginia Class hull,” reported McNamara. “If the prime [contractor] meets its small disadvantaged business goals it receives $1 million. That is a powerful incentive. Further, PEO SUB recently awarded its $1 billionth in SBIR contracts.”

Thomsen concluded the presentation by showing the audience that NAVSEA buys more than warships.
“We buy servos, we buy software code, we buy the small components that go aboard our ships and into our systems” said Thomsen. “While very few companies can build a ship,” he concluded, “small businesses can do a lot to improve upon existing systems and increase competition within the defense industry. We are here today to show these people how to join the team.”

The WSP was founded on January 15, 1996, the anniversary of the birth of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to coincide symbolically with the beginning of the first quarter of the business year.

The mission of the Rainbow Coalition/PUSH Wall Street Project (WSP) is to challenge corporate America to end its multibillion-dollar trade deficit with minority vendors, consumers, and employees. It is a continuation of the work of the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., which started when the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. appointed him to run the SCLC’s Operation Breadbasket in Chicago in the early 1960s.

Let's get one thing straight. It is one thing to throw the widest net possible to make sure you are trying to find the best out there, it is another thing altogether to join hands with a man and an organization that is a rascist, anti-Semite, extortionist, and Communistophile. With all the problems we have with shipbuilding right now - is this what we need to be spending all that TAD cost and leadership time on? Really?

Jesse Jackson has nothing to do with Honor, Courage and Committment. He has a history of nothing but going for the money. Shame. Simple Shame.

Look at the 90 minutes NAVSEA spent at this place.

3:30PM – 5:00 PM
NAVAL PROCUREMENT SESSION - Your Connection to Non-Military Contracts within a Military Agency

The Naval Sea Command procures products and services totaling 23 billion dollars annually. Executive officers from the Naval Sea Command, based in Washington, DC will present an overview of the Command’s structure and contracting opportunities for business owners to include: How to do business with the Command; The Small Business Initiative Research (Command investment bank); How the Command Procures Products and Services from Vendors; and the type of large/Small Products Procured by the Command.

Speakers: Elliott B. Branch, Executive Director for Contracts, Naval Sea Systems Command; Rear Admiral Charles H. “Chuck” Goddard, Vice Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command; Richard R. McNamara, Executive Director-Program Executive Office Submarines, Naval Sea Systems Command; James E. Thomsen, Program Executive Officer Littoral & Mine Warfare, U.S. Navy.

Then they get a chance to put out the "help wanted" sign. Please tell me why you would hang out at a conference that advocates racial preferences and a climate that would destroy any command? You had 90 minutes to tell people how to get money out of the Navy, how much did you talk about what they can give to their nation through service in the Navy? How does this help the Fleet? How?

What is so bad about Jesse's shake-down express? Deroy Murdock can give you a nice start.

Jackson recently wrote General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt. The letter was dated March14, the day after GE floated a hefty $11 billion in bonds. "What concerns me is the dearth of minority banks involved in any aspect of this deal," Jackson wrote, as CNSnews.com first reported. He continued, "it is disappointing to think that GE, one of America's most innovative and respected companies, doesn't feel that any minority-owned firms have the capability to be part of what will probably be one of the largest bond offerings in 2002." Jackson then suggests that GE hire minority-owned investment banks that happen to be "members of our Wall Street Project Trade Bureau." These companies, conveniently enough, contribute to Rainbow/PUSH and Jackson's other non-profits. "This is all about hiring Jesse Jackson's friends," says Kenneth Timmerman, author of Shakedown: Exposing the Real Jesse Jackson, now fifth on the New York Times bestseller list. "This is a typical Jackson approach where he gives companies a list of his best supporters and basically asks them to hire one of his friends, and then he'll go away." Timmerman, who quotes me in his book, points to Jackson's initial opposition to AT&T's 1999 merger with TCI. Jackson complained to the FCC that AT&T had a "questionable employment record" and a "poor level of customer service." AT&T CEO C. Michael Armstrong got the hint. AT&T donated $425,000 to Jackson's Citizenship Education Fund, prompting the Windy City preacher, for once, to clam up. AT&T also included Blaylock & Partners in an $8 billion bond deal. CEO Ron Blaylock, a Jackson associate, promptly gave CEF a $30,000 donation, making the circle of extortion complete. Last May, Jackson attacked a Toyota ad that showed a black face with a small, gold SUV etched onto the model's tooth. "The only thing missing is the watermelon," Jackson snarled. He threatened a boycott, but reversed himself after Toyota agreed to a "diversity" plan to increase its minority-owned dealerships. One week later, Timmerman reports, Toyota told Goldman Sachs to include Blaylock and Williams Capital Group in a $300 million equity offering. Williams also has sponsored Jackson's non-profit activities. "In exchange for steering that business to his friends, Jesse wants 10 percent off the top," stock broker and former Jackson ally Harold Doley Jr. said. "He has become a Civil Rights Entrepreneur." For his next trick, Jackson is encouraging O. J. Simpson's savior, Johnnie Cochran, and other lawyers to sue corporations that benefited from slavery. As Cochran previously has said of this approach: "We've got to be ready to boycott these companies, hit 'em in the pocketbook, whatever we got to do." Patting down U.S. corporations for reparations will mean hefty attorneys fees for those who get in on the action. One suit, filed March 26, already seeks damages against Aetna, CSX railroad, and Fleet Boston for slave-related profits generated by their corporate predecessors or subsidiaries they purchased long after Emancipation.

You can read about what he did with NASCAR here and here. The NYSE is done with him - and of course the Freepers can't get enough of his slime. Yep, It's About the Money. Why do you have our uniform speaking under a banner of “A More Perfect Union: Free, But Not Equal?”

Why, why? RDML Goddard - is this what you made Flag for? What would LT Goddard think? If you did this under orders, then that is fine. I have done about the same. It's not an illegal order. I would love to know who ordered you and your fellow NAVSEA personnel to sell your souls like that. Did anyone object? Did anyone know? Did anyone care?

To protect the Agent Provocateur who sent this to me, no Hat Tip...but you know who you are...happy now?

Viva Colombia!!

Now THAT is what I am talking about!

Another reason immigration from South America does not bother me all that much. When the host culture (ours) thinks this and this are attractive; you have to love a culture that wants their models to look like this and this - and wants to add their "personality" to your national mix. The Europeans can keep their North African and Arab women with their Hijab and Burkas - I'll take the South Americans any day. Now THAT on the right is what what women should look like!

On a serious note though, if you have girls you know the cancer "fashion" has on a growing girl. Most of the pictures they see in magazines are of women who look like they just got out of a typhus ridden detention camp.

SOTU

A solid speech, a good one for GWB. Didn't juice me one way or another - but as Jonah noticed - there was one thing that hit me: what the Democrats DIDN'T stand up for.

This is not the fight we entered in Iraq, but it is the fight we are in. Every one of us wishes that this war were over and won. Yet it would not be like us to leave our promises unkept, our friends abandoned, and our own security at risk. Ladies and gentlemen: On this day, at this hour, it is still within our power to shape the outcome of this battle. So let us find our resolve, and turn events toward victory.

Sigh. Oh, Senator Webb was horrible. Just horrible. The speech read fine, but, ungh, the way he delivered it. Don't get me started on the substance.....

What speech would I give? Well, with the mood I have been in this week, something along the lines of this.

24: Best. Summary. Ever.

Emperor Misha I has outdone himself. Miss the episode? Need to catch up? He has it all for you. I don't know what part of the episode I liked the most. This;

At the White House, President Allstate Jr is trying to find out which country is behind Fayed.

“We have a short list of possibles on your screen, Mr President.”

“Have they been contacted?”, Allstate McNoodleSpine asks.

“Yes sir. They all extend their condolences, saying that ‘their hearts are filled with sorrow at watching the blood of infidel pigs run through the streets at the command of Allah, most Merciful’.”

“Well, that’s nice. Notice how they worked in religious sentiment? Didn’t I TELL you guys that Islam is a religion of peace?”

“Oh, and they of course all deny having anything to do with the attack.”

“Well”, President Allstate McLimpwrist says, “that settles it. Since none of them have provided us with a full confession in the presence of 4 witnesses, we’ll just have to sit on our hands and do nothing.”

“With all due respect, Mr President”, the Naval Chief of Staff interrupts, “but are you out of your freaking gourd? Those yallas just set off a flipping nuke in a major metropolitan area and you want to do NOTHING?”

“You heard the man, Admiral”, President Allstate Jr replies, “they said they didn’t do it and they would NEVER lie. Besides, we haven’t asked France yet.”

With any luck, the next nuke on the show will be set off in the Fuhrerbunker before President Allstate Jr manages to sit on his hands for long enough for the entire nation to be wiped out.

The Admiral gets up and leaves the room in disgust, thus leaving the area completely ball-less.

...or this;

Outside, Wally-Wally (who hasn’t been too good at getting information from the Obvious Terrorists™ who obviously don’t trust him up until now) is grabbed by the FBI agents who drag him off to the mens’ room, making sure that the door is open so the dozen or so Obvious Terrorists™ gathered outside won’t miss a single word of their performance.

“Listen, you raghead bastard, we’re gonna cut you GOOD!”, they shout while roughing up Wally-Wally and taping a wire to him.

“Hava nagila, hava nagila…” Agent Smith sings while beating Wally-Wally over the head with the Torah.

“Death to Amerika!”, Wally-Wally shouts.

“You will never stop the Zionist Conspiracy from controlling the entire world, you Arab pig!”, another agent shouts while making sure that his jacket with ‘MOSSAD’ written on the back is in clear view of the assembled Obvious Terrorists™.

“Allah-u-Akbar!”, Wally-Wally cries out as somebody pokes him in the eye with a dreidel.

“Ah, forget about it. He’s not going to talk”, one of the agents say when the wire is in place, “let’s go make some matzo balls. Did you remember to bring the blood, Moishe?”

The agents leave. Meanwhile, Cynthia McKinney is going ballistic, protesting like crazy and, through the heroic self-restraint of the FBI agent in charge, manages to not get pistol-whipped.

Read it all - on an empty bladder.

The end of multiculturalism

In Australia at least.

PRIME Minister John Howard officially scrapped multiculturalism today as he sacked Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone and renamed her old department.
The trouble-plagued Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA) will now be known as the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, with former Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews the new minister.

Mr Howard defended the change, saying Australians believed that immigration should lead to citizenship.

“I think the title of the new department expresses the desire and the aspiration, and that is that people who come to this country, who emigrate, immigrants, become Australians,” Mr Howard told reporters.

It will take much longer to discredit this cancer on Western Culture: heck, we can't get rid Communism - but it is a start.

Hat tip Mark Steyn at The Corner.

Typical METOC Officer

D@am reservist Kerry voters.


Speaking of METOC officers - look what happens to them after a tour at Annapolis....

True love on video

You have a man down that needs evacuation - but there isn't time to wait for the "right" way to get him. What do you do? You strap yourself to the side of an Apache gunship that does not carry passengers and have them take you to get him.

They were too late, but what a message it sends. Click here for the story and to watch.

I'm going by the Hess station

I was skeptical, but now I think this is worth a look. Want to stop sending your money to finance terrorism? Buy terror free gas.

Commandant orders: "every Marine in the fight"

Bravo Zulu to General Conway. He listened; and he took action.

Conway told Marines in Ramadi in late December that about 37 percent of the corps, or about 66,000 out of about 175,000 permanent troops, had not yet been to Iraq, an issue he said could hurt justification for plans to increase the overall size of the Marine Corps. Another 5,000 troops are being funded temporarily, inflating the current end strength to 180,000 Marines.

The Bush administration has called for increasing the corps strength to 202,000 Marines in five years.

"If we're going to grow the force on the one hand, we've got to be able to justify it to the bean counters ... how we have 66,000 Marines that haven't been to Iraq or Afghanistan," he said.

About half of those who have not yet deployed are potentially slated for future Iraq deployments, meaning this new policy would target the remaining 33,000.

Conway says many Marines want to go into combat but are denied. This new policy would relieve Marines who are on their third and fourth deployments. Those Marines' deployments have since been extended as part of President Bush's plan to increase the number of troops in Iraq.

He is right; Marines want to fight. So do Soldiers and Sailors. You also have to justify your growing force.

On the Navy side, there still needs to be action taken. About once a month I get and email that backs up some of the conversations I have had with junior Officers and Enlisted personnel - they are being told that they cannot go to Iraq or Afghanistan because it will "hurt their career chances."

A nation. At war. A military. At war....and it is bad to go into combat if you want a career. Case in point, a more junior Shipmate just finished his first squadron tour and wanted to serve in Iraq - skipping shore duty. His detailer and CO pushed him to take the FRS job. He was the #1 LT and he was going to the FRS as a flight instructor. True, good career move - but why don't we want our best out front in combat? The #2 and #3 are just as good pilots I am sure - yet they want shore duty. Go figure.

Executive summary: BZ to the USMC. I bet they will get a better result from the Marines then we got from the Goat Locker during the mid-90's "Chiefs to sea" move.

The Royal Coast Guard

John at Argghhh!!! is right - this is about all that is left - by the Left, of the Royal Navy.

In case you are too happy today, go here for such great day starters as "Royal Navy - Navy to cut its fleet by half."

Just pathetic. More on what used to be a great power here and here.

They sure love their M-113s

Land combat is not my expertise, but these guys here, here, and here really should get together and start a Blog. Their single page posts are hard to load because they have so much information on it.

I especially like the 106mm RR on HUMVEEs idea.

The best show on TV .. period

Rebecca Cusey describes it well.

The enemy is relentless. Where they occupy and control, they enforce their unyielding rules mercilessly. Areas they don’t control, they infiltrate. They seduce our friends, bunk next to our families, and creep into our military. Taking advantage of the freedoms of an open society, they make themselves indistinguishable from us. We know that agents are in our midst, but we do not know who they are until they unleash their violent mission upon us. Fanatically dedicated to a strict monotheism which calls for the extermination of an entire race, they are committed to winning by any means necessary. Radical Islam? No, this is the plight of the rag-tag band of human survivors in the Sci-Fi Channel’s surprise hit Battlestar Galactica. The show starts up again after an agonizingly long break on Sunday, January 21.

Like I said last year over at MilBlogs: the best TV show out there is Battlestar Galactica.

Don't laugh if you haven't seen the new series. Get it on DVD if you need to catch up.

Sunday Funnies

I know a certain LT who could appreciate this.

China’s ASAT: the Operational importance

This was just going to be another edition of “The Long Game” series; but this is of such importance it need to be a standalone post.

Britain today joined the US, Japan and Australia’s condemnation of China after the communist country used a ballistic missile to destroy a orbiting satellite.
...
The successful anti-satellite test, the first by any country for two decades, drew attention to China’s military build-up and raised fears of a news arms race in space.

Like Eagle1 and I yelling at the deaf about the fact that there is nothing stealthy about a Graf Spee sized DDG-1000 – there are a few brave and punished voices out there in the Navy yelling that the long-pole in our tent is weak, worm-ridden and exceptionally vulnerable. Network-Centric Warfare and all its various “Transformational” permutations all accept as an assumption that we own the air, space, and the electromagnetic spectrum. I know this has been Red Teamed officially and unofficially, but the truth is so hard to accept that it is often ignored or pushed to the back pages.

Far from being the great foundation for the 21st Century Navy to dominate the seas – our excessive reliance on the electromagnetic spectrum in general and satellites specifically has left us critically vulnerable to emerging science, and an enemy who will not let us fight the war we want to fight.

More than any, that mistake has caused failure on the battlefield. Shaka, Napoleon, Hitler, and the Iraqi insurgency today all used this to their advantage. The Chinese just gave us a great warning if we want to listen to it. If we want to continue to base our defense on networks and satellites that is fine with them. They are more than happy to Cylon-like cripple them and us.

In a benign peacetime Navy, satellites make our life quicker, simpler, more effective and efficient. (Hey, got to love those 2 hr VTC where the Flags dance with each other over 3 continents - snerk). But it is much worse than that. To pay the bill for the outstanding constellation of satellites that we have, we have sacrificed in equipment and training on back-up systems. These systems, from UFO series (UHF Follow-on) to Challenge Athena to the top-shelf EHF – these are all, if you will pardon the pun, China-Doll delicate – and except for EHF MILSTAR – not really ready for full-on war. They are all few and far between. That is about all I can say here.

This is a first step for China. Sure, one MRBM with an ASAT on top isn't all that much to worry about - but when has the first operational test been the end of the road? Not the Chinese. Run this program out 5-10 years then take a pause to think about what capability they may have. Think longer term than the 2008 Olympics.

For a very short review – and a very short post – I want you to consider a few things:
--- When was the last time you were able to send and receive a full-days worth of messages via HF? Can you still do it? Are your ITmen ready to go without satellite communications? Is your servicing NAVCOMTELSTA?
--- Are you ready to fight with your TLAMs without GPS-only missions? Are we?
--- How many of our weapons in the magazine are GPS only? If GPS is compromised, how does that impact your strike capabilities?
---- What percentage of your ships/aircrew can function on long range missions without satellite communications or GPS (navigation and weaponeering)? When was the last time they were trained to do so?
---- Is your N2 shop ready to support the Fleet/Strike Group/Marines without access to updated satellite imagery, access to SIPRNET and higher databases off ship? How much of your work is done via Reachback? Can you do it via HF?
---- In CIC and TFCC are you ready to fight without satellite communications? What does your Communications/N6 team have to say about HF reliability, sustainability, and availability?
---- Speaking of SIPRNET; are you ready to fight offline? How reliant have you become on SIPRNET? Your Ship? Your Strike Group? Your ISIC? Your Fleet? Your Pentagon?

This can go on for hours, and if this was hosted on SIPRNET could get even more interesting.

So, the Chinese have shown us their interest and ability to take out satellites. Intel, communications and GPS all rely on satellites. Sure, we can replace them – but how long will that take? How long does China have to keep us a blind mute in order to allow them to take advantage of the confusion and change the facts on the ground? Do you think they are thinking about that? Silly question, they have already answered it.

Next Captain’s Call, or better yet Admiral’s Call – ask them that questions. Residents of Virginia; ask your new Senator.

More here and here. John over at MilBlogs and OPFOR isn't too impressed - but I think he is wrong to underestimate China. So does this guy:

There is probably no better way to get China's nationalists to demand a Great Leap Forward in military spending than to tell them they are two decades behind the United States.
...
The American public may now be lulled into a false sense of security by the "been there, done that" attitude prevalent in some quarters; or it may be sent into a panic that a new communist rival is about to replace it as Top Nation. But China's leaders will not be taken in by either myth, and will instead keep a cool eye on what really matters.

Despite appearances, what really matters to China is not whether its military and its space programme can catch up with America's.
...
Back in the 1950s, the Chinese held the Americans at bay in the Korean War for three years by relying on manpower and patriotic rallying cries. During America's two wars in the Gulf in 1991 and 2003, Iraq tried the same thing and lasted not years, nor even months, but days. So China's generals read the newly published books on asymmetric warfare and decided they could still get America where it hurts.

America might need 12 aircraft carriers to ensure that every ocean under the world is under its control. But all China had to control was the Taiwan Strait - so it bought nuclear submarines.

They looked up and saw America's single greatest strength — the extraordinary satellite technology that enabled it to know where its enemies were and bomb them. And they realized its greatest strength was also its weakness, because while a human can fight back, a satellite cannot.

A satellite, moreover, has many uses. Knocking out a military satellite can deter an army. Knocking out the civilian satellites on which the west - but not the average Chinese peasant - now relies to function can deter a whole nation. Is Taiwan really worth it, to the average American voter?

So it doesn't matter that America is developing its own space weapons and lasers well in advance of last week's missile. The beauty of China's thinking is that it is based on how much more America has to lose: things like aircraft carriers, and elections.

In recent months, China has scanned an American satellite with a laser beam; surfaced a submarine that was apparently trailing a sea-going American battle group without being noticed; and now shown the world its ability to knock out the communications systems on which we all depend.

As for Greyhawks thoughts; forget REO Speedwagon - I am more worried about OMD, I know Chap is.

Fullbore Friday

The Imperial Austrian triple-decker wooden battleship Kaiser. Yes the AUSTRIAN Navy, again. Why her for Fullbore? Well, the year was 1866 and this wooden warship held her own in the first major naval battle of ships of iron and steam against the Italian Navy at the Battle of Lissa. Sure, she was outdated and the Fleet Admiral Wilhelm Freiherr von Tegetthoff was only 39, but was a glorious effort for a Navy that had only a little more than a half a century left.

Encountering the Italian fleet early on the morning of 19 July 1866, Tegetthoff sailed straight for the center of the Italian fleet, hoping to ram the ships to make up for his own fleet's lack of firepower. The smoke from the Italian ships made visibility very poor, however, and the Austrians missed the Italian fleet completely. Swinging around, Tegetthoff again charged, this time setting two Italian armored ships on fire and damaging several more.

After Tegetthoff's flagship, the Erzherzog Ferdinand Max, rammed and sank the armored Italian frigate Re d'Italia, the Italian fleet retreated the next day. Tegetthoff returned in triumph to his base at Pola (Pula). Nevertheless, his victory did not materially affect the outcome of the war, as Italy emerged victorious.
...
Seeing things going badly, Persano found the courage to throw himself into battle, deciding to ram the unarmoured screw battleship Kaiser rather than one of the armoured ships engaged with the Italian 2nd Division much nearer him. However, Kaiser managed to dodge Affondatore. Taking heart from his admiral, the captain of Re di Portogallo decided to hurl his ship at Kaiser, maintaining a heavy fire with her rifled guns as he did so. At the last moment, von Petz turned the tables on her and turned into the ram, in effect conducting a counter ram. The impact tore off Kaiser’s stem and bowsprit, leaving her figurehead embedded in Re di Portogallo. The Italian used the opportunity to rake Kaiser with fire, putting her mainmast and smokestack into the sea. The smoke was so great that as they backed off for another ram they lost sight of each other and ended the duel.

It's all here. Using 2,000 yr old tactics to win. Making the best of the Fleet you have. Aggressive action. Leaders who lead and win without waiting for specific direction to do so. More on the Kaiser, she survived the battle, here and here.

Your daily Hate Crime: bask in it

My permalink is messed up, but the post that started it is below the line-break. Let's have a Hate Crime.

---

I don't do this often; not since the DrawMohammadWeek fun; but is anyone game here for a little blog civil disobediance to our Dhimmi overlords? As a Judenophile goy, this just gets me mad.

Pace University administrators threatened to sic the cops on a Jewish-student club if it went ahead with plans to screen a critically acclaimed film about radical Islam, the head of the group charged yesterday.

Michael Abdurakhmanov, president of Pace Hillel, said two deans warned that showing the documentary film would implicate club members as suspects in two hate crimes involving the desecration of the Koran at the university’s lower-Manhattan campus last fall.

In addition, Abdurakhmanov said an assistant dean physically restrained him as he attempted to defend the film and his group in a meeting with administrators.

“The message was pretty clear, if you show this film, you’re going to incriminate yourself,” Abdurakhmanov said.

Pace spokesman Chris Cory acknowledged that officials encouraged Hillel to postpone the screening until tensions over the hate crimes dissipated, but dismissed the accusations of coercion as “far-fetched,” “implausible” and “unprofessional.”

Hillel had planned to screen “Obsession” during Judaism Awareness Week in November. The school stepped in after receiving complaints from Muslim students that the film negatively portrayed Islam.

Attack my kosher friends at Hillel AND call my parallel-universe wife's great work (along with Submission)a "hate crime?"

Here is the trailer, and it doesn't take a brain surgeon to find the abridged 12-minute version. Here is what I am thinking about. Who among my readers that have their own BLOG would be interested in posting the 12 minutes version first thing this Thursday morning as a protest of sorts? Well, I am. Join me if you are interested.
Hat tip LGF.

Iran is child's play

Yes, you read that right. Iran getting a low-yield nuke or a dozen isn't the real problem our long range thinkers should be investing 51% of their collective grey matter. Russia is.

Remember how the election of '92 doesn't seem that long ago? 1992? Well, that was 15 years ago. 15 years from now is 2022. Keep that date in mind. Half that time, i.e. 2000 seems even closer (unless you voted for Gore). That jump forward is 2015. Store that.

...just as the export of Russia’s ideology was the biggest destabilizing factor in the last century, so the implosion of that ideology could be one of the biggest in this century. That’s to say, what’s left of the Soviet Union has hit the apocalyptic jackpot: the Middle East has Islamists, Africa has Aids and North Korea has nukes, but only Russia has the lot – a disease-riddled Slav population and a fast growing Muslim population jostling atop a colossal nuclear arsenal.

Yep, you read it right too. It gets better.

There are ten million people in Moscow. Do you know how many of them are Muslim? Two and a half million. Or about a quarter of the population. The ethnic Russians are older; the Muslims are younger. The ethnic Russians are already in net population decline; the Muslim population in the country has increased by 40% in the last 15 years. Seven out of ten Russian pregnancies (according to some surveys) are aborted; in some Muslim communities, the fertility rate is ten babies per woman. Russian men have record rates of heart disease, liver disease, drug addiction and Aids; Muslims are the only guys in the country who aren’t face down in the vodka.

Faced with these trends, most experts extrapolate: thus, it’s generally accepted that by mid-century the Russian Federation will be majority Muslim. But you don’t really need to extrapolate when the future’s already checking in at reception. The Toronto Star (which is Canada’s biggest-selling newspaper and impeccably liberal) recently noted that by 2015 Muslims will make up a majority of Russia’s army.

Mark Steyn also manages to just blow the Iraq Surrender Group's efforts out of the water from an angel (there are so many) I had not considered.

Which brings me, alas, to the Iraq Study Group. This silly shallow report, of which James Baker, Lee Hamilton and the rest should be ashamed, betrays no understanding of how fast events are moving. It falls back on the usual multilateral mood music. It wants Iraq, Iran, Syria, Israel and everything else to be mediated by the transnational jet set – the Big Five at the UN, the EU, the Arab League. Just for starters, look at the permanent members of the Security Council: America, Britain, France, Russia, China. What’s the old line on those fellows? The World War Two victory parade preserved in aspic? If only. By 2050, Russia will be the umpteenth Muslim nuclear power, but the first with a permanent seat on the UNSC. Or maybe the second, if France gets there first. And, judging from London literary offerings like George Walden’s Time To Emigrate?, Britain might not be far behind. But, as I said above, forget the extrapolations: already, domestic Muslim constituencies are an important factor in the foreign policy thinking of three out of the big five. Are Baker and Hamilton even aware of that?

As I always say, there is no “stability”. We thought we’d “contained” Soviet Communism. Instead, the social pathologies that took hold during the Russian people’s half-century of “containment” will have profound consequences for us and the rest of the world long after the last Commie is dead and buried.

We have a very interesting century to grow old in - if we do.

I don't smoke

But I used to - a long time ago. A good friend from "back in the day" sent along a pack of these just, I think, to nudge me in the side to remember some "probably should be forgotten" moments.

The challenge was, I had to find the right beer and the right place.

There - a peek behind the curtain.

If a man's value can be defined by the sum of his life's experience - then I have had a very blessed life: both before and after I found out what it was really all about.

Thanks.

BNP Ballerina Part II: Electric Boogaloo

So, your head ballerina joins the BNP; you would expect protests, yes? One would hope the protesters would show class...well, hope isn't a plan.

Less than 15 minutes into Simone Clarke's star performance in Giselle, protesters taunted her from the stalls with the words: "The principal ballerina is a BNP member. No to fascism in the arts."

In an extraordinary escalation of the row that has surrounded the English National Ballet company for weeks, a 34-year-old man and several sixth-form students jumped up from their seats to shout: "Black and white unite. No to the BNP."

What do you mean? Hitler was an artist. Oh, nevermind - I digress. You would expect that in oh, so PC England that the whole audience would join in ... you would think.

...But there were loud cries of "shame" and "shut up" from the usually tranquil ballet audience, ... some of the London Coliseum's 2,000-odd spectators were angry and upset that a performance of such serenity had been hijacked by "ugly politics".

"It was an absolutely outrageous outburst, and completely inappropriate", said Angela Large, a 50-year-old photographer who was among many to pay more than £40 for a seat in the stalls. "I have no sympathy whatsoever with the BNP but to attack and humiliate someone while they are using their talent and doing their job is the wrong way to make a statement."

And how "fascist" is our lovely?

After dancing the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, she went on to give an unrepentant interview on New Year's Eve, lamenting "mass immigration" and praising the BNP as "the only party willing to take a stand".

"I've never been clearer that in my head that I'm moving in the right direction and at the right time. I will be known as the BNP ballerina. . . but I don't regret anything," she said.

Clarke's own partner, Yat-Sen Chang, also a dancer, is a Cuban immigrant of Chinese descent. She said this does not conflict with her views on immigration.

One pathetic thing about the immature reactionary Left; they make even the BNP look civilized and at one with freedom.

...then a crowd of BNP sympathisers arrived to take their seat at the ballet in support of Clarke, the two groups angrily shouted "No to rabid racist dogs" and "freedom of speech for all" at one another.

Guess who was saying "feedom of speech for all?" The world is upside down.

Part I here.

While we are yapping about the BNP; besides the fact the Left is making them look good - want to know why they will continue to grow? Because good people will continue to lose hope in the Tories as they act like this and they have no other option. Blair's New-Labour Nanny knows not individual freedom - that is for sure.