Even As the Resident Druid

…it’s still kind of surprising I got tabbed as The Magician:

You make the impossible happen. You See things (with a capital S), everything from people’s true colors to the obscure Easter eggs hidden in cult TV shows. Others see magic where you see the invisible matrix of how it works.

Yeah. That’s me in a nutshell, emphasis on the nut.

What Tarot Card are you?

The “Lion of Fallujah”

What a story.

What a MAN.

Legendary Marine Maj. Zembiec, the ‘Lion of Fallujah,’ died in the service of the CIA

In the foyer of the Central Intelligence Agency’s headquarters, there is a marble wall covered in stars. They are carved divots that represent those who have fallen in the service of the CIA. Below them, jutting out from the polished rock, is a black book entombed in a case of glass and steel. The book is a guide to the stars, giving the names of some of those who died and withholding the names of others.

On the pages of the CIA’s Book of Honor are 111 hand-drawn stars organized by the years those officers died. For 2007, there is a single, anonymous star.

It belongs to Marine Maj. Douglas Alexander Zembiec.

Long thought to be an active-duty Marine when he was killed in Baghdad, Zembiec was actually serving with the CIA’s paramilitary arm. While the CIA would not comment on whether Zembiec worked for the agency, former U.S. intelligence officials said in interviews that he died in an alley in Sadr City on May 11, 2007, as a member of the Special Activities Division’s Ground Branch.

…Zembiec was also awarded the Bronze Star for valor for rushing into the middle of a machine-gun-raked street to get the attention of an Abrams tank supporting Echo Company. Abrams are equipped with small radios on the rear to allow infantrymen to talk to the tank crew while behind the safety of 60 tons of steel, but for what­ever reason the radio, or “grunt phone,” wasn’t working, so Zembiec scaled the tank while bullets ricocheted off its hull.

After he knocked on one of the hatches repeatedly, the crew of the tank finally opened up. Zembiec then loaded a magazine of illuminated tracer rounds and began shooting from the top of the tank to mark the building from which his Marines were being shot.

The tank swung its turret and without warning fired its massive 120mm gun. The blast threw Zembiec into the air and onto the street below.

It’s a great story, full of GREAT stories.

Portrait

…of a CHAMPION.

Andy Gray at Sports Illustrated is MY HERO

He knows how to go STRAIGHT to a REAL WOMAN’S heart.
~ Getty Images

Golf In The Rain Supplies

And So It Continues

Jim Beam And Beer

Yep, I’m at the airport bar.

Smart Power!

Remember when we used to give Angela Merkel back rubs?

Ah, good times, good times

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government expelled the top U.S. intelligence official in Berlin over allegations of espionage, escalating a clash that one of her top aides said has caused “grave” political harm.

The U.S. embassy official was asked to leave German soil following the Federal Prosecutor’s investigations into spying practices, the Federal Chancellery said today in an e-mailed statement.

“The government takes these activities very seriously,” the Chancellery said in the statement. A trustful relationship with the U.S. remains “indispensable” to Germany, it said, “but for that, mutual trust and openness are necessary.”

President Obama, when asked to comment, said that “There was not a smidgen of spying” going on, before adding that “Ms. Merkel should really get a plan with unlimited texting.”

In the Man’s Defense

…it WAS a SHIT Tzu…

Police Pull Rifle Out On Man Trying To Clean Up Dog Poop In His Car

Those Religion of Pieces Guys Almost Sacre

…bleu it up? French police busted the plot and forced them to Louvre the iconic landmarks alone.

Terror plot targeting Eiffel Tower, Louvre foiled, French police say

French authorities say they foiled an Islamic terrorist plot reportedly targeting the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and a nuclear power plant last year.

The revelation comes as the country unveiled new anti-terror rules which included a proposal to ban terror suspects from leaving the country if it is thought they intend to fight abroad, The Telegraph reported.

French authorities revealed they arrested a 29-year-old Algerian butcher living in southern France June 2013, after they found coded messages between him and a high-ranking Al Qaeda member discussing how “to conduct jihad in the place you are currently,” according to Le Parisien.

The suspect, identified in the newspaper report as Ali M, reportedly said he would target French landmarks including the Eiffel Tower, Louvre and

“cultural events that take place in the south of France in which thousands of Christians gather for a month.”

Dear Nice Young Man With the Camera: When Nasty Old BIT~Chez Are Brazenly Removing YOUR Family’s Belongings From the Beach

…and then commence to threaten and slap the camera from your hand, YOU PRESS CHARGES, OKAY?

NEW SMYRNA BEACH (FOX 13) –
No charges are expected against two women who were caught on camera apparently trying to steal items from a Florida beach, police said Monday.

A man, who identifies himself as “Flicky Rich” on YouTube, caught the whole thing on camera. He confronted the females who attempt to take his canopy from the beach.

In just three days, the video has more than 1 million hits on YouTube

.

At Least For One Night…

There is one country more hated than the US in Latin America

Yep, This Day Will Go Well

Sensitive, concerned type that I am I wake up before my alarm goes off (at just shy of 4 in the morning) 9 days out of 10, well more like 19 out of 20, really, and shut it off so as not to disturb my Bride’s blissful slumber. After all these years of doing this I just wake up, no alarm required.

This morning being no exception, I clicked off the alarm and got in the shower as always.

I was rather surprised a few moments later to hear my Bride’s voice saying “um, you do realize that it is 2:52 am, not 3:52?”

Argh.

I hates when I does that.

Fire Control

They could use a little more of it in Chicago.

Authorities: Military service member with concealed carry permit shoots attacker
Gresham man injured, charged after firing on group leaving party, prosecutors said

A Gresham man fired on a group of people leaving a party, only to be shot himself by one of the victims, a military service member with a concealed carry permit, authorities said.
…One of the victims had noticed a cup of liquor on top of her vehicle and asked attendees of a party next door who it belonged to, Hain said.

When she removed it, Denzel A. Mickiel approached her, shouting obscenities and threatening her and her friends, according to Hain and court records.

Mickiel, 22, went into the residence, returned with a gun and began firing at the group, she said.

As Mickiel fired at the victims’ vehicle, the military member retrieved his gun and took cover near the vehicle’s front fender, according to Hain. Two unidentified people also shot at the group, she said.

The military service member fired two shots and struck Mickiel twice, she said.

I’m sure Rahm will find some way to prosecute the defender.

Revisionist History Can Be So Fun

Along w/ Gorbachev,Shevarnadze helped end Cold War.No side "won" Cold War despite US triumphalism / http://t.co/PsdSl9SCFj

— Katrina vandenHeuvel (@KatrinaNation) July 7, 2014

So. Just how IS that good, old USSR doing, Katty Pants?

Of Course Bingley’s in the Background Yelling, “Quit Being Such P-Words! Tee UP or I’m Playing THROUGH, DAMMIT!”

Happy Fourth

What better way to celebrate than with Australian wine?

“And Just As Tom Here Has Written, We Say TO HELL With Great Britain”

A masterpiece followed by one of the greatest acts of courage and sacrifice imaginable.

And so it WAS and still IS.

Happy Fourth of July!!

Oh The Hyperventilating!

For all the screaming that the Hobby Lobby decision is the WORST THING EVER it seems to me that there are a few things to keep in mind.

Firstly, this column from Megan McArdle calmly addresses some of the issues.

Secondly, the decision both reaffirms and yes expands portions of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993…a law which was unanimously passed by the House and passed the Senate by a vote of 97-3

YEAs —97
Akaka (D-HI) Baucus (D-MT) Bennett (R-UT) Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM) Bond (R-MO) Boren (D-OK) Boxer (D-CA)
Bradley (D-NJ) Breaux (D-LA) Brown (R-CO) Bryan (D-NV)
Bumpers (D-AR) Burns (R-MT) Campbell (D-CO) Chafee (R-RI)
Coats (R-IN) Cochran (R-MS) Cohen (R-ME) Conrad (D-ND)
Coverdell (R-GA) Craig (R-ID) D’Amato (R-NY) Danforth (R-MO)
Daschle (D-SD) DeConcini (D-AZ) Dodd (D-CT) Dole (R-KS)
Domenici (R-NM) Dorgan (D-ND) Durenberger (R-MN) Exon (D-NE)
Faircloth (R-NC) Feingold (D-WI) Feinstein (D-CA) Ford (D-KY)
Glenn (D-OH) Gorton (R-WA) Graham (D-FL) Gramm (R-TX)
Grassley (R-IA) Gregg (R-NH) Harkin (D-IA) Hatch (R-UT)
Hatfield (R-OR) Heflin (D-AL) Hollings (D-SC) Hutchison (R-TX)
Inouye (D-HI) Jeffords (R-VT) Johnston (D-LA) Kassebaum (R-KS)
Kempthorne (R-ID) Kennedy (D-MA) Kerrey (D-NE) Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT) Lott (R-MS) Lugar (R-IN) Mack (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ) McConnell (R-KY) Metzenbaum (D-OH) Mikulski (D-MD)
Mitchell (D-ME) Moseley-Braun (D-IL) Moynihan (D-NY) Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA) Nickles (R-OK) Nunn (D-GA) Packwood (R-OR)
Pell (D-RI) Pressler (R-SD) Pryor (D-AR) Reid (D-NV)
Riegle (D-MI) Robb (D-VA) Rockefeller (D-WV) Roth (R-DE)
Sarbanes (D-MD) Sasser (D-TN) Shelby (D-AL) Simon (D-IL)
Simpson (R-WY) Smith (R-NH) Specter (R-PA) Stevens (R-AK)
Thurmond (R-SC) Wallop (R-WY) Warner (R-VA) Wellstone (D-MN)
Wofford (D-PA)

NAYs —3
Byrd (D-WV)
Helms (R-NC)
Mathews (D-TN)

Look at the bolded names who were very much in favor of this back then…does Harry Reid now agree with Jesse Helms?

And actually the depressing thing, really, is how many of those 100 names are still sitting there…

And there’s this to keep in mind

Actually, the case doesn’t involve Hobby Lobby’s position on what its employees do. The case hinges on what Hobby Lobby has to provide to its employees as part of regulation from HHS. As Kessler points out, Hobby Lobby covers 16 of the 20 required contraception methods, but objects to four abortifacients. Hobby Lobby has never taken the position that its employees should not use contraception; in fact, as their attorney said shortly after their victory at the Supreme Court, they’d really prefer not to be part of that decision at all.

Oh, and it seems to me worth pointing out that male contraception, i.e. condoms and vasectomies, are not covered at all by Obamacare.

Because, you know, “equal rights.”

WHAT a Chirpy Headline

…when the Devil’s right there in the details.

Job growth surged in June, with U.S. companies adding 288,000 to payrolls, indicating that expectations for strong second-half economic growth may be fulfilled.

The unemployment rate dropped to 6.1 percent, its lowest since September 2008, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. An alternate measure of unemployment that measures those who have stopped looking for work or are working part-time for economic reasons also fell, to 12.1 percent, marking its lowest reading since October 2008.

The level of underemployment actually increased for the month, rising 275,000 to 7.5 million.

And I think we can expect some sincere rejiggering of the figures next month, per Administration modus operandi: “Getchyer a big enough number when ya need it, sorta straighten it out later.”

Not Worth The Effort

Someone in my office just spent 3 hours waiting in line for cronuts and brought them in.

Color me unimpressed.

“Well, He’s Believed In a Lot of Things That Haven’t Quite Worked Out”

I’m sure every sports team in America would love for him to “believe” in the OTHER guy for a change. They might stand a chance that way.

Stay in YOUR Lane

…or someone will mock you unmercifully.

Excuse Me ~ Is There a Turtle Expert in the House?

So 'splain to me how my little Mort is building her 2D nest in as many mths but not a fella caller since LAST YEAR. pic.twitter.com/4LUKePDSnx

— tree hugging sister (@treehuggingsis) July 1, 2014

If, on TOP of FIVE DOGS, I now get to look forward to babysitting fifty-two infant terrapins, my attitude will be undergoing a serious readjustment.

XBOX One Has Arrived

Oops, sorry, that’s TropDep One

BULLETIN
TROPICAL DEPRESSION ONE ADVISORY NUMBER 2
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL012014
500 AM EDT TUE JUL 01 2014

…DEPRESSION LIKELY TO BECOME A TROPICAL STORM LATER TODAY…

Yep, July 4th will probably suck on Hatteras…