Quotes to live by:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." -Declaration of Independence

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." -MLK, Jr.

Liberty's Watch

Liberty's Watch
9/11 Truth!! Never Forget!

Internet Defense League

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

ACLU protects Terrorists



This guy is on the US "Kill List", he also is an American Citizen born in New Mexico. Anwar al-Awlaki is an instigator. He encouraged the Fort Hood Shooter and the Christmas Day bomber. His goal is to cause terror in the United States. The ACLU thinks this guy needs a defense. What's wrong with the ACLU.... everything. Maybe they should be funding a reward for this guy's death instead.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) | C-SPAN - END THE FED!

Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) | C-SPAN

Learn something.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

The 2010 Iranian Missile Crisis



The Germans are reporting that Venezuela and Iran have reached an agreement to build a ballistic missile base in Venezuela. Should you be concerned? The answer is unequivocally yes. Especially if you live in the Southeastern United States. Although the US Government only acknowledges a 1000km ballistic missile, in which would not reach the US, but this does not accurately describe the capabilities of Iran's ballistic missile program. The Israeli's have describe a missile that Iran has that can reach 2000km, which would reach Florida at the least. There have been reports that Russia has sold some of their SSN6 missiles to Iran, in which they can have up to a 3000km range, which would include most of the Southeast if the Missile base was placed strategically in Venezuela. Iran itself claims they will be launching rockets into space which really places the whole United States in the red within a range of a rocket of that sort. The most disturbing issue is that the United States Government is not even acknowledging or responding to such a threat, which is a direct threat to the United States of America.

Friday, December 10, 2010

SpaceX launches Falcon, Space the Final Frontier

LIFTOFF!!



Excellent job SpaceX! The time has come to start exploring space. This used to be only a venture mounted by governments. Now commercial Spaceflight is available to the rich. Soon Spaceflight will be available for the cost of an airplane ticket, if not free as to spur growth and colonization. When it becomes as simple as walking to a spaceport and boarding a Starship and simply riding into space, then a new Era in Human life truly has begun.

Congratulations SpaceX!

Visit their site: CLICK HERE!

Watch a great summary with more than just the liftoff : CLICK HERE!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

19 Countries Protesting the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize Winner per request from China




The First Chinese to win the Nobel Peace prize is Liu Xiaobo. China is protesting this nomination because they consider Mr. Xaiobo a criminal for speaking out against the communist regime. China has called on countries to protest this nomination by not attending the ceremony. 19 countries have complied.



Russia tops the list of concern. I would think that Russia would stand with the United States in the support of a free society that allows free thinkers and people to have the ability to have the freedom of free speech. Prime Minister Putin should have had Larry King fly to his office to do a real live interview. I think we should allow Russia to plan the deployment of the missile defense system, it is more in their interest to protect themselves from Iran, who is also on this list. Some on the list are not surprising, but I do believe there are some on this list like Kazakhstan, who only recently gaining freedom should more than adequately understand the rights and freedoms granted to every human regardless of nationality. Columbia and Egypt pretend too much that they wish to appear as a Democracy, with Columbia far ahead of Egypt in the reality of elections, and Egypt is notorious for hiding the fact that it allows the continued persecution of Christians that live within their borders.

All of the countries not showing up:

1. Russia
2. Kazakhstan
3. China
4. Columbia
5. Egypt
6. Iraq
7. Morocco
8. Ukraine
9. Serbia
10. the Philippines
11. Tunisia
12. Cuba
13. Vietnam
14. Pakistan
15. Afghanistan
16. Venezuela
17. Sudan
18. Saudi Arabia
19. Iran

And Saudi Arabia, if you want the United States to be your proxy.... you need to drop the price of oil back to $1.00 a gallon levels or at least close to it; it'd probably have you higher on the list.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Barcelona schools Real Madrid with "Silky Football" in "EL CLASICO" 2010



Yes! Silky football! These words came right out of Adrian Healy's mouth, and they are truly accurate of the soccer that was played by Barcelona. A tremendous game that was excellently refereed. The game started out with a lot of play ons for silly touch fouls which is a great way to play the game. Barcelona showed their strength immediately scoring quickly with a followup goal not too long after. This obviously frustrated the Madrid players. Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid showed his class, or lack thereof, when he pushed the Barcelona Coach who was holding the ball for him. This set off a storm of Barcelona players resulting in a yellow for Ronaldo and the Barcelona goalie. The referee took immediate charge of the game, with 11 more yellow cards to be given out. Real Madrid continued to show their lack of class and composure after being taken to clinic throughout the game being beat by short passes and two more goals, Ramos from Real Madrid places a faceplant on Barcelona's Puyol pushing him to the ground earning him a Red Card. Barcelona would not be outdone scoring one more goal to cap the score at (5-0) to give Barcelona's Victor Valdes a clean sheet, and putting them atop the standings of La Liga's table. Barcelona is a real threat this year for the Champions League title, and Lionel Messi certainly is one of the best soccer players out there.

"El Clasico" or The Classic has been going on since 1929, and even though Barcelona has won 5 in a row recently, they are still 5 back from drawing even in the 80+ year history. There were almost 100,000 fans in the stands, and who knows how many watching on TV and the Internet. This is truly a Global Sport. Excellent Fixture!

You can catch a replay of this game on ESPN3

And Adrian, silky football indeed!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

How to carve a Turkey.

Thanks to the New York Times for this Video:

2011 Duke Basketball starts STRONG!



Duke Basketball is ranked #1 and deservedly so. They have started (5-0), and have played a #4 ranked team within these games. They definitely have some areas that need improvement such as rebounding, but overall they are starting strong. Even Dickie V says they are more talented than last year, in which I totally agree. While most teams are relying on a few stars on their starting lineup, Duke is pulling stars off the bench like Andre Dawkins and Seth Curry. Kyrie Irving has proved that he is definitely the top Freshman coming into the college arena. Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith are also showing their leadership already with strong games. Mason Plumlee is very very strong on the inside. Ryan Kelly, the Raleigh native, is showing his flair and playing hard already. All we need is Miles Plumlee to step up his game, and our inside game is extremely deep. Hairston looks good, and Thornton looks good as well. This is an overall exciting season to watch. If anyone has a chance to repeat back to back National Championships it is Duke. The threats keep on coming with the new recruitment class for next year with Marshall Plumlee and Austin Rivers joining the squad. When you are successful as Duke everyone has a target on your back, and each game is treated like a National Championship. Hopefully this year no one will get to celebrate on the court like last year. Keep the hate coming folks as Duke keeps racking up the "W"'s... Coach K is the best of the best.

HERE WE GO DEVILS HERE WE GO!

GO DUKE!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

NASCAR 2010 and looking forward to 2011



Another season outside the Chase for Junior. Jimmie Johnson puts down another consecutive 5th Championship. NASCAR moving from the wing back to the spoiler. This season was definitely exciting at points, but still mediocre in others. As a Junior fan since 2002, the expectations remain high for the #88 team to perform. The hate train moves on with people saying he'll never win this, no matter what kind of crew chief he has, but really, how do you explain the 6 wins in 2004? Yeah that was 6 years ago, but what that shows is: YES, he can win. You give him a fast car and he can get those checkers. There were several races this year in which I thought early in the race that those days would be coming back, especially at the start of the year with the drive to the front at Daytona. But following that it seems as if the 1.5 miler tracks were a loss for the team. There was a spark in the middle of the season in the Top 12 Junior resided, but poor performance just kept creeping up. Seemingly pushing for a good finish in the points staying at 19th in points just wasn't meant to be with a mishap with Jeff Burton with a good car, and several bad finishes at the end of the season led to a 21st place finish in the points for 2010, but that was an improvement from last year. Is it possible that a 4 car team just isn't possible in NASCAR? Jack Rousch seems to still be having a hard time with it as well, not just Rick Hendrick. Childress has 3 strong running cars, and Gibbs has 3 strong running cars, is 4 just a little too much? Either way, the 2011 season is completely looking up for Junior. Rick Hendrick has made some critical changes to his organization in driver switches. Dale Junior will now goto the 24 teams garage and crew, just changing car number and sponsors. The 24 car has always been stout, this really is the year for Junior looking forward into 2011. It really is time for that 88 car to get back into victory lane. Let's hope for some kool car schemes, because they sure did do it up last year, with the best being the Diet Dew Car at the end of the season at Phoenix. The Amp Orange car was kool, and the dark Mountain Dew and throwback Mountain Dew cars were also kool, but the white with green flames looked awesome! Looking forward to a great 2011 season! GO #88!!

Monday, November 22, 2010

MLS Who? The Globe continues to play while Major League Soccer takes a breather.



Chance after chance I give MLS Soccer, and time after time it's a complete letdown. You would think that the Championship of a Major League Soccer event in the US would at least bring the best competition and the best players together. But alas, after 120 minutes of excruciating watching of a pitifully officiated soccer game, MLS still fails to prove their role in this global sport of "Football" and are really a "Reserve League" for the retired European League stars, as well as a springboard for the really good players in the US to the European Leagues. The Colorado team was disgusting in sportsmanship, obviously led by the dubious MVP Casey, who deserves nothing more than a punch in the face for his bullying on the field. This was nothing more than a result from the absolutely poor officiating of the game. The piss poor actions of Mastreoni standing in front of free kicks, who obviously does not understand math and what 10 yards is shows the class, more like the lack of, this player. Its a shame that that Colorado won, because obviously Dallas was the better and more respectable team who just couldn't get it into the back of the opposing side's net. It was torture to watch the skills of many of the players with bad traps and bad passes, and the "occasional" good play. For a referee who had a record for handing out the most cards over the prior two years, obviously MLS told him to hold them tight. There were many fouls and tackles that should've been called throughout the game. The "Penalty Debacle" should have never happened because Casey should've been called for throwing the other player down, before the obvious trip. Regardless of the wrestling match that Colorado presented, if this game had appropriately been called, there might've been a different outcome. However poor MLS is now with its few blockbuster and bankbuster stars, at least USA Soccer is still making strides forward with players in the European Leagues like Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard and with Team USA doing well, without the International Stars playing. 2014 is too far away!

Bottom line is, if you want to watch a good Soccer Game, go over to ESPN3 and watch some Premier League games, or some La Liga, or Series A games, even the German League presents some great soccer to watch.

And if you don't know about the Champions League; This is where the cream of the crop goto play. So if you did pay attention to the World Cup, don't stick around watching MLS, these guys can't even play an entire season! The rest of the world is still playing Soccer, while a "Cup" is being hoisted and a season is over in the USA... coincidence that the rest of the World is pretty much better than the US when it comes to global competition in this sport? I think not.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Ron Paul Stands up for America! HR 6416 - " American Traveler Dignity Act of 2010"

Ron Paul stands up to the TSA. No one else is. Call your congressman to support this Bill. HR 6416, which simply states:

"No law of the United States shall be construed to confer any immunity for a Federal employee or agency or any individual or entity that receives Federal funds, who subjects an individual to any physical contact (including contact with any clothing the individual is wearing), x-rays, or millimeter waves, or aids in the creation of or views a representation of any part of a individual's body covered by clothing as a condition for such individual to be in an airport or to fly in an aircraft. The preceding sentence shall apply even if the individual or the individual's parent, guardian, or any other individual gives consent."

As I have talked about earlier, just because you work for the government does not mean the law does not apply to you. Listen to Dr. Paul's speech in Congress:




Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Juan Agudelo Wins it for USA Soccer!




USA beats South Africa, who has been undefeated since the World Cup with a goal from Juan Agudelo, a 17 year old from New Jersey who plays for the Red Bulls. The youngest scorer in USA History. The win definitely was not representative of the game, although happy with the result of course. South Africa had many a chance to score, and the USA played bunched up, and only came out in the second half. With a bunch of new faces it is still 4 years until the next World Cup, but good showing for the USA! Thanks to ESPN 3 for playing these games online!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

California Missile Mystery

The Pentagon didn't have an answer for two days, and they say finally, oh it's just a plane. For the general passerby, this may be believable, but for those who pay attention to contrails and CHEMTRAILS, this is definitely not something left behind from a plane. It's also interesting that several days later, its getting tougher and tougher to find the actual full footage of the missile. Here is some RAW video from a Helicopter, and notice the "Chinook" style helicopter you can see a split second in the footage. A missile or a plane... gubmit says plane.... I say missile.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Movie/Book Review : Angels and Demons



I am always skeptical about movies that I have also read the book on. But this movie is spectacular. Ron Howard created a theatrical roller coaster that keeps you watching every second of the movie. It follows the book and does not stray too much, although it cannot put the whole content of the book into the movie, you get the whole package. If you want considerably more detail after watching the movie, get the book. The book dives deeper into the organization of Opus Dei, which is a real organization, and there is much more information that you read about in the book. Dan Brown is an excellent author and I would recommend anything he has written.

Movie Review : The Fourth Kind *SPOILER*




Another "mockumentary". I liked this movie, won't watch it again. Only because... *spoiler*.. It wasn't real! But well put together, and maybe it could've been a better movie if it was just made a Movie. This mockumentary style movies really suck. It's really just a "mockery" of the general public. Fake websites, etc, etc.... pretending something is real, when it is fake. Get a new marketing team Hollywood. Just make movies and stop trying to be fake real. As the cameras(video and photo) and cell phones get better, perhaps there will be some "real" footage soon that's believable.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Movie Review : District 9



This "mockumentary" Style of movies really leaves a lot to be desired. If I wanted to watch a news feed I would watch.. the news. But, the "intentional" refocus, jiggling of the camera, and poor quality video really does suck. I will say that I did want to watch the whole movie just to see how it ended, but I found this one to be on the same level as Independence Day. It's always interesting to see someone's perception on what an alien race would be like, and it was interesting to see that people could communicate pretty well with them. Probably won't watch this one again.

TIME's 10 Questions with Stephen Hawking

Movie Review: LEGION




This movie is full of maxims. It does move through quickly, and the character development takes place through the movie. You can parallel many stories with this story, you know... Man loving woman who has a baby that is not his. Angels are always great to have in movies. This movie is worth watching once, maybe Netflix, but I am not compelled to buy it. Maybe the best line of the movie:

Why is God so mad at his children?

"Cause he's tired of the bullshit."

Awesome.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

US State Department maintains Travel Warning for Mexico



2 American students were killed in Cuidad Jaurez, Mexico on November 2nd, 2010. This makes 6 Americans killed this week in this area, up to a total of 84 Americans this year killed in this specific area of Mexico according to the US State Department.

The Mexican Drug war rolls on....

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Dale Junior's Second Run at Talladega 2010



Junior had a good car this race. Led the most laps of anyone in the race, and was consistently pushing people to the front. Burton was pushing around up the front as well. Unfortunately this expectation was not met by a combination of variables that both drivers chalked up to racing. Right after this shot they were both in the wall going 190+ mph. Both drivers were ok, but their days were ruined. Harvick was the big winner in this event gaining points being only 38 points out of the Championship Lead. With 3 races to go, this is defintely a 3 man race going into the stretch. Texas and Phoenix are the next 2 races and both have been won by Junior before, so if he can continue to finish out strong, it should be a good showing for next year. Junior will probably finish 19th in points this year which is a marked improvement from last year. With these strong restrictor plate cars, Daytona 2011 should be exciting. Homestead will be here soon.

Friday, October 29, 2010

US Department of Justice Stonewalls Civil Rights Commission's New Black Panther Party Investigation


The Democrat Members of this Commission did not attend this session, presumably to avoid any votes. Probably not because they did not agree with the following CSPAN Video, in which a few members vehemently dress down the Department of Justice's continuing effort to withhold documentation the Commission wishes to review pertaining to two guys with batons standing outside of a polling place. Is a baton a weapon? Should a polling official be wearing a weapon? I guess it shouldn't matter, 2nd Amendment.. right? The real issue is the refusal of a government agency to cooperate with oversight agencies that maintain ethical and moral standards within government. The refusal of turning over documents by usually means they are hiding something. What is it? Watch 42 minutes of this interesting banter:

CLICK HERE!

OR CLICK HERE!

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Police are not above the law



BAD BOYS BAD BOYS... WHATCHA YA GONNA DO!.... VIDEO THEM!!!


The USA TODAY presents a great article about how our police abuse their power and take it a bit too far. Film the police! They are public officials funded by your tax money. Unless you are impeding or obstructing an investigation, you have every right to film. Remember the same laws that apply to you apply to Law Enforcement Officers as well. They are not above the law. Here is the article:


CLICK HERE FOR THE USA TODAY ARTICLE

Monday, October 11, 2010

Richard Branson leads Virgin Galactic to Space.

The first private spaceflight is upon us. This is a major step in human space travel. Congratulations Richard!

Give the video 16 seconds of start time.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The Religious Effect on Sudan

By the end of the 600s Islam had sliced its way down to Sudan. It was only recently founded at the time by a murdering child rapist named Mohammed in the mid 600s. If you did not want to follow Mohammed, he did not mind. He just killed you. Heads rolled, arms chopped off and the procession of marked violence marched on as Islam spread its way out of Medina and Mecca. Culture immediately changed as a combination of political and religious zealousness presented itself in the form of Islam. Islam believes that religion is the only way and politics are decided by religious leaders. This form of theocracy is alive and well still today with about 20 countries, with major countries like Turkey and Iran, running their government in this fashion. These countries are still cutting people’s heads off, limbs off, and oppressing people with gunfire as they protest against this barbaric type of government. They marched, massacred, raped, and pillaged their way down to the Sudan leaving only an oppressed society in its wake. As they overthrew, massacred, murdered, and persecuted the Christians and even non-religious peoples who they considered infidels, Islam continued to march from Medina and Mecca, where even today non-muslims are “Not Allowed to Enter”. Trade flourished as new paths were burned down because of the demand of the expansion of Islam. As the Middle East assimilated to this barbaric religion their population grew as they practiced pedophilia and sold their girls as young as age 6 to be married. Mohammed himself the leader of the cult of Islam married a 6 year old girl and consummated the marriage when the girl Aisha turned 9. It is unfortunate that currently 1.7 billion follow the rules of such a person; it just goes to show the weakness of some for the need of religion. The poor people of the Sudan were used to being mistreated as they had been subject to violence from the Ancient Egyptians and subject to the Pharaoh’s rules and then many other battles and rulers, and Islam and Christianity went back and forth throughout the years. Unfortunately for the Sudanese they have been subject to violence for several thousand years. Even today it is one of the most violent places in the world, with many cultural and ethnic genocides taking place. The people of Sudan continue to suffer under the guise of religious right. The people of Darfur have particularly been struggling against murder and rape by the Islamic leadership of Sudan. They are targeted simply because they are non-muslim. So even 1400 years after the first initial inception of Islam into Sudan they are still subject to the violent murderous ways of Islam. Unfortunately the people of Sudan have to be subjected to these types of radical governments because most people will not acknowledge these facts. The Sudanese are humans too and they have a right to live in peace and harmony along with everyone else in the world without prejudice to their religious or political views. The Sudanese have been subjected to the rule of Pharaohs, Kings, and Caliphs. These types of dictatorships have caused many lives lost throughout the whole history of Sudan. It has caused major population declines because not only of murders, but also because of the lack of technological advancement and common modern farming techniques cause starvation and famine in the land. Many people in the Sudan die of hunger every year. Many people in the Sudan die of malnutrition because there is not adequate enough variety in the diet. Many people die in the Sudan as human sacrifices because they are dying in the name of a religion who considers it an honor to kill infidels. Make no mistake that Islam is the main reason that the Sudan is in utter turmoil, and until the Sudan rids itself of the cancer that is Islam it will not be able to progress. Either that, or submit once again to the rule of something they do not agree with in the first place. It is unfortunate that areas of the world have to submit themselves to this type of genocide solely for standing firm in their beliefs and the refusal to submit to the rules of a murderous pedophile. It is sad that the world turns its blind eye to the plight of the Sudanese and specifically the people of Darfur who are being systematically killed for being from Africa and not submitting to Islam. The factors that played into the “unfortunate” expansion into Islam was the violent nature that Islam presented itself to in this end of 600 time period. I would never consider the expansion of Islam a success because of the absolute misleading and misrepresenting it does of itself. But just representative of the skewed logic of Muslims, the head of the Middle East Chair at the Brookings Institute, Akbar Ahmed, considered what the 19 hijackers did on September 11, 2001 a “success”.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Book Review : Siddhartha

The main focus of Siddhartha was his search for Nirvana. In the beginning when he w as younger he learned knowledge from everyone possible and still did not have the wisdom he desired. He learned there was a difference between knowledge and wisdom at a young age. Knowledge is something empirical about a subject matter and can be defined and a measured level of competence can be obtained. Wisdom is the reasoning behind behavior and knowledge. Wisdom is very hard to define and can mean multiple things to many people and therefore is hard to communicate. Siddhartha explains the difference of knowledge and wisdom with his actions throughout the story. He had understood the knowledge from everyone around him who included his father and other holy learned men, but still had some very wise unanswered questions such as where is god and the meaning of life and things of this nature. He desired to move forward in his life to find this wisdom and since no one else around him seemed to be able to give him the wisdom he desired he decided to leave home. He wanted to join a local group of monks who lived homeless, nomadic, and begged for food. His father did not approve, but Siddhartha held fast to his convictions even at that young age and stood in the same spot all night without moving until his father came to him at daybreak. His father understood his son’s passion and reluctantly asked that he come back and tell him how things are going in his life from time to time. He gained much knowledge through his time as monk, but finally after three years he could not learn any more knowledge that he could value from the monks. Soon after this realization his friend Govinda heard word of a wise or holy man who was called Buddha and it took no convincing for Siddhartha to go see him. Siddhartha finally came to the realization that he could not get the wisdom from the Buddha and went on giving up his search for wisdom and focusing on ordinary knowledge. He obtained worldly knowledge for a long while gaining many possessions but eventually came to the realization that he still desired the wisdom which was completely different from all the knowledge that he had obtained over the years. He decides to goto the river, fights suicidal thoughts, gets rescued by his old friend, and then becomes a ferryman apprentice. The master ferryman understands that he also cannot communicate the wisdom he has to Siddhartha, but does his best to lead Siddhartha to places and moments that he can come to his own epiphany or enlightenment. Siddhartha finally realizes and reaches Nirvana. You do not have to have knowledge to have wisdom. Although everyone has some sort of knowledge, not everyone has wisdom.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

The Rouge MQ-8B unmanned Helicopter




This unmanned helicopter got lost down in Washington DC on September 2, 2010. By "lost" I mean it was uncontrolled for the amount of time it traveled 23 miles at 2000 feet. This is no small remote controlled helicopter now. This thing is 10 feet tall and 32 feet long. It is able to have up to a 600 pound payload and can carry a laser guiding system and also a camera from the looks of it. There are 168 of these lovely birds floating around the world. I'm sure some are hovering over your homes right now.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Patton 1970 Film Analysis



Got a C on this paper... probably the spent the longest time on this paper ever.

The movie Patton(1970) was set during the Second World War. Its main character was the General George S. Patton. The movie follows the events starting with the Battle of Kasserine Pass which was the United States first engagement with the Germans in Northern Africa. The Americans were decimated in this battle unprepared for the German tactics. They were ambushed in a pass and over 1800 soldiers were killed. They were then led by General Lloyd Fredenhall who was soon replaced by General Patton who marched the German Army who was controlled by General Rommel out of Africa. General Patton then participated in the Invasion of Sicily. After this Patton was used as a decoy during the invasion of Normandy, but eventually led the way through to the march to Berlin. The movie portrays many historical figures other than George Patton, such as Erwin Rommel, Bernard Montgomery, and Omar Bradley, but follows them as they are involved with Patton’s role in the War. The locations go from Northern Africa to London to Berlin. There are many verifiable events that occur throughout the movie. Patton was released in 1970; about 24 years after the war had ended. It was set starting during the Second World War’s North African Campaign and ending in the Conquering of Berlin. This time period is well documented from many points of view. There were also living people who had participated in the events depicted in the film. General Bradley was the lead consultant to this movie and had participated heavily in most all aspects of World War II. Patton presents an accurate historical representation of World War II and General Patton through its characters and settings.
Omar Bradley is the first main character presented to the audience. General Bradley arrives at the scene right after the Battle of Kasserine Pass. He is sent by General Eisenhower for reconnaissance of the status of the Army after such a massacre. He was recruited by General Patton to be his First in Command during the Northern African Campaign. General Bradley is accurately portrayed in the movie and is represented well with his command of the army and the pushing back of the German Army across the continent of Africa in retreat. He then traveled to Algiers to help plan the invasion of Sicily. He actively participated by moving his division through the center of Sicily to follow General Patton and General Montgomery into Messina. General Bradley was in charge of the Normandy Invasion. Once they had landed General Bradley had command of the Army and pushed the German Army back through France. The movie accurately reflects the transition from General Patton being in charge of General Bradley to General Bradley being in charge of General Patton. Hitler commanded the German Troops to reinforce their position against General Bradley’s Army, while allowing General Patton to continue progress towards Berlin.(6)
Erwin Rommel is the second main character presented to the audience. Erwin Rommel is responsible for the defeat of the Americans in the Battle of Kasserine Pass. General Rommel plans his second attack once he learns that General Patton has been assigned to the newly rebuilding army on the Northern African front. General Rommel is heavily defeated in the second battle and is forced to retreat across the continent of Northern Africa with General Bradley chasing. Following this battle General Rommel is called back to Berlin to meet with Hitler. General Patton is depicted reading one of General Rommel’s books, which is accurate because General Rommel wrote several books. General Rommel is also shown openly criticizing Hitler in a scene in the movie, which accurately reflects his character and ultimately led to his demise, which is by forced suicide under the order of Hitler. (9, 10)
General Patton arrives on the scene after General Bradley has ascertained the situation to take charge of the Northern African front. The movie is highly based on General Patton and a biography written almost twenty years after his death in 1944 was the main resource. Fortunately General Bradley was still living during the creation of the film and was used as a consultant to the film. General Bradley was the main associate to General Patton throughout World War II. This contributed to the accuracy of the film. Some of General Patton’s behaviors can be validated by General Bradley. The aggressiveness seen such as when their African base was under attack and General Patton pulls out his sidearm and attempts to shoot at incoming aircraft is an example of the eccentric behavior Patton displays. He stops at a few locations and talks about being in major battles between ancient cultures with great sincerity. General Patton had showed a great desire to be the hero of the war, and made several attempts to make battle decisions to ensure that he would be the reaper of the glory of war. The American public regarded General Patton as the true hero of the war even though he was not the highest ranking officer. During the Invasion of Sicily, General Patton chose a route through Sicily to ensure his Army was the first into Messina to be the ones welcomed as liberators. (4) General Patton showed his displeasure in not being in command during the Normandy Invasion, and relished the opportunity to take command of an Army division even though he would be a subordinate of General Bradley. General Patton seemed to be happy to be in competition with General Bernard Montgomery. (3)
General Bernard Montgomery was the British General who assisted in many major battles throughout World War II. General Montgomery successfully squeezed General Rommel into General Patton’s direction and furthermore out of Africa. (5) General Montgomery worked in coordination with the American leadership, with the full support of General Eisenhower. General Montgomery was in competition with General Patton for the glory of being known as the winner. General Montgomery was included in the invasion of Sicily and wanted to be the first to Messina. Unfortunately General Patton arrived at Messina first to receive honor of being considered the liberator. General Montgomery was alluded to by General Eisenhower as misleading to his account of the Battle of the Bulge to make it seem as if he were the one who won the war, and that the Americans played only a slight role. General Montgomery was highly honored by the British, although his hubris was only envied by General Patton.
The movie Patton uses settings to create a realistic picture of the surroundings that were dealt with during World War II. Starting with the aftermath of the Battle of Kasserine Pass in Tunisia in Northern Africa, the setting is accurately portrayed as a Chaparral biome with not strictly desert with some moderate small vegetation. Tunisia borders the Mediterranean which is the reason for this type of non-desert setting. After the Axis defeat following the deployment of new leadership in the American Army and the push of the British Army in the Northern African campaign, the Axis retreated to the Island of Sicily. The Allies were steadily moving their Armies to the Island of Sicily with General Patton mounting a charge from Palermo and General Montgomery coming from Syracuse. They pushed the Axis powers off the island over to the mainland by overwhelming Messina from their respective locations. After the victory on the Italian front the movie then moves towards D-Day and Patton’s non-involvement with the event. Patton is stationed in London as a decoy to confuse the Germans who well expect General Patton to lead any charge that the Allies had planned. Patton then gets to rejoin the battlefront in France meeting with his new commanding officer General Bradley. Through coordination with the British Army with General Montgomery they invoke Operation Cobra which in turn results in the Battle of the Bulge. This is spearheaded by General Patton with the goal of taking the city of Bastogne, Belgium. The taking of Bastogne was an important part to give the Allies the advantage in the war. Bastogne was the center for many major roads in the area that were under German control. Throughout the movie real places can be viewed and verified as being accurate. The movie named accurate places and moved in a specific timeline that displayed real movement of the Allied effort against the Germans.
Patton gave an accurate representation of several historical events throughout the campaign of World War II. The small period of time that lapsed between the movie and the historical event played an important part in the accuracy of the account of history. The utilization of one of the main major players as a consultant to the movie assisted in creating an accurate display of events. Verification of events throughout the movie are recreated through interviews taken from people such as Sgt. Howard Gray’s account of his necessity to get his Gasoline trucks, “The Redball Express” to General Patton’s tanks. (8)The rise of the information age has created a vast amount of information directly from the time period that allows for accurate representation and fact checking of most events in the 20th century.

Works Cited:
1. Battle of Sicily: March from the Beaches; TIME; July 26, 1943 Rick Atkinson
2. World Battlefronts: Battle in France: Meeting in Normandy; TIME; July 10,1944
3. World Battlefronts: The Star Halfback; TIME; April 09, 1945
4. Eighth Army is on the Move, Churchill Says; The Spartanburg Herald; March 21, 1943; Associated Press, p.1
5. British Watch: Rommel’s Rout; LIFE; December 28, 1942, p. 22
6. Omar Nelson Bradley; LIFE; June 5, 1944; Charles Christian Wertenbaker, p.100
7. Germany, Hitler, and WWII; Gerhard L. Weinberg, 1995, p.267
8. General Patton’s Forgotten Troops: African Americans Soldiers in World War II in their own words, History Channel; Washington High School; 1998; Paul Larue
9. Patton and Rommel: Men of War in the Twentieth Century; Dennis Showalter; 2005; p.2
10. Interrogation of Wilhelm Keitel; Col. JH Amen, Office of US Chief Counsel of the Prosecution of Axis Criminality; September 28,1945

Monday, August 16, 2010

Pearl Jam : Jeremy by Steele Shepherd




My favorite song on this album is "Black".

The most powerful song on this album is "Jeremy".

Jeremy is based partly on a sad touching true story.

Steele Shepherd has done the research : CLICK HERE TO READ!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Thomas Jefferson by Alan Alda



Thomas Jefferson was one of the most interesting Founding Fathers. Alan Alda spoke at a Monticello presentation for about 25 minutes about him and it was most informative.

Click Here to Listen

Thursday, July 29, 2010

The NOAA-NASA GOES Project




I have been looking for this type of data for a long time. Thank you NASA and NOAA for coming up with such a fabulous project full of great information. Being able to provide a movie of the weather pattern from Space is a step closer to understanding the environment directly around Earth. The more we understand Space, the better we can use the environment it to advance human life.

This movie is July 25th to July 29th in the year 2010. You will notice a curious bright line that goes through the screen at various points throughout the movie, it took me a moment, but that's actually the sun going by changing the planet from night to day.

Now if we can get a full earth movie of this, which can play out for longer time periods, that would be interesting.

For more information Click Here to visit the NASA and NOAA GOES Project.

NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NOAA = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
GOES = Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Charlie Rangel at it again! Forced Servitude is his goal.



This is Charlie Rangel, Congressman for the 15th District of New York, which has pieces of Queens, Manhattan, Harlem, and some non-residential areas included. Charlie Rangel is a real American Hero with medals from the Korean War, but he wants to force you to earn those medals too. HR5741 was introduced by Mr. Rangel only, and states the following:

To require all persons in the United States between the ages of 18 and
42 to perform national service, either as a member of the uniformed
services or in civilian service in furtherance of the national defense
and homeland security, to authorize the induction of persons in the
uniformed services during wartime to meet end-strength requirements
of the uniformed services, and for other purposes.

It is a shame that the people of the 15th District of New York are sending a man like this to Congress. Mr. Rangel continues to submit bills that include forced servitude. The last bill was for 3 months of service. HR5741 is for 2 whole years. Required service is nothing less than slavery. Thanks District 15 of New York, we are glad you want to enslave the country by sending Mr. Rangel to Washington. Not really, PLEASE DO NOT RE ELECT HIM!

Friday, July 23, 2010

Send your name to Mars on the New Curiosity Rover!




CLICK HERE to Sign Your Name onto a microchip to go on the next new Mars Rover Curiosity which is scheduled to launch in November of 2011. They are tracking where the signatures come from and North Carolina falls 15th only 20 behind Maryland. With only 6302 participants from North Carolina, there is a total of about 780,000 total participants worldwide, with the US providing over 300,000 of those participants. I wonder if this rover is going to make any effort to save Spirit??



This is a picture from NASA, which shows Spirit just getting out of his landing device. Spirit has been stuck on Mars for a many SOL and has been without communication since March 2010. It is stuck in "Troy" which is the crater in which Spirit cannot get out of because the terra beneath Spirit's 6 motor wheels gave way like a sand dune, but it is so deep the Rover cannot get back out of it. This thing 5 feet tall, 7 feet wide, and 5 feet long, its not small at all. It has now lost all power and has been silent for good while. Perhaps they will send their new Rover Curiosity to retrieve it or maybe attempt to pull it out of crater somehow and power it up. I guess it is better we learn about things such as perhaps a human could get stuck in a location like that, and how better to get out of situations like that.

So, I guess now someone should get some sort of prize for being the first person to bring back this microchip, as long as their name is on the chip!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Lance Armstrong Muscles Stage 16 in the Tour de France.



This picture is directly from the Team Radioshack Website . Lance steps on the pedal in today's Stage 16th. After his wrecks in an earlier stage Lance had fallen to 40 minutes behind Alberto Contador who still maintains the yellow jersey. Today Lance Armstrong pulled out to a 9 minute lead to finish in a group 7 minutes ahead of the Peloton. Chris Horner from Team Radioshack was the big gainer for today pulling just under 9 minutes from the lead. Levi Leipheimer is just over 5 minutes behind Contador. Even if Lance decides to continue to escape from over the next 3 stages and even potentially gaining another 7 minutes on the leaders that would only bring him 21 minutes. Today he is 33 minutes behind Contador. The winner is usually decided on Stage 19, and Stage 20 is the Parade stage down to the Champs-Élysées in Paris. It is still conceivable to have the United States win, and even simply Team Radioshack bring home the Maillot Jaune. I honestly would not care about protocol if Team Radioshack escaped from the Peloton in Stage 20 and crossed over the finish line first, enough time someone on that team could win, especially if there some inclusive breaks and attacks in these next few stages that include any of the Team Radioshack members. The question for Lance is, did you wait too long to turn on the afterburners?

Monday, July 19, 2010

Ferrari Passion




This is the car that started it all. The 308GTS. Thomas Magnum drove this vehicle around Hawaii while being a private investigator, in Magnum PI. The car just looks kool. The targa top is almost as good as a convertible.




When I was young, my grandparents lived outside of Washington DC. On a trip up to see them perhaps Thanksgiving, we were driving around the beltway and one of these Testarossa's came whizzing by us in our big bad Delta 88 Station Wagon, yes burgundy with the wood panels.



When I was 18 I had put this as my dream car, I would love to have this F355 convertible, which you can get one for the same price as a high dollar BMW or Mercedes these days. The car below is the $425,000 beast that only the multi-millionaire can dream of, The 599 GTO is one nice Ferrari.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Spain takes home World Cup 2010





Congratulations to the Spanish National Soccer Team for winning the World Cup! With a goal by the Spanish's Iniesta late in Extra Time putting them up 1 nil. It's a shame this tournament only comes around every 4 years, but hopefully in 4 more years the US team should be 4 years better. I think replacing the coach every 4 years is a bad policy of the US Soccer Team. Hopefully more talent will become available because a soccer team cannot rely on solely 2 or 3 players to get the job done. There need to be 2 or 3 superstars and a great support squad.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Chasing the Maillot Jaune in the 2010 Tour De France



Lance Armstrong is sitting in 18th place after 5 stages, a little bit over 615 miles and just over 23 hours ridden. He is only 2 minutes and 30 seconds behind yellow jersey occupant Fabian Cancellara. Cancellara has never won the Tour de France but has won many stages and has been in contention for several years. This year's Tour is heavy in mountain stages which will play into Armstrong's favor. There have been great attacks in this race so far which has a long way to go. Today's attack got up to an 8 minute break before getting wrapped up by the peloton by the end of the race. The rest of Team Radioshack is not too far behind with Levi Leipheimer +23" on Lance with Janez Brajkovic and Andeas Kloden less than 10 seconds behind Levi. Overall Team Radioshack is 11th among the 22 teams participating in the Tour this year. With many more miles to go this is still anyone's race.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

NASCAR Polls on Dale Jr



I'm glad to see that almost 70% of the general traffic so far to participate in the NASCAR.COM site thinks that Dale Jr will remain in competition to the chase. With the great 4th place finish at Daytona last night, it pushed Junior to 11th in the points standings 57 points behind Greg Biffle in the 10th place of the Sprint Cup Standings. With 8 races left in the chase, there is still a lot of racing to go. I think that the #88 team has many good races left this season and will make the chase. To win the championship they need wins, not just good finishes. But I guess with good finishes that puts you in position to win the championship and that's why the chase format is fun.

Chicago:

Junior knows how to win at Chicago, which he did in 2005. He last two outings to Chicago were 15th and 16th which is around his average for this track. An improvement on this finish would continue to propel the points standing forward.

Indianapolis:

Junior's record on this track is unreliable. They did start 3rd in last years race, but had a 36th place finish due to an engine failure. So if the car's engine is in better shape this year and its fast, hopefully a good finish can be the result of this. His best finish was 6th back in 2006. So he can get around this track if given a fast car.

Pocono:

In the last race here Junior started 3rd. His finish of 19th was not a result of a slow car, but never getting the track position needed. His car was equivalent to the leaders, but could not get up front. With 5 Top 5s at this track, hopefully a good finish can be the result of this experience.

Watkins Glen:

Although not known for his road racing ability, Junior can finish well at this track. He has won there in the Nationwide Series and started 2nd in the 2008 race. He only has two finishes of 3rd and 5th, but he has led 46 laps at this track and certainly knows how to get around it.

Michigan:

Junior has one win at this track. Detractors say that it was a fuel mileage race, but he was out front when they called the race. Junior knows how to get around in the front having led 173 laps here and finished in the top 5 - 4 times. The last two outings were a 7th and 3rd place finish.

Bristol:

Junior won here in 2004. 743 Laps lead and 7 top 5 here. His last two appearances at this track end up with a 7th and 9th place. This is a track that given a good car he can win at. Who doesn't love Saturday night races anyway!

Atlanta:

Junior won the Pole in the earlier race this year but only managed a 15th place finish due to some poor changes late in the race. This race is right up there with Bristol. 1 Win and 8 Top 5s at this track. 632 laps led, so if the #88 team can get a good car out there, it'll be another fun race to watch.

Richmond:

At all the upcoming races Junior has won the most with 3 at this track. His past 3 races at this track have been very dismal with 21st being the best finish. The cars are looking better this year, so lets see if we can find those good finishes and wins at this track again. It would be a cap on a good season if Junior can finish in the Top 12 in the point standings after this race.


I think Junior has a very good chance of making the chase this year, and if he can pull of a slew of wins during the chase, he can win the Championship. He is capable of winning more than once a year, with 6 in 2004. He is capable of winning in the Charlotte through Phoenix run of the Chase. It's turning out to be an exciting 2010 season! Making the Chase and perhaps getting a win would solidify Junior's place in NASCAR.

Happy Independence Day!




I always feel like saluting the flag, but I put my hand over my chest. Being in a free country with the ability to have your life, your liberty, and being free to pursue your happiness is what everyone truly wants. The power of liberty is overwhelming when understood which it is giving you the ability to drive your own life. Having the freedom to be happy is only misunderstood by the sad. There is nothing wrong with being sad, and almost everyone experiences it. It is much more fun in life to go through it happy.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The US Government versus The Internet aka World Wide Web

Don't forget about "Net Neutrality". The government is actively waging a legal war for control of the Internet.

On June 17, 2010, the FCC had an "Open Meeting on Framework for Broadband Internet Service" in which they discussed the National Broadband Plan and how best to control and regulate the Internet. On-Ramps and White-Spaces are two terms that should start becoming familiar to Internet Service Providers who no longer control the actual infrastructure but will only be able to buy access to it. Comcast opened a can of worms when they decided to challenge the regulation of their customer infrastructure. Now what Comcast did was wrong. They tightened the distribution of selected web servers allowing for less throughput and transmission speeds. Internet Service Providers should be forced to comply with the standing Communications Act, which only allows a "Carrier" to carry the signal without manipulation. Recently around 2002, Cable and DSL Carriers were considered "Information Systems" and exempt from the Communications Act. The recent court decision reaffirmed the governments position, and allowed Comcast to continue to manage their own network. Cable companies are definitely guilty of oversubscription, which is fraud. This court decision led to the open discussion within the Federal Communications Commission on how best to take advantage of this lingering question of control. The Chairman has laid out the framework for discussion, and while many commissioners disagreed on the depth of control, all felt there should be some sort of control and regulation of the Internet. The Senate has passed Bill 3480, submitted by Mr. Lieberman, Ms. Collins, and Mr. Carper, includes creation of many overarching divisions of government that will work in coordination with the department of defense, homeland security, and other similar departments. It also enables rules to take control of the national infrastructure, which is anything deemed critical to the functioning of the country, and ursurp this power until any "incident" is over. The United States Government is pulling out all the stops and trying to find the best wording to take control of the "National Infrastructure", aka The Internet.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

US Navy's Awesome Unmanned Vehicle - X-47B


UFO anyone? This was unveiled in 2008, direct information from the Navy Website. Forget the drones you usually see. These are the drones for the 22nd century! War of the Worlds? Definitely B-2 'ish.

Friday, June 18, 2010

USA Soccer Team has Goal Stolen in Round 1 of World Cup against Slovenia - Draws instead of Win



World Cup fever has hit. A tight match against England in the US's first game led to a 1-1 draw. They did not attack and goto the ball as much as they should have in the first game. The first half against Slovenia this same team showed up. They were down two goals in the first half, and deservedly so. The second half a new team appeared on the field full of aggression and passion. Eventually bringing the game to a tie with 2 goals. Then the official took a goal from the US. An obvious bad call by the ref negated a 3rd goal for the US, in which if anything should have been a goal plus a penalty shot for the obvious holding (bear hugs) taking place during the free kick for the US. So the US ends up with a 0-0-2 record, with 3 goals scored so far in the tournament. If they can beat Algeria with a couple of goals, I believe they can move to the second round. I do not think that England can win against Slovenia. England finished with a 0-0 draw with Algeria and they played very poorly. I believe Slovenia will win against England and the US will win against Algeria moving them both to the Round of 16. GO USA!!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Gran Turismo 5 - Must Have Game for PS3



I tried to post videos up here from Playstation but they autoplay.

This game has it all.... and includes NASCAR!

It also includes........ DAMAGE! So no more cheating banging off the walls folks. After playing GT5 prologue this game is going to be the best game out there for race simulator aficionados.

Might even be worth buying a Playset Driving Seat and a Logitech G27.... hmm.

If you are a GT fan it is really worth checking out the videos:

Gran Turismo 5 Playstation Videos

Chevy Gets Serious about 2011 Camaro Convertible



It's about time they got serious about this car. I can't wait to be sitting behind mine. I hope they still allow the Aqua Metallic, because I haven't seen that option on the site for awhile. Tan Top. Tan Interior. 2SS RS Package. Come on, a Camaro without a V8?? And of course Manual Transmission.

Here is a teaser pic from Chevy, because this is all you'll see of me.....