Friday, May 30, 2008

We all know those cute little computer symbols called 'emoticons,' where:
:) means a smile and
:( is a frown.
Sometimes these are represented by
:-)
:-(
Well, how about some 'ARSE-ICONS?'
Here goes:
(_!_) a regular arse
(__!__) a fat arse
(!) a tight arse
(_*_) a sore arse
{_!_} a swishy arse
(_o_) an arse that's been around



(_x_) kiss my arse
(_X_) leave my arse alone
(_zzz_) a tired arse
(_E=mc2_) a smart arse
(_$_) Money coming out of his arse
(_?_) Dumb arse
You have just been e-mooned!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Ten Commandments for a Responsible Pet Owner

1. My life is likely to last 10-15 years.
Any separation from you is likely to be painful.

2. Give me time to understand what you want of me.

3. Place your trust in me. It is crucial for my well-being.

4. Don't be angry with me for long and don't lock me up as punishment.
You have your work, your friends, your entertainments.
But, I have only you.

5. Talk to me. Even if I don't understand your words,
I do understand your voice when speaking to me.

6. Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget it.

7. Before you hit me, before you strike me,
remember that I have teeth that could easily crush the bones in your hand,
and yet I choose not to bite you.

8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative,
ask yourself if something might be bothering me.
Perhaps I'm not getting the right food, I have been in the sun too long
or my heart might be getting old or weak.

9. Please take care of me when I grow old. You too will grow old.

10. On the difficult journey, on the ultimate difficult journey, go with me please.
Never say you can't bear to watch. Don't make me face this alone. Everything is easier for me if you are there, because I love you so.


Take a moment today to thank God for your pets.
Enjoy them and take good care of them.
Life would be a much duller, less joyful thing without God's critters.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Gagdad does it again. Read it all for it is excellent.
Blogger: One Cosmos - : "We remember our heroes because they illuminate the eternal realm of the heroic, a realm that we must treasure and venerate if we are to survive as a culture. Not only is the hero a transcendent archetype, but he is only heroic because he has sacrificed something in defense of another archetype -- truth, liberty, beauty, the good, etc. In the absence of this true formulation, neither the hero nor his sacrifice make any sense at all. This is why to 'deconstruct,' say, George Washington, is not just an attack on the father of our country, but on fatherhood, heroism, strength, courage, and the realm of transcendent (i.e., the Real) in general."

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Memorial Day - Arlington (Trace Adkins)

Over at Bob's Bog is a shocker in which a teenager was arrested in London for having a sign that called Scientology a cult. Arrested. So much for freedom of speech in Great Britain. Here is a list - Scientology is on it so he isn't the only one that considers it a cult.
Top 10 Cults - The List Universe

Navy Hymn Tribute

Friday, May 23, 2008

FOXNews.com - Junk Science: Global Warming's New 'Consensus' - Opinion

GLOBAL WARMING CHALLENGED:

FOXNews.com - Junk Science: Global Warming's New 'Consensus' - Opinion

lgf: Terror T-Shirt Merchant Answers Critics

Ahh, more eloquence and charm from Urban Outfitters who I have posted about a couple of times.
lgf: Terror T-Shirt Merchant Answers Critics: "Terror T-Shirt Merchant Answers Critics

Fri, May 23, 2008 at 4:09:04 pm PST

The maker of that T-shirt that Urban Outfitters was selling (they’ve since dropped it from their catalog), with pictures of Palestinian children brandishing weapons under a peace dove and the slogan “Victimized,” has a very special message for LGF readers and others who criticized his sick piece of trash, at FRESHJIVE.

His thoughtful opinion piece ranges from foreign policy and the Arab-Israeli conflict, to the need for respectful dialog...

Respectful dialog between people who disagree is essential to the health of a democratic culture.

... and the need for LGF readers to perform anatomical impossibilities:

But if you’re gonna come at me with spinned out moronic accusations, I’ll just respond to you in the same assinine way, and that will be to tell you to go f*ck yourself.

Peace out!"
More reasons to home school:

More on the US textbooks promoting Islam.
Family Security Matters � Publications � Are American History Texts Promoting Islam?
ELECTION 2008
WorldNet Daily Exclusive
Report: Communist
mentored Obama
Investigations show ties to radicals
who shaped him, launched career

Posted: May 22, 2008
11:40 pm Eastern

By Jerome R. Corsi

WorldNetDaily
Barack Obama had extensive ties with extreme anti-American elements, including agents of the Moscow-controlled Communist Party USA, in Hawaii and Chicago, according to two new reports released yesterday in Washington, D.C., by two experienced internal security investigators.

Investigative journalist Cliff Kincaid and Herbert Romerstein, a former investigator with the U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities, presented evidence Obama was mentored, while attending high school in Hawaii, by Frank Marshall Davis, an African-American poet and journalist who was also a CPUSA member.

The authors, in a separate report, document Obama's ties to radicals in Chicago who helped launch his career.

In a paper entitled "Communism in Hawaii and the Obama Connection," the authors document that in 1948, Davis decided to move from Chicago to Honolulu at the suggestion of what they describe as two "secret CPUSA members," actor Paul Robeson and Harry Bridges, the head of the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen Union, or ILWU.

In Chicago, Davis had worked for the Chicago Star newspaper; in Honolulu, he was hired as a reporter for the Honolulu Record, both identified by Kincaid and Romerstein as "communist front newspapers."

(Story continues below)



In his autobiography, "Dreams from My Father," Obama discusses the influence a mentor identified in the book only as "Frank" had on his intellectual development.

Obama described Frank as a drinking companion of his grandfather, who had boasted of his association with African-American authors Richard Wright and Langston Hughes during the time Frank was a journalist in Chicago.

Romerstein, in addition to having served as investigator with the U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities, served in the same capacity with the House Committee on Internal Security and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He was the head of the Office to Counter Soviet Disinformation for the U.S. Information Agency. Romerstein is also co-author of the influential book "The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors," which included extensive documentation of the communist activities of Roosevelt administration staffer Alger Hiss.

Kincaid is the founder and president of America's Survival Inc. , an independent watchdog group that monitors the U.N. and international terrorism. He is also editor of Accuracy in Media's AIM Report .

Are you a member of the Communist Party?

Kincaid and Romerstein quote Kathryn Takara of the University of Hawaii, who wrote a dissertation on the life of Frank Marshall Davis, confirming Davis was a significant influence on Obama when the senator attended Punahou prep school in Hawaii from 1975 to 1979

A transcript of a 1956 hearing before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee discovered by internal security affairs researcher and writer Max Friedman showed Davis took the Fifth Amendment when asked by the subcommittee if he was or had ever been a member of the Communist Party.

In the second report, "Communism in Chicago and the Obama Connection," Kincaid and Romerstein present evidence supporting their contention the SDS organization from which the Weather Underground organization and radicals Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dorhn came, received financial contributions from the CPUSA, which in turn receive its funding from Moscow.

Obama's run for the Illinois state Senate was launched by a fundraiser organized at Ayers' and Dorhn's Chicago home by Alice Palmer. Palmer had named Obama to succeed her in the state Senate in 1995, when she decided to run for a U.S. congressional seat.

Nine years before Palmer picked Obama to be her successor, she was the only African-American journalist to travel to the Soviet Union to attend the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, according to an article Palmer wrote in the CPUSA newspaper, People's Daily World, June 19, 1986.

"There has been no explanation of why Ayers et al. played a role in launching Obama's political career," Kincaid wrote.

Kincaid and Romerstein present documentation that Tom Hayden, another major figure in the SDS, is today one of four principal initiators of the "Progressives for Obama" movement , which calls for ending the war in Iraq "as quickly as possible, not in five years."

According to Kincaid and Romerstein, U.S. Peace Council executive committee member Frank Chapman "blew the whistle on communist support for Obama's presidential bid and his real agenda" in a letter to the People's Weekly World after Obama's win in the Iowa Democratic Party caucuses.

"Obama's victory was more than a progressive move; it was a dialectical leap ushering in a qualitatively new era of struggle," Chapman wrote. "Marx once compared revolutionary struggle with the work of the mole, who sometimes burrows so far beneath the ground that he leaves no trace of his movement on the surface.

Kincaid and Romerstein wrote, "The clear implication of Chapman's letter is that Obama himself, or some of his Marxist supporters, are acting like moles in the political process. The suggestion is that something is being hidden from the public."

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

The multi talented animal loving artist,photographer, writer, and thinker
Julie Cork wrote a comment over at One Cosmos that I had to post as my few readers probably haven't been slacking enough to get to the comment sections . My kit is always talking about the flow of energy and here Julie addresses this so eloquently I had to share it


Blogger: One Cosmos - Post a Comment: "How can you explain, for instance, the flow of energy which takes place when words are typed into a keyboard in California, then read by someone in Arizona or Idaho or Texas, and cause a transference of energy whereby the distant reader is compelled to change the way they think and behave? No electrons were exchanged between the author and the readers (the same result and for the same people, in fact, is had by the more pedestrian method of opening a book); no physical transference of energy takes place between the one and the other, and yet the thoughts - the psychic energy, if you will - of one person are transferred to the minds of others. Somehow, dots of ink or electrons become thoughts (incredible!).

There is no question that this takes place, every moment of every day in one way or another; the results are verifiable. The actual will, the energy that is exchanged, is not. It exists, regardless of whether you believe it and regardless of whether it can be detected"
Urban Outfitters is a chain of stores that caters to those that want to be hip with a limited budget. I wandered in one day to search down a birthday gift for my soon to be teenage God daughter as her mom had told me she likes their stuff. Thrown on a discard sale table were Jesus as a historical figure dolls with a label explaining who he was. Didn't happen to notice any Mohammed dolls. Now this:
lgf: Urban Outfitters Glorifies Terrorism

Monday, May 19, 2008

What a horrible loss!
My heart goes out to those who have lost their courageous daughter ,Hadeel Alhodaifto , to such a suspicious and premature death.
This is a very sad day.



Cinnamon Stillwell: 25-Year-Old Saudi Woman Blogger and Social Critic Dies "Unexpectedly"

Friday, May 16, 2008

Jay Leno wrote this; it's the Jay Leno we don't often see....




As most of you know I am not a President Bush fan, nor have I ever been, but this is not about Bush, it is about us, as Americans, and it seems to hit the mark.


'The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some Poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right?


The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President.

In essence 2/3 of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change. So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, 'What are we so unhappy about?''

A.. Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 Days a week?


B.. Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?

C.. Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?

D. Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

E.. Maybe it is the ability to drive our cars and trucks from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?

F.. Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?

G.. I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough either.

H. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

I.. Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home.

J.. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames, thus saving you, your family, and your belongings.

K.. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.

L.. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90% of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

M.. How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?

Maybe that is what has 67% of you folks unhappy.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. , yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have, and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks? The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me?

Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad? Think about it......are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the 'Media' told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day. Make no mistake about it.

The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an 'other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans?

Say what you want but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they specialize in bad news Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells, and when criticized, try to defend their actions by 'justifying' them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like OJ. Simpson to write a book about how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way......Insane!

Turn off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage Then start being grateful for all we have as country. There is exponentially more good than bad. We are among the most blessed people on Earth and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative.' 'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, 'Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

Jay Leno

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Shamelessly swiped this off Bob's Blog. who always has great stuff. I read this to my husband. He didn't realize I was reading it. The light bulb got changed and the garbage taken out. Heh. Thanks, Bob!

"Q: How Many Women with PMS does it take to Change a Light Bulb?
A: One. Only ONE!! And do you know WHY? Because no one else in this house knows HOW to change a light bulb! They don't even know that the bulb is BURNED OUT! They would sit in the dark for THREE DAYS before they figured it out. And, once they figured it out, they wouldn't be able to find the light bulbs despite the fact that they've been in the SAME CUPBOARD for the past 17 YEARS! But if they did, by some miracle, actually find them 2 DAYS LATER, the chair they dragged to stand on to change the STUPID light bulb would STILL BE IN THE SAME SPOT!! AND UNDERNEATH IT WOULD BE THE WRAPPER THE STUPID @*!#$% LIGHT BULBS CAME IN! WHY? BECAUSE NO-ONE EVER CARRIES OUT THE GARBAGE! IT'S A WONDER WE HAVEN'T ALL SUFFOCATED FROM THE PILES OF GARBAGE THAT ARE 12' DEEP THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE HOUSE. THE HOUSE! IT WOULD TAKE AN ARMY TO CLEAN THIS #@*$!#@ HOUSE!"

Monday, May 12, 2008

HT to my pal Shark for this one. What are some of the positive things about this way of dressing in general and specifically at the gym?
Gym'll fix it for these women | The Sun |HomePage|News
Just noticing our history books.

History textbooks promoting Islam

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day . Blessed are you amongst woman.

Here is the email that started my Mother's Day from an amazing young woman. I sure did get the luck of the draw with her, but just to let my five readers know, for what it's worth, I did love her first and more than Swiss Almond Chip ice cream.
Dear Mom,
As Mother's day approached I thought about how superficial this day actually was/is, flowers,chocolates,cards all these material items given to a woman to acknowledge the sacrifices they made and continue to make as they raise their children, the people of our future.....When Dad and I traveled through out Laos and Thailand, he kept explaining to me how this trip would open my mind as it did his to the massive respect that one must bear when it came to women, for women were the beings that held the weight of the world on their shoulders; So how could flowers, chocolates, or cards really express what mothers are to not only the individuals in their families but the world as a whole? It ends up seeming rather shallow when looked at in any way shape or form to just send a material item to express the beauty of motherhood.
It is only fitting that you spend your mothers day in the place where you met your mate , the man that you created life with and became a mother, by bearing me ,your little child, that has grown and continues to grow. As we all search for what our purpose is, re-evaluating our spiritual paths, our short term goals, our long term goals and doing all the emotional and intellectual work that we must to continue toward the truth, life happens. Life was created for me 27 years ago. I was given life from two people coming together in wanting and love to have a child, a family, a dream. The dream continues on as we move to new phases and maybe the dream wasn't exactly what imagined, especially when the little one( that was me) was crying in your ear at 1,2, 3am keeping you from any sort of sanity that you might have had....then as a teenager that pushed you away making you feel closed out, and worried that you didn't do a good enough job raising her...
From the moment born you kissed all the scrapes and scratches; you hugged me when I cried and held the space for me; you always were an ear from me to sound off on , to express my dreams, or frustrations , all of these things, just little things, that any mother would strive to do. You always took things a step above...You provided me with clothes, not just any clothing but always the most beautiful threads a girl could ask for, you fed me only the healthiest food, concerned always with my health, you read me the "cookie monster" over and over and over again always making it new with a new choice you made as the actress in you came flowing forward. Always planning trips to the snow, and to play in the sand. You never treated me as one that should be seen and not spoken to but rather always as a equal that had something to say, as you always took the time to listen, no matter how inane my ideas, philosophies were/are....Always loving me through every stage, always allowing me the space I needed to come to my own conclusions to what this crazy world meant to me.
Today is the day that as your child I thank you for all the times you were not thanked, all of the above and all the laundry you did of mine and all the shirts, towels, wet bathing suits and dishes you washed without acknowledgment. If Mom's got won Oscar's you would be the Mom that would win like ten, for best picture: also known as best life, best actress: for when you wanted to scream and didn't; for best supporting actress: when you stepped aside and let me shine when I needed to; for best sound track: for not sighing when I asked ,and you let me belt away "I will always love you"...you would get two of those for putting up with my repeating over and over Bob Marley 's Pimpers Paradise....The list is never ending. Thank you for loving me through every strange moment I have had, and continuing to pick me up and brush me off when I fall. I love you with all my heart, with all my heart, the life you have created for me is full of abundance, and the ability for gratitude. If I could capture all the Vanilla Swiss Almond in the world, then develop a drug that diffused all the bad effects of the sugar and fat in it, I would, and then I would give you all of it, and that would only symbolize 1 billion-eth of all my love for you. Remember I picked you, thus the conclusion is I loved you first.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Love you~
Me
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Friday, May 09, 2008

Interesting account of retired USAF and Delta Pat Gilmore, of
events just prior to 9/11-

> Pat Gilmore is a Delta pilot retiree..
> As a Delta B-767 captain myself at the time of the attacks on 9/11, I was in
> crew rest in Orlando that morning. I had just turned on the TV in my hotel room only
> to see the WTC tower on fire, then saw the second airplane hit the other tower. My
> immediate reaction was "Terrorists..we're at war", followed by the realization that
> we airline crewmembers had all dodged a bullet; it could have been any one of us
> flying those planes. As soon as the news stations flashed the first pictures of the
> terrorists I knew just how close and personal the bullet I dodged was. There, on the
> screen for all to see, was a man who had sat in my jump seat the previous July.
> His name was Mohammad Atta, the leader of the terrorist hijackers. Atta had
> boarded my flight from Baltimore to Atlantaon July 26, 2001 wearing an American
> Airlines first officer uniform. He had the corresponding AA company ID identifying
> him as a pilot, not to mention the required FAA pilot license and medical certificate
> that he was required to show me as proof of his aircrew status for access to my jump
> seat. An airline pilot riding a cockpit jump seat is a long established protocol
> among the airlines of the world, a courtesy extended by the management and captains
> of one airline to pilots and flight attendants of other airlines in recognition of
> their aircrew status. My admission of Mohammad Atta to my cockpit jump seat that day
> was merely a routine exercise of this protocol.
> Something seemed a bit different about this jump seat rider, though, because
> in my usual course of conversation with him as we reached cruise altitude he avoided
> all my questions about his personal life and focused very intently upon the cockpit
> instruments and our operation of the aircraft. I asked him what he flew at American
> and he said, "These", but he asked incessant questions about how we did this or why
> we did that. I said, "This is a 767. They all operate the same way." But he said,
> "No, we operate them differently at American." That seemed very strange, because I
> knew better. I asked him about his background, and he admitted he was from Saudi
> Arabia . I asked him when he came over to this countr y and he said "A couple of
> years ago.", to which I asked, "Are you a US citizen?" He said no. I also found that
> very strange because I know that in order to have an Airline Transport Pilot rating,
> the rating required to be an airline captain, one has to be a US citizen, and knowing
> the US airlines and their hiring processes as I do, I found it hard to believe that
> American Airlines would hire a non-US citizen who couldn't upgrade to captain when
> the time came. He said, "The rules have changed.", which I also knew to be untrue.
> Besides, he was just, shall I say, "Creepy"? My copilot and I were both glad to get
> rid of this guy when we got to Atlanta.
>
>
>
> There was nothing to indicate, though, that he was anything other than who or
> what he said he was, because he had the documentation to prove who he was. In
> retrospect, we now know his uniform was stolen and his documents were forged.
> Information later came to light as to how this was done.
> It seems that Mohammad Atta and his cronies had possibly stolen pilot
> uniforms and credentials from hotel rooms during the previous year. We had many
> security alerts at the airline to watch out for our personal items in hotel rooms
> because these were mysteriously disappearing, but nobody knew why. Atta and his men
> used these to make dry runs prior to their actual hijackings on 9/11. How do I know?
> I called the FBI as soon as I saw his face on the TV that day, and the agent on the
> other end of the line took my information and told me I'd hear back from them when
> all the dust settled. A few weeks later I got a letter from the Bureau saying that my
> call was one of at least half a dozen calls that day from other pilots who had had
> the sa me experience. Flights were being selected at random to make test runs for
> accessing the cockpit. It seems we had all dodged bullets.
> Over the years my attitude towards the War Against Terrorism and the wars in
> Afghanistan and Iraq have been known to be on the red neck, warmongering,
> rah-rah-shoot-em-up side of things. I've been known to lose my patience with those
> who say the war in Iraq or anywhere else in the Muslim world is wrong, or who say we
> shouldn't become involved in that area of the world for political correctness
> reasons. Maybe it's because I dodged the bullet so closely back in 2001 that I feel
> this way. I have very little patience for political rhetoric or debate against this
> war because for a couple of hours back in July 2001, when I was engaged in
> conversation with a major perpetrator in this war, I came so close to being one of
> its victims that I can think in no other terms.
> I don't mind admitting that one of the reasons I retired early from Delta
> last May, other than to protect my disappearing company retirement, was because it
> became harder and harder for me to go to work every day knowing that the war wasn't
> being taken seriously by the general public. The worst offenders were the Liberal
> detractors to the present administration, and right or wrong, this administration is
> at least taking the bull by the horns and fighting our enemies, which is something
> concrete that I can appreciate. Nobody was taking this war seriously, and it seems
> everyone found fault with the US government rather than with those who attacked us. I
> found that incomprehensible
> I also found myself being scrutinized by TSA screeners more and more every
> day when I went to work, and suffered the humiliating indignity of being identified
> about half the time for body searches in front of the general flying public who
> looked at the entire process as being ludicrous. "They don't even trust their own
> pilots!" Accompanied by an unbelieving snicker was the usual response. Here I was, a
> retired USAF officer who had been entrusted to fly nuclear weapons around the world,
> who had been granted a Top Secret clearance and had been on missions over the course
> of 21 years in the military that I still can't talk about without fear of prosecution
> by the DOD, who was being scanned by a flunkie TSA screener looking for any sign of a
> pen knife or nail file on my person.
> It wasn't until six months after my retirement when my wife and I flew to Key
> West, FL last November that I was finally able to rid myself of the visage of
> Mohammad Atta sitting behind me on my jump seat, watching my every action in the
> cockpit and willing to slit my throat at the slightest provocation. I missed being a
> headline by a mere 47 days, and could very well have been among the aircrew
> casualties on 9/11 had one of my flights on my monthly schedule been a
> transcontinental flight from Boston or New York to the west coast on the 11th of
> September. Very few people know that, while only four airliners crashed that day,
> four more were targeted, and two of them were Delta flights. The only reason these
> four weren't involved is because they either had minor maintenance problems which
> delayed them at the gate or they were scheduled to depart after the FAA decided to
> ground all flights. Theirs are the pilots and flight attendants who REALLY dodged the
> bullets that day, and my faith in a higher power is restored as a result.
> I will see United 93 when I get the chance, and I will probably enjoy the
> movie for its realness and historical significance, but forgive me if I do not
> embrace the Muslim world for the rest of my life. The Islamic world is no friend of
> the West, and although we may be able to get along with their governments in the
> future, the stated goal of Islam is world conquest through Jihad and it is the
> extremist Jihadists, backed and funded by "friendly" Moslem governments, whom we have
> to fear the most. We must have a presence in the Middle East, and we must have
> friends in the Middle East, even if we have to fight wars to get them. Only someone
> who has dodged a bullet can fully appreciate that fact.
>
>
>
> Best to all, Pat Gilmore
>
>
>
> Editor's Note: For some reason which is beyond me, some people do not want to
> believe this. Perhaps they do not want to believe that Jihadist terrorism actually
> exists, because it someone doesn't believe it yet, they never will. Capt. Gilmore
> himself posted this comment, in our comments below, but I will put it here for all to
> see:
>
>
>
> I assure you this letter is true. As to the fact that I wrote that a holder
> of an Airline Transport Pilot rating (ATP) must be aUS citizen, I admit that I was
> mistaken here. I had always assumed so, because that's what I had heard, so I looked
> up the requirements for an ATP just now. There is nothing that says that US
> citizenship is required. Okay, I'll bite the bullet on that one. I received my ATP
> back in 1975 and now that I think of it I do not remember having to prove my
> citizenship. However, the rest of the story is true.
>
>
>
> As for my airline career, I worked for Western Airlines (who merged with
> Delta in 1987), Jet America Airlines (who was bought by Alaska Airlines in 1988), and
> Delta Airlines, as well as a few "fly by night" cargo airlines during my furlough
> period from Western from 1981-1985. I also flew in Vietnam as a transport pilot and
> retired from the USAF Reserve in 1991 after the Gulf War. I have 21,500+ flight hours
> in T-41, T-37, T-38, C-141/L-300, CE-500, CV -440, MD-80/82, B-727, B-737, B-757, and
> B-767 aircraft, all logged between 1970 and 2005 when I retired from Delta.
>
> Trust me, folks, this was real. I must admit I am quite surprised that my
> letter made it this far on the internet. The letter was nothing more than an innocent
> reply to a group of friends, one of whom sent me a similar letter from another Delta
> pilot who had been flying the morning of 9/11 and who had experienced the flying that
> day for himself. His letter had detailed his thoughts as he viewed the movie "United
> 93", and he also told in detail how he had been diverted toKnoxville when the FAA
> shut down the airspace. My friend had asked me if I had known of any other similar
> experiences, so I wrote him what I had encountered myself a few months before. This
> was my letter to him.
> Another retired Delta captain contacted me yesterday after reading this blog
> and related an experience his wife had on a flight from Portland, OR to Atlanta in
> August 2001, just a week or so after my experience with Atta. She was riding on a
> company pass and seated in First Class. A person of "Middle Eastern" descent had
> sought permission to sit on the cockpit jump seat, but was denied access by the
> captain because he did not have an FAA Medical certificate. She said he ranted and
> raved because he couldn't ride the cockpit jump seat, even though there were three
> empty seats in First Class, which the captain offered him. What pilot in his right
> mind would refuse a First Class seat over a cramped cockpit jump seat? He stormed off
> the aircraft and they left him at the gate. You see? Mine wasn't the only experience
> leading up to 9/11.
> Delta Airlines Corporate Security even contacted me a few days ago to ask if
> I had, indeed, written this letter. I wrote them back that I had. They were worried
> that someone was using my name without my knowledge. I assured them I was the author.
> Keep the faith, and don't let the bastards get you down.
>
>
>
> Pat Gilmore