SwordAndSacrifice's Xanga

COMING BACK . . . WITH BAD TIMING

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:56:03 GMT

First of all, thanks to all of you for the welcome. I had intended to do a return that would focus on the abject corruption and horror of our current national and governmental condition ("Remember, remember the 5th of November" and all).

Events at Fort Hood, Texas, however, interceded and my plans changed.

For those of you who have followed me for a while, it should come as no surprise that I suspect this incident to have been a perfect storm of political correctness, Islamofascism and homeland/military security failure.

Our "War on Terror" briefly carried the correct name - "War on Islamofascism". That is what the fight we are engaged in truly is. It is the reason our fronts are in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is the reason we have additional operations in the Philippines and southeast Asia. The enemy in our war is radical Islam and all Muslims who tolerate and accept it as a legitmate expression of religion.

But Americans are weakest when they are ignorant. And in few areas are the majority of Americans more uninformed than in the area of Islamic history. I highly recommend this book by Bernard Lewis as a primer to understanding why Islam is inherently in conflict with the West (specifically, the Christianized West, but the fact that the atheist Communist government of China also struggles with its Muslim population of Uighurs should tell us a great deal).

I'm not going to even print the name of the terrorist who carried out these attacks. I'll tag him to this piece, but I don't want to offer even the acknowledgement of humanity to this scum. May he survive his wounds to spend all his days on earth at Fort Leavenworth to contemplate how he was denied his 70 virgins by a woman who knew how to shoot bastards like himself.

PREPARE . . .

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:40:21 GMT

. . . for the return.

11.05.09

GOODBYE . . . FOR NOW

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:03:38 GMT

Well, I said a few months back that I'd give it until September. And here it is.

I still have no job. I'm to the point where taking that clerk position at 7-Eleven looks pretty good. I'll be disconnecting internet today. Of course, this means that I won't be paying for Xanga Premium - even if I thought it was worth it . . . and it isn't.

I'll still have limited access to the web through my cell phone. I can access Facebook through my cell, too, so if you would like to connect with me through that, please feel free.

I want to thank all of you who have been so supportive and faithful to spend time with me on this blog over the last four years. It has been a pleasure and an honor to come to know most of you. And, even those who were more of a challenge . . . well, take pride in the fact that you challenged me, for I need challenged frequently.

You have been my friends and my conscience. And I thank you for it. Untill next we meet, then . . .

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

EIGHT YEARS AND A BILLION MILES AWAY

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 09:46:02 GMT

I stood in a large cafeteria room watching dual televisions mounted high on the walls. My friends Sandy and Donna, both natives of New York City, said the internet had reports of a small commuter plane hitting the World Trade Center. I told them I'd check it out.

As I watched the live video, I thought the amount of smoke pouring out of the tower seemed far too great for this to have been a Cessna. But, since no one seemed to know anything with certainty, I simply walked back to the command center and told my friends it looked like the internet was right. A small disaster, but nothing to be concerned about.

Of course, within minutes, everything changed. And I mean everything.

Yesterday, marked eight years since that horrific day. Eight years since I took my little boy into our front yard and made him note the emptiness of the skies above, the first day in nearly 100 years that no American civilian was allowed to fly.

Our president, a man who was an Illinois state legislator at the time of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, has made an effort to stop the anniversary of that day from being simply a memorial event and transforming it into a combined day of remembrance and service.

And while this sounds noble - and, in fact, can be a noble means of tribute to those whom we lost in rubble, wreckage and flames on that day - there is a danger in this approach that we must be careful to avoid.

The events of that day did not occur because Americans were not taking care of one another. Our compassion for our fellow countrymen was as high as it had ever been. In the United States, churches and charities were experiencing record levels of donation in 2001. Communities were booming and growing while taking care of and elevating even their most indigent residents.

In fact, we had become so focused upon one another, so aware of our "neighbors", that America ignored the greatest danger.

Despite what many still want us to believe, there is a comparatively large percentage of the world's population that hopes for, prays for, and actively pursues the destruction of the United States and her citizens. Many (in fact, most) of these people are Muslims who have embraced or tolerate the most fanatical ideologies of their theology. And they now not only reside in countries where the 9/11 hijackers originated - Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt. These people now live here - in the United States.

While performing an act of kindness or service to another American in the memory of a fallen victim of 9/11 terrorism can be a healing and transformative event, we would all do well to remember that it was not our fellow Americans who betrayed us upon that day. We did not wake up that day, as we did on April 19, 1995 in Oklahoma City, to find it was our own countrymen who had tried to destroy their nation.

Instead, 9/11 should be now and should forever remain a day in which we promise ourselves, our neighbors and our children to be ever vigilant for threats from both within and without. A day, like December 7, wherein we remember those sacrificed and where we renew our promise to do everything in our power that the two-word commitment spoken on those days will gain new adherents - and that it become that much closer to becoming a reality.

Never again.

APATHY AND THE TIME I LIVE IN

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:00:22 GMT

I am the last person in the world who I thought would become like this. I just don't care the way I once did.

Now, first let me qualify how my apathy may differ from the apathy of others.

You see, I still care - at least to the degree that I see the right and the wrong of issues and ideas. It's just that after the last year or so, I do not believe that these times are conducive to hearing the truth. Nor responding to it when it is spoken or revealed.

I will still speak truth when questioned, offer it when solicited. But I think my days of having the passion to speak the truth without invitation are coming to a close.

I have not lost my direction, as in knowing the difference between right and wrong, good and evil. But I have lost my passion.

I know that it may return someday. But I also know that it may not. I have seen many old men, of which I am quickly becoming one, who have outgrown the days when they would pick a fight or join in one simply for the sake of the fight. They don't usually recover that reckless adventurerousness.

I guess I'm OK with that. Although I can tell I'm going to miss it a bit.

I LOVE THE SMELL OF TIGER BALM IN THE MORNING

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 07:29:37 GMT

*Warning - For those among you who are NOT football fans, the following blog entry deals solely with NFL professional football and offers no apologies. I don't write about my favorite sport very often . . . but, this is Kickoff Week.

Hope you understand and enjoy.

My first of three fantasy football teams has been drafted. The league is through one of my previous employers and I had a nice lunch and a few beers with a couple of the guys recently. They had a live draft this year, but I couldn't make it. So I set my auto-pick roster and hoped for the best. And damned if I didn't come out of it with a very nice roster.

Week #1 Starters

Drew Brees (QB-NO)
Dwayne Bowe (WR-KC)
Terrell Owens (WR-Buf)
T.J. Houshmanzadeh (WR-Sea)
Brandon Jacobs (RB-NYG)
Thomas Jones (RB-NYJ)
Jason Witten (TE-Dal)
Neil Rackers (K-Ari)
New Orleans Defense*

Week #1 Backups

Matt Cassel (QB-KC)
Jospeh Addai (RB-Ind)
Chris Cooley (TE-Was)
Donnie Avery (WR-StL)*
Bernard Berrian (WR-Chi)
Rob Bironas (K-Ten)
Minnesota Defense

*(Donnie Avery has been waived to secure the New Orleans defense; roster positions not official.)

Any of you who have relied upon auto-pick for fantasy team selection know it can be a dicy business. I've been burned by it more times than I like to remember. But if you can't make a live draft, then you better be very strategic in setting your auto-pick positions.

I had ranked the first 100 players. I had Brees, Jacobs, Witten, Jones, Cassel, Addai, Bironas and Owens all in the top 25. Getting 8 of your top 25 is a pretty good ratio with the rest of the league actually being present to pick over the carcass of available players.

I'll offer a one line summary of each Week #1 starter.

Drew Brees (QB-New Orleans Saints) - Arguably the best QB in the NFL.
Dwayne Bowe (WR-KC) - I have issues with his attitude, but he has Matt Cassel throwing to him.
Terrell Owens (WR-Buf) - Seems Bowe isn't the only receiver I have who's attitude concerns me.
T.J. Houshmanzadeh (WR-Sea) - I see a theme developing among my receiving corps . . . although T.J. has learned a thing or two.
Brandon Jacobs (RB-NYG) - Juggernaut (when he's healthy).
Thomas Jones (RB-NYJ) - He's been in the league nine years and knows the ins-and-outs, but nine years is a long time and these ARE the Jets we're talking about.
Jason Witten (TE-Dal) - He is either the best or second-best tight end in football; same can be said of Tony Gonzalez.
Neil Rackers (K-Ari) - He's starting Week #1 only because Rob Bironas is playing the Steelers.
New Orleans Defense* - They'll start Week #1 over the Vikings if only because the Saints are playing the Detroit Lions.

OK, there you have it. Discuss and comment.

*UPDATE - Well, I knew Matt Cassel got injured last Saturday. What I didn't know was how serious it was. Turns out that the Chiefs newly-acquired QB is out for two to four weeks with a medial cruciate ligament sprain. He likely will not start Week #1.

I can live with this, as I have Drew Brees and the Ragin' Cajun New Orleans Gun & Light Show on my roster. But it leaves me with a hole for the Saints' bye week. Not to mention that it creates a rather large question mark over my Kansas City wide receiver Dwayne Bowe . . . like there wasn't a big enough one of those over him already.

The other elephant in the NFL over the last day or two has been the "crackback" block that was thrown Monday night on Houston Texans cornerback Eugene Wilson by the increasingly pathetic Hall of Famer Brett Favre, currently with the Minnesota Vikings.

Now, I'm not excusing the block. It was called a penalty, as it should have been.

But, in watching the replays, it is clear that Favre did not throw himself into the block. He sort of just dropped. Wilson was not watching for blockers; he was almost myopically focused on the ballcarrier. As a defensive coach, I can assure Wilson that this is not a good habit to develop for reasons precisely like the outcome of the play.

Nevertheless, the rules clearly state that Favre's action was illegal. Not only that, but Favre's goal in the play - taking out Wilson as the effective tackler - could have been achieved with a simple "up-high" block where you just take the defender on mano-'a-mano.

And, we come to find out that one of the reasons Favre was reluctant to go up-high was because the old boy has some cracked ribs. Yet Favre practically begged to be put back on the field in the third quarter, the time when this incident occurred?!

The most dangerous guy on the field is the guy who thinks he has something to prove beyond his football talent.

Hear that, Brett?

THE GOVERNMENT CAN! WITH TIM HAWKINS

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:19:23 GMT

Listen . . . it's heartbreaking truth about the decrepit state of our nation . . . ALL SUNG TO A CATCHY BEAT AND HILARIOUS LYRICS!

A NOTE TO EXCUSE MY ABSENCE

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:48:09 GMT

Dear, Blog Readers,

Please excuse Rob's absence over that last week or so.

His wife left him at home alone with their 16-year-old son and he had to do everything for himself (the 16-year-old being more self-sufficient than the 44-year-old).

The fact that his wife will be returning from her seven-day Eastern Caribbean cruise tomorrow means that Rob can again spend some time in the useless pursuit of saying something meaningful.

Thank you,

Rob's Legal Guardian

P.S. - I apologize that he did not do his math homework.

A PREMATURE FAREWELL TO A MARINE AND TO AMERICAN GLORY

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 05:06:09 GMT

It is probably no secret that I admire and love Gen. George Smith Patton. As a boy, I watched the film from which the above clip was taken. While I now realize the intended efforts of the media and Hollywood to malign Gen. Patton's character and portray him as a crude savage, my reading and study has shown me the truth about the courageous man and his unselfish legacy.

I also admire the Roman Empire. Again, I was taught in my high school and college classes that ancient classical Rome was a brutally oppressive regime that dominated the world, spread slavery, slaughtered millions and died at the hands of people longing for freedom. Bullshit.

The parallels, however, between ancient Rome and modern America are inescapable and disturbing. Both were/are immeasurably more beneficial than detrimental to humanity. Both sought/seek to advance human freedom through the spreading of a republican form of government. Both were/are centers of learning and technology that the world struggled/will struggle for years to emulate after their collapses.

And finally . . . most sadly . . . both collapsed/will collapse because their people lost/are losing their ethical compass.

We blame the inevitable collapse of Rome on Julius Caesar. The truth is that before he overthrew the Republic, greed and corruption had already become so woven into the Senate that recovery was impossible.

We blame the decaying state of our nation on the Democrats or Republicans. The truth is that before George W. Bush or Barack Obama, our own selfishness and apathy had turned over the keys of freedom to an unprincipled oligarchy.

I suppose that the men of Gen. Patton's generation were the last who understood self-sacrifice. And, having gained the peace of the world through their own blood, they grew tired of fighting. An uneasy truce with the evil of Communism was preferrable to more blood and death. A casual acceptance of FDR's socialism was easier than fighting to get back free markets and limited government. A blind eye turned toward their corruptly rebellious children was easier than struggling to instill in those children the same values that had enabled them to defeat Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.

Part of me thinks they are the Greatest Generation. Part of me thinks they're guilty as hell . . . and so am I.

An old, dear friend of mine's father-in-law is a Marine who rose to the rank of colonel based upon a sterling combat record in World War II and Korea. At the age of 86, his family is preparing to say good-bye (of course, being a Marine, he and Death seem to have developed a working partnership that has so far proven to be to the Colonel's advantage).

Nevertheless, as I ponder this noble man's life and the lives of the many men like him, including Gen. Patton, who saved the world and our nation through war only to help lose it during the peace, I am left to reflect upon the greatness that was America and on the transient nature of even the best efforts of men.

All glory is indeed fleeting. For this reason, it should be offered to an eternal storehouse . . . so that even when the things of men pass away, the handprint of God will remain upon our work.

SWORDANDSACRIFICE IS PARANOID: AMERICAN MUSLIMS ARE PEACEFUL AND PATRIOTIC . . . RIIIIIIGHT.

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 05:47:41 GMT

Back on July 28, I wrote about a couple of American citizens who had betrayed their homeland because they had converted to Islam and embraced its fanatical ideals to destroy the West. Some people told me how rare such circumstances were and that I was being alarmist.

This past week in Atlanta, 23-year-old American Ehsanul Sadequee was convicted of four counts of providing material support to terrorists.

Also last week, another American Muslim was extradited from Great Britain to the U.S. to face charges in a Manhattan federal court that he provided military equipment to al-Queda.

Syed Hashmi will be tried on November 30 and has plead not guilty to all charges against him. He was arrested in June 2006 at Heathrow Airport in London and faces up to 70 years in prison if proven guilty.

May I please have your attention, citizens of the Western free world.
Islam wants you dead.
Denying this fact simply increases the likelihood of achieving that goal.
That is all.