Archive for September 25th, 2006

Valhalla, the price of Freedom

September 25, 2006

On this thread shall be posted the tomes of those that have given the ultimate sacrifice. I am a Marine Corps brat, and have an affinity for Paratroopers as well. My failings should in no way make any less the sacrifices of those that are not Infantry. Post memorials here as any see fit with the respect deserved.

First Call

In Memoriam: Ranger Gilbert Jenkins

Major, US Army, Retired

The following biography and tribute was written by USARA President Jim Grimshaw following Ranger Jenkins’ death.
 

USARA mourns the death of Major Gilbert K. Jenkins, USA Ret.

Ranger Jenkins, Life Member of USARA, died on 7 April 2003 at the Peachtree Christian Hospice, Duluth, GA. He was buried 10 April at Hillcrest Cemetary, Savannah, GA with full military honors provided by 1st Bn 75th Rangers.

He was a native of Savannah and a resident of Suwanee, GA. He was a graduate of Armstrong State College, Savannah.

Gil was an enlisted man in the 82d Abn Div, 101st Abn Div and Special Forces and served in Laos. He enlisted in the Army when he was 15 years old and was in the 82d Abn Div. When they learned he was underage, he was discharged, only to join up again a couple of years later. Upon graduation from Infantry OCS, he was Honor Graduate of his Ranger Course.

He served in the 5th and 6th Special Forces Groups and the 82d Abn Div as an officer, as well as Forces Command. He spent four tours in Vietnam, graduated from Helicopter Flight School and commanded an Aviation Company as a Captain in Vietnam. He was a Ranger Instructor and S4 in the Florida Ranger Camp, Auxiliary Field #7 in 1967/68 with me in between Vietnam tours and flight school. In 1966 as a First Lieutenant, he was assigned to the 5th SFG Mobile Guerrilla Strike Force, “Mike Force”, and was a key leader in two highly successful “Blackjack” operations deep into enemy territory and far from friendly support.

He was a battalion S3 and XO in the 82d Abn Div. At FORSCOM he was the Ranger Coordinator when the 1st and 2d Ranger Battalions were activated, and his primary responsibility was insuring the battalions had the personnel, weapons and equipment to fight on to the Ranger objective. He evaluated 1/75 in an ORT. He was a key player in the process to approve and organize Delta Force and evaluated their combat readiness. He was highly thought of by these units and senior officers because of his leadership, special operations skills and passionate support of Rangers and Delta Force.

But most of all, he was an extraordinary husband and father. He was nominated to be the Aide-de-Camp of the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, but he chose to retire so he could devote more time to his family.

Gil was my best Special Forces/Ranger friend. The “Big Ranger in the Sky” told me I should make sure everyone understands that I love him and I will miss him. He was a great influence in my life, a great warrior hero to his family, his country and most of all, to me. Gil was the personification of the quiet professional, but when he spoke, he meant what he said.

Gil is survived by his lovely wife Joyce, three sons and several grandchildren, his father and sister and several other family members. His son Keith was a member of 1/75 in the early 1980’s and his son Tracey served in 1/75 and then 3/75 in Mogadishu. His son Bobby is a successful businessman in Florida.

I forced Gil to join USARA about three years ago when we were having dinner in Savannah. I threatened to whip his ass if he didn’t join and write me a check on the spot for a Life Membership! Gil was the personification of an Airborne Ranger Infantryman Special Forces Hero and he will always be with me in spirit! De Oppresso Liber and Rangers Lead The Way!

Please accept my apologies for indulging your association president in expressing his feelings for his best friend. I am saddened by Gil’s passing, but I am rejoicing in the knowledge that he is with the “Big Ranger in the Sky” and is in the best Patrol Base leading one of God’s patrols.

(signed) USARA President Jim Grimshaw

source;

http://www.ranger.org/bio-Gilbert-Jenkins.html

Edited for a mis-spell; “Major” does not refer to myself, check the link.

Posted in Valhalla | 3 Comments »

The Socialist Man

September 25, 2006

Socialist Man in the Big Easy

By Vedran Vuk

Posted on 9/25/2006
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Marxists long theorized that communism would bring about the new socialist man. Through communist programs, man would turn his sole purpose to laboring and struggling for the greater good of the collective.

Through socialist policies and redistribution, New Orleans has raised from its ruin a new socialist man. However, instead of working for the collective, this risen New Orleans man does not work at all. He does not live for the collective but lives at the expense of the collective. This reality is drastically different from what Marxists had in mind when referring to the man created from socialism.

To a person with common sense, this seems like an obvious outcome. If you give money to those who stay unemployed, you are not teaching them to work. Rather, you are teaching them how to survive without working.

Let’s begin with the supposed housing shortage in New Orleans. The government is giving more and more trailers to the citizens of the city. Even the officials of the city constantly talk about the “housing shortage.” Every New Orleanian knows differently.

A simple look at Craigslist.org reveals the plentitude of homes available in the area. These are houses available for rent on just one website which hardly represents all rentable properties in New Orleans.

If there are houses available, why do people still request trailers? It’s really simple. Free is always better. Sure, there are homes available but who wants to pay when they don’t have to. The government interprets this demand as a housing shortage. At price zero, demand is as much as people want. The realities of availability are thrown to the side so that these bureaucrats can get even more money to bribe disgruntled voters with free trailers calling the problem a “housing shortage.”

Personally, I know people who were renting an apartment, and then received a trailer from the government. Their next step was to move out of the apartment. Their problem was not finding a place or even paying rent. But as I said, free is always better especially when someone else foots the bill.

Now the next issue is jobs. We all know that jobs are plentiful in New Orleans and are paying outstanding wages. Recently, I saw Taco Bell in Slidell hiring at $11/hour. Here’s another list of jobs available to low-skilled workers in New Orleans from Craig’s List.

Why is the murder rate for July in New Orleans higher than last year with half the population around? These jobs are available with great wages! Living wage advocates always talk about how everything would be solved when wages for low skilled labor were around $10-15/hour. Well, here we have it leftists! Take a big look. The wages are at the living wage rate, yet employers are desperate to find employees. Anyone who applies for a job is often hired on the spot before the entire application is even filled out.

In the face of these opportunities, the crime rate grows. Conservatives and libertarians are often accused of having a vicious and maligned view of the poor on welfare as lazy. I don’t think that welfare recipients of New Orleans are naturally lazy, but I believe that our socialist policies have made them so. People simply don’t want to work anymore. They would rather do nothing and live on barely anything than consider work.

$25

Can a left-liberal please e-mail me with their reasoning on why these people are committing crime instead of working when there are countless jobs at outstanding wages? The living wage is here. Dare to look at the situation! People are still not working. It’s not the wage that must be changed. It is the mindset of people that must be altered or these problems will persist. The welfare culture must be abolished for the good of everyone in this country. If this is not done, crime and murder will continue in the face of high wages, as has been happening in the Big Easy.

The accelerated rate in transfer payments to Katrina victims has resulted in an accelerated rate of crime not just in New Orleans but in Houston and Jackson, Mississippi as well. If you want to help the poor, don’t start by talking about higher wages. Start by talking about the welfare system and its effects. New Orleans has shown that high wages and job opportunities are not enough in the face of a subsidized mentality of redistributionist policies.

The welfare state must be destroyed to begin the process of change. New Orleans has shown that high wages and plentiful job opportunities are not enough. Every piece of the coercive redistributionist regime must be taken apart. Decades of welfare have created this new socialist man of New Orleans. Stripping welfare is the only solution as market-driven wages are not enough to return society back to its natural order.

Vedran Vuk is a student of Economics at Loyola University of New Orleans. Send him mail. See his articles. Comment on the blog.

This is a very clear and concise explanation of exactly why socialism fails on a continuing basis.

Posted in Economics | Comments Off on The Socialist Man

Citgo and International politics

September 25, 2006

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingVenezuelan Dictator Vows To Bring Down U.S. Government…The Venezuelan government is sole owner of Citgo gasoline company…

Venezuelan Dictator, Hugo Chavez, has vowed to bring down the U.S. government…Chavez, president of Venezuela, told a TV audience, “Enough of imperialist aggression, we must tell the world, down with the U.S. empire. We have to bury imperialism this century.”The guest on his television program, which was beamed across Venezuela

, was Cindy Sheehan, the antiwar activist…Chavez recently had as his guest Harry Belafonte, who called President Bush “the greatest terrorist in the world.”Chavez is pushing a socialist revolution and has a close alliance with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro…

Regardless of your feelings about the war in Iraq, the issue here is that we have a socialist dictator vowing to bring down the government of the U.S.

And he is using our money to achieve his goal!!

The Venezuelan government, run by dictator Chavez, is the sole owner of Citgo  gas company, sales of products at Citgo stations send money back to Chavez to help him in his ‘vow’ to bring down our government… Take Action…Please, make the decision that you will not be shopping at a Citgo station…Why should U.S. citizens who love freedom be financing a dictator who has vowed to take down our government??

Please forward this to your friends and family. Most of them don’t know that Citgo is owned by the Venezuelan government…YOU CAN VERIFY THIS ON THE CITGO WEB PAGE:
CITGO.com, About CITGO

Additional: The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.To JOIN the BOYCOTT CITGO Blog Roll click HERE !! 

I am a Free Market supporter to the max. I choose to use my free market earnings some place other than Citgo.

Posted in Politics | 1 Comment »