Remembering What Matters on Memorial Day

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Photo Credit: eddiecoyoteOn Memorial Day, all Americans should think about the sacrifices made by military service members, their spouses, and their children. Instead, many Americans spend it as a day off of work, having a barbeque or watching baseball games. American Thinker asked some former and current members of the military to consider what Memorial Day means to them.

Many military families talk about the importance of the day but do not reflect on the actual meaning of this holiday. As Sam, a military spouse noted, “there are a lot of Gold Star Families in our neighborhood. In seeing that, my children are reminded each and every day that their mom might not come back from Afghanistan. I don’t want the children focusing on the sadness and the specifics of that day.”

A military mom, Lieutenant Colonel Laura Dawson, an Army orthopedic surgeon, currently stationed in Afghanistan, dedicates this holiday to all “the young people who we have lost in this operation as well as the other wars. These are not just young people, but are some of the very best and brightest in America. They willingly go in harm’s way to protect this country, their families, and their fellow soldiers. These are driven young men and women who no doubt would have been successful in our society as civilians: people of strong moral fiber, hardworking, and overall good people who would have continued to contribute to the greatness of this nation after their days of military service were completed. From a medical provider/surgeon perspective, it’s gut-wrenching to see these young people die or become disfigured. It’s crushing to know you could not save them. For me, Memorial Day is dedicated to honor their ultimate sacrifice and reflect on how great a price we have paid with the loss of these incredible young people.”

Jack Jacobs, a retired Army colonel and a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions during the Vietnam War, believes that for a lot of veterans, each and every day is Memorial Day. He was upset that Fleet Week, an outreach to the American people, was canceled because of the budgetary constraints.

Read more from this story HERE.

Google Glass and Other Devices Promise to Erase What Little Privacy We Have Left

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Photo Credit: Pam Berry/The Boston GlobeLast year, after Google unveiled its wearable computer, I had a brief opportunity to test it and was awe-struck by the potential of this technology.

A few months later, at a work-related party, I saw several people wearing Glass, their cameras hovering above their eyes as we talked. I was startled by how much Glass invades people’s privacy, leaving them two choices: stare at a camera that is constantly staring back at them, or leave the room.

This is not just a Google issue. Other gadgets have plenty of privacy-invading potential. Memoto, a tiny, automatic camera that looks like a pin you can wear on a shirt, can snap two photos a minute and later upload it to an online service. The makers of the device boast that it comes with one year of free storage and call it “a searchable and shareable photographic memory.”

Apple is also working on wearable computing products, filing numerous patents for a “heads-up display” and camera. The company is also expected to release an iWatch later this year. And several other start-ups in Silicon Valley are building products that are designed to capture photos of people’s lives.

But what about people who don’t want to be recorded? Don’t they get a say?

Deal with it, wearable computer advocates say.

Read more from this story HERE.

A Tradition of Sacrifice, From Yorktown to Ramadi

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Photo Credit: Getty Images In 2006, my SEAL Task Unit deployed to Ramadi, Iraq. Among the rubble-pile buildings, bomb craters and burned-out hulks of vehicles, we experienced firsthand the harsh realities of war. We fought alongside the U.S. Army’s Ready First Brigade of the First Armored Division to take Ramadi back from a brutal and determined insurgency.

Combat is hard. It is alarmingly violent, ear-shattering, dirty, exhausting and ugly. It is marked by chaos and confusion and self-doubt. But combat also highlights the determination and sacrifice—and courage—of those who persevere. Through such times, an unbreakable bond is formed with brothers-in-arms.

Those bonds were tested greatly as our task unit suffered the first SEAL casualties of the Iraq War: Marc Lee and Mike Monsoor. Later, Ryan Job died of wounds received in combat. These men were three of the most talented and capable SEALs I have known. They were also loyal friends. Their loss is deeply personal to their families and to their SEAL teammates. As Marc’s and Ryan’s platoon commander, I bear the crushing burden of responsibility. I will forever wish that I could somehow take their place.

As a result, Memorial Day is deeply personal—to me, as it is to any veteran, to any military family. It is a time of mixed emotion: solemn reflection and mourning, honor and admiration for those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country.

Let’s remember on Memorial Day—and every other day, for that matter—that America did not become a nation without a fight.

Read more from this story HERE.

The Irish Should be Remembered by America this Memorial Day for their Great Military Service

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Photo Credit: Irish Central When the Romans first visited Ireland, they called it Hibernia, the sleeping land…See Hibernia. But soon, to their dismay, they found the people were not at all a sleeping group.

In the early 1st century, Roman and Greek knowledge of Ireland was thin, but the geographers Strabo and Pomponius Mela describe “a cold land populated by extremely fierce inhabitants.” In lore of combat between Romans and native Irish, the Romans feared the Irish and their woman warriors most for the fierceness of their attacks and utter lack of fear.

Invasions by warlike foreigners left their mark on Ireland and mixed their blood with the Irish. In the late 700’s the Vikings attacked and tried to establish permanent settlements See history of Vikings invading Ireland. The Vikings were eventually defeated, but many of them stayed and intermarried with the native population. Later the Normans came and went and then the British appeared.

The unique blend of the Irish and their invaders created a hybrid of warrior that has filled the ranks of many armies around the world.

Many Irish immigrated to the “new lands” of the American continent to find the opportunity and freedom that they couldn’t find in their native land. They took up arms to defend their adopted countries and to fight for what they believed to be battles for freedom and justice.

The influence Irish had in Latin America over the past 200 + years is historic. The Irish fought alongside their brothers and sisters in their new homelands. They shed their blood in many wars to help free millions from the tyranny of colonialism. See Irish in Latin America

But when the Irish found their way to North America, their presence was felt immediately in the armed forces battling for freedom in every step of the way.

The Irish played an integral part in the Revolutionary war, when a fledgling country had to win its freedom by force from British rule. Names like John Barry, the founder of our navy, Jeremiah O’Brien, Timothy Murphy, Molly Pitcher, John Sullivan and thousands of other Irish, who fought and died to form the new country of the United States.

The Irish stepped forward again, when the English returned and tried to re-conquer our young country in the war of 1812 and threw them back at the Battle of New Orleans.

Tragically when our country was torn apart by its civil war, Irish Americans fought on both sides to play key roles in the major battles that finally saw a divided country, unite again. One of the most famous units in all of American military history was a brigade known during the American Civil War as simply “The Irish Brigade.” See Irish Brigade; Heroes of the Civil War.

When the United States stepped into the 1st World War, the Irish Americans distinguished themselves in many memorable battles and astonished the Germans with their fierceness and valor. Especially noteworthy when they fought and brawled hand to hand with German crack troops as members of the famed “Lost Battalion.”

World War II saw another generation of Irish Americans push their way forward to defend their country against one of the greatest axis of evils the world had seen. Irish Americans were over represented in the awarding of Medals of Honor in the field of battle, with Audie Murphy becoming one of the most decorated soldiers in American history.

Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq, Afghanistan…Wherever and whenever the country needs to be defended and fought for, Irish Americans have a long history of being right there at the tip of the spear, where the greatest fighting occurs.

In war as well as peace, our country has benefited from the valor of its warriors of Irish descent. It is good to remember our “fighting” Irish American warriors on this Memorial Day weekend.

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Ed Farnan is the conservative columnist at IrishCentral, where he has been writing on the need for energy independence, strong self defense, secure borders, 2nd amendment, smaller government and many other issues. His articles appear in many publications throughout the USA and world. He has been a guest on Fox News and a regular guest on radio stations in the US and Europe.

Obama’s Speech to ‘Kiss and Make Up’ with His Base

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What do you do when your base is angry about Guantanamo? I guess that you promise to close it again. You also blame Congress for not giving you the money to do it. The problem is that it was a Congress controlled by Democrats that did not provide the funding.

What about drones? You promise that we will “drone” more carefully from now on. Let’s hope that the terrorists will cooperate by keeping children away from them.

What about tapping reporters phones? You say that it was about national security and because that “darn Congress” didn’t pass the media shield law.

By the way, does anyone remember President Obama persuading members of Congress to pass the media shield law? I don’t!

Overall, I rate this as a speech trying to win back the left. I did not hear much more than that. My guess is that it will be largely forgotten when the next IRS official comes to Congress and says “I don’t know.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Time for Congress to Stop Painful Abortions on Unborn Babies

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Photo Credit: Life NewsDr. Anthony Levatino understands plenty about post-abortion grief. When the Ob/Gyn lost his little girl in a car accident, the man who had performed as many as 1,200 abortions said he couldn’t finish another one without getting sick.

“For the first time after all those years… I didn’t see her wonderful right to choose; I didn’t see what a great doctor I was helping her with her problem. All I could see was somebody’s son or daughter,” he said quietly.

Today, Dr. Levantino brings that passion and emotion to the debate over abortion–most recently in his testimony this morning for Rep. Trent Franks’s (R-Ariz.) fetal pain bill. In a roomful of people, the longtime doctor explained with stomach-turning clarity the reality of abortion.

“Imagine,” he said, “if you can, that you are a pro-choice obstetrician/gynecologist like I once was… and [your patient] is asleep on an operating room table.”

In graphic detail, he described the instruments he would use on women who, at 24 weeks, had already felt their babies kicking. Dr. Levatino talked about a specialized clamp, whose wide jaws and rows of sharp metal teeth were for “grasping and crushing tissue.” “When it gets a hold of something,” Dr. Anthony Levatino warns, “it does not let go.”

Read more from this story HERE.

R.I.P. Boy Scouts of America

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Photo Credit: cometstarmoonBy Matt Barber. “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36)

It’s a sad day for both Scouting and for freedom. Indeed, it’s a sad day for America. The century-old Boy Scouts of America (BSA) – created in 1910 to “prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes” – has betrayed its own constituency, mission, oath and law.

On Thursday, approximately 1,400 adult BSA delegates from around the country gathered in Texas and decided, in a disgracefully lopsided vote, to welcome into its ranks, “open and avowed” homosexuality (boy-on-boy sexual attraction and behavior), thereby disavowing the “morally straight” Scout Oath its members are sworn to uphold.

They voted unwisely.

History will reflect that on this day the BSA turned from morally straight to immorally bent – that this once great organization – founded on “honor,” “reverence” and biblical morality – was crushed beneath the worldly weight of pagan idolatry.

Whereas, for over a century, millions of boys have raised their right hands, swearing “on my honor” to “do my duty to God and my country” – on this day, hundreds of adult delegates likewise raised their right hands, shook their fists at God and flipped their middle fingers at both the boys they serve and the parents who trusted them. Read more from this story HERE.

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Fox News’ Chris Wallace Backs ‘Gay’ Boy Scouts

By Jeff Poor. On Mike Gallagher’s Friday radio show, “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace had a heated debate with Gallagher over the Boy Scouts lifting its ban on openly gay boys.

Wallace called himself “conflicted” on the issue and laid out his argument for gays in the Boy Scouts, likening it to changing attitudes about interracial marriage.

“I think the world is changing,” Wallace said. “I think — you know, and our attitudes toward gays are changing. Read more from this story HERE.

A Farmers’ Rebellion Lifts the California GOP

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Photo Credit: Bill Mahon Democrats were writing obituaries for California’s GOP after winning a supermajority in the state legislature last November, thus gaining veto-proof power to raise taxes. But their legislative lock may have slipped after this week’s special election in which Republican farmer Andy Vidak appears to have defeated a Democrat—in a heavily Democratic senate district—who had championed high-speed rail and a higher minimum wage.

If Mr. Vidak wins an outright majority—late Friday, he led with 49.8% of the vote and provisional ballots were still being counted—his victory would put Republicans two senate seats short of reclaiming their veto on tax hikes. But more important, the election has exposed the Democrats’ soft underbelly in California’s Central Valley—a no man’s land in state politics—and given Republicans a rallying point.

“This is the shot in the arm that shows that we are doing some things right,” California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the House GOP whip, says.

Read more from this story HERE.

Assault on our Free Press Could Make America no Better than a Banana Republic

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Photo Credit: Irish Central Totalitarian governments have long known, if you control the press, you control the country.

The main watch dog that protects citizens from the evil deeds and intent of its government is a free press. A free press can expose the blunders, malfeasance and criminality of a government that would rather keep that information from the public view. When the freedom of the press is being assaulted, the very foundation of a free society is being eroded.

When nations fall to a coup; the first move is the seizing of broadcast stations and other media, so that the new rulers can control the information given to the public.

China censors the information its citizens are allowed to hear, like North Korea and other totalitarian states, if you write or speak out against the government, you can disappear.

In Mexico, drug cartels, which have a large influence on the country, kill reporters and editors if they write on their illegal activity. The result of this intimidation has meant many news agencies and journalists refuse to report on the drug violence. See reporters deaths

Americas press is under an insidious assault by the government using the guise of protecting “national security.”

Shocking revelations of seizing phone records and other privileged communications of the Associated Press by Eric holders Justice Department, sparked alarm last week by even stalwart Democrats like Congressman Jerrold Nadler of New York, who said:

“I am quite concerned by the appearance of overreach by the Justice Department in its pursuit of records from the Associated Press.” In a key part of his statement he finished up with: We must also examine the use of the Espionage Act to criminalize whistle blowers and leaks. While the government has a legitimate need for secrecy – especially to protect the lives of operatives abroad – the aggressive use of this powerful law in recent years needs to be reviewed to ensure that its use is appropriate and not a hindrance to journalistic freedom or the free flow of ideas and information.”

But Nadler’s statement was made before revelations that Fox News had its communications under surveillance and its Washington correspondent, James Rosen, was the target of a criminal probe involving leaks of national security. It is reported that communications records of other Fox News employees were investigated as well.

Even CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson, who has been aggressively looking into the Benghazi scandal, stated her work and home computers seem to have been compromised. Attkisson suggested “there could be some relationship between these things and what’s happened to James Rosen.” Read more in World Net Daily

Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” said: The Justice Department’s secret seizure of phone records from a top Fox News reporter is “disturbing” and suggests the agency is “out of control.” He went on to say: “It would be one thing if you’re monitoring MSNBC’s number … but you talk about the Fox News bureau, that’s what makes it so damning for this White House.”

Congressman Ted Poe (R) Texas, member of a group of bi partisan Congress members who are pushing for greater press protection, said:

“We all agree that free press is extremely important for a democracy, especially America’s democracy,” Poe said at a press conference. “This May should probably be renamed ‘May Intimidation Month’ because of what has happened in the month of May.”

“First, earlier this month, we learned that the Department of Justice secretly launched an investigation to find out who leaked information to the press that was justified by saying it was taken in the interest of national security. But it was nothing short of, in my opinion, a massive intimidation fishing expedition where the government seized phone records of journalists.” Read more about this in Politico

Both left and right agree, this intrusion by the government into our free press needs to be checked now, before they checkmate our free press and put us on the slippery slope of many totalitarian states.

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Ed Farnan is the conservative columnist at IrishCentral, where he has been writing on the need for energy independence, strong self defense, secure borders, 2nd amendment, smaller government and many other issues. His articles appear in many publications throughout the USA and world. He has been a guest on Fox News and a regular guest on radio stations in the US and Europe.

When Did We Vote to Become Mexico?

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Photo Credit: Town HallAt first I thought the IRS scandal was leaked to distract from the Benghazi scandal. But that didn’t make sense because the IRS scandal is a more obvious abuse of power than the White House lying about the murder of four Americans in Libya.

Before I had resolved which scandal was distracting from which, we found out the Department of Justice was spying on The Associated Press — not to protect national security, but to prevent the AP from scooping the White House. Then, this week, it broke that the Department of Justice was also spying on Fox News for reasons that remain unexplained.

Meanwhile, Sens. Marco Rubio, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham and John McCain are working feverishly to turn the country into Mexico.

So now I think all the scandals are intended to distract from Rubio’s amnesty bill.

For decades, Mexicans have been about 30 percent of all legal immigrants to the United States, while only a smidgen more than 1 percent come from Great Britain. Is that fair? Granted, their food is better, but why is it the norm is to have nearly 30 times as many Mexican as British immigrants?

Read more from this story HERE.