The Bergdahl Trade

Excerpt from Georgia family wants Berghdahl held accountable:

...Soldiers from Georgia, from the National Guard's 48th Infantry Brigade, risked their lives searching for Bergdahl when they thought he was an unwilling captive of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Master Sgt. Mark Allen of Loganville was among them; he risked his life during the search and he will never be the same.

He cannot speak for himself now. He is paralyzed and needs constant care because he was shot in the head by an enemy sniper in Afghanistan.

Allen was wounded while he and his fellow Georgia National Guard soldiers were trying to find and rescue Bergdahl soon after he disappeared in 2009....

Read the rest and watch the video HERE.

A little less than a year ago, Marie Harf, Deputy Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, dismissed with a brushing back of her hair, a smirk, and the words “I don’t think that that’s the case” the possibility that Bowe Bergdahl's platoon members had important information regarding Bowe Bergdahl:


As of last week, Bowe Bergdahl has been charged with "desertion with intent to shirk important or hazardous duty" and, more seriously, "misbehavior before the enemy, endangering the safety of a command, unit or place."  Apparently, the circumstances of Bergdahl's abandoning his post have been known — to some extent, anyway — since 2010.

Did Barack Hussein Obama know of those circumstances? Can't imagine that he did not!  Nevertheless, he bypassed Congress and released five Taliban commanders in a trade for Bowe Bergdahl:

The May 31, 2014, dog-and-pony show at the White House — aka "optics":

And there is also the matter of this Tweet, posted by Bowe Bergdahl's father and later deleted:

Also see Twitter Never Forgets: These 8 Public Figures Are Probably Regretting Cheering Bergdahl’s Release.

The Earth's "Second Moon"

(For politics, please scroll down)

From Smithsonian.com (March 3, 2015):


Excerpt from the article:

Open Thread

So, what's on your mind?

A link to get this thread started: Cornell dean says ISIS welcome on campus in undercover video.

Here is your chance to opine within the parameters listed below:

The State Of Education Today

One of the key reasons for teacher burnout:

A History Lesson

From my dear friend Mustang (details about Mustang, well qualified to make the following statements):

The Sources Of ISIS-Supporting Tweets

The United States is Number 4 on the list. Click directly on the graphic below to enlarge it:

Note the following:

Negotiating With Iran

The Ayatollah Khameini's response to President Obama's Nowruz greeting:


Some reading on the topic: Iranians chant ‘Death to America’, leaders say will ‘Raise Banner Of Islam Over White House'.

Obama is looking for unicorns to come over the rise. What is coming over the rise, however, is not unicorns.

Break From Politics

(For politics, please scroll down)

One of my Facebook finds and a fascinating lesson about our lexicon:

Open Thread

So, what's on your mind?

A link to get this thread started: Millionaire Rapper Says She “Hates Everything About” America, But Won’t Leave Because “Y’all Motherf*ckers Still Owe Me Reparations!"

Here is your chance to opine within the parameters listed below:

Cracks In The Facade

Journalist, bestselling author, and CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen makes the point that many Islamic terrorists do not come from wealthy backgrounds (hat tip to Infidel Bloggers Alliance):



ISIS, which Obama designated as "JV" not so long ago, is present here in the United States (hat tip):

The ISIS Child Executioner

From France?

Isis child executioner: Toulouse schoolchildren in shock after recognising classmate

'Ryan' dropped out of French elementary school last year

Schoolchildren in southern France are in shock after seeing a former classmate executing a hostage in a video released by the Islamic State (Isis).

The Islamist group posted online gruesome propaganda video showing a boy in military fatigues shooting an Israeli-Arab teenager in the head. The boy had been accused of working for Israel's spy agency Mossad.

In the video the child, aged 11 or 12, is flanked by a bearded man, who is believed to be his stepfather.

Students at Nicolas Vauquelin de Toulouse college, Toulouse, reportedly recognised the killer as a former classmate who left France last year.

"Concerning the formal identification of this person, I cannot tell you anything," schools inspector Jacques Caillaut told AFP. "Children from the Vauquelin College have recognised one of their (former) classmates, but we must remain cautious."

The child, said to be called "Ryan" was in his final year of primary school education at École Élémentaire Publique Vergers in Toulouse, until 11 March 2014, when he was reported absent by the school.

"He was a child like all others, he was integrated, played in the local football club and attended birthday parties," his former teachers told Libération newspaper....

Read the rest HERE.

How long can the West deny that we have a significant problem with Muslims living in and "assimilated into" the West?

Reminder About Fighting Demons

In the words of Friedrich Nietzche:

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.

The Remarkable Helen Keller (Weekend Blog Post)

(This blog post will remain here until Monday. For politics, please scroll down to the Open Thread just below)

Please take a few moments to watch Helen Keller With Famous People:


"Autumn" by Helen Keller:

Friday Open Thread

So, what's on your mind?

Here is your chance to opine within the parameters listed below:

Happy Birthday, Amber!

Three years old today:

Spring 2014

Hillary's Supporters And Obama's Birth Certificate

Think of this blog post as a Throwback Thursday post. I am not "a birther."

From the Telegraph (dated April 27, 2011): "Birther row began with Hillary Clinton: The lie that Barack Obama was not born in the US has been fuelled by fringe Republicans — but supporters of Hillary Clinton, now Mr Obama’s Secretary of State, are largely to blame for starting it" by Jon Swaine.

Entire article, in case you don't have a subscription to the Telegraph (emphasis mine):

For Discussion (With Addendum)

A bit of wry humor:

Addendum: Please see Silverfiddle's post today at Western Hero. Worth your time.

We Are All Criminals!

(hat tip to Silverfiddle of Western Hero for the link below)

Excerpt from this source:

• Obstruction of Justice

Hypothetical: You are the parent of a teenage son. You discover illegal drugs hidden in his bedroom. Instead of contacting the police, you decide to destroy the narcotics and punish his transgressions on your own. Unbeknownst to you, the police had launched an investigation just days before. Because you have destroyed evidence in an ongoing investigation, you have just committed an arguable federal felony:

Real-life example: Philip Russell, a lawyer from Greenwich, Connecticut, was indicted in 2007 for obstruction of justice. A church had contacted this well-respected attorney when it found images of child pornography on an employee’s computer. Russell knew that child porn is illegal even to possess (“contraband”) and that holding, rather than destroying it, arguably would be criminal. He decided to destroy the images in the best interest of his client. He didn’t know that the government had launched an investigation of the church employee just days before. For this, he was charged with obstruction of justice, and eventually pleaded to a lesser crime in an agreement with prosecutors. With this same logic, prosecutors could indict parents that choose to destroy—rather than report to officials—narcotics that they find in the possession of their son or daughter.

Closer to home for those of us who frequent the blogosphere:

• Wire Fraud

Hypothetical: You decide, as a prank, to create a fake username on the popular social-networking site, Facebook. Your digital identity is that of a famous athlete. You tell your friends they are inferior to your other-wordly skills. You have just committed an arguable federal felony. Federal Wire Fraud provisions have proven so elastic that this seemingly innocuous conduct could be defined as a federal crime.

Real-life example: The so-called “Myspace suicide” made headlines in 2009, when Missouri mother Lori Drew allegedly impersonated a teenage boy to taunt her neighbor, a young woman. After the young woman’s suicide, the case became a cause célèbre for those looking to criminalize “cyber bullying”—a decidedly modern phenomenon by which Internet users taunt and annoy, perhaps belittle, others. In the federal prosecution of Ms. Drew, prosecutors charged that she violated the Myspace terms of use, and thus had violated the aforementioned Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Though the judge dismissed this charge this time, he did so only after a jury conviction, and there’s little reason to think a similar case could be brought on the equally elastic federal wire fraud provisions. And, even if that fails, Congress is currently considering a federal law that would specifically outlaw “cyber bullying,” or the transmission of “any communication, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person, using electronic means.” As Harvey Silverglate pointed out when he testified against the bill in September 2009, the vaguely-worded law, if passed, would threaten the expression of almost every blogger, journalist, and publisher who uses the internet.

Read the entire essay, which has several embedded hot links, HERE.

The ever-burgeoning Nanny State and lawyerocracy are making all of us criminals!

The Ugly Reality — And Not Only In The UK

Found at Musings of a Durotrigan:

Tales From The Classroom

("Tales from the Classroom" is a feature posted occasionally here at this blog.  All tales are true and present matters about which I have personal knowledge.  Note: for politics, please scroll down to other posts)

From fifth through ninth grades, I attended classes in the building pictured below the fold.

No wonder that I grew up loving history!  I attended school in a house filled with history.  Too bad that the walls couldn't talk to tell us what they had witnessed!

Sadly the building was torn down to make way for ugly modern buildings.

Open Thread

So, what's on your mind?

Here is your chance to opine within the parameters listed below:

Measuring Snowfall

(For politics, please scroll down)

One of my Facebook finds yesterday when the D.C. area got slammed by another winter event:

"Transparent" Hillary Clinton

Hat tip to Bunkerville for the first video below:




Since then, a few, ahem, details about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails have emerged. Read this link at Infidel Bloggers Alliance: "UPDATED --- About Hillary's Private Email Server Built to Erase Messages (But Not For Security) ... Yeah, You Guessed It, It's Owned By a Muslim Company."

Obama And The Term Islamic Terrorism

Recently I stumbled across the New York Post article entitled "Obama was as clueless about 9/11 as he is about ISIS" (February 28, 2015).

The essay points out that, in 2004, Obama added a new preface to his 1995 memoir Dreams from My Father.

Excerpt from the above article (emphases mine):

Ebola Outcomes

Ebola virus

Please take time to read "Free of Ebola but not fear: Nurse Nina Pham to file lawsuit against Texas Presbyterian Hospital, worries about continued health woes," a lengthy article in Dallas Morning News article (February 28, 2015).

Nurse Nina Pham is twenty-six years old.

The article concludes as follows (emphases mine):

Preparations (Video Added)

(For politics, please scroll down a bit)

This long, long winter has kept the AOW household in homesteader mode all too often.

Our "fleet" lined up on the driveway at the back of our lot and the drawbridge up, the rugs down on the wheelchair ramp:

Our driveway down the block, at the back of our property.  No garage here!

When I peel off those throw rugs, there is a clean, dry surface.  Then, down goes the drawbridge to the street.

We're expecting snow again this week.

On the other hand, some enjoy snow sports:

Musical Interlude

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

Valsay para Cello y Guitarra:

About guitarrist Paola Requena.