Happy Hump Day!

I'd like to take a moment to pause this morning and acknowledge Charles W. Lindberg, last of the men who were involved raising the flag on Iwo Jima (recently renamed Iwo To). Charles W. Lindberg died on Sunday, June 24th 2007 at the age of 86.

Lindberg was involved in the raising of the first flag atop Suribachi, the highest point on Iwo To. Once the commander from the Marine beach head saw how tiny the flag was, he ordered a larger flag from one of the ships sent up the hill to replace it. The second flag and it's placement has been recorded in history as a symbol of the war in the Pacific.

It saddens me to see these people disappearing so rapidly. I can only imagine how it must have felt for my grandfather, a military veteran as well, to have experienced the death of the last Civil War veterans in his youth. My father seeing most of the WWI veterans pass away. Unfortunately for them, there was no way to collectively and massively put their memories to paper (or e-paper, as it were). The sad part about today is that we have the ability to record these stories, record their heroic moments, document their trials and tribulations...but so few people today seem interested. So few people seem to realiize we're losing a national treasure right before our very eyes. Most veterans of WWII are at least 85 years old...many (that are still alive, anyway) are in their 90s. We are facing an extinction in the next few years and it is something we will NEVER get back. Once they're gone, all our children will have is OUR memories....which too will fade into obscurity in the next generation.

~Dubya

Todd Tiahrt has blasted KAKE and other media groups for the recent ad campaign asking him to repeal his 2003 legislation that prohibits public access to a database that tracks all firearms recovered at crime scenes. Along side KAKE is a coalition of mayors against illegal firearms aptly named "Mayors Against Illegal Guns", who claim access to these records is vital to finding the source or origination of the weapon.

What are your thoughts on this?

Personally, I am of the opinion this is a horrible stance for the media to take. Despite your opinion on the matter, the MEDIA (as I have said TIME and TIME again) is supposed to be our unbiased access to the news. Not an entity that gives us their opinion of what is right and what is wrong. We already have POLITICIANS doing that, we do not need another source telling us how to think.

Posted on "The Hall Monitor" blog:

I would like to reaffirm what Zelda said: Gun laws do nothing to deter criminals. Taking firearms out of the hands of people who will obey the law is a RIDICULOUS solution to gun control.

Firearms are prolific in this county (as they are in many parts of the world). Anyone who wants to, and is prepared to illegally possess one, can get a pistol, rifle, automatic weapon, etc.

School children manage to get their hands on shotguns, pistols, semi-automatic rifles...they run amuck in our schools killing and maiming. By virtue of even possessing the weapons, THEY aren't obeying any "gun control" laws.

How is it, these people believe our law enforcement is going to be able to ferret-out gun-toting criminals if all of our undercover officers and informants have been exposed via this law?

As usual, this is a case of a BIASED media attempting to impose it's view of WRONG and RIGHT upon the populace.

~Dubya