Originally posted at David Horowitz’s Newsreal:

Feministing founder Jessica Valenti likes to write about just what makes a “real” feminist, and what doesn’t. Obviously, being a conservative is an instant disqualifier in her book, because why on Earth should a movement that seeks equality let women actually have differing points of view? Right at the top of her list of women not allowed in her ultra-exclusive girls club version of feminism is Sarah Palin. Sure, Sarah Palin may be a successful, accomplished woman who took on Alaska’s boys club and won, but who cares? She doesn’t get a tingle up her leg at the thought of killing babies, so she’s not allowed in the clubhouse. This week, when given the chance to debate a real live Valenti-approved anti-feminist, though, Jessica Valenti took the opportunity… to tuck her tail in between her legs and run as fast as her legs could take her.

While Palin is femisogynist Enemy Number One, she’s just at the top of a long list of hated conservative feminist women. Express an opinion that Valenti & Co. don’t agree with, and you’re smeared as anti-feminist and anti-woman. Of course, calling a woman anti-woman makes about as much sense as calling a Jew anti-Semitic, but what do they care about things like common sense, logic, and intellectual diversity? Amanda Marcotte, for example, recently said you can’t be a feminist unless you are a left-leaning liberal who advocates for universal health care, abortion, and other liberal extremist pet causes. Marcotte also recently argued that women are too stupid to tell the difference between the evil fake conservative feminism, and the Amanda Marcotte Approved real feminism. Jessica Valenti wrote a piece filled with rage at the idea that anyone could call Sarah Palin a feminist, because Palin doesn’t pass Valenti’s Official Feminist Litmus Test. Believe something different than what Valenti believes, and you’re out of the club, lady. As I said in response to Valenti’s anti-Palin hit piece, all of this boils down to having the “correct” political beliefs. Equality has absolutely nothing to do with Valenti’s brand of feminism anymore.

Change your name to your husband’s when you get married? You’re a slave to the patriarchy and an anti-feminist. Personally and politically pro-life? Anti-woman! Believe in small government, fiscal responsibility, and the free market? ANTI-FEMINIST! Believe in closing the borders and enforcing our immigration laws? Don’t believe in universal health care? Think global warming is all a fake? These all make you an anti-feminist, too.

And while the femisogynist crowd acts as if conservative women are stealing feminism, you can see that the truth is that we’re reclaiming it — reclaiming it as a movement for equality, reclaiming it from bitter, angry women who hate men and marriage, and reclaiming it as a movement for all women, not just women who pass an ideological purity test.

No, we’re not stealing feminism. We’re putting it back in its rightful place.

But let’s say, just for fun, that Valenti’s version of feminism is the only correct form of feminism, and us conservative women really are evil, anti-woman harpies. Valenti should have no problem debating us on the issues, then right?

Wrong.

Jessica Valenti has no problem whatsoever writing screech-filled missives about conservative feminists, hiding behind her computer screen. When she got the opportunity to actually debate a real live conservative feminist, she ran away as fast as she could — based on her “feminist” principles, of course.

Wednesday of this week, MORE magazine held a panel for young feminists, which Jessica Valenti was invited to be a part of. When Valenti found out that someone who didn’t rigidly follow her extremist orthodoxy to the letter was going to be part of the panel, well, she just wouldn’t be a part of that.

I was originally slated to be a part of this panel, but when I found out that Allison Kasic – who works for the virulently anti-feminist Independent Women’s Forum – was also a panelist, I decided to pull out.

I’ve been writing a lot lately about the faux feminism of the Right – how conservative women who have long fought against feminist ideals and goals are now identifying as feminists in an attempt to woo women’s votes for the GOP. I think it’s an incredibly dangerous trend facing the movement – if those who work actively against women’s interests can claim feminism as their own, the movement will become meaningless.

Given all that, it felt hypocritical for me to be a part of a panel that named Kasic a feminist leader. I didn’t want my presence to lend credibility to the false notion that people who work against women’s rights are feminists.

Yes, I could go on the panel to argue about the definition of feminism and the co-opting of the movement. But when I agree to be on a panel I’m accepting the terms of a debate – and it’s not a debatable point whether people whose policies actively harm women are feminists. I don’t want to validate that this is a question open for reasonable conversation. (Especially given that the success of anti-feminist women and orgs like IWF is largely based on their ability to get on panels and make this an open discussion – it’s part of their strategy.)

Oh no!! Someone who disagrees with Jessica Valenti might be part of a panel discussing feminism! And they’re a — gasp!! — conservative feminist!! Clearly she can’t be a part of that, right? Jessica Valenti’s credibility would be damaged, and that would hurt the feminist movement!

Because, you know, Jessica Valenti is the sole voice of what feminism stands for and its credibility.

Now, every other speaker on this panel is a liberal extremist femisogynist, including Courtney Martin, who blogs at Valenti’s website Feministing. Allison Kasic was the one conservative voice. But this just can’t be allowed, can it? In Valenti’s world, apparently not only should feminists with differing opinions not be allowed a seat at the table, they shouldn’t even be allowed to speak, much less debate their views.

Of course, one might wonder why Valenti would be so worried about debating Kasic. If Valenti’s version of feminism is indeed so intellectually superior, then why would it matter if Kasic was on the panel or not? This would be a perfect opportunity for Valenti to show how wrong conservative feminists are. But oh no, she’s making a principled stand! Or something. Because Kasic’s employer, the Independent Women’s Forum, is (in Valenti’s words) “virulently anti-feminist.” So why not debate her, and show her for the virulent anti-feminist that she really is?

The only reason that femisogynists like Valenti try so hard to shut down conservative feminists like Palin and Kasic is because they’re intimidated by them. Women like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann resonate with women more than women like Jessica Valenti and Amanda Marcotte ever have — or will. The average woman doesn’t identify herself as some kind of helpless oppressed victim of the patriarchy. The average woman doesn’t see marriage as a form of institutional slavery. The average woman doesn’t believe in universal health care or abortion on demand, or half the things that radicals like Valenti advocate.

Feminism has turned into a dirty word for most women, who won’t call themselves feminists anymore. And that’s thanks in large part to the work of women like Gloria Steinem and her 60s era radicals, as well as the work continued by women like Valenti and Marcotte today. Sarah Palin has more American women realizing that feminism could actually speak for them than Valenti ever could, and part of the reason is that Palin has never called for an ideological litmus test in order to be a feminist. Feminism didn’t start as a movement that only spoke for certain women. It spoke for all women. The women who fought for feminist and equality for women didn’t fight so that certain women wouldn’t be allowed to express their views or excluded.

But funny, that’s exactly what people like Jessica Valenti, who call themselves feminists, are fighting for. And when conservative women finally stop letting themselves be pushed into the shadows, and reclaim feminism for themselves, it opens a huge crack in the facade of fascist feminism that the femisogynists have created.

It turns out that Valenti is nothing more than a giant intellectual coward. If her credibility on what feminism really means is so strong, then what does she have to lose? If she was the superior one, then she wouldn’t demean feminism by debating Kasic. If her views were correct, then Kasic would be the one who would lose credibility. Kasic would be the one who would be embarrassed. So what is Valenti so afraid of?

This isn’t a principled stand by Jessica Valenti. This is a woman who is afraid she’ll be made a fool of. This is a woman who can’t stand for women with opposing viewpoints to express them because she knows it threatens what she stands for. She even said herself, this is strategy for her, a tactic — a tactic to drown out opposing voices. Jessica Valenti couldn’t make it any more clear: she’s nothing but a coward and a fake who wouldn’t understand what feminism is if it hit her in the face.

(14 votes, average: 4.07 out of 5)

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235 years ago today, the United States Marine Corps was born in a tavern in Philadelphia, PA. Each year, on November 10th, Marines all over the world celebrate the birth of the Corps. Marines and their wives go to balls, with a formal cake-cutting ceremony and a solemn reading of Gen. John A. Lejeune’s birthday message, summarizing the history, mission, and traditions of the Corps. The country is reminded of the valor, the pride, the honor, of being a United States Marine. The Corps values of honor, courage, and commitment still remain strong today, and Marines deployed all over the world uphold those values as they fight to defend our freedoms.

235 years later, Marines remain faithful. When Semper Fidelis was adopted as the motto of the Marine Corps, it was taken to heart. From Marines who remain fanatically devoted to their country, to the Corps, and to their fellow Marines, to the wives who stand devoted by their husbands’ sides through war and peace, we remain steadfastly faithful through the good and the bad, the easy times and the times when you feel like you can no longer go on.

As a Marine Corps wife, Semper Fidelis is my vow, too. It is my duty and my honor to stand beside him, to be always faithful not only to my husband but to the values of the Marine Corps as well. It takes honor to be a Marine Corps wife. It takes courage and commitment, especially when your husband is fighting halfway around the world and you don’t know if he’ll be coming back or not. It takes a special kind of woman to be the wife of a Marine. When you marry a Marine, you aren’t just marrying the man. You’re marrying the Marine Corps as well, and Semper Fidelis applies to the women left behind as well as the men who don the uniform.

There are many nights when I can’t sleep for fear. There are many times when I feel like I can’t go on alone anymore, living in terror and loneliness. There are times when I would love to have my husband never deploy again, for us to live a life of civilian peace. And there are those occasional phone calls, where he tells me he doesn’t think he can do it anymore, either. Being a Marine, or the wife of one, doesn’t mean there are never moments of doubt, or fear, or anger. It means that we persist despite those feelings; we continue on because we believe in the Corps, we believe in what we are fighting for. When he feels like he can’t keep going, I raise him up. When I feel like I can’t do it anymore, I remember the man that he is, the pride I feel in his courage and his convictions, and I remember that our shared sacrifice will lead to a better world for our children and our grandchildren. I support him unconditionally, and I will remain faithful to the very end. Semper Fidelis is my motto, too.

Today, remember the Marines around the world who sacrifice every day defending our freedoms. Remember the families left behind. And remember the Marines who made the ultimate sacrifice, Marines who heard their country’s call and gave their all.

One Marine in particular deserves to be remembered on the Marine Corps birthday: Corporal Jason Dunham. Born on November 10th, Cpl. Dunham gave his own life to save the lives of his Marines, and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor and bravery.

“People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”

It is because of Marines like Jason Dunham that this country remains the land of the free. Remember the fallen today, and honor those still fighting.

(3 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)

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Originally posted at David Horowitz’s Newsreal:

What makes someone a terrorist? According to former terrorist Bernardine Dohrn, planting bombs and attempting to kill Americans doesn’t cut it. Participating in your Second Amendment right to bear arms, however, does, especially if you’re one of those evil, racist, extremist tea partiers! In a recent interview, Dohrn hypocritically labeled tea partiers as violent terrorists, conveniently forgetting the litany of terrorist activities she participated in as one of the leaders of the Weathermen, an underground terrorist group in the late 60s and 70s. Watch the video:

While Dohrn might like to pretend that tea parties have been filled with violent terrorists just waiting for the opportunity to assassinate President Obama, reality just doesn’t quite agree with her. Tea parties have been amazingly non-violent, and certainly less violent than the far Left anti-war protests that permeated the eight years of the Bush presidency. The fact that tea partiers are allowed to bring guns to their protests is a testament to just how comfortable most police departments are with them.

Left-wing protests, on the other hand, are no strangers to violence. Riot police are frequently required, with protesters often throwing rocks, garbage, bottles, and in more extreme cases, Molotov cocktails.

And Bernardine Dohrn, terrorist extraordinaire, would know all about that. She showed violent tendencies at a Weathermen war council in 1969, where she reveled in the brutal and horrifying Manson slayings.

Holding her fingers in what became the Weatherman “fork salute,” she said of the bloody murders recently committed by the Manson Family in which the pregnant actress Sharon Tate and a Folgers Coffee heiress and several other inhabitants of a Benedict Canyon mansion were brutally stabbed to death: “Dig it! First they killed those pigs, then they ate dinner in the same room with them. They even shoved a fork into the victim’s stomach! Wild!” The “War Council” ended with a formal declaration of war against “AmeriKKKa,” always spelled with three K’s to signify the United States’ allegedly ineradicable white racism.

If that talk had never led to action, it would still be outrageous and offensive. Unfortunately, for Dohrn, this was just the tip of the iceberg.

On October 5, 1969, the Haymarket Police Statue in Chicago was bombed. A Weathermen riot in the same month left a Chicago district attorney, Richard Elrod, paralyzed for life. Dohrn celebrated this man’s paralysis. A bomb was planted in San Francisco in 1970 that killed a police officer, and the FBI believed that Dohrn built and planted that bomb. Another officer was seriously wounded and partially blinded in the same bombing. A fire bomb was thrown at a judge’s house.

It didn’t stop there. The Weathermen were very busy.

The National Guard Association building in Washington, D.C., the New York City Police Headquarters, the Pentagon, the Capitol building, The United States Army base at The Presidio in San Francisco, the Bank of America headquarters in New York City, the Marin County Courthouse, a Queens traffic court building, a Long Island courthouse, the Office of California Prisons in Sacramento and San Francisco, The New York Department of Corrections in Albany, the 103rd Police Precinct in New York, the Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare offices in San Francisco, The Office of the California Attorney General, the Anaconda Corporation, offices of Department of Defense in Oakland, and the Kennecott Corporation were all bombed by Weathermen Underground.

In 1974, Praire Fire was published, written by Dohrn, her future husband and Obama pal William Ayers, Celia Sojourn, and Jeff Jones. In it, they call for violence and dedicate the manifesto to terrorists and murderers, including Sirhan Sirhan, the assassin of Robert F. Kennedy. The FBI ultimately placed Dohrn on their Top Ten Most Wanted list, and she was known as the most dangerous woman in America. She eventually married fellow terrorist and Weathermen leader William Ayers.

Remarkably, when the two turned themselves in to authorities in the 1980s, they somehow were able to escape prison time. In fact, Dohrn is leading a pretty cozy, comfortable life. She is currently an professor at Northwestern University, where she is also Director of the Legal Clinic’s Children and Family Justice Center. Neither Ayers nor Dohrn have expressed any remorse for their actions; Ayers famously proclaimed that he wished they had done more in an article published on September 11, 2001.

Considering all this, does Bernardine Dohrn really feel that she has any room to call people who have not participated in any acts of violence whatsoever terrorists? The hypocrisy is sickening and astounding. The fact that Dohrn, a former terrorist, still sees herself as an anti-American revolutionary fighting The Man is both pathetic and disturbing, especially when you take into account that Dohrn and her husband helped to launch the career of our current president.

But don’t worry about her. It’s those violent extremist tea partiers who have never shown any violent tendencies that you’ve got to worry about.

(9 votes, average: 4.56 out of 5)

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Originally posted at David Horowitz’s Newsreal:

Useless college degrees are nothing new. From degrees in art history and philosophy to women’s studies and queer musicology, academia loves to come up with majors that will be absolutely zero help to graduates in the real world. Given this, it makes sense that colleges across America would get the brilliant idea to glom onto the growing fat acceptance movement. After all, taking Fat Studies might not help you get a single job, ever, but you’ll feel better about yourself, so who cares?

Schools across America are now offering Fat Studies classes. What, exactly, is the point of these classes?

Fat Studies scholars say their mission is to promote weight awareness and acceptance among populations of all types. The sociological study of obesity has been creeping into academia for over a decade, often as a subtopic of Women’s Studies or Health Sciences. But only recently has weight become a subject of study in its own right. “There would be no Fat Studies if there were no obesity epidemic,” says Esther Rothblum, a lesbian studies professor at the University of California, San Diego, and one of the earliest to research the psychology of weight bias.

The Fat Studies Reader, a compendium edited by Rothblum and her colleague, Sondra Solovay, and published to much fanfare in late 2009, is fast becoming a cornerstone of Fat Studies curricula. Its 53 contributors ask the same questions that professors now pose to their students: How is weight perceived in different countries? What do media depictions of larger sizes say about our social priorities? What if there were a “fat gene,” and what if we could test for it prenatally?

Spurred by growing national concerns about obesity, many schools now offer undergraduates a place to discuss these questions. Courses that deal with Fat Studies and body image have been taught at schools, including Oregon State University and Rutgers University. Newer still, however, is the growing interest among students and scholars who aren’t fat themselves.

The fact that the fat acceptance movement has come this far is a sad commentary in and of itself. It’s true that Hollywood promotes an unhealthy body image; it’s true that women are pressured to conform to an unrealistic, unhealthy ideal. The somewhat surprising reaction to this by some has been to promote fat pride, instead of focusing on promoting healthy, normal bodies. Femisogynists in particular have been vocal about this — that obesity can be beautiful and that fat people shouldn’t need to change to fit the narrow ideas of a patriarchal society. The health benefits to losing weight and not remaining obese, of course, is never mentioned. Is it any surprise that Fat Studies sprung out of the women’s studies movement? The most ridiculous aspect of this is that obesity is something that people can control. It isn’t like gender or race. Obesity is a lifestyle choice, for the 99% of overweight Americans who don’t have an endocrine or thyroid disorder and just choose to stuff their faces with junk food without ever being physically active.

Should someone who is obese hate his body? No, of course not. But he also doesn’t need classes telling him that he is perfect just the way he is, he doesn’t need a fat acceptance culture telling him that it’s OK to be obese. If someone wants to eat all day long without ever exercising, then that’s his prerogative. It doesn’t mean that we have to spoon-feed him propaganda about how obesity is acceptable.

We do have an obesity epidemic in the United States; more adults and children are overweight than ever. Femisogynists have been telling women over and over again that they should be fat and proud, that they don’t need to change — and any criticism of overweight people is quickly shouted down as anti-feminist and misogynistic. (Consider this mind-boggling video featured at Feministing.) I would imagine that this boils down to the ridiculous femisogynist premise that you can never criticize women (unless of course they’re conservative women like Sarah Palin). After all, being a so-called feminist means never being subjected to any standards, ever — except those imposed by other self-proclaimed feminists, of course.

More and more, we’re being told that obesity is an acceptable lifestyle choice — and there are even people, like Kate Harding, who claims that being overweight can be healthy. The reality, of course, is somewhat different.

Right now, around 35% of adults are considered obese, and about 17% of children are obese. Obesity is currently the number two cause of preventable death in the United States, behind tobacco. Some of the health consequences for obese adults include increased risks of the following: coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer (endometrial, breast, and colon), hypertension, dyslipidemia, stroke, liver and gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and respiratory problems, osteoarthritis, gynecological problems – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It’s also just obesity in adults. Obesity in children causes even more health problems.

It seems pretty obvious that while overweight people should not be shamed, obesity should likewise not be celebrated or promoted. And that is unfortunately what’s happening. Being against unhealthy beauty standards doesn’t mean promoting obesity, either — just because you are against starvation, it doesn’t mean you have to be for gluttony. People don’t need to be told to lose weight to satisfy some kind of vapid Hollywood beauty standard; they need to lose weight for their own health and well-being. If they choose not to, well, then that’s their decision. But that doesn’t mean that we as a society should coddle the obese or pretend that it’s an acceptable lifestyle choice, because it isn’t. No one thinks that smoking cigarettes is an acceptable lifestyle choice anymore, but that people have the right to smoke if they so choose. We need to have a similar attitude towards fatties who can’t stop eating or get off the couch.

The other issue of contention here is the ever-present need for out-of-touch college professors to constantly find new victim groups. Hey, why not fat people too, right? It’s grievance mongering and social engineering for profit, and it’s outrageous. Consider the amount of money spent on college tuition, books, and fees. It’s typically tens of thousands of dollars. Aside from the grievance mongering, how does Fat Studies benefit students in the real world? When students graduate in Fat Studies, where are they going to find an employer who will be impressed? McDonald’s? Oh, Fat Studies, that’s great — they’ll be perfect with our overweight customers!!

All joking aside, this has to be one of the most useless programs in academia today — aside from queer musicology, of course. It’s a rip-off. Students go to college to learn and prepare themselves for a career, not to feel good about themselves and raise their self-esteem — or to be indoctrinated into ridiculous lefty political correctness. I’m sure that countless parents would be thrilled to find out that they were paying to send their children to what basically is a very, very expensive feel-good support group.

(6 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)

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Act fast to win one of these great items in the Valour-IT auctions – these items close tomorrow (end time noted is Pacific time). Proceeds go to Valour-IT, bid now – don’t miss out!

RESTREPO mini poster signed by the filmmakers 05:45:33

“Restrepo plunges viewers into the experiences of soldiers on the front lines of the Afghan War” – a feature-length documentary that chronicles the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley. The movie focuses on a remote 15-man outpost, “Restrepo,” named after a platoon medic who was killed in action. It was considered one of the most dangerous postings in the U.S. military. This is an entirely experiential film: the cameras never leave the valley; there are no interviews with generals or diplomats. The only goal is to make viewers feel as if they have just been through a 90-minute deployment. This is war, full stop. The conclusions are up to you.

“RESTREPO mini poster signed by filmmakers Tim Hetherington (recipient of four World Press Photo awards, including the World Press Photo to the Year (2008), and an Alfred I. duPont Broadcast award for his work in Afghanistan for ABC’s ‘Nightline’) and Sebastian Junger (bestselling author of “The Perfect Storm” and “War.”)

Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran Medallion 07:08:49

This coin from Eagle Crest commemorates the Veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and features intricate, multi-colored designs on both sides and the words, “Democracy, Bravery, Honor, Sacrifice & Freedom”

U.S. Army Combat Infantryman Medallion 07:14:14

This coin from Eagle Crest commemorates the U.S. Army Combat Infantryman. Its green and gold face displays four Infantryman on foot. The blue and gold flip has 5 stars and a long rifle.

Personalizable US Coast Guard cross-stitch 07:42:34

Counted cross-stitch of the U.S. Coast Guard emblem suitable for personalization with name/rank and additional information (years of service, unit, etc.)(see example photo). Finished piece is designed for a 3.5″ x 5″ opening (mat or frame). Can be mounted with a custom-cut mat (NOT part of auction item) for dual openings in an 6×10 frame (see example photo). Auction winner will need to provide contact information in order to arrange personalization before item can be shipped.

Leadership in Action signed by author ADM Greg Slavonic 08:16:59

This auction is a copy of ADM Slavonic’s upcoming book Leadership In Action. It will be released to the general public on Amazon.com in MID-NOVEMBER. This is an ADVANCED copy. ADM Slavonic will sign and ship. SPECIAL TO VALOUR-IT! Greg Slavonic has brought together several contributors for this book that would rightly be on a “Who’s Who” list of our nation’s most highly honored and decorated military leaders; two-, three- and four-star Generals, Admirals, Captains and Colonels, war heroes and two Medal of Honor recipients–they know what it takes to lead and to succeed. In the pages of this book, you will find something that is critical to success in life–a philosophy of leadership that you can take for your own. By reading each chapter, giving thought to what you’ve read and applying what you’ve learned in action; a discerning reader will gain a thorough understanding of what real leaders are made of–and in the learning can become one too.

Day by Day comic strip book. Signed and Numbered. 09:18:49

The first DayByDay Cartoon book collecting all of the www.daybydaycartoon.com strips from 2002-2003. This miniature coffee table book measures 7″x7″, features a high gloss softcover, is 132 pages with 363 toons and is signed and numbered by creator Chris Muir.

Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes (2010, Hardcover) 12:38:18

A visceral, gripping, epic novel of the Vietnam War written by a highly decorated war veteran, MATTERHORN throbs with compelling authenticity on each of its many hundred pages. Though its topics are embedded in our cultural consciousness–napalm, Agent Orange, tortured soldier’s souls, the chaos of guerrilla warfare, the impossible ethics of violence, the beauty and horrors of the jungle, loyalty, insanity, friendship, and death–MATTERHORN renders the Vietnam experience anew, boring relentlessly down on the specific kinetic reality of the time and place. Karl Marlantes writes with an intense immediacy reminiscent of Mailer’s THE NAKED AND THE DEAD or James Jones’s THE THIN RED LINE. MATTERHORN deserves to take its place on the short list of great works about America’s engagement in Vietnam and the powerful reality of armed combat.

‘This We’ll Defend’ Army Medallion 13:08:45

This coin from the Northwest Territorial Mint commemorates the U.S. Army. It has an Army themed front side with the words, “This We’ll Defend.” The flip side has the Department of the Army seal.

(No Ratings Yet)

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Yesterday, the Marine team pulled ahead of the Army team, and we’re still leading by approximately $500. While the Army team reached the $15k goal before we did, we can still outraise them. There’s five days left in the Project Valour-IT fundraiser — the fight isn’t over yet.

Maryann Philips, one of the Marine team members, gives a moving example of why we need to keep working to raise money for our wounded heroes.

“We try not to withdraw care here in theater,” Eastridge said.

But every once in a while it happens. It’s usually someone with brain injuries so severe they’re likely to die during transport. They’re allowed to die here, with troops at the bedside. “That just affords them that last little bit of dignity,” he said.

He stopped, and his eyes filled with tears.

The conference is run by Col. Brian Eastridge, a 47-year-old trauma surgeon with 23 years in the Army. He grew up in Damascus, Md., graduated from Virginia Tech and the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He now heads the Joint Theater Trauma System, which organizes trauma care in both wars.

Over five deployments, Eastridge has seen the entire arc of worsening wounds and increasing survival that has marked trauma care during the Iraq and Afghan wars.

Dressed in brown camouflage battle dress, he sits halfway around a large U made of wooden tables. Around him on the walls are idealized scenes of Afghan life painted by a local artist – a girl leading a caravan of camels, children being taught arithmetic at the base of a tree, kids flying kites. Eastridge runs the conference with somber efficiency, offers comments sparingly and addresses his listeners mostly by location-”Kandahar,” “Landstuhl,” “Walter Reed.”

The rapid-fire reports are dense with medical jargon and anatomical description. It’s a narration of one disaster after another, and of how things were kept from getting worse, and made better, by skill, speed and attention. It’s the aural equivalent of watching a dozen high-wire acts in which some people are rescued mid-fall.

Here’s just one.

“Dismounted IED” injury is jargon for wounds caused by a bomb or mine that are suffered outside a vehicle. The soldier had tourniquets placed for partial amputation of both legs. One liter of a special IV fluid was given in the helicopter, and the patient arrived at the Kandahar hospital in and out of consciousness and in shock.

In the operating room, surgeons temporarily tied off the arteries going to the legs and repaired a tear in a major vein. There was massive damage to the area between the legs. One leg was amputated at the knee. In a second operation the next day his wounds were rewashed and a finger, broken in the explosion, was fixed with external hardware.

That same day the soldier was evacuated to Bagram, where his wounds were washed out and the pelvic region was re-explored. A “foreign body”- the speaker didn’t say whether it was dirt, metal or something else – not seen in the first operation was removed. He suffered a collapsed lung after surgery, which was fixed.

He stayed there two days before flying by critical care air transport to Landstuhl.

Seven days after suffering his wounds the soldier arrived at a hospital in the United States. He had another collapsed lung, and pneumonia. His right foot, initially thought to be salvageable, wasn’t healing and the surgeons planned to amputate it at the ankle. He had further surgery to his abdomen and numerous operations to start repairing the missing floor of his pelvis.

“This was one of the biggest pelvic injuries I’ve ever seen,” said one of the surgeons in the United States. Eastridge later said he hears that a lot from surgeons in the United States who haven’t been deployed yet.

This was not an uncommon case.

We say it so much, but really — our men and women in uniform have given so much for us. I can’t imagine making the sacrifices they’ve made, and I can’t imagine the world that they’re living and fighting in right now. They’re fighting an enemy half a world away that uses women and children as human shields; that cuts the noses and the ears off of innocent women; that will throw acid on little girls for daring to want an education; that will rape women and then stone them for adultery. They’re facing pure evil. And sometimes, they don’t come back safe and whole.

Are we really going to leave these wounded warriors with nothing, no help, no support, after what they’ve given for us? Please make a donation. It’s the least we can do.

There are other ways you can give, too. Villainous Company is holding a Demotivator contest, and for each entry submitted, $20 will be donated to Project Valour-IT. The categories are: Best Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine demotivators, Best “Embracing the Suck” poster, and Best Salvo from the Distaff Side. Here’s one entry for the Marines:

So you can help make a difference without even having to spend any money. Get on over to Villainous Company and enter your Demotivator!

Finally, here’s an adorable video of a future Marine in the making. And remember, give until it hurts!! It’s the least we can do.

(No Ratings Yet)

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Originally posted at David Horowitz’s Newsreal:

Nanny staters and McDonald’s Happy Meals just don’t mix. In California, the obesity police have been trying to ban Happy Meals for quite some time now. New York has taken this to an extreme — while they haven’t banned Happy Meal (yet), the bureaucrats there are crusading against trans fats, salt, and anything else they deem not good for you. San Francisco bureaucrats have jumped on the bandwagon, banning restaurants from giving children toys with unhealthy food. Basically, they’ve specifically targeted — and banned — Happy Meals. After all, why should idiotic ignorant parents get to decide what their children do and do no eat?

San Francisco has become the first major U.S. city to pass a law that cracks down on the popular practice of giving away free toys with unhealthy restaurant meals for children. San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors passed the law on Tuesday on a veto-proof 8-to-3 vote. It takes effect on December 1. The law, like an ordinance passed earlier this year in nearby Santa Clara County, would require that restaurant kids’ meals meet certain nutritional standards before they could be sold with toys.

Opponents of the law include the National Restaurant Association and McDonald’s Corp, which used its now wildly popular Happy Meal to pioneer the use of free toys to market directly to children. “We are extremely disappointed with today’s decision. It’s not what our customers want, nor is it something they asked for,” McDonald’s spokeswoman Danya Proud said in a statement. “Getting a toy with a kid’s meal is just one part of a fun, family experience at McDonald’s,” Proud said.

The San Francisco law would allow toys to be given away with kids’ meals that have less than 600 calories, contain fruits and vegetables, and include beverages without excessive fat or sugar. Backers of the ordinance say it aims to promote healthy eating habits while combating childhood obesity. “Our children are sick. Rates of obesity in San Francisco are disturbingly high, especially among children of color,” said San Francisco Supervisor Eric Mar, who sponsored the measure. “This is a challenge to the restaurant industry to think about children’s health first and join the wide range of local restaurants that have already made this commitment,” Mar said.

It’s not a challenge to the restaurant industry, it’s a mandate. And it should be offensive to anyone who values the right of a business owner to operate their business as they see fit … or to any parents who think they should be allowed to raise their children as they see fit. The ever-intrusive nanny state is greedily gobbling up control of our lives, all in the name of what is “good for us.” They’re just much smarter than us ignoramuses, so we should let them tell us what we can and can’t do, right?

Are McDonald’s Happy Meals healthy? No, not really. But there are healthier options for parents to choose. Isn’t that a great word, choose? See, the way it works is, parents can go to McDonald’s and choose whether or not they want to give their child fries or apple slices. McDonald’s does not leave Happy Meal toys littered on the street in a complicated ploy to snatch children, drag them into McDonald’s, and force-feed them fries.

Case in point: myself.

I certainly ate a good amount of fast food as a kid. But I also was not allowed inside the house when it was daylight unless I was doing my homework or reading. Playing Nintendo? Watching TV? Absolutely forbidden. My brother and I grew up being active. We rode bikes, we rollerbladed, we ran around like kids are supposed to do. We were also both skinny as rails. I, in particular, was tiny. I was even made fun of in middle school for being so skinny (up until about eighth grade, when puberty struck and my curves came in). This was a law laid down by my parents, and strictly enforced. Had they not, we surely would have been much plumper children.

Kids like Happy Meals, sure, but if parents don’t want to face the wrath of Michelle Obama by letting their their kids become obese, then there’s a simple solution: say no. They could also tell their kids to turn the Xbox, computer, and television off and make them get outside and be physically active instead of sitting around playing video games all day, but that would also involve not catering to a child’s every whim, which I suspect is the real culprit of childhood obesity.

Either way, when did this become a decision for the government to make? If parents would actually, I don’t know, parent, and not let their children turn into fat, lazy slobs, then there wouldn’t be a childhood obesity epidemic. But the nanny state blames McDonald’s — and this, then, takes the blame off of lousy parents who refuse to lay down the law for their children. Parents who say yes every time their child wants a Happy Meal can now nod and say, “Yes, see, it’s not my fault my kid is fat — it’s that evil giant corporation McDonald’s, tricking my kids into eating unhealthy food with toys!”

In reality, this does nothing beyond give irresponsible parents someone else to point the finger at, and give the government more control over our lives. Does anyone really think that by taking toys out of Happy Meals kids are magically going to get slimmer? Kids will still eat at McDonald’s. And a year from now, the fat kids in San Francisco will probably still be fat. Parents who let their kids sit around the house all day doing nothing while gobbling up a diet of crap will continue to do just that.

The solution to the obesity epidemic is not government intervention. The government can’t fix bad parenting, because bad parents will always be just that. This is nothing more than a ploy for leftist bureaucrats to get more control over us, because of course, they’re so much smarter than us.

It’s interesting that lefties would choose something like this to wage war over. If they put half the energy they use trying to fix our bad choices toward fighting Al Qaeda or illegal immigration, then this country would surely be in much better shape.

(6 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Republican gains are massive. And when I say Republican gains are massive, I mean tsunami.

No, the GOP did not take the Senate and some races are still outstanding, but the Senate GOP has moved to the right. More so, the Republicans picking up, in the worst case, seven seats is historically strong.

But consider that as you wake up this morning the Republican Party has picked up more seats in the House of Representatives than at any time since 1948 — that is more than sixty seats. Ike Skelton, Class of 1976, is gone. Many, many other Democrats are gone.

That, in and of itself, is significant. But that’s not the half of it. The real story is the underreported story of the night — the Republican pick ups at the state level.

There will be 18 states subject to reapportionment. The Republicans will control a majority of those — at least ten and maybe a dozen or more. More significantly, a minimum of seventeen state legislative houses have flipped to the Republican Party.

The North Carolina Legislature is Republican for the first time since 1870. Yes, that is Eighteen Seventy.

The Alabama Legislature is Republican for the first time since 1876.

For those saying this is nothing because it is the South, consider these:

The entire Wisconsin and New Hampshire legislatures have flipped to the GOP by wide margins.

The State Houses in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, Montana, and Colorado flipped to the GOP.

The Maine and Minnesota Senates flipped to the GOP.

The Texas and Tennessee Houses went from virtually tied to massive Republican gains. The gains in Texas were so big that the Republicans no longer need the Democrats to get state constitutional amendments out of the state legislature.

These gains go all the way down to the municipal level across the nation. That did not happen even in 1994.

This was a tsunami.

- Erick Erickson

(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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OK folks… the poll returns are starting to come in (you can follow them live here. Here are the results so far.

In Kentucky, the race has been called for Rand Paul. With 35% of polls reporting, Rubio is already kicking ass in Florida. In Indiana, Dan Coats has won Evan Bayh’s seat. Polls are closing in the eastern US, so stay tuned for results!

UPDATE: The race has officially been called for Marco Rubio. Good riddance, Charlie Crist! The race has also been called for Chris Coons, meaning Christine O’Donnell, unsurprisingly, lost.

UPDATE: Richard Shelby and Jerry Moran have won their Senate races in Alabama and Kansas, respectively. Kelly Ayotte has been declared the winner in New Hampshire, and Rob Portman has won in Ohio. Patrick Leahy has won in Vermont (no surprise there), and Jim DeMint has won in South Carolina (also no surprise there).

UPDATE: Nancy Pelosi is in complete denial.

“The early returns and overwhelming number of Democrats who are coming out – we’re on pace to maintain a majority in the House of Representatives,” Pelosi told reporters during a photo op in Washington.

Yeah, OK.

UPDATE: Bye Bye, Blanche: race called for John Boozman. Linda McMahon loses. It’s also being reported that Rob Hurt has unseated Tom Perriello, and the race has been called for Tim Scott, the first black Republican in Congress since JC Watts. Rick Scott is leading Alex Sink in Florida.

UPDATE: Alan Grayson is supposedly about to concede. Good riddance!

UPDATE: West Virginia is being called for Manchin.

UPDATE: Barron Hill is out in Indiana. Richard Burr hangs on to his seat in North Carolina. Glenn Nye is out in Virginia.

UPDATE: So Alan Grayson has officially conceded… and he blamed the weather. Yes, really.

UPDATE: Hoeven wins in North Dakota.

UPDATE: Benishek is leading, and Russ Feingold is trailing. Ilario Pantano is trailing McIntyre. Fox News is predicting that the GOP will take the House with around 60 seats.

UPDATE: Blunt wins over Carnahan. Guinta wins in New Hampshire. Looking like Sestak will win in Pennsylvania.

UPDATE: Ugh, Barney Frank has won in Massachusetts. Southerland is up over Boyd in Florida.

UPDATE: Black and Fincher both win in Tennessee. Bucshon and Young win in Indiana. Snyder wins in Michigan. Giannioulias is leading in Illinois — if Illinois voters voted in a freaking MOB BANKER, then they never get to complain about the corruption of Chicago politics ever again. Ever.

UPDATE: Corbett wins in Pennsylvania. The race is dangerously close in South Carolina for Nikki Haley. Daugarrd wins, Flores picks up in Texas. Perry wins in Texas, surprise surprise. Ellmers leading as well with 66% of precincts reporting.

UPDATE: Adam Kinzinger is leading in Illinois. Remember him?

Also, Haslam is leading in Tennessee, Kissell wins in North Carolina. Walker wins in Wisconsin, Mead wins in Wyoming.

UPDATE: Kelly wins in Pennsylvania. Resjarlais wins in Tennessee. Heineman wins in Nebraska. Barletta defeats Kanjorski in Pennsylvania.

UPDATE: Susana Martinez has been elected, she’s America’s first Latina governor. And she’s a Republican.

UPDATE: Fox News is calling Colorado for Hickenlooper. Ugh. Benishek wins!

UPDATE: Meehan and Marino both win in Pennsylvania. Jeff Landry wins in Louisiana; Andy Harris wins in Maryland.

UPDATE: Nikki Haley wins!

UPDATE: Murphy goes down to Fitzpatrick.

UPDATE: Lee and Herbet win in Utah. Gibbs wins in Ohio. Toomey currently leading by 4,000 votes. Riggell and Griffith win in Virginia.

UPDATE: Russ Feingold is GONE! Race declared for Ron Johnson.

UPDATE: Phil Hare defeated in Illinois; Ellmers widens her lead. Adams wins in Florida. Fallin wins in Oklahoma.

UPDATE: Cao loses in New Orleans; Toomey widening his lead.

UPDATE: Hearing rumblings that Allen West has won. And shockingly, Mark Kirk is leading in Illinois.

UPDATE: Mick Mulvaney takes out John Spratt in South Carolina. Berg takes out Pomeroy in North Dakota.

UPDATE: Nunnelee wins in Mississippi.

UPDATE: Hultgren defeats Foster in Illinois; Kevin Yoder defeats Stephene Moore In Kansas; Stivers defeats Mary Jo Kilroy in Ohio.

UPDATE: Chabot defeats Driehaus in Ohio.

UPDATE: Allen West wins in Florida!

UPDATE: Renee Ellmers wins!

UPDATE: Ike Skelton defeated in Missouri.

UPDATE:Toomey wins in Pennsylvania!

UPDATE: In California with 9% of precincts reporting, Fiorina is leading Boxer 47.8% – 45.6%. But hey, remember, Fox called it for Boxer, so Boxer must be winning.

UPDATE: Kirk is now leading by three in Illinois. The North Carolina Senate has gone Republican for the first time since 1898.

UPDATE: Bob Etheridge’s loss just gave the GOP their majority-making seat in the House.

UPDATE: Reid is leading Angle with 11% reporting. John Kasich defeats Ted Strickland for governor of Ohio.

UPDATE: Alabama House and Senate will both be in GOP control. This marks the first time since 1874 GOP has had majority.

UPDATE: Raul Grijalva and Ruth McClung are neck and neck in Arizona.

UPDATE: Sandoval defeats Rory Reid for governor of Nevada.

UPDATE: California’s pot legalization bill crashes and burns. Snort. No surprise there.

UPDATE: Republican Mark Kirk has officially won Obama’s old Senate seat.

UPDATE: FNC is officially reporting that the GOP has won the House.

UPDATE: Herseth Sandlin to concede to Kristi Noem. Fiorina is currently leading Boxer, despite the race being called for Boxer by multiple news sources.

UPDATE: Sean Duffy takes Obey’s seat in Wisconsin.

UPDATE: Groan — Raul Grijalva widening his lead over Ruth McClung. How could voters go for someone who called for a boycott of their state??

UPDATE: Jan Brewer is easily winning in Arizona.

(No Ratings Yet)

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So, I volunteered for the Marine Team donation matching challenge, and here’s what I’ve been dared to do. If we raise $250 between 2:00 and 4:00 this afternoon, not only will one of our donors match it, but I will dress up like as the Navy goat for the Army-Navy game and publicly cheer for the Army the entire day. Yes, there will be pictures and maybe even video.

Don’t believe me? Here’s the costume I’ve already bought, because I know you guys will come through for us:

I just hope my preggo belly can fit into it!!

So, get those donations going if you would like to see me humiliate myself in a Navy goat costume before the entire Internet. Get that thermometer jumping!

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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