Flag Ceremony Banned...

...at veteran's cemeteries. "...the 13-fold recital is not part of the U.S. Flag Code and is not government-approved", says spokesman.

A spokesman in Washington said the complaint originated from someone who witnessed the ceremony at Riverside National but would provide no other details and declined to release the directive banning the flag-folding recital, saying it was "an internal working document not meant for public distribution."

"That the actions of one disgruntled, whining, narcissistic and intolerant individual is preventing veterans from getting the honors they deserve is truly an outrage," said Rees Lloyd, 59, a Vietnam-era veteran and Memorial Honor Detail volunteer. "This is another attempt by secularist fanatics to cleanse any reference to God."

World War II Navy sailor Bobby Castillo, 85, another member of Memorial Honor Detail 12, called the federal decision "a slap in the face to every veteran."

"When we got back from the war, we didn't ask for a whole lot," said Castillo, who was wounded in 1944 as he supported the Allied landings in France. "We just want to give our veterans the respect they deserve. No one has ever complained to us about it. I just don't understand."

The pair, part of a team that has performed military honors at more than 1,400 services, said they were preparing to read the flag-folding remarks when workers in a staff car came up to them and stopped them.

...the flag-folding narrative can be read but only if families make arrangements on their own and do not use cemetery workers, which include volunteers,.

Charlie Waters, parliamentarian for the American Legion of California, said he's advising memorial honor details to ignore the edict, even if it means being kicked out of cemeteries.

"This is nuts," Waters, a Korean War veteran, said in a telephone interview from Fresno. "There are 26 million veterans in this country and they're not going to take us all to prison."

Re: Everything except Buck's Baby

Okay, this isn't satire either. But from the USAF search for meaning to the California fires, it connects a lot of threads we've got going here.

Air Force Spy Plane To Fly Over Fire Zone

The Air Force launched one of its Global Hawk spy planes Thursday to capture images of the Southern California fires -- the first domestic surveillance mission for the unmanned drone.

Anyhow, unfortunately, the USAF came in second again:

The Air Force drone is the second unmanned craft in the skies over the Southern California wildfires. On Wednesday, NASA launched its Ikhana unmanned system. The Ikhana, a version of the military's Predator modified for civilian research missions, also captures thermal images while flying at a lower altitude than the Global Hawk. Both can fly 20 hours or more without refueling.

Here's why:

Air Force officials decided to offer the Global Hawk on Tuesday. But the plane was not launched earlier, military officials said, because they were awaiting formal requests from local officials. Such requests are required before military equipment can be used inside the U.S.

Can you imagine being

A NEW FATHER, BRINGING A CHILD INTO A WORLD LIKE THIS?

Update: Latest Presidential Straw Poll

In our last episode:

...from your troops in Iraq. This result was found as graffiti on a porta potty wall, so some may challenge the accuracy of the results.

Several candidates were named, along with complex instructions ("Vote"). Votes were in the form of hash marks under each candidate's name.

Results:

Clinton: 3 (Will assume Hillary)
Obama: 16
Giuliani: 0
Thompson: 0
Bush part 3: 15

Someone added Nader to the list, he got one vote.

Conspicuously absent: John McCain. Less so: Ron Paul, who no one ever heard of.

Disclaimer: I had nothing to do with this whatsoever, and didn't even vote. Just relating what I saw.

And Another Re: Can't win war on Fire

Unfortunately, this isn't satire either:

As wildfires were charging across Southern California, nearly two dozen water-dropping helicopters and two massive cargo planes sat idly by, grounded by government rules and bureaucracy.

How much the aircraft would have helped will never be known, but their inability to provide quick assistance raises troubling questions about California’s preparations for a fire season that was widely expected to be among the worst on record.

It took as long as a day for Navy, Marine and California National Guard helicopters to get clearance early this week, in part because state rules require all firefighting choppers to be accompanied by state forestry “fire spotters” who coordinate water or retardant drops.

My advice...

...is bring warm clothes, gang, winter's coming, and it does get cold:

WASHINGTON -- In the largest call-up of U.S. diplomats since the Vietnam War, the State Department is planning to order some of its personnel to serve at the American Embassy in Iraq because of a lack of volunteers.

Those designated "prime candidates" _ from 200 to 300 diplomats _ will be notified Monday that they have been selected for one-year postings to fill the 40 to 50 vacancies expected next year.

They will have 10 days to accept or reject the position. If not enough say yes, some will be ordered to go to Iraq and face dismissal if they refuse, Harry Thomas, director general of the Foreign Service, said Friday.
<...>
The U.S. military has quietly but repeatedly complained that its forces and other Defense Department personnel have been pressed into service in jobs that should have been filled by State Department personnel.

In particular, Defense Department employees and service members were forced to fill spots on provincial reconstruction teams for months because the State Department could not get personnel there.

Military officials have complained that other federal agencies _ including State, Commerce and Agriculture _ aren't moving quickly enough to fill critical needs in Iraq. Those agencies, they argue, have the expertise to help Iraqi business people and farmers get back to their jobs and improve the economy.

Re: War on Fire

Sadly, this is not satire:

I started just doing Google searches to try and figure out. You know, arson, arson, it was like crazy trying to figure out why is that being downplayed? Why is that, you know, just a small part of the story? And you know, every time I look for it what comes up, believe it or not, is that Blackwater wants to move to San Diego and build this giant complex in San Diego right where most of the evacuations are taking place and you know.

You just know wherever there is fire, this administration will be out there doing what it does best and that is fanning the flames, you know. It just spooks me, I can’t explain to you how creepy this whole thing is that you know, you’ve got these fires. Some of them are thought to be the work of arsonists and in the same breath you’ve got a community that’s on fire that just recently protested Blackwater West. Just recently said no to Blackwater and apparently you don’t do that.

I mean, I don’t even know what to think. You know, nobody is saying Blackwater set the fires, that is nobody that doesn’t want their house burned down. Nobody is saying that, but it is all so bizarre that this is America and you have to sort of sit there and wonder … arson, same place Blackwater West wants to be, people protesting. And then you find out that some of the guys that used to work for Blackwater are now in Schwarzenegger’s administration.

It’s all so creepy.

Re: Pacifiers

Holy cow Buck, some times the oblique approach just ain't right...

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Buck Sargent is a proud new poppa of a bouncing baby boy.

Congratulations to the whole family!

GIVE PACIFIERS A CHANCE

The Buck multiplies here.