Meatstick News: US Miliatry Deaths in Iraq

Please tell everyone you know that over 100 soldiers have been killed in Iraq this month.

Since the war started in 2003 there have been only 5 other months that over 100 soldiers have been killed.

Congress will deliver a bill to the President's desk this week that calls for troop withdrawl by next year. The President will veto it and Congress will be back to square one. The news is speculating that the Democratic controlled Congress will back down and re-draft a funding bill with no withdrawl timelines. If you voted for a Democratic Senator or Congressman please write them and tell them you didn't vote for them to continue the war in Iraq, like they are about to do. Let them know that over 100 soldiers were killed this month, and that's not cool.

Meatstick Quote: Harry Reid on Dick "the pitbull" Cheney

Yesterday Dick Cheney had this to say about Senator Harry Reid:

“What’s most troubling about Senator Reid’s comments yesterday is his defeatism,” said Mr. Cheney. “And the timetable legislation that he is now pursuing would guarantee defeat. Maybe it is a political calculation.”

Harry Reid fired back with the quote of the week:

“I’m not going to get into a name-calling match with somebody who has a 9 percent approval rating,” Mr. Reid said.

Damn, I didn't realize Cheney's approval rating was that high!

Meatstick Idea: New Law That Requires Americans To Shave Everyday

I have a good idea. I think that Congress should work on passing a law that would require all American males to shave their face, each and every day. I hate shaving. The other day I was thinking about how awful it was when I was in Iraq and I had to shave every single day for an entire year. That is when it dawned on me that we should force all American males shave everyday to honor our service members and reflect about the sacrifices they face each day.

In theory this law would pass unanimously because both Democrats and Republicans would be able to see the purpose in it. I feel that Democrats, who contrary to what Rush Limbaugh might say, do support our troops. I think they would be happy to pass this legislation.

The legislation might be a tough sell with Republicans because they don't really like to have their daily life interrupted by the war on terror and the war in Iraq. They just like to flip on Hannity for a few minutes and make sure that Al-Qaeda hasn't invaded Ohio yet. However, I have a plan to get Republicans online with this. I will put wording in the bill that would make it clear that the reason we are doing this is a direct response to the Taliban. The Taliban is famous for forcing men to have facial hair, specifically long beards. I will explain to the Republicans that by forcing American males to shave everyday we are spitting in the face of the Taliban! This will fool them and the bill would be passed into law!

In all seriousness. I think if all Americans had to reflect on the war and suffer for even five minutes a day our troops would probably be coming home a lot sooner.

Meatstick Opinion: Teachers Deserve More Money

I'm not 100% sure what I want to do in life. That is one reason I've decided to go back to get my masters degree.

However, I know for a fact that there are a few things I don't want to do. Teaching sits at the top of that list. I volunteered in my wife's kindergarten classroom today. It reaffirmed the fact that it takes a special person to teach twenty some 6 year old kids all day long for 180 days a year.

The kids were great and very smart (a testament to their teacher). In fact, they were so smart that they didn't even ask me any funny questions like I have gotten in years past ("What is your favorite word?"). One kid liked my watch and another liked my hair. At least I know where to go if I ever need to feel good about myself.

Meatstick Congrats: Mark Buerhle!

Congratulations to Mark Buerhle on tossing a no hitter yesterday!

The 16th no hitter in White Sox history. Only the Dodgers have more no hitters (20).

Meatstick Opinion: Roanoke Firearms

I won't get into my views on gun control in the wake of the VT tragedy.

However, I am closely following how the South Korean student was able to walk into a gun store and purchase a hand gun. In my readings, I came across the website of the gun store he purchased the hand gun at, Roanoke Firearms. This is the first image that hits you when you open the site:

Is this place serious? Is this the kind of marketing gun stores in rural Virginia use to get people to buy firearms? I'm all for somebody shooting Osama bin Laden in the face, but does anyone in Southwest Virginia that walks into that store looking to buy a gun really think they are ever going to be within 5,000 miles of bin Laden. This kind of propoganda drives me nuts. I would be willing to bet that upwards of 90% of the people that walk into that store are card carrying NRA members, Republican "troop supporters," and have never spent a day actually fighting the war on terror. To all the customers of Roanoke Firearms, please know that buying a gun from this store and voting for George Allen do not count as doing your part in fighting the war on terror.

I also just want to make it clear that I am not blaming the owner of this store for any part of the VT shootings. I am blaming him for spreading the "I fight the war on terror by voting and sitting on the couch watching Hannity (Beck, O'reilly, Coulter)" culture that is rampant across America these days.

Meatstick Opinion: Anderson Cooper shows his true colors...

Anderson Cooper was supposed to be reporting from Afghanistan all this week. According to Anderson's own words on his blog he wanted to travel to Afghanistan because the troops there almost feel like they are forgotten about. Here is the direct quote from his blog:

When we were here in September, many American soldiers told us they felt forgotten.
Over the last several months, I've received a lot of letters from the parents of soldiers serving here, and I promised many of them we would not forget about what their sons and daughters are doing in Afghanistan. So we've returned here, in part, to bring attention to this often overlooked war.

This quote was posted on his blog on Monday, April 16th. One day later he is on his way back to Virginia to report on the shooting at Virginia Tech. Apparently Anderson has a short memory because he is leaving the forgotten soldiers behind after one day of reporting, four days before he was expected to leave. This could have been somebody elses decision at CNN, but I would think Anderson Cooper has enough pull to convince Ted Turner that since he was already on ground in Afghanistan that he should stay there and report on the forgotten war.

Is this guy serious? There are more than enough reporters flocking to Blacksburg, VA to cover this horrible tragedy. Anderson Cooper will not be adding anything substantial to the coverage. Undoubtedly he will show the same cell phone video and badger the same students that everyone else already has interviewed into submission.

Anderson Cooper is about ratings.

Meatstick Opinion: You have to love CNBC and The Daily Show

You have to admire CNBC for their ability to keep it real. I sometimes watch CNBC to see if there is any breaking news in the financial world that interests me. But, more often than not there isn't so I turn it off after a few minutes. However, there are times that I turn it on and leave it on because I know what I can expect from them. During the height of the Anna Nicole Smith debacle, CNBC was the only 24 hour news network that completely avoided that nonsensical story. They again showed honor and integrity last week by ignoring the Imus story. Today I flipped it on and noticed that they aren't even tempted to talk about the 22 people killed at Virginia Tech. Instead their breaking news on the bottom of the screen is, "Power Lunch: The Mind of a Trader."

So, no matter how important or trendy the news that is breaking on other 24 hour yap channels CNBC keeps it real by sticking to financial news only.

The second topic I would like to talk about today is about a new study released by Pew Research Center about the knowledge of cable news watchers. They found the following:

Pew judged the levels of knowledgeability (correct answers) among those surveyed and found that those who scored the highest were regular watchers of Comedy Central's The Daily Show and Colbert Report. They tied with regular readers of major newspapers in the top spot -- with 54% of them getting 2 out of 3 questions correct.

This next finding is by far the best:

Virtually bringing up the rear were regular watchers of Fox News. Only 1 in 3 could answer 2 out of 3 questions correctly. Fox topped only network morning show viewers.
Told that Shia was one group of Muslims struggling in Iraq, only 32% of the total sample could name "Sunni" as the other key group.
The percentage of those who knew their state's governor dropped to 2 in 3. Almost half know that Rep. Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House and 2 in 3 know that Condi Rice is secretary of state. But just 29% can identify Scooter Libby.

Why does this not surprise me?

Meatstick Game: Guess the Muslim!!

There are 5 Irish Catholics, One Atheist, and One Muslim in this picture. Can you guess the Muslim?

Meatstick Opinion: The Bachelor

Thank you for those of you that commented on my previous post about The Bachelor. I appreciate hearing your point of view.

I decided to take down what I wrote because I realized that no matter how I try to explain myself it wouldn't come out right. In my post I didn't say one negative thing about Mr. Baldwin as a person. He sounds like a wonderful American patriot. However, I don't think people would get past the fact I have nothing against LT Baldwin, my problem is with the whole system. He sounds like a great American Patriot.

Meatstick News: Army Officers Reup Bonus

I received a memorandum by email yesterday that stated the Army is now offering a one time $20,000 bonus for any Captain who is willing to stay in the Army for three more years. The Army has been giving enlisted soldiers re-enlistment bonuses since the Revolutionary War, but this marks the first time in recent history that the same type of bonus for time extension is being offered to Army officers. I knew this was only a matter of time because the Army has been doing extensive research on ways to keep junior officers from leaving the Army at the end of their first committment (usually 4 or 5 years). The memo, dated 5 April 2007, states:

In order to be eligible...such officers shall execute a written agreement that provides for a 3 year service obligation in exchange for a lump sum payment of a $20,000 bonus, which shall be paid upon acceptance of the agreement by the Army.

In my opinion there are 3 types of junior officers in the Army: those getting out no matter what, those who are staying in the Army for a career no matter what, and those who are undecided. This bonus is clearly going after the small minority of junior officers who are undecided. To me this strategy is kind of flawed on the part of the Army. Do you really want to keep and promote officers that you essentially bought off for a few thousand dollars? An officer in the Army these days can have a tremendous amount of responsibility placed on them by virtue of their position, including the lives of large groups of soldiers. A junior officer in the Army should stay in the Army because they love leading America's sons and daughters, not because they got a lump sum check for $20,000. I don't blame the junior officer who takes this money, I blame the Army that offers it.

I also find it interesting that this memorandum comes out at exactly the same time that 1,000 West Point Captains are coming up on the end of their 5 year committment.