Inspiration

Election day inspirationals

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Two excellent essay, one on The American Spectator and the other on Human Events:

“Au Revoir, Mr. President” by R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr

[…] Obama has come across as an amazingly close approximation of Jimmy Carter, complete with a slow-growth economy and a foreign policy disaster, though one of Obama’s empty boasts was he understood the Arab world especially well. His backup team of David Axelrod and David Plouffé serve as second-rate Jody Powells and Ham Jordans. Frankly, I preferred Jody and Ham.

I must in all humility admit that it took me all of two weeks into his presidency to recognize that Obama was over his head. On February 5, 2009, I said in this space that Obama’s presidency was doomed. I pronounced him a dud, unlikely to be reelected president. Said I, “…with the economy in crisis and American national security in the hands of a starry-eyed novice, one can argue that we are in for a reprise of the Carter years complete with the self-righteous pout.” Well, I argued this for almost four years and today I rest my case. Next week President Obama goes into retirement. I hope he will consider Hawaii.

Given my perspective, it was an easy case to call. A few months back I published my findings in The Death of Liberalism. In that book I noted that in the conservative deluge of 2010 independents combined with conservatives to turn the Liberals out. The independents do not always share the conservatives’ social values, but they are very ardent for prudent economic policies. The growing debt and unbalanced budgets (both state and federal) had roused the independent vote. I said they would vote with the conservatives for years to come, because Obama and his cohorts in Congress were going to pile up trillion dollar deficits for years to come. Along with the conservatives and independents, next week will come the “uncommitted” voter. The uncommitted always goes with the challenger. […]

“We must rip this fledgling tyranny out before its roots grow strong and indestructible” by Matthew Russell

[…] Today, tyranny is quietly standing at the threshold of the back door, disguised under an assumed name, waiting for us to open up and invite it in.

But this does not have to be so.

Our system of government is what has made us one of the greatest nations ever to grace this earth, but that does not mean it is perfect and does not require constant vigilance in its maintenance. Our government holds important responsibilities that cannot be overlooked, one of which is to deny tyranny a foothold in our country. While our system of government and its make-up is meant to act as a check upon potential oppression that does not mean it is not susceptible to tyranny’s subversive nature.

Humans are imperfect, we are corruptible. This is why our government is divided into three branches so no one branch consolidates power over the other. This is known as the separation of powers, a dictum we have heard since our first middle-school class on government.

It falls upon the people to keep an attentive eye upon the federal government’s separation of powers. The American people are part of our system of government and this is one of our roles in this system. The people’s ability to interdict is one reason why our system has been so successful at creating a free, prosperous nation. The policies set in motion in the last four years intend to remove the people from this equation under the guise that the federal government knows what is best for the people. […]

The Choice, revisited: our Republic on the precipice

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“At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? — Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! — All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”

–Abraham Lincoln,
address before the Young Men’s Lyceum
of Springfield, Illinois, January 27, 1838.

* * *

“Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?”

“A Republic, if you can keep it.”

–Attributed to Benjamin Franklin at the close of the Constitutional Convention of 1787,
when queried as he left Independence Hall on the final day of deliberation;
in the notes of Dr. James McHenry, one of Maryland’s delegates to the Convention.

— — — — — — — — — — —

It’s been a long four years, hasn’t it?

I’ve never experienced writer’s block as I have in preparing this essay. Some of you are thinking that I’m crazy; that this essay, outlining my thoughts and ideas about tomorrow’s election, should come out of me without effort. You’d be wrong. I have much to say and very little inclination to say it. I’m tired of repeating myself to mindless drones who do not care to listen to facts and common sense. I’ve said it all before, and my co-writers and co-contributors have all said it before as well, more eloquently than I.

But I was compelled to write this because tomorrow is the day of reckoning, the day we’ve been waiting for since January 20, 2009. Tomorrow America decides whether it wants to walk in the light of liberty or whether it continues the relentless four-year path to tyranny and socialism. Or, as the other side calls it, “forward.”

In the two years since I wrote “The Choice,” where I made my pitch for electing conservatives in the mid-term election, things have gotten worse. And, remarkably, also better. Worse in the sense that the left has doubled-down on every bad policy and idea — and have lied to the American people over and over again. The mendacity, disinformation, and sophistry I have witnessed from the left and Democrats over the last two years has been breathtaking. The left is content to speak in platitudes and slogans and roundly ignore the dangers facing our country. Domestic and foreign.

But also better. A large percentage of the American People — WE THE PEOPLE — have finally awakened. That public, that in 2008 ingested the Kool-Aid in big, sloppy gulps, have experienced an epiphany about who Obama is and what his party wants for us. And they’ve realized that it’s not pretty. Obamacare, one of the most pernicious and destructive pieces of legislation ever passed by a United States Congress, is singularly unpopular. Majorities are opposed to it and have been opposed to it since its debate and ultimate passage, against the will of the American people. This one piece of legislation, upheld by the Supreme Court on June 28 of this year in a tortured and nonsensical decision, has mobilized a great many citizens to roundly reject the agendas of the left. They have finally awakened to the unassailable fact that Democrats want more and more control over our lives, not less. They have awakened to the fact the Democrats don’t care one whit about the taxpayers who fund these programs. Why would they? A small majority of American taxpayers fund the programs for the rest. With 47% of the population receiving government benefits without paying taxes the Dems feel safe that they have bought the votes necessary to continue their path “forward.” What that path is, however, is economic Armageddon.

Our economic system is on the verge of collapse. Entitlement spending has exploded, promises made to Americans about their retirement — which was never the intent of Social Security — and promises made about Medicare can no longer be kept. The unfunded liability of the United States of America for entitlement programs is so staggering that the number is almost unbelievable. We cannot continue to spend money we don’t have.

One of the salient facts I throw out at every opportunity is our national debt number. This administration has doubled the combined debt from 1791-2008 in just four years. Read that again. This administration has doubled the combined debt from 1791-2008 in just four years. It is a staggering statistic that few understand or care to believe. But it affects every man, woman and child in this country. Today’s generations, and tomorrow’s yet unborn generations, will be paying for the ill-conceived largesse intended to ensnare tens of millions in a web of dependency. We’ve had forty consecutive months of unemployment over 8% — forty-two if you count the last two months of 7.8% and 7.9% unemployment that many think are doctored numbers. Entire industries are under assault. Coal miners are losing their jobs left and right because of this administration’s policies. Businesses are sitting on well over a trillion dollars in cash, afraid to spend it because they do not know the extent to which their money will disappear due to the policies of the leftists in Washington.

Fortunately, the mid-term election of 2010 marked the beginning of the end of the Dems continued push “forward” on their socialist path. Control of (at least) the House of Representatives has meant an effective end to four years (2007-2011) of Democrat control and unfettered spending. They make the Republicans I criticized in 2006 look like pikers in comparison.

The American people have also come to the realization that a president who bows to other leaders — his equals — and who apologizes for his country is unacceptable. America is not perfect. We never were. But we were (and still are) the last best hope of the world. Our enemies — Russia, China, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, and the now-developing Muslim Brotherhood-inspired caliphate — sense weakness, indecision, confusion, and vacillation. I don’t care if they love us or not. They no longer respect us.

How can you respect a country that abandons its ambassadors and service men to die?

I do not think it is hyperbole to make comparisons between this year, and the end of the Roman Republic in 44 BC, the Reformation in 1517, the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and the beginning of World War I in 1914. The events in each of those pivotal years changed the world forever. The election that will play out tomorrow will most certainly determine the future course of this country — and change the world for better, or worse.

We are on the precipice of an unstable cliff. WE THE PEOPLE have total control over our destiny. WE THE PEOPLE are still the sole arbiters of whether we stand away from the ledge, we’re pushed off, or we jump off.

Let us pray to Almighty God that we make the right choice.

Viva Cristo Rey!

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As a Jew, these are not my words, but the battle cry of the Cristeros, as well as the last vows of martyrs in the film, For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada, a film about faith, freedom, conviction, and refusal to abandon those principles. This film is populated by heroes of the kind that sustain our civilization, brave souls who choose death rather than abandon their faith.

I watched the DVD tonight, as it disappeared quickly in LA theatres, I had missed it. Reading comments around the net, I suspect that is case in other areas as well.

For example, this one by Suzanne from a NYC suburb commenting at Yahoo Movies:

The movie “For Greater Glory” was advertised extensively on TV for several weeks. We live in the suburbs of NYC and have been watching for it for weeks. What happened? Where is it? Is there some sort of anti-Christian censorship going on?

It’s not just anti-Christian censorship, but anti-Judeo Christian tradition and anti-Western Civilization censorship. I’m sure you can imagine the gushing rave reviews coming from the Hollywood trash elite if this were a film about a triumphant war waged in the name of Islam. Catholicism is an easy target you know, all the jokes, the scandals, but make no mistake; if they get by with preventing Catholics from exercising the free practice of their religion, then the First Amendment is dead. You know the phrase, first they came for the . . .

The filmmakers had no way of knowing about the upcoming battle between the Catholic Church, and the Obama administration over the mandates contained in Obama Care. This foundational quote, from early in the film by Peter O’Toole playing a parish priest about to be murdered, on why he refuses to leave his church and hide, “We cannot allow the godless to take away our freedom,” signals the seriousness of the film’s subject and is also a reminder of our responsibility as citizens to support and defend our Constitution.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”


Film making at its best both entertains us and stirs-up our more noble qualities. The Greater Glory does both on an epic scale. It is profound; this is a film that awakens faith, rouses joy, and elicits anguished sobs.

Of course the critics panned it. If it is playing in a theatre near you, go see it, you won’t be disappointed. If not, rent or purchase the DVD, and see it before the November election. American’s get their directive from media, the message of The Greater Glory is the most important one this season.

The TEA Party is Alive and Well, and So are The American People

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I grabbed this from a FaceBook follow:

Tea Party Fort Lauderdale 8-4-12 (I’m taking the picture so all you see of me is my SO FAR THE CHANGE SUCKS sign) . GREAT PATRIOTS…temps in the 90’s deters no one!
— at Oakland Park Blvd / Federal Hywy .

Love the “Stop the circus. Fire the clown.” sign. Somebody send MSNBC’s Chris “Party-pooper” Matthews the photo. The guy really is quite sick in the head with racism and bigotry.

Also, a couple “activist” mentions…

A couple days ago AFP (Americans for Prosperity) had a “Hands Off My Healthcare” protest outside the U.S. Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.. The MSM was too busy covering the gay activists kissing in front of various Chick-fil-A locations.

Another big one is coming up in a couple weeks in Cleveland, Ohio:

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PRESS RELEASE

August 4, 2012, 1 p.m. EDT

Tea Party Protest Announced: Occupy The Truth August 18th, Cleveland, OH

—–Director of Hating Breitbart, Andrew Marcus, and Blogger Powerhouse Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit announce a Tea Party Protest “Occupy The Truth” set for August 18th in Cleveland, Ohio—–

Go to the Press Release link for more info.

Party on STRONG into November, “We THE People”.

Breitbart is HERE.

War…

Cuban refugee has a sacred mission

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My dear friend Fernando Marquet: Humanitarian, great patriot, freedom fighter, wonderful family man and friend,  has a great write up in a local newspaper, The Downey Patriot.  People such as Fernando are those who make our world a better place. I am very proud and honored to have worked with him on a number of his projects, including supporting and premiering the documentary, Oscars Cuba in Hollywood.  Congratulations Fernando, very well deserved!

Cuban refugee Fernando Marquet has a sacred mission
Marquet, who survived the botched Bay of Pigs, hopes for a free Cuba.

By  Henry Veneracion, Staff  Writer

DOWNEY – Fernando Marquet, one of the 1,400 Cuban exiles who took part in the botched Bay of Pigs invasion in April of 1961 to overthrow Fidel Castro and lived to tell about it, vows to propagate the cause of freedom in Cuba “until the day I die.” (In all, 114 were reported killed in the 3-day battle; the rest were captured and jailed.)

According to him, conditions in the Communist island nation of 11 million people continue to deteriorate today, even while Fidel, who’s pushing 88 and in bad health, has supposedly transferred the reins of power to his brother, Raul: repression is still very much the rule in the once vibrant country, there’s zero tolerance for dissent more than ever, and young minds are fed a steady diet of ideas and values fundamentally, diametrically opposed to our treasured ideals of liberal democracy.

Marquet was not yet 18 when he dropped his business classes at the University of Havana and flew to Florida because “I didn’t like what I was seeing” and didn’t want to live under Castro’s oppressive Communist regime. He soon after joined a like-minded group that continued to grow committed to unseating Castro, just as the latter, with the help of the charismatic Che Guevarra and Raul, overthrew Fulgencio Batista as 1959 began.

They were made to believe that the U.S. (courtesy of the CIA) would back them, including providing air cover and sea support. They would receive training, and when the invasion began, an uprising of dissident Cubans would join the battle. This added fervor to their undertaking.

Most of them, including Fernando’s group, trained in Guatemala. The organization came to be known as Brigade 2506, in honor of one of its earliest recruits who while undergoing training one day slipped and plunged into a ravine: his serial number was 2506.

Fernando was an infantryman in the 5th Battalion, as was his older cousin, Jorge Marquet. Together they survived the landing and fighting (they were strafed as well by one of Castro’s B-26 planes) on Red Beach, or otherwise referred to as Playa Larga.

Their ship was the commercial freighter “Houston.” When its captain managed to run it aground on a sandbar, 400 yards from shore, he saved the ship from sinking, while the men scrambled to reach the shore; some jumped in the water where sharks took care of a few of them.

To make the story short, Fernando was captured and, along with the other brigadistas, made the horrific trip to Havana. Horrific because the trip, which ordinarily took three hours, was stretched to nine hours. Making matters worse, infinitely worse, was the fact that the men, numbering about 150, were packed into this one paneled truck which had no opening whatsoever.

Here is how Jim Rasenberger describes the ordeal in his book, “Brilliant Disaster”: “As the truck rumbled north under the beating sun, the air became hotter and more stifling…Men shouted out for help. The devout prayed with rosary beads. Others desperately began to claw and scrape the walls, some using belt buckles to gouge small but precious air holes. ‘At one point, we felt rain inside,’ recalled one. ‘It was the condensation of our sweat falling from the ceiling. People drank it’. A paratrooper passed out and had a vision of his own death…By the time the truck reached Havana that evening and the doors finally opened to the fresh air, nine more men were dead.”

Most of them ended up in the Castillo del Principe prison. The prison featured stone dungeons “with thick, damp walls, snarling guard dogs, scurrying rats. The toilet was a hole in the ground. The food was tasteless gruel. Infectious diseases were rampant,” writes Rasenberger. “The biggest problem was the hygiene,” says Fernando. “I don’t know how we survived that ordeal.”

After almost a year of captivity, the brigadistas were tried and sentenced to 30 years of hard labor. During this time, though, efforts were already underway to have them released.

Finally, before the year 1962 was out, most of them were home.

One day after he touched down in Miami, Fernando, always alert to opportunity, was on his way to L.A. along with a few others, where Fernando eventually found work with Pan American Airlines, from 1968 to 1991. He says he did everything, ticketing, baggage handling, etc., and ended up as an accountant.

In the meantime, in 1972, he started his own cleaning business here in L.A. Today, he says, with a staff of 10, his thriving business cleans 18 major airlines.

There have been many accounts written of the plight of these Bay of Pigs ‘brigadistas’-but the basic narrative consists of how the invasion was doomed from the start because of aborted critical sorties, indecision and miscalculation at the top, unanticipated situations, loss of vital supplies of food, ammunition, and fuel, miscommunication, etc.

It was thus, alternately, a glorious and a tragic time. Historians, political pundits, and others agree the events that roiled those days shaped the course of history in many ways. But certainly one of its basic themes, perhaps its main theme, that’s safeguarded to this day is the inviolability of our democratic ideals.

It is in this context that, politically and socially, Fernando relishes his role as an ex-political prisoner and human rights activist.

His imprint is everywhere: he has organized, produced, and promoted video materials, projects and events for the benefit of former colleagues, friends, artists, and other worthwhile causes; he has fundraised for favorite politicians; he once went out of his way to assist a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses just because he realized they were in a real bind. “It was one of the proudest moments of my life,” he says.

“What we hope to see is Cuba’s peaceful transition to a civil society,” he says. “Can you imagine a day when Cuba has free elections?”

This reporter is not exactly sure if the majority of the estimated 75,000 Cuban Americans living in Los Angeles has heard of the man and his “message.” Not to worry, that day is bound to come.

“Spread the word-this is my mission,” he says.

Do What’s Right, Online.

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Read any Cuban newspaper or magazine from the early and late fifties you’ll learn that fidel castro and his Rebeldes were the best thing since sliced bread. Almost every major media source in Cuba supported his campaign and published accolades about the man and his “fight for change.” Many major American news sources followed suit, too, following the lead of Herbert Matthews and The New York Times. And when fidel castro and his Rebeldes “won” against the evil Batista, Cubans took to the streets in celebration. They were ecstatic. They were giddy. They were awash with hope for their futures, for their children’s futures. For the future of their country. They were convinced. Convinced! After all, they had been ensured by their major media sources that the man sitting atop a tank riding into Havana was their savior.

Now, in retrospect, we all know the truth. The people of Cuba were hoodwinked. Taken in not just by charm, a beard and a grin, but by those whose jobs as journalists wasn’t just to report the truth, but to dig behind that charm and grin and find the facts. The Cuban press never vetted fidel castro. They bought the bill of goods, whether consciously or not, that the man was selling and they not only gave him a free ride, they bought him the tickets, first class.

Ironically, when reality finally slapped the silly out of that press and they began to come to terms with the fact that they had bought the snake oil, it was too late. The press were the first ones jackbooted by the very same man they put in control over them. To this day, over half a century later, the Cuban press has been irrelevant.

I felt compelled to mention the above because we’ve faced and are facing a similar situation here in the Land of the Free. Those of you who read this blog regularly know this. You or your families have already seen this movie playing out before us. We all know the plot, and, unfortunately, we are all more than familiar with the ending.

There can be no argument that the Mainstream Media – or Legacy Media if you prefer – was instrumental in the election of Barrack Obama. Just like the Cuban press of the fifties, the MSM sold this country on Obama’s Hope and Change without even so much as a second thought as to what that hope and change would be, what consequences for same we’d have to suffer through and, most importantly, what motives the peddler atop the soap box hath.

And, for the past three and a half years, that Media has carried water for the man they put in office. Barrack Obama can do no harm. Esta es tu casa, Barrack. And make no mistake, the MSM will continue to hood wink us. They are all in. Their relevancy is as stake.

It’s not all gloom and doom, tho, folks. We don’t have to suffer the same fate as my island of birth as long as we are all willing to do one thing. We have to heed the words of Andrew Breitbart and GO TO WAR.

We’ve got our work cut out for us and in many respects it’s pretty nasty trench warfare, but if we don’t do it now, we may never get another chance. Either we do our time in those trenches right now and gain back our ground, or our children will live in the trenches to hold what little ground we’d have left them.

A week ago today I was in Las Vegas at the RightOnline Convention put together by Americans for Prosperity. It was there that I had the honor and privilege of meeting some of our fellow warriors who are in the trenches alongside us. Politicos, bloggers, social media gurus…people who understand the severity of our situation and who are already waging war on all fronts. From helping true Conservatives get elected into local, state and federal offices to facing off against the media sycophants and helping them off that precipice of irrelevancy.

We need more troops to stave off the lies and hypocrisy of the Left and their Media allies. Our greatest weapon, the internet, has already been deployed. Man it. Stay informed, read your favorite blogs, pass the information along. Use your facebook. Tweet the shit out of the truth.

Had there been an internet fifty some odd years ago, fidel castro would have never taken power. Mull that over a bit.

Fifty-three years of desperation and repression avoided by keystrokes.

Thankful…

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This need for selflessness – and the blessings that come with it – sharpened for me almost four years ago when I was given the gift of broader horizons, clarified priorities, and more commitment to justice and compassion for my fellow man who faces challenges and fears.

I was granted this through a gift that arrived in a tiny, six-pound, awe-inspiring bundle. We named him Trig.

I know America’s potential for goodness, thus greatness, because I see it every day through my son.

Nothing makes me happier or prouder than to see America’s good heart when someone smiles at my Trig. I notice it happens often in airports. Often a traveler passing by does a double-take when they see him, perhaps curious about the curious look on his face; perhaps my son momentarily exercises an uncontrollable motion that takes the passerby by surprise.

Perhaps, as an innocent and candid child announced when she first met Trig, they think “he’s awkward.”

But when that traveler pauses to look again and smile, and maybe tells me what a handsome boy I have, I swell with American pride. I am so thankful for their good heart. They represent the best in our country and their kindness shows the real hope we need today.

I am thankful that, as in so many areas of life, the bitter people who say bitter things about someone facing challenges are so outnumbered. There have been stinging criticisms, even from people still screaming that Trig should never have been born, but we know those critics may be the loudest and most malicious, but they’re not the majority.

To me, when individuals reflect the greater societal acceptance of someone facing challenges, they show the best of humanity – even by offering a simple pat on Trig’s head or a knowing smile shot our way.

Conversely, when a society works to eliminate the “weakest links” (as some would callously consider the disabled) or “the unproductive” (as some would callously consider the very young and the very old), it eliminates the very best of itself.

When a society seeks to destroy them, it also destroys any ability or need for sincere compassion, empathy, improvement, and even goodwill. And those are the very best qualities of humanity! Those are the characteristics of a country that understands and embraces true hope!

America can be compassionate and strong enough as a nation to be entrusted with those who some see as an “inconvenience,” but who are really our greatest blessings.

Wherever she goes … Whatever she ends up doing, I am thankful for Sarah Palin sharing her son Trig with us. We are the 10% of Mommies.

Remembering Laura Pollán

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I will forever hold in my heart the image of Laura Pollán, dressed in white, carrying gladiolus, leading the column of  Las Damas de Blanco. How many of us waited every Sunday for news of their weekly act of brave resistance, their peaceful, dignified walk down Havana’s 5th Avenue, as we prayed for their safety, the release of their husbands and all political prisoners, and inspired by their bravery and dignity, dared to hope for more, so much more for Cuba.

Laura Pollán´s dissidence is reminiscent of China’s Tank Man.  She dared to stand down the might of an oppressive state, and sadly has suffered the same fate as that unknown rebel, but with one significant difference; unlike China’s invisible rebel, Laura Pollán is not going to disappear. Just as the weak and cowardly Castro dictators were rendered helpless to stop Laura from marching in life, her cause, Libertad, Libertad, Libertad, will prevail. They will be unable to stop Cuba’s inevitable passage out of bondage to freedom.

In the days ahead the Cuban diaspora and friends will be holding memorial tributes for Laura Pollán; we will wear white, carry gladiolus, and in her honor, we will raise our fists in solidarity with Las Damas de Blanco and all of Cuba’s dissidents.   They will continue their fight for freedom with her name added to the list of heroes and martyrs who inspire them and whose legacy they carry.  We will continue to support, as the MSM reminds us, those “tiny” number of dissidents.  The same tiny dissident movement always present during the 52 years of the Castro dictatorship, the same tiny dissident movement that Castro’s firing squads, concentration camps, forced re-locations, exile, actos de repudios, the 200 plus prisons—a gulag, has not silenced.  May God Bless and keep always, Laura Pollán.

The Nation’s Loyal Retrievers of 9/11

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I know … One more 9/11 Tenth Anniversary story. One I hadn’t thought of, however. I know dogs were brought in from around the nation to search the mountains of rubble and debris for days and weeks after the terror attacks. First looking for survivors … then retrieving remains. I even remember a story on the special paw protection shoes developed for these wonderful pooches to keep them from injuring their paws in all the jagged wreckage. But something that didn’t dawn on me until I saw this story tonight … Ten years is a long time in “dog years”.

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Out of over 100 loyal dogs that searched Ground Zero, only 12 are still with us in their ‘senior years’ ten years later. Dutch photographer Charlotte Dumas had the wonderful idea to track down these survivors and take their portraits and document their stories for a book titled “Retrieved” (More photos and stories of the dogs here). I think that’s one book I will be purchasing when it comes out.

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The Hoof Blog has more information and photos of the dogs that answered the call to duty on 9/11, and for the days and weeks that followed as the dust settled.

All dogs really do go to Heaven… Some just lead the way.

HT: AoSH

“Untouched”: From Rescue To Redefining Recovery

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You hear it in accidents and disasters, and on 9/11 … This has gone from a rescue to a recovery. That means there is no hope to find anyone alive. The job now is to find the victims’ remains and bring them home to their families.

I stumbled across another hidden story of 9/11. This is FDNY’s Firefighter John Morabito of Firehouse 10, Ladder Company 10 in Manhattan that was built in 1979 at the completion of the construction of the World Trade Center specifically to protect the WTC, answering roughly 600 emergency calls a year at the two towers. The firehouse was about 50-100 yards away from the South Tower. The guys were at breakfast in the firehouse and heard the first plane hit the first building. Firefighter John Morabito tells his jaw-dropping story of 9/11 from that moment on. It’s 4 parts from a TV program on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network called “Miracle Detectives” that I gather centers on finding and telling stories of miracles in people’s lives. Here are parts 1 and 2, and the links to 3 and 4. Please take the time if you can spare it to experience Firefighter John Morabito’s incredible story of impossible survival, and the faith that got him through moment to moment of that terror-filled experience of death and destruction to find his own clarity and perspective 10 years later. I promise you will not regret it.

Part 3 and Part 4

In part 4 Firefighter John Morabito’s revelation of walking across the bridge to leave Ground Zero and what he discovered on the other side is, quite simply, astounding. He also explains that he and the other surviving firefighters of Firehouse 10 came to the stark reality they were not going to rescue anyone from the rubble, and the post-9/11 determination that I call redefining recovery as his firehouse was tasked with not only recovering the remains of victims, but to keep and rebuild Firehouse 10 to recover, rescue, and rebuild their purpose as a firefighting company. They now have a new mission to be the extended family for those Firehouse 10 brothers that left families behind. I read last weekend during the 10th anniversary that Hollywood has dropped the ball on 9/11. They really have not given a good effort to make movies that depict any of the many stories of that day. This is one that deserves being shared.

I’m telling you … just when I began feeling we were getting hopeless drowning in all this “hope and change” I, just as Firefighter John Morabito, am seeing that glow of gray light through the choking dark cloud and share his conclusions of that day. I have a growing faith in the American people. The John Morabitos and the 9/11 boat lift captains are not anomalies. We are going to have to do this ourselves, but we are going to make it out of the rubble and redefine recovery…

Cross-posted @ CW

We are less for never having known them, but so much more because of them

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One of our Navy SEALS killed in the Chinook chopper crash over the weekend, U.S. Navy SEAL Aaron Vaughn, is remembered by his parents and his wife. I am struck by the legacy of patriotism Aaron left behind with his family. It gives his family great fortitude and comfort knowing he did this nation a great service that can never be repaid, and did so knowing that with each and every mission it could be his last and he might not return home to them. I cannot even begin to imagine the incredible pressure within these people’s chests as their hearts break with the loss, yet swell with pride and honor.

These men are the best of the best the world will ever see. Aaron’s mother is right. The U.S. Navy SEALS are so guarded in their missions that you never hear about them until they are taken from us. We are less for never having known Aaron Vaughn and his SEAL brothers, but we are so much more because of them.

We all don’t have to be told how times are tough … But it just got a lot worse for more than 30 families. If you can, please help a little: Navy SEAL Foundation