Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
God and his Angels Once Again… Dios y sus Angeles Una vez mas
God and his Angels Once Again…
For those of you who do not believe in Angeles here is my second encounter with them this year….. The first one was in August when I moved my daughter up north out of state.
Now they appeared on Christmas Eve, and not announcing the birth of Christ, but to help a sinner and his family in distress. This year, my wife and youngest daughter decided to do for a second year in a row the Orlando Run(Xmas Eve at Islands of Adventure & Xmas Day at the Magic Kingdom) and we went off the morning of the 24th up to Orlando to meet up with my brother in law, wife and young son… also my Godson.
We had a great day at the park. And for some reason decided to go eat early (Hard Rock Café); at Universal Studios which did not have a wait time compared to a year ago. But things were ok until then. About 8:00 PM we departed the park towards the hotel and the “..Ladies (mom & daughter) forgot to buy shampoo so we stopped at a local Walgreen’s and got some items. When we got in the car……..a dead battery….. 8:07 PM Xmas Eve, dead Battery….. I forgot to put my booster cables from my car, but no problem walked back in to Walgreens and they did have booster cables… So for all the years I have criticized Walgreens for becoming a 5-10 (nickel and dime store) selling more chips, beer, ice and Coke that drugs….. thit night I was grateful they did carry booster cables.
Within minutes I get a phone call from my wife (sitting at the car) who had the first encounter with an Angel who came to offer assistance. I came out, he offered giving us a booster and we got the car started he gave us direction to where most service stations would be, but then it occurred to him to recommend Wal-Mart’s…….
Again we decided to search, thanked him and went hunting for the closest Wall Mart’s. Once again a store which many criticize since it sell more, food, CD,s music, jewelry and basically everything (to include car batteries); A store that is blamed to have cleaned the clock on small businesses and driven them out of the market whenever they open a Mega Store. But there it was within 2 miles of my original location but when I arrived I was confronted with the fact that the store had been closed for 20 minutes. Again the two men outside (assistant managers controlling the exits, first said they were sorry…… I told them I was from out of town and my car had a dead battery which meant I could not shut it down or else I was stuck. Within seconds, these two assistant managers transformed into Cherubim’s and told me to wait until the crowd left and they permitted me to go in and get the battery…
By 8:27 PM I was out the door with my battery and thanked God’s angels again for being there when I needed them the most. So before year’s end twice I have been spared a troubling moment on such important events. Christmas Eve is a very special day and to spent the evening waiting for a AAA truck to show up would have been ok, but given the date it would have been hours before that happened. And God shed his blessing on Us by sending his Angels to the rescue…….
Dios y sus Angeles una vez mas…..
Para aquellos de ustedes que no creen en Ángeles aquí es mi segundo encuentro con ellos este año... La primera fue en Agosto cuando mudé a mi hija hacia Carolina del Norte
Ahora aparecieron en vísperas de Navidad, y no anunciando el nacimiento de Cristo, pero para ayudar a un pecador y su familia en peligro. Este año, mi esposa y mi hija decidieron hacer por segundo año consecutivo la carrera de Orlando (víspera de Navidad en Islas de Aventura & dia Navidad en el Magic Kingdom) y nos fuimos en la mañana del día 24 hasta Orlando para reunirnos con mi cuñado, esposa y sobrino quien … también es mi ahijado.
Tuvimos un gran día en el Parque. Y por alguna razón decidieron ir a comer temprano en el (Hard Rock Café); en los Estudios Universal. El restaurant que no tenía un tiempo de espera en comparación con hace un año. Y quedo todo muy bien Pero las cosas fueron bien hasta entonces. Sobre las 08:00 PM partimos del Parque hacia el hotel y ".. las Damas (mamá & hija) olvidaron comprar champú, por lo que se detuvo en un Walgreen local y consiguió algunos elementos. Cuando llegamos en la carro…….. la bacteria estaba muerta...
….. A mi se me olvidó poner los cables de asistencia en mi coche, pero no titubie y volvi a entrar al Walgreens y si tienen booster cables… Por todos los años que he criticado a Walgreens por convertirse en un 5-10 (Quincalla) vendiendo más golosinas, cerveza, hielo y Coca Cola que medicinas, esta noche estaba agradecido que tuviesen los booster cables. En cuestión de minutos recibo una llamada telefónica de mi esposa (sentado en el coche) que tuvo el primer encuentro con un ángel que vino a ofrecer asistencia. Salí, el ofreció darnos una detonante y pusimos a el coche a caminar. El nos dio la dirección de donde sería la mayor area de las estaciones de servicio, aunque ya a esa hora se veia algo dificil que hubiese algo abierto;pero luego el recomendo que buscaramos un Wal-Mart's……. Con eso nos decidimós buscar un Wall Mart’s y le agradecimos su ayuda. De ahi salimos de caza para el más cercano Wall Mart. Una vez más, una tienda que muchos critican ya que vende más, comida, CD’ s de música, joyería y básicamente todo (inclutendo baterías de automóvil); Una tienda que se culpó de haber limpiado el reloj a las pequeñas empresas y que cuando abre un super centro las lleva a la banca rota...
Efectivamente a menos de 2 millas de mi ubicación original, se encontraba un Super Centro, pero cuando llegué tuve que afrontar el hecho de que se había cerrado la tienda acia mas de 20 minutos. En la puerta se encontrabans dos hombres fuera (administradores adjuntos que controlaban las salidas, yprimero me dijeron que lo sentian mucho …… Y les dije que yo venia de vacaciones y vivia fuera de la ciudad y mi coche tenía una batería muerta, lo que significa no podría apagarlo o bien yo estaba atascado. En cuestión de segundos, estos dos administradores adjuntos se transformaron en querubines y me dijeron que esperara hasta que se fuera la multitud y y me permitio entrar y obtener la bacteria del auto… Ya hacia las 08:27 PM estaba a la puerta con mi batería y agradeci nuevamente a los Ángeles de Dios por estar ahí cuando mas los necesite.
Así que antes del fin de este año, dos veces los angeles me han salvado un momento preocupante. Nochebuena es un día muy especial y pudimos haber pasado la noche esperando un camion de asistencia de la AAA , pero dada la fecha habría sido horas antes de que sucedió. Y Dios había derramado su bendición sobre nosotros enviando a sus Ángeles a nuestra asistencia una vez mas…
El coronel 26 de Diciembre 2011..
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
Pakistani army rejects US report on airstrikes
Pakistani army rejects US report on airstrikes
flew over, shooting flares in a "show of force" to signal the presence of American or NATO troops. Taliban insurgents fighting in the area do not have aircraft.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Obama's Foreign Policy what else could you expect
Less than 24 hours after the last US troops crossed the border on Saturday at around 7:30 AM Baghdad time, an arrest warrant was issued to Sunni VP Tariq al Hashimi. Fortunately he took a plane to Mosul (Kurdistan) or the semi autonomous Kurdish sector to prevent an embarrassing arrest and consequent Kangaroo court.
Despite the allegations that he personally dispatched to kill member of the government (a charge that Maliki could also be attributed to, as well as all others) shows how fragile democracy in Iraq is.... This morning's article on the New York Times by Tim Arango points out some good reasons, un-foreseen results by the Obama Foreign Policy Team his State department and advisers:
(1)"... He also threatened the Kurd s, valuable allies with close ties to the Americans, warning that there would be “problems” if they protected Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi,..."
(2) "... a judiciary that the populace views as beholden to one man and a political culture with no space for compromise..."
(3)"... Many on the extensive American Embassy staff here have gone home for the holidays. Ambassador James F. Jeffrey, who left the country after a ceremony last week to mark the end of the war, cut short his trip to rush back to Baghdad, and was meeting with senior Iraqi leaders, as was David H. Petraeus, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency and former military commander in Iraq, who arrived on Tuesday, an American official said.
(4)"...If the crisis continues to intensify, the Obama administration is likely to draw new criticism for failing to negotiate an extension of the American troop presence in Iraq.
Here is the key to it all......... President Obama sat down in October to deal with this issue , when he should have done it early in 2011. But his mind is on re-election and knowing his approval ratings he wants a legacy.......
Bringing troops back home. The United States of America since 1945 has achieved SOFA (Status of Forces Agreements) in over 100 countries worldwide, some are one page, others are as complicated as a 200 page constitution, but they have been made.
The most importat ones: Europe (Spain, Italy, UK and foremost Germany) for 66 years they have been negotiated, amended the one with Japan another (66) and there have been changes made due to civil law suits and so forth.. In South Korea (58) years and going....
Likewise the United States of America has had troops in Europe for (66) years continously......initially to prevent a Soviet invasion while Europe reconstructed after the War, then the Cold War.....from 1.4 Million troops at its peak down to less than 100,000 now but they are still there, responding to the crisis in the Balkans, Kosovo
Japan is another (66) SOFA and believe me, changes have been agreed along the way
The US has troops in South Korea for over (58) years and that SOFA has also changed. Both Republican and Democrat presidents since Eisenhower have all managed to agree on renewals, of these agreements but Obama.
This is what change means......... not leading in a conflict like Libya, not negotiating a SOFA a year before its up but in October three months from its termination.
It is a sad day in Iraq, for many Iraqis who briefly rejoiced the departure of the American troops and as Tim Arango clearly said: "..... the departure of American troops and potentially tarnishing what has been cast as a major foreign policy achievement for President Obama..."
Where are those FP advisers now? We have troops in Europe yet, for over 44 years to prevent the Soviets from invading, In South Korea we have been there for 58 years to prevent North Korea from Invading. In Iraq we spent only 9 years to prevent them from killing themselves (7 1/2 years the SOFA was in place the last 1 1/2 it was just let to die off its existence) that is Obama's FP, what else could you expect
Despite the allegations that he personally dispatched to kill member of the government (a charge that Maliki could also be attributed to, as well as all others) shows how fragile democracy in Iraq is.... This morning's article on the New York Times by Tim Arango points out some good reasons, un-foreseen results by the Obama Foreign Policy Team his State department and advisers:
(1)"... He also threatened the Kurd s, valuable allies with close ties to the Americans, warning that there would be “problems” if they protected Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi,..."
(2) "... a judiciary that the populace views as beholden to one man and a political culture with no space for compromise..."
(3)"... Many on the extensive American Embassy staff here have gone home for the holidays. Ambassador James F. Jeffrey, who left the country after a ceremony last week to mark the end of the war, cut short his trip to rush back to Baghdad, and was meeting with senior Iraqi leaders, as was David H. Petraeus, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency and former military commander in Iraq, who arrived on Tuesday, an American official said.
(4)"...If the crisis continues to intensify, the Obama administration is likely to draw new criticism for failing to negotiate an extension of the American troop presence in Iraq.
Here is the key to it all......... President Obama sat down in October to deal with this issue , when he should have done it early in 2011. But his mind is on re-election and knowing his approval ratings he wants a legacy.......
Bringing troops back home. The United States of America since 1945 has achieved SOFA (Status of Forces Agreements) in over 100 countries worldwide, some are one page, others are as complicated as a 200 page constitution, but they have been made.
The most importat ones: Europe (Spain, Italy, UK and foremost Germany) for 66 years they have been negotiated, amended the one with Japan another (66) and there have been changes made due to civil law suits and so forth.. In South Korea (58) years and going....
Likewise the United States of America has had troops in Europe for (66) years continously......initially to prevent a Soviet invasion while Europe reconstructed after the War, then the Cold War.....from 1.4 Million troops at its peak down to less than 100,000 now but they are still there, responding to the crisis in the Balkans, Kosovo
Japan is another (66) SOFA and believe me, changes have been agreed along the way
The US has troops in South Korea for over (58) years and that SOFA has also changed. Both Republican and Democrat presidents since Eisenhower have all managed to agree on renewals, of these agreements but Obama.
This is what change means......... not leading in a conflict like Libya, not negotiating a SOFA a year before its up but in October three months from its termination.
It is a sad day in Iraq, for many Iraqis who briefly rejoiced the departure of the American troops and as Tim Arango clearly said: "..... the departure of American troops and potentially tarnishing what has been cast as a major foreign policy achievement for President Obama..."
Where are those FP advisers now? We have troops in Europe yet, for over 44 years to prevent the Soviets from invading, In South Korea we have been there for 58 years to prevent North Korea from Invading. In Iraq we spent only 9 years to prevent them from killing themselves (7 1/2 years the SOFA was in place the last 1 1/2 it was just let to die off its existence) that is Obama's FP, what else could you expect
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
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