Hamas Booby-Trapped Hospital

Via The Right Scoop:

After entering a UN-funded hospital earlier this week, three Israeli soldiers were killed by explosives that Hamas had booby-trapped into the hospital's walls.  There were also "tens of terror tunnels" under the hospital.

Read the story at Israel International News.

Lerner E-mails Show Hostility Toward Right

Here's something that came out after the links post I made earlier today.  While former IRS official Lois Lerner has come under fire for lost e-mails, the contents of one set of e-mails, sent from her blackberry while she was in the United Kingdom, have been revealed.  In an exchange with a "colleague", Lerner used some unpleasant language, including one word that I will not reproduce here.

Read the story at AOL and the Mail Online.

Wednesday Links

Here in the middle of the week are a few things going on:

From The Blaze, the deadliest form of skin cancer has increased 200% in four decades.

From the algemeiner, an Italian journalist defies Hamas by reporting that an errant Hamas rocket killed 9 children at a camp named Shati.  (When reporting the truth is an act of defiance, you known you're dealing with totalitarians.)

From The Right Scoop, Ralph Peters has some words for Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi.

From the Tea Party Tribune, Lloyd Marcus responds to Joe Biden's accusations toward the GOP.  (Via Before It's News)

In Family Security Matters, Deroy Murdock asks us to imagine "Gaza on the Pacific".

From The Daily Caller, in their game's 16th inning and out of desperation, the Chicago Cubs use a catcher to pitch.  The result?  He gets the win!

In Frontpage Mag, Robert Spencer skewers President Obama's ridiculously ahistorical tribute to American muslims.

In National Review, Michelle Malkin explains how stopping amnesty would be "a real anti-poverty program".

From UPI, a man in South Carolina describes what it's like to be struck by lightning, which he claims to have experienced ten times.

From Fox News, the county council of Pierce County, Washington has decided to display a controversial motto in their chamber:  In God We Trust.

From CNS News, Representative Frank Wolf (R-VA) criticizes the president and Congress for their "silence" about the plight of Iraqi Christians.  (Via Pat Dollard)

From Reuters, the U.S. economy bounced back in the second quarter.

From CNET, Canada accuses China of hacking into one of their government's networks.

And from Pamela Geller, the Israeli Ambassador answers the "Enemedia Question of the Day".  (Via I'm 41)

The Centennial Of World War I

One hundred years ago today, on 28 July 1914, the Empire of Austria-Hungary fired the first shots of a campaign to invade neighboring Serbia, in response to the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie a month earlier by a Serb named Gavrilo Princip.  The conflict grew as Austria-Hungary was joined by Germany, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire to form an alliance called the Central Powers; and Serbia was joined by its small neighbor Montenegro and its much larger ally Russia, and eventually the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Japan, Romania, the United States and other countries to form the Allies. The war became known as the World War or the Great War, and later as World War I after the start of World War II.

The war involved about 70 million combatants, 9 million of whom were killed in the fighting.  Much of the combat, especially on the front between France and Germany, was fought in trenches.  Because of the location of the combatant nations and their overseas colonies, the war was fought in Europe, the Middle East, parts of Africa, eastern Asia, and the Pacific.  The war ended on 11 November 1918 with an armistice and an Allied victory, which along with the early withdrawal of Russia, re-drew the map of Europe and the Middle East.  The Russian, Ottoman, German and Austro-Hungarian empires all ceased to exist, the last of these being dismembered, with the others losing a substantial amount of land and undergoing a change of their respective types of government.  The aftermath saw the birth of a number of modern European nations and the assignment of mandates in the Middle East, each comprising part of the former Ottoman Empire, the remainder of which became modern Turkey.  Germany was stripped of her possessions in Africa and the Pacific.

Who Built Hamas's Tunnels?

Via Breitbart's Big Peace:

According to a report published in 2012 by the Institute for Palestine Studies, much of the labor that went into the construction of the tunnels used by Hamas was from children, which resulted in "at least 160" of them being killed in those tunnels.  This would be something to think about then next time Hamas or anyone speaking on their behalf says anything about children.

Read the story at Tablet Magazine.

What's Life Like Living Near Hamas's Tunnels?

Let's ask some Israelis who live fairly close to the boundary with Gaza.  Spoken in Hebrew with English subtitles.  (H/T luchadora)

Opponents Of Illegal Immigration Rally In Boston

Via Weasel Zippers and I'm 41:

I've heard of a recent rally against the current surge of illegal immigration being held in Murietta, California, which I understand is a conservative city, but earlier today, there was a similar protest in Boston, which is hardly a rightwing bastion.  The rally was initiated by radio personality Jeff Kuhner.  Soopermexican reports in The Right Scoop about both the rally and how it was reported in a video by the Boston Herald.

It’s funny how the Boston Herald video doesn’t include the portion of the speech where radio host Jeff Kuhner welcomed Hispanics and legal immigrants, and the audience applauded.  See, that won’t help push their narrative that these protests are racially motivated and against all immigrants.

Read the full story.

Newtown Battlefield State Park

After leaving Watkins Glen, I continued southward and stopped at Newtown Battlefield State Park, which is on a hill a few miles east of Elmira.  Formerly known as Newtown Battlefield Reservation, the park commemorates a battle in the Revolutionary War fought in 1779, between Continental soldiers against a combined force of British regulars, loyalists and Iroquois Indians.  The battle was part of a scorched earth campaign led by Generals John Sullivan and James Clinton against the Iroquois Confederation, mainly the Seneca, Cayuga and Onondaga.  These tribes had retained their alliance with the British which they had formed during the French and Indian War.

The park contains this monument, intended to be seen from a highway that runs below the hill.  The rock and two flagpoles in the foreground are a tribute to the British and Iroquois fighters.

This is a close-up of the plaque on the monument.  The white spot above the plaque looks out of place, and might have been caused by a drop of water on my camera lens.

I didn't find much of anything else to see in the park, other than a bunch of cabins.  I fed the Bigfootmobile some gas in Elmira, and continued southward toward Pennsylvania and eventually home to Maryland.

Watkins Glen State Park

After driving north through Pennsylvania, I continued into New York and eventually found my way to Watkins Glen, at the south end of Seneca Lake, which is one of the Finger Lakes.  Watkins Glen is known for its international race track and the Summer Jam music festival, which took place in 1973.  My intended destination was Watkins Glen State Park, whose main entrance is just west of the village itself.  I remember one other visit to this park, during my childhood in western New York.

The park consists of a gorge cut by Glen Creek, which flows roughly west to east, some camping areas, mostly south of the gorge, and some land extending along the north side the gorge.  From the main entrance, the Gorge Trail takes hikers inside the gorge, leading generally westward and uphill.  Visitors enter the lit tunnel toward the right of this picture, proceed up some stairs and then turn left to go across the first bridge.

Here's a view from the first bridge, showing several cascades and a natural dry opening.

I saw a few more cascades a bit farther along the Gorge Trail.

The Gorge Trail crosses Glen Creek by going behind Cavern Cascade.  If you forgot to shower in the morning, here's another chance.

The Gorge Trail goes over this bridge, just above Central Cascade.

Here are a few smaller cascades.

In this shot, which did not turn out to be very well-focused, the Gorge Trail goes behind Rainbow Falls, giving the hiker another chance to get a shower.  After passing behind the falls, on the left side of the gorge, you climb some stairs and go over Rainbow Bridge.

After the Rainbow Falls area, the Gorge Trail takes the hiker to Mile Point Bridge, a mile from the main entrance.  From here, short connector trails go to both the Indian Trail, which runs along the north side of the gorge, or the Finger Lakes Trail, which goes along the south side.  West of Mile Point, the Gorge Trail becomes much more level.  Here's a shot from within this relatively flat area.

The Gorge Trail eventually ends in a long upward climb toward the park's upper entrance, about a mile and a half from the main entrance.  I decided that I didn't want to do any more climbing, but I took this shot of the railroad bridge which passes just west of the end of the Gorge Trail, before turning around.

I proceeded along the Gorge Trail back to Mile Point, and then took the short connecting trail up to the Indian Trail, which eventually went mostly downhill.  Back toward the main entrance, a pedestrian suspension bridge goes over the gorge.  From here, I could take a pic looking downward at the gorge and the Gorge Trail, on which I had previously hiked.

From the south side of the suspension bridge, I found my way to the Finger Lakes Trail and a staircase that went down to the Gorge Trail near the main entrance.  I proceeded over that first bridge and down the lit tunnel (both seen in the first pic above) and back to the parking lot.  It was time to drink some water and get back on the road.

Mariam Ibrahim Arrives In Italy, Bound For The U.S.

Mariam Ibrahim, the Sudanese woman who recently escaped a death sentence for allegedly converting from Islam (which she has never practiced) to Christianity, has left Sudan and arrived in Italy.  She traveled with her two children on an Italian government plane, accompanied by Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Lapo Pistelli, and was greeted on her arrival by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.  How long she will remain in Italy is unclear, but her plans are to continue on to the United States, of which her husband is a citizen.

Read more at The Sydney Morning Herald, Yahoo News, ABC News and CNN.

UPDATE:  From AOL, Ibrahim and her family meet Pope Francis.

Baretta Decides To Leave Maryland

The American arm of the Italian gun manufacturer Baretta has decided to leave Maryland for Tennessee, in response to Maryland's recently passed gun control law.  The company intends to complete the transfer by the end of 2015.  However, about 95 administrative jobs will stay at their current facility in Accokeek, Maryland.  The new manufacturing location will be in Gallatin, Tennessee.

Read more at The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, NBC Washington and Fox News.

A Swing Into Pennsylvania

A few years back, while travelling north from Maryland into Pennsylvania, I ran across a rest area along the combined US Routes 11 and 15 called McKee's Half Falls, named for a set of rapids in the nearby Susquehanna River, along which the combined highway runs.  Although I've stopped there several times over the past few years, the river conditions have not always favorable for a photograph.  Sometimes the river is too high, thus hiding the two transverse lines of rocks that produce the rapids.  But this time, the river level appeared to be more favorable.  Here is the lower (southern) of the two rock formations, which has captured an uprooted tree.

The river going over the upper (northern) rock formation does not appear to drop down as much as with the lower formation.  It looks like I got a shot from pretty close to the formation's alignment direction.

There are large rocks in the rest area that generally line up with the two formations in the river.  These outcrops line up pretty well with the upper formation.

Continuing north on US 15, I reached a picnic area overlooking the city of Williamsport, known as the home of the Little League World Series.  Unfortunately, the air was too hazy to get a picture with any sharp contrast, but looking toward the city's eastern end, you can still see several mountain ridges and the city's airport.

Looking westward toward Williamsport, you can also see the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.

IRS Sought Help To Destroy 3,200 Hard Drives

From The Washington Times:

Days after IRS officials said in a sworn statement that former top agency employee Lois G. Lerner’s computer memory had been wiped clean, the agency put out word to contractors Monday that it needs help to destroy at least another 3,200 hard drives.

The Internal Revenue Service solicitation for “media destruction” services reflects an otherwise routine job to protect sensitive taxpayer information, but it was made while the agency’s record destruction practices remain under a sharp congressional spotlight.

I know that there are legitimate reasons for destroying a hard drive, such as when a government employee leaves his position, but somehow, I don't think that 3,200 of them all left the IRS at around the same some.  I'll concede that there can be times when information gets old and thus becomes disposable.  But imagine the uproar from the left if a private business that's under investigation or a government agency during a Republican presidency had done this.

Read the full story.

James Garner 1928-2014

James Garner, known for his leading roles on the TV shows Maverick and The Rockford Files, and for making a series of Polaroid Camera commercials with Mariette Hartley (this one, for example), has died in his home in Los Angeles of natural causes.   He had been in poor health for some time.

James Scott Bumgarner was born on April 7, 1928 in Norman Oklahoma.  His mother died when he was young, after which his father remarried.  He and his brothers Charles and Jack did not get along with their stepmother, who according to Garner, would beat them "with anything she could get hold of."  Garner dropped out of high school, briefly joined the Merchant Marine, moved to Los Angeles where his father lived, went back to school, worked in Texas and Oklahoma oil fields, and was drafted into the Army during the Korean War, during which he was wounded twice.  After his discharge, he attended the University of Oklahoma, returned to California, worked for his father as a carpet layer, and got into acting.  His survivors include his wife, his daughter and a stepdaughter.

Read more at the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, ABC News, People and KTLA.

Former Hokie RB Sails Away

Back in 2001, Kevin Jones was a true freshman running back on Virginia Tech's football team.  In Philadelphia, I got to watch him score two touchdowns against Temple, including one on an 87-yard run.  After the 2003 season, he left college and was drafted by the Detroit Lions, but his pro football career was fairly short.  He later returned to Virginia Tech to get his bachelor's degree.  Most recently, he was hired as a special assistant to Tech's new athletic director Whit Babcock.  Last summer, however, while in Switzerland, he was invited to do something very different from football.  From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Near the end of his design internship with a furniture manufacturer in Switzerland last summer, Kevin Jones’ boss asked him if he wanted to go sailing. So Jones, a former Virginia Tech and NFL running back, politely accepted.

To find out what Kevin Jones got himself into, read the full story.

Friday Links

As the weekend approaches, here are a few things going on:

From The Blaze, eight State Constitutions still ban a certain type of person from holding office.

From Illinois Review, the Illinois Supreme Court rejects a ban on term limits.

From National Journal, Senator Elizabeth Warren's (D-Mass) 11 commandments of progressivism.

From Breitbart TV, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power says that assistance from Russia cannot be ruled out in determining the cause of the downing of Flight MH17.

From the New York Post, a flight attendant who swapped himself onto Flight MH17 was the husband of a flight attendant who swapped out of Flight MH370.

From Fox News, President Obama says that at least one American was on board Flight MH17.

From Liberty News, was a missile that brought down Flight MH17 actually intended for Russia's Presidential Plane?

From Watchdog.org, how Organizing for Action is cracking the President's image of being transparent.

From Rare, the woman who thought Obama was going to pay for her gas has changed her tune.

From ABC News, Swedish appliance maker Electrolux posts a second-quarter loss.

From Life News, police do nothing as an abortion support steals pro-life signs.

From Bluegrass Pundit, a video of Israel thwarting a tunnel attack by Hamas. (via Liberty Unyielding)

From The Right Scoop, a video of what ranchers on the border have to deal with.

And from Duh Progressive, the White House appoints the new Border Security Czar.

Johnny Winter 1944-2014

Blues-rock guitarist/singer Johnny Winter, who had been on tour in Europe, has died in a hotel room near Zurich, Switzerland.  He had performed in Wiesen, Austria just four days earlier. There is no word yet on the cause of death.

John Dawson Winter III was born in Mississippi, but raised Beaumont, Texas along with his younger brother Edgar, himself a highly successful musician.  Johnny Winter debuted as a solo artist in 1969 and continued as such for most of his career, but also formed a band called Johnny Winter And during the early 1970's, which included guitarist/singer Rick Derringer, drummer Randy Zehringer (known as Randy Z) and bassist Randy Jo Hobbs, all of whom had been in the pop-rock group The McCoys. (Derringer and Zehringer are brothers, Zehringer being their real last name.)  Winter grew up idolizing legendary blues guitarist Muddy Waters, and later performed with him.  In turn, he inspired other white blues guitarists such as the late Stevie Ray Vaughn.

Read more at Fox News, USA Today, American Blues Scene, The Telegraph and the Chicago Tribune.

Texas Rancher Finds Urdu Book

Via Liberty Unyielding:

A rancher in southern Texas, whose ranch is a few miles from the Falfurrias Border Patrol station (mentioned in my second post yesterday), made an interesting discovery on his property - an Urdu/English dictionary and phrasebook.  If anyone is wondering where in Texas, Mexico or Central America Urdu is spoken, it isn't.  It's the official language of Pakistan.

Read the story at The Blaze.

Two Immigration Stories

Brooks County, Texas is not a border county.  Yet, the county has a checkpoint in Falfurrias that has captured over 27,000 illegal aliens so far this year, even though it is located about 80 miles from the border with Mexico.  Read the story at Breitbart Texas.

Meanwhile, some of my fellow Marylanders have objected to the housing of illegal aliens at a former military building in the town of Westminster with some graffiti, which includes the misspelled word "illeagles".  Perhaps someone has no objection to healthy eagles, but wants to keep ill eagles out.  Read the story at The Washington Post.

Music Break

It's definitely been a while since I've put up a music post, so let me give you these few selections:

This song by Genesis, put out about 30 years ago, has recently become appropriate once again.  If the feds try to dump a bunch of illegal aliens in your town, please be sure to play this number for them.

Let's face it.  Try as he might, Phil Collins (lead vocals & drums) will never pass for Hispanic.  The other two band members are Mike Rutherford (guitar & bass) and Tony Banks (keyboards).

Sunday Links

A few stories about the fight between Israel and Hamas, the current invasion of Central American illegal aliens, and other things going on:

From Prime Minister Of Canada, the Canadian Prime Minister's statement of support for Israel.

From The Washington Free Beacon, the Israeli Ambassador to the United States explains how Hamas targets civilians while Israel does not.

From Gatestone Institute, many Egyptians are rooting for Israel against Hamas.

From Fox News, Israel has sent ground troops into Gaza.

From The Jewish Press, 70,000 people in Gaza lose their electricity, thanks to Hamas.

From The Raw Story, Representative Michael McCall (R-TX) talks about some of the teenagers he had seen at the border.

From The Independent Sentinel, Central American dictators won't stop their people from illegal invading the United States.

From the Examiner, the "border shell game".

In Commentary, John Podhoretz takes on the "Iron Dome Is Bad" argument.

From the New York Post, a religious group rents a plane to fly a banner containing a swastika over Coney Island.

In Live Action News, Rebecca Downs asks if abortion really is a matter of "a woman deciding her own fate".

And from ABC News, Mormons discuss a translation of the Book of Abraham.

Oops!

If you are male and live in Pennsylvania, you might have recently gotten a notice from the Selective Service System that you must register for the draft, and face fines and imprisonment if you don't.  However, you probably have nothing to worry about, because the notices were sent to men born from 1893 to 1897, and if you were born during those years, it is extremely likely if not certain that you are already dead.  However, if you have any descendants, they will probably wonder what's going on.

Read the full story at Fox News.

As it turns out, my own maternal grandfather was born in 1897 and lived most of his life in Pennsylvania.  I wonder if my mother or any of her relatives has received his registration notice.

Would Anyone Like A Geography Lesson?

According to Canada Free Press, two media outlets have recently reported that President Obama visited the border.  Both Reuters and Yahoo News placed pictures on their respective Twitter feeds, each pic having the caption "President Obama visits the border".  The Reuters pic was taken in Denver, which as CFP correctly notes is not even near the border of Colorado.  The Yahoo pic was taken in Austin, which is in a state that borders Mexico, but still well away from the actual border.  In reality, the president did not visit the border, but the two propaganda news outlets were still willing to give him credit for doing so.

Read the full story at Canada Free Press.

A Drone Tours Virginia Tech

Via WDBJ:

A 16-year-old quadcopter enthusiast whose YouTube handle is DroneDude has made this video of my alma mater from footage shot by his drone's camera.  It also includes a recording of part of a speech given during the ceremony to honor the victims of the events of 4/16/2007.

Old NFL Video Against Abortion Turns Up

Via Buzzfeed and Townhall:

In 1992, the Washington Redskins and Buffalo Bills were opponents in the Super Bowl, but some of their players, plus Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, were on the same side (pro-life) on the issue of abortion.  Here's the video they made:

Read more at SB Nation, where this video turned up, and is mocked by the contributor who found it.

Feds Propose To Build Fence - For Mice

From The Daily Signal:

For more than a century, the Lucero family has grazed livestock in the majestic landscape near Fenton Lakein the Santa Fe National Forest. They started with sheep and, in the 1920s, switched to cattle.

But that may all come to an end because of an endangered mouse.

“You’re taking a lot of heritage away,” said Mike Lucero, as he looks over the creek that cuts through the meadow. He was accompanied by his brother Manuel and cousin Orlando, who have brought their family’s cattle to this spot since they were children.

If built, the fences will be eight feet tall, and according to at least some local ranchers, have an effect on where their cattle can graze.  Why the feds are willing to build a fence to protect mice from cattle but not to protect Americans from border jumpers has not been explained.

Read the full story at the above link.  It seems that the Luceros might soon be quoting a certain cartoon cat.

Nicaragua Canal Route Approved

The Nicaraguan government has approved a route for a canal across that country, to be built by the Hong Kong-based company HKND Group.  If the canal is completed as planned, it will be 173 miles long and will cost about $40 billion.  The Nicaragua Canal will also be much longer, wider and deeper than the Panama Canal, which is 48 miles long.  The new canal will run between the mouth of the Rio Brito on the Pacific coast and the mouth of the Rio Punta Gorda on the Caribbean coast.  The route will go through Lake Nicaragua, which has caused some environmental concern, since the Lake is a major source of fresh water.

Read the story at America Online, The Independent, USA Today, Reuters and BBC News.

Tour De France Fans, Cool It With The Selfies

Via Truth Revolt:

The participants in this year's Tour de France bicycle race have been dealing with a new obstacle, spectators who jump into the road in order to take a "selfie" that will include riders in the picture.  American rider Tejay van Garderen attributes an accident in which he fell off his bike to one such "selfie-taking" fan.

Read the full story at Velo News, and if you're fortunate enough to watch any stage of the Tour de France in person, stay out of the road, s'il vous plaît.

A Few Random Musings #2

A few ideas that have crossed my mind recently:

On one hand it's considered wrong to judge Muslims in general for the violent attacks carried out by Muslim terrorists.  On the other hand, it seems perfectly acceptable to judge every white person, especially white males, as having received an undeserved privilege.  Why is such generalizing OK for some groups but not others?  And why isn't judging all whites as being "privileged" considered to be a form of racial profiling?

I have come to believe that one of the biggest lies in human history is the saying that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.  When you kidnap girls, use children as suicide bombers, use civilians as human shields, or deliberately target non-combatants, you are as far away from a freedom fighter as the KKK is from Dr. King.

Colleges and universities that have small "free speech zones", while restricting speech on most of the campus, have it backwards.  If they are government schools, their entire campuses should be free speech zones.  For any students who cannot bear hearing opinions that differ from their own, the school could establish "sensitivity zones".  For example, for those who can't stand hearing the term "illegal alien", an "undocumented" sensitivity zone could be provided.

An Open Condemnation Of The Murder Of Mohammed Abu Khdeir

This letter condemning the murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir appears at Monkey In The Middle:

We unequivocally condemn the horrific murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir. It was unjustifiable under any circumstances. The killing was reprehensible and we hope that the criminals who did this sickening act are found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Israel is a country run by the rule of law. There are reports that Jews have been arrested for this crime. If a trial finds that Jews are indeed guilty of this unconscionable killing, our condemnation is redoubled. The idea that Jews could do such an act fills us with shame and horror.

The people who murdered Mohammed do not represent us in any way. It is not enough to dissociate ourselves from the dreadful act; we must also ensure that crimes like this are never repeated.

Just as the appalling murders of Naftali Fraenkel, Eyal Yifrach and Gilad Shaar do not in any way justify the hideous murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, neither does Khdeir's murder justify the violence, terrorism, destruction and incitement we have seen over the past few days against Israelis and Jews. 

We hope and pray that everyone, Arab and Jew, lives in peace and security in the region.

If you agree with this, go over to Monkey In The Middle and add your name by placing a comment on the post.

Happy Independence Day, America

July 4th, 1776 is the day America remembers for our Founders declaring their independence from Great Britain.  Every year, we celebrate the anniversary with fireworks and concerts full of patriotic music.  Here are the Voices of Liberty with their rendition of one such song - with obvious British roots - which includes a speech speculating what future archaeologists might learn about our country, from just one of its artifacts.

In today's news and commentary:

From Fox News, after lashing the coast of North Carolina, Hurricane Arthur moves northeastward and weakens.

From the Mail Online, the mother of a student in France stabs her son's teacher to death in front of a room full of students.

From Catholic Education Daily, the Supreme Court has upheld a temporary injunction against the HHS mandate for Wheaton College.

From The New York Times, conservative billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife has died of cancer at age 82.

From Canada Free Press, supporters of amnesty for illegal immigrant children will meet with Senate staff.

In Frontpage Mag, Callista Gingrich calls us today to remember American exceptionalism.

And in National Review, Charles Cooks calls the Revolution an "English war for American independence".

It's Never Too Late To Graduate

In 1941, George Hulka Jr. was drafted into the U.S. Army.  He left his family's farm in Saratoga Springs, NY, after achieving only an eighth grade education, to fight in numerous battles in northern Africa and Europe, including D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge.  This past Saturday, at the age of 100, Hulka finally completed his education by getting his high school diploma, graduating with his teenage great-grandson.

Read the story at Scout Warrior.

Links For Canada Day

July 1st is Canada Day, when our friends to the north celebrate the establishment of their country by the uniting of three colonies within the British Empire.  Here's some of what's currently going on:

From the New York Post, in the latest twist on the Amanda Knox murder case, her former boyfriend and co-defendant claims that they were not together during part of the night of the murder.

From Fox News, brain shrinkage and cognitive decline have been tied to decreased amount of sleep.

Also from Fox News, a soccer referee in Michigan dies after being punched in the head.

From The Washington Times, the Department of Homeland Security has announced plans to deploy 150 agents to southern Texas.

From CBS DFW, Texas officials believe that illegal aliens are renting children to cross the border.

From the Pew Research Center, violence and poverty in three Central American countries are driving children to flee.

From CBS Boston, a Vietnam veteran finally gets an appointment with a VA doctor - two years after he died.

From Ynet News, the IDF strikes 34 terrorist targets in Gaza.

From Reuters, minority investors in Alstrom are criticizing its planned deal with General Electric.

From The Christian Science Monitor, a math error causes the U.S. Treasury to lose $5 billion in revenue.

From WCPO, horses seized in an animal cruelty case in Kentucky will be put up for adoption.

From CNN Politics, Monica Lewinsky calls herself "a virgin to humiliation of that level".

And from Truth Revolt, figurines bow down to Valerie Jarrett.