I went to see why I couldn’t leave a comment at Rants from the Rookery and saw:

Friday, November 03, 2006

Blogger will go down for maintenance on Sunday 4pm PDT. This maintenance will last 45 minutes.

Posted by asdf at 18:17 PST

It has become the norm to have problems with Blogger on the weekend.

When I read this article, General: Abu Ghraib scandal forced me out of Army, I was ready to puke. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez feels put upon because he was forced to retire with the full pension and benefits of a three-star general officer after the mess at Abu Ghraib. He’s lucky not to be on trial.

He violated regulations and the Geneva Conventions in approving “special techniques” for dealing with prisoners and the whole thing blew up in a major scandal. Of course, nothing of any importance was learned by the use of the “special techniques”, so his services had no value to his masters.

Sanchez should have looked at Specialist Alyssa Peterson and learned what honor and duty are all about.

“Peterson, a devout Mormon, had graduated from Flagstaff High School and earned a psychology degree from Northern Arizona University on a military scholarship. She was trained in interrogation techniques at Fort Huachuca in Arizona, and was sent to the Middle East in 2003.”

She graduated from the Arabic course at my alma mater, the Defense Language Institute on the Presidio of Monterey in California.

Specialist Peterson refused to participate in what she knew, based on her training as an interrogator, to be illegal procedures and she ended her life when the situation became too much for her.

I’m not saying that General Sanchez should have eaten a 9MM, but he could have resigned in protest of illegal orders. Generals are expected to lead.

It is helpful to know that the Baker Act is the Florida law, Chapter 394 of Florida Statutes, that covers both voluntary and involuntary treatment at mental health facilities.

This aids in understanding some of the references in the Weekend Edition of All Hat and No Cattle.

[Lisa lived among the Republicans and evangelicals on the Florida Panhandle too long.]

From CNN: Evangelical leader says he bought meth but ‘never used it’

The Rev. Ted Haggard, who resigned as one of the nation’s top evangelical leaders, admitted Friday he had contacted male prostitute Mike Jones for a massage and bought drugs from him.

Haggard said he never had sex with Jones and never used the methamphetamine drug he bought.

He was one of a group of religious leaders who regularly participated in conference calls with White House aides.

Haggard told reporters earlier this week that he did not know Jones, who claims to have had a three-year sex-for-money relationship with the pastor.

Yeah, right, except in the state of Colorado possession of methamphetamine is a felony, so there goes his voter’s ID card [in several states, including Florida] and NRA membership card [convicted felons can’t have guns].

Colorado has a problem with meth labs, so Rev Ted shouldn’t expect a free ride on that one.

I have a feeling that there are quite a few certified massage therapists in the Denver phone book, and I have seen nothing about Mike Jones being one of them.

Rev Ted needs to get up in front of the flock and testify. He needs to cleanse his soul and bear witness to the forgiveness. Jimmy Swaggart can help him with the process, or sell him a tape of his apology. Oh, he shouldn’t forget to have the choir sing Amazing Grace, it’s a tradition at these services.

No Trust At All

One more step and I launch.

[Editor: This is Tip Two, a juvenile with a white tip at the end of her tail. She doesn’t trust me as far as she could throw me and the flash going off doesn’t help.]

Friday Ark