What to Remember This Christmas Season

• Smile
  
• Say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays."
  
• Other religions have celebrations this time of year.
  
• Don't punch, trample or berate other shoppers.
  
• Tell every dear person how important they are.
  
• Tell little lies to children to enhance their holiday excitement
  
• Burn scented candles
  
• Boycott chinese goods
  

Liberal Spin

On the way home from the squadron today, feeling grateful for this great nation and a rich life full of wonderful people and experiences, I saw one of those silly hybrid cars with a bumper sticker that read:

When Jesus said: Love Your Enemy, I'm pretty sure he didn't mean killing them!

My goodness, what insight! What clarity of thought. A new interpretation of scripture that had somehow been missed for two millenia.
However, in typical liberal fashion (when twisting traditional sources to their cockeyed new age world-view), the premise is completely flawed. Christianity was not put forth by the Master as geopolitical policy. It is meant as a code of personal conduct with a goal of establishing a relationship between the soul and God the Father with Jesus the Messiah interceding on behalf of the sinner. Since Nation-States have no soul, the concept that Christianity should guide political policy is absurd. Further, isn't it the hybrid driving, ACLU card carring, tree hugging, gay marriage advocating, abortion supporting Liberals that tell us to get religion and morals out of public discourse?
I want to make sure I've got this right. Performing a late term abortion to end the heartbeat and brain function of a child that will be born innocent and without avarice or hate is a sacrament of liberalism reserved and protected by divine right of human sovereignty. But killing an organized, thinking and merciless enemy that wants to kill you and enslave your posterity into a medieval theocracy is against the instructions of a religion that you wish to strike from public discourse. Do I understand this right? Is that how you see it?
The Old Testament is replete with examples of Jehovah laying waste to those threaten his righteous. Jehovah of the O.T is the Christ of the N.T. He is not opposed to reaching to the rod as a correctional tool and even cleared the temple by force while in his mortality. If you think that he changed his ways after the resurrection, go take a look at the Revelations of St John the Divine. (Book of Revelations). Wrath, Sword, Death, Earthquakes, Plagues and one third of the Earth being burned before what is called the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.

Matthew 13:49-50 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

The Messiah is not a pacifist. He is the Supreme Commander in the battle between good and evil. And don't go twisting his words, he doesn't like it.

A Puzzle for the Pseudo-Intellectuals

In this piece The Telegraph reports:

In an internet statement yesterday, the Iraq operation of Al-Qa'eda, led by Zarqawi, rejected a call for dialogue by President Jalal Talabani, saying "the sword and blood" were the only ways forward.

The question for Mssrs Clooney, Moore, Penn, Depp, Robbins, Franken et al is: How do you have peace with an enemy that wants victory more than peace?

It only takes one belligerent to start a war, but it takes two parties to agree to peace.

The Possum is Dead

Stupid bastard didn't learn anything fom the first time I caught him in the henhouse. He escaped the maximum punishment.

Opponents of capital punishment say it doesn't do anything to deter crime. To that I reply: It eliminates repeat offenders.

That possum will never steal another egg.

Be Teachable

I frequently remind my troops that perception is not reality. We make decisions based on perception, but those decisions can be ineffective and dangerous if our perception is completely misaligned from reality. A famous mathemetician-philosopher said:

If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things. - Rene Descartes

Math survives scrutiny pretty well if you do it right. Western math is the jewel of western culture. It catapulted the west to technological dominance. Isaac Newton, Watt, Edison, the Wright Brothers and thousands of others made math the core of their work. A good rule of thumb is: Know what can be proven mathematically, believe what can be shown statistically, question conventional wisdom, constantly readjust your premises. Thus what can be proven mathematically is pretty safe from scrutiny. Everything else needs a little doubt once in awhile. If you are willing to doubt your perception, you will be teachable.

Screaming Rooster

A sound like a terrified child pierced the night. Out in the darkness, malice was afoot. We opened the back door and listened. It's definitely coming from the direction of the henhouse. I sprinted down the hill in the darkness with my daughter and wife threading their way behind in the narrow beam of a flashlight.

The rooster is standing at the chicken coop entrance to the henhouse screaming his head off. When I open the door and step inside, he climbs to the third shelf, and continues screaming. My wife takes him out and carefully examines his head, comb and feet.

Normally, he won't be touched, much less held. He continues screaming. My daughter looks on the shelf right next to where we pulled the rooster from and discovers a... Possum.

We scooped him into a bucket and out of the coop and the rooster quieted down immediately.

The possum escaped before the death sentence was executed. I hope possums are smart enough to recognize self-critiquing experiences. Next time I'll just drown the little bastard.

The rooster did his job. He protected his flock. He isolated the intruder and sounded the alarm.

Effort, Success and Happiness

What is success? -
Well, it's whatever each of us thinks it is.

It's a summation of the future we might like to create. Success is what motivates us.

Happiness is the summation of satisfaction and contentment with the present.

To be happy, you must be satisfied or content in the moment.

If you have put forward your best effort and are making progress, be happy.
If you have put forward your best effort and are stalled, you should be content.
If you have put forward your best effort and failed miserably, you should shrug it off, laugh about it and try again.

Effort is a key to happiness. When we have put forth a valiant effort, we can be satisfied in the moment.
For me, the happiness that follows a failure marked by brilliance, persistence and courage dwarfs the satisfaction from an effortless success.

Effort = Happiness

This Blog is a Year Old

As of Nov 7th. Been an absolute pleasure.

Hoo-Hah!

Pocket Full of Leadership

I put this on wallet cards to serve as refreshers to folks that have heard this speech.

12 Treasured Beliefs about Leadership and Success
1-Leadership is the most valuable commodity in the world. It’s light. Carry it with you. 2-Define your success. If you don’t define success, your future becomes a random result. Choosing the right behaviors is the key to success. 3-To lead others, you need to be able to lead yourself first. Be daring, willful and persistent. 4-Encourage your people to define their success. People do what they do because they want what they want. To get them to do what you need, figure out how to help them get what they want. Emphasize performance and achievement. 5-Who You Are is Not Static. Do not be satisfied with who you are. Don’t be discouraged or intimidated by who you are not. Be optimistic and ambitious about whom you will become. 6-If you aren’t having fun, you aren’t doing it right. Choose worthy goals and take pleasure in achieving them. Be happy along the way. 7-Make decisions and then act. Leadership is separating what needs to be done from what doesn’t and then taking action. Great leadership is choosing to do the impossible and then achieving it. 8-Know what your job is and know your job. Focus on leading, innovating, and organizing. Be intellectually strong, smart, and nimble. Don’t focus on filling squares to get promoted. 9-Live each day in a heroic manner. Prepare for each day as if you knew it would contain your finest hour. Be alert – and be prepared. 10-Ya gotta love the troops! They don’t care what you know if they don’t know that you care. If they know you care, they’ll trust you. 11-The road to glory is service and sacrifice. This is a serious business and it requires serious people to do it. Do not shirk or shrink away from tough duty. Wade into it fearlessly! Life is not fair. Get over it and get the mission done. 12-Leadership is attitude as much as anything else. Positive leaders are almost always more effective than negative leaders. Pro-active leaders are almost more effective than reactive leaders. When things are tough, keep a great attitude. It generates enthusiasm and attracts followers. Enthusiastic people will tirelessly look for solutions to problems long after discouraged people surrender.
© 2005 Michael A. Breeden, CMSgt, USAF

You may reprint and use this as long as you reference the Brutality of Reason URL "www.ironcross11.blogspot.com" and the copyright.

No S**t. There I was…

That's how every good "war story" starts.

The 2005 Combat Control Association Reunion was held concurrent with the Veterans Day weekend. Combat Controllers are the Air Force’s top-shelf Special Operations Warrior. They deliver airpower -on-time-on-target. A gathering of them is colorful to say the least.

Casually walking around the group one listens to great tales of adventure, luck, and hedonistic nocturnal activity sprinkled with exaggeration and expletives. Often times, the exaggeration and expletive surpass the original events.

Stories abound from battlefields. Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, The Siege of Khe Sahn, The Miracle at Kham Duc, Tora Bora, bombs dropped, lives saved, magazines emptied, and body count.

Betimes the stories have nothing to do with war but training events and exercises or the vague recollections from the pubs and saloons of the world. Stories of bar brawls, jeep stealing, and black market barter. The main parachutes that didn’t open and the reserves that did. The men they detested and the women they loved. Wives are numbered…First, Second, Third…

Old grudges are reviewed again and (mostly) forgotten again.

And reverently, fallen comrades are fondly and freshly remembered…

We few, we happy few… we band of brothers…for he that sheds his blood this day with me shall be my brother…

Buffoonery?… Yes…sometimes. Decadence?… Often. Courage and patriotism? Always.

Yet sought they neither recompense nor praise,
Nor to be mentioned in another breath
than their blue coated comrades
whose great days it was their pride to share --
- ay, share even to the death! - Alan Seeger

I See (Ici) Paris, I See (Ici) France

Islam in their underpants.

When cultures collide, violence ensues. Western political philosophy is not compatible with Islam. Islam is a religion with an integrated theocratic political theory. The principles of that political theory are contained in the Koran. The Old Testament also contains some religion with integrated political theory but when the Zionist Criminals set up Isreal, they rejected the idea of being ruled by judges that were also spiritual leaders.

Until Islam undergoes a reformation and recognizes that what worked in 700AD may not be functional in the 21st Century, we are set to see a lot of violence like that near Paris.

Osama Bin Laden, Zawahiri, and Zarqawi are not the only troublemakers in the world. There are dozens of thugs and racketeers around the world that position themselves to increase the friction between groups and then profit from the heat they create. In the US, Louis Farrakan, Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton come to mind.

If it were up to me, I'd call for the showdown with Islam right now. I'd insist Pakistan turn over it's nukes, I'd put bunker busters on Iran's nuke sites. Id annex Saudi Arabia and tell the Saudi family to pack up and move to Switzerland, I'd put a fence around Mecca and have an oath of non-aggression as a precondition for pilgramage. I'd take that oil money and use it for infrastructure improvements in every Islamic country that passed laws prohibiting intolerance of other religions. Sermons at Mecca would include tolerance of other religions. And I'd arm to the teeth every non-Islamic minority group in the world so they could defend themselves from the fanatic onslaught. I'd make Islamics in the US take a loyalty oath and I'd cut out their tongues and cut off their right hand if they were convicted of violating it. (The tongue for lying, the hand for acting)

It would draw out the fanatics and we'd have the battle right now. Orthodox Islam vs. the West. I'd tell China to be with us or I'd shut off trade 100%. Malaysia would not fight, Indonesia would think long and hard about it. Isreal might need to push their Arab minority (there's no such thing as a Palestinian) into the ocean, but they're eventually going to have to do that anyway.

Some cultures value tolerance and justice, but Islam values only Islam. It is intolerant. It is arbitrary. It is also dysfunctional as a system of government. It is a lot like socialism except Islam can work on a micro-political (village) scale. (Socialism doesn't work at all.) I have no problem with tolerant Muslims that wish to integrate with the Western World practicing their religion freely and faithfully. But this whole "Muslims can do whatever they want in this country because we're Muslims and we don't recognize your authority" nonsense is not going to go far on my watch.

Islam has integrated instructions for the second-class treatment of Christians and Jews and third-class treatment of the infidel. If we build second-class treatment for Muslims into our laws, they will clamor for equal treatment based on Western principles and then we will insist that they may not claim the protection of those principles until they integrate tolerance into the practice of Islam.

If they refuse, round them up and ship them back to the hell-holes they came from and if they give you any trouble, throw them overboard. It'll save trouble down the road. I promise.

Leadership Toolbox

The text of my speech at the graduation of class 05-H of the Julius Kolb Airman Leadership School.

Airman Leadership School is about Leadership and Success - two of my favorite subjects. I could speak for hours about leadership and success, but I'm not going to. (There's supposed to be applause) This is going to be a fast and furious look at my leadership toolbox. My 12 treasured beliefs about leadership and success.

I like bumper stickers. I like things boiled down so they would fit on bumper stickers. I've boiled down 12 treasured beliefs about leadership and success into bumper stickers and I'm going to spend less than a minute on each one.

We have a whole room full of leaders here with different levels of experience and responsibility. My objective is to give everyone something that will make them more successful AND more successful as leaders.

So here goes…12 bumper stickers in 10 minutes or less.

Treasured Beliefs About Leadership and Success

Treasured Belief #1 I believe leadership is the most valuable commodity in the world. It weighs nothing, cannot be scientifically measured and defies precise definition. Yet when it is absent progress stops and is replaced chaos and decay. Leadership is easily coined into financial power. Most of the highest paid people in the world are paid for their leadership skills. So for most of us, the path to success is tied to the ability to lead.

Treasured Belief #2 You get to define success. Everyone gets to define their own version of success. Don’t let someone else define success for you. If you don’t define success, you’re future becomes a random result. But if you choose and engage in the right behaviors, your ambitions can be realized. So then the operative question that follows is: What are the right behaviors?

Treasured Belief #3 In order to lead others, you need to be able to lead yourself first. If you can't inspire yourself to act with enthusiasm and energy, you won't be able to inspire anyone else. Once you define success, and choose your direction, be willing to act. Be confident. Confidence is your trust in your ability to lead yourself. Why would someone follow you if they don't trust you? Why would someone follow you if you don't trust yourself? Be daring, willful and persistent. Nothing succeeds like persistence. Whether your long term goals lie within or outside the AF, behaviors are the key to achievement.

Treasured Belief #4 Encourage your people to define their success. People do what they do, because they want what they want. People embrace behaviors that they believe will deliver the things they want.
To get them to do what you need, figure out how to help them get what they want. While they are getting what they want and doing what you want them to do, as a team you will be making great things happen. Emphasize the link between performance and achievement.

Treasured Belief #5 Who you are is not static. I can't emphasize this enough: YOU ARE going to change! Who You Are is not Static. You are a different version of you with every passing moment. We are traveling through time and we are all changing. Always. Do not be satisfied with who you are. Do not be discouraged or intimidated by who you are not. Be optimistic and ambitious about who you will become. Do not become an old bitter wrinkled version of who you are today.

Treasured Belief #6 If you aren’t having fun, you aren’t doing it right. Choose worthy goals and take pleasure in achieving them. Be happy along the way. Make progress and be happy as you make progress.

Treasured Belief #7 Make decisions and then act. Leadership is making things happen. Leadership is separating what needs to be done from what doesn’t and then taking action. Great leadership is choosing to do the impossible and then achieving it.

Treasured Belief #8 Know what your job is and know your job. Focus on leading, innovating, and organizing. Be intellectually strong, smart, and nimble. Don’t focus on filling squares to get promoted. If you want to be promoted to Tech Sergeant, emulate the behaviors of the best Tech Sergeant you’ve ever seen. Filling squares is what you do in between the important stuff. No one was ever admired for “filling squares” or “getting their ticket punched.” Some square filling is necessary, but it should never be the priority.

Treasured Belief #9 Live each day in a heroic manner. Having a heroic moment is a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Being ready for a heroic moment is a matter of personal preparation that takes daily self-discipline. Be prepared when your moment comes by living each day in a heroic manner. Your heroic moment may be intervening when a co-worker is about to self-destruct, or it may be putting a bullet between the eyes of a fanatic trying to drive a truckload of explosives into a hospital compound. Prepare for each day as if you knew it would contain your finest hour. Be alert – and be prepared.

Treasured Belief #10 Ya gotta love the troopies! Tony Urenda was the best first sergeant I ever knew. He was built like a bear and strong as an ox. And when he talked about leadership he'd always say "Ya Gotta Love the Troopies!" and we'd tease him and say things like: "Shirt! You can't do that - there are regulations against it." He'd come up and grab you and say Arrrgh! Mikie, I love ya. You are the heat!" I occasionally see him and he still does it. He really did love us. He was at his best when we "troopies" were at our worst.
The "troopies" don’t care what you know if they don’t know that you care.
So how do you show them you care? Create the conditions for their success and help them get what they want. When "troopies" see you working to help them achieve success, they know you care.
If they know you care, they’ll trust you.
Colin Powell says: If your people don’t bring you their problems, you aren’t really their leader.

Treasured Belief #11 The road to glory is service and sacrifice. As NCOs, you are expected to be more dedicated and sacrifice more than before. This is a serious business and it requires serious people to do it. Do not shirk or shrink away from tough duty. Wade into it fearlessly! Your efforts will add to the legacy of the Air Force! If you show me someone that is revered in glory, I can show you where they sacrificed or served to get there. When things are tough, remind yourself that you are “on the road to glory”, because the road to glory is service and sacrifice. Life is not fair. Get over it and get the mission done.

Treasured Belief #12 Leadership is attitude as much as anything else. Positive leaders are almost always more effective than negative leaders. Pro-active leaders are almost more effective than reactive leaders. Be a positive pro-active leader. When things are tough, keep a great attitude. It attracts followers and generates enthusiasm. Even when things are tough, if you aren’t having fun, you aren’t doing it right. Enthusiastic people will tirelessly look for solutions to problems long after discouraged people will surrender.
Ronald Reagan who is legendary for his optimistic view and great enthusiasm had a favorite story and it goes like this:

A couple had twin boys of five or six. Worried that the boys had developed extreme personalities -- one was a total pessimist, the other a total optimist -- their parents took them to a psychiatrist.
First the psychiatrist treated the pessimist. Trying to brighten his outlook, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with brand-new toys. But instead of yelping with delight, the little boy burst into tears. "What's the matter?" the psychiatrist asked, baffled. "Don't you want to play with any of the toys?" "Yes," the little boy bawled, "but if I did I'd only break them."
Next the psychiatrist treated the optimist. Trying to dampen his out look, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with horse manure. But instead of wrinkling his nose in disgust, the optimist emitted just the yelp of delight the psychiatrist had been hoping to hear from his brother, the pessimist. Then he clambered to the top of the pile, dropped to his knees, and began gleefully digging out scoop after scoop with his bare hands. "What do you think you're doing?" the psychiatrist asked, just as baffled by the optimist as he had been by the pessimist. "With all this manure," the little boy replied, beaming, "there must be a pony in here somewhere!"

Leadership is the only thing that will solve the challenges that lie before us. Some of my people helped me make up some wallet-sized cards for you that have these Treasured Beliefs on them. I have one for each of the graduates and I have a few extras for others that might want them. Thank you for the opportunity to shadow your class and speak at the graduation. It's been a joy and a blessing to me.

Some people have a little rain cloud that follows them around. They transmit an atmosphere of victimhood and pessimism. Examine yourselves. You are among the wealthiest 5% of the world population. You have more formal and technical education than 95% of the world's population. You live in a country that people risk life and every asset they have to break out of the place they are and get here – even if they have to get here illegally. Ditch that rain cloud. Dry yourselves off and capitalize on all the opportunity that surrounds you.

3 Brief Quotes in closing:

Forrest Gump said: That’s about all I have to say about that.

PFC Elvis Presley of the 3rd Armored Regiment said: Thangyu, thanguverymudge.

And President Ronald Reagan used to say: God Bless You and God Bless America.

Now go out and dig for that pony.

Update from Socialist Utopia

This article makes reference to unemployment, ghettos, crime, drug use, and gang violence in France. I thought Socialist countries were free from such scourges because religion and capitalism are replaced by scientific government and the universal brotherhood of the worker. I'll bet Karl Rove caused this.

Hoo-Hah

In Life, You Don't Get What You Deserve.

You get what you negotiate or extract by force of will.

President Bush seems to have learned that lesson. He's tried to change the tone in Washington. He's worked with the libs and spent like a sailor. They've repaid him by kicking him in the teeth at every opportunity.

He just kicked back hard. Judge Alito is their worst nightmare. The right is manning the "gunnels" and guns for this guy. It will be a bloody drawn out fight. When we shift the court one vote to the right, it will put a lot of decisions back in the hands of state legislatures and get them out of the hands of 9 lawyers.

Abortion will still be legal in states that make it legal. The constitution does not contain the right to abortion. Therefore, it will be left to the states.