Gun group endorses Obama

A gun group announced the endorsement Wednesday of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, defending him against attacks on the Illinois senator's stance on the Second Amendment.

The American Hunters and Shooters Association (ASHA) was formed two years ago as an organization that would protect the gun rights of gun owners and one that is committed to the protection of the community and the land.

"Senator Obama has clearly demonstrated his commitment to the 2nd Amendment by his vote in support of the Vitter amendment to HR 5441, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill of 2007. This amendment prevents the Government from confiscating guns in a time of crisis or emergency," AHSA President Ray Schoenke said in a statement.

He noted that recent criticism of Obama as elitist is "patently ridiculous." "To hunters and shooters everywhere, Senator Obama's vote demonstrated a fundamental understanding of the meaning of the 2nd Amendment which means he recognizes the individual right of all citizens to keep and bear arms. Senator Clinton, on the hand, failed to grasp the importance of this critical issue to hunters and shooters and voted against this Amendment. She turned her back on America's gun owners," Schoenke added.

He also said Obama has demonstrated his commitment to conservation and protection of natural resources and access to public lands.

Former US president Jimmy Carter betrays victims of terrorism

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Jimmy Carter, the former US president, visited the West Bank in Israel today and met with leaders of Hamas, a terrorist organization that is responsible for hundreds of deaths and is devoted to wiping out Israel as a country. Carter also visited the grave of terrorist Yasser Arafat and laid a wreath at his gravesite.

Carter did all this against the wishes of Israel and the US State Department. His involvement in having talks with a known terrorist organization that is currently fighting other Muslims for control of Palestine is beyond reproach and is a slap in the face to the victims of Hamas and their families. To this day, Hamas routinely fires rocket mortars into Israel in an attempt to extort more concessions from the Israeli government.


Hamas official policy towards Israel is this: "There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors." Obviously, there are no conditions under which Hamas will abandon it's Jihad (struggle) against Israel, including a face-to-face with Carter. Hamas is financed by dozens of countries and Muslim charities all over the world, including millions of dollars from Muslims inside the United States.



The organization's first mass attack was a car bomb that blew up at a bus stop in Afula in April 1994, murdering 8 and wounding 51. Among the most horrific Hamas attacks were the following:

* 22 people killed and 56 wounded in a suicide bombing attack on the No. 5 bus on Dizengoff St. in Tel Aviv, Oct. 1994
* 26 killed by suicide bomber on a #18 bus near the Jerusalem Central Bus Station, Feb. 1996
* 16 killed in the Mahane Yehuda open market in Jerusalem in a double suicide attack, July 1997
* 23 dead and 115 wounded when a Hamas suicide bomber blew himself up on a No. 2 bus line coming from the Western Wall
in Jerusalem, August 2003
* 45 murdered within the space of five days in March 2002: a suicide Hamas terrorist blew himself up in a Haifa restaurant,
killing 15, and another one did the same in the Park Hotel in in Netanya during a Passover Seder, murdering some 30 and
wounding 144.

The ten worst Oslo War Hamas attacks, in which a total of 186 were murdered, also included the following:
* June 1, 2001 - Dolphinarium in Tel Aviv, 21 killed - mostly new-immigrant teenagers from the former Soviet Union
* Aug. 9, 2001 - Sbarro's Pizzeria in Jerusalem, 15 killed, including the parents and three children of the Schijveschuurder family
* Dec. 2, 2001 - Haifa bus, 15 killed
* May 7, 2002 - Rishon Letzion hall, 16 killed
* June 18, 2002 - #32 bus from Gilo, Jerusalem, 19 killed
* March 5, 2003 - #37 bus in Haifa, 15 dead
* June 11, 2003 - #14 bus, Jerusalem, 17 murdered
click here for a full list of Hamas terrorist attacks

Jimmy Carter was an embarrassment as a US president, and is now an embarassment as he tries to build a legacy by reconciling the Palestinian/Israeli divide. The State Department should revoke his passport for giving aid and comfort to the enemy and refuse his re-entry into the United States

Marines help rebuild Islamic schools in Bangladesh

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Four months after deadly storms struck Bangladesh, 40 Marines and sailors with 1st Engineer Platoon, Fuel Company, 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, continued relief efforts alongside 100 Bangladesh Army and Navy service members by rebuilding two schools March 6 – 30.

The construction project was part of the III Marine Expeditionary Force Bangladesh Interoperability Program, a joint effort focused on helping Bangladeshi communities rebuild from the storm that killed an estimated 3,500 people and caused an estimated $450 million in damage.

The platoon was assign to the town of Mongla in the southwest corner of Bangladesh. In January, an advanced party of Marines was sent to survey the conditions of two Islamic schools, known as Madrasahs, which were identified for repair. The team found little to survey.

“The buildings were gone,” said Gunnery Sgt. David Dickens, platoon sergeant. “They were destroyed. So basically it was just two open lots.”

The engineers immediately went to work designing two new schools from the ground up. Instead of using their standard construction templates, the 9th ESB Marines modified the design to ensure the buildings could be maintained with materials readily available in Bangladesh after they left. They decided on using tin for the roofs and bamboo sheathing for walls instead of the plywood and shingles more common in Western construction.

Building the schools with unconventional materials required the assistance of a Bangladesh Army engineer platoon who worked alongside the U.S. service members.

“As Americans we don’t do a lot of tin roofing any more,” Dickens said. “We had to lean on the expertise of the Bangladesh Army for that.”

Members of the Bangladesh Navy provided security during the project.

Some platoon members found working with the Bangladeshi soldiers difficult at first due to the language barrier as communications were often reduced to hand signals.

“We were basically playing charades in order to construct a building,” said Cpl. Michael Spivey, a squad leader for the platoon.

Over time, both parties began to pick up on the other’s language, making communication smoother. A common phrase emerged as a constant on the job site - “Shu•muh•sha•ne”, a Bangladeshi phrase meaning “no problem”.

“That was the motto of the mission. Any time there was a debate over a problem it always ended with ‘Shu•muh•sha•ne,’ we’ll figure it out,” Dickens said.

The appreciation of the townspeople was evident each day as the Marines drove through town on their way to the construction site, said squad leader Cpl. Amanda Wilson.

“They were really, really grateful and excited when we came by,” she said. “They stood on the side of the streets just waving as we passed. I’ve always wanted to do something for a country like that, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

Dickens shared the sentiment. “It’s probably one of the best projects I’ve ever done in my 16 years in the Marine Corps,” he said.