ABC News is reporting that Al Qaeda has posted a propaganda web video online that asks the question “What is the Big Surprise” in Arabic alongside doctored photos of George Bush amidst a burning White House. 

To view the video from ABC news click here.

We often forget, as we go along with our daily lives here on Delmarva, combing the details of the Ocean City Baby story… or the potential collapse of the Indian River Bridge, or that we’ll be paying $0.60 more for tobacco, that there are real threats to our way of life. Threats that, although we are ignoring them, they aren’t ignoring us. Al Qaeda tells it’s online community to “Wait for THE BIG SURPRISE.” Who knows if these are just scare tactics, or whether they really have something planned for our future. Reports come out almost daily that they are and have been planning something. Some threats have been thwarted, but who knows what evil lies in men’s hearts.

I don’t know if sharing the video is good or bad. If you should just go on with your life and ignore it or allow your voice to be heard… Or if we should “wait for THE BIG SURPRISE.”

One of our great local Army dads gave me a US Government “Meal Ready To Eat”          (MRE).  I decided to review it for anyone thinking of joining our Armed Forces.Menu # 9  Beef Stew:

     Beef stew in a pouch was pretty good, and weighed in at 280 calories.  I suggest using the tiny little bottle of Tabasco to kick this up a notch.  Avoid the salt in the MRE, you’re getting enough sodium in this without adding more.

     Vanilla Dairyshake in a bag reminds me of any over the counter protein drink.  You have to rip open the bag and add ¼ canteen cup full of water and shake for 60 seconds.  I did this but found it to still be very lumpy and not completely blended.   It was a tasty treat even with the dry lumps and hit me with another 450 calories, 140 from fat!

     The cookie was huge, 280 calories, and was quite tasty.  Warning: do not eat the “Fresh Pax” included with the chocolate chip cookie.  It contains iron, not fit for human consumption.  I’m glad it was included though because it made the cookie surprisingly fresh tasting.

     Next it was strawberry jam, (good) at 70 calories on crackers (the worst item in the MRE) at 180 calories.  Without the jam, you may as well use the cracker as a weapon, it is hard and dry.  My older brother was in the Army when I was a kid and had C-rations, I think these crackers were left over from 1971.

     I over ate when I swallowed the kippered beef snack, 60 calories.  I recommend saving this as a true snack later fellas, you may need it.

    The pack also included Chiclets, coffee with cream and sugar, waterproof matches, a moist towelette, and some kind of strange water activated “heater in a bag”.  I didn’t even attempt to use the heater for the beef stew, it seemed way complicated, and the stew was fine at room temperature.

     Total calories 1220.  Four stars.  I’m ready for  20 miles with a 60 pound pack.

     I’m keeping the Sheryl Crow “one sheets” of toilet paper for later use, but I doubt I’ll blog that.

Wow, what a mess!

 

Two guys who were instrumental in helping bring down Communism during the Cold War are now organizing to fight radical Islam, as World Net Daily reports:

Wheeler and Baldwin say anti-communism was “the defining issue that brought hundreds of thousands of people into the conservative movement in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. There was a sense that this movement had to be successful if not only America but Western Civilization itself were to survive.” They say the current war of global conquest being waged by Islamofascists will be an even tougher fight than the battle that focused on the Soviet Union. “But we don’t seem to be prepared for this war,” they write. “Unlike the movement created during the Cold War, there doesn’t seem to be much of an infrastructure to combat Islamofascism.” The agenda for such a movement should include the following activities and efforts, they say:

• investigate radical mosques
• support anti-Islamofascist freedom fighters
• thwart attempts to impose Sharia law
• form an anti-Islamofascist publishing network
• create an anti-Islamofascist portal on the Internet
• establish an anti-Islamofascist speakers bureau
• wage an ideological assault on Islamofascism
• support efforts to evangelize Muslims in Europe and the Middle East
• create a global anti-Islamofascist coalition
• reframe the illegal immigration issue as one of national security
• end dependence on foreign oil that’s funding the Islamofascists.

The 910 group website tells all. They have a blog and a forum on the topic.