A Long Shot: Artillery Battery Sets Record

A Marine unit that recently returned from Afghanistan killed a team of Taliban insurgents with a record-setting artillery strike.

Golf Battery, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., dropped the 155mm M982 Excalibur round on insurgents 36 kilometers away — more than 22 miles — in Helmand province. The strike was launched Feb. 12 from an M777 howitzer on a mountainside at Forward Operating Base Zeebrugge, in Kajaki, to neighboring Musa Qala district, Marines said.

It marks the longest operational artillery shot in history for the Marine Corps, said Capt. Joshua Kling, the battery commander.

It also was the longest operational shot using the Excalibur round, said David Brockway, an official with Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz., one of the companies involved in its development.

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Long shot: Artillery battery sets lethal record - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Gen. David Petraeus, Shattered Dreams and Hearing the Bells of Honor

Gen David Petraeus, Shattered Dreams and Hearing the Bells of Honor

by Norman Fulkerson
For many years, General. David Petraeus was the public face of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was seen as a battle-hardened veteran, a four-star general who enjoyed what many called a “storied career.” Thirty six year Marine Corps veteran General John Allen had a similarly illustrious career and was about to be nominated Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. Both of these warriors were seen as men of honor.

This image has been crushed: first by the admittance of General Petraeus to an extramarital affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell which has now wrecked his career and could destroy a 37- year marriage: then by the voluminous email exchanges, now being scrutinized for wrongdoing, between General Allen and what the media is labeling as Broadwell’s archrival, Jill Kelley.

Unanswered Questions
We now find ourselves standing in the glow of a giant media spotlight that is turning this story into juicy soap opera. Political pundits are raising reasonable suspicion that all this is merely a smokescreen to take attention off the Benghazi attack which left a U.S. ambassador and three other

Americans dead and a lot of unanswered questions. Others still are raising national security concerns over whether or not General Petraeus shared classified information with his paramour. While these are valid concerns, there are others that those shining the spotlight have conveniently overlooked.

Thankfully there are many who question the morality of Paula Broadwell, a married woman and mother of two, being “embedded with the troops” which set the stage for this particular scandal.  Sexual scandals, however, be they consensual or by way of assault and harassment, are lamentably becoming all too common in our modern military.[NJF1]

According to the Army’s own “Gold Book,” a report on wartime personnel stress made public by the Center for Military Readiness, sexual assaults have increased in all branches by 22 percent since 2007 and violent rape has doubled since 2006.

This should naturally lead a person to recognize the obvious pitfalls of a mixed Armed Forces and the now hotly contested issue of women in combat. This is a blatant denial of man’s human frailty, a consequence of our fallen nature. Whereas we should be praying with renewed fervor for God to “lead us not into temptation,” we turn a blind eye towards the wrecking ball of social experimentation wreaking havoc on our military. One sad consequence is the disgrace which Mrs. Petraeus, Mrs. Allen and their families now have to endure.


General John Allen is considered by many to be a man of impeccable character.

A similar question has yet to be raised with the case of General Allen. There was mention early on that he could stand trial for adultery which is a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). This manual, the foundation for military law in the United States, also holds sodomy to be a crime, yet during the debates concerning repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” this manual was never mentioned.

The so-called upholders of morality were initially holding Gen Allen’s feet to the fire for what, thankfully, is still considered unacceptable behavior (adultery), yet they gushingly embrace the unnatural vice of sodomy.

Homosexuals are allowed to live side by side with the men of honor who still exist in our military. They are allowed to make a political statement–stringently denied other servicemen—by marching in homosexual parades in uniform. They kiss their same-sex lovers upon returning from oversees, and these flagrant violations against the UCMJ and basic morality are never mentioned.

Shattered Dreams
The biggest concern however is the deleterious effect such scandals have on Americans who yearn to see men of honor. There are many people, for example, who consider General John Allen to be a man of impeccable character. John Ullyot who served with him said he “was known as a warrior monk.” Is this a mere chimera?

In a society which appreciates the value of honor, appropriate actions would have to been taken, but any disgrace would be kept discreet, not continually aired for all to see like the proverbial “dirty laundry.”

At the writing of this article, General Allen has forcefully denied inappropriate behavior. We pray this is the case, but even if he is totally exonerated of wrong doing, his career is very likely over. Worse yet, his image as a man of honor is irreparably smeared and there will be no New York Times’ article to sufficiently repair the damage done to him and those who loved what he represented, even if he is proven innocent.

Those who had looked upon him with pride are left to pick up the pieces of the marvelous dream he embodied and hold their breath for fear that others might suddenly meet the same fate. Can a nation continue to exist without such dreams?

Those in search of dreams and those who destroy them are much like the sons of Noah who survived God’s punishing deluge. The noble prophet had unintentionally become intoxicated with wine and was reduced to a state of disorientation. Scripture describe how two of his sons preserved their father’s dignity by walking backwards with a cloak to cover his nakedness. Such was their appreciation for what their father represented. The other son took an entirely different attitude, laughed at his father’s drunken state and was subsequently cursed.

One cannot help but see a parallel to the scandals that are unfolding before us. While we cannot compare the central figures in this drama to a man of Noah’s stature, we can identify the two opposing attitudes of his sons with two types of Americans and how they see our military. There are those who love the military and cannot help but admire its member’s daily sacrifices and heroic service.

They recognize that we sleep comfortably at night because our brave servicemen faithfully stand watch. There are others, however, who seem to take joy in finding examples of dishonor and deserve the same punishment meted out to the bad son of Noah.

"Ship of Honor"
The Ship of Honor
This all leads an admirer of honor to wonder if the institution of the military has not suffered the same fate as the Titanic which sank 100 years ago. Has the proverbial ship of honor sunk?
There is a very beautiful legend famous among the people of Brittany in France called la Cathedrale Engloutie (“The Submerged Cathedral”). It speaks of an old city that was submerged by a mysterious cataclysm in the Atlantic Ocean, not too far off the coast of Europe. On certain nights when the moon is full and the tide is low, one can see the majestic steeple of the town Cathedral among the waves.
From time to time, it is said, angels ring the cathedral’s bells at the bottom of the sea. Those beautiful sounds then rise all the way to the surface, allowing fishermen going by, on a calm evening with a tranquil sea, to hear them. Those same fisherman say that one day the cathedral will return to dry land even more beautiful, as it has been kept unscathed under the waves.

While this is only a story, we could say this legend describes our beloved military which sometimes appears to be like a sunken ship of honor. Those who love honor in our day also experience moments like the calm evening on a tranquil sea. They know that this ship of Honor will also return to dry land even more beautiful because it also remains unscathed under the waves.

We can hear the “bells of honor” in men like Marine Corps Colonel John Ripley, Navy SEAL Michael Monsoor and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace. They allow us to hear the bells of honor because they kept their honor clean.

The Case Against Secession

by John Horvat II

I can understand the angst of many Americans after the last elections. There is the growing sensation that government is not responsive anymore to the needs and desires of countless citizens in the vast red-state heartland.

Many want out and see secession from the Union as a way to leave the problem behind. Others simply want to register their protest and as a knee jerk reaction signed one of the numerous petitions asking for secession. All this is understandable – although if one’s problem with the government has reached the point of asking for secession, the last place I would want my name is on a petition lodged on the databases of the White House’s computers.

While I can understand the frustration, I take issue with secession for several reasons. The first is because I do not think it will resolve the problem. I am only too willing to admit that the federal government inside the beltway leaves much to be desired. However, our federal legislators come from the states. The main problem lies with the insufficiency of our whole political class and it extends across state lines. The dearth of leadership we experience is universal. I do not see any guarantees that the problems that are the cause of so much frustration on the federal level will not repeat themselves on the state level. Exchanging one set of federal unresponsive leaders for a set of similar state leaders hardly seems a solution.

The second reason is the fact that our American states are not nations. Any declaration of secession would be artificial. A nation like ours is not a corporate conglomerate that can spin off companies at will. A nation is formed organically when a collection of social units coalesces into a clearly distinctive whole. It forms an ethnic, cultural, social, economic, and political unity unable to be included or federated into any other one. Our American states do not yet form such unities since they are so intertwined culturally, economically and politically as to render this division extremely difficult.

Moreover, the duties of a nation are to safeguard the common good, provide for the common defense and foster the general prosperity. While I admire the courage of the Pennsylvania National Guard in the state where I live, I do not confide in their limited abilities to safeguard me against nuclear attack, global threats… or more powerful neighboring states. There are a number of duties that belong to the nation alone that our states are unprepared to assume. Nor do I see state leaderships with the moral courage to form new nations and inspire virtuous life in common.

The final reason I am against secession is that I do not identify with a state as I do with the nation. As a native Kansan, I have deep roots in the Midwest. However, like so many Americans I have lived in numerous states yet have no special link with any of them. While I have a great esteem for my present state of residence and also my state of birth, it is not the same as that for my country. Try as I might, I cannot awaken in my soul the same patriotic sentiments for Pennsylvania that I feel for America.

Like it or not (and I like it), we are Americans and we identify with America because it is our native land with a common history and culture. I have always been proud to be an American. For me, the American flag means something. And I would be willing to sacrifice myself for this nation that I love, have always loved, and which God has so blessed.

I realize that there are those with an agenda that are destroying my country. But my reaction should not be to abandon my country in its time of need but to come to its aid. It should be an attitude of “love it, don’t leave it.”

The real solution is to identify and address the problems. What we need now are unifying principles that will bring us back together and help us weather the crisis that looms upon the horizon. We need a return to order that will allow us to find organic, not artificial, solutions to the very real problems that plague us. This is an important theme of my book, Return to Order: From a Frenzied Economy to an Organic Christian Society – Where We’ve Been, How We Got Here and Where We Need to Go.

If we have problems, then let us, as in time past, solve these problems not by running from them but by facing them. Let each state contribute its part, but let us face this crisis together like proud Americans.

The Case Against Secession - Return to Order

OUTRAGE -- PROTEST Horrible Depiction of Our Lady At The Annunciation

Sign An Urgent Request To The National Gallery To Immediately Cease The Display Of “The Passage of the Angel to the Virgin”
 
This Is A Blasphemy Of The Most Pure And Holy Moment
Of The Incarnation During The Annunciation

Send Your Instant E-PETITION NOW
Say A ‘Hail Mary’, Then Read With Caution.
                                                            ***
The Incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the womb of the Immaculate Conception, during the event we reverently entitle The Annunciation, is publicly and notoriously mocked and blasphemed at the world famous National Gallery in London, England, in a horrendous “art” display entitled “The Passage of the Angel to the Virgin” by Richard Hamilton.

Mimicking the famous medieval monk / painter Fra. Angelico’s famous work “The Annunciation,” Mr. Hamilton depicts, photographically and digitally mixed for the illusion of a “canvas painting,” Our Lady sitting totally without clothes and exposed while a nude, female “angel Gabriel” hovers nearby.

Send Your Instant E-PETITION NOW

The Incarnation has been called the single most important event in history.
It is solemnly celebrated with hushed awe by faithful Catholics every year in March on the feast of The Annunciation of the Angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The rights of God and His Commandments and of His Most Holy Mother are universal, even as His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church is universal.

So just because this blasphemy is in England, do not hesitate to petition.
The National Gallery is attempting to honor a man, Richard Hamilton (deceased), who their web site describes as “one of Britain’s most influential artists.”

Tell The National Gallery this is UNACCEPTABLE.

Depicting holiness as impure does not honor the man or the country. The display, entitled “Richard Hamilton: The Late Works,” with its many nudes and this blasphemous piece called “The Passage of the Angel to the Virgin” (the object of our protest), is scheduled to run for three months.


PULL THIS PIECE FROM THE DISPLAY.
And pray your daily family rosary for the triumph, in our days, of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Contact:
The National Gallery directly (please be polite, but firm):
The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London, WC2N 5DN
Tel: +44 (0)20 7747 2885
Fax: +44 (0)20 7747 2423
Email: information@ng-london.org.uk
An additional word of courage:

In spite of perceived recent setbacks, America Needs Fatima looks for and expects the real solutions to the crisis of Faith and Morals in America to come from Our Lady and Her Divine Son! A prolonged discouragement in face of earthly setbacks can be equaled to lack of trust in Divine Providence. We invite you to gather with us at the foot of the Cross with the Mater Dolorosa and pray ever more fervently. With God's grace and help we will move forward and continue to use every peaceful and legal way at our disposal to fight for the coming of the Reign of Mary and the Reign of Christ the King over the world. Confidence! Confidence! Confidence! The only problem would be if we lost Confidence.

Courage! Calm! Confidence!
Mary’s Immaculate Heart will triumph!

Ground-Breaking New Book: Return to Order

  The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) will be publishing a new book in February titled:  Return to Order— From a Frenzied Economy to an Organic Christian Society — Where We’ve Been, How We Got Here, and Where We Need To Go by John Horvat II.

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Get a glimpse of the new book and pre-order now.

1.  Understand the Problem
Based on twenty years of exhaustive research, John Horvat II traces the source of our economic problems to a restless spirit of intemperance that throws our economy out of balance. He identifies a frenetic drive found in certain economic sectors that seek to rid themselves of restraint.

The result: “frenetic intemperance,” which is pushing the nation towards economic collapse.

2.  Discover the Solution
By applying the timeless principles of an organic socio-economic Christian order, we can produce an economy that is wonderfully adapted to our human nature and full of exuberant vitality, but also tempered by the calming influence of those natural regulating institutions such as custom, family, community, the Christian State and the Church.

Horvat’s original insights into both the present crisis and remedies for the future thrust Return to Order into the center of the debate over how to restore America to prominence.

ORDER YOUR COPY HERE

Early Praise for Return to Order
The central theme of frenetic intemperance is original, interesting, and compelling. The diagnosis of contemporary social maladies must focus on moral failings, and Return to Order rightly does so. Its insightful thesis deserves wide circulation and consideration.

-- Kevin E. Schmiesing, PhD
Research Fellow at Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty
Book Review Editor for the Journal of Markets & Morality

Like the true cultural conservative he is, John Horvat takes on the idols of technological, economic, and political power. These powers exacerbate the human tendency toward frenetic intemperance. Return to Order demonstrates that we must be ever vigilant about the institutions we create lest they lose their moral compass.

-- Richard Stivers
Emeritus Professor of Sociology
Illinois State University

An ambitious book that calls for a major shift in the attitudes of those of us who live in a fast-paced world. Horvat calls for an order that combines the virtues of tested traditions with the creative potential of the free economy: a combination of a structured order based on traditional values and the spontaneous order of economic systems based on private property. He uses the term “frenetic intemperance” to describe the type of life which does not leave room for family, creative leisure, and prayer. A call for more balance in our economies and our lives.

-- Dr. Alejandro Chafuen
President of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation

Poetically written, John Horvat II’s Return to Order elevates the argument about what is truly important. It’s rare that a book of this depth is also such a pleasure to read. Mr. Horvat’s critique of contemporary America’s “frenetic intemperance” rings true, laying bare modern man’s confusion and anomie amid plenty. An erudite cultural sculptor, Mr. Horvat chisels away materialism’s false promises and points toward God as the source of the higher revelation that makes beauty, heroism, nobility, sacrifice and true vocation discoverable and meaningful.

-- Robert Knight
Columnist and author