Citgo/Venezuela, oil and you

Website information:

http://www.citgo.com/CommunityInvolvement/HeatingOil.jsp

"We are more than just an oil company. We are neighbors and friends who care for those in need," said CITGO President and CEO Félix Rodríguez. "This is a people-to-people program that comes from the heart of Venezuela to the homes of American families who just can't pay their energy bills."

"The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela."

"Petróleos de Venezuela S.A.(PDVSA) is a world energy corporation, owned by the Venezuelan State."

The Chavez government has sought, over the last two or three years, ties with unusual allies. A glance at the State Sponsors of Terrorism listed in the State Department’s Country Reports on Terrorism for 2005 provides a good idea of Chavez’ new friends.

At the top of his list is Iran. The Chavez government has concluded a number of agreements with Iran, ranging from investment pacts, to cultural exchanges, to pledges of support against military aggression -- ostensibly by the United States. In March, Chavez defended Iran’s quest to develop nuclear energy without any oversight by the UN or the International Atomic Energy Agency, dismissing the concerns of the international community.

Chavez’ courting of radical, rogue regimes is not new. He fawned over Saddam Hussein during a visit in 2000, even as that brutal dictator tortured his own citizens, stole Oil-For-Food funds, and sent terror teams abroad to murder Iraqis who opposed him. Today, Chavez roots for the terrorists who weekly bomb innocent Iraqis in a perverse bid to frustrate the will of the Iraqi people to live in peace and freedom.

Chavez recently announced he will soon visit Iran, Syria, North Korea and, interestingly, "North Vietnam" to cement "strategic alliances" with those countries. On his return, he will continue his close relationship with Cuba’s dictator Fidel Castro. Castro has a long history of fomenting subversion in Latin America and elsewhere. Under Castro, Cuba -- also a state sponsor of terrorism -- has hosted and provided sanctuary to members of the FARC and the ELN, as well as to militants of the Basque terrorist group ETA. Castro and Chavez are using a variety of means to try to help individuals who share their worldview come to power via the electoral route.

Dan's Thoughts:

Gosh. Thanks, Venezuela.

Thanks for agreeing to help us pay for the oil that you are overcharging us for. Thanks for using whatever money we give you to support your extreme socialist government. Thanks for being a friend of our enemies. Thanks for all of the anti-US rhetoric. Thanks for the way you will use your new complete and total power in Venezuela to run free enterprise out of the country.

Venezuela is truly an enemy of freedom. I personally won't buy from Citgo again.

Aloha.

Mk19 video link

I have received a request to see the Mk19 in action. Here is a video link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocsciQfrvJ0

You can find others on Youtube.

Aloha.

Favorite part of BCT

I have been asked by many what my favorite part of basic training was. Well, here it is:



This is the Mk19 Automatic Grenade Launcher! It will launch 40mm grenades at the rate of about 1/second. While they never let the recruits fire this weapon live, we did fire in simulation. We also practiced on the real thing. We practiced loading, unloading, setting it up, etc.

Anything that can put 60 grenades down-range in a minute is pretty cool. (As if I needed to say that.)

To learn more follow the links below:

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/mk19.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mk_19_grenade_launcher

Aloha.

The rules, they are a changin'

Pentagon Abandons Active-Duty Time Limit
Pentagon Abandoning Its Limit on Total Active-Duty Time Required of Guard and Reserve


http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/IraqCoverage/wireStory?id=2788666&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

So. There it is. Good news, deployments will now be about 12 months instead of 18. Bad news, you won't get just one in 6 years.

After this war is over, we (as a nation) really need to look at how we handle this "citizen soldier" thing. Previously, we viewed these individuals as people who drilled 1 weekend a month and two weeks in the summer, but never get deployed. Now, we view these individuals as soldiers who happen to take some time off from the military to do other things, like work, available at a moment's notice to deploy repeatedly in short timeframes when the understrength, overworked regular forces can't be everywhere at once.

I don't believe either is a balanced view. While the demands of a "citizen soldier" can be reasonably expected to include a deployment or two (or even three) in a twenty year career, we need to resource our military with the active duty troops necessary to handle the "active duty" that we are calling on our military for, such as war.

The concepts of the reserves and the National Guard were to supply a ready, trained force in case of major conflict where we needed to identify and be able to call trained individuals into service QUICKLY. They were also seen as the nation's strategic defense in case of attack on our nation's soil. However, we are into this war over 5 years now. The quickly part has come and gone.

While I believe we can still win this war, things are progressing, and positive things will come of this, I believe one of the positive things that needs to come out of this is the discussion of where our citizen soldiers fit in our military planning. I would argue that, in the last 5 years, we have overcorrected and need to adjust back to some balanced state, where citizen soldiers get to have time to develop the citizen part of that citizen soldier label.

Aloha.