The Being Conservative team saw this heart-wrenching yet sobering reminder of our troops’ sacrifice and wanted to share. This is a photo of Landon. His father, Marine LCPL Andrew Carpenter, was killed in Afghanistan a month before he was born.

Lance Cpl. Carpenter was killed in Afghanistan February 19th of this year.

Marine Lance Cpl. Andrew Carpenter, a member of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, was shot in the neck while on patrol in southern Afghanistan. The bullet severed his spinal cord. His heart stopped and it took officials 43 minutes to revive him. Medical officials later declared the 27-year-old brain dead.

~~~

Father Kevin Carpenter spoke with The Daily Herald on Saturday from Germany, where his son was hospitalized. He and his wife flew there last week to spend time with their son.

“We got to tell him we love him. We got to see him. And even though he wasn’t there, we got to hold him,” he said.

The Marine’s father said officials tried their best to keep his son alive and considered flying him back to the U.S. to let his wife see him, but they believe he would have died during the flight.

Crissie Ponder could not fly to Germany because she is pregnant and expecting to give birth in less than two weeks.

Andrew Carpenter joined the Marines in 2007 and was serving his second deployment in Afghanistan. Kevin Carpenter said his son was due back sometime this spring. He married Ponder in 2010.

She declined comment to the newspaper, but wrote on her husband’s Facebook page: “You will always be my soul mate and my best friend forever. … I look forward to seeing you in Heaven one day, baby.”

Cpl. Joseph Davis, who has known Carpenter since childhood, will escort the Marine’s body back to Tennessee once he reaches U.S. soil.

Davis said his friend was always happy wherever he went.

“He lived a full life,” Davis said. “He loved doing what he was doing. He was glad to serve.”

A section of street in his hometown of Columbia Tennessee was named in his honor.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Hat tip: Skye Puppy

Occupy L.A. is finally over:

“They were like storm troopers. They encircled us,” said protester Cheryl Aichele, who was sitting in the middle of the south lawn in a circle with other protesters when police first entered the camp.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

Toward the end of the operation, a large group of protesters that had locked arms in the middle of the south lawn chanted to police making arrests: “You’re sexy. You’re cute. Take off your riot suit.”

Thankfully, most of this was peaceful (love the free hugs offers from smelly 21st century hippies) and I think the LA police did a great job of controlling the temperament of the occupying squatters.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

The conclusion of the raid marked the end of a two-month tent city that the City Council initially welcomed, with then-Council President Eric Garcetti telling protesters they could “stay as long as you need.”

But city leaders began withdrawing their support as the demonstrators seemed determined to stay indefinitely.

By 5 a.m., the protest site was in shambles, and what was left of the tents was strewn across the ground.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times

*UPDATE* 08:45

Gotta include this video clip of Treehouse Guy (Emmanuel Freeman):

Click here to view the embedded video.

And another brilliant, Well-Reasoned Occupy Guy:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The inaugural Warrior Open golf tournament, presented by the George W. Bush Presidential Center, was held at Las Colinas Country Club Oct.10-11, 2011. Photo by Eric Draper

President Bush talks with warrior Dale Beatty and his son Lucas, who was also his caddy, during the practice round of the Warrior Open, Sunday, October 9, 2011. Photo by Grant Miller.

President Bush played a few holes during the practice round with warrior Dan Nevins on Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011. Photo by Eric Draper — at Las Colinas Country Club.

President Bush will host the Warrior Open golf tournament in Dallas, Texas October 10-11. To learn more and to apply, visit http://warrioropen.com/. Photo by Grant Miller

President Bush and Dan Nevins walk to the next hole during the practice round of the Bush Center inaugural Warrior Open Golf Tournament, Las Colinas Country Club, Irving, Texas, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011. Photo by Eric Draper

President Bush celebrates a warrior's putt during the practice round of the inaugural Warrior Open Golf Tournament on Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011. Photo by Eric Draper

HuffPo:

the former commander-in-chief tells The Associated Press there’s one aspect of his presidency he still misses: interaction with U.S. troops. And Bush, who sent them to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, says that despite his desire to remain largely out of the public eye, he wants to make sure veterans and military members know they still have his support.

“I was a little concerned that our veterans don’t think that I still respect them and care for them a lot,” Bush told the AP. He added later, “There’s nothing as courageous in my judgment as someone who had a leg blown off in combat overcoming the difficulties.”

Bush is hosting next week’s Warrior Open golf tournament in suburban Dallas, an event featuring members of the U.S. Armed Forces wounded while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, including those who lost limbs and suffered brain injuries. Bush joined more than a dozen wounded military members in the Warrior 100 – a 62-mile mountain bike ride he hosted in West Texas last spring.

These public appearances are the exception to the lifestyle Bush has led in his post-presidency.

After leaving office two years ago, Bush and former first lady Laura Bush bought a house in Dallas and started work on the George W. Bush Presidential Center, slated to open in 2013. He has attended select events relating to the center, as well as a ceremony with President Barack Obama marking the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But he has largely remained out of the public eye.

Bush said he doesn’t want veterans to mistake his private nature with a lack of appreciation for what they’ve done on the battlefield.

“They hadn’t seen me and they hadn’t seen me with the troops,” he said. “So therefore I am using mountain biking and golf to stay connected with the military, people who served during my presidency.”

Military members and veterans groups have generally held Bush in high regard, despite the nationwide protests and international controversy that grew more fervent as the American death toll grew in Afghanistan and Iraq under his command.

~~~

Bush, who since leaving office also has made appearances at events for organizations that benefit troops, said he gets inspiration from meeting members of the military who have overcome serious injuries. He said there’s not much he misses about the presidency, but added he does miss being commander-in-chief because he has “great respect for those men and women who wear the uniform.”

Brian “Ski” Donarski, 43, is among the veterans Bush has invited to the two-day golf tournament that starts Monday. The Army first lieutenant was seriously wounded when a mine blew up in Iraq in 2006 and spent 13 months rehabilitating from a traumatic brain injury, a fracture in his neck, bulged disks in his back and undergoing shoulder surgery.

Though Bush has spent most of the past couple of years out of the limelight, Donarski never doubted the former president’s commitment to the troops.

“I know he didn’t forget us,” he said.

David Hartley, police chief of the small southeast Texas town of Hempstead, also supports Bush, even after losing his 25-year-old son, Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Lee Hartley, in 2008 in Iraq. For the last two years, the chief has organized the Watermelon Run for the Fallen in Hempstead to raise money for organizations that help veterans and their families. Hartley, whose last run drew about 3,500 people, also said he’s never doubted the Republican president’s commitment to the troops.

“The man literally cares for our troops and I have the upmost respect for him,” Hartley said. “Everything he does, he does from his heart.”

Besides interacting with veterans and service members, Bush plans to stay involved in public policy through his already-active institute, which focuses on education reform, global health, human freedom and economic growth.

But, he makes clear, “I don’t miss the fame.” He said he and Laura are content with their life back in Texas, where he served as governor for six years before winning the presidency.

This is the latest popular image that seems to be making its rounds amongst my liberal friends on Facebook…

Conquests and Cultures:

Another cliché among the American chattering class is that the European discovery of the Western hemisphere was an unmitigated disaster for the native peoples. Columbus Day is now an occasion for mourning and self-flagellation. But, Sowell points out, there were benefits as well as costs. Diseases that ravaged the natives were spread by whites—ruthless conquistador and benevolent missionary alike—but so was the ability to combat all disease. Liquor led to much drunkenness, but European manufactured goods, such as cloth, were superior to the products the Indians could produce themselves, and they gladly traded to get them. There certainly was inexcusable brutality against the Indians, but, given the degree of brutality that had existed among Indians for centuries, establishing the Western idea of the rule of law undoubtedly reduced the prevalence of violence in the long run.

The fact that cultural contact gave some benefits to the Indians is no justification for forced resettlements, reneging on treaties, or massacres. Sowell makes no such argument. He merely observes that history is a very mixed bag of causes and effects.

It’s no longer politically correct, and hasn’t been for decades, but…Happy Columbus Day!

In fairness, Columbus was an exceptional sailor and entrepreneur who was obsessed, as so many were at the time, with finding a quicker and more cost-effective route from Europe to China and India. He bumped into America because it was in the way.

So Columbus’ motivation was self-interest. He did not explore to improve humanity, but he didn’t do it to inflict catastrophe either.

I’m not even sure why we celebrate/recognize Columbus Day at all since it only peripherally has anything at all remotely to do with North America…

U.S. Army Spc. Michael Leone walks with Afghan kids while providing security on patrol in the Purchaman district in Afghanistan's Farah province, Sept. 26, 2011. Leone is assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 182 Infantry Regiment, security force for Provincial Reconstruction Team Farah. The team attends shuras throughout the province to demonstrate support for the shura elders, the district governor and provincial governance. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airmen Alexandra Hoachlander

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jason Roberts speaks with children in the Mehtar Lam district in Afghanistan's Laghman province, Sept. 26, 2011. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Ryan Crane

U.S. Army Capt. Brandon Delatorre and Staff Sgt. Jason Roberts walk and talk with children in the Mehtar Lam district in Afghanistan's Laghman province, Sept. 26, 2011. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Ryan Crane

Also, check out CJ’s photo of the day.

Hat tip: Guy Benson

LATImes:

– it took a lot of special effects to make the toned actor look like the skinny military hopeful he’s supposed to be at the beginning of the story.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Evans told Reuters. “They took shape out of my jaw line, they shrunk my skeleton and they made my shoulders less broad.”

Those rippling muscles on his Captain America alter-ego, however, are anything but CGI — the actor put on 15 pounds of muscle to play the part.

Everyone’s raving about Chris Evans in the film and how, thanks to CGI, they are able to make the actor look like a 90 lb soaking-wet weakling when the actor has in fact packed on 15 lbs of real muscle; but what they aren’t telling you is that after his character receives the super-soldier serum, that body doesn’t belong to Chris Evans either.

FA has obtained the exclusive rights to a behind-the-scenes photo of the real actor/stunt double, who just happens to be a real-life super-soldier about to deploy to Afghanistan:

Behind that Captain America half-mask, the rugged patriotic scowl, and brandishing that star-spangled shield,is FA’s very own CJ. Believe it or not, neither CGI nor photoshopping was involved in this picture of America’s finest super-soldier! The Taliban and al-Qaeda have no idea what’s coming their way!

Based upon the above photo, an artist made the following rendition of CJ (most have confused it for Chris Evans as the artist’s live model):

WaPo:

Even his name exudes an America that time forgot: Steve Rogers, who as channeled by Chris Evans embodies the kind of wisdom, bravery and fairness that a country mired in debt and political rancor could use right around now. “I don’t like bullies,” Rogers says simply before joining the U.S. Army in 1942. Some time later, after he’s been pumped up by a muscle-building serum even Roger Clemens would envy, someone asks Rogers, “What makes you so special?” “Nothin’,” he replies. “I’m just a kid from Brooklyn.” Sure, but one who was knocking Hitler on the jaw when he was first introduced to comic book readers in 1941 (goading a recalcitrant administration into doing the right thing).

This seems to be the year of the super hero movies:

The movie looks enjoyable. Anyone who is seeing it care to offer up a review?

I was never a fan of Captain America as a comic book reader growing up; but as an adult, I’ve become sensitive to how symbolic the character is (he turned my stomach when he fell into the clutches of anti-Bush writers); or at the least, the potential this character has in embodying American idealism and exceptionalism.

I’m not expecting this to be a flag-waving, “rah rah America #&%@ yeah, we’re #1!” kind of movie; just good old-fashioned entertainment, good vs. bad, that is respectful of America and absent of Hollywood liberal worldview messages.

Michael Medved writes:

Hollywood increasingly depends on overseas markets, so executives at Paramount Studios worried about anti-American sentiment hurting their new film, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER. They therefore offered foreign distributors the chance to sell the film simply as THE FIRST AVENGER, but only three nations made that choice: Russia, Ukraine and South Korea.

The rest of the world embraced the CAPTAIN AMERICA title, suggesting that hatred of the US may be less a factor than we think.

I’m still baffled that they didn’t capitalize upon a 4th of July weekend opening here in the States.

Previously (Related post):
Truth, Justice, and the UN Way

No, this isn’t a picture describing Obama’s military budget cuts. I took this picture today here at Ft. Hood because of the absurdity of it! This Soldier is cutting the grass WITH A KEVLAR ON!!

Is the Army afraid that an armed ninja groundhog is going to spring from the grass and open up with a fury never before witnessed on earth? Maybe we’re worried that the sky is going to all on his head. Or, perhaps, he may fall off the lawn mower going around a corner and the impact from falling two and half feet would be too much for his noggin! Yet, we’re forcing him to wear an Advanced Combat Helmet – a piece of equipment worth more than $1,000 – to mow the lawn!

So, that got me to thinking about safety. I mean, if we’re serious about safety, I noticed some glaring violations here:

1. No reflective belt. He could get hit by a semi-truck that just didn’t see him!
2. No steel toed boots. What if he falls off and the mower runs over his toes! Oh the horror!
3. No hearing protection. Yes, it’s a John Deere and probably not that loud, but what if a rocks ricochets off the building and lodges in his inner ear canal?
4. No M9 pistol. How else would he deal with that ninja groundhog?!
5. No IFAK (Improved First Aid Kit). I mean without wearing all the other stuff, he NEEDS this!
6. No gloves. That steering wheel has to be hot in the Texas sun.
7. No knee or elbow pads. In order for him to be able to take out the ninja groundhog, he’ll need to a quick PLF off the mower into a duck and roll fighting position. We don’t need him skinning up vital joints in the process.
8. No NCO. WHY ISN’T THERE A SERGEANT PROTECTING THIS TROOPER AND WATCHING HIS SIX?!