Texas Supreme Court Tells Houston: Repeal Gay Rights Ordinance or Put It to Vote

There is now near certainty that Houston's controversial equal rights ordinance, known as HERO, will appear on the November ballot, as Texas Supreme Court has suspended it, ruling that City Council must repeal it by August 24 or put it to popular vote.

"We will now get to vote on Mayor Parker's personal, liberal, LGBT agenda this November!" Jared Woodfill, former Harris County Republican Party chief and ones of the plaintiffs, wrote in a blog post.




Read more at the Christian Post Read More......

Want to make a difference today?

Operation Homefront(fb) Via Soldiers' Angels (Official)fb: WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE today? Please go vote for a Ft. Hood hero. He's candidate number 2, a survivor of the Ft Hood tragedy, and in the running for a new vehicle from an Omaha dealership: VOTE HERE! Read More......

Band Of Brothers Hero, Darrell 'Shifty' Powers Dies

(Circulating via email/Hat tip: Trey Sisson CDR XO (VFA-115) Embarked USS RONALD REAGAN) Author Unknown: One of the "Band of Brothers" soldiers died on June 17, 2009. ∴ We're hearing a lot today about big splashy memorial services. ∴ I want a nationwide memorial service for Darrell "Shifty" Powers.

Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Infantry. If you’ve seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10 episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.

I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn’t know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman having trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was at the right gate, and noticed the “Screaming Eagle”, the symbol of the 101st Airborne, on his hat.

Making conversation, I asked him if he’d been in the 101st Airborne or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the 101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked him when he served, and how many jumps he made.

Quietly and humbly, he said “Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so, and was in until sometime in 1945 . . . ” at which point my heart skipped.

At that point, again, very humbly, he said “I made the 5 training jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . . . . do you know where Normandy is?” At this point my heart stopped.

I told him yes, I know exactly where Normandy was, and I know what D-Day was. At that point he said “I also made a second jump into Holland, into Arnhem.” I was standing with a genuine war hero . . . . and then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of D-Day.

I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France, and he said “Yes. And it’s real sad because these days so few of the guys are left, and those that are, lots of them can’t make the trip.” My heart was in my throat and I didn’t know what to say.

I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in Coach, while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have it, that I’d take his in coach.

He said “No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are still some who remember what we did and still care is enough to make an old man very happy.” His eyes were filling up as he said it. And mine are brimming up now as I write this.

Shifty died on June 17 after fighting cancer.

There was no parade.

No big event in Staples Center.

No wall to wall back to back 24x7 news coverage.

No weeping fans on television.

And that's not right.

Let's give Shifty his own Memorial Service, online, in our own quiet
way. Please forward this email to everyone you know. Especially to the
veterans.

Rest in peace, Shifty.

---

"A nation without heroes is nothing." --Roberto Clemente

Photo: From Wikipedia Read More......

Medal of Honor awarded one year ago

April 2008, MA2 Michael A. Monsoor, USN was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor


Video posted by SEAL Brotherhood

On 29 September 2006, 25-year old Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor (MA2) was killed during operations in enemy-held territory at Ar Ramadi, Iraq, when he threw himself on top of a grenade in order to save the lives of his fellow SEALs. As described in the final two paragraphs of a Summary of Action (SOA) regarding the circumstances of his death:

While vigilantly watching for enemy activity, an enemy fighter hurled a hand grenade onto the roof from an unseen location. The grenade hit him in the chest and bounced onto the deck. He immediately leapt to his feet and yelled “grenade” to alert is teammates of impending danger, but they could not evacuate the sniper hide-sight in time to escape harm. Without hesitation and showing no regard for his own life, he threw himself onto the grenade, smothering it to protect his teammates who were lying in close proximity. The grenade detonated as he came down on top of it, mortally wounding him.

Petty Officer Monsoor’s action could not have been more selfless or clearly intentional. Of the three SEALSs on that rooftop corner, he had the only avenue of escape away from the blast, and if he had so chosen, he could have easily escaped. Instead, Monsoor chose to protect his comrades by the sacrifice of his own life. By his courageous and selfless action, he save the lives of his two fellow SEALs and he is the most deserving of the special recognition afforded by awarding the Medal of Honor.

On 8 April 2008, Michael Monsoor (who had already been posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his actions in a 9 May 2006 incident, when he and another SEAL pulled a wounded team member to safety amidst gunfire) was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. His funeral, attended (in the words of President Bush) by “nearly every SEAL on the West Coast,” was held on 12 October 2006 at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego. As shown at the end of the tribute video (above), during Monsoor’s funeral service, as the casket was taken from the hearse to the gravesite, fellow SEALs lined up in two columns to slap and embed the gold Tridents (a pin awarded for successful completion of Seal Qualification Training) from their uniforms onto the top of Monsoor’s coffin. As President George W. Bush said of the event during the Medal of Honor ceremony, “The procession went on nearly half an hour, and when it was over, the simple wooden coffin had become a gold-plated memorial to a hero who will never be forgotten.”

Michael A. Monsoor, Navy SEAL
Rest in peace young warrior

Trident

For lack of a photograph of the Trident studded casket of Petty Officer Michael A. Monsoor, the studded casket shown is that of another fallen SEAL, Petty Officer James E. Suh.

Sources: U.S. Navy/MOH
Snopes
Full White House Video of Medal of Honor Ceremony
(H/t: Linda Weimer) Read More......