Happy birthday, to all of us.

Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Today is the 94th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme.

“B.H. Liddell Hart, who was in the 9th Battalion of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, explains. Just before the Somme attack, “the officers assembled in the headquarters mess, in a typical Picardy farmhouse. Recent strain between the commanding officer and some of the others led to an embarrassing pause when the senior company commander was called on to propose a toast to the C.O. On a sudden inspiration, he raised his glass and gave the toast with the words: ‘Gentlemen, when the barrage lifts’.”

The battalion attacked with some 800 men. Twenty-four hours later its strength was 80 men and four officers.”

This very good piece by Doctor Zero over at Hot Air is worth your time:

The Greenroom » Night of the Yeoman.

YouTube – The Whitest Kids U’Know – Clint Webb for Senate.

So, Chavez’ and company threaten to nationalize the assets of an American company. Me thinks we need to park an Aegis Cruiser off said rigs, but I would not hold my breath with our current leadership. Would Hugo even make the threat if a better man occupied 1600 Pennsylvania Ave?

PDVSA to Seek Seizure of 11 Helmerich & Payne Rigs – BusinessWeek.

Great piece on ‘Zero Tolerance’ policies over at: Classical Values :: Flying in the face of zero tolerance.

Barack Obama, Dreamer in Chief – Charles Krauthammer – National Review Online.