Hump Day.... Wednesday, October 20th

Bill O'Reilly made an appearance on "The View" last week to promote his new book, "Pinheads and Patriots". During the show they were talking about the Ground Zero Mosque when Bill said that "Muslims attacked us on 9/11". Joy Behar, who is a known "truther", took exception and, when her intellectual abilities were not capable of articulating her point of view, she feigned outrage and, joined by Whoopie, she stormed off the stage. Barbara Walters quickly chastised these two and they later returned to the stage. I think they should have been allowed to stay off the stage -permanently. One surprise in this was Bill Mahr. He made several comments on his program actually sticking up for Bill O'Reilly and agreeing that the underlying fact is that we were attacked by Muslims on 9/11 and that it was perfectly all right to say so- will wonders never cease...

Tiffany Hartley, the wife of David Hartley, has told authorities that Mexican pirates shot and killed her husband September 30 on Falcon Lake, a popular fishing destination that straddles the U.S.-Mexico border. Zapata County, Texas, Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez, whose news conferences have drawn national attention to the case over the past two weeks, said Hartley's suspected killers may be already dead. The suspected shooting death of an American by gunmen linked to a Mexican drug cartel has brought unwanted attention to a cartel known as Los Zetas and may have resulted in a death sentence for the killers. "It's more likely than not that more senior people in the organization are unhappy about what happened here because this brings pressure from the United States and Mexican authorities," Robert Chesney, a terrorism and national security expert at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, told CNN on Friday. "Let's face it," he added, "none of these cartels have any strategic interest in bringing more attention to their operations. That cannot be good for them. If anything, they are going to try to avoid situations like this." Howard Campbell, University of Texas at El Paso professor and author of "Drug War Zone," said the suspected killing is most likely the work of cartel-connected young thugs - and a grievous mistake. "There are reports that recently the Zetas have become a bit desperate and have been using ill-trained, reckless teenagers which can lead to mistakes of this kind," he told CNN in an e-mail Friday. "The leaders of Mexican drug cartels try to minimize attacks on Americans because they know this would bring pressure on their organizations." In comments that aired Thursday on CNN's "American Morning," Hartley said that she met with Rolando Armando Flores Villegas, the lead Mexican investigator in her husband's case, days before the police officer was killed and his severed head delivered to authorities in a suitcase.

On this day in 1803 the US Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase and in 1944 US forces under Gen Douglas MacArthur return to the Philippines

The rescue of the miners from the mine in Chile had a happy ending. The whole world watched at every step as the rescue capsule was lowered and loaded with each miner then brought to the surface and the arms of a cheering crowd. There was one aspect about all this that I hope does not escape notice. The company at the center of the rescue -the guys that designed the special drill bit able to go through 2000 feet of solid rock and create the rescue capsule that enabled the miners to get our of that hell hole - that was a small American Company. A new "start up" company whose good old American ingenuity was able to design and manufacture that equipment. Hey, Mr. Obama, that is what American small businesses are all about. Hey, how about showing a little pride (and stop the punishing regulations and taxes your administration is becoming so infamous for).

Long Life and Prosper.....