Gateway Pundit’s Jim Hoft has lost his mother. Our sympathies to Jim and his family on their loss.

Andrew Lubin, who blogs at The Military Observer, is headed back to Afghanistan, and is asking for support to help pay travel expenses. Andrew asked us to mention that his book “Charlie Battery; A Marine Artillery Battery in Iraq” is available for sale off his website, www.andrewlubin.com. Book sales are his primary source of funding his embeds.

This is his fourth trip to Afghanistan, along with multiple past trips into Iraq. His work also appears Leatherneck, Small Wars Journal, Proceedings (U.S. Naval Institute), and others. He’s one of those few free-lance correspondents who goes out in the field with the Marines and soldiers; he understands both the strategies and tactics over which he writes. He has embedded and written from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Beirut.

“Charlie Battery; A Marine Artillery Battery in Iraq” won the Military Writers Society of America’s 2007 Gold Medal for best military non-fiction. It’s about his Marine son and his artillery battery fighting at An-Nasiriyah, six years ago this week.

It’s a great book, and in this market, he needs all our support. Without reader support, trips like this would not be possible.

My mother video taped the Tea Party in Phila. on Sat Feb 28th. It’s on Youtube.

July Linett (www.becauseitstrue.org)

Eric Florak says it well:

Call it what you will , but conservatives organizing protests is something unheard of in recent times. That it happens at all with conservatives, is a huge story. we expect the left to be generating these kind of things. Not the right.

It’s also true that that lack of protest over the years, probably accounts for a large part of the amateurish nature of the whole thing.

This is out of character for conservatives. That they do reach so far out of their character to do things like this, indicates the degree of anger going on. As I’ve suggested before in these spaces, anger is something which is not to be underestimated, as motivation.

I suspect this is going to be a turning point in our history . I have very little in the way of doubt that these organizations will continue to grow and learn and gain influence.

Mountain people will tell you that avalanches start with something as small as a raindrop , or a pebble.

There are more protests being organized nationwide. Keep looking at these sites for more information:

New American Tea Party
Pajamas’s Media

Surprise! The AP seems to have gotten its story about Army Emergency Relief a little wrong.

John of Argghhh:

Just where did Donn get his information? We really don’t know. Col. Cohen isn’t exactly sure, and neither are his counterparts at other military charities. The AP article says that they analyzed the tax records of the AER, but if they were doing such a great job, how did they miss the following:

1. During the period in question ( ’03-07), the AER distributed $250 MILLION in financial assistance
2. Outstanding loan balances are considered an asset of the trust, even though the money is actually not in their possession. Much like a 401(k) plan, outstanding loan balances are included in the total assets, as if they money was still there, because it’s expected to be repaid. Only when a loan is defaulted upon is it reported as an actual expense. Considering the increase in aid given over the past few years, this fact alone explains the increase in “cash” reserves. It’s simple accounting that AP doesn’t seem to understand.
3. Current investment capital available for grants and loans fluctuates between $190-$200 million, depending on the day and how well the market is doing. Donn says that the fund swelled to $345 million between 2003-2007, and perhaps at one point it was… but it’s not now. The trust is not sitting idly. In order to be a good steward of the money, it’s invested, awaiting distribution to soldiers and their families.
4. During the period in question, the AER distributed nearly twice as much in aid as they received in donations and loan repayments.

In From the Cold:

If all of this sounds a bit familiar, it should. In December 2007, the Washington Post ran a similar piece on a wider range of military charities. But the conclusions were strikingly similar, and the AP tracked down some of the same critics contacted by the Post, including Daniel Borochoff, President of the American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP). We should note that the Post article was based on a report from Borochoff’s organization.

But that assessment also revealed a fundamental misunderstanding of how the AER–and its Air Force and Navy counterparts–operate. In his 2007 report, Mr. Borochoff wondered why the charities didn’t spend more money on homeless veterans. Apparently, he didn’t understand there are virtually no homeless among the groups served by these charities–active-duty military personnel, retirees and their families.