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Monthly Archives: October 2011

Latest 2012 Presidential Polls (14 Oct 11 Edition)

A new Rasmussen Reports poll conducted 12 Oct 11 has been released concerning the Republican Tea Party (GOTP) nominating circus; there are no big surprises except it validates Cain is a real contender – for now – and everyone (Gingrich, Perry, Paul, Bachmann, Santorum and Huntsman) except Romney is out of the contest.

The current Rasmussen Reports poll results are:

Herman “Pizza Man” Cain 29; Mittens Romney 29; Newter Gingrich 10; Reverend Rick Perry 9; Ronny Paul 5; Michele “Krazy” Bachmann 4; Jon “I can’t believe it’s not butter” Huntsman and Ricky “The Ric” Santorum 2

What’s really interesting with this poll from Rasmussen (which notoriously slants to the far right) is who does Rasmussen want to win it all? The Pizza Man is still riding high at the end of the week tied with Crown Prince Mittens perhaps still proving he’s more than just Palin’s “flavor of the week”; Perry’s plummeted off the scope, along with Newter (who was never a serious contender); Paul and Krazy continue sharing a rubber room in political purgatory; while Huntsman and Santorum are still consistently bringing up the rear.

In Iowa, there’s no change; the PPP (D) poll conducted from 07 – 10 Oct 11: Cain 30; Romney 22; Paul 10; Perry 9; Bachmann and Gingrich both 8; Santorum 5 and Huntsman 1…

A new Magellan Strategies (R) poll conducted 12 – 13 Oct 11 shows Mittens pulling a little further in the lead in New Hampshire (news is NH primary may move up to as early as 3 December to counter Florida’s attempt to become the first primary); the Magellan Strategies (R) poll results: Mittens 41; Cain 20; Paul 10; Gingrich and Huntsman 6; Bachmann 4; Perry and Santorum 2 while Gary Johnson trails with 1.

No change since adding South Carolina Primary this week – a poll conducted by Winthrop from 11 – 18 Sep 11 shows a very tight race up front: Perry 31; Romney 27; Cain 8; Gingrich 5; Bachmann and Paul 4; Huntsman and Santorum both 2.

According to a new Time poll conducted 9 – 10 Oct 11, if the general election were held today:

President Obama 48/Romney 44

President Obama 50/Cain 38

President Obama 51/Perry 40

The PPP (D) poll conducted 7 – 10 Oct 11

President Obama 50/Gingrich 39

President Obama 47/Paul 39

President Obama 50/Bachmann 38

Still can’t fathom why Rasmussen Reports conducted a poll 2 – 3 Oct 11 to see how Santorum was doing:

President Obama 45/Santorum 34

No new results concerning Huntsman

President Obama/Huntsman

It’s still appears that where a match up with the President is concerned pollsters appear to have decided Huntsman’s done (was he ever in it?); of course, truth be told, so are Santorum, Bachmann, Perry, Paul and Gingrich. Sometime soon we’ll begin to see these “candidates” begin to drop out as they simply won’t have the funding necessary to continue. There’s a chance Bachmann is egotistical and “Krazy” enough to try for a third party run, but the others will pack it in and support whoever wins.

Pizza Man continues to annoy Mittens by being anywhere close to the top, much less tied for first – look for Mittens and the others to really go after Cain in the next debate as none of them want to see him as the nominee.

So, if the GOTP clown car had finally stopped spinning, and the general election was held today, Pizza Man or Mittens would now be the GOTP candidate, and would have lost to President Obama.

 
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Posted by on October 14, 2011 in 2012 Election

 

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GOTP House passes misogynistic legislation giving Pope authority to kill American women?

So, let me get this straight, during a time when Americans are facing severe economic distress the Republican Tea Party (GOTP) House of Representatives has nothing better to do with its time than to debate and pass a bill it knows will die in the Senate?

The Huffington Post is reporting that GOTP majority House yesterday passed the so-called Protect Life Act, which prohibits women from buying health insurance plans covering abortion under the Affordable Care Act and makes it legal for hospitals to deny abortions to pregnant women with life-threatening conditions.

Whatever happened to “first do no harm”? I guess the woman’s life is to be valued less than the unborn baby’s is? Do these idiots understand if the Mom dies probably the baby does too? Are we killing two birds with one stone, or just deciding a woman who would choose an abortion isn’t worthy to live in the Tea Party’s Brave New World?

GOTP House Majority Leader Eric Cantor – of course a huge proponent of the bill – told voters last week its purpose is “to ensure that no taxpayer dollars flow to health care plans that cover abortion and no health care worker has to participate in abortions against their will.”

Earth to dip stick, NO FEDERAL DOLLARS NOW GO NOR WILL GO UNDER “OBAMACARE” TO FUND ABORTIONS!

Did you fall out of your clown car and get dragged down the street your head bouncing repeatedly on the pavement?

How many times is the GOTP going to perpetrate this falsehood? Talk about propaganda – telling the big lie long enough for everyone to believe it; well fortunately we don’t all have out radios tuned to Limbaugh and our TVs locked on FOX.

The Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare) already keeps public dollars separate from the private insurance payments covering abortion, and a federal judge ruled in August that the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List had to stop making the claim on its website that “Obamacare” subsidizes abortions because the assertion is false.

“The express language of the [Affordable Care Act] does not provide for taxpayer-funded abortion,” the opinion states. “That is a fact, and it is clear on its face.”

Maybe the Judge needs to include the GOTP in his ruling? Cantor is a schmuck; he knows there’s no public dollars going to fund abortion and he’s using it as a flag to wave in what he further knows is going to be a very tough re-election year for his GOTP majority.

Huffington reports H.R. 358 goes beyond the issue of taxpayer dollars to place actual limits on the way a woman spends her own money however; the bill would also prevent a woman from buying a private insurance plan that includes abortion coverage through a state health care exchange, even though most insurance plans currently cover abortion.

So, the GOTP which prides itself on proclaiming how it’s opposed to government intrusion into private lives has absolutely no qualms about intruding into private lives when it comes to abortion?

What’s even more abhorrent about the bill is that allows hospitals that are “morally” opposed to abortion, such as Catholic establishments, to do nothing for a woman who requires an emergency abortion procedure to save her life, to basically condemn a wife, daughter, mother, sister, aunt, cousin or friend to death; talk about death panels – now we’re going to allow the Pope to decide (with Congressional approval) who lives and who dies? When did the United States become a protectorate to the Vatican?

Reportedly, current law requires hospitals give patients in life-threatening situations whatever care they need, regardless of the patient’s financial situation, but the Protect Life Act would make a hospital’s obligation to provide care in medical emergencies secondary to its refusal to provide abortions.

Democratic Congresswoman Jackie Speier said she personally faced a situation in which an abortion was medically necessary.

“I was pregnant, I was miscarrying, I was bleeding,” she said on the House floor Thursday. “If I had to go from one hospital to the next trying to find one emergency room that would take me in, who knows if I would even be here today. What my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are trying to do is misogynist.”

Yes Congresswoman it does appear that way, but what’s worse is that the uber-conservative GOTP House majority is trying to enforce its limited Draconian view of Christian ethics upon the country. Talk about Shariah law – clearly they don’t understand the concept of separation of Church and State.

Of course all the uber-right morons have done is given their opponents another stick to beat them with come November 2012 – they threw Grandma under the bus going on record supporting Ryan’s economic plan and now they’re on record throwing the rest of the women in the country under the next bus.

This bill is DOA when it reaches the Senate, and as I said at the beginning of this post, Americans are facing economic distress and this is what the GOTP spends its time on? You ran on a platform of creating jobs in 2010, do you really think 100 + bills seeking to eliminate a woman’s right to choose is going unnoticed? And what’s more, heaven help any of you when some woman you love is dying and some Neanderthal of a doctor – dressed in Papal gowns – refuses to save her life because the baby is more important. What kinds of Gods do you pray to that would require the life of the mother in order to prove some show of faith?

Who knows, since you’ve opened up this box of Pandora’s, maybe some future Congress will pass a bill allowing hospitals the right to refuse to perform prostate surgery in order to save a man stricken with cancer because it might interfere with his ability to procreate.

 
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Posted by on October 14, 2011 in Abortion

 

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The original tea party members …

 
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Posted by on October 13, 2011 in Humor

 

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Florida lawmaker calls for firing squads, electric chair?

The Los Angele Times is reporting Florida lawmaker Brad Drake says he’s “sick and tired of this sensitivity movement for criminals” and has introduced a bill ending the state’s practice of execution by lethal injection and replace it with the electric chair — or, if the inmate requests, a firing squad.

Drake, a Republican Tea Party (GOTP) Representative from the Panhandle community of Eucheeanna, introduced the bill Tuesday.

In a news release, Drake highlighted the recent death penalty case of Florida inmate Manual Valle, who had been on death row for three decades for the slaying of a Coral Gables police officer before his ultimate execution by lethal injection 28 Sep 11.

Attorneys for Valle had asked courts to stop the execution, arguing a new injection cocktail including Phenobarbital amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

“Over the past few weeks, there has been much discussion and debate regarding the effectiveness of certain medicines used as preferred method for execution,” Drake said in the statement. “So, I say let’s end the debate. We still have Old Sparky. And if that doesn’t suit the criminal, then we will provide them a .45 caliber lead cocktail instead.”

Would Representative Drake be willing to pull the trigger himself for the firing squads? Because there’s a very valid psychological reason for why most states ended firing squads; it was essentially causing PTSD in the men required to carry out the execution. Drake has the usual contempt for life many uber-conservatives have, especially when the deed will be carried out by someone else.

Florida mostly performed hangings until 1924, when it switched to the electric chair. The state switched to lethal injection in 2000 after a number of botched electrocution attempts caused lawmakers to worry that the U.S. Supreme Court would declare Florida’s death penalty unconstitutional, the Associated Press reported.

The 4 May 90, electrocution of Jesse Tafero caused foot-long jets of smoke and flames to spurt from his head when officials first sent the surge through him, according to court documents. Corrections officials concerned about the flames stopped the process and tried again, resulting in more spurting flames.

It took a third jolt of electricity to kill Tafero. A medical examiner said it took a total of six or seven minutes to kill him.

But of course that would neither be cruel nor unusual enough for someone like Drake. No doubt it wasn’t cruel or excessive enough.

Drake, a marketing executive elected to the state house in 2008, got the idea after chatting with an alleged  fed-up voter at a Waffle House in his district, the AP reported.

It was just your normal conversation over a short stack, “pass the syrup and what do you think of shooting criminals”?

“I think if you ask a hundred people, not even talking to criminals, how would you like to die, if you were drowned, if you were shot, and if you say you were put to sleep, 90% of the people would say I want to be put to sleep,” Drake told the wire service. “Let’s put our pants back on the right way.”

OK, that statement makes less sense than his bill, which probably goes a long way to explaining his thought process. Most people would prefer to be put to sleep, so that means we should go back to using the electric chair or shooting death row inmates? And what’s up with the putting our pants back on thing? Was he eating pancakes without his pants on, or is this his clever Tea Party way of saying the government needs to stop wearing a skirt – because women are weak and men are strong? Drake should be doing insurance commercials because his thinking belongs in a cave with a club.

The real problem with the death penalty is it’s not the deterrent uber-conservatives wish it was; clearly those who murder don’t care, but does that mean they should be allowed to live out the rest of their natural lives? I think the validity of the death penalty is it permanently removes a dangerous killer from the general population – that’s it, nothing else; no other consideration needed; no prison is escape proof, but execution is. Of course there needs to be a reasonable opportunity to appeal a death sentence – but reasonable does not mean decades.

 
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Posted by on October 13, 2011 in Death Penalty

 

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Nathan L. Wyrick

The Seattle Times is reporting an Army sergeant from Tacoma died in Afghanistan this week — the second soldier with local ties reported killed in that country since Saturday.

Sgt. Nathan Wyrick, 34, leaves behind a wife and four sons.

He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y. Sgt. Wyrick was a supply specialist who deployed to Afghanistan in March. He’d had two previous deployments to Iraq.

Word of Sgt. Wyrick’s death circulated Tuesday among Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldiers who knew him from a past assignment and among his fellow worshippers at Lakewood’s New Hope Community Church.

Sgt. Wyrick graduated from Franklin Pierce High School with the class of 1996 and played for the school’s varsity football team, a school spokesman said.

He left a lasting mark on his friends at New Hope church. They remembered him as a generous man who had served in Iraq and looked out for other Army families coping with deployments to the Middle East.

“He was a dad first and foremost, and a soldier second,” said Andrea Wright, 28, of University Place.

Wright learned of Sgt. Wyrick’s death Monday from the soldier’s wife, Rachel Wyrick. They became close friends several years ago when Wright’s husband was assigned to Lewis-McChord.

Another friend said Sgt. Wyrick loved his children so much he had tattoos of their names. He had an affection for other children, too, spending time with Wright’s four sons when her husband served on a deployment overseas.

“He was uncle Nay-Nay,” she said.

The Wyricks moved about a year and a half ago to Fort Drum, N.Y., when Sgt. Wyrick was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division. They’ve visited the South Sound several times since then, friends said.

Dan Livingston, a friend from New Hope Church, admired how Sgt. Wyrick supported his family while serving in the Army. Livingston said Sgt. Wyrick joined the service after first pursuing a career as a civilian electrician.

“He was a real passionate dad who joined the Army to support his family,” Livingston said.

Another friend remembered Sgt. Wyrick as a “gung ho” soldier who never had a bad word to say about others.

“He was proud of the job he did,” said Iona Parker, 60, of Steilacoom. “He did it very well. He wasn’t a shirker and he didn’t bad-mouth anyone.”

The Wyricks stayed with the Parkers just before they moved to New York. Iona Parker said Nathan would spend time in the garage with her husband, talking about military life and “sharing what it means to leave your family and the risks involved.”

“He desperately loved his family,” Parker said.

Sgt. Wyrick is the second soldier with local connections to lose his life in Afghanistan in recent days. Spc. Ricardo Cerros Jr., an Army Ranger from Lewis-McChord, was killed in combat Saturday.

Wyrick is the 1,806th U.S. service member killed in Afghanistan.Material from The Associated Press was included in this report.

 
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Posted by on October 13, 2011 in War on Terror

 

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James B. Wilke

Chief Warrant Officer James B. Wilke, 38, of Ione, died Monday from injuries sustained in a noncombat incident in Doha, Qatar, the Department of Defense said in a statement released Wednesday. He was participating in Operation New Dawn, the mission to stabilize the Iraqi government.

Wilke was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command in Fort Bliss, Texas.

Wilke is the 33rd service member with ties to this area who has died in the War on Terror. He is survived by his wife and mother. Multiple attempts at contacting Wilke’s wife Wednesday afternoon were unsuccessful.

He is the 4,478th U.S. soldier killed in Iraq.

 
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Posted by on October 12, 2011 in War on Terror

 

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Latest 2012 Presidential Polls (12 Oct 11 Edition)

Holy grab me by the throat and slap me with a stick, a PPP (D) poll conducted from 07 – 10 Oct 11 has stood the Republican Tea Party (GOTP) nominating circus on its head.

The current PPP (D) poll results are:

Herman “Pizza Man” Cain 30; Mittens Romney 22; Newter Gingrich 15; Reverend Rick Perry 13; Ronny Paul and Michele “Krazy” Bachmann 5; Jon “I can’t believe it’s not butter” Huntsman 2 and Ricky “The Ric” Santorum 1

So, the Pizza Man delivers an upset in the polls perhaps proving he’s much more than just the “flavor of the week” while Mittens tumbles – perhaps only temporarily from his throne; Perry’s freefall continues, plummeting off the scope, while Newter gains some traction; Paul and Krazy continue floating in political purgatory; while Santorum is upstaged by Huntsman.

In Iowa, a new PPP (D) poll conducted from 07 – 10 Oct 11: Cain 30; Romney 22; Paul 10; Perry 9; Bachmann and Gingrich both 8; Santorum 5 and Huntsman 1…

There’s some movement in the middle of the pack, as a fresh New Hampshire poll from Harvard/Saint Anselm conducted from 2 – 6 Oct 11 indicates: Mittens 38; Cain 20; Paul 13; Gingrich 5; Perry and Huntsman 4; Bachman 3 while Santorum and Gary Johnson both have 1.

This week I’m adding polling concerning the South Carolina Primary – a poll conducted by Winthrop from 11 – 18 Sep 11 shows a very tight race up front: Perry 31; Romney 27; Cain 8; Gingrich 5; Bachmann and Paul 4; Huntsman and Santorum both 2.

According to a the PPP (D) poll, if the general election were held today:

President Obama 45/Romney 45

President Obama 49/Perry 40

President Obama 48/Cain 42

President Obama 50/Gingrich 39

President Obama 47/Paul 39

President Obama 50/Bachmann 38

For some strange reason Rasmussen Reports conducted a poll 2 – 3 Oct 11 to see how Santorum was doing:

President Obama 45/Santorum 34

President Obama/Huntsman

Unfortunately for Huntsman – where a match up with the President is concerned – pollsters appear to have decided it’s time to stick him with the proverbial fork – because he’s done; of course, truth be told, so are Santorum, Bachmann, Perry, Paul and Gingrich.

If the GOTP nomination circus – and the general election – had both ended today, Pizza Man would now be the GOTP candidate, and he would have lost to President Obama.

So, somehow the Pizza Man’s managed to move up on top; but Mittens has seen this song and dance before in this race; Perry held the lead for about six weeks this summer and has now disappeared from the top bracket, and it’s entirely possible if he just sits back and waits it all out – he does have a bit of time to do that – he’ll emerge on top when all the saw dust settles. That’s unless of course Cain’s for real – then Mitt could be playing the part of the best friend in the ugly pink taffeta dress – always a bride’s maid but never the bride.

 
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Posted by on October 12, 2011 in 2012 Election

 

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Mittens facts don’t add up


 
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Posted by on October 12, 2011 in Humor

 

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GOTP wanabees gather and get it wrong in debate – again

The Crazy Eights gathered again to “debate” one another and to try to outdo each other on who could tell the biggest fabrication; this time the hopefuls sat around a great big dinner table and pounded and pontificated while Charlie Rose, who turned in an abysmal performance as moderator, tried to keep it going. As debates go, this was primarily a yawner – but there were some moments.

The Republican Tea Party (GOTP) contestants were not exactly on “accurate” on their so-called facts, as was evidenced in the oft repeated attacks on how the poor wealthy job creators were over burdened with regulations. Calls of, “REPEAL, REPEAL, REPEAL!” rang through the hall.

Mittens threw down on this topic claiming, “All of the Obama regulations, we say no. It costs jobs.”

Reverend Rick’s thoughts were that regulations “are strangling the American entrepreneurship out there.”

While Ricky “the Ric” Santorum pleaded from somewhere near the bottom of the polls that if elected he’d, “Repeal every regulation the Obama administration put in place.”

Unfortunately for these guys the United States Department of Labor data clearly shows only a very – and I do mean very – small percentage of companies experiencing large layoffs cite government regulation as the reason. In fact – a word the GOTP seldom uses – since President Obama took office, there’s been just two-tenths of 1 percent of layoffs claimed to have been due to government regulation.

Mittens, Perry and Santorum all know this, and yet it’s popular with the far right to blame too much government for the economic fact consumers just aren’t buying enough of what’s being manufactured. This is not economic rocket science.

On the popular Tea Party subject of banging ObamaCare, Michele “Krazy” Bachmann took a swing at the issue declaring, “We have a big problem today when it comes to Medicare, because we know that nine years from now, the Medicare hospital Part B Trust Fund is going to be dead flat broke.” She also charged that “President Obama plans for Medicare to collapse, and instead everyone will be pushed into Obamacare.”

First, Krazy doesn’t seem to know any more about Medicare than she does about who was born in her hometown.

Second, Part B is not for hospital payments, it’s for outpatient care, and on top of that, it’s pretty much impossible for Part B to go broke because it’s financed by the federal government’s general fund and by beneficiary premiums.

Third, Part A is the hospital trust fund, and it’s projected to become insolvent in 2024, 13 years in the future, not the nine Krazy is claiming, and even then it would be able to pay 90 percent of its obligations, so it’s not now and never will be “dead flat broke.”

Furthermore there’s absolutely no evidence – as in zero – to support Krazy’s charge the President is planning for Medicare to collapse; his health care law envisions nothing like that. In fact, a Republican budget – which Krazy voted for – would make far larger changes to the program for the next generation, converting it to a voucher-like system.

When taxes were thrown into the mix Herman “flavor of the week” Cain touted his 9-9-9 plan so often it sounded like a Dominoes commercial. He claimed his plan is a “bold” overhaul of the tax code that would get the economy back on track, and be embraced by the nation.

While no one can argue Cain’s plan is audacious, it’s unlikely that the millions of American families who would face significant tax increases (low and middle class) will embrace it. No doubt whatsoever that the wealthy (Romney, Cain, Huntsman etc) would probably love it because they would get big tax cuts.

The low and middle class would see their taxes go up under Cain’s plan, while the wealthy would get tax breaks. Perfect plan if you’re a rich former pizza executive.

Cain’s plan would eliminate the payroll taxes funding Social Security and Medicare, essentially throwing the poor and the elderly under the bus – or pizza delivery car – while replacing the progressive federal income tax with a flat 9 percent tax on income. He’d lower the corporate income tax from 35 percent to 9 percent, and impose a new 9 percent national sales tax. All of which would significantly lower tax revenues, requiring severe cuts to domestic social programs at the same time giving significant breaks to the wealthiest 2% – again.

These are just three more very viable reasons why voting for any of these so-called candidates is a bad idea; either they’re deliberately manipulating facts – lying – or they’re woefully ignorant of reality. Now, I may argue the former is probably true for Romney and Huntsman, for the rest the latter is no doubt the real deal.

 
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Posted by on October 12, 2011 in 2012 Election

 

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Ricardo Cerros Jr.

A Fort Ord native and Salinas resident serving as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan was killed Saturday during a firefight in Logar Province.

Army Spc. Ricardo Cerros Jr., 24, was mortally wounded by small arms fire as his unit attacked insurgents barricaded in a compound, said Army authorities.

He was a rifleman assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

Cerros was born Nov. 2, 1986, at Fort Ord, and graduated from Everett Alvarez High School in Salinas and UC Irvine. He enlisted in the Army in July 2010, completed one-station unit infantry training at Fort Benning, Ga., graduated from the basic airborne course for paratroopers, and joined the 75th Ranger Regiment in March after completing Ranger selection and training.

Army authorities said Cerros was on his first deployment to Afghanistan and noted that the 75th Ranger Regiment has been continuously deployed to Afghanistan since October 2001.

“Spec. Ricardo Cerros was incredibly talented and a well respected member of this battalion,” said Lt. Col. David Hodne, Cerros’ battalion commander.

“He was a warrior who lost his life while fighting courageously alongside his fellow Rangers. We will honor his service to our country and never forget his sacrifice. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Cerros family.”

Cerros “could have been anything he wanted in life,” said Col. Mark W. Odom, regimental commander.

“Yet, he decided to become a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment and do our nation’s bidding. We were blessed to have him in our ranks.”

Cerros is survived by his father Ricardo Cerros Sr. and stepmother Deborah A. Cerros of Salinas, and his mother Maqueirte D. Cuevas of Gary, Ind.; a brother, Nicholas Cerros; a sister, Theresa Cerros, and a stepbrother, Marko Cerros, all of Salinas.

He earned the Army’s parachutist badge, expert rifle marksmanship badge, Combat Infantryman’s Badge and Purple Heart, as well as campaign medals for service in Afghanistan, the Army said. Additional posthumous awards are pending.

Cerros is the 1,805th U.S. casualty in Afghanistan.

 
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Posted by on October 12, 2011 in War on Terror

 

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