The Seadrift Lady Pirates played Cade Lady Bulldogs on September 5th 2013 at Seadrift School. The 7th grade Lady Pirates beat the Lady Bulldogs 25-14 and 27-25. Anna Sachtleben scored a total of 7 points, Haley Bales 3 points, Karsen Pittman scored 2 points, Gillian Vasquez scored 4, Karley Gregory scored 2 points and high scorer was Heather Glover with a total of 15 points. The 8th grade Lady Pirates also beat Cade both game scoring 25-22 and 25-23. Torri Mikolas scored 6 points with one ace, Krislyn Key scored 2 points, Kelsey Vannoy scored 1, Layne Blevins scored 1, Victoria Gilliand scored 1 ace, Abby Morgan scored 1, Abbi Luna scored 7 with 1 ace, and high scored was Kellie Blevins with a total of 9 points with one ace.

The Seadrift Lady Pirates played Howell Lady Wildcats on September 9th 2013 at Howell. The 7th grade Lady Pirates were defeated by the Lady Wildcats 16-25 and 19-25. Anna Sachtleben scored 1 point, Gillian Vasquez scored 2, Karley Gregory And Chloe White scored 4 points each and high scorer was Haley Bales with 5 points. The 8th grade Lady Pirates beat the Lady Wildcats both games scoring 25-23 and 25-10. Kellie Blevins scored 1 point, Layne Blevins scored 2, Torrie Mikolas scored 4 points with 1 ace, Abbi Luna scored 6. High scorer was Abby Morgan with sixteen points, three aces.
– Tanya Cady

Lady Pirates Volleyball Schedule

Sept. 26 Patti Welder B Away

Oct. 3 Travis B Away

Oct. 10 Cade A Away

Oct. 17 Howell A Home
(Parent Night)

Oct. 21 Stroman A Away

Oct. 24/26 District Tournament Away
7th Grade at Travis
8th Grade at Stroman

“The Way I See It” is an attempt by the guest columnist to enlighten readers on a subject, as he views it,
and does not necessarily reflect the views of this publication.

Obama and Syria

Obama has been supporting the ‘rebels’ in Syria for over a year. While he denied giving ‘military aid’, Benghazi was the shipping point for anti-aircraft and anti-tank guided missiles shipped through Turkey to the “Free Syrian Army” (FSA).  These missiles were from Ghadaffi’s army, captured by Libyan rebels, and then collected by US spec ops people to keep them from Al Qaeda.  The secrecy of this mission was part of the reason for the low profile security of the consulate there, and the success of the Jihadist attack.

There were credible reports that FSA units had captured Sarin gas weapons from the Syrian Army base and chemical weapons factory near Aleppo over 14 months ago. The FSA was originally made up of Syrian militias including secular democrats and even Christian militias, but the actual leadership in the field has been taken over by Sunni/Wahabbi/Salafist, Muslim Brotherhood (MB), and al Qaeda (AQ) jihadists. The MB and AQ are heavily supported by Qatar and the Saudis because they want to overthrow Bashar al Assad because he has prevented them from building a natural gas pipeline through Syria to connect in Turkey to pipelines that supply Europe.  There are also reports that AQ jihadists were supplied with Sarin and/or components to make it by Arab sources. The Jihadists want an Islamist Republic in Syria and to overrun Israel.

Last March, there was a little-reported Sarin attack against Assad’s forces that killed 26. This was thoroughly investigated by Russian chemical warfare specialists and they issued a 100 page well documented scientific report that showed the Sarin used was “not military grade”, but what they called “kitchen Sarin”. Also the military grade war-heads explode to aerosol the Sarin and that makes the residual Sarin on the victims very dangerous to first responders and anyone touching the victims. This does not seem to be the case in reports and videos of the August attacks. UN reports on 9/13 also implicate the rebels.
German intelligence monitored many requests from Assad’s military to use Sarin and all were denied. It would be tactically stupid for Assad to use Sarin against his civilian population, it would drive them into the rebels side and cause huge international condemnation. On the other hand, the MB and AQ jihadists have killed thousands of civilians suspected of being Assad sympathizers, or for being Alawites, Christians, Shia, or Kurds, anything but Sunni Muslims. This is a religious genocide as well as a political war. We need more investigation as to who the victims were, and how many.  The French said 281, Doctors Without Borders said 355, Obama and Kerry say 1429, including over 426 children. If Assad used the gas, he would target areas where the rebels were attacking his forces, not civilians. Also now there are indications that these numbers included deaths from bombs and artillery. WHAT? Obama and Kerry LIE?

Obama and Kerry have been discredited for using an oped piece in the Wall Street Journal by a graduate student claiming to be a PhD, Elizabeth O’Bagy, as the basis for their decision to bomb Assad. O’Bagy was found to be a paid lobbyist and propagandist for Syrian Jihadists. She has been fired from her job at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) for lying on her resume, and should be expeled from Georgetown U. So why does Obama so desperately want to get us in this dangerous mess? To support his friends in the MB?  To help the Saudis get their pipeline?  To back up his Red Line threats, even when there is serious doubt that Assad is responsible for the attacks? Or is it simply to pull a Wag the Dog attack to get his scandals out of the headlines?

I think it is worse than that. He came back from vacation facing a fight to defund the train-wreck of an ever growing ObamaCare, now 10,516 pages of new govt regulations and growing. He has promised $millions to propagandize Americans into swallowing this increasingly bitter pill, to pay more for OFA, the new ACORN spin-offs, and other cronies to train “Navigators” to help people sign up for this massive bureaucratic nightmare. And he is broke. There was no Federal debt creation for August because they are up against the Debt Ceiling.

Congress was scalded by Obama’s promises of debt reductions last time with the “Sequester” that was supposed to stop the run-away increases in Welfare give-aways, but Obama turned that into an austerity program for the military and cuts to popular middle-class things like National Parks. So he must come up with a new idea to fool the “Stupid Party”.  So, a limited attack on Syria, not big enough to deeply offend his pacifist contingency, excused by the horror of gas warfare, and very short-term so to not further inflame a war-weary nation. Just enough to use up a couple of billion dollars worth of high tech gadgets like $1.5 million cruise missiles, smart-bombs, aircraft carriers and long range bombers. Then he goes to Congress decrying the need for replacing all this military hardware, fuel, and restoring cuts to the military that he ordered. Lead by myopic war-hawks like McCain, Graham, Boehner, and other RINO cronies, the GOP caves and passes another pork-filled $1.5 Trillion Debt Ceiling Raise for Obama’s socialist Agenda and his 2014 vote-buying slush-fund.  Forget defunding ObamaCare, investigating Benghazi, Fast & Furious, or dozens of other abuses of power by his administration in their Forward to Dystopia Agenda, Obama gets the Debt Ceiling raised and he will spend it all how he wants to.

Obama is not really smart, especially in a “Real World” sense, but he is deviously clever, a master of the Alinskyite “Double-Think”.  He can fool gullible Americans, low information voters, RINOs & The Stupid Party, but not Arabs or Orientals. And not people that study Obama’s history and follow the money.

Some are saying Putin saved Obama by defusing this mess, but in reality he may have “saved” America, at least in the short-term – maybe.  Putin is a Russian Patriot, he is protecting his ally Assad to prevent the pipeline that might greatly reduce the profits of GazProm and his country’s foreign trade balance. He also realizes that the MB and AQ represent a serious threat to the US, Russia, and his customers in Europe. It is better to fight them through Assad in Syria than in Russia as illegal immigrants. He is trying to protect his country, his citizens, and build their economy.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a President that thought like that?

The following is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of this publication.

Part VII:  Everybody Has One

El Hyena has heard it said that opinions are like…..noses (what did you think El Hyena was going to say?); everybody has one.  Even El Hyena has opinions, and he will offer them if asked.  El Hyena tries very hard not to impose unsolicited opinions on others, as some would say this is presumptuous.  Not everyone cares what El Hyena thinks.  All of us care what some people think about some things, but not so much others.

Opinions are verbal expressions of conclusions we have drawn.  Some opinions are based on facts, i.e. things we know to be true and verifiable.  Some opinions, however, are based on things we want to be true, even when not particularly plausible or credible.  In this case, we want these purported facts to be true because they are consistent with what we already believe, for one reason or another.  Our pre-existing beliefs result from our experiences and information we have observed (saw, heard, or read).  Our beliefs and opinions are molded by our biases and conditioning.

To be biased is not a bad thing; everyone has biases.  For example, El Hyena’s mother thinks he is charming and intelligent, while his ex-wife thought he was a boorish slob.  Both are biased, but only The Momma Lady is right.

We are all entitled to our opinions, whether others like them or not.  Some people appreciate and agree with our opinions, while others might think we are a wacko wearing a tinfoil hat.  But who cares what those people think?  The beauty of expressing our opinions is that they do not have to be plausible or realistic; we are free to offer them anyway.  Even when our opinions are far-fetched, they are still within the realm of possibility.  It is not important whether something is true; what is important is that it might be true, or ought to be.

Some opinions require a great deal of imagination when they are considered.  It is much easier to accept these opinions when our beliefs about the subject are already consistent with the opinion being considered.  Everyone is reluctant to accept and believe an opinion that differs from what we already believe.  Some people automatically reject differing opinions without any fair consideration.  This is called being close-minded.  Others will give due consideration to differing opinions, evaluate them in light of other information they have observed, and make their own decision about their plausibility and credibility. Because these people are willing to consider differing opinions and give them a fair evaluation, they are open-minded.

Some people who express opinions have an agenda.  Agendas are goal-directed, meaning there is an objective that is sought to be accomplished.  People who have an agenda express opinions in furtherance of their agenda.  They seek to enlighten or persuade other people to accept their opinions and share their beliefs, so that others will join them in seeking their goal.  Stereotyping and labeling are encouraged when expressing opinions in furtherance of an agenda.

For example, let us suppose that El Hyena wants to discredit someone because he believes bad things about this person and therefore does not like him or her.  El Hyena may seek to do this by saying unflattering things about this person in hopes of influencing others to think the same way.  El Hyena might be so serious about his agenda that he spends a considerable amount of time searching to observe more and more unfavorable information about the object of his disdain.  El Hyena is thus armed with more opinions to express, and might even stretch the truth a little in doing so.  But this is allowed, because they are only his opinions and he is entitled to them.  So there.

The best way for us to observe information consistent with our beliefs and opinions is to be selective in the information we choose to observe.  This is why we have the internet.  We are thus able to expand our horizons, yet limit our exposure to information we are already predisposed to accept and believe.  We might join in the comments and, in doing so, our beliefs are often reinforced by comments that agree with us.  These commentators are smart like us.  If a commentator has the audacity to disagree with us we can call him or her names and heap scorn upon him or her, to the delight of our fellow enlightened ones.  Is this a great country or what?

And so ends this month’s discussion, and every statement contained herein is the gospel truth.  IMHO.

P.S.  El Hyena heard a story the other day about a person who thought that “LOL” meant “Lots of Love”.  When sending condolences to a friend, he (or she) wrote:  “I’m so sorry you grandmother died.  LOL”.

It’s time to start planning your Halloween costume!

The big Costume Contest at Port O’Connor School is October 26.

Seadrift Halloween Parade & Contest is October 31.

Check the Dolphin’s Facebook page and web site

(www.thedolphintalk.com) for photos of the winners.