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Thursday, 21 October

I've been back for a little over 48 hours now. I just finished spell checking and editing all of the above. I was getting ready to put this on my computer and post it when the internet went into one of it's "hiccoughs" that we get here. I was going to do this part when I posted it on line, but I realize that there really is too much I didn't tell, and it would be better to do it here and now.

The helicopter took off on time (that would be the second, not the first, scheduled time). I landed here on Danger about 8 PM at the landing zone nearest where I work. (About a mile or so from where I live)

Let me back up for a second. To get on this flight, I had to be weighed, with all of my luggage and gear. I weigh about 170 pounds at the moment. With all of my gear and luggage, I weighed 300 pounds when I stepped on the scale for this flight. Do the math.

Back to where I was. I landed on Danger. I'm about a quarter mile from where I work, and about a mile from where I live. No one on this post knows that I am coming in. So, I have no ride, and I have 130 pounds of stuff to get from where I am to where I live. The only thing I have to get me from where I am to where I need to be is the old SLE's (Shoe Leather Express). It's a Monday night. Should be a slow night at work, and there should be several people and vehicles there that can give me a ride. All I have to do is get myself and all of my stuff from here to where I work, and one of the main roads on post goes from here to there. I should be able to hitch a ride. The uniform here is just the desert camouflage uniform, weapon and helmet. Surely, someone will see a soldier with all of this gear (full vest, weapon, full rucksack, and briefcase) have pity and stop to offer a ride. Right? .... Wrong.

I, finally, get to the MWR Palace where I work. There is a sign in front saying the facility is closed for a conference. Fine. We have had those before. In the past that has just meant for sure that we have a full staff on hand, not the abbreviated night shift we normally have. This is not a normal circumstance. All of the military staff has had the last two days off, is off tonight, and the only staff on hand is the KBR portion of the staff.

Okay, fine. The vehicle that was mine when I left should be in the back. If the keys are in it, I will take it, go check with my boss that it is okay that I keep it overnight, and take it back to where I stay. I get back to the staff parking area, and, sure enough, the bus is there with the keys in it. ... And it has a flat.

Remember me saying in my last bit about waiting for the other shoe to drop? It was at this point that I really heard it thud.

I sit down on the back steps, and contemplate my next move. I really don't want to have to walk a mile or so with all of this gear. It's about 90 degrees. Wearing the armoured vest makes it feel about 10 degrees hotter than it is, and the helmet adds about 5 to that. The way the rucksack sits on my shoulders over the vest feels like it is trying to pull my shoulder blades together behind me, and it makes my arms go to sleep if I wear it like this too long.

At this point, a guy walks out of the back door of the building. (The back door leads into the kitchen) It's one of the guys that I know that works at the chow hall. They have been brought here to cater dinner for this conference. He's one of those guys that I have been nice to when I didn't have to be. It turns out there is food left over from dinner (kebabs, lobster, prime rib). He offers me a plate. I'm, as one of my former soldiers used to say, "hungry as a hostage", at this point. So, I don't refuse.

While I am eating dinner, several of the KBR staff, all of my friends left on the KBR staff, in fact, walk by. They are glad to see that I made it back safe, and say so. I ask, and they say it will be no problem to run me down to the band's building. Just to let them know when I am ready to go.

So, about 9 PM Monday night, I arrived back where I started. Safe and sound, if a bit smelly.

It's been an adventure. But, one that I am grateful for. The few days home have done wonders for my outlook. With knowing that we are well into the downhill side of this deployment, and that I get to head back to Germany in late November for some much needed R&R, this trip has recharged me to finish this deployment out.

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Monday, 18 October

I was going to write yesterday, but there never was a place of time where I could.

I found out Sunday morning about 4 AM that there would be a flight to Balad the same day. I would have to be ready to leave the place where I was staying at 3:30 PM.

We lined up. It was space available. So, there was a good chance I wouldn't be on that flight. There was another going to the same place two hours later, and I was fairly high up on the list. I figured there was a good chance I would get out yesterday. I was on the list for the first flight.

We got all of our stuff together, and loaded up on buses. It was about an hour long bus ride to the terminal. The Air Force flies out of a Kuwaiti Air Force base for these flights.

We got there and it looked like we were going to have time to grab a bite to eat and get right on the plane. So, I got something to eat quick and headed back.

Just as I was walking in the terminal the guy in charge was explaining to my group that there was a problem with the plane. We would not be flying out on that plane that night. There was, however, another plane that was taking off for Balad sometime that night, and we should expect a call to get ready to board about 2 AM.

I went back to the passenger lounge and settled in. I figured that I had all the time in the world to write my entry for yesterday while I sat and waited. I was about 3/4ths of the way through a book that had really caught my attention, and it was only a little over 100 pages long.

So, I put on the MP3 player and finished my book. Sometimes, serendipitous things happen. My book, and the music I had loaded in the MP3 player ran out at the same time. It was about 8 PM. 6 hours before our call, right? I pulled out the laptop, and loaded the MP3 player with new music. I had just finished and was in the process of shutting down the computer (about 8:20, maybe), when the call came. Another plane had become available, and we needed to get ready to go, now.

I rushed shutting down the laptop, and put it away, and headed out to the gate. We were on a C-130, and it wa explained that we were on a "black out" flight. So, no writing on the flight.

As a side note, there were some interesting moments in the in the pre-flight safety brief. This was a cargo plane. There are no stewardesses, and the only cabin crew is the loadmaster for the cargo, an Air Force NCO. They have a definite way with words. There are no stupid little cards with the silly pictures and there are no choreographed hand gestures to emergency exits. Then again, there are no emergency exits, per se. There is the door the flight crew walks in, and there is the cargo door in the back. That's it. So, the loadmaster tells us, basically, if there is a crash and "ANY OF YOU HAPPEN TO SURVIVE" (that part caught my attention) yellow lights will appear over the exits ... get out any way you can and meet up with any of the survivors from the crew.

Like I said, not exactly the brief you get on any of the big airlines. Actually, the truth of it was refreshing.

Parts of the flight were rather exciting. At times, it was like riding a roller coaster in total darkness. It was cool.

We arrived in Balad about 11 PM. Had to sit through several briefs, most of which (about 90% or better) didn't pertain to me at all. Finally, I had my baggage and was released to go sign for a cot in a tent. I was told to meet back at the 1 ID liaison trailer at 1 PM today, and they would see if they could manifest me on a flight back to where I came from.

By the time I had signed for my cot, and dropped my gear, it was after midnight, and I was starving. Fortunately, the chow halls here serve a midnight meal for people on night shift. There wasn't one close, and I didn't know how to get to them. Luckily, there are shuttle buses that run all over the base that I was on.

I went to the bus stop right by I was. I hooked up with another soldier who knew the base fairly well. He was going near the main chow hall on post, and said to just get off where he got off. So, we got on the shuttle bus. It turned out that chow hall was one of the furthest stops from where we had been. We, finally, got there. it turns out that the chow hall in question did not serve the midnight meal, and was closed. But, the next stop was the PX and it stayed open 24 hours.

I went to the PX.

My wife and I are big Douglas Adams fans. We've read all of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy has two main rules for people that are travelling the Galaxy that don't have their own transportation: 1) Don't Panic, and 2) Always carry a towel. I've done pretty well with #1 on this trip. #2, however ... Well, it turns out that I forgot to pack a towel. Which means in all of this, cleaning up has been no problem, but drying off after I am done has been interesting. I'm really looking forward to getting back to Danger so I can take a proper shower. I haven't had one since right after I got up Friday.

I bought a towel, some munchies, and a couple of big bottles of iced tea. Caught the bus, and headed back to my tent. By this time it was about 2:30 AM. I was pretty tired. They had shut off the lights in my tent. So, I decided to just crash.

I slept a little later than I should have today. (No real surprise to those that know me.) I figured that the chances of getting out on a flight today were not great. So, I would go check in with the office that was supposed to arrange my flight out of here, then go clean up.

I called back to the only contact phone number I had to get in touch with my unit. I was sitting in the office that I needed to be at, waiting for the 1 PM formation to get flight information. As I hung up the phone, a Lieutenant, that was one of my regular customers at work, walks in, and asks me what I was doing there, and if I was heading back to Danger. I told him that I was. He said that he had arranged for transportation for some guys in his unit, and there was still room on the bird, if I was interested.

I've spent time talking to a co-worker, trying to convince this person that being nice to others for no apparent reason pays off. That, unless there is a specific reason, you should never be rude. I am certain that if I had not been nice to this LT when I didn't have to be, that I would still be sitting Balad waiting for a flight.

So, it's about 4 hours after the events that I described above, and I am sitting on Speicher. Speicher is not the post that I am stationed on, but it is right across town from it. Most of the time that has been spent since I wrote the above was spent sitting on a flight line waiting for a helicopter to arrive.

The flight here was quick. Both in time spent in the air, and the speed we were flying. My guess is that we were rarely more than 100 feet off of the ground. Gauging by my experience driving on the autobahn (I've had my BMW up to about 120 miles an hour before), we were doing at least 150 miles an hour, ground speed.

Most of the space between Balad and here is farmland, which amazes me. I have been to Iowa and seen the farmland there. The dirt there is black, not dark brown, black. When you are driving down a country road there, you can smell how fertile the soil is, and I am not talking about any organic or chemical fertilizers, either. Here, the dirt is ... it's not even dirt. It's barely what we recognize as sand. It's, basically, compacted dust. I don't see how they get anything to grow. I flew over and saw the irrigation systems, so I understand how they water it. The ground is what gets me. Where in Iowa you didn't even have to see the dirt, you could smell it driving by and know that it was just made to grow things. Here, you can see and smell the earth and know that maybe sometime in the ancient past it was like Iowa, but now, it is just dead. I don't see how there is anything left in the ground to nourish any plant. But, there it was. Not exactly lush, but there were green fields all over the place, interspersed with tan fields of dust. In places there were what had to be orchards of trees. That they can get anything to grow here simply amazes me.

I sit here on Speicher, the "victim" of more serendipity. We flew in shortly before 5. There was a flight scheduled for Danger at 5:15. If I could get my weapon and ammo, I could hop on that flight and be back on Danger tonight. A day ahead of what my unit is expecting after my phone call today.

I tried several times to get through to the people that were holding my weapon. It looked like I wasn't going to make it. Have to find a way to Danger tomorrow. Maybe hook up with one of the convoys that go back and forth daily. Then two things happened within seconds of each other. First, the crew for the choppers making the flight to Danger decided to go eat before they headed over to Danger, delaying the flight by about 45 minutes. Secondly, the phone line to the people that were holding my weapon quit giving me a busy signal.

I have my weapon and ammo back. It came in a few minutes ago. The flight starts all the pre-flight stuff in about 45 minutes, and it looks like there is plenty of space for me to go. We'll see. This is the Army. I must be missing something. Things are going to well for everything to be right. There's not enough "hurry up and wait" involved in this part of the process.

The quilt I wrote about a few days ago is going on auction November 1st.

This thing has really taken on a life of it's own. It's amazing.

Anyway, to post news, pictures, etc. about what is going on with the quilt, I have started a new blog here. There isn't much there at the moment, but within the next 24 hours there should be.

DUH!

The report states: "What the precise motivations were of those detainees who have returned to fighting is not clear."

Let's see, they consider themselves soldiers returning to duty?

In their view, this is a holy war, so, not to return to fighting would not only be treason, but tantamount to renouncing their faith?

The report, also, stated: "The United States has been massively criticised for detaining hundreds of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay."

Let's hear for Amnesty International, and other humans rights groups for not having a grasp of the fairly obvious!

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Saturday, 16 October

Well, I arrived at Kuwait International Airport about 9 PM lat night. Everything had to be done in proper military fashion. Which means we, finally, left the airport on buses that met us at the flight line about 11.

We made a quick pitstop so people could use a porta-john, and headed to Camp Doha.

Things worked for me at that point. Normally, if you are an exception to the rule, in a situation like this, you are shunted off to the side and dealt with last. Myself, and the few others in similar situations to mine were shunted off to the side, but we were dealt with first. While most everyone else on my flight was still getting sorted as to where they were going from here, and what office they needed to deal with. I was at the office of the 1st ID rep here. I took care of everything, and even had a chance to email my command and give them an update.

A little after midnight, I checked in with the people that will arrange my flight. I get to fly back to duty on a "space available" basis. This can be a good or bad thing, depending on what priority you are. I looked at the priority list, and I am at about the bottom of the list.

So, I have a cot in a warehouse. The office that arranges the flights is in this same warehouse. I get to sit here and wait for a flight to my next stop. (I am at least 2 stops from where I need to end up) They post the flight information for the next day between 2 and 5 AM. I stayed up last night until 2. They had nothing to post then. So, I took a nap until 5. At five the board had a full slate of flights for today. None of those flights were for where I was going. So, I settled in and got some real sleep.

Got up around 2 PM. I shaved and put my contacts in. (At least theoretically, I am not supposed to wear contacts down here. But, there are so many people ignoring that, ... I see so much better with them, and they don't fog up, or get sweat on them like glasses) The bad part is bright sunlight just kills me when I have my contacts in. So, I needed to get some other stuff anyway, I headed to the PX. I picked up a replacement for the toothbrush that I broke in transit, anc some batteries for my MP3 player. The PX here has an equivalent to our bazaar in it's outer court area. So, I went looking for shades.

It's funny. Before this war, Oakleys were, in general, not allowed for wear in uniform. The military frowned on sunglasses but realized that sometimes they were very helpful, if not necessary. So, they allowed them under certain conditions, and within certain style parameters. Oakleys were considered too "faddish" for wear in uniform. Well, Oakleys, for the most part, are "ballistic" eyewear, and offer excellent protection from sand and debris that floats through the air here. Those things can be especially harmful when you are riding down the road in a convoy in an open vehicle. So, the Army is encouraging the wear of Oakleys, and is even issuing glasses by the Wiley company that are almost identical to Oakleys. In certain instances, you can actually get in trouble for not wearing these glasses that just a few months ago you weren't allowed to wear.

To make a long story short (too late), one of the vendors outside of the PX had what appeared to be Oakleys for sale. Now, these are normally about $30 sunglasses (if not more expensive), and he had them for 2 pair for $5. HHHHHmmmm. That's right. I am now the proud owner of 2 pair of "Jokeley's". Actually, they feel pretty much like the real deal. The logos are all right. They are either really good copies (they probably don't have the safety glass in them) or someone made a five finger discount from a warehouse.

That's pretty much been the highlight of my day. I have about 10 more hours until they post new flight information. I, now, have batteries to keep my MP3 player going. I have a good book, and I have the ability to plug in my laptop. I have my favorite computer games with me, and my book of bootleg DVD's. (No internet, though.). So, I'm okay.

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Friday, 15 October

I'll just cut to the chase here. I had a great time at home. Rarely left the house. We did go out to eat a couple of times. Our two favorite restaurants in Bamberg.

The guys at the liaison office were great. They really should have sent me back Tuesday, but those guys were able to delay my departure to today.

I got a call last night that I needed to be at the airbase that I would fly out of at 7:30 this morning. Which meant, I had to be on post in Bamberg to meet my ride at 5 AM this morning. They should have sent me back on Tuesday, and here it is Friday, and I am sitting on a plane on the runway to head to Kuwait.

So, I got up shortly after 4 this morning, got my stuff together, got myself together, and headed to the unit. The ride to the airport would have been completely uneventful, but, there was an accident, or something that closed down a major portion of the autobahn. I ended up getting to the airport an hour and a half late. Luckily, the way that the Air Force works these kind of flights, I still was there 5 hours before they started boarding the plane.

This plane is jam packed. Every seat is full, and they definitely crammed as many seats on this plane as they could.

It is time for the fascinating pre-flight safety equipment brief.

Please read this disturbing letter to the very end.

A Senior Citizen Against Bush

I am a senior citizen. During the Clinton Administration I had an
extremely good and well paying job. I took numerous vacations and had
several vacation homes. Since President Bush took office, I have
watched my entire life change for the worse. I lost my job. I lost my
two sons in that terrible Iraqi War. I lost my homes. I lost my health
insurance. As a matter of fact I lost virtually everything and became
homeless. Adding insult to injury, when the authorities found me
living like an animal, instead of helping me, they arrested me. I
will do anything that Senator Kerry wants to insure that a Democrat is
back in the White House come next year. Bush has to go.

Sincerely,
Saddam Hussein

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10 October 2004

It's almost 9:30 PM. They say we should be flying out of here at about 3 AM. We'll see. It's been a boring day of sitting around.

They have a little stash of books here. I read an interesting book entitled "Uncle Frank". It's the life story of Frank Costello, the gangster. 292 pages. Read it all, today. Really good book. It gave a good picture of him as a total person. It didn't pull any punches, but it didn't make him out to be Satan incarnate, either.

Slept late. I really needed it. I was dragging by the time we got here last night.

Bored. Bored. Bored.

"Hurry up, and wait" is a part of military life. After 15 years of this, you think that I would be used to this. Well, I'm not. It is still frustrating.

Wednesday, 13 October 2004

I guess I am going to have to play catch up. Things have been a bit hectic, and I didn't have an easy way to write.

Going back ...

About 2:15 AM the morning of the 11th, they came and woke us up and told us to get ready to fly. Everybody hopped up and got their stuff together. We boarded the buses to go to the flight line about half an hour later. They loaded the stretcher cases first then everyone else. And we took off on about a 5 hour flight to Germany. C-130's are not exactly the most luxurious way to fly. We were strapped in like cargo, and the heat didn't work for squat. I tried to sleep, and did get some rest, but, mainly, I froze. The crew was very friendly, and kind.

We landed in Germany and were loaded on buses. Shortly after getting on the bus, a Marine Sergeant Major hops on the bus, and tells everyone how he appreciates everything everyone on the bus has done, and thanks us for our service for our country. At first, I was thinking, "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, just let me get off the bus at the hospital so I can get some breakfast and coffee." Then, the SGM reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a cell phone and hands it to the person nearest him. He says that he can't do a lot for us, but he can do this. He goes on to explain that this is his personal cell phone, and there is plenty of air time on it. Everyone on the bus is then ordered by him to call home, dialing direct. Just make sure that he gets his phone back when we are done. I was able to call Amy and I tell her I was in Germany.

We, finally, got to the hospital. It was a Federal holiday. They were operating with a short staff. Almost all of the incoming patients went through several briefings and a tour of the hospital. Then, they were released for the day to go to where they are going to stay while they were being treated. The only ones that were kept in the initial waiting area were those patients that might be kept for inpatient care. Someone had to evaluate their case to see if inpatient care was necessary. Chewie, of course, was one of those. It was about 5 PM when he was finally seen by a doctor. We had been put in a waiting room and told to stay close because a doctor would see us shortly at about 10 AM. So much for shortly.

The doctor determined, with the medication that Chewie was taking, he did not need to be treated as a in patient. In fact, he probably did not require an escort. So, we were released to go to the barracks where the outpatient people stay. We, finally, got there about 7 PM.

I had spoken to the 1st ID liaison to the hospital earlier, and he had contacted the rear detachment for my unit. Normally, I would have had to fly out the next morning. But, the Captain said, after consulting with my chain of command, that he couldn't get me out the next day. My rear detachment commander was coming to check on Chewie, and that I should go with the rear detachment commander, and spend the night at home. I should give him a call the next day, and see if he could get me out the day after that.


So, I ended up getting home about midnight. The dogs went nuts. I, basically, had to lay on the floor, and let them crawl all over me for about 15 minutes so they would calm down.

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9 October, 2004

Well, it's 4:30. It's been an eventful day. Got up at 6, after about 3 hours of sleep. Cleaned up and packed. Hooked up with the medical people on base at 7:15. Rushed over to where the convoy was meeting up. Convoyed to the base across town about nine. That was uneventful. Like I said before, "uneventful", "boring", etcetera are the types of terms that are used to describe a good convoy.

Once we got there, I met up with Chewie, and talked to the medical people that have dealt with him up to this point. No one mentioned anything about "voices". They mentioned some pretty severe disorientation. It turns out that they think it might me something neurological. He's going to Germany for a CAT scan, and evaluation.

The medical unit took and locked up my M-16 and all of my ammo while I was there. I will get it back when I get back there. That feels weird. I've been carrying that weapon everywhere with me since February 10th. Surrendering it, knowing that I still had to travel through Iraq was disconcerting.

After that, they took us to the Medical Evacuation unit. We got there about 10 AM. (You have to remember that I am operating on about 6 hours of sleep over the last 48 hours, and, on a normal day, I don't get up until 1 PM) Basically, they told us to go to this tent out in the heat, and chill out until the flight. Went to the chow hall and had one of the worst meals that I have had in a while.

Got back and it was about time to get on the flight. We flew Black Hawks to Balad. It was interesting. Pretty much we flew "nap of the earth". That's where a pilot flies close to the ground and follows the contours of the earth. Well, this stretch of ground had the contours of your average table top. So, we flew 50-100 feet off of the ground, occasionally moving up to go over the taller power lines. Shortly after take off, we flew over the base that I am stationed on. That was a unique perspective. We flew over a lot of farm land. The homes/farms that we flew over caught my interest. Each one was a group small buildings of similar construction and size. From the air, they looked like boxes made of the same dirt that made up the farm. I play a lot of Ages of Empires II, and Age of mythology, and those farms looked an awful like that "Town Center" that you start the game with on both of those games.

We arrived in Balad, and were put in the custody of an Air Force medical unit. At first they told us that we would be flying out tonight. Then, they gave us an opportunity to get anything out of our checked bag that we wanted/needed. We were told that we wouldn't have a chance to put it back before the flight. I forgot that I had left the power cord for my laptop in there. Okay, no big deal. We're only going be here about 12 hours. I can catch up on some sleep, write some stuff for the blog, and that should kill my time. Well, then after they took everyone's vitals, and did an initial screening. (During this time, I was asked repeatedly, "Where are your medical records?" I told them I don't have them because I am not a patient.. Then, they would look up and realize who I am. We are in a party of 6 people, and I am the only one that is not a patient..) Shortly after this, they tell us that there is not flight tonight. It's tomorrow night (Sunday) about 3 AM. Oh joy.

Basically, I have a cot in a hospital ward that is a slightly updated version of the post-op ward on MASH, my laptop (with no power cord), my Palm, and my MP3 player. All of my toiletries are locked up in my checked bag, that I can't get to because of customs regs. Yay. So, even if I shower tomorrow, (they say they have toiletries on hand that I can use) I still have to put on all the same clothes that I have been sweating in all day today. Oh joy. I'll get to Germany smelling like an uncleaned gym locker.

Well, I have my MP3 player. I'm listening to Courtney Love. I have Iron Maiden, ZZTop, and some Toby Keith loaded into it. My laptop is fully powered. So, I have about 2 hours of use on it. I can change out the tunes if I want. I have all kinds of music loaded on the computer. The downside is that I only have this battery for the player. The PX on my base has been out of AAA batteries for weeks. We'll see how long this one lasts. I hadn't hardly used this one when I left. I'm going to see if they will let me get to the PX. The one here is supposed to be much better than ours. It was the last time I was here, in early March. This is the same base that my unit spent 4 days on waiting for transportation to our current base from Kuwait.

We are being told that the flight from here will take us straight to the military hospital in Germany. Whenever the flight is.

We were in Salino, Utah when we were arrested for not going through a green light. We pleaded "maybe". I asked the judge if he knew what time it is, he did, and I said, "No further questions."
-- Steven Wright

Do you think that when they asked George Washington for ID that he just whipped out a quarter?
-- Steven Wright

I promised a write up of my recent trip. I just finished with all the editing that I can do short of putting it on here. I thought about posting it all at once, but it comes to over 6,000 words. Thought that was bit much for one post. Each part of the story of my trip will be entitled "There and Back Again", for all of you Tolkien fans, and will start with a quote from "Karn Evil 9 (Third Impression)" by Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

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Friday, 8 October, 2004

It's almost midnight. I meant to write this earlier. Things kept on coming up. I should, finally, be done with work for the day in about an hour, or so.

I'm starting this early. I wanted a chance to explain what is going on.

There is a soldier in my unit. (Actually, there are several, but this story only involves one, besides me.) I'll call him "Chewie". That's his nickname. If you know who I am talking about, then, by the time I post this, you will know what is going on. If you don't know who I am talking about then, it doesn't matter does it?

Anyway, Chewie has developed "problems". Okay, Chewie claims he is hearing "voices'". There has been considerable speculation as to whether this is actually the case. There's been other speculation as well based on the person in question. Or as one person in the unit put it, "Those aren't 'voices', Chewie. They are called 'thoughts'. They can be scary at first, if you have never had them before."

So anyway, Chewie was sent to our nearest psych people. After a couple of days of evaluation, they determined that this was a job for a facility other than theirs. The closest one of that type is in Germany. Because of the nature of things, Chewie is not allowed to travel alone. He must have an escort. That escort must be a Staff Sergeant (my rank) or higher. Originally, we thought that the medical unit that he was dealing with would provide the escort. Well, that fell through. The band is pretty heavily tasked at the moment, and the only SSG or above that is not absolutely necessary to the musical mission is me. The First Sergeant (the highest ranking enlisted person in my unit) and the Commander both came to me where I work and talked to me yesterday about the possibility of this happening. Then, last night the Commander came back. It wasn't a possibility. It was reality. I was leaving to go link up with Chewie and head to Germany Saturday morning. This was late Thursday night. Too late to really find a way to cover my "long day" on Friday with someone else. So, I got off work about midnight last night. Got on the internet to talk my wife about this. Got to bed about 2:30 (that is AM), and was back at it today at 7:45 (once again, AM). I had time on a couple of breaks today to empty out what I will use as luggage, But, other than that, I have not been able to prepare for this trip at all.

I have to be at a brief for the convoy that I will take to the base that Chewie is on at 7:30 (once again, AM). It's almost 12:30 now. I hope to be done with work by 1:30, considering that I will have to pack in the morning. What am I saying? It is morning. I will have to pack after I get whatever sleep I am going to get tonight.

I'm kind of concerned about this trip. Other than Chewie and I are scheduled to leave the camp he is at around 10:00 AM tomorrow. I know next to nothing of the details of this trip. I have yet to be fully informed what my duties are. I have no idea if we are flying out of that camp or convoying to where we will fly from. If we convoy, then we will probably fly out of Baghdad or Balad. If you've been following the news lately, then you know Baghdad is not a great place to be right now. It gets even better. If we convoy, it involves going through Samarra. That's not as bad a thing as it was a week or so ago, but, it's still not something I was in a hurry to experience.

I have no idea if we are going to Kuwait on the way out of here or not. If we are, then this is going to be an involved trip. (Read: pain in the ... neck)

Well, it's after two, and I haven't left the building I work in yet. I need to get out of here, and get some sleep. I will keep you posted.

This is a quilt that a co-worker of mine made while here in Iraq.

It lists all of the units that make up "Task Force Danger", the division task force headed by the 1st Infantry Division. Each unit has it's own square on the front. Most of those squares have not only the unit's name embroidered on it, but the unit's patch (if it's not the Big Red One patch) sewn on, and signatures by the Commanders and senior enlisted personnel who have led those units down here.

The back is a sheet that was set out at our recreation facility, and soldiers visiting the facility were encouraged to sign it.

So, the quilt features the Division's leadership, and the rank and file soldiers.

SGT Smith is listing this quilt on EBay through a project called Mission Fish. Mission Fish handles all items sold through EBay where the proceeds will go to a non-profit organization. SGT Smith is donating all proceeds from this quilt to the educational fund of the Society of the 1st Infantry Division (an independent veteran's organization for past and present members of the Big Red One). This fund provides scholarships to all of the children of soldiers of the Big Red One that have died in combat. The current war in Iraq has added 48 new children to the list of beneficiaries of this fund.

The quilt goes on auction on the first of November. I highly recommend that you check it out. A lot of love and care went into it's construction.

As a challenge to all who have said something like "I don't support the war, but I support the troops.", this is your chance to back up your words with actions that will count for something

(The following was emailed to me my by my father-in-law)

The following (below the double line) did not originate with me, but
it seems that John Kerry is allowing us to believe a lie . . . for his
benefit. Nothing new there, in politics, but this one seems particular
flagrant. I can find nothing on the internet that says Kerry's
statement is true . . . the 17% increase in Medicare premiums was
passed during the Clinton Administration, and Kerry helped pass it .
.. .. it just went into effect under Bush . . . I find nothing to
contradict that (if anyone can do so, please let me know).

Also, the http addresses below are additional sources if you care to
inestigate further.
________________________________
________________________________

John Kerry is running a commercial in which George Bush pledges to
help Seniors on Medicare and "the very next day imposes a 17% premium
increase - the biggest in history"?

That ad is a stoke of genius on Kerry's part and will surely gain him
many votes among the uninformed.

As it turns out the 17% increase was not imposed by President Bush but
was mandated by the "balanced budget agreement" signed by President
Clinton, voted into law by Senator John Kerry, and was scheduled to
come into effect during the Bush administration. President Bush had no
authority to reverse what had been voted into law by Senator Kerry
during the Clinton administration.

Once again Kerry is counting on the ignorance of the American people.
Don't be duped by his mendacity. ________________________________
________________________________

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=+George+Bush+pledges+to+help+17%25+premium+increase+&btnG=Google+Search
http://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=20596123
http://www.vnsfvetakerry.com/17%25_medicare_premimum_increase_kerry's_not_bush's.htm
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=+George+Bush+pledges+to+help+17%25+premium+increase+&btnG=Google+Search

(Cleaning the accumulated gems from my email)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Virginity like bubble, one prick, all gone.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who run in front of car get tired.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who run behind car get exhausted.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man with hand in pocket feel cocky all day.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Foolish man give wife grand piano, wise man give wife upright organ.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who walk through airport turnstile sideways going to Bangkok.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man with one chopstick go hungry.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who scratch ass should not bite fingernails.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who eat many prunes get good run for money.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Baseball is wrong: man with four balls cannot walk.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Panties not best thing on earth! but next to best thing on earth.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
War does not determine who is right, war determine who is left.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Wife who put husband in doghouse soon find him in cat house.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who fight with wife all day get no piece at night.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It take many nails to build crib, but one screw to fill it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who drive like hell, bound to get there.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who stand on toilet is high on pot.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who live in glass house should change clothes in basement.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who fish in other man's well often catch crabs.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who fart in church sit in own pew.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Crowded elevator smell different to midget.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who has sex with woman in field get piece on earth.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Interesting little write up on the town my folks live in.

Hey all,

I took a little jaunt to Germany over the last week. I have all the exciting stuff written on my Palm. I'm working on cleaning it up. I spell checked about half of it tonight, and the part I covered was about 2500 words long. It's written as kind of a daily journal. I'm thinking about posting one day of it at a time.

It was a great trip ... Okay, let me rephrase that. The part up until I started to leave Germany was great. Getting back here was a pain in the a ... it wasn't fun. It's all on my Palm, and I hope to have it posted in the next day or so. Got back fairly late last night, and today was my first day back to work. Tonight was my first time to get on the Internet and do anything since Thursday night.

If you haven't checked out my wife's blog, she's posted some new stuff. The link is in my "Links" section in the sidebar.

And just so we don't feel completely out of sorts, here is more Steven Wright:

My grandfather gave me a watch. It doesn't have any hands or numbers. He says it's very accurate. I asked him what time it was. You can guess what he told me.
-- Steven Wright

Posting a couple tonight.

I had amnesia once or twice.
-- NOT a Steven Wright joke (a Rod Schmidt look-alike)

Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.
-- Steven Wright

Just letting you know. Probably not going to post for a few days. I get to go on a little trip. I'll write a log of it on my Palm Pilot and share it when I get a chance. I'll, also, work on the second part of Voting.

Hope everyone has a good weekend. I'm going to try to have the best one that I have had in quite some time.

(I wrote the following over about a 4 day period. The second half, about the President will follow later.)

My wife sent me an email today. She asked if I had registered to vote yet. The truth is that I haven't yet. That may sound kind of amazing, or, at least, perplexing, given how I have weighed in on so many things about the campaigns, and the candidates lately.

So, I have spent the last few hours letting that roll around in my head. Trying to figure out a good way to explain myself.

The best answer is that, at this moment, if I had a vote (as in, I was registered), I wouldn't know what to do with it. The absolute truth is I don't really like either choice. So, the next obvious answer is which do I dislike the most. If I don't want to vote for either, there must be one that I want to vote against the most. The answer is not really.

Lets look at both candidates for a moment.

Kerry
What I don't like:

1) I really hate the way he behaved after Viet Nam. I understand hating war, hating having been put in a bad situation, and wanting to prevent others from being put in the same situation. I believe he did some things that were just flat out wrong, though in dealing with that. In many ways, given what I have read from testimonials from vets, and former POW's, what Kerry did was every bit as bad, if not worse, than anything Jane Fonda did in the same period.

2) I feel betrayed. That he would vote to send me to this place at this time, and then vote against funding that would give me equipment that I need to do my job, or just survive burns me. It is just like his behavior after Viet Nam all over again. Then to make lame excuses about it, just adds insult to injury.

3) He presents himself as some kind of alternative. Just what alternative is he offering? What answers is he putting out there that are new? (All right, I am pretty much a "one issue voter" in this election, but given my situation, can you blame me?) Basically, he talks about building a coalition to take over here. Well, the President tried that. In fact, you can call the President a "cowboy" all you want, and talk about he went against the will of the international community, but the truth of the matter is that the President did have multiple UN resolutions backing his action in Iraq. Everyone likes to conveniently forget that, especially the French and Germans. But it is the truth, they are all about 13 years old now, but he had the backing of UN resolutions. He was, simply, enforcing UN resolutions that were part of the cease fire from the first Gulf War. The international community, France and Germany, in particular, had too much to lose if they were enforced. They were making billions off of the "Food for Oil" program, and programs to rebuild the Iraqi oil fields. Those contracts became null and void when Saddam fell from power. So, Kerry would re-attempt what the President tried to do. (As a side note: If you are
one of those who say the weapons inspectors should have been given more time, how much time should they, and Saddam been given to find and reveal the truth? What is reasonable? 3 months, 6 months, a year? Well, Saddam and the inspectors had 12 years. There's the UN and the international community in action for you. The cease fire from the first Gulf War was signed in February of 1991. One of the conditions of the cease fire was that weapons inspectors would be given free access to wherever they wanted to go to insure that Saddam's WMD programs were dismantled. In March of 2003, the President had had enough. There might have been faulty intelligence, but the point is there never should have had to be any intelligence at all. There should have been documented proof from, by then, years of weapons inspections. If someone has worked that hard to keep you from finding out if they have something, isn't it pretty reasonable to assume they have it?)

4) Kerry strikes me as very elitist. It has come out that he has owned, for years, an assault weapon that was covered by the ban that just expired. Then, he had the gall to chide the President for not renewing the ban. Sorry, Senator, you want me to take you seriously on this one? Then cough up your Chinese assault rifle. Given the way that you behaved in front of the Senate, testifying for the VVAW, there can't be anything from Viet Nam that you would want as a memento. You already threw away your medals. Now you want to explain a war trophy that was illegal for you to have? As for that, you want to explain how you legally got that thing into this country in the first place? I know current military regs, and if I try to bring anything like that home from Iraq, and get caught, I am going to jail. Let's back up for a second on this one. Senator, one more time, didn't you vote for that ban when it was enacted? But you kept a gun
that you made illegal for, supposedly, anyone in America to have? And you admitted to it in public? I'm no lawyer, but that sounds suspiciously like confessing to a crime. I could go on in this vein for a while. His wife's comments about what kind of people would not support her husband's health care plan. (She actually said "idiot" when speaking to the press.) There there is his stance on Health Savings Accounts. If that doesn't smack of the attitude that the average American is too stupid to make responsible health care decisions for him/herself, and that the government needs to take that money from us and spend it for us.

5) He and his campaign are whiners. Let me give you a short time line here. The Swift Boat Vets ad came out. First, his campaign tried to suppress them (more on that in a bit), then they whined because the President had not made a statement specifically condemning the ads and asking them to come off the air. So, what did the President do? He, finally, made a statement condemning ads by all of the 527 organizations and asking them to be taken off the air, including the ones that supported his campaign. Then, the Kerry campaign complained because the
President had not specifically cited the Swift Boat ads. Apparently, the President blew that off. Then, the Vice President made a statement that he felt that if Kerry was elected that another terrorist attack, like September 11th, was more likely than if the President was reelected. The Kerry campaign threw a fit over that one. They said the VP was being divisive, and un-American. The VP is a candidate running for reelection. He was stating what he felt was the
case for his reelection. Yes, that is divisive. Someone stating that he or his group is better than another group is exactly that. But, that is the nature of political campaigning. Isn't that what candidates supposed to do? Get up and tell you why you should vote for them instead of the
other guy? What was the VP supposed to say? "I think John Kerry is a great guy. He will make a great President. America will be safer as him as President. But, I would like you to vote for us anyway." That's ridiculous, but, apparently, that is the expectation that the Kerry campaign has of their opponents. All I have to say is: If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

6) Kerry, in his campaign, has lied to the American public about issues that are crucial in a
President. I saw on CNN, recently, where he made a statement to the effect that he was all for supporting the Constitution. That's nice. Given that the Constitution is the highest law in the land, the law that all other laws are based on, and as President, the one law that he would
swear to uphold as part of the oath of office. But, in that, he lied through his teeth. The Bill of Rights are the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. As the Constitution stipulates, that gives them the force of law as if they were part of the Constitution itself. Where to begin with this one? Let's go back to the "gun" thing. He supports the assault rifle ban that just expired (a limit to your Second Amendment rights), in regards to the American public. However, he received, as a gift during this campaign, a shotgun that would have been illegal under the ban, and he has publicly stated that he owns a "souvenir" from Viet Nam that is a Chinese assault rifle that was covered by the ban. So, the Senator, apparently, wants the Second Amendment to apply to himself, but doesn't trust you and I with the same rights. There there was the occasion, recently, when a heckler showed up for one of his campaign speeches. The heckler was assaulted by other audience members, and security ushered the person out. Kerry congratulated the persons that
committed the assault, and when the members of the press that were traveling with his campaign tried to interview the heckler, they were told by campaign staffers that if they spoke to the heckler, they would not be allowed to continue to cover the campaign. Apparently, the Senator has a problem with Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Speech, First Amendment Rights, both, at least when those freedoms allow negative things to be said about him or his campaign.. I will admit, that case for Freedom of Speech might be stretching it a bit there. So, let's look at another example, on that one. The Swift Boat ads, and ads by other 527 organizations that do not support him, are another case in point. Every time a 527 organization has come out against Kerry he has tried to get their ads taken off the air. Do you know what 527 organizations are? They are a thing that was created by the legislation that did away with "soft money" ads. Under the "soft money" ad thing, national parties could pay for ads from party funds (outside of the legal limits on an individual candidates campaign budget) as long as those ads were about an issue, not the candidates. Legislation since the last Presidential election outlawed that. But, the new law allows for groups that are not the parties, or the campaigns
themselves to put up ads themselves pertaining to a campaign. There are fairly liberal limits on contributions to these groups. The main restrictions are basically that it cannot come from or be an extension of a political party or a candidate's campaign. That's what the Swift Boat Vets group is, a 527 organization. In fact, when you look at the primary movers and shakers in that group, you will find that they are, mostly, Democrats, not Republicans. But the concept was that this
allowed the average citizen to have their say, and have their voices heard in the campaigning process, not just in the vote. As I showed above, Senator Kerry, apparently, is against this, at least when it is against him. The legislation that allowed this situation was cited at the time as a means for the average citizen to exercise their First Amendment rights in the political process. Senator Kerry, on the other hand, has expressed his dissatisfaction, at least when the ads are
against him. He doesn't mind you and I having Free Speech, apparently, as long as we don't disagree with him. Does that sound like Free Speech to you?

7) What has he done? The man has been in the Senate how long? What legislation, what motion, amendment to a bill can be pointed to as something that he accomplished? Look at what his campaign has to say. These are the people that have the most to gain by coming up with even
the smallest things that he accomplished and dragging it out as an example of his success as a legislator. What are they touting? Nothing. A large part of the Presidency is convincing an often hostile Congress to get on board your legislative agenda. If he couldn't do that while he was in the Senate, the chances of him doing that from the outside are even less likely.

What I do like:

1) He did serve in the active military. No matter what he did after, or, if you believe everything the Swift Boat Vets have to say about him. He did it voluntarily at a time where it was very unpopular to do so. Many people were dodging active military service anyway that they could
to avoid going to Viet Nam. This is important. I don't think a person is really qualified to act as Commander in Chief of our military unless he has done something to acquaint himself with the realities of military life. Bill Clinton is the perfect example of this. He was all for allowing openly gay people in the military at the beginning of his first term. The military threw a fit, but he wouldn't back off of his stance. That is, until he visited an aircraft carrier. I'm not sure what he
expected in terms of living conditions for sailors aboard ship. But, what he found was that the rooms that the enlisted men lived in were tiny, and there were stacks of bunks. Cots that hung from the walls. Every bit of space was used. To the point that the bunks were so close together that a sailor felt it when the guy below him rolled over in his sleep. That's how close the bunks are, vertically. After seeing that, he backed off on the gays in the military thing.

2) He thinks on his feet better than the President does. Think back to when you have heard the President speak. He either sounds very Presidential or he sounds like a "Bubba" that is out of his element. It's gotten to the point that Slate Magazine regularly publishes "Bushisms". I have linked to a couple of those from this blog. The times that he sounds Presidential, he is in a scripted situation. He has a speech that he has either on teleprompter or he has memorized. When he sounds like a goof is when he goes "off script" and starts improvising. Kerry does not have that problem.

3) Looking back over the last 20+ years of national government, for all of their reputation as the "tax and spend" party, the Democrats have been more fiscally responsible than the Republicans. Social Security is and has been heading for a crisis. Medicare/Medicaid has been in much the same boat. Government grew at alarming rates during the Reagan, Bush, and Bush administrations.

Unknowns and Intangibles

1) We don't know who John Kerry, if elected, will select as his cabinet, or closest advisers. Especially with what is going on in Iraq right now, the posts of National Security Adviser, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Defense are crucial elements of any administration. When I
do my appraisal of the President, I will address the current people in these positions. But, for Kerry, we just don't know. He could pick people that are much better for each one of these posts, much worse, or about the same.

2) I don't believe the President has burned any bridges, diplomatically, but several of them are smoldering. John Kerry, I think, has a better chance of fixing those relationships. The question is: Is that a good thing? Or did the President say and do some things to our "allies" that have needed to be done for a while? I will address that in my post about the President.

In the next installment:
I do for the President what I just did for John Kerry.

(Forwarded by my Dad. It's kind of a joke, but you know what? It's not
much different than what the Libertarian Party suggests for our foreign
policy.)

*This may very well be the best thought out item we have read since
9/11/01.
Leave it to Robin Williams to come up with the perfect plan ... what we
need now is for our UN Ambassador to stand up and repeat this message.

I see a lot of people yelling for peace but I have not heard of a plan
for peace. So, here's one plan.

1. The US will apologize to the world for our "interference" in their
affairs, past &present. You know, Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Noriega,
Milosovich and the rest of those good ol' boys: We will never
"interfere" again.

2. We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with
Germany, South Korea and the Philippines. They don't want us there. We
would station troops at our borders. No one sneaking through holes in
the fence.

3. All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and
leave. We'll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder
will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of who or where
they are. France would welcome them.*

*
4. All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90
days unless given a special permit. No one from a terrorist nation would
be allowed in. If you don't like it there, change it yourself and don't
hide here. Asylum would never be available to anyone. We don't need any
more cab drivers or 7-11 cashiers.

5. No "students" over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they
don't attend classes, they get a "D" (for "deport") and it's back home
baby.

6. The US Will make a strong effort to become self-sufficient energy
wise. This will include developing non-polluting sources of energy but
will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The
caribou will have to cope for a while.

7. Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries $10 a barrel
for their oil. If they don't like it, we go some place else. They can go
somewhere else to sell their production. (About a week of the wells
filling up the storage sites would be enough.)

8. If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we
will not "interfere." They can pray to Allah or whomever for seeds,
rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides, most of what we give them
is stolen or given to the Army. The people who need it most get very
little, if anything.

9. Ship the UN Headquarters to an isolated island some place. We don't
need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides, the building
would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens.

10. All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way no one
can call us "Ugly Americans" any longer. The language we speak is
ENGLISH....learn it...or LEAVE...

Now, ain't that a winner of a plan.
The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying "Give me your poor, your
tired, your huddled masses." She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling,
"You want a piece of me?"*

(Another gem forwarded by my folks)

The National Transportation Safety Board recently divulged they had
covertly funded a project with U.S. auto makers for the past five years,
whereby the auto makers were installing black boxes in four-wheel drive
pickup trucks in an effort to determine, in fatal accidents, the
circumstances in the last 15 seconds before the crash.

They were surprised to find in 45 of the 50 states the last words of
drivers in 61.2 percent of fatal crashes were, "Oh, SHIT!"

Only the states of Oklahoma , Missouri , Michigan, Alabama and Texas
were different, where 89.3 percent of the final words were: "Hold my
beer and watch this."

(Another one Dad forwarded me.)
*Get a video camera and microphone and chase a local TV news crew
around. Interrupt on-the scene shots by shouting questions like "Where
have all the cowboys gone?"

*Ask strangers if they have change for a nickel.

*In the bathroom at work, utter loud, pain-wracked screams, then emerge
holding a large hen's egg.

*Call National Acme Co. Ask if they have any products you could use to
kill a roadrunner.

(Forwarded to me by my Dad. Do you think he was trying to tell me
something?)

*A college student challenged a senior citizen, saying it was impossible
for their generation to understand his. "You grew up in a different
world," the student said. "Today we have television, jet planes, space
travel, nuclear energy, computers..."*




*Taking advantage of a pause in the student's litany, the geezer said,
"You're ! right. We didn't have those things when we were young; so we
invented them! _What are you doing for the next generation?"_*

I bought some powdered water, but I don't know what to add to it.
-- Steven Wright

If toast always lands butter-side down, and cats always land on their feet, what happen if you strap toast on the back of a cat and drop it?
-- Steven Wright

I went to a fancy French restaurant called "Deja Vu." The headwaiter said, "Don't I know you?"
-- NOT a Steven Wright joke (a Rod Schmidt look-alike)

As you can tell, I went back to the old template. There are still some
things that I am not completely satisfied on this template. However, I
could not get several of the things that I really like on this one to
work well on the others I actually tried out. I picked up several from
blogskins.com that I think are really good, but they are going to take
some real work to get where I want them, and I didn't feel up to that at
the moment.

Keep an eye out. I'll probably give them a try in the not too distant
future, just not for a while.

If you browse down the "Reading" portion of the sidebar, you will notice
that is has changed.

I finished The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. Excellent book. It is
the book that the movie Gettysburg is based on. As usual, I thought the
book was better than the movie. However, that is not to take anything
away from the movie. I think the movie is the best representation
possible, within the confines of the film format, of the book.

Before I read The Killer Angels, I read Gods and Generals. Another
excellent book. Written by Jeff Shaara. You will notice a similarity in
the two author's names. Michael was Jeff's father. Michael wrote The
Killer Angels in 1974. His book was considered to be groundbreaking in
historical fiction. The main reason is that, instead of creating
fictional characters and putting them in historical situations, he stuck
with real people in real situations, and very often used things that
they are documented to have said at the time. He just filled in a few
details with fiction around what is known, historically, using those
people. Michael died in 1988. His son, Jeff, as a tribute to his father,
decided to write a book that followed his father's style. That book,
Gods and Generals, acts as a prelude to The Killer Angels. It highlights
Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, but it, also, follows the main characters
of The Killer Angels from before the Civil War until shortly before The
Killer Angels starts.

Both are exellent books, but I found that I enjoyed Gods and Generals,
as a book , more than The Killer Angels. Which I found a bit odd,
because I enjoyed the movie Gettysburg much more than the movie Gods and
Generals. Both movies are excellent renditions of their respective books.

It's like something I saw recently. I was watching the Special Features
for the film "Field of Dreams". There was an inereview with W.P.
Kinsella, the author of the book that the movie was based on. He went on
to say that the film is quite a bit different than the book that he
wrote. But then, he said that you can't expect the film to be like the
book. Film and books are two completely different formats for
communicating that each have different strengths and weaknesses. There
are thigns that are very easy to do in a novel that are almost
impossible to do in a film, and vice versa there are things that you can
do in a 5 second film shot that take many pages to explain in a book.
With that in mind, he said that he was real pleased with the film
rendition of his book. I was glad to hear that as the film is one of my
favorites.

Which brings me to the latest book that I am reading, Shoeless Joe by
W.P. Kinsella. The book that the film "Field of Dreams" is based on. It
is quite good, so far, and, as the author stated in the interview I saw,
quite different than the movie. One thing remains constant though
between the two, on the surface, both stories are about baseball, but
that's not what they are about at all. They are both much deeper than that.

(Found this floating around the office the other day. Sorry, don't have
a scanner to include the pictures.)

1.) Put both lids of the toilet up and add 1/8th cup of pet shampoo to
the water in the bowl.

2.) Pick up the cat and soothe him while you carry him towards the bathroom.

3.) In one smooth movement, put the cat in the toilet and close both
lids. You may need to stand on the lid.

4.) The cat will self agitate and make ample suds. Never mind the noises
coming from the toilet, the cat is actually enjoying this.

5.) Flush the toilet three or four times. This provides a "power-wash"
and "rinse".

6.) Have someone open the front door of your home. Be sure that there
are no people between the bathroom and the front door.

7.) Stand behind the toilet as far as you can, and quickly lift both lids.

8.) The cat will rocket out of the toilet, streak through the bathroom,
and run outside where he will dry himself off.

9.) Both the commode and the cat will be sparkling clean.

Sincerely,

The Dog

Apparently, no one has claimed it yet.

I'm surprised the NAACP or some similar group is not raising a stink over this.

"Why does it always have to be a color thing, man?"

"Another example of 'the Man' keeping us down."

Or maybe AARP, because the 5 black rhinos that can be hunted must be ELDERLY males.

This is just lovely.

And these are some of the people that we should build "consensus" with over Iraq and other foreign policy issues?

They are shipping illegal immigrants who are seeking asylum to Libya?

As the article states: "Libya is not a signatory to the UN's Geneva Convention on refugees and has been accused of widespread abuse of migrants.

It is unclear what will happen to those refugees, although the UNHCR says it believes they are still in Libya."

Nice.

Maybe as a parting gift they can beat them with rubber hoses while they wait for the planes.

Had to post this. I'm not the Peanuts fan I was when I was young. But, the character Linus has always reminded me of me.

I think I did this when I was in school, once or twice.

Okay, the French people, basically, support anyone but Bush to be the next President of the US. Now, as an American voter, should I interpret that as a good reason to vote for Kerry, or Bush?

3-star General George Patton once said, "I would rather have a German division in front of me, than a French one behind me."

Jay Lenno once said "Why should we expect the French to help us get Saddam out of Iraq? They wouldn't help us get the Germans out of France!"

Interesting, I wrote a piece that I reposted here right after I started my blog saying that if we didn't do soemthing about the size of our military that a draft was inevitable. The country is asking our military to do too much with the manpower that it has, and the Bush Administration (The Secretary of Defense, in particular) has stated several times that we do not need to increase the size of the military.

HHHmmm.

I thought the symbol of the GOP was the elephant, not the ostrich.

While this has potential to be the most interesting sideshow of the campaign, what is the point?

Cheney has been one of the most active Vice Presidents of the last 100 years, but look at the job that they are debating about taking.

The Vice President has two duties:

1) Preside over the Senate. Something that they rarely do. Generally, it is left to a Senator voted for by the Senate. Unless there is a distinct possibility of a split vote (there are an even number of Senators, you know), then the VP has the deciding vote. Most VP's don't even show up unless there is distinct possibility of a split vote.

2) Wait for the President to die.

These two guys are vying for the job to be a "heartbeat away from the Presidency", but let's get real. Of the four guys on the respective tickets, Cheney is the one most likely to keel over any time soon.

That is, unless, the President snacks on pretzels again, and someone isn't quick with the Heimlich maneuver.

"Syrian troops were on the ground 'at the invitation of Lebanon and that their presence is therefore by mutual agreement,' the report said."

Another story that has a familiar ring to it.

Does anyone else remember Yugoslavia "inviting" Russian troops into their country in 1968? Or Czechoslovakia doing the same thing in the early 50's? ... Or for that matter any other time that Russian troops were "guests" in the Warsaw Pact nations?

Don't miss the fact that the reason they were invited was the Israeli troop presence there, and that the Israelis pulled out 14 YEARS AGO!

The first time I saw this in the news they were called "Collection Camps" or something like that. (It was alliterative, and the last word was "Camp".)

Is it just me or does anyone else get a little nervous when Germans suggest that people other than Germans be put into camps for "processing"?

Does that remind anyone else of another "great" German idea from about 60 years ago?

Raise your right and and say "Hiel" if this sounds like a good idea to you.

It's Friday. End of my long day. About to call it quits, and hit the sack. Not going to be able to post tomorrow, so here are a couple of pearls from Steven Wright.

One time a cop pulled me over for running a stop sign. He said, "Didn't you see the stop sign?" I said, "Yeah, but I don't believe everything I read."
-- Steven Wright

A cop stopped me for speeding. He said, "Why were you going so fast?" I said, "See this thing my foot is on? It's called an accelerator. When you push down on it, it sends more gas to the engine. The whole car just takes right off. And see this thing? This steers it."
-- Steven Wright

This is a case where silence is not golden, but it does have great potential to glow in the dark.

And the bad part is, thanks to this situation, so do many of us.

If we are taking WMD seriously, it's time we took them ALL seriously.