We pray to God and believe he hears us
We are fly-over country.
We are the red states.

Being home is GREAT!

I have done few, if any, really useful things. I have just spent my time enjoying being with my wife and dogs.

Lots of "warm, fuzzy" moments with them.

We are watching the DVD that was included with the last Phish CD, at the moment. In general, not doing much, just enjoying "being".

I'll let you know if anything interesting happens.

We went to see the castle at Geichburg the other day. It was nice. Cold, but nice. Had a great lunch in the little town below the castle and talked. One of those, "Life, the Universe, and Evertyhing" kind of talks. Great food, great conversation, nice scenic drive to get there and back. Nothing monumental, or historic. Just thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end.

The dogs are thrilled to have, as my wife puts it, "their boy" home, and I am thrilled to be with them.

My computer was not in the best of shape the last few weeks, and I have it back up to speed now. Expect more from me in the near future. Found my old "giggle" file, and will be posting more of that.

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. I did.

17 November 2004

I'm, finally, heading out on R&R!

I'm going to try to blog all of this, but it is not going to be as easy as last time. My Palm keyboard is dead and my laptop is on the fritz, as well.

Actually, it is almost like I have already started it.

I was given yesterday off to prepare for the trip. l slept late. Okay, later. I always sleep late. That is one of the joys of working the night shift. I got most of my stuff together yesterday. Then, I had a nice relaxing evening: reading, and watching DVD's.

I read a few more chapters of Joseph Bonnanno's autobiography. It is rather good, but a little self-serving. It, also, skips a lot of the good parts of the story. He explains why he did something, but never gets around to telling you what he did. It gets a little frustrating. I, also, think I might have OD'ed on the Mafia thing. In the last month, I have watched the movies: Mobsters, The Godfather Part I, The Godfather Part II, and most of The Godfather Part III; and read all of one gangster autobiography (Frank Costello) and part of another.

l've, also, been working my way through the second season of The Shield, and Band of Brothers. I'm in the middle of the second disc of four on The Shield, and, last night, I watched the fourth out of ten episodes of Band of Brothers.

It's not that I don't have enough to do. The problem is that, thanks to the hours I work, I am wide awake until about 4 in the morning. The people in the building I live in work normal Army hours and turn into pumpkins by 11 at night. I can do anything in the building I want, as long as I don't disturb them. Basically, anything that involves light or sound would disturb them. The only reason I can get away with reading and watching movies is that I have rigged my bunk (I have a set of bunkbeds to myself) so that it is enclosed, basically. I have a battery-operated lamp and headphones for either my computer or my mini-DVD player. If it involves leaving that space, l am, generally, disturbing someone's sleep.

So, anyway, I planned my "morning" for today, last night. I figured that I ought to get up at 9 to get everything done that I had to before I had to meet the convoy at 1:45. Then, I really got into watching Band of Brothers, an episode of The Shield, and, after having watched all of that heavy stuff, I needed something light to chill out with. It was about this time (almost 2 in the morning) that I re-thought getting up at 9. I could get everything done that I needed, without quite as much time. Getting up at 10 should be sufficient. So, I watched "Not Another Teen Movie".

If you have watched all of the John Hughes teen movies(Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, etc.), Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Varsity Blues, et al, and enjoyed them, AND you have an hour and a half of your life that you want to COMPLETELY waste, then "Not Another Teen Movie" is exactly what you are looking for. I watched this on the recommendation of several friends. They thought it was hilarious. I thought it had several amusing parts, in kind of a "Porky's" way. The part with Molly Ringwald is a SCREAM! But, by then, it's not really worth the effort.

18 November

Well, I spent so much time talking about the 16th that I never got around to saying anything about the day I went through yesterday. So, I will pick up where I left off.

I told you about pushing back the time my alarm an hour before I went to bed. (Those of you that have known me for a while can see where this is going.) The alarm went off at ten. (I forgot to mention that I woke up Monday with a sore throat, and it appears that I am catching a cold.) I felt pretty rough. I did a quick mental run down of what I needed to get done, and how I felt. I came to the conclusion that, if I changed the order that I planned on doing things, it would use my time more efficiently and, much to the surprise of many of you out there, I am sure, I could sleep for another hour.

I got up shortly before 11. Got cleaned up, and started packing. Finished that up. I should mention that I was working in a mode that I refer to as "Don't rush, but don't waste any time." Not frantic, not even, really, rushed. Just busy. I had to be at the site to meet the convoy at 1:45, ready to roll. Not that the convoy actually was going to roll at that time. I just had to be there and ready. I did everything I needed to do at the unit, looked at my watch, and thought that can't be right. I double checked everything, and, sure enough, I had done everything I needed to do at the unit with over an hour to spare.

I made arrangements for my ride to the convoy start point to take my luggage and meet me at work. I hopped into my work vehicle and headed off to the MWR. Didn't see the boss. So, I turned over all my work keys to SGT Smith, and grabbed a cup of coffee. BS'ed with SGT Smith for a while, said my goodbye's to everyone, and hopped on my ride to meet the convoy.

To make a long story short, it was a lot of "hurry up and wait" to get the convoy underway. The convoy, itself, was boring. As I have mentioned before, a boring convoy is a good thing. AND to dispel a myth that the media perpetuates, most convoys are boring. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of convoys going from place to place in this country, daily, that you never hear about because there is nothing to tell. They leave on time, have no incidents on the way to their destination, and arrive on time. Don't blame the media for you not hearing about them. They don't report the number of planes that take off and land, daily, on time and without incident either. The closest thing to excitement on the convoy was that I am pretty sure that I was, at least, an inch shorter when I climbed off the back of the truck than when we started. The ride was pretty rough. Iraqi roads are not in the best of shape, and Army cargo trucks are not designed for the comfort of passengers riding in the back. I handed off my M-16 and all of my ammunition to the guy that was going to take care of it for me. You would be amazed at how much lighter the armored vest is after you take 180 rounds of ammunition and the equipment to hold it off.

The people at the passenger terminal informed us that check in for our flight was at 6 AM the next morning. (More on the process of getting on a military flight later.) On hearing this, I knew I had all kinds of time. They put us and our gear in a tent with cots and left us on our own. Got something to eat. Then, settled into my little space for the evening. Wrote my entry for yesterday, watched the next episodes of Band of Brothers and The Shield.

There are no showers, sinks, or, even, real bathrooms out here at the passenger terminal. Just four tents, a shack for the office, and four portajohns. There, also, aren't any lights outside. So, about 10 last night, I needed to go "meditate". Couldn't take a book, because there was no light. I have multiple books on my Palm. I decided to pick up one of those that l had started.

Let me paint this picture for you:
I am sitting in a portajohn in the middle of a war zone. It is about 10:30 at night. The only light I have is provided by the screen of my Palm. And, I am reading a conversation that that took place about 2,000 years ago between Socrates and a man named Meno about the definition and nature of "virtue".

I couldn't decide if this moment was "centering", helping me stay grounded and sane, or, if it was just completely surreal and absurd.


19 November

I got up at about 5:45. We were supposed to check in at the PAX terminal office at 6. I hadn't slept much. I had a great spot in the tent, but it included a broken cot. The cold had only become worse, and I had sneezed and coughed all night.

When I got to the office, almost everyone that was going out on my flight was there. I knew what to expect. So, I hadn't packed any of my stuff, and had just rolled out of bed to get a word. My plan was to go right back to sleep. Almost everyone in my tent had completely packed their stuff and was ready to go right then. They were amazed and completely disappointed when they found out that our flight was scheduled for 9 that night, and we wouldn't do anything towards checking in for the flight for 12 more hours. I, on the other hand, was completely prepared for this and went back to the tent and slept.

A quick aside: in general, the cabin crews for World Airlines suck. More on that later.

I woke up about 3 hours before time to "manifest". l know it sounds like either something destined to happen or an airline employee is going to appear supernaturally, but this when you do what would be "check in" on a real airline. Following so far? Let me recap. "Check in" on a military flight is not when you check in. It is when you find out when to check in. "Manifest" is when you check in. Thoroughly confused yet?

I made sure all my stuff was packed up and got ready for "hurry up, and wait".

We, finally, arrived in Kuwait about midnight. We did what was supposed to be the first day of two days processing to go on leave in about 2 hours between 1 and 3 this morning. It is not so scary that we did what they, normally, drag out into an entire work day in just two hours. I didn't find that out until we were almost done. What is scary is that during those two hours the number of times I thought they were either wasting time or dragging something out much longer than it should have been.

I ended up getting to bed about 4. Had to be up and at a formation where "important" information was going to be put out. Well, the "important" information was either irrelevant to me or a repeat of information that had been beat to death earlier.

The formation did have an upside. It got me out of bed to take care of what had turned into a couple of important things.

Let me backtrack for a moment. I mentioned earlier that I have been coming down with a cold. Yesterday was miserable. All I could get to drink was water. Couldn't get to a PX to get medicine, and I started getting what I thought was one of the worst sinus headaches I have ever had. It was still with me when I woke up, and, by the time the formation was over, it felt like someone was driving a railroad spike through the bridge of my nose.

Second backtrack: I posted some time ago that the tailor from our bazaar was killed. Since then, none of our Iraqi workers have come on post. This includes the only two barbers on this post. I had been trying to get in to see them, but something always came up. By the time the trip started, I was just barely, but very noticeably, out of the bounds of military regs with my hair. Did I mention that the officer who is second in command(Major), and the Command Sergeant Major of the battalion that oversees the MWR are both going on leave now, and they are both going to Germany too? This doesn't quite put me up the creek of organic fertilizer, but it will if I don't get a haircut the first chance I get.

So,to sum up, at the end of the formation, I have a blinding headache that is seated in my sinuses and right behind my eyes, and I have two senior people keeping an eye on me to see that l get a haircut. I, also, have about 5 hours before I have to be anywhere or do anything.

First, I head to the barber shop. This is the great part about having been through here last month: I know where everything is.

Then, off to the PX. Where I buy: mouthwash (the PX on Danger has been out for over a month), some Alka Seltzer Cold medicine, a cup to drink it out of, and, because I am really dragging now, a can of Starbuck's Double Shot. As I walk out of the PX, heading towards the vendor I purchased my "Jokelys" from last month, I down the can of espresso in, pretty much, one gulp. Within 1 minute, I feel my "sinus headache" melt away like an ice sculpture under a heat lamp. I, almost, regretted buying the Alka Seltzer Plus, but not quite. About 10 steps after the headache disappeared, guess who I run into? That's right. The Major and Command Sergeant Major. They loved the haircut.

Shortly after that, I ran into a guy I know. We arrived at Bamberg together, did the three weeks of in processing Germany together. Then, went to different units. He's at a different base in Iraq than I am. I've seen him once before, since we've deployed. He was on Danger a few weeks before the episode with Chewie, and just happened to come into the MWR about the time I came on duty. Now, we're going to R&R at the same time, on the same flight, to the same little town in Germany. The military is providing, basically, an express bus from the airport in Frankfurt to Bamberg. He and I will, probably, be the only ones on it.

Not much to tell after that. My first shower since I started writing this felt good. The process of getting on the plane to Germany (FINALLY!) was more "hurry up and wait", but it was painless, relatively. Customs was a breeze, and I had heard those guys were a real pain. I napped in the terminal. Which probably, with the coffee I have had, explains why I am still wide awake and writing.

To give you a progress report: l should have changed to 20 November. It is 4:20 AM, Iraq time. I have been in the air about 3 hours, or so. We should land in the next hour and a half to two hours. l expect to be home by noon, or so, Germany time, or in about 10 hours. We'll see.

20 November

Well, I'm in Germany. Had to sit through about 6 different briefings. They lasted about an hour. There was about 10 seconds of useful information, total. l can see why these people were left back as rear detachment.

Let me illustrate.

I have just walked into the terminal off of the plane. I am in the desert camoflage uniform. 1st Infantry Division soldiers wear full color patches with this uniform. Since I have been deployed over 30 days to Iraq, l have the right to wear a division patch on my right shoulder. So, l have a large, dark green patch on each shoulder. In the middle of each of those patches is a large, BRIGHT red 1. Because of the way my carry-on luggage has to be carried, I walk into the terminal leading with my right shoulder. Patch slightly lower than my chin. Because of my height, this puts my division patch right in the line of sight of anyone of normal height that walks up to me. The 1st Infantry Division liaison NCO, a woman of average height, walks straight up to me and asks me if I am a 1st Infantry Division soldier. I come real close to telling her that, no, l am just wearing the division patch on both shoulders because it looks cool. ... And after that, get REAL sarcastic. Except for the chaplain, nobody else meeting us was any brighter than the first one. Actually, she seemed brighter than several of the others, which is a scary thought.

I don't know that I have an awful lot of room to talk. There was a bus reserved specifically for the people going to Bamberg. I'm riding home in it as I write this. It's a "short bus."

Michael Moore has been selected by FilmThreat.com as top person on their annual list of the "least-inspiring, least-intriguing people in Hollywood."

" Moore qualified because of what the editors saw as an oversized ego. "Message to Michael: Remember, it's not always about you. Lose the chip on your shoulder," the editors said."

I can't think of a more deserving person. Congratulations, Michael.

This is GREAT!

I, especially, enjoyed this part:

"Even the director of Clark County's board of elections got into the debate. She was widely quoted as saying: 'The American Revolution was fought for a reason.'"

I don't buy into this article as much as the others, but the end is entertaining.

If you follow the link, make sure you read all the way down to the "Correction" at the end.

I read this and thought of that scene in "O Brother, Where Art Thou" where "Pappy" O'Daniels' son said:

"Daddy, we ought to get us some of that re-form. People like that reform."

Another good one.

I, especially, like the part that starts:
"Democrats used to talk in moral terms—about fighting for civil rights, for example. "

Slate, an online magazine, is running a series of articles by various authors on what is wrong with the Democratic Party.

This is the first one. It's pretty good. I'll post links to the ones I like.

Excellent article by Joseph Farah.

This is going to be the last post tonight. I was originally going to do this in a separate post without a news story link, but this one happens to relate to what I am going to talk about.

First, on the story: imagine that. Some Iranians are, apparently, anti-American. So much so that they are taking action against Americans. Who would have thought? That's a major surprise. Never seen anything like this before, have you, President Carter?

Secondly, on why this hits home:

I've talked about the bazaar where I work. There are a lot of Iraqis that work in the building I work in. Most are vendors that sell things to, or provide services for soldiers. The barber, the beautician, two masseuses, two tailors, and various people that sell products. Neat people, good people that risk their lives to suppor their families and provide services and goods to soldiers that they view as friends and saviors from a tyrant.

When the Iraqis came into work on Sunday, the two tailors, the female masseuse (who was married to one of the tailors), and a maintenance worker did not come in. We found out Monday, that no one had seen them since they left work on Saturday, all leaving post in the same car to head home.

Today, the head of the Iraqi maintenance crew came in with a more definitive report. The missing people had been found, kind of. They had appeared on the news. According to the news report, they had been, basically, highjacked by insurgents, tortured and executed. I will spare you the details that I know at this time. (Believe me, you don't want to know.) The news report went on to say that the group that had done this was foreign insurgents in the area they were travelling. (They did not live in the Tikrit area.)

All of us here, military, civilian, American or not, mourn their loss. I would ask that you keep their families, friends and co-workers in your thoughts and prayers. I would, also, ask that you keep the rest of our Iraqi "crew" in your prayers as their support for what America is doing over here can have a very high cost.

This shows just how much these people just don't get the basics of democracy and freedom.

Religious leaders are urging Iraqis to make themselves heard by not voting.

It reminds me of what my family therapist friend said to me right after his son asked to be put in "time out": "I'm just not getting through to this kid."

Check out the first story in this little collection.

This guy was a real genius.

Once again, someone who doesn't have a firm grasp of the farily obvious, but it is amusing.

More "moral support" from those who are supposed to be our friends and the "moderates" in the region.

Let's see here.

The French criticize us for Iraq, for being "imperialistic". Yet, they are still fighting in countries that used to be colonies of theirs.

Let's hope the President doesn't decide to go in and bail them out. You know what happened the last time we tried to get the French out of a mess in one of their former colonies. The colony was called Viet Nam.

Okay, I didn't read all of this article. I read most of it. It was easy to see where this guy was going with what he was saying. Let me say up front that everything he says negatively about blogging, political blogging, in particular, is absolutely true.

With that said, his conclusions are dead wrong, or they can turn out to be, the next few months/years will make that decision.

Let me tell you why I believe that. I was in Korea during their last Presidential election. Their voter turn out was about 10% higher than the American turnout just a few days ago. There was an incredible amount of political commentary and discussion in that country over their election. Most of it was not from conventional news sources. It was from the normal public over the internet. Yes, it was unprofessional, mostly biased, not well-crafted journalistic writing. What is was, however, was normal people getting involved in the electoral process. Taking an active part in discussing, persuading and being persuaded. Everything the election process is supposed to be about. Who cares if the professionals were cut out of most of it? Better yet, shouldn't the professionals who have a financial interest in the success of their message be cut out of the process as much as possible. How can they not help being biased?

Also, one of the reasons that voter turnouts for elections in the recent past have been so low is that people feel left out of the process. Blogging involves others. Look at some of the posts that I have cited on my blog from Daily Kos. What kos and his guest bloggers have to say is not the end of it. The readers of blogs are encouraged not only to read but to comment and take part in what is being said in the blogs they read.

So, no, Eric Engberg is absolutely right. Blogging is not journalism. It is real people, real voters talking about what is important to them, and what they understand. Funny, I thought that was what the Founding Fathers intended from Freedom of the Press in the first place.

Had to post this. The end is the best.

Here it is:

"This election presents a great opportunity for President Bush and a great opportunity for Democrats, and the two are not necessarily in conflict," he said.

The biggest opportunity he noted was the prospect of an Israeli-Palestinian peace amid the impending demise of Yasser Arafat.

Peace in the region would "take enormous steam" out of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism worldwide, Clinton said. "They would have to think of a new excuse to murder people."

Get this. This is the Mexican government talking:
"Mexico acknowledged it suffered a setback in the Nov. 2 elections, when Arizona voters approved Proposition 200, a ballot initiative aimed at keeping illegal immigrants from voting and obtaining some government services.

The Arizona initiative would ``foment racial discrimination and limit (migrants') access to basic services like health and education,'' Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said in a news statement."

They are talking about how this would effect illegal immigrants, not legal ones.

So, the Mexican government wants us to welcome with open arms, provide the same services and rights we extend to citizens to people whose very presence in our country is a crime? People who come over that way because there is no way that they will be allowed in the country legally?

Interesting fact: Do you remember in the early 90's when the Border Patrol and INS really cracked down on the Mexican border? I was living in El Paso, TX at the time. The media went nuts, initially, saying that the legal immigrants would be angered at how the US government was "mistreating" their former countryment that were "trying to get to freedom by any means possible (illegal immigration)". Guess what the press found out pretty quickly. The biggest supporters of the Border Patrol and INS's policy was recent legal immigrants.

Go Figure.

I have no problems with anyone from any country coming to America. The influx of people from many different countries and cultures is one of the things that have made us great. Just do it legally.

The post across town from where I am stationed is named for this guy.

Didn't know the story until now.

I guess the second video was from the Clinton Administration.

Catch the last sentence in the story: "The video player hadn't been used since last month, when vandals broke into the school. "

Guess they will preview those tapes a little closer now, won't they?

So much for journalistic credibility.

Actually, the question to your Congresspersons (Senate and House) should be "Why didn't you guys pull your thumbs out of your rear ends and do this after the 2000 election?"

Once again, we have significant questions about the voting process in a Presidential election. We are supposed to be the model for other nations that want democracies, right?

Then, it shouldn't be easier to get an honest vote in Afghanistan than America.

Call me crazy.

While I am not sure that I like the reasoning behind why they want to take this stand, I do agree with a lot of what they say.

The way that the "separation of church and state" is interpreted leaves the government with it's fingers in a lot of things that I think should be the domain of churches.

This would fix some of that.

and mental images

This one cracked me up.

Nope, this is not another story about the Red Sox.

In this one, if the trend had not been broken, America would have been cursed.

It appears that the Europeans aren't getting it.

First, they think al Quaeda and radical Islam is just anti-American. Then, after Madrid, they think they can just appease them. Buy a little "Peace in Our Time", as it were.

I guess they didn't read this interview John Rhys-Davies gave, or, at least, didn't pay attention to it.

Very interesting. Another Reuters story on Yahoo.

If you read the story in the previous link, then you can see that this analysis says that Bush won by running the kind of campaign that the Democrats normally run.

Basically, he stuck to his guns, didn't try to move to the center, and mobilized the traditional base of his party. A very Democratic style campaign.

This is posted on Yahoo, but it is a Reuters news story.

It's a good look at what was behind the Democratic party's prolbems over the last few years, and what they ought to do to fix them.

It's a good read.

I thought this was a really neat little short film. It might take a while to download.

This is one of the goodies that you can find on Milk and Cookies. The link is to the left.

(A little reminder sent me by my father-in-law)

Please remember that, because of the high turnout expected at the polls this year, Republicans will be voting on Tuesday, November 2nd, and Democrats will be voting on Wednesday, November 3rd.

Be sure to remind all your friends.

Kind of long download, but it's funny.

This is not what it looks like.

If you only watch one political ad this election, this one is worth the laughs.

I wouldn't have believed this unless I saw it myself.

I LOVE IT!

(Sent to me by a co-worker)

Some info you might find interesting

2004 Election Voter Guide

The following information could have bearing on the decisions you make November 2004.

Issues of Importance?

Gay Marriage

President Bush is opposed

John Kerry favors

Partial-Birth Abortion

President Bush is opposed

John Kerry favors

Restoring voluntary prayer in the public schools

President Bush Favors

John Kerry Opposes

Assault on Mel Gibson for making film about Christ

President Bush supports Gibson

John Kerry participated in Left's assault on Gibson, suggesting possible anti-Semitism even though Kerry had not seen the film.

Assault on Boy Scouts for belief in God and not allowing homosexual Scout Leaders

President Bush supports Boy Scouts' stand

John Kerry opposes Boy Scouts' stand

Asking for God's blessing on America

President Bush often asks God to bless America in his speeches

John Kerry attacks Bush for mentioning God so often

Judges

President Bush says "We need common-sense judges who believe our rights are derived from God."

John Kerry insists on judges who support the ACLU's radical anti-Christian, anti-God, anti-family agenda. John Kerry is insistent on blocking President Bush's federal judge appointments.

Overall Record

President Bush does not vote on issues before Congress but, based on his publicly stated positions, would receive an 85% conservative rating from the American Conservative Union if he did.

John Kerry, according to the highly respected, politically-neutral National Journal rates Kerry the most liberal U. S. Senator in 2003 -- >more liberal than Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton.

Florida’s voting system, apparently, is having the same problems they had in the last Presidential election. With this race being so close, both sides are gearing up for court battles to contest the election, if they should lose.

I’ve read in multiple places people basically saying that you would think, after what happened four years ago, they would have fixed the system.

I’m not surprised the system hasn’t been fixed. Matter of a fact, I would have been greatly surprised if the system had been fixed.

You have to keep in mind the goal of the two parties. The obvious answer to that question is that the goal of the two parties is to win elections. That’s not entirely true. The goal of each party is to have control of the government. You can ascribe whatever motive, positive or negative, that you want to that goal, but that is the goal, nevertheless.

Normally, to control the government, you have to win elections. Well, the last presidential election proved that you don’t, necessarily, have to win the election to control the office in question. All you have to do is keep the election close, and then win the court battle that follows.

The parties don’t want the problem solved because that takes away a tool that they have to attain their goal.

Just watch. Unless one side or the other comes up with a clear advantage in the electoral college, which would surprise everyone, the side that is initially declared the loser is going to contest the election results in the courts. At that point, what anyone voted anywhere does not really matter. The Supreme Court will, eventually, decide who the next president is. Whoever presents the best case in court, will then be the winner.

Which brings up another thought. Most people do not really understand the system, anyway. You have to realize that, in reality, you and I do not vote for or elect the President. The system doesn’t work that way. And that is a good thing, especially in a close election.

The states, not the people as a whole, elect the President. Each state receives the number of votes in the Electoral College that corresponds to the number of members of Congress that they have. (There are 100 members of the Senate. Each state, no matter what you population, gets 2. There are 435 members of the House of Representatives (that number is the maximum allowed by the Constitution). Those 435 seats are divided up among the respective states according to population. Every state, no matter how small the population has to receive one.) So, every state has a minimum of 3 votes in the Electoral College. Your vote goes to decide how all of the votes from your respective state will be cast. It’s all or nothing for your state. Meaning that, your vote goes toward deciding how, at a minimum, how 3 votes in the Electoral College will be cast.

Now, how is this better than a direct popular vote?

This election is a perfect example of why that is the case. It’s going to be close, according to all of the polls. If it was a direct popular vote, then all a candidate would have to do is concentrate on the major population centers and ignore the rest of the country. All a candidate would have to do is win the two coasts, and forget the rest of the country. There is enough population on the coasts that the election could be won that way, easily. But, that’s not the way the system works.

The last time I saw an estimate of the electoral votes that each candidate had locked up, there was a difference of 7 votes. At that point, a candidate doesn’t have to win a major state, in terms of population. All they have to do to carry it by two votes is win Alaska, Wyoming, and Washington DC, (each one of those have 3 electoral votes) and they have a lead of 2 votes.

What does that mean? It means a Presidential candidate ignores a state at his peril. Ignoring what is important to the bulk of voters in a given state, no matter how small, could, theoretically, cost him the election. That theoretical case becomes more real the closer the election is, overall. If it was just a popular vote, then entire blocks of states could easily be ignored by candidates.

The Electoral College was designed so that the country as a whole, and not just a few of the states elect the President. That was the Founding Fathers concept. Part of their system of “checks and balances�. Balancing the power of states with a large population with the other states. You have to keep in mind that we are not a democracy, we are a republic. Those are two very different things.

A bit of wisdom that I picked up from a friend of mine, a few years back.

I was going through an Army school. The cadre were trying to up the pressure. Talking all the time how success in this course could make your career. (It wasn’t true) Several of my classmates, including this friend of mine, were getting incredibly stressed out by the course. Then one day, Chris, this friend of mine, came in and he wasn’t stressed out anymore. I asked him what was up.

He told me that this was a “timed event�. Pass or fail, on June 28th of 1994, that class would be over. He would be going back to his unit, and his family. What happened between now and then didn’t really matter. He wanted to do his best, but he wasn’t going to kill himself over anything because this was not a permanent situation.

People around me have, at times, been amazed at how calm I am about the stupid crap that has gone on around me here. It’s the same thing. I may not know an exact date, or even a decent approximate date, that I am getting out of here. But that doesn’t change the overall situation. There is no two minute warning, stopping the clock, or time outs.

This is just another “timed event�.

I think I have it. I think I know what the election needs.

Age of Empires. The computer game.

In the game, you control a civilization. You take it from the Dark Ages to shortly before that culture’s equivalent of the Renaissance. You make choices. You build an economy. You build a military. You decide what technologies to develop that will best advance your civilization. You plan expansion, build infrastructure, conduct “international� trade. Housing for your population, insuring that necessities are provided for (food, etc.), education and properly utilizing natural resources are key factors in the game.

You can win three ways: military conquest of the other civilization(s) in the game, collect all of the relics on the map, and hold them, safely, for a specified amount of time, or build a “wonder� and keep it safe for a similar space of time.

It’s a perfect microcosm of what a President has to do. It doesn’t matter which path to winning you choose, you have to build a strong economy to be successful in any of them. There are multiple options in how you deal with the nations around you. Any one of those options can be successful, if you follow it up properly with the right “domestic policy�. If you ignore, or don’t pay enough attention to any facet of your civilization, then you will not be successful.

And, it takes about an hour and a half , or so, to play.

In a head to head situation, you could see, in miniature, the two candidates pursue what they think are appropriate policies, and see which is more successful. Which is, in all likelihood, exactly why you will never see anything like this done. Something, potentially, objective, and quantifiable that would say one candidate’s policies and behavior might be best in furthering our country? Neither political party would agree to it. You know why, of course. Neither party is confident enough of their own policies to think that they would actually win, and a test of their platforms of this nature is not something either side could afford to lose.

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. We're glad you could attend. Come inside! Come inside!

1 November, 2004

I just read over the last bit of this, and decided an epilogue was in order. Kind of get some closure here.

Well, let’s see.

One of the pair of “Jokely’s� that I bought in Doha broke within a couple of days of getting back.

My boss went on R&R on the 16th. The Army gives you two weeks R&R. Actually, they give you the opportunity to use some of the paid vacation that you earn each year. The nice part is, though, they don’t start counting days until you arrive at your destination and the 15 days is your actual time there. They don’t count the transit time there and back. The way it works out, your 15 days of R&R is really about 3 weeks or so away from work. So, I have about 2 more weeks without the boss. He did give me a little “gift� before he left, though. He did his best to cram 3 weeks worth of stress in the few days we had together before he left.

I don’t feel that “recharged� any more. But, that’s okay. In 17 days, or shortly after he gets back, I go on R&R, and so does SGT Smith. He gets the whole thing, day and night shift, to himself, for three weeks.

What goes around comes around, sometimes quicker than others.