Dirt Dart

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wake meX !!

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holiday

2010-11-25T18:22:00.001-06:00

Having a non traditional thanksgiving dinner burger and salad with puris and his wife

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The end

2010-08-20T20:14:00.001-05:00

Now this is what i would call irony while on hold with the department of veterans affairs the most depresing music was playing the theme of the song was about feeling alone... i wonder what idiot picked that

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Suicide

2010-08-15T16:17:00.001-05:00

the army reserves has a suicide rate that surpases that of the active army probably due to the lack of support reservists often encounter after a deployment or maybe sitting through the never ending stream of power points they insist is training

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it's that time again

2010-08-13T00:35:00.001-05:00

time for drill again my least favorite activity hanging out with a room full of self serving idiots

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school daze

2010-08-12T21:40:00.002-05:00

sorta irritated with the lack of intelligent life at the university of Phoenix some months back the university decided that those students that are in the military should have councilers that understand the pressure of uniformed life. While this sounds great on paper in the real world it is another matter for one they tend to ignore issues a student might have ... seriously 9 days to answer an email? Not very profesional in my opinion there are other things that come to mind but that is for another time.

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Holy pencil pushers

2009-03-13T21:41:00.001-05:00

My chain of command white boarded a meeting on how to have meetings. This of course is the tip of the iceberg we also have to be in our bunks by ten with the lights out I wonder when the leaders will insist we wear diapers.

Holy pencil pushers

2009-03-13T21:41:00.000-05:00

Louisianastan

2009-02-27T19:34:00.000-06:00

Three and a half years later the guard is pulling the plug on Louisianastan After the hurricane The National Guard were welcomed as liberators when they arrived in force in a big convoy more than four days after Katrina struck New Orleans in August 2005 and plunged the city into anarchy. The force was eventually 15,000 strong. Although the initial guard units were rather ineffectual in the early days of post Katrina. Not that they were entirely to blame as many of the units from Louisiana had just returned from Iraq and the soldiers themselves were displaced by the storm. It’s a pity the guard couldn’t do anything about the layer of corruption that seems to plague N.O

Iraq 09

2009-02-26T19:16:00.000-06:00

Haven’t had the time to write in awhile I have been so busy with this deployment and the various tasks that have to be completed before we even hit the mob station. For the most part its computer based training requirements and putting my promotion packet together
We are a unit of soldiers from 11 different states and so far it looks like we have a good crew. I am looking forward to this trip across the pond although I have a few reservations about stepping forward when asked if I would go. Only time will tell if my choice was the correct one.

Dirt Dart gets his groove on

2009-02-01T16:00:00.000-06:00

Yes children dirt dart (me) is heading to Iraq for another round of fun in the sun my all expense paid trip include such charming add ons like swarms of flys blazing sun friendly natives and a segeant who has no concept of combat operations he sorta reminds me of the banjo kid from the movie deliverance.

Stuttering Styles

2009-01-27T20:13:00.000-06:00

Okay Ft. Lee wasn’t exactly what I expected the school was a combination of hands on and
death by power point.
The instructors at the 92 L course were what one would expect in the army reserve although the one named styles had a tendency to stutter when he wasn’t sure of himself and that my brothers and sisters was his M.O for 22 days of grueling lecture.

Farewell to Thomas Bourland

2009-01-21T11:21:00.000-06:00

Tom A Bourland was born 03 June 1942 and died 18 January 23 Jan 2009. My uncle was also known as SSG Bourland he retired from the Oklahoma Army National Guard from the 45th Field Artillery Brigade. He loved the artillery and would tell stories about what his battery could do when on mission. Prior to his service in the guard, he served in the US Air Force. A funny story about the air force well not real funny his first wife swore she would leave him if he didn’t get out of the military he did and she left anyway. Uncle Tom was 66 when he his lord called him home. I couldn’t be there for you and I know you understand the army takes a lot from a man and I am sure they will take a lot more before they are finished with me.
Rest in peace uncle see you on the other side.

Ft. Lee

2009-01-13T10:29:00.002-06:00

Just fyi I am attending a military school untill the end of Jan 09 the army reserve has decided that my particulair set of skills needs an upgraded... so I will be a petro lab tech. when its all said and done.

Tulsa mines

2008-07-04T09:09:00.003-05:00

Many people were unaware of the abandoned coal mine in the heart of Tulsa. As indicated by the map Most of the mines are deep below the surface. with the amount of money spent to clean up abandoned well sites in the area its a wonder why the mine issues has been mostly ignored.

NBA comes to Oklahoma

2008-07-02T18:35:00.000-05:00

The Sonics or what ever they will change their name to expect to be in Oklahoma next season. Personally I think Tulsa would have been a better choice.

2007-10-23T15:11:00.000-05:00

President Buch visits a infantryman who lost his legs in Iraq
what do you say at a moment like this. Giving so much of ones self to defend the rights of americans who could care less if this fellow and other like him live or die or come home maimed, to a broken VA system that is unfriendly....

walkers house

2007-07-14T19:11:00.000-05:00

This is typical of many of the places I travel
to during a normal days work. This house
is a mere half a mile from the road.

But to get to the house first I must go through the woods.

To get to the river lucky for me the flooding had abated or this trip would have not been possible.

Lat but not least up the hill throwing gravel all the way to arrive at photo number 1, the house that walker built.
note I took the last two photos on the way out and yes this hill is rather steep. Under other conditions it would make a great jogging trail.

Is it any wonder why my van is in poor condition.

Neo Scum

2007-07-09T14:44:00.000-05:00

One of the things I dread more than anything else… a trip to wall mart while I am standing in line to check out listening to the swatch’s of conversations around me the mixture of Spanish and Slavic and a few home grown dialects reassure me that America is still home of the free. That is when I saw HIM a tall lanky fellow dresses like some sort old hippy but what caught my attention was the emblem on his distressed leather cap. An eagle clutching a swastika. Here in the middle of a virtual cultural smorgasbord is this throw back to an oppressive era.
I have but one thing to say. “SCUM”

My (new other) office

2007-07-07T10:41:00.000-05:00

This is my new other office we are in the middle of re organizing the maintenance bay after the units return from Iraq... all I can say is we have lots and lots of work to do.

Fabri cut

2007-07-03T19:12:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a typical pre holiday route seeing how many of the companies on my route shut down or were actually working. I made this observation to the receiving lady at Fabri Cut and her response was rather unexpected, she related to me that fabric cut is a Jewish owned business “so it’s a wonder we get any time off” instead of my typical “holy closet anti-Semite” I just stood there in stunned silence.

Stranded

2007-07-02T15:11:00.000-05:00

Here I sit at Pryor ...Oklahoma's one crowning achievement "emerald city" the only thing that remotely resembles a decent coffee house. One might ask what you are doing there when you need to be working well funny you should ask as my office (van 16) has a leak in the front driver side brake cylinder... Ironically the brakes where fixed last month complete with new cylinders perhaps if the wrench turner would get new parts as opposed to finding them in a salvage yard I might be able to make some progress.
Also our mechanic in all of his shade tree wisdom suggested I clamp the brake line and finish my route. What a schmuck! so here I sit blogging away waiting for captain laziness to show up. But I suppose there are worse places to be stranded. Now if these people could comprehend what lox is.

An Update

2007-06-20T21:50:00.000-05:00

Just an update for those of you who actually read this. the Thomas has re enlisted in the guard to finish off a retirement also the recruiter apealed to my sense of greed by adding the 15 K bonus to my contract. What was I thinking.

Moving

2007-05-27T00:07:00.000-05:00

I have just finished moving and it is simply amazing to amount of stuff I have accumulated over the past six months. Swords, armor, shoes, and a large stack of junk mail I have been meaning to put in the shredder.

National Guard Saviors of the Army

2007-01-14T11:06:00.001-06:00

Recently the commander and chief unveiled his plan to increase the amount of troops in Iraq by 21,500. One can only wonder where he plans to get the man power to bring his vision of a stable Iraq into being. The same day of his announcement the pentagon scraped the guidelines for reserve deployments this means a National Guard unit can spend a year in Afghanistan or Iraq come home and be sent back a month later… and the retention guy wonders why I got out of the Guard.

Ice storm

2007-01-12T11:01:00.000-06:00

Looks like snow but realy its lots and lots of ice... now where did that bottle of rum go.

No Snipers at the hotel

2006-11-18T08:52:00.000-06:00

A Midwest hotel chain has pulled CNN and CNN Headline News from its guest rooms and lobbies in response to the cable network's broadcast of an insurgent video showing Iraqi snipers shooting at U.S. troops.
The Oct. 18 CNN broadcast, which featured edited portions of a tape the network, said it obtained from the Islamic Army of An Iraq rebel group, crossed the line from journalism to propaganda, said James Thompson, president of the Iowa-based Stoney Creek Hospitality Corp.
"It was shocking and repulsive," he said. I would ask How is this any different from when CNN broadcast the invasion of Baghdad to include Arabs being mowed down by machinegun fire? Journalists are not supposed to take sides but report what they see in an objective manner.
There is more than just one side to the Iraq conflict and the public has a right to see what their fighting men encounter on a daily basis. But I hear guests of this hotel chain can still watch fox news.

CNN report featuring sniper video: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/10/19/iraq.sniper.video/

Sunday drive

2006-11-12T14:04:00.000-06:00

Beautiful day for a drive except if you happen to run the stop light.

Because I B Evil

2006-11-11T23:03:00.000-06:00

You scored as Dr Gaius Baltar. You have betrayed humanity, for a blonde. However you'd rather people learnt to just get past that. After all, you never meant wipe out the human race. Luckily you are cleverer than everyone else, so no one will ever know. Even though they look at you with suspicion behind their eyes.

Dr Gaius Baltar

100%

President Laura Roslin

88%

Number 6

88%

Col. Saul Tigh

75%

Lt. Kara Thrace (Starbuck)

69%

Tom Zarek

69%

Commander William Adama

50%

Capt. Lee Adama (Apollo)

38%

Lt. Sharon Valerii (Boomer)

38%

CPO Galen Tyrol

25%

What New Battlestar Galactica character are you?
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So you wanna revolution

2006-11-05T16:06:00.000-06:00

Before the United States invaded Iraq to topple Saddam; there was not a terrorist found to be operating in Iraq, instead more effort should have been spent in Afghanistan to bring Osma to justice. A few thousand dead soldiers later Iraq is on the verge of civil war and the GOP still insists on beating the drum of war. The president talks about sacrifice and duty but why aren’t his children serving the nation. It all falls on the backs of the poor and the underprivileged do the work and give their lives so daddies little girl can party. … time for a revolution.

Life is a corrupting process from the time a child learns to play his mother off against his father in the politics of when to go to bed; he who fears corruption fears life.-- Saul Alinsky

Jail for Judges... Bad Idea?

2006-11-04T20:10:00.000-06:00

The group Jail 4 judges was founded by Baptist minister Ronald Branson, this Los Angeles-based group is seeking to pass the Judicial Accountability Initiative Law (JAIL) in California next year. These people assert that passage of this initiative will curb so called activist judges from the following:

Deliberate violations of the law
Fraud
Conspiracy
Intentional violation of due process of law
Deliberate disregard of material facts
Judicial acts without jurisdiction
Unreasonable delay of a case
Deliberate constitutional violations

Once again the Christian right is at work to reshape the constitution into a document that all but assures these religious zealots what they desire the most; absolute power over the daily lives of all Americans. We do need Big brother peeking into our personal lives whether he wears the mantel of authority or a minister’s frock the result is an America that the founding fathers could not have envisioned. This Initiative in it’s present form violates free speech, due process and other rights of judges. "It's so full of constitutional infirmity that you could almost pick any section of the Constitution and this initiative violates it." In today’s political climate everyone sees a conspiracy in the making. I often wondered where all of the communist had gone and it appears that they have resurfaced as religious fundamentalists.

Army monitors soldiers' blogs, Web sites

2006-10-29T19:09:00.000-06:00

By MICHAEL FELBERBAUM, Associated Press WriterSun Oct 29, 1:24 PM ET From the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan to here at home, soldier’s blogging about military life are under the watchful eye of some of their own. A Virginia-based operation, the Army Web Risk Assessment Cell, monitors official and unofficial blogs and other Web sites for anything that may compromise security. The team scans for official documents, personal contact information and pictures of weapons or entrances to camps. In some cases, that information can be detrimental, said Lt. Col. Stephen Warnock, team leader and battalion commander of a Manassas-based Virginia National Guard unit working on the operation. In one incident, a blogger was describing his duties as a guard, providing pictures of his post and discussing how to exploit its vulnerabilities. Other soldiers posted photos of an Army weapons system that was damaged by enemy attack, and another showed personal information that could have endangered his family.” We are a nation at war," Warnock said by e-mail. "The less the enemy knows, the better it is for our soldiers."
MY comments on this
the fine folks in the pentagon want to limit damage from potently incriminating photographs. Does anyone remember the photos displayed on the internet of naked Arab men in a pyramid. The D.O.D beats the drum of OPSEC to silence any dissent in the ranks. The boogey man of this era is the radical Islamist, before that it was the commies and hearkening back to an earlier time it was the Jews and the blacks just pick an ethnic group. I have from time to time posted photos to my blog that have been deemed by the chain of command to violate OPSEC so like any obedient soldier I follow my instructions and delete the material in question. The first photo that got their hackles up was a picture of several of the guys standing around holding our weapons. It also made several references to the training we were conducting in preparation to join an observer mission in the Sinai. This was unacceptable to the battalion commander, especially after he heard about the Hohenfels flag incident. This incident was fueled by boredom and a lot of high grade alchohol. Some of us don’t go a raping and pillaging while drunk; therew as a lot of mischief that night though. What happened is that we went to the German barracks at Hohenfels and replaced the German flag with an Israeli one. Those Germans soldiers were just a bit miffed to say the least.

Tulsa area Ghouls

2006-10-28T15:06:00.000-05:00

Today a Mercedes ran through the intersection at 17th and riverside and hit a fellow on a motor cycle, making him extremely DRT dead right there. What strikes me as rather ghoulish is the tendency of the fine upstanding Christian folks of Tulsa to stare at the misfortune of others; it’s almost like they are drawn to death while at the same time decrying acts of violence. This is what Freud referred to as the Thanatos or the impulse for destruction. If you look under the tree in the photo you can make out a person looking through a set of binoculars at a body in the road. Call it a morbid curiosity if you will I call it human nature.

Creativity

2006-10-22T20:59:00.000-05:00

In order to create there must first be a spark of Will.
Only when there is a Will can a way become manifest.

Yet, Will alone is not enough; one must receive a glimpse of insight from very deep within; from the place where Will crashes into the Mind and becomes revelation.

Revelation must be understood well, a plan must be carefully thought out how to proceed.

The plan must arouse passion and determination motivating one to bring about its fulfillment.

Then the plan must be implemented with passion and focus.

All plans, all passion and focus add up to nothing unless the actions are carried out and the deeds are done, each properly in its time, each properly in its place, each properly in the right way.

Only the original Will can know the right way, only the final act can bring the original Will into fruition.

Will is the beginning of thought. Action is the conclusion.

The beginning is in the end and the end in the beginning.

The first in thought is the last in deed.

This is the secret order of the Way of Heaven and the inner workings of all humanity.

Islam

2006-10-20T20:55:00.000-05:00

Recently the Tulsa world featured in the opinions section a small debate about Islam. It was the leaned opinion of a Tulsan that Islam is a religion of peace; He goes on to state that he could find no references in the Koran to violence; apparently we were reading different books. This type of thinking isn’t only naive it is very dangerous and it just isn’t isolated in the Christian community my old rabbi bought into that as well her answer of course was to educate the masses; figures she has an MS in education. Maybe it’s just an old soldier’s paranoia but I have found that Moslems cannot be trusted. But what do I know I’m just an average guy trying to make my way in the world.

Brown paper package; adult signature required

2006-10-13T21:33:00.000-05:00

Today was a day like any other except for delivery I could not make as it required an adult signature; which indicates that this package wrapped in plain brown paper could be only one thing. If you have no idea what I am referring to than the following video should bring you up to speed.

dogs money and laptops

2006-10-07T00:53:00.000-05:00

Today started just like any other day at work, show up drink coffee try to stay awake while sorting packages to be delivered and hopefully be coherent enough to drive my route. Then the excitement started; it seems that UPS lost our payroll and had no idea where to look. So after some debate the boss gets the bean counters to recut the checks and ship them via DHL everyone got theirs except for myself and a couple of others, seems they forgot I actually am an employee. So I left on my route and had another encounter with the dreaded canine; I actually prefer to deal with cats as I have never been bitten by a cat while making a delivery. Dogs on the other hand tend to be a bit psychotic, so while dropping of a dell computer to a customer in Salina Oklahoma I had to go OJ on a fence due to a furry set of snapping teeth. After I got back to Tulsa and turned my truck in the boss had a check for the Thomas and the Thomas was pleased for now he can validate why he runs from dogs and why he must tolerate people who are intellectually challenged. Now I have do go do the Army thing this weekend; no rest for the wicked I suppose.

Ankle eaters Part 1

2006-09-26T22:05:00.000-05:00

Today was such a beautiful day I took a moment to admire the scenery near Lake Spavina; of course this was while I was looking for an address. I really don’t get people they want to have “stuff” but for some unknown reason they do not wish to display their address on the mail box. I finally found this cat’s house the address was on a metal plate about sic inches from the ground, behind about 2 feet of grass. If we could use osmosis to move freight that would be great. This is what I do on a daily basis drive for DHL and kvetch, I meet people at both ends of the social spectrum the normal and well adjusted persons of eastern Oklahoma and the breeders who serve no purpose other than to degrade the gene pool. At least I didn’t have to run from another ankle eater.

Stuck on stupid

2006-09-25T11:28:00.000-05:00

My ETS date is getting closer I got this in my army email this morning
Stay on Active Duty with the Army National Guard or Army Reserve. Check out your career options at www.hrc.army.mil.This email has been sent automatically. Please do not reply to this message.
It almost reads as a rather direct, but at the same time impersonal plea to keep a soldier in uniform. My options are limited I am an infantryman, my role in the scheme of things is to launch bullets at the people that we are hostile with, get shafted on a daily basis and deal with people that are stuck on stupid. Recent changed have made me eligible for the 15000 dollars re-up bonus before last month you couldn’t get it if you have more than 16 years of service (which I have) now you can have up to 20 years of service as long as another 6 year kick won't put the service member over 26 years.

Die circle die

2006-09-24T21:30:00.000-05:00

It was a rainy weekend at Camp Gruber; this weekend’s festivities included marksmanship training. After it was determined that the targets on the qualification were jacked beyond hope of fixing the trainers loaded all the ammo and we went to re- zero our weapons before the end of the day they decided that we would expend all remaining rounds so this shows that I can hit a target out of 120 rounds only 4-5 were out of the black so this skill will come in handy the next time Zub- Zub disguises himself as a circle. When that day comes I will be ready to terminate all circles with a vengeance, as you can see I came close to shooting the black of the paper. A bit of embarrassment though we received our new uniforms and I guess I have lost some weight while I was walking to check my target my pants dropped to my ankles and there I was with my trousers around my ankles and as I leaned over to pull them back I mooned the range cadre, they of course being the humorless schmucks that they are thought I was making a statement anyway you would have to have been there to grasp the full effect of my white behind displayed for all to see.

Strained, Army Looks To Guard For More Relief

2006-09-22T06:26:00.000-05:00

While this is going on there is also a proposal to eliminate consent of the governors to mobilize National Guard troops. The nation's governors are closing ranks in opposition to a proposal in Congress that would let the president take control of the National Guard in emergencies without consent of governors. The measure would remove the currently required consent of governors for the federalization of the Guard, which is shared between the individual states and the federal government. This of course only applies to disasters and civil emergencies. Militarily for defense, the President has always had the authority to federalize the guard. This is a double edged sword. On the one hand it provides a centrally managed front to manage disasters (would have helped with Katrina) and relieves the states of tons of financial burden. On the other hand, federalizing the Guard would prevent them from performing in a law enforcement capacity. The Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C 1385) passed in 1878. This proposal is a direct result of Governor Blanco never officially requesting federal help, so what we have now is each side shaking their perspective fingers at each other. This of course solves nothing. The real problem with this proposal is that the president decides what constitutes a crisis, as seen by some of his recent comments about what he feels he has the authority to do this will only result in the guard being used and abused. So the result is people can’t go home but the contractors keep getting richer…ahh the American dream

By Thom Shanker and Michael R. Gordon
WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 —
Strains on the Army from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have become so severe that Army officials say they may be forced to make greater use of the National Guard to provide enough troops for overseas deployments.
Senior Army officers have discussed that analysis — and described the possible need to use more members of the National Guard — with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld’s senior adviser on personnel, David S. C. Chu, according to Pentagon officials.
While no decision has been made to mobilize more Guard forces, and may not need to be before midterm elections, the prospect presents the Bush administration with a politically vexing problem: how, without expanding the Army, to balance the pressing need for troops in the field against promises to limit overseas deployments for the Guard.
The National Guard has a goal of allowing five years at home between foreign deployments so as not to disrupt the family life and careers of its citizen soldiers. But instead it has been sending units every three to four years, according to Guard officials.

Gay translators

2006-09-21T01:29:00.000-05:00

Soldiers versus Bush

2006-09-18T14:41:00.000-05:00

GLOBE EDITORIAL
Soldiers versus Bush
September 18, 2006
IN THE FIGHT over rules for the interrogation and trials of terrorism suspects, there is a split -- not so much between Republicans and Democrats or the White House and the Senate, but between leaders like President Bush with no combat experience and those like Colin Powell who know combat and want to maintain the Geneva Conventions as a protection for US troops. Powell prefers the bill before Congress sponsored by Republican Senators John McCain, John Warner, and Lindsey Graham, all of whom have considerable military experience. Their bill, which the Senate Armed Services Committee approved Thursday, has deep flaws of its own, but it is a better basis for legislation than Bush's proposal to gut the Geneva Conventions.
The military has to take the long view because it knows that if the United States strays from the Geneva Conventions, other countries will, too. As McCain said yesterday on ABC-TV, ``We are more exposed than any other nationality because we have more people all over the world." The military also knows that harsh interrogations often yield false information from prisoners eager to say anything to win better treatment. One terrorism suspect, Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, ``confessed" knowledge of links between Al Qaeda and Iraq after the Central Intelligence Agency handed him over to Egyptian authorities. According to the recently released Senate report on prewar intelligence, Libi had made up the information to avoid cruel treatment by the Egyptians.
Neither Bush's bill nor the Senate committee's deserves passage as written. Each would strip the 400 or more detainees at Guantanamo of any right to appeal their cases to federal courts. Except for a handful of them, none has been charged with war crimes or terrorism. Some undoubtedly would present a threat if released and should be held longer, but others were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. All of them deserve recourse to courts to challenge their continued detention.
At his press conference Friday, Bush challenged Powell's statement that Bush's redefinition of the Geneva Conventions would encourage the world to ``doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism." Bush construed this to suggest a comparison between US behavior and that of ``Islamic extremists who kill innocent women and children to achieve an objective." The proper comparison, though, is not with the conduct of terrorists but with the principles the United States has maintained in every war it has fought since adoption of the Geneva Conventions.
Those are the principles the Supreme Court upheld in June. Congress should follow suit by passing an amended version of the Senate committee bill that does not subject detainees to the limbo of Guantanamo with no access to the courts.

Financing and education

2006-09-17T06:58:00.000-05:00

There's been a lot of talk lately about the high cost of education and increasing levels of student debt. With all the fuss, you would expect that lucky high school seniors receive a bill with their acceptance letters for the expensive educations they are about to pursue. Undoubtedly, this is the case for some students. But for most of us, our plunge into student debt is much slower and more insidious. Like drug dealers, the loans start small and cheap, lulling students into a false sense of security where they can focus on their studies – for a while. By the time the full effects of debt creep in, it is too late.

Show me the money

2006-09-16T18:33:00.000-05:00

After kvetching for more than 12 months I have been paid leave (3.5 days) that the army (guard) has owed me since 2003. It was 11.5 days last year right before New Orleans. Such incompetence makes one wonder how these idiots keep getting promoted. I think the answer is rather simplistic; when dealing with a problem soldier a commander has three choices: try to fix the problem, attempt to discharge the soldier, or promote the soldier and send this person elsewhere.

a dog will fly

2006-09-12T14:51:00.000-05:00

The train was quite crowded, so a U. S. Marine walkedthe entirelength looking for a seat, but the only seat left wastaken by a well dressed, middle-aged, French woman's poodle.
The war-weary Marine asked,"Ma'am, may I have that seat?" The French woman justsniffed and saidto no one in particular "Americans are so rude.
My little Fifi is using that seat.
"The Marine walked the entire train again, but the only seat leftwas under that dog. "Please, ma'am. May I sit down?I'm very tired."She snorted, "Not only are you Americans rude, you are also arrogant!
"This time the Marine didn't say a word; he justpicked up the little dog, tossed it out the train window, and sat down.
The woman shrieked, "Someone must defend my honor! this American should be put in his place!
"An English gentleman sitting nearby spoke up, "Sir, you Americans often seem to have a penchant for doing the wrong thing. You hold the fork in the wrong hand. You drive your autos on the wrongside of the road. And now, sir, you seem to have thrown the wrongbitch out the window.

A short clarification

2006-09-10T19:59:00.000-05:00

For some my politics might seem a little odd being that some of my thoughts that I have posted here represent someone who might be a “gasp” liberal or at very least a person with liberal leanings. More surprisingly is that I used to belong to the Republican Party. Most responsible individuals become affiliated with a political party that closely meshes with their values. Once upon a time it was the GOP; but over the years the Republican Party has been taken over by the religious right. I firmly believe that religion and politics are a volatile mixture; and of course with the events of the last 24 months have left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Also I have always been a little quirky from time to time. While many of my comrades in arms thought that placing illegal combatants in Cuba without charge or due process, I felt this is wrong after all how long it will be before the fine folks in Washington trim a little fat of off the constitution and just eliminate due process all together. It bothered me to no end being told by an Officer do violate the constitution like what happened while we were in New Orleans (4th Amendment).I often look at my understanding of all matters political to be a work in progress. One of my core beliefs comes from Judaism’s concept of social justice or justice should be evenly distributed to all persons not just the wealthy.

Crap i'am a jewish socalist how did that happen

2006-09-09T01:25:00.000-05:00

You are a
Social Liberal
(80% permissive)

and an...
Economic Liberal
(20% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Socialist

Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid
Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Khatami says 9/11 attackers will not go to heaven

2006-09-08T23:57:00.000-05:00

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has condemned the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States and said those who carried them out will never go to heaven.
"During the calamity of September 11, two crimes were committed: one was the killing of innocent people and the second was making this crime in the name of Islam," said the former president, who is on a speaking tour of the United States.
"We, Muslims, should condemn this atrocity even more strongly," Khatami told the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"Terrorism, which means killing civilians in whatever name or title, lacks morality, and nobody who lacks such principle will go to heaven," Khatami continued. "Those who kill others and commit acts of terror, if they identify themselves with Islam, they are lying." Americans mark the fifth anniversary of the attacks on Monday.

zum sein oder nicht

2006-09-08T00:33:00.000-05:00

In my years of military service I have had the pleasure to serve with men and women from all segments of American society. I have also encountered my share of bigots one of these sticks in my mind as we approach Yom-Kippur I will not mention his name because after all I wouldn’t want to out him as the ignorant boob he is. We were deployed at Ft. Carson Colorado and many of us had just returned from leave. So this Sergeant walks up to me and shows me his new hunting knife and strike me dead on the hilt was what appeared to be a swastika. On closer examination it turned out to be the 45th infantry division’s old insignia and Indian symbol for good luck. But the knife itself was an exact replica of a Hitler youth knife. This really bothered me so I emailed and then called my Rabbi in Colorado Springs she of course had never dealt with such an issue before. I then talked to my squad leader and as I told him what happened he actually got really angry so he then went to the Sergeant major who told me that “you can’t be religious because you curse” This had little to do religion as far as I was concerned; this guy decided for whatever reason that it would be humorous to flaunt a symbol of tyranny in my face, after all everyone know I am Jewish and at times rather vocal about having time off to go to a synagogue. I can’t get kosher MRE’s without kvetching to someone outside of my chain of command, but this moron can decide what level Yiddishkeit I can or can’t display. He then goes on to tell me that I shove my religion down the throats of others, hmmm sounds like a bit of projection going on to me. I constantly have to deal with references to Jesus this and Jesus that. But if I try to educate people on why we Jews do the things we do then I am forcing my opinions on others. Now that I am back in Oklahoma and just a Guardsman I still can't get kosher rations I still have violate the Shabbos at least once a month and still have to deal with people who seem for all intensive purposes to be Stuck On Stupid.

Goodbye GOP

2006-09-07T15:13:00.000-05:00

Its official I am no longer affiliated with the Republican Party. I took the liberty of redacting some personal information to protect my identity from any unscrupulous persons. I initiated this process as a protest to the commander in chief signing memos to circumvent U.S law, for the illegal C.I.A detention facilities outside the united states and the lastly the spineless republican law makers who wont stand up to the boss out of fear of being labeled an appeaser. Now if my new party can actually focus on the matter at hand. Keeping Dick Chenny out of white house in 2008.

OKLAHOMA OK

2006-09-06T15:40:00.000-05:00

A first grade teacher explains to her class that she is a Texas LongHorn fan. She asks her students to raise their hands if they are fans too.

Not really knowing what a Texas fan was, but wanting to be liked by their teacher, their hands fly into the air. There is, however, one exception.

A little girl named Janet has not gone along with the crowd. The teacher asks her why she has decided to be different. "Because I'm not an a Texas fan" she reports.

"Then," asks the teacher, "what are you?"
"I'm a proud Oklahoma University - Boomer Sooner fan" boasts the little girl.

The teacher is a little perturbed now, her face slightly red. She asks Janet why she is an Oklahoma fan.

"Well, my Dad and Mom are Sooner fans, so I'm a Sooner fan too" she responds. The teacher is angry now "That's no reason," she says loudly.

"What if your mom was a moron, and your dad was an idiot. What would you be then?"
Janet smiles and says, "Then I'd be a Texas fan."

GO SOONERS!!!!

Denzel Visits Brooks Army Medical Center

2006-09-05T02:05:00.000-05:00

I Don't know whether you heard about this but Denzel Washington and his family visited the troops at Brook Army Medical Center, in San Antonio, Texas (BAMC) the other day. This is where soldiers who have been evacuated from Germany come to be hospitalized in the United States, especially burn victims. There are some buildings there called Fisher Houses. The Fisher House is a Hotel where soldiers' families can stay, for little or no charge, while their soldier is staying in the Hospital. BAMC has quite a few of these houses on base, but as you can imagine, they are almost filled most of the time.While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, they gave him a tour of one of the Fisher Houses. He asked how much one of them would cost to build. He took his checkbook out and wrote a check for the full amount right thereon the spot. The soldiers overseas were amazed to hear this story and want to get the word out to the American public, because it warmed their hearts to hear it. The question I have is why does: Alec Baldwin, Madonna, Sean Penn and other Hollywood types make front page news with their anti-everything America trash and Denzel Washington's Patriotism doesn't even make page 3 in the Metro section of any newspaper except the Local newspaper in San Antonio

Corn

2006-09-02T12:09:00.000-05:00

This is from my visit to Germany in 1998 We had been divorced less than a year and I was participating in training in Hohenfels Germany at the CMTC combat maneuver training center. On a weekend pass I took a train from Hohenfels to Rothenburg to call on the Ex wife. Mainly this was to achieve closure and to visit some friends in Rothenburg. I did manage to deal with some unresolved issues and am a better person for it. When I moved from Germany in 96 the plan was I would find an apartment then once that had happened she would join me; well she deviated from the plan found a boyfriend got pregnant and asked for a divorce. For months and months I pondered what I did wrong or why she suddenly changed. So when I heard that my unit was sending 12 bodies to Germany I raised my hand and said sure the Thomas will go. At the end of the day I realized that the problems were always there I just refused to acknowledge them. Also it came up that she also has issues with abandonment as her father left when she was young; so in her mind I had deserted her when I moved back to the states and as a result reached out for companionship of any sort. Not much of an excuse for adultery but after all she is European and they do view things just a tad bit differently than Americans. So I acceptance of each others short comings we barbequed some corn and had a nice quiet evening. I wonder sometimes if Kerstin is somewhere in Europa still searching for corn.

American beauty Redacted

2006-08-29T13:23:00.000-05:00

It is official my cognitive psychology professor need an assistant, yesterday while taking a quiz many of us noticed many of the questions were not even covered in the first few chapters of the text nor by the lecture notes. It turns out that she had grabbed the wrong quiz from her office. She also developed her own format for essays in her class, as if APA style isn’t good enough. Well no matter tonight is abnormal psychology and we are viewing a film “American beauty” and after we get to write a about the abnormal behavior as portrayed by the actors.
I have seen this movie before and it re enforces my belief that many marines are latent homosexuals. Referring to that we all project the image we wish to be viewed as by the rest of society. So those that strut around and shout “look at me a big tough marine” and quite possibly have not confronted the feminine aspects of their personality shall all ways be less that whole.

Huricane Katrina a year later

2006-08-28T10:17:00.000-05:00

One year hurricane Katrina came ashore and devastated the gulf coast region. I thought I take a moment to scribble a few of my thoughts regarding a Blogger who just doesn’t get it. We have sparred over many an occasion mainly over my assertion that society did indeed break down in the aftermath of the hurricane. The following post is not mine but come from gales in his name she is one of these neo Christians that just make my skin crawl. Her comments are regarding former residents of New Orleans that were evacuated after hurricane Katrina. I respect gale for her opinions but at the same time she demonstrates a lack of understanding towards a people that have lost not just their jobs and their homes, but these people lost something else that the good church people tend to overlook. What they lost is the one thing that most of us take for granted our day to day lives. In the time it took the state and federal governments to actually respond the citizens that became evacuees had lost everything that was familiar. She titled her post “do we all come from the same place” I found her lack of knowledge to be troubling for a woman who plans to pursue a career in social services and even more so she is a former resident of the big easy. Much of the conversations I have had with her revolve around her using labels to describe the hurricane survivors, such as those people, the refugees this is not how a logical person thinks of a victim of disaster. At a much deeper level she projects the image of a caring person when in fact the reason for her disdain is that she recognizes things in the evacuees at Gruber that she finds distasteful in herself. But what do I know I am just a grunt who had to help these so called refuges. It would be nice if people would stop kicking their fellow man when he (or she) is down but I have some to expect that type of behavior from the residents of Tulsa Oklahoma “gods’ country” as the Tulsans refer to it.

Sep 24 2005, 08:18 PM

I spent some time at Camp Gruber today with the last of the Katrina refugees that are still there. I was working in the clerical section, answering the phones, running messages to the people. They fed us breakfast and lunch and we ate the same food the people staying had. The food was not bad. The people that were there for the most part were the ones that were expecting the government to hand them their living. One lady came into the building I was in and asked about the red cross putting them in a hotel. The red cross gave $360 per person to each family there. The woman was told that she would have to pay for her hotel with her own money and she started going off about how she was educated and went to one of the best colleges in New Orleans, and that no one told her that she would have to use that money for that. She went off on the fact that the red cross should pay for her hotel and that she should not have to use that money they give her for that. It was explained over and over and over again that the money was for her to use as she felt she needed to use it. She insisted that no one ever told them how to use that money and she did not feel that she should have to pay for her own hotel. The churches that are picking up the people and taking them to their community find that the people trash out the vans and buses that are used to bring them to their new homes. The churches are getting tired of it. The people just throw paper, cups, cans and bottles all over the grounds and the army is just not used to that.

Taking the heat round

2006-08-24T21:02:00.000-05:00

Looks like our frat boy commander in chief is at it again, when he isn’t to bust groping heads of state his next favorite activity is sticking it to the Combat soldier. Oh combat the one thing he didn’t do when he was in the guard. It seems that the white house plans to drastically cut funding for treatment of war-related brain injuries and research on war-related brain injuries. These are the kind of traumatic brain injuries one might get while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. These injuries can be sustained by the following IEDS, gunshot wounds, eating army rations. For a nation at war with the boggy man it makes no sense to cut funding to the before mentioned research’ if anything slash funding to all these contractors that are getting wealthy at the expense of a few thousand dead G.I’s

The lost boys

2006-08-24T01:21:00.000-05:00

I want to touch on a subject that remains untouched by the mainstream media. This of course is missing children more specifically the lost children of New Orleans; let’s narrow it down even more. These children I am referring to were the ones that were in foster care who with their foster parents were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Many of the hundreds of children that wee wards of the state have vanished with their foster parents. Child protective services all over can only scratch their heads and wonder where did these people go to. Have any Ideas Let Thomas know what you think.

Dirt Dart

2006-08-23T01:48:00.000-05:00

The name dirt dart is a tow gunner’s reference to a missile that doesn’t hit its intended target but strikes the ground near the target, this can happen to several factors including gunner tracking error, the optical cable breaks or the soldiers prerogative to miss. That must confuse many people why would a soldier miss the chance to take out a tank? Well the answer is simple when a tow hits its target and the thing functions as it was designed to it just doesn’t blow up it melts the steel on the tank anyone unfortunate to be on that doomed vehicle is burned alive. Nice thought isn’t it, the framers of constitution made sure that punishment was not to be cruel and unusual I think that an anti tank rocket violates that one don’t you? One could argue that the rules towards citizens do not apply in modern warfare. I would disagree with that point while the cruel and unusual is referring to punishment after all our response to being attacked is a form of retribution or punishment to the offenders. Another thing you might want to ponder is that our soldiers are psychologically conditioned to respond without a second thought. But do we de program our fighting men the answer is no. You might want to chew on that awhile before sending America’s sons and daughters to pay the butchers bill.

Tube Worms

2006-08-22T22:00:00.000-05:00

Here is some basic information about the light infantry mortar. Please note that this information can be found on the net from a variety of sources so to the best of my knowledge this is not a violation of Operational security. The M224 60mm LWCMS is ideally suited to support airborne, air assault, mountain, ranger, Special Operations Forces and light infantry units. The M224 can be drop fired (conventional mode) or trigger fired (conventional or hand-held mode). A lightweight auxiliary base plate is used when firing the mortar in the hand-held mode. The M224 60mm Lightweight Mortar is a smooth bore, muzzle loading, high-angle-of-fire weapon. The cannon assembly is composed of the barrel, combination base cap, and firing mechanism. The mount consists of a bipod and a base plate which is provided with screw type elevating and traversing mechanisms to elevate/traverse the mortar. The M64 sight unit is attached to the bipod mount via a standard dovetail. An additional short range sight is attached to the base of the cannon tube for firing the mortar on the move and during assaults. It has a spring-type shock absorber to absorb the shock of recoil in firing. The M224 replaced the older (WWII era) M2 and M19, 60mm Mortars. These weapons only possessed 2,200 yards of effective range. The M224 was designed to fire all types of the older ammunition, but its primary rounds are of the newer, longer-range type. Mortars can provide a heavy volume of responsive, accurate fire with a variety of ammunition. They are ideal for attacking close in targets, targets on reverse slopes, and those targets in areas difficult to reach with low angle fire. Mortars are particularly effective in providing white phosphorous and illumination support. Mortars are transported by vehicle, helicopters, or by man pack. Mortars can be man packed in terrain where vehicular support is restricted. However, in a fast moving operation, the mobility of mortars, coupled with their limited range capability, may be a restricting factor. Mortars also have the capability to be fired from a light armored vehicle Mortar fires can be massed on a target by the organic unit. However, massing of mortar fires outside the zone of action of the organic unit is difficult due to the limited range of the mortar. Responsiveness is an inherent characteristic of mortars. The high angle trajectory and long time of flight causes the mortar to be vulnerable to enemy counter fire. Active and passive measures are used to increase survivability. Because ammunition for mortars may have to be man packed, the sustainment of mortars may be difficult. So mortars should be employed as an immediately available source of fire support for the infantry commander. Other indirect fire weapons are used when they can achieve the desired results. The 60 mm mortar section employs three mortars. When the mortar section is in General Support [GS], it supports all rifle platoons as directed by the company commander. By keeping the section in GS the company commander retains flexibility, ease of coordination of fires, and the ability to mass fires. Direct tactical control of the section remains with the weapons platoon commander. Fires are controlled from the company command post when observation of the entire company zone of action is possible from that position. If not, the mortar section leader mans an observation post to control the fires. GS is the preferred method of employment. The mortar section may be employed in Direct Support [DS] of a specific unit of the company; e.g., a rifle platoon. The section leader establishes direct liaison with the supported rifle platoon commander and conducts fire missions as requested by him. The weapons platoon commander is responsible for the control of the section’s actions to include positioning and displacement. The mortar section, or an element thereof, may be attached to a rifle platoon. Attachment is justified when the mortar section cannot give adequate support to a rifle platoon by operating in GS or DS. Situations for attachment arise when a rifle platoon is: Operating as the advance party in an approach march; operating as a patrol whose route takes it out of mortar range; or conducting a withdrawal or is situated in a platoon strong point. When a mortar squad is attached to a rifle platoon, the rifle platoon commander assumes the tactical command, supply, and administrative functions normally exercised by the weapons platoon commander. Attachment is the least desirable method of employment. The employment of separate mortar squads attached to individual platoons lessens the destructive power achieved by consolidating the section. Attachment also increases the problems associated with ammunition distribution and re supply and a mortar without ammo is nothing more than an awkward club, as well as fire control.

The M224 Mortar System consists of the following major components:

M225 Cannon Assembly (14.4 lbs)
M170 Bipod Assembly (15.2 lbs)
M7 Baseplate (14.4 lbs)
M8 Auxiliary Baseplate (3.6 lbs)

Presidental Criticism

2006-08-22T00:01:00.000-05:00

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else." -- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President (1858-1919

Aug Drill

2006-08-20T21:49:00.000-05:00

My unit had drill this weekend at the Camp Gruber training site near brags Oklahoma, the festivities for the weekend consisted of common task training and weapons qualification with the 9mm pistol and the M 249 squad automatic weapon. I dropped the saw gunner off and moved one of the other platoons to the blue devil recreation area so they could conduct their CTT training; then I had to go back out to the pistol range and qualify. It would be great if the First Sergeant would forget that I have a license to drive a bus after all being a combat bus driver isnt exactly what I had in mind when I came back into the guard. As far as shooting I actually did okay and managed to score expert. Later that day I went to check on the Saw gunner and they had just gotten up to the firing line and weren’t finished for hours after it was all said and done only 3 people out of 20 were able to qualify, the heat and a lack of an adjustment tool were the primary factor involved in this. The range officer wanted them to keep trying until they had all got passing scores Top showed up and put a stop to the insanity… thank god for a first sergeant who actually cares for his soldiers.

August Drill

2006-08-18T07:07:00.000-05:00

Once again let the merriment that is drill begin, we are going to camp Gruber for a weekend of weapons training sun and lots of sweaty misery. Now if these fucks could mange to pay me on time.

Afganistan

2006-08-12T21:20:00.000-05:00

The web presence for Afghanistan claims to be the friendliest place
On the planet. I often wonder who actually writes this stuff. I am going to tell you about one of my NCOs Sgt.French and his dealings with what we infantrymen call Pouges. Pouge is a slang term used for a person who is not an infantryman person other than grunt. One of the tools used by soldiers in the camp is a powerful camera mounted on a large pole; this piece of equipment can view areas out side the camp for great distances it can also be used to look inside the compound. The Troops often Refer to this as the fuck Joe cam, instead of using this device to find hajj when he is up to mischief. Some of pouge officers would use it to spy on troops and report if they are doing anything they aren’t' supposed to be doing. One day Sgt. French was running the cam and was asked by an officer why he was looking outside of the compound, to this the Sergeant replies the enemy is on the other side of the wire sir. This illustrates a disturbing trend, officers that are more worried about troops with their hands in their pockets or not in uniform than finding the guerillas that are spreading violence across Afghanistan.

Retroactive war crime protection proposed

2006-08-09T22:43:00.000-05:00

Retroactive war crime protection proposed by the current president When are Americans regardless of which side of the political spectrum they fall on going to stand up and say WTF? I serve this nation in the armed forces and although I am just a lowly grunt and the Geneva Convention is not some vague document that isn’t clear enough to me. Since our nation signed it generations of soldiers sailors and marines have been trained understand what the provisions mean. This latest move by GW is nothing more than an attempt to shield himself and others like him from being prosecuted for war crimes. We have a difficult job to do at the bequest of the civilians who count on us to protect them from the boogie man of the moment. War fighting is a serious business. We're not a social club or a fraternal organization and we don't pretend to be. As soldiers, our message to our foes has always been essentially the same. "We own this side of the street! Threaten my country or our allies and we will come over to your side of the street, burn your hut down, and whisper in your ear "can you hear me now? And then secure your heartbeat. We do this for you; this is what the American people expect us to do. Just don’t waste our time with trivial who is wrong or who is right we; after all are not politicians but merely puppets dancing to the pull of a string.

Meet jamie the pet hero

2006-08-09T21:38:00.000-05:00

Many former pets mainly dogs that were left behind when there owners fled New Orleans had to adapt to the sudden disappearance of their care givers. Fido has no food so what does he do he re learns to hunt and scavenge. This was one our biggest concerns, being bitten by a dog who has been chewing on deceased residents of the big easy. Our R.O.E rules of engagement were simple if a canine charges toward you put it down as quickly as possible but ensuring that no civilians are injured, cant go shooting our own countrymen now can we. The first few weeks we encountered dozens of such animals that were incredibly aggressive. After the infamous 6th ward dog slaughter we were instructed to carry riot batons to strike the dogs with. Most of us thought this was stupid; as the army and the guard especially is image conscious. What grunt wants to be seen on CNN or some other News program clubbing a canine to death? Not I said the little camouflage hen. I will say that the fine folks with PETA made a huge impact by dropping and tearing open bags of pet found for mans best friend. We also encountered Jamie she took in and feed an enormous amount of cats. She also introduced us to Cajun cuisine, but no matter hard you try jambalaya cannot be made kosher. What’s a Jew to do? Violate the heck out of kashrus law that’s what.

Good Christian girl

2006-08-08T19:40:00.000-05:00

The package contained a letter that read Dear soldier; I had received many of these during a long deployment. A bulk of these care packages from American citizens ended up in the hands of troops with the highest moral, while the grunts sleeping in an armored vehicle got relatively few. Usually they contain stuff that will survive the trip across the great pond such as baby wipes, foot powder, snacks, pens papers, mouthwash, and from time to time photos of girls wishing to express their level of patriotism by varying degrees of nakedness. These women or girls seem to be caught up in the flurry of patriotic emotions that always follow the army at the start of a campaign. I would much rather see these people taking some initiative where it counts at the polls and stop mixing religion and politics. This may sound odd coming from a person who has given a good portion of his adult life to the service of a nation but any real soldier does not revel in armed conflict, not all of us desire anything more than to shed blood in the name of the American people. True we were attacked on 9/11 but Saddam had nothing to do with that the world is a far more dangerous place as a result of our incursion into Iraq. Anyhow many of these photos came with letters talking about devotion to duty and then merging into a lecture about a love for Jesus. When ever I am introduced to women who is as touted as a good Christian girl my mind drifts back to many of photos I received from just such a person and somewhere in the back of my mind a little voice is whispering “Good Christian girl… yes very good indeed”

A Broch Tsu Dayn Lebn

2006-08-07T13:59:00.000-05:00

It is my personal opinion that many people profited from the disaster that befell the city of New Orleans last year. To those people who profited from the suffering of many you are scum and I am sure your mothers would be proud. Also the politicians and wannabes that use the before mentioned suffering to further your own selfish goals same goes to you. Curses going out to Jesse Jackson whom I Recently saw on some news program bemoaning the plight of Hurricane Katrina survivors. When my National Guard Unit was called up and sent to the big easy I don’t recall him making any stops or photo Ops to check to see if the people needed any help. Neither he nor any of the so called African American leaders who belittle the response of the US Government to aid those in need of the disaster. The Feds are only to step in once the state calls for aid (aren’t states rights a bitch) Then there were those charlatans and scoundrels that profited from the suffering of others. It is my sincere hope that you discover what misery truly means. A Broch Tsu Dayn Lebn there one Yiddish curse from me to you. Where was Jesse proud to be black Jackson and his righteous indignation when the police of Gretna refused to let evacuees cross the bridge to walk to the naval air station to be evacuated? I am thinking scared white people cowering in fear; a curse on them as well. The mayor of Gretna would later claim there were no busses waiting for the people but that was an outright lie. My unit stood bye waiting to process the evacuees. Later as we moved into the city to restore order the only crooks we found were wearing badges many of them from out of state. Our sudden appearance in the garden district caused many a lawman a brief moment of terror. We Infantrymen tend to be stealthy when we need to be. Our very presence calmed a disturbed area, many of the people that were out and about looking for either loot or trouble faded into the background and once again became law abiding citizens funny what a bunch of Oklahomans armed to the teeth can accomplish. Again Jesse was strangely absent from all of the patrols as my company walked through the flooded section of N.O. could it have been the lack of cameras that kept the hope of black Americans away. Not that the voice of black equality would not have much to gain by hanging around a bunch of white soldiers from Oklahoma. But then again not all of us are white; we are white black yellow brown and red; what good is an Infantry company from Indian Territory without at least an Indian, oh and toss in a Jew to balance out the ethnic potluck. To bad Jesse check my sound bite Jackson was AWOL he might have learned a thing or two about selfless devotion to this Nation. But maybe he can help mayor Nagin build his chocolate New Orleans; that is of course if they can figure out what to do with all the illegal aliens that flooded (no pun intended) into the city to rebuild the big sleazy and taking jobs away from deserving African Americans.

We let the dogs out

2006-08-06T20:19:00.000-05:00

Many of the Katrina evacuees had pets and many of those pets had to be left behind when their owners left their homes. We found one of these stay behind pets in a rather nice home in the garden district of New Orleans, for whatever reason the owners decided to lock this small dog in the bathroom with dog food and a small bowl of water. When my team encountered fido he was sleeping in the crap filled bathroom we thought that this was unfair to the animal so we let him roam around the house, before we left we made sure he had lots of food and water, I would only hazard a guess at what the home owners found once they returned, I just hope the little fellow didn't do to much damage to their expensive furniture.

Got Gas???

2006-08-05T12:56:00.000-05:00

Looks like the price of fuel has risen again this on the heels of exxon listing a 36 percent increase in profits. Looks like war is good for someone after all. Just not the average american.

EUROPA

2006-08-04T19:58:00.000-05:00

http://www.break.com/top_rated/patiencechild.html

This is either staged or could be my ex wifes brother, if ever a child needed anti- psychotic medication it was her brother. This little angel is screeching in German, although I enjoyed the time I lived in EUROPA (for the most part). I did grown tired of being spit on by excited Germans, Or being kissed by my drunken neighbors. Ah the life of the ex-pat, My fondest memory of Germany is standing around in my dirty Latz hosen waiting for the missus to get done at work and having American tourists thinking that I am a native and they want to know if I speak English and if possible I tell them where their hotel is. Usually I would give them directions but sometimes just stare at them with a blank expression on my face. There was this one time after I told an American couple where to go the woman asked where I had learned to speak such good English, I could only reply with "compulsory training in Army" with my thick Californian/German accent.