Welcome back

I haven't actually posted a serious blog entry in quite a while. Let's see if I remember how to do this. (smile)

We should start today with the big news in the world. Over here in the Far East, we don't seem to pay that much attention to the Mediterranean area. Our area of responsibility is much too large to go looking outside of it for action. The Pacific Command (PACOM) is responsible for everything from the West Coast of California to the Asian sub-continent of India and everything in between. This area encompasses the world's largest population center (India) and also the world's larges muslim population (Indonesia). As such, we may pay attention to what's going on in other areas of the world, but we can't obsess over them. Okay, that's the official point of view. My point of view is a little more biased. I think Hezbollah got exactly what they deserved. They are a terrorist organization and Israel has taken great pains to protect herself from extremists who have made it their party platform that Israel must be destroyed. Rrrright. Good luck with that. I've read the Bible and although God may allow His people to suffer, He will never allow them to be destroyed. This is really just another front in the Global War on Terrorism.

Having said that, I think Joe Lieberman was beaten in last week's primary by an ideal, not a candidate. From what I've been able to pick up, his opponent practically laid the blame for our continued presence in Iraq at the feet of Mr. Lieberman and played on the anti-war sentiment of the liberal population he hopes to represent. Well, if Mr. Lamont does in fact win the election, I believe he will either be forced to eat his words by reality, or he will go to congress, represent the spineless, and be voted out in favor of a man willing to stand by his convictions. Of course, this is the same region of the country that brought us Teddy Kennedy and John Kerry, so he may be at the beginning of a very long career in congress. I hope not.

On a more personal front, my wife has been stuggling with this deployment a little more than I think either of us thought she would. Since I'm not in a combat zone this time, my pay has not been changed significantly while my costs have gone up. We now have two households to maintain. Although mine is mostly paid for, I do incur costs from time to time. Seems like a weekly thing that staff members are asked to pitch in a few bucks here or there for this or that, plus my haircuts aren't free and the tap water here isn't much different from the tap water back home, so I buy a few bottles of water every week. Still, all in all, I'd not dispute that I've got the better deal around this time. So if you have a minute or two, please jump over to her blog and let her know that she is loved and cared for. I'm sure she'd appreciate it.

Okay, in a typical news cast this would be the weather segment, so let's do that. We were kissed by a quasi-typhoon last week (a "faux-phoon" if you will) that did little more than cancel the training schedule for Wednesday. As soon as it left us alone, however, it turned into a monster and hit the mainland with sustained winds over 150 mph. The thunderstorm that hit here blossomed into a killer super-typhoon that killed almost 200 people. Sheesh! We've been waiting for the call from higher HQ to go assist with the humanitarain effort, but so far that call has not been made. Perhaps it will never be made in this instance. If the call comes or not, America's 911 force stands ready to answer the call.

Finally, in sports... Does anyone else think that the Reds and the Padres are trying to lose? Maybe it's just me, but it seems like every time I get a new "score alert" email in my mailbox, the final score has the other team on the winning end of the margin. If the post season were already decided, that wouldn't be a problem, but that's far from being the case. The Padres and the Reds both need to realize that with the way it's going right now, if they don't win their respective division, they aren't going to the post season. On the plus side of things, the Eagles looked okay in their hall of fame game against the Raiders. Sure, they lost that game, but pre-season is all about testing the new guys and working out the kinks in the old guys. The Eagles starting offense (thankfully without Terrel Owens) was able to march down the field and put points on the board against the Raiders starting defense. The Philadelphia starting defense was able to shut down just about everything the Raiders tried. So, what does that mean? I think if you look at Bill Parcell's frustration down in the Big D (where T.O. landed by the way) and the consistent problems the 'Skins have with their lack of consistency, then I look for the Eagles to make the playoffs this year. Win the division? I dunno about that. They'll have to beat the Giants twice to have a shot at winning the NFC East, I think. Lastly, to combine news and sports: did you see the story about Maurice Clarett being ordered to get a psych evaluation? Maybe I should go crazy. Then I could get to stay home and watch my son play soccer on Saturdays.

Have a great week, folks. I'll post again when there's something worth posting.