I knew it

Let me ask a question. If the good people of the former regime out here really have nothing to hide, then why is the UN all in a tizzy about some missing chemical weapons equipment? I'm not one to say "I told you so," but come on. Okay, okay... I'm totally one to say "I told you so," but that's not the real point here. Maybe this goes along with all those long range, French-made, missles I saw when I was here two years ago. It's almost as if the more things change, the more they stay the same.

To that end, while the UN gets their britches in a bunch about stuff that America's been saying along, I'm heading out into the city over the next few days to see if we can get some of these citizens registered to vote. In case you forgot, or never heard, there was an election in January to select a representative government. That governments main purpose was to draft a new constitution for the country of Iraq, which is to be voted on by the people. Kinda sounds like "Government of the people, by the people, and for the people" but what do I know? Anyway, that election is coming up and we are trying to instill a sense of ownership in the people of Ramadi. If they want changes in the way the government is (or isn't) involved in their lives, they need to register and vote. This town has about 300,000 citizens of voting age but only about 10% are even registered. We're hoping to up that to about 25% by this election.

Hope your June is off to a good start. Check my wife's blog for some great news about what June means to us as family. It should be fairly obvious at the top of the page.

Thank you

It has been a truly humbling experience to read the comments of so many people who responded to my Memorial Day message. Thank you all for your support. I'll probably be back to my old fire-brand self in a day or two, but we must first conduct our own memorial for a brother who was taken from us on the day we set aside to remember those sacrifices. Thank you again for your support and please keep us and our families in your thoughts and prayers.

Memorial

For all of you who have read my wife's blog, thank you for your support.

If you haven't, here's your chance.

Hope you had a memorable Memorial Day.

ex-ACT-ly

I knew I wasn't the only one who thought like this. I don't know the validity of everything she says here, but I can certainly understand the sentiment. If there is one advantage to actually being deployed over here it must be that I don't get my blood in a boil every day. I'm free to wallow in my own conservatism and fellowship with red-blooded Americans who, for the most part, share my values.

Happy Memorial Day!

X-squeeze me?

Let me give you some background info. I work in the admin office out here in Iraq, which means that I am able to check email, read news stories, and update my blog on a fairly regular basis. I have set up my account to provide me with daily updates concerning the key word Ramadi. I also get their headlines, and that's what I'm talking about today. I was reading this story about the ALLEGED abuse of the Quran by guards in Cuba and I was struck by the last few lines. Let me save you the trouble by pasting those lines here:

"The United States government continues to turn a blind eye to mounting evidence of widespread abuse of detainees held in its custody," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "If we are to truly repair America's standing in the world, the Bush administrtation must hold accountable high-ranking officials who allow the conitnuing abuse and torture of detainees."

Excuse me? Since when does America have to prove anything by catering to whiny little cowards like these terrorists? Here, I'll let another section of the same story make my argument for me:

FBI records cite at least one instance in which a detainee is said to have falsely claimed that a guard had dropped a Quran. "In actuality the detainee dropped the Quran and then blamed the guard. Many other detainees reacted to this claim," the FBI document said, and that sparked an uprising "on or about 19-20 July 2002."

See my point? These cowards are willing to do anything and everything to get their willing accomplices in the press to help them forward their cause. They desecrate their own holy book and blame us. They stockpile weapons in mosques and use those mosques as staging areas for launching attacks against US and mult-national forces. According to the Geneva convention, using a holy site for anything other than worship or humanitarian reasons (a field hospital, for example) is a huge NO-NO! "Places of worship may not be used in support of the military effort" If a mosque (or church or cathedral) is used in violation of this principle, it loses it's protection. Does that stop these thugs? Hardly. But, hold a Quran and sneeze at the same time and all of a sudden you've violated their human rights.

While doing a bit of surfing for this entry, I came up with something that might interest the media. This is an excerpt from Wikipedia.com, an online encylopedia, concerning the law of war.

"Spies and terrorists are only protected by the laws of war if the power which holds them is in a state of armed conflict or war and until they are found to be an unlawful combatant. Depending on the circumstances, they may be subject to civilian law or military tribunal for their acts and in practice have been subjected to torture and/or execution. The laws of war neither approve nor condemn such acts, which fall outside their scope."

I'm going to give myself an ulcer if I keep this up much longer, so I will finish with this thought: we are down to 129 days before it's October 1st!

Take me out of the ball game...

See, in the never changing world of high priced athletes, it continues to amaze me when someone gets canned because he can't get the job done... and then pitches a fit about the way he's being treated. My basis for this argument? The recent assignment of Danny Graves is what's provoked this latest flurry of wit and insight. For those of you who don't understand baseball as a business, it basically boils down to one simple thing. Despite eight years in the Cincinnati orginization, Danny Graves has been told that his services are no longer required. In other words, he's fired. Okay, maybe that sounds harsh, but the man gets paid a LOT of money to win ball games ( or actually save them for the starting pitcher) and he isn't getting it done. Even in the Marines, if you can't do the job you're history. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against the man personally. I just want to see my hometown heros win every now and again... especially if they're leading by six runs in the ninth inning.

TAG!

Ok, my wife "tagged" me with this. I guess I'm supposed to finish five of the sentences below and then "tag" three others to continue the game. Slight problem with that... I don't know anybody! Oh well. Here's my list...

If I could be a scientist . . .
If I could be a farmer . . .
If I could be a musician . . .
If I could be a doctor . . .
If I could be a painter . . .
If I could be a gardener . . .
If I could be a missionary . . .
If I could be a chef . . .
If I could be an architect . . .
If I could be a linguist . . .
If I could be a psychologist . . .
If I could be a librarian . . .
If I could be an athlete . . .
If I could be a lawyer . . .
If I could be an inn-keeper . . .
If I could be a professor . . .
If I could be a writer . . .
If I could be a llama-rider . . .
If I could be a bonnie pirate . . .
If I could be an astronaut . . .
If I could be a world famous blogger . . .
If I could be a justice on any one court in the world . . .
If I could be married to any current famous political figure . . .

So, of the choices listed above I chose these.

If I could be an inn keeper I would run a bed and breakfast for rednecks. You'd have to help with the chores and kill your own food. Why would that be a vacation? I'd let you sleep in until 5:30 and your sheets wouldn't smell like cow patties. Plus, there'd be a rule that you can only have a maximum of two people in a bed, which would allow everyone to have a lot more elbow room. The water would be hot and fresh for everyone and I wouldn't bother you with modern distractions like phones, newspapers, or a TV. That way you could concentrate on your whittling during our group happy hour.

Okay, that one's a joke, but the next one's legit...

If I could be a doctor, I'd specialize in pediatrics. I would love to help little kids who have to be taught that it's okay to trust someone. How sad is that when we have to teach our kids it's okay to trust someone because they learn too quickly that trust can be broken and so will their little hearts. God, help me never break the trust of my children.

If I could be a lawyer, I'd defend churches from liberal groups who want separation of church and state (which is NOT mentioned in the Constitution by the way - it's a phrase used by Thomas Jefferson in a personal letter) but only as long as that means no church. It's funny how the people who want Jesus out of schools also want to dictate (yes, I said "dictate" like a dictator would do) to churches that they must hire gay activists and people who don't follow the church's teachings all in the name of "diversity and tolerance." Hey, Egghead! Why can't you tolerate me practicing my faith in a way that has no impact on your life?

If I could be a scientist, I'd figure out how to turn salt water into fuel and make the technology affordable so that I could start my own company. I'd sell after market engines that would be just as powerful (or more so) as the engines that come in your car. That way I could concentrate on the fuel economy stuff and leave the pretty designs to the big car companies. Also, if people have to buy American cars before they can get one of my engines (they'd be the wrong size to fit into foreign cars) it would help the domestic job market by keeping people employed.

If I could be a professor, I'd teach ethics at UC Berkeley. HAH! Can you see me teaching ethics at a liberal college like Berkeley? I'd get into so many arguments with my students and other professors that I'd either be fired within two minutes or I'd become the most popular professor on campus and a rallying point for all the conservatives within 100 miles.

Anyway... that's my list for now. If you'd like to copy the top part and put it on your own blog, please leave me a comment with your blog address so I can develop a friends list. Please? I don't have any friends. :-<