The passing of an artist...

I received an email today with some bad news. Maybe some of you have seen it, maybe not. But before that, a little background.
In 2003, I was deployed to Bosnia with the 343rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment as part of SFOR-13. There were seven of us, as well as three officers from the 35th Infantry Division, and three Bosnian media specialists/interpretors that made up the Public Affairs Office. We had a pretty good group. I posted about one of the Bosnians in an earlier post.
While I was there, I read an article in Stars and Stripes about a program aboard some Navy ships that allowed deployed sailors and marines to videotape themselves reading books to send back to their families. I thought, "I'd love to get that started here in Bosnia for our troops." So 'Read To Your Kids' was born.
My kids grew up being read to everyday, sometimes several times a day. Some of their favorite books were The Berenstain Bear series. They became a regular family treat for us. We would read the new ones as a family, even when both daughters were in high school. So I sent an email to Stan and Jan Berenstain, explaining our program, and asking for a donation of books to get it started. Time went by and I figured that I'd have to find books somewhere else.
Then, one day I got an email from Stan and Jan saying that they would love to participate, and donated 50 books. Stan had served in the Army during WWII, and Jan had 'worked in the defense industry.' Once the books arrived, the 35th provided the video tapes, and Sgt. First Class Brian Stribling, one of my broadcast journalists, volunteered to spend every Saturday doing the taping.
Here's the article we did for our weekly magazine, the Talon, and here's the Stars and Stripes article they did on my program. Those of you who are familiar with my 'Read to Your Kids' program in Afghanistan, now know where it started. I know they had requested not to be named, but I had to pay tribute.
Back to today's email.
Stan Berenstain, co-creator of The Berenstain Bears, husband, father, grandfather, died at the age of 82 from complications of cancer. The literary world has lost a giant. My kids have always enjoyed The Berenstain Bears, and probably always will. I plan on reading more than one to my granddaughter Eleanor, and any other grand kids I end up with. Thank you, Mr. Berenstain.

Christmas Lights...

I finally got my outside Christmas lights up. I don't think my homeowners association will be happy with me...
You'll need sound. It's not the same without it...

The evolution of Conservatives and Liberals...

History began some 12,000 years ago.(Actually, it was 40,000 years ago.) Humans existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunter/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in winter.
The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundations of modern civilization and,together, were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups: Liberals and Conservatives.
Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can was invented yet, so while our early human ancestors were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.
Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to barbeque at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as "the Conservative movement."
Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the Conservatives by showing up for the nightly barbeques and doing the sewing, fetching and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement. Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. The rest became known as girlymen.
Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that Conservatives provided.
Over the years, Conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.
Modern Liberals like imported beer (with lime added)(& foo foo coffee), but most prefer white wine or imported, bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard Liberal fare.
Another interesting evolutionary side note: Most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are Liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't "fair" to make the pitcher also bat.
Conservatives drink domestic beer. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, fighter pilots, athletes and generally anyone who works productively outside government. Conservatives who own companies hire other Conservatives who want to work for a living.
Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to "govern" the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the Liberals remained in Europe when Conservatives were coming to America. They crept in after the Wild West was tame and created a business of trying to get MORE for nothing.
Here ends today's lesson in world history. It should be noted that a Liberal will have an uncontrollable urge to respond to the above instead of simply laughing and deleting or forwarding it.

But then anyone can respond..even liberals...

Support the Troops...

There has been a lot of discussion about so-called 'Americans' who push the "don't support the war but support the troops" and "Bring our troops home NOW" line of crap. The fine folks over at Ala's (I would say mighty fine, but I don't want Ala's hubby pissed at me...) have a post about the subject. So does Barb, and I'm sure a lot of others I haven't gotten around to. But THIS is how you support troops. You want to support the troops? Put your money where your mouth is like Charlie Daniels is doing. No money? Try volunteering to mow the yard for some mom who's husband is deployed. Or offer to babysit while she goes grocery shopping. Or offer to clean her house for her. You want to support the troops? Go to AnySoldier.com and send care packages to the troops. THAT'S how you support them. Not by standing on some street corner with a sign. It's no wonder Vietnam turned out like it did with these idiots, or idiots like them, at home.

Real Heroes

I got this in my email today. As soon as I read it, I wanted to do a post about it. Mainly, because this NCO is what is the epitome of what an NCO is. Taking Care of His Soldiers. Giving his life for his Soldiers. He didn't have to go back in and get his people out. I've been burned, not as bad as him, but enough to know the excrutiating pain he was going through. These are the heroes. Guys willing to sacrifice to save their fellow Soldiers. Without thinking. Heroes aren't some sports guy making mutimillions each season, using the gifts God gave him, or her. Heroes aren't singers making millions, or business tycoons, or some asswipe actor rowing around New Orleans in a row boat. Heroes are Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn "Al" Cashe, or U.S. Navy Seaman Nathaniel Leoncio, or Army Specialist Darren Howe, or Sgt. First Class Paul R. Smith, or countless others fighting in this war. The other reason I wanted to do this post was to show my sister-in-law, and other clueless left wingers, that this is indeed a 'real war'. You may not believe in the reason why we are there. That's your perogative. That's your opinion. Opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one, some stink worse than others. But trying telling Al Cashe's family, or Paul Smith's family, or Darren Howe's family that this isn't a real war.

H/T to John over at The Castle.

Ramblings of an incoherent kind...

A few things...

I'm in San Antonio helping my boss at the U.S. Joint Forces Miltary Skills Training Center finish out the year by wrapping up some loose ends. More on that in a later post, depending on the outcome of a briefing on 21 November...

Queen Eleanor graced us with her presence this past weekend. I'll have a few photos to post in a couple days.

This article in the Washington Post says that, contrary to popular belief, the low income families are NOT providing of the new military recruits since 9/11. Wow...imagine that...

This story ran in the Fort Sam Houston News Leader. Tell me that isn't determination and dedication. No excuses for those of us who need to lose a few pounds. Where's Oprah for this guy's story...?

I've been wanting to post about a conversation at my in-laws house a couple weeks ago, but haven't been able to do. It's been eating at me about what I said, and what I should have said. My SIL was telling us about her and her two kids eating at Olive Garden. Her oldest kept looking at another table. When she looked over, it was an elder gentlemen waving to both her sons, 10 and 7. When he got up he put on a WWII Veteran cap. He said to her, "These boys need to be in the military when they grow up." Her response, "You fought in a real war. This isn't a real war." After telling us this, she looks at me and says, "No offense." I was so pissed. The only thing I could think of to say was, "Tell that to the guys over there." I wanted to say, I should have said, "Hell yes that was an offense! You're saying that what I do isn't real. You're saying that what I am sworn to do, isn't real. You're saying that what Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, and Airmen are dieing for isn't real. Fuck yes, that's an offense!" But I didn't. I was so pissed, I didn't think of those things until after I left. Left wing idiots are starting to bother me......