Miserable Donuts

Random Military photo of the week

2012-01-26T20:24:00.001-06:00

I was browsing some photos of my time in Afghanistan, and chuckled when I saw this one of me, and "Commander Qand", a local man of note, former Afghan Militia Commander and veteran of fighting against the Soviets and the Talib.

Yes, meetings bore me too, CDR Qand.

Should you find yourself in Chicago....visit Lincoln Tavern

2012-01-26T20:18:00.001-06:00

Should you happen to find yourself in Bucktown (that is a neighborhood in Chicago, for our out of State friends) you will want to drop in at Lincoln Tavern.

Hey, Look here, right on Wabansia!

While a real neighborhood bar is the first thing you will see...

Is that an Elvis picture?

Pour me a Blue, wouldya please?

Don't think that is all there is to this place...the dining room hides off to the back.

The food was startlingly good - the ribs were reviewed by a hungry 13 year old (my son) as "awesome!". Everything else was too. If you have a hankering for game, they even do that once in a while.

The brother and sister that own and run the place were personable and made sure we hade a relaxing time.

Lincoln Tavern
1858 W. Wabansia Ave. (1700N, 1900W)
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 342-7778

Go have a beer and a bite, ok?

A landmark reborn

2012-01-21T14:10:00.000-06:00

Out with the old....

In with new....Mars Cheese Castle. One cannot cross the Illinois/Wisconsin border (near Kenosha)without at least wanting to stop at the Castle. The iconic cheese, beer and sausage shop became so popular, they had to move (across the parking lot) to a bigger building.

Man, now I want a brat and some New Galrus beer...

I'm back

2012-01-21T14:02:00.002-06:00

Had lost my voice, so to speak for blogging. Well, I think I am ready to return. Standby for posts....

Whew, I'm Glad That's Over

2011-12-16T11:59:00.000-06:00

I thought this BBC article's headline was a bit too trite. Maybe it's just classic British understatement. "No need to worry about that anymore..."

I wonder why I can't even find this story on CNN, USAToday or Google News.

Veteran's Day 2011

2011-11-11T07:23:00.000-06:00

This will be my last Veteran's Day while I am "in". Next year this time I will be in the "grey area" (retired, but not yet drawing a pension, etc).

So how did I get here? I think it best to lay it out in a simple "if, then" statement:

Dad (1945)

Grandpa (1943)

Uncle Jack (1943)

Then

Me, in Afghanistan (2004)

Me, in Iraq (2008)

Unlike my forebearers, who left the plains of Iowa to go down to the sea in ships, or climb into a B-25, I chose to pound the ground as a Soldier. Oddly enough, I may have seen more of the world because of that - times beinng what they have been.

Thanks to all those who have served, whenever it was or wherever it was!

A contradiction...?

2011-10-19T10:08:00.000-05:00

I saw the following on a company's website:

It is the policy of ____________, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, to attract and retain the best qualified people available, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, or veteran status.

Um, doesn't "affirmative action" regard "race, color, national origin, gender"?

An Interview

2011-10-14T14:04:00.000-05:00

Several of us prior service OIF and OEF vets were interviewed for this particular site. Give it a look and see a few stories of adjusting to coming home.

Happy Autumnal Equinox

2011-09-24T00:13:00.002-05:00

I'm so happy that the moon was in a waning crescent for the equinox this year, not like last year.

I know I've tried twice before and failed twice before, but this year I am determined to relate to you what happened to me on the eve of the Autumnal Equinox in 2005, while we were deployed to help with Hurricane Katrina relief.

Go to Illini 6 for the whole story.

A new Donut - my Army Career

2011-09-12T12:14:00.002-05:00

I am adding a new donut - I turned in my paper today to retire from the Army. Since I enlisted in March of 1985, and I will retire effective July 1, 2012 - here is my career in the Donut format:

I had to steady my hand when signing. Except for a few months as an 18 year old, I have spent my entire adult life as a Soldier - National Guard, Reserve or on Active Duty. But starting July1st, I will be in a new status...

Neither Forgetting nor Forgiving

2011-09-11T09:08:00.001-05:00

I cannot do either, seeing these images again.

Never to Forget stays - but I will work on the Never to Forgive. Only, I suppose, if we live "Never Again."

Not in Charikar...

2011-08-15T17:38:00.001-05:00

I was unhappy to read this. The people of this city (and, of course, all Afghanistan) do not deserve to have this happen.

I did spend more time at the orphanage than the governor's office:

The provincial governor is someone I had met in his old job - Kabul province police chief:

I remember when meeting him, his biggest concern at the time was for his son, who needed an operation to possibly save his hearing. We did only a little professional work - mostly concerned with Kabul roads linking to Parwan province.

Awaiting a response

2011-08-14T16:34:00.000-05:00

I have e-mailed the IHSA about this story. I asked what information they used to make their determination of
"There's this overriding safety issue," IHSA executive director Marty Hickman told the Record. "Our sports medicine committee continues to feel that being in shape and being in football shape are two different things. We've had this issue a number of times. It's been brought to the board's attention, and they've consistently said that they're not interested in modifying this policy.

[Emphasis mine]

I will let you know what, if anything, they send back.

Hey, why cannon no work...?

2011-07-17T19:57:00.000-05:00

Hmmm. This cannon at Fort George doesn't seem to be functional.

I can determine why! Trust my judgment. After all, I am a professional, Ordnance Corps qualified officer...

Father's Day!

2011-06-19T10:12:00.002-05:00

Hurrah! I really do like being a Dad...

Of course, I would not be what I am today without having my own father there when I was growing up. I only try to be a good Dad like he has been.

So, all you Dads out there - have a great day and keep up the good work.

Memorial Day 2011

2011-05-30T13:33:00.002-05:00

Memorial Day. Onetime "Decoration Day", is the time when our nation remembers her war dead. (Note, please, this is not "thank a veteran day" or such either - we have our day on November 11th!).

I do not get upset at the mattress sales, barbeques and "unofficial start to summer" that seems to compete with the original purpose of the day - However, I do think one should first remember why we have this day, maybe do a little something for it (go to an observance, put a flag on a military grave, etc) then go forth and enjoy the liberties gained and preserved for you by those who laid down their lives in time of war.

I am sure many of those that gave their all would probably have wished the same.

Worst European trip evah

2011-05-27T12:07:00.002-05:00

Is it me or is the smartest White House Crew Evah realy a bunch of over educated morons showing us and the world just how out of reality they really are. Embarassing.

Got ya!

2011-05-26T09:38:00.005-05:00

HA! Got you, scumbag.

"Who, me?"

He was the last of the Big Three (Milosevich, Karadzic and Mladich) who was still at large or alive.

"But I worked with the UN and the politicians?!"

His story was all too normal in the Balkans of the 1990s, as were his actions. I can only hope he does not make fools of the people who prosecute him, as Milosevich did.

With Osama bin Laden getting his just reward, and now this scumbag getting caught, the list grows of those who a sometimes seemingly feckless West has managed to keep after and hunt down. Both took many years, but they should be shining examples of "no matter how long it takes, we will get you."

Happy Towel Day!

2011-05-25T08:01:00.002-05:00

Happy Towel Day everyone!

Don't panic, it's only towel day, you frood.

This isn't me, but she is wearing Griffins colors

TOWEL! er, um I mean, KHAN!!

I'll be adding my personal photos later (well, not that personal, again, don't panic).

My work computer, as promised

Done, for now.

2011-05-08T06:00:00.002-05:00

I'm finished with State Active Duty for the Flood of 2011.

A few things made an impression on me - first, Marcus Tullius Cicero was right (to slightly alter his quote) "For the first need in Domestic Operations is for unlimited money." Sure, he was talking about "war", but he might as well have been talking about disaster response. I wish Illinois was not in such dire straits, when it came to money.

The people of our State are overwhelmingly kind and too generous to the National Guard - when we show up in a n area and people are insisting that we can use any facility, they want to feed our Soldiers and Airmen who have responded and support us... hey, isn't that what we came to do for you?! My face hurt, as I was smiling so hard when I heard from our team in the Old Shawneetown area. The USO of Illinois also sprang into action and was sending items down to the Guardsmen deployed for flood duty.

Oh, and if you are ever passing through Springfield, home of Camp Lincoln, Headquarters of the Illinois National Guard - make sure you stop at Joe Roger's Chili! When they say "hot" they really do mean it.

Wow, was I wrong...

2011-05-02T05:32:00.002-05:00

I was sure Osama bin Laden was dead since December of 2001. Every Afghan I worked with thought so too - they would look kind of weary and kind of amused when people would ask "where do you think he is"....

But it looks like he was in Abbottobad, Pakistan - although not anymore. Now he is buried at sea.

Be ready for the conspiracy preachers to have a field day (or would it be "field career") with this one.

Gone Floodin'

2011-04-30T19:06:00.002-05:00

I've been working on State Active Duty, thanks to some flooding in southern Illinois. You can see for yourself, right here,where the river(s) are too high.
Oh, and if you ask, we have nothing to do with this... really. That is the US Army Corps of Engineers. We are just spectators - inerested ones, to be sure.

Should have killed me last time...

2011-04-20T12:26:00.000-05:00

Business-speak example of the day

2011-04-15T12:33:00.002-05:00

Effective Immediately: Standard voicemail scripts for all ****** Professionals and ***** Managers
As part of *************** effort to continuously project “*******” to the market, standard voicemail scripts will be implemented for all employees engaged with external customers, both ********* and ********. By updating our voicemail scripts daily, it’s one small way we all help ensure that our customers feel that no matter who they speak to in *****, they’re speaking to the same company and someone who can promptly assist them.
Also, as the voicemail scripts state, we are setting the expectation with our customers that we will respond to all voicemail messages as soon as possible and within *******. That is an integral part of ******’s overall strategy of Customer ****** -- putting the customer at the center of everything we do.

Translation: "We don't trust you to make your own voicemail messages, so we've done it for you. Cheers."

Earthquake, Flood, Tornado, "Other"?

2011-03-17T07:37:00.003-05:00

Those are the disasters we have been preparing for in the Illinois National Guard. Since Japan has been in the news - I figured a small note mentioning that we have been planning multi-state cooperation (in case of the New Madrid or Wabash faults give us a jolt) wouldn't be the worse thing I could do today. In fact, we have been doing it for some time now.

As for floods - well, if 1993 and 2008 were not enough of a lesson for those along the Mississippi, then nothing can be. We have been much more proactive in our preparations for possible problems of that nature.

Disasters, natural or otherwise, will still be ungood, even double plus ungood, but we are better prepared than in past.

Is Amazon deflationary?

2011-03-04T06:46:00.002-06:00

Or, rather, is the ability to order (and have delivered, cheaply) almost anything, anywhere in the United States a damper on inflation - at least locally?

This thought popped into my head while watching "Gold Rush Alaska" - I was thinking about the original Gold Rush and the stories of $20 eggs and such. I wondered if anything even close to that could occur again if, say, there was a boom in North Dakota oil. But my immediate reaction was "no way, anyone needed anything they could just whip out a smart phone or log in on their laptop and click away.

It also occurred to me that this was not quite a recent phenomenon (if one that reached further and faster). Sears & Roebuck helped keep the Great Plains in the same goods, at just about the same price, as the rest of the nation.

If only there was a way to quantify this effect. Might make a very interesting paper for an economist [*cough* Running Dog *cough*]...

What? In Parwan? Charikar?!

2011-02-17T10:45:00.002-06:00

This is not the Parwan (and Charikar) I remember.

Bagram was always a high profile target - it was that way when I was there in 2004-2005. However, It was worse when CSM Bones went back in 2008-2009. And it looks like it stayed that way...

But at least a couple of scumbags will no longer plague the area.

Snowmageddon and the Neighbors

2011-02-02T13:20:00.003-06:00

The Snowpocalypse hit our city hard. When I looked out at 6:30am, you could not tell the street from the driveways from the yards.

By 10am, the winds had slowed and the sun came out. My wife mentioned that people were emerging and starting to shovel and use their snowblowers, so out I went. She joined me and then all the kids streamed out into the drifts and piles of snow.

As we all worked our driveways, I noticed that those who had finished started to help others out. Then we all went to the two houses that had no snowblower, or anyone able bodied enough to clear the snow... while the kids played, the adults watched them, shoveled and ran their snowblowers. We got everyone on the street cleared out, and worked the sidewalks, fire hydrants and some of the mailboxes free.

Everyone congregated at the end of the last driveway and made the obligatory "time to start on the ____ [insert choice of schnapps, brandy, etc]". I think we all just trudged home and got lunch and are saving the drinking for a later time, heh heh. The kids are still playing, hours later. Me, I can hardly type for how tired my arms have become...

Times like these make me very happy to live in the neighborhood I do.

Lincoln Wept

2011-01-27T06:52:00.002-06:00

While driving home, I was listening to the radio. When the show I had on went to commercial, I thought they were playing a parody skit instead - it was supposedly an appeal to overburdened, overtaxed businesses to leave Illinois to go to New Jersey!?!

By the end, it was apparent it was no skit, although it was darkly humorous.

When I got home and opened the newspaper, I saw it was no joke.

Lincoln wept.

Reveling in a simple thing

2011-01-26T06:50:00.002-06:00

I was in very early at the office this morning. It was absolutely quiet. I knew it would last only for a short while, but it was an unexpected pleasure. Something rather simple in nature, but I enjoyed all the more for that...

Gramps, or "Why am I not in the Navy?"

2011-01-11T14:08:00.002-06:00

Finally got my hands on some pictures of my maternal Grandfather - he was a Navy Officer in WWII:

He stood taller than I do now (this is 1942, I think) and had been a notable figure on the University of Iowa basketball team in the 1930s.

Home on leave with my Mom and one of my aunts (Winter 1943?).

With such a Navy-centric family history, how did I ever end up in the Army? Part of it may have been that I never got to meet Gramps, as he died before I was born. Have to wonder if he had lived, if I wouldn't have gone down to the sea instead.

I am now ARM'd

2010-12-15T13:58:00.003-06:00

No, not like the Larry Niven character...

It is this.

Sure, the things I learned while earning this have been useful in my civilian job, but I think the best part is being able to put ARM after my name... any Larry Niven fan has to appreciate that.

Man, ethics suck sometimes...

2010-12-07T14:53:00.002-06:00

I got a package delivered to me at work... a very nice bottle of Moet & Chandon champagne (Nectar Imperial).

The Swiss Insurance Behemoth I work for has a no gift policy for my division. So, with tears in my eyes, I packed it back in the box, called the sender and told them, with great sadness, of our policy and that I would have to send it back.

Sometimes having ethics is no fun, heh heh

Sorry, we were not meant to be together...

Who has two thumbs and is a NaNoWriMo 2010 Winner?

2010-11-30T21:38:00.001-06:00

This guy!

Giving Thanks?

2010-11-24T21:39:00.002-06:00

I know I am...

In the midst of war, I am home and in one piece.

In the midst of recession, I have a good job.

In the midst of so much ill-fortune, I have a healthy and whole family.

In a world full of despotism and authoritarianism, I live in a country that still maintains a high level of freedom.

I can understand why our forefathers felt they were especially blessed to be here. I feel so too.

Veteran's Day 2010

2010-11-11T08:06:00.010-06:00

On the day I reflect most about my more than 25 years (and counting) in the service, I realized something... I'm in the club, so to speak.

Growing up I heard from those that had served before me.

Dad in 1945

Uncle Jack in 1943

and others like my Explorer Post leader, Chuck Reed. I had grown up hearing of service, and even jumped in myself.

Me, in 1985

But I since I was "in", I never saw myself the way I had seen those before me - the ones who had gone and done something and were now the veterans that myself and others could talk to about "how it had been".

Even after I went to war, twice

Me, Afghanistan, 2004

Me, in Iraq, 2008

But now I am going to a middle school assembly today - and I am the one telling the kids "how it was". It feels like I have joined a group I have always looked up to... it is humbling.

Free Speech Suspension - outrage!

2010-11-09T16:44:00.004-06:00

Please sound off here. This suspension is a manifest outrage. I mean, if everyone got rung up for those violations, half the blogosphere would be under the interdict...

Free Iowahawk! Tell Dave Burge to unsuspend himself!1!1!11!

Help with Project VALOUR-IT

2010-11-08T10:40:00.004-06:00

I am late getting this blog into the VALOUR-IT effort.

Only you can help me make up for this by donating, on behalf of Team Army, heh heh, here.

Want to know what this is all about? Look here.

The Future is so bright, I have to wear (ballistic) shades

2010-11-08T10:20:00.002-06:00

Camp Lincoln was quite crowded this weekend. When I showed up for my National Guard training assembly, there was no place to stay or park... Why?

We had all of Soldiers that our next class of Officer Candidates will be drawn from on the base. Well over a 100 were coming to find out about going through the State Officer Candidate School (OCS) and becoming commissioned officers.

So why does this make the future bright?

These were all enlisted Soldiers (and junior NCOs) that had already joined in time of war. Think about that self-selected group - they volunteered to join a group of people who were constantly being sent to combat (from our little blog alone, I was in OEF 2004-2005 and OIF 2007-2008, CSM Bones was in OEF 2004-2005 and 2008-2009 and the Inner Prop was in OEF 2004-2005). Now, they want more responsibility and a longer committment, while we are still at war. Some of them had already been to war themselves, as enlisted or junior NCOs.

Those are the people you want leading your Soldiers, ladies and gentlemen. Our officer ranks look like they will be filled by some pretty impressive folks, for the foreseeable future. I'm going to go find my ballistic shades...

NaNoWriMo 2010 Begins

2010-11-01T06:05:00.001-05:00

Well, I've gone and done it again. I've thrown in with those crazy National Novel Writing Month people. I tried to stay out, I really did. In fact I ran on a No-NaNo platform, but circumstances just forced me. Now that I'm in it I'm in it to win, so wish me luck, 'cuz I won't be back 'til it's over over there (o'er by dere at Illini6).

Can't hold back anymore

2010-10-27T14:43:00.006-05:00

Voter Fraud is a reality and obviously part of the SOP of the political machines in our State. Nothing new you say? Of course. We have all heard the jokes and one liners of dead people voting ad nauseum. But the state has had up to 35 counties, a third, just decide to not send absentee ballots overseas on time so this states service members can take part in this election. Do they care? Is the media covering this disenfranchisement of our citizens actually taking part as productive citizens? Here is a story about ballots not going out in time but people locked up in Cook County Jail getting theirs hand delivered. Today, a Federal Judge (small j) blocked an effort trying to get an extension on the return dates for these ballots. Nice, I hope politics were not involved in this decision. LOL. DOJ looking into this? Anybody fired or held accountable??? Nothing to see here....move along

Business Phone Call of the Month

2010-10-26T10:33:00.002-05:00

Me, calling from my desk in an office tower in the Chicago Suburbs: "If I could get a copy of your [document] that would really help."

Office manager of company in another state: "Sure, we are having tornado warnings here, so I'll send that right away."

Me: "Shouldn't you get to shelter?"

Office manager: "I just want to send it before the computers go down."

Me: "...."

There's a Poll at Illini6!

2010-10-12T15:36:00.000-05:00

No, not like that. There's a poll, you know one you can vote on.

Please, Please go vote.

I'm trying to decide what kind of novel to write for NaNoWriMo 2010.

You know, he does have a silly hat.

Now, this is better.

Your Business-Speak Example of the Day V

2010-10-07T20:04:00.002-05:00

"Furthermore, the continuation of delayering of the current organization and the clarification of roles and responsibilities will allow us to focus our technical skills at the right areas and will substantially increase our market and customer orientation."

Translation: Deadwood and useless management will be fired, so the people doing real work and customer service can get back to doing so.

It's That Time of Year Again - Cthulhu Month

2010-10-01T18:21:00.003-05:00

The Aztecs used to say, Huitzepotil tloloc tenochtitlan!

It's October and that means it's Cthulhu Month over at Illini6. You know, I went back and looked at past years and at least for the last two years I've claimed that it was the third year of doing a blasted image of the Great Old One each day in the month of October. That means that I've been mistaken or, or, time is not right!

I don't know how long I've been doing this, but this year is special, I'm going to try to put in as many original images, I've gotten my wits about me again (recovered from the Equinox) and I'll be sharing my Katrina experiences and I have another blog, Papa Stories where I'm going to try to record some of the stories my father used to tell.

First up on Papa Stories will be The Night Of the Purple Fog.

Ooooooo! Scary stuff kids!

BEWARE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX!

2010-09-23T05:43:00.001-05:00

Full moon, spring tide, Autumnal Equinox, the Earth is pointed at...

Illini6

Tamara Be Talk Like a Pirate Day Maty!

2010-09-18T22:28:00.000-05:00

Yar, avast ye, I got me bike commute update on me blog, Illini6.

Hope yorn gon 'ave a fine Talk Like a Pirate Day tamara.

N'er 'eard o' Talk Like a Pirate Day? Wharn ye been, ya land lubber, TLaPD be a long standin' tradition. It be te most holy o' holy days fer te Church o' te Flyin' Spaghetti Monster it be, an' it be international.

So, if'n ye don' wan personal ventalation, ye best be talkin' like a pirate tamara! Yar!

By Prop-ular Demand

2010-09-14T19:14:00.008-05:00

Illinois Men's Rugby Football Club, Old Boys 2010:

"Man, this gets harder every year"

"You want me to go in there?"

"Sure, another 40 minutes of game time, why not?!"

After the match... your 2010 IMRFC Old Boys

Illini-Time!

2010-09-13T17:11:00.000-05:00

I've given up hope on the Bears already, and I've found the Big 10 Network is free on my Dish subscription. I actually watched my first Illini football game, and I'm so sorry I didn't try before.

So, someone help me put the 35-3 win over SIU in perspective. I have a post about it on Illini6.

Oh, and since LTC John hasn't put up any pit-chers from Old Boys, here's one of this old boy. I bought a new hat whilst down there.

I found it!

2010-09-05T07:27:00.005-05:00

You may have wondered where the trillion bucks spent to get things moving, economically speaking, went? I found them... symbolically enough, here:

[click to see larger]

The sign proudly reads "Your Recovery Dollars At Work"...

Mount Rushmore

2010-08-14T14:32:00.004-05:00

Yes, those four guys on a mountain...

"Hey, we look better from this angle..."

"Why won't they just admit I'm the best looking?"

The not so Badlands

2010-07-30T16:26:00.004-05:00

The "Badlands" eh? They didn't look too "bad" to me...

The critters didn't seem to mind either...

OK, that might be a bit...austere.

Overall, I guess I'd settle for calling it an excellent place to visit.

Another Wonder of the World

2010-07-24T16:37:00.007-05:00

Continuing on my tour of the Wonders of the Modern World...

One does not stop in Minnesota just for hockey or lutefisk. BEHOLD... THE SPAM MUSEUM!
Austin, Minnesota is truly blessed!

A happy resident greets you at the door.

And they have no problem with their sense of humor - featuring the Monty Python "Spam" sketch...

And, yes, they did come around with free samples! I ended up buying a T-shirt, frisbee and two tins of the Miracle Meat...Spam with garlic and the Spam with bacon...mmmm, bacon.

Thanks Mr. Farmer, for raising tasty hogs that become Spam!

A True Wonder of the World

2010-07-20T21:11:00.005-05:00

Yes, I saw Yellowstone, I saw the Badlands... but I also saw the Mitchell Corn Palace!

I saw celebrities like "Cornelia":

I saw great works of art:

All in all, a true Wonder of the World!

How Reality Changes Because of the Law

2010-07-07T07:27:00.002-05:00

For many years, asbestos personal injury lawyers had pointed an accusatory finger at all sorts of industries, wholesale distributors, contractors, retail distributors, etc., claiming asbestos use or exposure continued up to the very present day...

But then came along a little change in the law regarding Medicare and the leins the Federal Government could put on the settlement dollars generated by these lawsuits. To make a long and painful legislative story short, anything paid out to settle bodily injury claims that comes from insurance in effect 12/5/1980 onward is fair game for Uncle Sam to get his hooks into to settle Medicare costs first.

And, lo! The very fabric of time and space was changed... Suddenly the complaints and petitions on almost every asbestos lawsuit stop their allegations of exposure to asbestos at the end of 1979. Who knew that the CMS could reach back in time and rid America of asbestos just short of New Year's Day 1980? I am quite sure it has NOTHING to do with plaintiff lawyers not wanting to get caught in Federal red tape and paper work, or see someone else bite of a chunk of where their contingency fees come from...

Prairie North is OVAH!

2010-06-18T17:52:00.003-05:00

The Homeland Security exercise I was involved in is finally over! I was at the Illinois National Guard Joint Operations Center as a liaison. It is always interesting to watch the Army and Air Guard combine with several civilian agencies and work together. The practice is helping, trust me. Of course, I'd really rather not have to find out, if you take my meaning on this.

But now it is time to enjoy one Springfield Illinois' finest contributions to American society...not, not Abraham Lincoln....one of these two...but which one? decisions, decisions.

An odd birthday?

2010-06-08T16:29:00.002-05:00

It seems it. I am actually home, not at Guard - either IDT weekend or at Annual Training - or deployed overseas...

A pretty darn good day.

A Memorial Day Thought or Two

2010-05-31T06:56:00.004-05:00

Lately, while looking around the net, or in the newspaper, or listening to the radio, I have heard a couple of constant things. One is the usual "relax and enjoy the holiday weekend" blather - I have nothing against relaxing, to be sure, but today is supposed to be about a little more than firing up the grill and opening a cold one. The other is a stream of exhortations to "thank a veteran" or "talk to them about their service" - which is nice, and I always am flattered when someone does this...but that is Veteran's Day material. Not today...

Today is about those that have given their lives in armed service of this country. THEY are the ones who need to be thought of - and the Gold Star Families, those left behind without Dad or Mom, Gramps or that Uncle or Aunt that everyone loved. Today is supposed to be about them.

Somberness on Monday, today frivolity

2010-05-29T12:30:00.002-05:00

I'll be returning to the place where I heard one of the funniest bits of snark ever... The Elgin Wine Festival.

Last year a man spilled a glass of something red and all I heard was "I'd rather a church burned!" I almost fell over laughing...

Realizing part of a nightmare? Or a dream come true?

2010-05-27T22:16:00.002-05:00

I used to have a recurring dream, especially back in grad school - I would be at a final exam, and I realized that I had never been in the class, much less studied... yikes.

Well, a little slice of that actually happened to me today. I am in the middle of earning my ARM (Associate in Risk Management)...and it was time for an exam in the middle course. I had dutifully studied the first three chapters of the book, and sat down at the Prometric Testing Center, in front of a terminal, to take the exam. It seemed as if there were too many questions for just the three chapters.

Indeed, it was an exam covering the first FOUR chapters of the text. Whoops... was I finally living out the nightmare? Well, I didn't panic. I thought I had a great handle on the first three of four chapters, so I finished the questions that covered the part I had studied, then jumped into..."Criminal Loss Exposures". Apparently God looks out for fools, little children and former Assistant State's Attorneys.

I guess those five years in the State's Attorney's Office paid off. I passed the test.

A whiff of the mob

2010-05-20T19:53:00.003-05:00

I have been in two different situations where you could say a "mob" formed or a small scale disturbance broke out. Both were in Afghanistan.

Tonight I got the faintest whiff of a mob here in America. Oh, not any kind of riot or criminal action... rather, it was at a Walgreens where shaped rubber bands were on sale. This particular fad has reached my children's school, and they were not immune.

So as we wandered the store, a Manager came up and asked if he could help me find anything. I replied "yes, we are looking for....what do you call them?" I asked my kids. "The rubber bands?" asked the Manager. Ha, yes, the rubber bands - he simply said "upfront where you see the kids..."
A rainy, non-descript weeknight and there was a rapidly forming crowd around a display table with packages of shaped rubber bands...there were queries as to various types of shapes, exclamations as to the price... I steered my little group up to the register and as the clerk rang me up, I mentioned how I would like to be the person who designed these things and that they had quite a crowd there. The clerk deadpanned at me "its like this everyday, all day".

Wow.

I thought things like this only happened at Christmas shopping time...

Planet given Article 15, demoted one rank.

2010-05-13T13:58:00.002-05:00

Apparently Jupiter got in a bit of trouble. He appears to have been demoted one rank - you can tell because he lost a stripe.

Our Man in Al-Asad Sends...

2010-05-06T07:11:00.003-05:00

Chief (ISC) Francis, our man in Al-Asad, Iraq sends the following:

An Iraqi Tale

The police commander sat behind his large desk, stained a dark mahogany and covered with the symbols of office – a small Iraqi flag, a large brass nameplate, a telephone, memo tray and a lifelike statue of a pouncing cougar. A small, thin man, he held himself with the air of a man with responsibilities, a man expected to lead his men and a man comfortable in his skin. He wore his beret with the elan of a French paratrooper, and I mean that in a smart, dapper way. In his determination to fight terrorism and crime, and in the way he held his cigarette, he reminded me of Inspector Vimes.

Speaking through a translator produces a fluid two-stage form of conversation, with each side speaking in paragraphs, not individual comments. I look at the police officer and speak normally, yet I pause at the end of every sentence to await the translator who repeats it in Arabic. The first couple sentences provide background and explain context and I only actually ask a question in my final phrase. You can't just come out and ask a question most times, as the linguistic conventions behind words and phrases are too different – it invariably leads to misunderstandings. Despite how this sounds, in practice it sometimes produces a rapid, almost lyrical conversation.

In his matter of fact tone of voice he explained that only three years ago his city was a wasteland, virtually abandoned by its citizens and completely abandoned by Iraqi security forces. He himself had fled to Baghdad, which was practically as bad. Foreign fighters and local zealots had, as he put it, driven out the residents "by denying them their tribal freedoms." The al-Qaida groups broke satellite dishes, beat women who ventured into the streets and randomly executed some to instil fear in the others.

The Sahwah (the "awakening"), and the extra 5-Brigade surge by us, brought an end to that terror. In a lot of ways it is a prime example of a "Tipping Point", as once the Iraqi Sunni's turned on al-Qaeda and the foreigners, the Islamic State of Iraq terror network in Anbar collapsed virtually overnight. Sure, it took longer in Ramadi and Fallujah, where cells had to be
dug out of neighborhoods, but they and their collaborators were killed or driven off pretty quickly. The policemen says many are still around though, especially the collaborators. And many of them are protected by powerful friends. Still, if they get out of hand, he says, "We will use the hammer on them, it is what people respect." Mayberry, this place is not.

A few days later I am in a room listening to a group of Iraqi's who have come to our Iraqi Security Force compound for help. They fill the room up with tobacco smoke as they talk, which wears on our clean American lungs, but it does have the advantage of thinning the cloud of flies overhead.

X is an old man from a city in northern Iraq. After 35-years in the trade he owns a welding company. He's been to Egypt and the Gulf States but likes home. It is where he grew up. He wears traditional clothing and sandals. It is cooler in the summer he says.

A family friend is an Iraqi police officer in the same town. Y is younger, but has the weathered face of a man who spends most of his life outside. He wears fashionable dark slacks, a clean white shirt and a black tie.

Z is a smiling young man, in his twenties. He wears an Adidas track suit and sandals. His feet are dusty. He seems bemused, like someone just told a bad joke or he's listening to something only he can hear.

All three smoke constantly. They have brown skin and thick black hair. They also carry ghosts. All three have that look in the eyes, a look of sadness, of pain and of loss. I suspect it will never go away.

Two of X's sons joined the police. In 2005-06, before the Sawah - when the Sunni tribes tired of both al-Qaida's brutality and its' hypocrisy – the Iraqi Police were called traitors or worse, for working for the apostate Shi'ia government and, perhaps still worse at that moment, siding with the infidel Americans. Both his sons were kidnapped by al-Qaida, horribly tortured and beheaded. He blames Americans for what happened, for working too closely with the police and staining them as "Crusader infidels." He says this matter of factly, without rancor or even much bitterness. We offer sympathies in the uncomfortable silence, what else can you say?

Y's father was an Imam, a kind man who walked to the mosque every day and taught his son how to live properly. In 2006 he spoke against violence and the insurgency. An al-Qaida killer (or "executor") shot him in the street and then sawed his head off with a knife.

In 2007, Z served in a very dangerous city alongside American advisors. He was forced to wear a mask every day to hide his identity. But still people knew. In a tribal society everyone knows everyone, you can tell what province, city, town, village, neighborhood, even street someone is from by the way they walk, their mannerisms and especially their voice. One day, at his police station, he received a box. He opened it. Inside was the bloody head of his youngest son, sent to him by al-Qaida. The only thing he remembers from that day is that the American Army Captain with him could not stop crying.

All three demand justice. Who can blame them?

The Iraqi police show me jihadi videos, of captured fellow policemen – dazed, hands bound and terrified – confessing to working for the apostate Shi'ia led government and then they are dragged outside and have their throats cut in a dusty trash strewn alley. The blood is bright in the sun.

They demand justice. Who can blame them?

They tell me many killers captured by the "Ameriki" were sent to Camp Bucca, the giant camp prison for Sunni's in southern Iraq, and spent a couple of years there before being set free in 2008-09. The Iraqi's say "Bucca was not really a prison, it was too soft" and that "the terrorists got off too easy." I turn to an American next to me and say "Tell that to the ACLU" and we laugh. In a way, it also says – from an Iraqi perspective – that we're still too soft. Given all the heart ache, spilled ink and ruined careers from Abu Ghraib, I imagine most Americans (and Europeans) would find the idea that the Bush Administration was "too soft" hard to digest.

Welcome to life without our kind of justice, i.e. the justice of enforceable legal codes. Makes me thankful to be an American.

They say the same murderers have been set free now that the Americans are leaving and are walking the streets, returning to their old ways. Corrupt judges let them go when they are captured again. X says he would kill the murderer of his sons, but cannot afford to buy himself out of jail. We sit in silence, the cigarette smoke pooling thick above our heads, a mirror to the storm clouds outside.

The Donut of an Army Career?

2010-05-05T14:05:00.002-05:00

Looking at my time in the Army, if my anticipated retirement date holds. 93% done, 7% remains....

Good works, and good music

2010-04-28T07:04:00.002-05:00

That is what I see from John Ondrasik. You know his music through Five for Fighting.

Please go to his site and see what else he has done. I discovered his music while in Iraq, when my wife sent me a link to a story about "For the Troops" - I ended up downloading "100 Years".

Since then, I have steadily acquired more and more of Mr. O's work. Thumbs up, 5 stars, whatever highest rating you can give, I give it. Every time I would get a new CD, I would find myself astonished at at least 2 or 3 songs, and really liking almost everything else nearly as much. I have to admit, I have probably shed a tear or two upon first hearing some selections - "I Just Love You" on Two Lights and "Note to the Unknown Soldier" on Slice.

Oh, and for what it is worth, I sent Mr. O a little note expressing my appreciation for his good works and good music... I had a response back within a short time. Impressive.

Say What?!

2010-04-26T14:23:00.002-05:00

I read this and thought two things; 1) political grandstanding and 2) Kent State? That is the best you can do, Supt. Weis? 40 years ago, huh. I bet I can find Chicago PD screw ups from this decade, year even...

Bah.

Junior Prom '10

2010-04-26T11:41:00.003-05:00

Junior Prom for my Daughter. The Mothers for the other Girls asked me to come and talk to our Daughters dates about what is to be expected of them. They wanted me to come in uniform. I gave them a contract to read and sign before they had the privilege of spending time with the Girls. LOL. I reverted to my Drill Sergeant past. All was good.

Need a reminder?

2010-04-26T08:19:00.002-05:00

When you read this, pay especial attention to the middle of the article (also note the usual AP diversion at the end of the article - can't discuss how bad the Taliban is without some "balance" eh?)

"Girls were not allowed to attend school when the Taliban controlled most of Afghanistan. The group was ousted from power in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion."

Need a remind of why the Talib need to be forced to quit the fight or be killed? They stand for this:

"In one of the most chilling attacks, men on motorbikes sprayed acid from squirt guns and water bottles onto 15 schoolgirls and teachers in 2008 as they walked to a girls school in Kandahar, the southern city that is the spiritual birthplace of the militant movement."

Host Al Queda attackers, savage the people inside their own borders... these bastards need to be beaten. Completely.

To the Scoundrel...

2010-04-23T12:29:00.002-05:00

who helped themself to my lunch (leftover lasagna) - could you at least give me my tupperware container back? Thanks.

William G. La Fleur BG (Ret.) 1942 - 2010

2010-03-29T21:31:00.001-05:00

On Sunday night 28 March 2010, William George LaFleur, BG (Ret.), Captain of Chicago Police (Ret.), Rochelle Firefighter, Scoutmaster (Ret.), Brother, Husband, Father and Grandfather succumbed to pancreatic cancer and passed on.

He had been diagnosed in September 2008. After over a year of chemothearapy, he had been being cared for by his family at his home in Rochelle, Illinois. He was surrounded by his family when he passed.

He donated his body to science.

Services will be held the week after Easter. I will keep you posted on the exact date through Illini6 and Flowers of Mundelein.

Bread, the great equalizer

2010-03-24T12:02:00.005-05:00

The best thing about living with the Afghan Army and Police was the ability to have plenty of fresh food to eat. Bread most of all. Every Army facility had attached bakeries to supply the troops with fresh bread. Each region had their own distinct type of bread. Including bread to be used as place mats. They also made bread with Garlic and Cinnamon for us. Fresh bread and good tea. maybe a little goat cheese. We are more similar than we think.

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL.

2010-03-24T11:55:00.002-05:00

SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.

By the way, members of Congress and their staffers are exempt from having to take part in the Health Insurance reform measures. "Let them eat cake....

Rulers, not Servants.

Welcome Home, Honor Flight

2010-03-15T07:52:00.002-05:00

Friday night I answered a request from the USO for uniformed service members to greet and Honor Flight home from Washington, D.C.

It seemed quite a production - but all too little for men that did what they had done.

25 Years Ago...

2010-03-09T07:13:00.028-06:00

March 9th, 1985 at the Urbana, Illinois National Guard Armory, I signed on the line. My enlistment contract in the Illinois Army National Guard. 11B10 - Infantryman, assigned as a Scout Observer to the Combat Support Company, 2/130th Infantry. When I called home and told my parents, they were rather startled.

To tell the truth, when I got to Fort Benning, GA for Basic Training, I was too. See for yourself...

A couple of years slowly getting my bearings and an officer's commission, I figured it out. Learn from NCOs.

Some schoolhouse training helped too...Good thing I had learned a little by 1993. I was called up for the Mississippi Floods that summer - and had to take acting command of a Company.

The rest of the 1990s went along merrily enough - oh, until all that Bosnia stuff got going. I had moved to the Army Reserves by then, and ended up leaping at the chance to help. I thought this would be my one adventure (since I had missed the Gulf War) before settling down for good... Of course, it wasn't all fun and games there... Back home and wait for 20 years and out, mmmm? Well, maybe a little bit of interesting work like helping train foreign militaries at multinational exercises in Ukraine...
But nothing much of note after that, right? Wrong.

I got to go to Afghanistan and lend a hand. Made some new life long friendships, cemented others. Got to get out and soldier. And then I got to come Home...

And then I was done...finally home from war, and at 20 years service. Time to hang it up and call it a career? Nope. Had a little hurricane, name of Katrina, get in the way.

So once that was over, all clear now? Uh, not so fast.

So, one more time I went. Got to help some good people get control of things in Iraq.

Of course, I have always had the privilege of working with the steadfast

The brave

And the brilliant

So the quarter century has been something alright. I joined to help stop the USSR from enslaving free peoples. I stayed in after the Soviets collapsed - and ended up helping Americans in floods and hurricanes, Bosnians post-war, Afghans and Iraqis in war.

The time spent away from home, family and friends has been hard. While I have discovered I am no coward, I really don't care for being shot at either... The wrenching ache of comrades killed or injured, saying goodbye to those you served with from other nations - all these have been difficult too.

But for what I have helped accomplish, what I have learned, how much I have grown from my service weighs heavier in the balance. Given the choice again, I would sign that enlistment all over again.

Coincidence ... or not?

2010-03-06T12:11:00.002-06:00

I give an Officer Professional Development class on the EMAC (Emergency Management Assistance Compact) and after finishing, I get called on the drug testing list...

Hmmmm.

Actually, I thought it went over kind of well. The class, that is.

Today was a GOOD DAY?

2010-03-05T14:43:00.003-06:00

More Orwellian speak from our elected leaders.

Click here.

Kind of like his "The War is lost" comments.

You know what is a bad idea?

2010-02-26T17:46:00.003-06:00

Being talked into playing laser tag at Brunswick Zone after you have been deployed a couple times in the past 5 years...

The view from the Twilight Zone...looks OK

2010-02-08T18:49:00.003-06:00

A report from the twilight - things look OK.

I was at the Illinois National Guard Domestic Response Sourcing Conference this weekend, and what I saw was a vast relief to me. I guess, by way of some background information, I should explain...

When I (and CSM Bones and the Inner Prop) left Afghanistan, I was almost frantic - I had offered to stay a bit longer to help with our replacement unit's transition. I was convinced they were not ready and events, sadly, showed this to be so. US Soldiers, Afghan civilians and others paid the price. When I got home I was crushed down by feelings that are hard to convey - inadequacy, remorse, and the like.

And this past weekend, I feared that seeing the officers who be replacing me and my cohort would provoke the same thoughts. It was not a rational fear by any means - I had seen nothing to make me think thusly. But it was a great weight off to see young Lieutenants and Captains who have already been deployed, back at home and with sharp minds, good ideas and not afraid to speak up. Guiding them were some Colonels who impressed the heck out of me too.

When I get out of the way (by virtue of retirement ina couple of years, knock on wood) there are going to be some high quality Soldiers stepping right up. So, the view from the Twilight doesn't look so bad to this Soldier.

Asymmetric Warfare...at the Beginning

2010-01-29T22:57:00.005-06:00

Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose
up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the
Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many
for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves
against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.
Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever
is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And
there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten
thousand.
And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down
unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of
whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and
of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not
go.
So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto
Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth,
him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his
knees to drink.
And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were
three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to
drink water.
And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I
save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other
people go every man unto his place.
So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent
all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred
men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley.
And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise, get
thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand.
But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the
host:
And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be
strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant
unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host.
And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay
along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were
without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.
And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto
his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread
tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it
fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.
And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of
Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered
Midian, and all the host.
And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the
interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of
Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of
Midian.
And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a
trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the
pitchers.
And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I
come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye
do.
When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the
trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the LORD, and
of Gideon.
So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of
the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the
watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their
hands.
And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held
the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow
withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.
And they stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the
host ran, and cried, and fled.
And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man's sword
against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to
Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.
And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out
of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites.
And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, come down
against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Bethbarah and
Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the
waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan.
And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew
Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and
pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other
side Jordan.
Judges 7.

I've Signed Up for Another Tour

2010-01-26T21:36:00.004-06:00

Of Rugby I mean. I talked to the president of our local Rugby Club (DII Lake County Men's Rugby Club) yesterday and told him that I could go to practices and most likely all the games this season.

The club was on it's last legs (they are down to 19 committed members before I said I'd go) and there was a chance they would disband.

I figure this is the first full year that I have no Guard, family committments or FRG on weekends, so really in the 25 years I've been playing Rugby (Yes, Jac and I started in Feb of 1985) this will be the first year I don't have something that stops me from going.

I know this is a rather self-centered post, but I'm pretty darn excited. Wish me luck. I'll keep everyone posted on my progress and the season at Illini6.

Help. Now.

2010-01-15T07:57:00.002-06:00

Go here and help. Please.

I had been waffling about where to donate - was probably going to go to the Salvation Army since I have worked with them twice before (1993 Mississippi Floods and Katrina Relief). You can still go there too!
Since CSM Bones and I went to the orphanage in Charikar, Parwan Province, Afghanistan in 2004 and 2005 I have not looked at orphanages the same. Even moreso since I know two wonderful people here in the US that were adopted as kids and had a loving family, stable home and opportunity that kids in Haiti or Afghanistan, etc., will almost never get.

FOB Chapman Hit

2010-01-02T13:35:00.003-06:00

This is bad. How did he get in there?

I always thought that base was a waste of resources, what with Salerno so close by. I don't know why they didn't just combine the bases, but I guess all the secret squirrels didn't want to rub elbows with us regular Joes.

I am really sorry to hear about this and send condolences to the families of the fallen. I hope they fix whatever shortfall was in place that allowed this to happen.

LTC JOHN ADDS: See here for further.

An Angry Start to the New Year

2010-01-01T12:02:00.003-06:00

I wouldn't be mad this New Year's Day, had I not read this. I spent the Spring and Summer of 2008 helping the Iraqi Army units fighting against Iranians and Iranian proxies in Basrah. The Iraqis I was lending a hand to captured hundreds of Jaish al Mahdi, and dozens of Iranians - usually low to mid-level types from the IRGC/Qods/etc. I even got to see a trio of them up close and personal.

Soldiers from the Iraqi Army 14th Division, outside Basrah in April 2008.

Now, it appears, some of the worst agents of Iran have been swapped for one Brit. He was all that survived of a group that was kidnapped in 2007. Why bother capturing the enemy anymore? I'm speechless at this point...

At least we will execute better judgment at home, right?

Remember This Christmas...

2009-12-24T09:59:00.002-06:00

No matter where you go, Santa will find you...

Bagram Airfield, Parwan Province, Afghanistan December 2004

Electronics Books, eh?

2009-12-11T07:30:00.004-06:00

This post at Professor Reynolds' place got me to thinking. There once was a book that was the premier work on electronics - for the medical or biological laboratory, not for educating children, however.

It was this one:

SBN 683-08090-3, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 70-147900.

In 1971, when this work came out, there was nothing comparable. The author explained that over the next couple of years it started to sell and gain some reputation. Then...the Silicon Revolution came and that was that. It is still a fascinating look at the time when certain technology had started to come into medicine and biology, and the change in training and education needed to come to grips with it.

Your Business-Speak Example of the Day IV

2009-12-09T07:14:00.001-06:00

Green workspace paying dividends
The North America facilities team is working to develop and implement a "green" workstation strategic plan that utilizes current furniture and refurbishes cubicles to reduce costs while supporting the carbon footprint reduction initiative.
Here's an example: By utilizing the new green program as part of dynamic workspace efforts in the _____ Towers and several field offices, we produced savings of about $______ per floor. This strategy will be applied to the field offices (and proposed to _____ sites), resulting in a "green idea" for North America.

Translation: You will be given used furniture and old cubicle walls. We will call this "being green" instead of "being cheap" so as to sugar-coat this.

Some old friends, John.

2009-12-07T13:11:00.006-06:00

By the way, that bridge we built in the Salang Valley has had better days. LOL

LTC John adds: Hey?! That isn't LTC Anderson/FET 17's pride and joy project, is it? Oh, and always good to see "Z", Sayeed and the Linguist Manager formerly known as CSM...

Remember Pearl Harbor Day. Praise the Lord and pass the Ammunition!!

2009-12-07T13:02:00.003-06:00

White House forgot that they told General McChrystal to defeat the Taliban

2009-12-06T16:14:00.004-06:00

Leave the business of COIN Operations to the ones who wrote the manual. The key here is the Afghan People we have PROMISED to help and the stabilization of a nuclear Pakistan and the rest of Central Asia. Cost is not an issue. Trillions being thrown away on Health Care reform that needs to be tweaked not overhauled, phony bailouts, Government job bills, and a completely fake climate change cult.

Thankful doesn't begin to describe it.

2009-11-25T20:34:00.003-06:00

This time of the year is (hopefully) spent giving thanks for all that we have, all that we owe to those that came before us in this most marvelous and unique nation of the Earth. I am no exception!

I am grateful that I was able to provide some small service to the land my fathers (literally, in my father's case) protected and made sure I enjoyed the same liberties they had. And I came home pretty much unscathed, from war...twice.

I have a family that I was able to come home to - a wife and children that make everything worth while. My home is definitely where my heart is.

I have a good job providing an important service to those who build, design, invent, create, and distribute all the marvels of modern life in this still prosperous land. My coworkers and supervisors are intelligent and interesting people who are easy to work with.

"Thankful" isn't strong enough a term, for me.

How To Put A Small American Manufacturing Company Out Of Business

2009-11-23T07:43:00.004-06:00

I will concentrate on the easiest, most modern way to do this - sue them.

Let us say you are a small manufacturing firm, one that makes equipment in the lift/hoist area, for sake of this example. You find yourself slapped with a lawsuit (along with many other outfits) alleging that your negligent, wanton, reckless and consipring little firm made up of three families has done gone and caused cancer in someone. "Good Lord" you say, "what was it we were supposed to have done?"

You sold a lift in the 1970s that had a set of brake-type shoes inside the lift that are supposed to have contained asbestos. And you, you dirty merchant of death, knew, KNEW better!!! So what if you were solely in the business of making your lifts and hoists - just try to tell anyone that you bought braking material from someone else. A pair of brake shoes inside a lift someone may have been around decades ago is what you need to pay for, and pay big.

Recession? Lack of viable insurance? Bah, the plaintiff lawyer has only collected something in the neighborhood of $2,000,000 so far - your pitiful cries for relief matter not, next to his 40% contingency fee. Can't meet the $500,000 demand to settle (oh, you only had sales under $5,000,000 last year?) OK, take your case to trial - you can handle the tens of thousands of dollars in legal expenses, right? I'm sure the judge and jury in the judicial hell-hole you have landed will be more than fair...

Attempted Death of an Enterprise, brought to you by the American Plaintiff Bar - a play in 3 acts witnessed by yours truly.

Veteran's Day 2009

2009-11-10T22:28:00.005-06:00

Veteran's Day. Growing up it usually meant a day off from school. And as I got older, I started to learn what it meant to the Veteran most involved in my life...

Dad, home on leave, from the Navy in 1945.

Later I learned what it meant to an uncle...

USAAF 1943 photo - yeah, that award is what you think it is...

Then I made friends with someone who had a double appreciation of the day...

The Inner Prop, getting his due, with BG(ret) Dad along side...

Then I became a brother in arms to one who has an awful lot to remember this day...

CSM Bones being decorated by the French contingent in Afghanistan, 2009.

I rather think I am in good company, yes?

Me, at a FARP in NE Iraq, Fall 2008.

There are so many other veterans I have learned from - my old Explorer Post leader, my boss at my very first part time job while in High School, teachers, co-workers. I like to think I have managed to take a little from all of their experiences and now, our common bond. I would hope all of you could do the same with veterans you know.

One Year Home

2009-11-05T07:28:00.001-06:00

Exactly one year ago today, I stumbled off a plane at the Topeka Airport, got on a bus and was hauled to Fort Riley to start demobilizing.

Seems like it wasn't all that long ago.

A Parting Thought for the American Legion

2009-11-02T08:58:00.001-06:00

From my non-renewal of membership:

To Post ___,

I shall not be renewing my membership with the Post, or the American Legion. Please remove me from the mailing list.

Should you care for an explanation, I can give two small recollections that stand out in my mind; The first is from 2004, when my wife delivered my membership renewal in person to the Post (I was in Afghanistan at the time) When my wife explained that she was dropping it off, since I was deployed overseas, she got a total response of “Okay, thanks”. The second was when I emailed the Post in 2007 to mention that I would once again be gone for a year or more (this time deploying to Iraq) – I received a total response of “Okay, good luck”.

If this is the support a Legionnaire can expect while at war …

Am I sleeping??

2009-10-12T22:19:00.001-05:00

Meet the People Who Were Passed Over for President Obama's virtual award. There is a price he is expected to pay for this. Wait and see.

Sima Samar, women's rights activist in Afghanistan: "With dogged persistence and at great personal risk, she kept her schools and clinics open in Afghanistan even during the most repressive days of the Taliban regime, whose laws prohibited the education of girls past the age of eight. When the Taliban fell, Samar returned to Kabul and accepted the post of Minister for Women's Affairs."

Ingrid Betancourt: French-Colombian ex-hostage held for six years.

Dr. Denis Mukwege: Doctor, founder and head of Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo. He has dedicated his life to helping Congolese women and girls who are victims of gang rape and brutal sexual violence."

Handicap International and Cluster Munition Coalition: "These organizations are recognized for their consistently serious efforts to clean up cluster bombs, also known as land mines. Innocent civilians are regularly killed worldwide because the unseen bombs explode when stepped upon.

Hu Jia, a human rights activist and an outspoken critic of the Chinese government, who was sentenced last year to a three-and-a-half-year prison term for 'inciting subversion of state power.

Wei Jingsheng, who spent 17 years in Chinese prisons for urging reforms of China's communist system. He now lives in the United States."

Awarded for "Potential" not "Accomplishment"

Fallen Warriors TF Phoenix VIII/33rd IBCT Final Salute

2009-10-08T13:41:00.004-05:00

Golden Cross!

33rd IBCT End of Mission Video for TF Phoenix VIII

2009-10-08T12:42:00.004-05:00

Tell me what you think.

Golden Cross!!

Fifth Star - DENIED!

2009-10-02T11:54:00.004-05:00

I am very sad to here this story. I was hoping that my city could showcase itself and provide another image beside Al Capone etc.

I'll be really interested to hear WHY we were voted out in the first round.

Cthulhu Sighting At Illini6!

2009-10-01T06:32:00.004-05:00

Guess what washed up at Illini6, another spawn of Cthulhu Month!

This is the third year that Inner Prop is posting a Cthulhu image a day during October.

Why not come join the fun, and if you have a Cthulhu image let him know and maybe he'll post it, if it is safe for humanity to know.

Inner Prop is also conveying a story that he's been keeping to himself for four years now. It's about something that happened while deployed to LA after Hurricane Katrina. LTC John can attest to some of the story's veracity, but no body has ever heard the whole story, before now.

BTW, why is Inner Prop writing in the third person, and would someone please help the poor man in the photo. That spawn of Cthulhu has clearly seized him by the hands and intends to do him harm. Help him someone!

A recommendation

2009-09-30T21:50:00.002-05:00

Tempus 42 recommended I see whatever I could of the Flight of the Conchords. Be damned if he wasn't right on target.

I happen to appreciate many things from New Zealand - this bunch (Bret, Jemaine and Murray) just happens to be the latest. If the idea of "New Zealand's #4 folk novelty band" moving to New York to try and make it big appeals to your sense of humor - check it out.

Oh, and they have some of their music on 2 different CDs too...