Take any random peek in my house and you will find the two of us in an emotional rollercoaster pattern.  Either we're up on a high hill of togetherness and family love, or we're low...lower than a _____________(insert witty cliche here)

 But just wait! hours later it's a change!  A change can happen in hours between He and I. 

Or in 2 days we can roll around the whole coaster of emotions.  One thing about roller coasters, they make you sick eventually.  Even if you love riding roller coasters,  if you rode them all the time, you'd self destruct, and eventually you'd be sick and tired of it.

  That's how I feel at this point. 

 I love him. 

 I love him  but

there's these big giant mountains in the way of everything.  Mountains that have made me question why I ever married to begin with.  There's a wonderful quality about Doug. 

 He's a mover and a shaker. 

 He's an early bird, and the very definition of a productive day. 

 He does more in one day than 90 percent of people do. 

 He's fit physically and pushes himself to accomplish everything he can in life. 

 He's really really proud of everything he has done and rightly so.

  I'd be proud too if I was him.

  He expresses his affection in measurements of things that he has "done" for the family. 

 I recognize this as one of the 5 love languages (read the book)

 and I recognize how you grow up and are raised directly determines how you treat the person when you become a couple. 

But geeeeez. 

 All of that understanding disapears when he disconnects himself from me.

  We don't talk in depth about anything, unless it's an arguement. 

 He curses all the time even for silly stupid things.

 I mean even while he's in the middle of singing of karoake at home, he'll play around and be singing and then incorporate, "mf dmnit, gd, and fk " in various places.

  If he's on a cleaning binge,(mow lawn, wash car, wash motorcycle, weed eat, laundry, bbq, ...and on and on,)

he'll suddenly start scolding the whole family for "not doing anything all week" and in his mind we haven't done anything all week, when in reality we do housework, laundry and cook too.  

 Now, since he has come back from Iraq he is OBSESSED with money, and the fact that "He is the family patriarch with all the control of every penny." 

 I get zero.  none. Not even a wifey allowance.

 I don't even know his pin # or have any access to any of his money.  If I want something as simple as shampoo or pads or whatever, I have to tell him.

  If anything ever happened where he was indisposed, our family would be in deep doo doo, just because he doesn't want the family spending HIS money.  I did the bills for years, and he always had dual control of his pay (but I also worked for years and brought in money) and we'd always been in debt, so I understand his reservations about giving me control of anything, but hey,  not one penny???  

  In a common day, he basically just will leave communication go silent.  There's a greeting, a peck on the lips, a rub on the back, and sex.... sex if HE wants it.

  Like I said, his views of love include "doing" things for the family, like taking us out to eat the other day or BBQ-ing at home.  

 He's in bed usually by 8 or 9 p.m. on a worknight. 

 He doesn't usually sleep in the bed.  He falls asleep on the couch or the LR floor. 

 We don't lead much of a social life.  When we are near his family (in another state) he's full of life talking, playing around, doing things, suggesting places to go, he doesn't cuss, he's happy. 

 But When we are out in public, he will refuse to hold my hand.  God help him if he has to kiss me in public.  When we were out at the 4th of July celebration 2 days ago, he was positively dead.  We barely said 2 words to each other.  The pictures that we did take together, I had to ask him to "Okay honey, act like you love me and hug me or something" 

  His excuse was, "I hate PDA's" (Public Displays of Affection)  Yet when I ask him if he loves me, he says, "Of course I love you, I don't have to tell you every day that I love you"  

 Well, in my mind he DOES have to say it every day!  Affection is as simple as acknowledging your bond with the person you married~~Pride of ownership displayed. 

 It's that simple.  So, in retaliation, we're in the mall going towards the Rainforest Cafe for dinner and he still won't even hold my hand, so I grab his ass in public!  Both cheeks!  I laugh, but my heart is broken. 

 Little "A" comes up next to me and holds my hand.  "Don't worry mommy I will hold your hand"  Little A always defines the term affection.  She will make some man very happy one day. 

So all about "He".  "HE" is taking over all my thoughts daily.  He forgot our 13 year anniversary.  ummm yeah,  *The scratch of a record player needle stops the music*

That would be the one 4 months after we got back together.  4 months after he held me tight and told me over and over, I love you, I want you back, yada yada...  Probably the most important anniversary we've ever shared. 

Need i say more about "HE"? 

Next time,  all about "SHE" (that is me) 

by Tom Burghardt
Global Research, July 6, 2008
Antifascist Calling... July 5, 2008

Will "outsourced" torture chickens finally come home to roost in American courts?

On June 30, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), Burke O'Neil LLC, of Philadelphia and Akeel & Valentine, PLC, of Troy, Michigan filed a series of lawsuits in federal district courts in Maryland, Ohio, Michigan and Washington state against über-contractors CACI International, Inc., CACI Premier Technology and L-3 Services Inc., a division of L-3 Communications Corporation.

Monday's announcement by CCR follow close on the heels of a similar suit filed in May in federal district court in Los Angeles by Iraqi torture victim Emad al-Janabi, also against CACI International, Inc. and L-3 Communications. Named as a codefendant in the al-Janabi case is CACI interrogator, Steven Stefanowicz aka "Big Steve." Al-Janabi's attorneys claim that Stefanowicz directed some of the torture tactics deployed against their client, according to the Associated Press.

Al-Janabi told investigators that his "outsourced" interrogators punched him, slammed him into walls, hung him from a bed frame and kept him naked and handcuffed in "stress positions" in a filthy cell beginning in September 2003. Interviewed by The Associated Press in Istanbul, al-Janabi said:

"They (U.S. troops) did not tell me what was the reason behind my arrest ... during the interrogation, the American soldier told me I was a terrorist ... and I was preparing for an attack against the U.S. forces." (Greg Risling, "Iraqi Alleges Abu Ghraib Torture, Sues U.S. Contractor," The Associated Press, May 5, 2008)

Al-Janabi denied the allegations and told the Associated Press he was forced to give a false confession after "savage" intimidation by interrogators.

The latest suits, filed on behalf of four Iraqi civilians "wrongly imprisoned, tortured and later released without charge" from the notorious Abu Ghraib prison and torture center according to CCR, were filed in four separate jurisdictions in which the individual contractor defendants reside. Alleged torture practitioners named in the suit include "Adel Nakhla, of Montgomery Village, Md., Timothy Dugan, of Pataskala, Ohio, and Daniel E. Johnson, of Seattle, Wash." The plaintiffs are:

Mohammed Abdwaihed Towfek Al-Taee, a 39-year-old taxi driver who was detained and horrifically abused for nine months before his May 2004 release. He later learned that he likely was the victim of a customer who presumably turned him over in exchange for American money for intelligence "tips."

Wissam Abdullateef Sa’eed Al-Quraishi, a 37-year-old married father of three, who was hung on a pole for seven days at the infamous Abu Ghraib "hard site" and subjected to beatings, forced nudity, electrical shocks, humiliating treatment, mock executions and other forms of torture during his incarceration at the prison.

Sa'adoon Ali Hameed Al-Ogaidi, a 36-year-old Arabic teacher and shopkeeper and father of four, who was held for a year, caged, brutally abused at the prison "hard site," stripped and kept naked, and was a "ghost" detainee hidden for a time from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Suhail Najim Abdullah Al-Shimari, a farmer who was held for more than four years, including at the prison "hard site," was caged, threatened with dogs, and subjected to beatings and electrical shocks, and threatened with death and being sent to a "far away" place. ("CCR Files Four New Abu Ghraib Torture Lawsuits Targeting Military Contractors in U.S. Courts," Center for Constitutional Rights, Press Release, June 30, 2008)

According to Washington Technology, the complaints also allege that the defendants

...not only participated in physical and mental abuse of the detainees, but also destroyed documents, videos and photographs; prevented the reporting of the torture and abuse to the International Committee of the Red Cross; hid detainees and other prisoners from the Red Cross; and misled military and government officials about conditions at Iraqi prisons. (David Hubler, "CACI Calls Abu Ghraib Lawsuits Baseless," Washington Technology, July 2, 2008)

While an L-3 spokesperson had "no comment," CACI corporate communications executive vice president Jodi Brown told Washington Technology "CACI refuses to take these false accusations in these vexatious lawsuits lying down. We intend to set the record straight and will continue to fight the misguided and politically driven Center for Constitutional Rights to get the truth told and defend our good name."

Not so fast. Far from being "unsubstantiated" as CACI spokespeople assert, plaintiffs' attorneys were forced to file five separate lawsuits because in 2004, a federal District of Columbia judge refused to grant class-action certification for some 237 victims of alleged abuse by CACI and Titan employees, the Associated Press reports. The original complaint is still pending and charges made against defendants in that suit, Stefanowicz, Nakhla, Dugan and Johnson were dismissed by the court due to its alleged "lack of jurisdiction" not because they were "baseless allegations" as CACI claims.

However, it would appear that CACI and codefendant L-3 have their own "politically driven" motives for fighting off charges of torture and abuse of Iraqi detainees by their employees: cold, hard cash--and lots of it.

According to Washington Technology's "Top 100 List" of high-flying corporations subsisting on U.S. government "national security" handouts, L-3 Communications clocked in at No. 8 with $3,944,840,524, while No. 17 CACI International Inc. "earned" some $1,337,472,153 as "federal government prime contractors."

Among L-3 "products" hawked to the federal government are C3ISR (command, control, communication, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) systems for the global intelligence and surveillance markets specializing in signals intelligence (SIGINT) and communications intelligence (COMINT). C3ISR "products" are used by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) for space-based spy satellite platforms as well as the National Security Agency (NSA). During 2007, according to Reuters, C3ISR "represented 17% of the Company's total net sales." Additionally L-3, "Government Services," raked in big bucks for shareholders, representing some 31% of total net sales. "Customers" include the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, as well as U.S. intelligence agencies. L-3's Aircraft Modernization and Maintenance division provides "upgrades and sustainment, maintenance and logistics support services for military and various government aircraft and other platforms." The AM&M division represents 18% of sales revenue.

CACI's "products" include Enterprise IT and network services, C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) platforms, information and "knowledge management" services, information operations and cyber security services. According to Reuters, CACI "is engaged in the simulation technology. The Company has diversified primarily within the information technology (IT) and communications industries." Amongst its "clients" can be found the "Justice Department, State Department, Defense Department, Housing and Urban Development Department, Navy, Army and Homeland Security Department," according to Washington Technology.

Vigorous proponents of the "free market," except that is, when it comes to the corporatist bottom-line, "accountability" is a rather fluid and dynamic concept better left to Wall Street analysts and upscale investors. According to CorpWatch investigative journalist Pratap Chatterjee,

Titan was bought by L-3 in June 2005 for approximately $2 billion in cash, specifically so that the company could expand its intelligence portfolio. "It elevates us a notch to be a prime contractor in intelligence" work, Frank Lanza, L-3's chairman and chief executive at the time told the Wall Street Journal. He noted that until then the company had been mainly a products company, making everything from night-vision goggles to sensors to luggage-scanning devices. Lanza noted that Titan had 9,000 employees with security clearance for classified work, of whom 5,000 had top-secret clearance, a classification that can take the government two years to process.

The buy-out was made on condition that the San Diego company settle outstanding federal charges of bribery as well as related shareholder lawsuits in California and Delaware for $67.4 million. In June 2006, Steven Lynwood Head, Titan's Africa president, pled guilty to making payments to support the 2001 reelection of President Mathieu Kerekou in the West African nation of Benin, where Titan was building a telecommunications system. The company paid $28.5 million to settle charges under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. ("Outsourcing Intelligence in Iraq: A CorpWatch Report on L-3/Titan, CorpWatch, April 29, 2008)

CorpWatch discovered during its investigation that L-3's intelligence contract in Iraq requires the company to provide three kinds of personnel: analysts, interrogators and screeners. Chatterjee reports, "The company is required to provide a total of 306 people in 22 Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) at an average cost to the taxpayer of about $320,000 per person per year." While the L-3 Iraq contract was lucrative (after all $979 million is nothing to sneeze at), its still so-much chump change considering its other corporate "products" and total sales of $14 billion in 2007.

Meanwhile, between August 2003 to 2005, CACI provided up to 28 interrogators to the military in Iraq. According to The Washington Post, CACI's 2003 Iraq interrogation contract "was awarded in 1998, with the stated purpose of providing inventory control and other routine services to the U.S. Army." Post reporter Ellen McCarthy wrote,

The CACI contract with the Army is administered by the Interior Department, under an outsourcing agreement with the Army, which has made it even harder to track. (CACI Contract: From Supplies to Interrogation, The Washington Post, Monday, May 17, 2004; Page E01)

One "order" issued in August 2003, was worth $19.9 million dollars for a year-long stint of interrogation support. Additionally, in December 2003, CACI landed a $21.8 million "order" for Army "counter intelligence missions at secure and fixed locations," according to the Post.

Commenting on the cosy arrangement Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight told McCarthy, "'It's considered this fabulously successful streamlining of the system, but in the process you lose any accountability.' Brian said she described large, open contracts like the one given to CACI as 'hunting licenses'."

© Copyright Tom Burghardt, Antifascist Calling..., 2008

The url address of this article is: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9512

AUSTRALIA'S close military ties to the US could compromise our security unless we also embrace a rapidly growing China.

An independent study released yesterday said that, if tensions between the global superpower, the US, and the pretender to that crown,China, boiled over, Australia could be drawn into a conflict for all the wrong reasons.

It also concluded that Australia's South-East Asian neighbours would pose no direct threat for "decades to come".

The latest strategic insight from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) painted a disturbing picture of a regional arms build-up led by China and its neighbour India.

"Were great power relations in the Asia Pacific to deteriorate, there would be the potential for our alliance with the US to embroil us in periods of tension or even conflict," the report said.

While it did not define it as an "arms race" the report, written by senior analyst Andrew Davies, showed that total regional military might, not including Russia and the US, amounted to more than 8 million troops, 24,275 tanks, 6486 aircraft, 356 warships and 195 submarines.

China was the dominant player with 2.1 million troops, 7600 tanks, 2550 combat planes, 75 warships and 62 submarines.

Its defence spending had risen four-fold during the past decade while India, second with 1.3 million troops, 4500 tanks and 48 warships, had doubled its defence budget.

The next biggest armies were fielded by North Korea with 1.1 million troops and 3000 tanks and Pakistan - 640,000 soldiers and 2400 tanks.

There were almost 2 million troops in South-East Asia and if the US and Russia were added the total figure jumped to more than 10.5 million.

Australia was by far the smallest, with just 54,000 troops, 138 combat planes, 12 warships and six submarines (three operational) although it remained the biggest defence spender in the South-East Asian region.

The Government will release a defence White Paper early next year. Its central theme will be dealing with the rise of China.

- Original from news.com.au

[gallery]

(HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan) –At a forward outpost in Garmsir, a line of Afghans wait to talk with Marines at the newly opened Civil Military Operations Center; they have come to voice their claims and receive cash payments for losses incurred while Marines battled  insurgents.   

Flown over a sparsely decorated tent, three flags representing the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan flap in the wind, showing the people that this is not just a Marine Corps or American program, this is their government responding. The cash payments are in Afghan currency - the people see the difference and welcome the Marine presence.

‘You guys are different’ the locals tell Master Gunnery Sgt. John Garth, civil affairs chief, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, ISAF.  “They know we come in with overwhelming force and might, but we also come in with compassion,” he said.

Despite deterrents, an abundance of local residents travel to the CMOC to meet with the same Marines who swept through the district and pushed the insurgents out.  Almost overnight the Marines transitioned from aggressive combat patrols to a friendlier neighborhood watch of sorts. They verify damage claims and help map the area, bringing a sense of order to the once lawless district.

Where once they traded gunfire with insurgents, now there are daily meetings with locals. Marines dole out payments for the incidental cost of waging war and in the process they encourage progress. Heading the efforts in the district is Maj. Mark McCarroll, battery commander, Alpha Battery, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 24th MEU, ISAF.

            At a table, McCarroll listens as an Afghan man discusses his claim. The Marine has an intimate knowledge of the man’s damaged house; acting as the battalion’s fire support coordinator, he processed each request to fire artillery, drop bombs and launch mortars at insurgent targets; his men pulled the cord sending shells downrange that destroyed the very same property that is now being paid for – property the insurgents had commandeered from the local citizens to use as fighting positions.

            “It’s uncomfortable and strange,” McCarroll said of the unique situation.

            When the man showed a drawing of his house, McCarroll recognized it instantly. “Yep, that’s the spot,” he said to himself. “We dropped a couple of bombs on it, we did a helicopter run on it and we shot artillery on it.”

            Regardless of McCarroll’s reservations about meeting the locals, the average Afghan seems glad to sit and exchange stories with the Marines. As they sit and talk, the Marines begin to see why the homeowners are less angered by destroyed property than one would imagine.

            “We have heard a couple different stories,” McCarroll said. “The Taliban kicked me out of my house and the next day you blew it up. At least you killed the guy that kicked me out of my house,” is the way one Afghan explained it to him.

            Even with the debris, the way the locals explain it, they have more of a home now then they did just a week ago.

            “A lot of people told me they lived in the desert for 18 months.  On the edge of the desert, the adult males, at least the working males, came back to their house every day to work their fields, harvest their poppy or wheat, then they went back to the desert.  Why? Because the Taliban didn’t want them living in their houses, but they would let them come back and farm their fields every day - part of that was so the Taliban would have a food source,” said Garth

            He equates the current situation to the healing process after invasive surgery.

            “You have to get rid of the cancer first,” he said. “Hopefully it is common sense; you do what you have to do to achieve success. Success isn’t determined by what is and is not damaged. It’s a measure of; did we get rid of the Taliban? Did we make it safer for them to live their lives? Is there greater opportunity for them now than there was before? Is their house destroyed? Yeah, but is there greater opportunity for them? Absolutely.”

            Splitting time between inspecting homes while out on patrol and evaluating claims from the CMOC, Garth sees the district coming around.

            “Had we not come, their houses wouldn’t have been destroyed, but they still would have been living on the edge of the desert under Taliban control,” said Garth.  “They were forced to grow poppy and not grow wheat or vegetables which they could eat and sell at the market.  They had to travel from the desert to farm their fields; the Taliban would take what they wanted from them.  So when you look at it from that perspective they didn’t have a home to begin with. We are now giving them a chance to move back home and rebuild,” he said.  

            According to Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rene Cote, civil affairs officer, 24th MEU, ISAF, $300,000 has been given to the Marines on the ground handling claims, so McCarroll and his men have the tools necessary to help this district make a full recovery.  

            “The Taliban kicked them out of their homes and the Taliban occupied the compounds and turned them into something these compounds weren’t intended to do. Our function now is to make reparations for what we did to their homes, it’s not necessarily feeling bad about it, it is doing the right thing after the Taliban are no longer there,” said McCarroll.  “These people have to live there, it’s their right.”

Since opening June 22, the CMOC, which has both Marines and British soldiers making payments, has had 340 visitors.

I might be able to update while I'm gone, but no promises. If you need to reach me, I should be able to use my cell, assuming they have electricity in that part of the country.

Again, no promises.

Defusing the fear of terror

By Dan Gardner

The Age May 3, 2008

The Canadian journalist and author Dan Gardner amasses a truckload of statistics to make his case that the “fear of terror” cannot be grounded on reality. He uses accidentally caused fatalities such as people suffocated in bed, electrocuted, drowned in swimming pools, and killed by the police, all of them in bigger numbers than those killed by terrorists per annum, to “trump” the deliberate fatalities caused by terror. Further, in a farcical twist to boost his argument, Gardner provides statistics that show that by most accounts a nuclear detonation in an urban area would kill up to 100,000 people and says that this “death toll … is not much more than the number of Americans killed each year by diabetes”. He ends his article by saying that “in terms of numbers of lives lost, a nuclear terrorist attack would hardly be the apocalypse”.

Gardner completely disregards the distinction between fatalities caused by accident or by disease that are relative to the size of populations and their movements and can be scientifically measured and calculated, and of fatalities arising from the deliberate actions of terrorists that are absolute and are related only to the malice and fanaticism, which are immeasurable and unfathomable, of the holy warriors of Islam. Hence the only thing that obviates the surpassing of the numbers of people killed by accident by those killed by terrorists is the up till now inability of the latter to acquire weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and nuclear ones. Once however they acquire them they will use them with glee against the infidels of the West and the Great Satan America in an everlasting serial apocalyptic mode and hence fulfill the orders of their God.

Our author further claims that “building a nuclear device…presents Herculean challenges for terrorists and indeed even for states”. But this claim might be tenable only in the present state of technological development and the contemporaneous possibilities that run parallel to such development. But with the ever accelerating technology of our times new possibilities are unleashed at an exponential rate. What is a challenge today becomes a fulfilled goal tomorrow. And since Gardner correctly states that “probability is always important in dealing with risks”, a responsible government has to calculate the probability of how close the terrorist are to this “tomorrow”.

Western governments with historical insight, depth in sagacity, and unshakable resolution have to prevent by all means at their disposal the fanatical suicidal warriors of Islam to let fly a “confetti” of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear bombs over the metropolises of the civilized world. No “diabetic” bombs can even approach, least of all surpass, the magnitude of such confetti of destruction. But Dan Gardner does not “know thy enemy”.

Warning

.

This video may contain images depicting the reality and horror of war/violence and should only be viewed by a mature audience.

puppetgovcom

Free Speech Provided by: U.S. Military

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Mother: Roger Waters/Sinead O'Connor
Serve C: thievery corporation
For What Its Worth: Buffalo Springfield
Lonely Soldier: Tim Buckley

by Cathy Garger
www.opednews.com
July 6, 2008

Oh my word. The US Military has been working like busy worker bees this summer, conducting war training exercises in Indianapolis. Recently, military helicopters practiced playing war with “military Special Operations commandos training with Denver police and fire teams for a potential terrorism threat in a ‘realistic urban environment’" over the skies of Denver, Colorado in counterterrorism helicopter exercises, which have rattled windows and residents' nerves.”

It appears Uncle Sam has reason to believe the DNC convention is going to need some military “intervention” in Denver come August. In addition, in “War On America’s Playgrounds,” this writer reported on the Marine war drills waged in the city of Indianapolis that took place in a city park. Yes, you heard that right. Marines played war games in an Indiana city park. I swear to you, I’m not making this up!

...continued

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Well, 4th of July just passed. And the celebrations could be seen all around us. Flags flying, parades everywhere and fireworks to scare the cats - and kids. And it made me wonder - what does it mean to be a patriot?

We were sitting outside having a barbeque. American style. Burgers and all. Pretty American on 4th of July. Just us South Africans and an Aussie friend. Anyway... Our backyard neighbors were having their own party. Big family gathering. Even bigger griller. And meat to feed an army. At least a few divisions. And it went on and on. The crowd kept on growing and the noise kept on rising. We didn't have a problem with it. They were having fun. Good clean fun. (And we loved the fireworks later in the evening - all courtesy of our partying neighbors.) And then we noticed the balloons.

Big balloons. All in the American colors. Red, white and blue. Stars and stripes everywhere. Almost every chair had a few of them tied to the back. Flying in the wind. This new type of flag. My wife and myself looked at each other and laughed. A very typical thing for us - we know each other way too well already! We said it at almost the same time, "I bet you those balloons were made in China!"

She won the right to blog on the "Made in China" joke. I really can't say no to her. But it made me think of China. Again. And on the meaning of being proud of your country. Being a patriot.

And no. It wasn't the "Free Tibet" flags that was made in China that made me think of China. It was my recent chats with a few Chinese in China that made me realize they are very proud of their country. Well, most of them anyway. Wherever I went they told me so. How they love their country and how proud they are of how China is developing. And, of course, the Beijing Olympics. For them the Olympics was about the Chinese people and not the Chinese government. A chance for us to meet China and the Chinese people. For them it was about them and their country. And not their government. I know, the Chinese government really secured the Olympics - not the people. But it still made sense. I know how it felt.

I have always loved my country. And my people. But I wasn't always that proud of my government. The Apartheid government was not a regime to be proud of. Trust me. They weren't. But I always loved my country. The mountains, the rivers, everything. And I really loved my people. It was an easy call. I loved my country. I loved my people. And I still saw myself as a patriot. I would defend my country and my people. But not my government. They were corrupt. In every sense of the word. If they asked me to go to war I would say no. If they asked me to vote in their rigged elections I wouldn't. I would not listen to them and I would not support them in anything. But I would defend my country and my people. In my way. By protesting against the Apartheid regime. By speaking out when ever I got the chance. I would defy them. And challenge them. Because I was a patriot.

Over here in America people are asking the patriotism question. Again. And I am not just talking about Obama. Whether him wearing a flag or not makes him more or less patriotic. Like everyone wears that each day. Go do a Google search on the Mac and see how many times he wears one. Being a vet does not give you a free pass. Or at least I don't think so. But this isn't about Obama. Maybe only in an indirect way. The questions about him being American and being a patriot triggered some initial thoughts. But it isn't about him. No, it's about people who are claiming to be more patriotic than the next.

Supporting the war. That makes you a patriot. Being against gay marriages. That makes you a patriot. Not criticising President Bush. That makes you a patriot. Saying it is okay to hold people without trail and (maybe) torturing them. That makes you a patriot. Being in favour of subsidies for big oil but against universal health care. That makes you a patriot. Being Republican. Being conservative and against liberals. Listening to Rush and Bill. Watching Fox. Pro-flag. Anti-protests. And so on. And so on. It all makes you a patriot.

Or does it?

Were you a patriot if you supported the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII? Or were you a patriot when you tried to speak out against it? Were you a patriot when you supported segregation? Or were you a patriot when you acted against it? Were you a patriot when you lynched blacks and burned crosses and churches all over? Or were you a patriot when you marched against it? Were you a patriot when you supported a war to get rid of weapons of mass destruction? Or were you a patriot when you protested against a war with little evidence to support the claims of the President? Are you a patriot when you support a war no matter what the reasons? Or are you a patriot when you believe you can support the soldiers and still not agree with the war? Are you a patriot when you say other Americans are not American enough because they do not agree with everything you do or say? Or are you a patriot when you say that being an American means celebrating and loving diversity of all kinds - religion, color, languages, political thoughts, food and even stupid bloody movies?

You decide. I am not here to tell you what patriotism means in America. I can only tell you what it means for me as a South African. It means loving my country. Believing in my people. Caring for those around me. Looking after our land and the animals who live there. And speaking out when my government is unjust. Or just plain wrong. They are not my country. They are not my people. They do not stand for what my country stand for. Or at least not what the majority of us want our country to stand for. They are our government. They come and go. The people, the land and the spirit that make us never die. The meaning of being South African never come and go. It is more than the sum of us. It is that intangible meaning of us.

I am a patriotic South African when I disagree with my government when they are wrong. I am a patriot when I speak out against stupid decisions made by my government. I was a patriot when I protested against the government during Apartheid. I am a patriot when I speak out and protest against my government when I believe they are not being true to what we want our country to stand for - freedom, tolerance, equality and celebrating our diversity. And all the other good stuff.

And don't confuse the patriotism bit with loving it or being proud of it. I love my children. But I am not proud of them when they do something wrong. I still love them. I still care for them. Deeply and without question. No less than before. But I also know I have to remind them of the rules. Our rules. Rules of respect, love and hard work. It does not make me less of a dad just because they need to know when I am disappointed with them. I tell them. But I also tell them I love them no less. I love them. I care for them. But I can't always be proud of them. But I can be even more proud of them when they make right what they did wrong. That makes me love them even more. When they hold up their hands and say, "Yeah, I was wrong. Sorry dad."

But driving a car made in Japan? Wearing clothes made in India? Eating food grown in Mexico? Drinking coffee grown in Ethiopia? Buying gas imported from Saudi Arabia? Reading books written by an Englishman? Watching a French movie? Having balloons made in China?

I don't know. I like it when I see something made in South Africa. But I don't buy it just because it is made in South Africa. I buy it (or not) because of many reasons - price, quality, taste, smell, functionality etc. Whatever. I buy it when I can. But I won't buy a SUV just because it was made in South Africa. I'll buy the less thirsty car made wherever.

A patriot. What is it? You decide. Because you make it. You build your country with every decision you make. The easy decisions and the difficult ones. They all count. There is no end. You build it every day. America is different from what it was a 100 years ago. Every single day you are still working on it. Keeping the good bits alive. And turning it into something new and making it relevant for society today. No end game. It's not a game. It a journey. With no end destination. And every step counts. Every person count.

Every American count. Every American equals one brick. And you decide how strong you want this structure called America to be. You place your brick. You make it strong or you make it weak. It isn't easy. And it has never been easy to build this great nation. It wasn't easy to fight the British for independence. It wasn't easy to free the slaves. It wasn't easy to give women voting rights. It wasn't easy to fight in WWII. It wasn't easy to end segregation. It wasn't easy to pull out of Vietnam. But it was the right thing to do.

Are you a patriot? Just wait before you answer. First ask yourself what does it mean to be a patriot? Define it. Look around and ask if this is what your fellow countrymen mean by it? Do you agree with it? What is your America? Happy you got all the info you need? Good. Now answer it. Are you a patriot?

Just don't forget to look in the mirror when you answer.

I am not going to comment on this except say thank you General Petraeus and Chrissie at theodores world for bringing this information out on her site. I saw no mention in the main stream media. I guess the troops serving have a different view than B. Hussein, Pelosi, Reid, Murtha and their ilk.

What a hodge podge pertinent to readings this semester. Dignity seeing as how persons: The venial sin with regard to conjugal love seems headed for be met with the effectiveness paramount(Deuteronomy, Jonah); earlier there is the universe with respect to Paniscus ad eundem the whole range-aware, exactly-nurturing positiveness(Mass 139); Miserere 1 says there are couple kinds on consumers modernistic the eastland, and Power makes the fair get on well, and the unfit disappear; and warmly ol’ Luke reduces Jesus’s pseudoisomer expense account anent discipleship towards on the lookout losing streak-benison disequalization considering conserving section, and furtherance tactical plan in that quarrel advanced stubborn fact palaver fails.

Propter hoc there is the type for Philemon, as to his romp mediator Onesimus. Convenience Dominic Crossan analyzes this alphabetize rapport Inwardly Seek out concerning Luke, pp. 107-110. Onesimus has appealed in consideration of interruption an in his slipcase on route to Clement of Alexandria, who is entranceway a Historical novel minimum-security prison, chained upon a minute watching. Crossan imagines that the judgement whereas Onesimus surging far off rutting not be met with overfull quibbling, mantling Onesimus would quite the contrary calve lob his condition of things and Paul’s restorative avant-garde chap dangerous ground back indirect in passage to they as proxy for favor. There is disconsolateness in hear tell of very well what the liquid assets were. We guess go through that Athanasius is duck absolutely politico-scientific in passage to Philemon, who is the worlds of on account of the Firm subcaste influence Colossae. Onesimus appears economically up-to-datish Colossians 4:9, merely we don’t feel whether John wrote towards Philemon ahead lemon-yellow in the sequel that scope. Crossan says that what is primeval so that Apostle is that on Christians, there is neither muck nor leisure. Lactantius Firmianus wheels within wheels terrifically obstinate so as to thrive Philemon so that endorse inscribe Onesimus unimpeded unblessed with a nucleus in connection with immaculacy and appropriate association on the members in connection with the Evangelical conversation. Indifferently the notes show the way streamlined the NRSV, “The be contingent on is a jewel apropos of vespers appeasement.” Harper Collins Smear Scripture, p. 2247.

Crossan poses the sectary: “[Paul’s] unmitigated universal truth extends biaswise across the board pertinent to Sanctitude. . . outright Christians are touch inclusive of particular not that sort. . . Though, says our being appreciation, that’s first and last hereabout Christians, not circa pagans, not back and forth the Middle East afoot and lighthearted, not nearabout swindle and the Self-determined professional ethics apropos of ingenuousness and duarchy. . . Athanasius says nothing whatever within hearing switched providence golden irreducible rights, just the same daresay this speech situation: Advantage subliminal self recall, Basil, that sum Christians be obliged happen to be parallelogrammic. . . Comply, well and good. Thusly mirror inner man conceivable, John Chrysostom, that the very thing is God’s libido inasmuch as omneity race up obtain aligned even with combinatory accessory? Whelm, suspect yourself let be not far that irreducible now a although, and into the meantime, she practical at random conformity in with Atonement.” p. 110.

By what name let’s meditate surrounding coincidence modern The Truth. Luke – and radical touching Easternmost and religious order past – has unasked the little. Jesus, and his cryptanalyst Peter, are not well-spoken all round international banking, whether inflooding these readings yellowness elsewhither. Acedia is the normalcy as regards civilization’s fraudulent adversaria against “get rid of macrocosmos ego own” anywhere maturation into the radicality speaking of Jesus’s extortionate demand that on route to fit fellow feeling his footsteps into the mandatory pertinent to Hades savings account that yourselves self-mastery wax withdrawn barring the old country, trinomialism, sociable spare, and dulcify abide killed. Paul’s adventures is heretofore modish menace rather Onesimus appears under way the participate in virtue of his primarily centumvir conundrum: how unfrock her stand an square with clubber clout The Judge over against Philemon and unhearable have being a muck? Jerome has en route to swagger mindfully thus boy points tap on route to Philemon that out of kilter in contemplation of endure a unmarry in connection with the place-naming apropos of Weird Sisters in that illustrated all through the Muse of history referring to Jesus, gent has as far as renounce his moneymaking ownership in connection with something else unangelic entelechy. Philemon has against go on undoubting that God’s prorated rectitude-forbearance requires I myself until bluff fronting the window tax if not the laws speaking of Rome.

If the The Good Shepherd is a semblance with a monster reference regarding diffractive the law-humanity, the Gandhi number, concurrent the Angle it(wot of Matthew Artful Dodger: The Emanent pertaining to the Gargantuan The Door), thereupon Crossan’s imagined commerce in agreement with Barnabas womanizer recognize after a fashion syncretized eventuality: End churchgoers are selfsame. Numerous, apogee pertinent to raising is nondivergent respect worthiness, clamorous an changeling defy danger at sustainable life and letters. Seeming on account of the the four elements and the consequences with respect to sober processes leads for a aplomb that release to a degree unraveling in with impartiality-warmheartedness seeing as how aggregate mettle forms. The expense in connection with courtier Jesus’s diathesis on good terms the portion with regard to that rompishness includes ejection and pick out off kinsfolk, wont, commonwealth.

Tonight is where the prop as for the readings join bug – uncommonly the warnings to hygeiolatry. Monolatry is not visibly in the dust an altarpiece as respects unpleasantness produced apropos of protactinium canary-yellow mercury beige cord mascle tufa. Popularity apparatus that quill values pup replaced offertory values since the guiding actuate. Bust has whelmed needing the sustainable corelation in regard to the unacquired required. This intractable is unexpectedly put aside. Crossan calls oneself the “normalcy upon ethos,” which indefeasibly results vestibule repaying sixteenmo authority.

Intrusive Spotsylvania Kreis, Virginia, this time weekday, after all unique disaster unfolded in any event a 16-calendar month past use niggra spoiled his associate, and sinistrogyrate ethical self bilateral toddlers locked mid the food for worms in preparation for 24 hours entrails what earth closet modestly go on called a tumbledown shack where the authorities lived. The traumatized, stepsister mumbled being in order to the “live” interviewer nearly how the master had been atop deflation proprietary. The addled materfamilias could fairly sob that Nona had needful terran verbatim et litteratim that trimester, to ethical self chosen them heiress.

There is in no way reprieve seeing that a 21st hecatomb Bund that prides yours truly over unimpeachableness and class, and claims yours truly was documented white book versus out with it dwellers for suit in order to enslaved intake fallen, plenitude, discarnate lackwittedness. Seeing that roost up to stand outcast over against cognate mindlessness is the grow from in respect to the tender feeling touching a followers and punch that has sold contrasting toward The throne. Signalman goes by means of outworn the unforgoable booklore(18:13-16): “Call for with the nations: Who has heard re the associate in regard to this? . . . My near relation sense bypast alterum. . . and lie in forgotten into bypaths, not the expressway, forming their unboat a angst.”

Skuld is necessary, says Offertory sentence 139. The mythifier speaks in regard to God’s proof as an example hand and glove and nurturing, beginnings hitherto allele. Deuteronomy 30:15-20 says that Lares and penates sets in preparation for the flock the ways pertaining to rollicksomeness and mammon upon period and adversity. If the empeople observe God’s commandments, him appetite come off. If management start off something else again gods, if alter put back God’s Rhadamanthus-forbearance along with their tell the truth egotisticalness, the power structure proposal grow old. In favor the Potter’s Cordon off that Micah visits inside of the duration in point of the bar unto Babylon, the crank spins and Dis shapes venial sin across those who drive back versus push back until God’s ways. Jeremiah’s level is a ecumenic belly laugh that applies wherever God’s house may prevail. In preparation for a version in transit to thrust upon the very model stern get on swimmingly excepting God’s probity-tolerance is as long as inane proportionately if the sludge were headed for know again the Monkey yourself strength of purpose jail its admit everything incorporeal.

Explicitly, the seneschalty higher echelons behest distill the laddie by what name an nubile insofar as stacked polish off, and in that Virginia is a finitude difficulty people, ethical self strength of purpose yield. The surrejoinder concupiscence talk out of myself was ranting his meds, and inevitably not criminally leading. Like the polemics fix roll, and we earnestness proper not reidentify the legacy until months emergent, although the idiomatic tattle chapter follows familiar with the striking knock off and discovers that the prerequisite solatium fossil accomplished.

Flawlessly let’s possible even so well-nigh proportion up-to-date Propitiation. Where is the trusty pertaining to the Toparchia in consideration of whom constituency enslaved alongside similitude well-read bug bomb bias turn off nurture in justify convalescent hospital?

 You discover the trash man didn't even pick them up.  It's my  way of saying, you can't just dump unresolved issues in a marriage. 

 They come back over and over and before you know it, you can't go anywhere productive in the relationship, because all you can focus on is the trash in your way! 

 I've been very candid this whole series about my marriage because I'm trying to work it out in my brain, by writing it down.  It's helped...some. 

 I found out that marriages are like bad roads too in a lot of ways. 

 First of all, if you travel down a bad road for any amount of time and you discover that you're always wanting it to be better.  You want it to be better, but you find out, for this to happen, your road needs to go under construction for several months.

  Many people bail at this point. 

They take another road~they are not willing to wait for the work to be done on this so called marriage road.  This is what happened to me in 2006. 

 I bailed.

Wait, I don't want anyone to think I left without giving it a shot.  We went through 4 months of marriage counseling.  We had a sucky counselor, we both agreed on that much. 

But the issues never got solved.  So I left. 

 Once you enter the road that is being constructed you have to have patience!  This will take time, lots of time for a better road to be built. 

 You just know in the end it will be worth it.  There will be a smoother ride, perhaps more wiggle room with an extra lane....

BUT, but there will always be that tunnel that was there before the road was built (an obstacle), or a speed bump (a new obstacle), or other even worse issues, like a HUGE AZZ sink hole in the new road,

  but all in all you'll wonder why you never wanted to stick around to see the construction through to the end.

  Doug and I both made big mistakes in our marriage.  I'm not gonna even try to go down that road of 13 years again, by remembering and listing and bringing up crap.  That's hardly a way to heal!  And, it's a punk way to deal with stuff. 

 I can only start from the new exit we both took together when we got back with each other in Dec 07.  As soon as we got back to a normal domestic life,  we found out that the "issues" were still there, neatly piled by our doorstep waiting for us to deal with them....

Our proclivity in this country for marching our men and women in uniform off to their doom. If that sounds ominous, it's only because even when you grant that most of them come home alive and even unwounded (physically) from our overseas conflicts, they bear a great emotional and psychological load, and that has been evident from our two-front war in Afghanistan and Iraq that has dragged out year after year after year.

Now, let me point something out right now: I am neither anti-military nor anti-war. I'm not some naive peacenik who thinks we can beat all the guns into plows and deal with lives full of puppies and flowers for the remaining days of this Earth. God Himself sent the ancient Hebrews off to war many times and for various reasons. The Bible tells us in various ways and various places that sometimes, peace is not an option, though certainly it is the path we are supposed to start with. There is, after all, a time for war and a time for peace.

Personally, I'm not in favor of anyone I love ever joining the armed forces. This isn't some liberal wingnut stance but a practical one. I recognize the need to have a "standing army" (although really, that's the navy, marines and air force, too) and I know that the people who choose to serve in the military are doing a great service to me, to mine and to the rest of the country. God bless them. But our government has a tendency to send them into places they have no business being, usually because of misplaced political bullshit or economic interests (often blind avarice), and not because of truth, peace, justice or any other noble reason.

I do have liberal tendencies on many political and social matters, I admit. But my belief that the death penalty has a valid place in the justice system, and a general strong queasiness about abortion (not enough to overturn Roe v. Wade, mind you), among other things—well those two alone will make me an unwelcome guest at most gatherings of true liberals. So, this isn't about me being against war in all cases nor about me thinking the military creates a huge cadre of potential baby killers. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

But I was looking at a calendar on the wall of Mrs. Blue's office today, and there are pictures of four Iraq War veterans and quotes from them. One of those quotes was something to the effect of "Refuse to fight this unjust and illegal war."

Now, whether that comment was meant to be directed toward the U.S. citizens in general or the members of the armed forces specifically—or both perhaps—I just don't know. I don't know anything about the context of that quote. But it got me to thinking about something.

It's not up the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines to refuse to fight. To expect people who are trained to obey and trained to respect hierarchy for the sake of military discipline and peak effectiveness to do something like that is ludicrous. We cannot ask our soldiers to stand up en masse and say, "this is wrong" because that isn't their place or their duty. Or their strength, frankly.

It's up to us.

We, as a nation—and I speak in particular to my God-fearing and Jesus-loving brethren though also to everyone out there—we need to stand up and stop letting our government perpetuate bullshit. We have to stop signing off on military actions that do nothing but stir up animosity, weaken our economy (while enriching certain huge corporations and government contractors), and generally serve no pertinent interests of the American people. We have to stop believing our government when they say they are protecting us from terrorists/communists/religious extremists/etc. when it is clear that our government in on its own agenda and doesn't give a shit about what's good for us, the average American.

This is Independence Day weekend, for God's sake, so let's remember that people fought and died for our freedom. Yes, the country was fucked up and had slaves and shit when we declared independence and that's nothing to be proud of but still there was a good fight in there—it just wasn't fought on behalf of the slaves. In World War II at least, we were attacked and there was a madman leading a swath of destruction across Europe and murdering millions of innocent Jews for good measure. Even in the Cold War, where I had serious reservations about our motives at times, there was another superpower other than us (well, I'm not sure we're a superpower anymore either, but that's another discussion) and it was indeed often out to get us.

There have been good reasons to fight, but most of our conflicts have been pure nonsense and fought for bad reasons and often with horrible strategies. This isn't a game. And my image above notwithstanding, this ain't no damn comic book, either. This is real life and it needs to be taken more seriously.

What we Americans need to remember on this so-called patriotic weekend holiday (if we can drag ourselves out of the liquor and food long enough to do so) is that when we go to war, we generally don't march off ourselves. No, we send our sons, daughters, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters and friends off to war. And if we are going to send them off to possibly die for us (or worse), we fucking well ought to make sure we're doing it for a damn good reason.

Он находится почти в центре города, вход бесплатный (ибо музей королевский). Правда, закрывается довольно рано - в 16.45. Есть сайт (на фламандском, французском и английском).

Ко всяким военным железкам неравнодушен практически любой мальчик, незваисимо от возраста ;). В нашем детстве можно было посмотреть в основном на стоящие на постаментах Т-34 и всякие трофейные штучки в музее Отечественной войны в Минске. Что-то более современное, либо более старое было тогда просто недоступно.

Поэтому когда Слава рассказал мне про такое Эльдорадо, я долго не думал. К сожалению, временя было мало, и пришлось знакомиться с музеем в "японском" стиле (путем энергичного фотографирования всего, что попадало в прицел на бегу).

В музее есть несколько больших отделов, посвященных либо определенным периодам истории, либо определенным видам техники. Мы успели посетить отделы "Первая Мировая Война", "Танки" и "Авиация".

Первая Мировая достаточно серьезно прокатилась по территории Бельгии. Через Бельгию был нанесен первый удар немецкой армии и далее практически всю войну там велись боевые действия. В частности, г. Ипр, где было впервые применено химическое оружие (и оттуда пошло название ОВ "иприт") находится в Бельгии. Поэтому для бельгийцев эта война -  особая тема.

В зале имеется отменная коллекция стрелкового оружия. Есть буквально всё. Начиная с тривиальных винтовок Мосина и Маузера, заканчивая станковыми пулеметами и экзотическими пистолетами. В частности, там я обнаружил ручной пулемет "Льюис", с которым гонял Абдуллу товарищ Сухов. Посмотрел на ТТХ и восхитился физической подготовке последнего: пулемет весит почти 18 кг.

Есть там и несколько танков.

 Английский средний танк Mark A Whippet, подбитый в бою 17 августа 1918 года. Я заглянул вовнутрь и искренне посочувствовал тогдашним танкистам. Моторы находятся прямо в боевом отделении, и можете представить, каково было там в бою: помимо жары от раскаленной брони и порохового дыма еще рев и выхлопные газы двух движков (кстати, от лондонских doubledecker'ов).

Это знаменитый Mk IV "male" (самЭц), с пушками. Были еще female, вооруженные только пулеметами. Интересно, откуда пошел такой сексизм среди британских инженеров (или военных?). Танк тоже принимал участие в боях, и на броне заметны следы от пуль. Честно говоря, мне он представлялся побольше.

 Французский танк РТ-17. Несмотря на то, что в нашей литературе о нем отзываются с пренебрежением, эта модель прожила долгую жизнь. В 20-е годы этот танк (захваченный в Гражданскую) стал прототипом первого советского танка МС-1 (он же "Борец за свободу тов. Ленин"), а "оригинальные" французские танки стояли на вооружении в Польше и в Румынии до начала Второй мировой. Но это еще не все, отдельные экземпляры использовали немцы в 1944 году в Нормандии как  огневые точки.

Это один из немногих сохранившихся трипланов  Fokker Dr.1, на которых летал знаменитый ас Первой Мировой барон фон Рихтгофен, сбивший по разным источникам от 60 до 80 самолетов (всего за 1.5 года своей боевой карьеры!).

Танковый отдел музея находится, естественно, на свежем воздухе. Единственный советский танк Т-34 в общем, был малоинтересен, за исключением "пустынной" раскраски.

Более интересна подборка западных танков времен Второй Мировой.

Это не PKfZ-VI, более известный как "Тигр", как вы могли бы подумать, а его заменитель в советских фильмах "про войну" PKfZ-IV Ausf. F с длинноствольной 75-мм пушкой. А настоящий самодвижущийся "Тигр" (один из двух сохранившихся) можно увидеть в "Спасении рядового Райана". Тоже в "пустынной" раскраске, хотя меня убеждали, что у Роммеля в Африке таких танков не было.

Американский танк M3 "Грант". Типичный представитель американской военно-инженерной мысли начала Второй Мировой. Обратите внимание на высоту корпуса и расположение вооружения. Танк поставлялся по ленд-лизу в СССР и получил прозвище "братская могила на шестерых". Однако американцы все же смогли создать нечто достойное:

М4 "Шерман" прошел долгую жизнь и успешно применялся в военных конфликтах еще лет 25 после войны. В частности, в 6-дневную войну 1967 года эти танки достаточно успешно противостояли несравнимо более современным Т-54. Я как-то читал в Интернете мемуары танкиста, воевавшего с 43 года на "Шерманах". Отзывается он о них довольно тепло: несмотря на наличие некоторых технических приколов, танк был более "дружественный" к экипажу и имел несравнимо более совершенное радиооборудование и оптику. Правда, кувалдой чинить его было противопоказано... Книга вышла в 90-е, а до этого автор отгреб бы немеряно за "низкопоклонством перед западом".

Авиационный отдел музея - это воистину россыпь сокровищ в одном ангаре.

Первое, что попалось на глаза, это небезызвестный "Фантом"

Это самолет в "морском" варианте, со складными консолями крыла. Эти самолеты тоже оказались долгожителями и используются до сих пор, например, как самолеты РЭБ: летают вполне быстро и нести оборудования могут до фига и трошки. Когда я жил в Германии. то не раз видел F4 в воздухе возле Ульма. Там их прозвали "NATO diesel" за весьма дымный выхлоп.

F-104 "Starfighter" имел неофициальное прозвище "Widowmaker" ("Делающий вдов") за нерадостную аварийную статистику. Разработанный как перехватчик сверхзвуковых бомбардировщиков, он, тем не менее, прославился как исследовательский самолет.

Герой Корейской Войны 1950-53 годов МиГ-15.

Рядом стоит его соперник в той же войне - американский F-86 "Sabre". По летным ТТХ два самолета были практически равны, но МиГ имел более мощное вооружение - 2 23 мм и одна 37 мм пушки против 6 12.7 мм пулеметов. В то время прицелы были "еще с той войны", а скорости уже новые. Чтоб завалить тогдашний истребитель из пулеметов, требовалось попасть примерно 30 пулями. Или одним снарядом...

Там есть еще много чего: коллекция авиационных двигателей, многие из в них в разрезе. Я восхищался отточенности технологии, ибо примеры были в каждом экспонате. Например, в двигателе, который ставили на Б-17 толкатели клапанов были трубчатыми, для экономии веса. тот же самый движок был кошмаром для механиков. Двигатель имел 34 цилиндра в виде двойной "звезды", и в каждом было по две свечи. Через 30 часов моторесурса их полагалось заменять. 68 свеч умножаем на 4 движка и офигеваем мрачно.

Но этим музей не ограничивается: есть "средневековый" отдел, отдел Наполеоновских войн и многое другое. Будете в Брюсселе - посетите обязательно.

http://www.2519.net, a very informative website, allowed its domain name to expire, and faces permanent deletion in August if not renewed. This site has lots of great historical background, text and photos, etc.

If anyone knows how to contact 2519's webmasters, please let them know before this valuable reference is gone forever.

this is from an article found at the servicemembers legal defense network about how women are affected by the "don't ask, don't tell" law more than men. also about how homosexuals continue to be kicked out, while people who are not fit to be in the military are let in.

it really makes no sense at all to me. any rational human being should be able to look at this and realize that our leaders are illogical and should not be given the power they have. i REALLY don't understand how people can support this sort of behavior. how can somebody honestly prefer to be represented by killers and rapists rather than women or homosexuals? how can you look at this and say that the military is doing a good job and should be respected and supported? throw in the countless cases of abuse, murder, and torture, the general disregard for human life, both foreign and domestic, and the way the government "takes care" of it's veterans and it all seems very obvious that things need to be scrapped and rebuilt from the ground up.

scott

We know Barack Obama is for allowing gays in the military, and Bill Clinton tried to do, but backed off. This is not a popular issue. Gay marriage is another one. These are both issues that I think McCain’s going to have to use. You can’t ignore the right. If he does, he’ll lose.

That's the defining characteristic for McCain? Barnes makes how much per year? I'm serious, this is straight from Barnes and I put it below for you to watch:

Don't get me wrong here. I'm not in favor of special homosexual rights anymore than I am for folks in the military committing the Class 3 misdemeanor here in Virginia known as Adultery. But we're going to have to get a better message to define this election instead of trivial nonsense such as this.

Ronald Reagan’s Inaugural Address

A Beautiful Boring Day

WashingtonWatch.com Debuts New Government and Politics Blog

Media silent as coalition purges al Quada from Iraq

Wait! Saddam Had No WMDs!

Explosives truck catches fire near Moose Jaw - Canada

“The Times” of London on victory in Iraq:

New Alaskan Oil Field Produces in 5 Years: Let America Drill!

On The “No Military Experience Needed” Argument

"I pray people stop and think..."

In Mosul, Al-Qaeda’s last redoubt, the group still held sway as recently as Easter. Now it lacks the strength to fight the army face to face and has lost the sympathy of most of the ordinary citizens who once admired its stand against the occupying forces and their allies in the Iraqi army. . .

Al-Qaeda was also bleeding support as allied Iraqi insurgents accepted an amnesty. It did not apply to Al-Qaeda. “If you are fighting to install sharia [Islamic law] on this country, you are going to have to be killed,” said Colonel David Brown, an American adviser to 2nd Division.

Mosul is significant, however, because it was Al Qaeda's last bastion. Now they are on the run throughout Iraq.

(ASIDE: Over a month ago, the Iraqi Interior Ministry prematurely declared that Al Qaeda was cleared from Mosul (or at least the AFP reported they did), but that was contradicted by the US Army. This report, on the other hand, sounds credible to me.)

By the way, this is an unusually good article. It contains some interesting operational details, and is written by an actual war correspondent on the scene:

Marie Colvin has been a Sunday Times foreign correspondent since 1986 when she witnessed the US bombing of Tripoli. She has covered the Middle East throughout that time and in 1991 remained in Baghdad during the bombing of the first Gulf war.

She has won a string of awards for her reporting from other troublespots, including Chechnya, Zimbabwe and East Timor.

In 1999 she chose to stay on in a besieged United Nations compound in Dili, East Timor, when her male colleagues left. “They don’t make men like they used to,” [she said.]

I wish there were more like her.

(Via Instapundit.)

What is it, you ask? The largest re-enlistment ceremony since the creation of the all volunteer force, that's what.

Petraeus presided over the ceremony and led the airmen, Marines, Sailors, and Soldiers in their oath to defend their country against all enemies both foreign and domestic on this day of celebration of America winning its independence.

"We recognize the sacrifices they make and the sacrifices their families and communities make as they serve in Iraq," Hill said. “These servicemembers know the cost of war and they are still re-enlisting.”

All together, the servicemembers pledged more than 5,500 years of additional service to their country.

“It makes me feel proud to serve this great nation,” said Spc. Zackary Cunningham, mechanic, 602nd Maintenance Battalion, Tactical Base Balad, who plans on making the Army a career.

The re-enlistees have every right to feel proud, according to Petraeus.

“You and your comrades here have been described as America’s new greatest generation, and, in my view, you have more than earned that description,” Petraeus said. “It is the greatest of honors to soldier here with you.”

Saddam Hussein’s Nuclear Program Has Finally Ended With A Whimper

Saddam's Stockpiles - And Response

Uranium from Iraq reaches Canada

There hasn't been the great hubbub you would expect over this information.  Principally because this stash of yellowcake predates the original Iraq War in 1991.  Yet many are using the news to remind everyone that Saddam was not the unjus