Labels: high altitude ballooning

- posted by gkissel @ 7:49 AM

 
Matters personal and helpful, as in my other blog, The Eagle's Quill.

Be sure to check out my other blog, The Eagle's Quill for insightful information.
- posted by gkissel @ 9:05 AM

 
Matters Social and Political, as in the failure of the Swedish model. Thanks to Dennis Prager and Freedom and Prosperity blog for bringing to my attention this story in the Wall Street Journal on what has happened to Sweden as described by Member of Parliament, Mauricio Rojas:

...a new study ("Sweden after the Swedish Model") by Mauricio Rojas, an associate professor of economic history at Lund University, calls into doubt the continued vitality of this social concept. ...Mr. Rojas contends that Folkhemmet is a model for a bygone era, brought low by the Swedish economic crisis of the early '90s. Only the privatization of public services and a ceiling on public spending since those days has kept the Swedish economy afloat. That is, what success Sweden has enjoyed in the past decade has come from the progressive abandonment of the old model. Even now, over half of Sweden's GDP is soaked up by tax revenues. This is the highest tax burden in Europe. It is thus no surprise that robust economic growth is an objective Swedes consistently fail to achieve. Despite empirical evidence, the idea that the Swedish model is obsolete still runs counter to conventional thinking in much of Sweden today and, more broadly, many corners of Europe. But its declining validity in today's competitive world is something Europeans would be wise to heed. If Sweden can learn to see itself through a new lens, it can be competitive well into the future. There might be reason for optimism. Even in Stockholm, voices demanding less regulation and more free enterprise are making themselves heard. The heavy tax burden and the welfare measures it supports is now well-acknowledged as having sapped incentives to work.http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112137695324786074,00.html?mod=opin ion&ojcontent=otep (subscription required)
- posted by gkissel @ 10:25 AM

 
Matters Terrible, but Monitorial as in tracking the jihadists. Here is a link to jihadwatch.org which has the latest on the London bombings and primarily monitors jihad activity that we should all be aware of.
- posted by gkissel @ 7:05 AM

 
Matters Political and Insightful, but not Gloatful, as in Joe Scarborough's pointing out that the New York Times acknowledges the positive impact of Bush's foreign policy, at this link.
- posted by gkissel @ 3:08 PM

 
Matters Historical and Thankful, as in Lech Walesa thanking Ronald Reagan for the liberation of his country, at this link.
- posted by gkissel @ 4:16 PM

 
Matters Political, Global and Militial, as in Victor Davis Hansen's analysis of the situation in Iraq and regionally.

See Hanson's discussion that appeared in Commentary magazine, and also check his website for more outstanding analysis of the situation in Iraq.
- posted by gkissel @ 8:34 AM

 
Matters Cable and Libel, as in the resignation of Eason Jordan of CNN for his outrageous statements about the military targeting journalists.
- posted by gkissel @ 7:23 PM

 
Matters Editorial and Unfactual, as in Bill Moyers being caught passing off phoney information.

Powerline blog has nailed Bill Moyers for passing off sham information as part of a "environmentalist" editorial and speech. Thanks to Lucianne.com for pointing this out.

- posted by gkissel @ 8:57 PM

 
Matters Scandal and Editorial, as in Charles Krauthammer's piece on the fake documents scandal and its investigation at CBS.

Charles Krauthammer has the clearest exposition I've read on the investigation of the CBS/Dan Rather use of faked documents for a Bush hit piece.

- posted by gkissel @ 11:06 AM

 
Matters Editorial and Personal, as in my opinion piece on Hispanic immigrants that appeared in today's Evansville Courier and Press.

My opinion piece, which begins, "Wake up and smell the refried beans!" was published today in the Evansville Courier and Press. (you'll have to register, then scroll down to find it.) Also, it was linked at Glenn Spencer's website, www.americanpatrol.com which covers immigration issues everyday.

- posted by gkissel @ 4:40 PM

 
Matters Illegal and Political, as in the impact of illegal immigrants on Congressional representation and the Electoral College.

The Center for Immigration Studies issued this report in October of 2003 pointing out that because illegal immigrants are counted in the US census, states like Indiana have been denied another seat in the U.S. House of Representatives (and thus one fewer electoral vote), because of high numbers of illegal immigrants in states like California.

- posted by gkissel @ 7:09 PM

 
Matters Liturgical and Musical, as in Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services that can be heard and seen via the internet.


Probably the best church music that can be heard on the web comes from Grace Cathedral, San Franciscio. Their Christmas Eve services will be broadcast (and then archived) at 5, 7:30 and 11 Pacific time. The Christmas Eve service from the Crystal Cathedral will be available online after 9 p.m Pacific time. Trinity Episcopal Church, Wall Street offers their Christmas Eve service via the web at 9:30 Eastern time (and on demand afterward). Duke University Chapel in North Carolina offers good Christmas music as part of their Christmas Eve services. Their services are at 5:30 and 11:00 Eastern time and are archived for later viewing.

The BBC in Great Britain has an outstanding list of services for Christmas Eve and Christmas, including archived services from Advent. Likewise, Minnesota Public Radio has a number of links to Christmas musical offerings during Advent and for Christmas.

- posted by gkissel @ 4:58 PM

 
Matters Biblical and Christological, as in the Annunciation of the Birth of Jesus, Luke 1:26-38.

Here I continue to follow Raymond Brown's book, Birth of the Messiah (Updated Edition), as I examine the announcement to Mary by the angel Gabriel that she will have the baby Jesus, Luke 1:26-38.

The most striking feature of this part of Luke's infancy narrative is that it is parallel to the previous section of scripture announcing the coming birth of John the Baptist. Luke does this as a memory aid for the reader, but more importantly to highlight that John the Baptist foreshadows a new work by God in Jesus. This section is probably best summarized by this quote from Brown's book: "If the appearance to Zechariah, a priest, took place in the Jerusalem Temple as a sign of continuity with Old Testament institutions, the coming of Gabriel to Mary takes place in Nazareth, a town to which no Old Testament expectation was attached, as a sign of the total newness of what God is doing" [314].

The annunciation follows the standard 5 part pattern: (1) appearance of an angel (in this case Gabriel), (2) fear (Mary was startled by what was said; contrast this to Zechariah who was startled by what he saw) (3) the message (Mary will give birth to Jesus, but see more on the message below), (4) the objection (but Mary notes her virginity) (5) the sign (her relative Elizabeth has conceived in her old age, as a sign that something really special is going on).

But Luke has three key items that go beyond the 5 part pattern and which he wants to draw attention to.

The first is the virginal conception of Jesus. This is emblematic of a new creation by God's Spirit, much as the Spirit was active at the first creation (Genesis 1:2). This new creation is the conception of Jesus, not thru human agency, but thru the Holy Spirit. Further, it is, by necessity, a more dramatic conception than that of John the Baptist.

The second point Luke wants to draw attention to is the specialness of the person conceived. This Jesus will be the Davidic Messiah (note the similarity of Luke 1:32-33 to II Samuel 7:8-16), but, most surprisingly, the Messiah will be God's Son by the action of the Holy Spirit on Mary, the mother. This latter point is without precedent in Jewish messianic expectation.

Thirdly, Mary is portrayed as a handmaid. In other words, Mary is one of God's disciples who now, and later, will hear God's word and do it.




- posted by gkissel @ 7:54 PM

 
Matters Political and International, as in Daniel Pipes' website.

Check out Daniel Pipes' website for an outstanding commentary on the Middle East and threats from the Islamic world.

Especially see the links to the most important scholarly work on the Koran, namely that by the German scholar, Christoph Luxenberg (this is a pseudonym to protect him from possible retribution by Muslim fanatics.) His work is only available in German, but will soon be out in English. In the mean time, this link, gives a scholarly review in English of his work, and this link provides an interview in English with Luxenberg himself. The bombshell result of his scholarship is that the Koran was actually a collection of Christian documents used to begin evangelizing the Arabic peoples. This collection was later linguistically corrupted and added on to, resulting in the Koran and Koranic interpretation known today.

- posted by gkissel @ 5:56 PM

 
Matters Dynamical and Typographical, as in an online video comparing the CBS memo with one typed with Microsoft Word.

Check out this link for a dramatic video comparing the CBS memo with one typed using Microsoft Word. It is really amazing to watch the comparison done dynamically.

- posted by gkissel @ 6:38 PM

 
Matters Typographical and Political, as in how the IBM Selectric works.

This link indicates that the IBM Selectric, presumably used to type the CBS released Guard documents, cannot make a superscript in a small font. This is a fascinating read.
Also, Hugh Hewitt's blog is following the information flow on the typographical origins of the documents, including posting information that has been sent to him.

- posted by gkissel @ 5:09 PM

 
Matters Political and Documentable, as in an insight into how CBS obtained Bush's latest Guard documents.

The American Spectator has inside information on how CBS obtained Bush's latest Guard documents whose authenticity is questionable.

- posted by gkissel @ 4:43 PM

 
Matters Political, Militial and Insightful, as this take on why the Swift Boat Vets for Truth say one thing and Jim Rassman says another.

This posting clarifies how Jim Rassman can believe he was "saved" by John Kerry while under hostile fire, when in fact he and others were not under hostile fire and John Kerry actually fled the scene of a mine explosion and just happened to come back and pick up Rassman.

- posted by gkissel @ 6:54 AM

 
Matters Personal and Geographical, as in I have arrived in Indiana.

I arrived in Indiana on Thursday, August 19 in the early afternoon.

- posted by gkissel @ 6:53 AM

 
Matters Historical and Political, as in Sen. Kerry's claim that he spent Christmas 1968 in Cambodia.

This posting at NoOilForPacifists blog has a nice summary of Sen. Kerry's claims over the years that he spent Christmas 1968 in Cambodia. Sometimes the story is that he was near Cambodia (40+ miles away?). Hugh Hewitt's blog is also tracking this story relentlessly.

- posted by gkissel @ 8:27 AM

 
Matters Political and Legal, as in the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth respond with their own lawyer.

The blog, Captains' Quarters, has the posting of the lawyer representing the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, responding to the legal threats from the Democratic National Committee and the Kerry-Edwards campaign regarding the Swift Boat Veteran's television ad.

- posted by gkissel @ 7:35 AM

 
Matters Political, Rhetorical and Apathetical, as in the line that got no applause.

In Sen. John Kerry's acceptance speech at last night's Democratic Convention, he actually mouthed the following line, but it got absolutely no applause:  "I will never give any nation or international institution a veto over our national security."  It says a lot about the Democrats. 

- posted by gkissel @ 7:39 AM

 
Matters Political and Conventional, as in the Democrats at their Boston convention.

Jonah Goldberg reports from the Boston DNC for USA Today and nails the real reason behind their faux unity with this line: "The point of this Potemkin unity is to seduce moderates and swing voters into believing that Kerry's their guy. "


- posted by gkissel @ 6:23 AM

 
Matters Astronautical and Astronomical, as in the Cassini spacecraft has arrived at Saturn.

The Cassini spacecraft successfully executed Saturn Orbit Insertion last night and is now transmitting its closest images of the rings of Saturn. The mission can be followed (including webcasts) at JPL's website.
- posted by gkissel @ 6:18 AM

 
In Memoriam: President Ronald Reagan
- posted by gkissel @ 7:20 PM

 
Matters Legal and International, as in why the Geneva Conventions do not apply to the terrorists and Taliban at Guatanamo.

This Wall Street Journal article by law professor John Yoo explains why the Geneva Conventions do not apply to the terrorists and Taliban fighters (the Taliban fighters failed to have a responsible command structure, obey the laws of war, or wear military uniforms) captured on the field and now held at Guatanamo.

- posted by gkissel @ 10:02 AM

 
Matters Connectable and Undeniable, as in the Iraq-al Qaeda connection as presented by Stephen Hayes in the Weekly Standard.

This Weekly Standard article by Stephen Hayes, shows the connection between Iraq and al Qaeda. Note in particular how the connection was reported by Newsweek in the late 1990s and how the Clinton administration officially stated the connection in an indictment.


- posted by gkissel @ 9:25 AM

 
Matters Political and Editorial, as in the latest Victor Davis Hanson opinion piece.

This Hanson article points to those who should be doing the apologizing in the political arena.
- posted by gkissel @ 6:49 AM

 
Matters Biblical, Ecclesiastical and Liturgical, as in today is Ascension Day.

Today, the 40th day of Easter, is traditionally celebrated as the ascension of Jesus to heaven (the return to the presence of God.) Some churches hold services on this day, though most celebrate the ascension on the following Sunday, Ascension Sunday.

In one notable tradition, the choir of St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge Univerity, England, sing an Ascension Day carol from the top of the chapel tower. An Ascension Day service can be heard over the internet at 12 Noon (EDT) from Trinity Episcopal Church, Wall Street at this link. George Regas will be the guest preacher. (The service lasts 1 hour and 40 minutes, with music by professional musicians. The service is recorded so it can be heard online any time.) An Ascension Day Evensong can be heard, as well, over the internet at 5:15 p.m. (PDT) from Grace Cathedral, San Francisco at this link. (The service lasts just under 45 minutes and is recorded and so can be heard any time.)
- posted by gkissel @ 7:49 AM

 
Matters political and multicultural, as in another great Victor Davis Hanson article.

The Wall Street Journal carried Victor Davis Hanson's "The Wages of Appeasement," an important article on the war on terror.
- posted by gkissel @ 9:25 AM

 
Matters Judicial and Memo, as in more evidence of Gorelick's instigation of the "wall."

This important Washington Times article summarizes memos in which Gorelick resists judicial efforts that would aid in catching terrorists.
- posted by gkissel @ 8:44 AM

 
Matters Judicial and Memo, as in more evidence of Gorelick's instigation of the "wall."

This important Washington Times article summarizes new memos released in which Gorelick resists warnings that her "wall" will damage efforts to catch terrorists.
- posted by gkissel @ 8:38 AM

 
Matters Critical and International, as in Saddam's WMD and terrorist connections.

This is a quick summary of Kenneth Timmerman's insights into Saddam's WMD and terrorist connections.
- posted by gkissel @ 8:22 AM

 
Matters Political and Critical, as in the calls for Gorelick to testify.

Eleven U.S. Senators have now called on Jamie Gorelick to testify before the 9/11 Commission. This Washington Times article carries the details.
- posted by gkissel @ 11:36 AM

 
Matters Environmental and Annual, as in some useful reading on this Earth Day.

An outstanding website on the wages of environmentalism can be found at eco-imperialism.com. Especially see the article, "Death by Environmentalism."

- posted by gkissel @ 9:45 AM

 
More Matters Critical and Editorial, as in the Gorelick latest.

Andrew McCarthy provides a response to Gorelick's Wash. Post editorial defending herself. McCarthy's response, "The Wall Truth," can be found at his National Review archives (which includes a link to Gorelick's op-ed.)
- posted by gkissel @ 9:13 AM

 
Matters Political and ... Poetical, as in the Walter Daum attack on Kerry.

Yesterday, Rush Limbaugh, highlighted the confrontation of Walter Daum, former assistant Dean of City College, Harlem, with John Kerry at a campaign town hall event. The entire confrontation and analysis by Rush can be found here. Rush is right. Daum, referring to the war in Iraq as "imperialist," and announcing that everyone "hates" Pres. Bush is representative of the core that drives the Democratic party. A strong part of this core comes from the halls of academia.

I offer this haiku on that confrontation:

Daum screams at Kerry:
'Imperialist like Bush!'
Academic crank.
- posted by gkissel @ 8:40 AM

 
Matters Judicial and Critical, more Gorelick latest.

This is an interesting posting from the blog, Priorities & Frivolities, examining Gorelick's actions and words back in the Clinton administration. This is worth reading, because it is a preemptive attack on a potential defense of Gorelick's actions.
- posted by gkissel @ 9:47 AM

 
Matters Judicial, Critical and Editorial, as in the Gorelick latest.

Yesterday, Congressman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) called for Jamie Gorelick's resignation from the 9/11 Commission. Sensenbrenner is Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, so his voice is very important in this matter.

The Wall Street Journal (you will have to email register to get it) has called for Gorelick's ouster from the 9/11 Commission. As they point out, she has much more of a conflict of interest than Henry Kissinger had, which caused Kissinger to drop out as the first chairman of the 9/11 Commission.

Hugh Hewitt also has a piece in the Weekly Standard covering the collapse of the 9/11 Commission.
- posted by gkissel @ 8:05 AM

 
Matters Critical and Editorial, as in the coverage of the idiocy of Gorelick on the 9/11 Commission.

This evening World Net Daily is leading with Ashcroft's slam of Jamie Gorelick and the increasing calls for her ouster. National Review has several good articles on Gorelick. Finally, The American Spectator has an excellent editorial titled, "Gorelick Licked."
- posted by gkissel @ 10:39 PM

 
Matters Legal and Critical, concerning Commissioner Gorelick.

The Landmark Legal Foundation has sent a letter to the 9/11 Commission demanding the ouster of Jamie Gorelick.
- posted by gkissel @ 10:06 PM

 
Matters Critical and National, as in the outstanding testimony of Attorney General Ashcroft, today, at the 9/11 Commission.

Purple Pinata Alert: Attorney General Ashcroft clearly placed the domestic blame for 9/11 on the Clinton administration. Check Instapundit for links to stories and the Ashcroft testimony.

Most devastating was the Atty. Gen. clearly putting the blame on Clinton's Deputy Atty. Gen. for a legal opinion that made it difficult ("the wall") for the FBI to share critical information internally relevant to terrorists. And who was the author of that opinion? Jamie Gorelick -- who is on the 9/11 Commission!! It is shocking that one of the persons most responsible for the domestic mistakes leading to 9/11 is on the Commission investigating 9/11. I've already contacted my Congressman and Senators calling on them to demand the removal of Gorelick from the Commission.
- posted by gkissel @ 3:53 PM

 
Matters Political and National, as in the testimony of Condi Rice before the 9/11 Commission.

Here is a link to Condi Rice's testimony before the 9/11 Commission this morning.
Instapundit provides some good analysis. Namely, Instapundit points out Rice's testimony...

When coupled with Sandy Berger's statement that "there was no war plan that we turned over to the Bush administration during the transition. And the reports of that are just incorrect," this would seem to undercut the claim that Clinton focused like a laser beam on terrorism while Bush was distracted with other pet projects.

Note that one week before 9/11 the Bush administration had settled on a comprehensive plan to deal with Al-Qaeda. From Rice's testimony today:

This new strategy was developed over the spring and summer of 2001 and was approved by the president's senior national security officials on September 4th. It was the very first major national security policy directive of the Bush administration -- not Russia, not missile defense, not Iraq, but the elimination of Al Qaeda.

and bit later, she continued,

This was a change from the prior strategy -- Presidential Decision Directive 62, signed in 1998 -- which ordered the secretary of defense to provide transportation to bring individual terrorists to the U.S. for trial, to protect DOD forces overseas, and to be prepared to respond to terrorist and weapons-of-mass-destruction incidents

But Rice really got to the heart of the matter, which the 9/11 Commission should focus on, and that really is a domestic issue:

In hindsight, if anything might have helped stop 9/11, it would have been better information about threats inside the United States -- something made very difficult by structural and legal impediments that prevented the collection and sharing of information by our law enforcement and intelligence agencies

Secretary Lehman, commission member, was really getting to the heart of the domestic issue with the following, kind of rhetorical question:

Were you aware that it was the U.S. government established policy not to question or oppose the sanctuary policies of New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, San Diego for political reasons, which policy in those cities prohibited the local police from cooperating at all with federal immigration authorities?

See, for example, my most recent posting, of Wed. April 7, on the illegal immigration issue.

In the final analysis, it, indeed, is a domestic problem that is at issue. The function of government, and most especially the federal government is to prevent and prosecute force and fraud and not much else. But when we have a federal government that is doing what it is not supposed to be doing: running Departments of Commerce, Energy, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services and much, much more not having to do with preventing and prosecuting force and fraud, it cannot but dilute its real purpose to prevent and prosecute the acts of Al-Qaeda and any one else attempting to attack the U.S.




- posted by gkissel @ 2:42 PM

 
Matters Illegal, Financial and Local, as in the cost and continuing invasion by illegal aliens.

In recent months, CA State Senator Tom McClintock has stated that illegal aliens cost government in California 4 billion dollars a year in education, incarceration and medication. One can begin to get an idea why CA has such a large budget deficit.

In recent weeks, Dennis Prager interviewed Victor Davis Hanson (author of Mexifornia) on immigration issues, with the focus on the cultural problems brought by many illegal and legal immigrants from Mexico. Hanson pointed out that 40% of Mexican immigrants don't graduate from high school in the U.S., making it difficult for them to become part of the common American culture. Hanson also pointed out that many times the Mexican immigrant will begin to idealize and romanticize Mexico while living here, forgetting about the corrupt police and bad health care south of the border.

Maybe most alarming to me has been the large number of illegal immigrants that have been coming to Escondido, even since 9/11. (I moved to Escondido one week before 9/11). Consider the following: In just the past year, for example, I have had a chance to ask a number of illegal immigrants (I chat with them in the grocery store in Spanish) how long they have been in the U.S. Here are typical answers: 3 months, 3 weeks, 8 days! Again these are all arrivals since 9/11, when supposedly we have had very tight border enforcement. Most of the illegals in Escondido are from the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico or from Guatemala.


- posted by gkissel @ 2:25 PM

 
Matters Political and Historical, as in Clinton's final security paper did not mention Al-Qaeda.

See this Washington Times story pointing out that Clinton's final national security report did not mention Al-Qaeda. A copy of the report can be found at this link.
- posted by gkissel @ 10:34 AM

 
Matters Critical, Political and International, as in Laurie Mylroie's and Richard Miniter's critiques of Richard Clarke and his book and their discussion of the al-Qaeda-Iraq connection.

This Laurie Mylroie article and Richard Miniter's article, both in the Wall Street Journal are important critiques of Richard Clarke and his book and also points us to the al-Qaeda-Iraq connection.
- posted by gkissel @ 8:49 AM

 
Matters International and Political, as in France and Iraq.

On Tuesday March 30, Dennis Prager had two great segments concerning France. The first (in the second hour) focused on an article in March 2004 Commentary magazine featuring an American who immigrated to France in the 1970s and now writes of the anti-Semitism and lies that permeate much of France and some parts of its media.

The second segment (in the third hour) was an interview with Kenneth Timmerman, author of The French Betrayal of America. Dennis asked Timmerman about the WMDs in Iraq. Timmerman noted that all parts of the WMD programs had been found except for one, the stockpiles. Timmerman noted that satellite photos had shown in 2002 large convoys of trucks crossing the border from Iraq into Syria. These satellites then had spotted bulldozers operating in the middle of the Syrian desert. Timmerman's implication is that much of the Iraqi WMD stockpiles have been buried in the Syrian desert.


An Australian publication, The Age, published, today an article about an Iraqi refugee scientist who reveals where WMD stockpiles were stored in Iraq up until 1998.

Finally, this article by Douglas Hanson in The American Thinker, makes the case, that, indeed, stockpiles of WMD have been found in Iraq.

- posted by gkissel @ 9:49 AM

 
Matters Political and Influential, as in the Purple Pinata strikes yet again.

I've been emailing the story below about Al Franken to those who might be interested, and it has been picked up by a widely read and influential blog, PowerLine Blog, under the headline, "Al Franken Plays Baghdad." Thanks PowerLine for getting this story out!
- posted by gkissel @ 10:44 PM

 
Matters Political and Hypocritical, as in Al Franken's antics and activities in Baghad.


Al Franken’s brother, Owen, a ‘68 MIT alum, has written a concise description of Al’s December USO trip to Iraq for the MIT alumni class notes (password protected, but I’m an MIT alum, so I’ve pasted it below). I originally saw this in Technology Review magazine, sent to all MIT alumni. However, the version on MIT's website was slightly richer in detail than the version printed in the magazine.

NOTE:
(1) Al joked about WMDs during his USO show. (Was he criticized by the Left?)
(2) Al yelled F— Y– to soldiers while playing Saddam in a skit. (Couldn’t broadcast this.)
(3) Al lit Hannukah candles in Saddam’s palace and joked about Jews burning the palace if the candles fell over. (If Mel Gibson held a Catholic service in the palace and joked about Christians burning the palace, what howls of outrage would we hear from the Left?)
(4) Did Franken give a prayer of thanks to the troops and Pres. Bush for the privilege of lighting those candles in Iraq?


Other sources on this topic are: a CNN interview, a U. of Pitt. review of a recent Franken appearance, and an extended Mother Jones article by Franken:


MIT 1968 Class Notes for April 2004 (misspellings and all):

?The Holidays aren't over yet, but here goes: I just came back from eight days as the USO photographer on a trip with my brother, Al, in Kuweit, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan. [Owen did not mention it, but we found out elsewhere this was Al?s 4th USO trip.] Al and I seemed to be the only "Liberals" on the trip, and we got along with everyone fantastically including some real redneck country singers and two people from Fox News, the Army's favorite. We did run into a lot of soldiers who asked Al to sign his book, Lies and the Lying Liars who tell them, a Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. It was great to be around so many people with a crazy sense of humor, including a very jolly fat guitar player, who when told that in Iraq in the summer it is 140? in the sun, told us that he might go back there then and sell his shade. One highlight of the trip was the lighting of Hannukah candles in one of Saddam's Palaces in Baghdad. We had this funny idea that the candles would fall over and CNN would be reporting that the Palace of Saddam Hussein was burned down by Jews. Other highlights: The Taliban Cheerleaders. Al introduced them, but they could not perform because they could not dance or even listen to music. He convinced them that Afghanistan had been liberated so they did a raunchy routine and stripped off their burkas to reveal that they were in fact the Washington Redskin Cheerleaders, much to the joy of the screaming troops. Al Franken as Saddam Hussein in handcuffs trying to make a deal to tell where the WMD's are if they uncuffed him and gave him a fifteen minute headstart ("That's all I need"). When refused, he broke away from his MP guards and ran to the edge of the stage yelling "f--- y--" at all the soldiers. {A ?G rated? version of this skit was done on Garrison Keillor?s Prairie Home Companion and can be found at http://www.prairiehome.org/play/audio_segment.php?media=/2003/12/27_phc&start=00:01:19:04.0&end=00:01:28:18.0 ] Daryll Worley's moving song, "Have you forgotten?" about 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan. Even I was in tears when he sang it, especially the night he made a private concert for about five of us in Saddam's marble Palace at one am, after the Hannukah lighting. As for the soldiers, they all want to go home, and they individually have different senses of their missions. The soldiers in Afghanistan have a better sense of why they are there than the ones in Iraq, especially those National Guard persons and reservists. In Iraq they are very nervous about their security, as you can imagine, but realize that now there, they have to stay and stick it out and try to secure the place. They are the victims of an administration that only considered the best case scenario. ==================


- posted by gkissel @ 9:21 AM