Unreal

Cost of the War in Iraq

(JavaScript Error)

To see more details, click here.

Microsoft Sucks!

I just wrote an awesome blog on the pathetic state of America, for people giving more than a passing thought regarding this pathetic guy Scott Peterson. I was ranting on about my amazement that the troops aren't the foremost on peoples minds. My wife Sherri reminded me that people may want a break from the war. I replied that the men in Iraq don't get a break, they eat, sleep and crap war. If Peterson writes a book and cashes in on his infamy, I pray the people who ran with the sensationalism of his story carry that on their souls for the rest of their lives.

Anyway, why I say Microsoft sucks is because it does. I am a Mozilla firefox user, but for some reason I was on a windoze machine and writing the blog in a Internet Explorer browser when it suddenly decided to take a dump on me. Instead of rewriting me last vent, I figured I'd remind you all to download Firefox and go to the control panel and under add/remove programs, select the restrict access to programs and check the Internet Explorer box. You are now protect from having to use the horrible, security flawed Explorer browser. Of course you can also further enhance your computing experience by installing the latest version of Linux (I am using Suse 9.1) and reduce ten-fold the chances of your computer taking random dumps on you, usually at the most critical times.

Look at this fat ass! He is the leader of one of our 'coalition' partners. Of course he looks like the sterotypical Bush type republicans, large and in charge. Remember, we should honor this tub because the president is ofended when people don't realize the sacrifice made by all our coalition partners. He doesn't tell you that the total number of troops this 'partner' brought to the cause was less than the number of troops we've had die. The only way I'd want this guy next to me in war would be if he was in front of me. Nice to know Rumsfeld is spending time down there when our men are sitting in Walter Reed wondering if anybody cares about them. 

Get a clue people!!!!!!!!!!!

"US defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Monday he did not foresee large numbers of civilian casualties in the assault, saying US forces were disciplined and precise."

This is a quote from an article on the aljazeera web site . It was preceded by a paragraph detailing the HUGE number of civilian deaths taking by Iraqi citizens to-date. Bite your tongue if you are about to ask me how could I trust a site from the middle east. It is in fact quite a bit more objective that the ridiculously insane fox news that fills the brain of the un-informed US citizens.


Returning to the original quote, how blind are these guys in the current administration. I just cannot fathom how these people can so easily say that things are going fine over there and that troop morale is so damn high! I spend every night scouring web sites to find fair and unbiased information to national and world events. I seek out other peoples ideas because there just might by that one in a million person that might shed just a enough of a different light on a subject that I may have been overlooking when I develop my ideas about a certain topic. Sherri and I talk for hours on end about he issues that affect us and our beautiful daughter Erin. It pains me that we act so responsible and cerebral about the most import things shaping our future world and we get shouted down by Joe 6-pack (bible thumper) saying, "How dare you be against the war, yer unpatriotic, yer a commie, your a pro abortion baby killer!!!!"


While I have gotten a bit off topic there, I just want to say that this rant was against those, including R(d)umsfeld, Bush and president Cheney who just don't seem to get it and justify all they do by over simplifying the very issues we fret over. Please people, use your heads and think for yourselves. I've had enough of people who learn the issues from the 30 second ads they've heard over the past three months of campaigns. Remember, when you've had enough, don't blame us we didn't vote for Bush.


By the way, if you still have the balls to say I am unpatriotic for the comments I make, just know that I fought in Desert Storm to have the right to say what I just did, how bout you?

A quick vent

I just want to take a second to blow off some steam after reading a post on another blogsite. A gentlemen wrote a questioning blog bringing to light Bush's military record, especially in the time of the recent IRR callups. He was quickly attatcked by an anonymous writer who, in no uncertain terms, told the author of the blog to shut his mouth and learn about what he was talking about. How on this great earth can somebody have the cajones to post some crap like that without posting his name. My advice to anybody who wants to criticize my comments on how this administration absolutely SUCKS, may do so, but be sure to leave a name so I may have some respect for you as I refute your claims. Thank you.




Any comments about the quality of my spelling in this blog can take a short one off a long one. I was writing in a state of frustration . Oh, and if you haven't yet realized that your now standing in the middle of the pier , you deserve to be stuck there.

Our little Erin on Halloween 2004. 

Life During an I.R.R. deployment. (How we are handling the backdoor draft)

As you can imagine, receiving the news of activation from the Army has been a slap in the face. In an effort to be a bit less negative about the whole mess Sherri and I find ourselves in, I have decided to use this situation to serve as a sort of 'kick in the ass'. We have become very active in political reading and writing. We pour over tons of web pages nightly and I have begun this blogging as a forum to release energy. Here I will vent, bitch, raise questions, answer questions and basically exercise my right to freedom of speech to it's fullest extent.

The first thing we have started exploring is to get an idea of our 'peers'. Other families who are finding themselves in the same situation as us. To date, approximately 4,000 Individual Ready Reserve soldiers have been ripped from their lives to don, once again, the uniform. I use the term ripped because it is the most appropriate way to describe how this is done. As in our case, all the others as well have been given a mere 30 days to prepare. 30 days is pretty minute when you think of the endless things that have to be done to ensure you family will handle themselves while you are gone.

In our case, we have to get Sherri back to our house in Lena, IL so she can be closer to family and have a support base within minutes of her.We are fortunate in this aspect of the deployment, as some families are probably left to fend on it's own with family support thousands of miles away in other states. We also have to take care of any legal issues that might exist. We have to make sure that our finances are accessible by both of us so things can be done here while I am gone. There is a number of other things we have to do, that are too detail oriented to even
bring up here, but just know that 30 days really puts your back to the wall.

From a soldiers standpoint, this is more stressing thin most of the things I have done in my times of service. No longer am I being deployed as a member of a unit. Moving with people I have trained with and equipment I am familiar with. Everything will be new. I will meet new
people around every turn until I final land in the unit I will be assigned to. My best guess is it will be four months before I find a group of people that I will know long enough to become acquainted with. Wherever and whomever they may be, I hope they are well trained and
friendly.

Stay tuned as Sherri and I continue to prepare for this most unexpected event and keep you up to date as to how we are doing as well as keeping you informed of our political views. You can imagine how they may sound right about now.

Until next time, stay safe, be happy and remember, Johnny Jihad is not hiding under your bed. He is living in a cave where he belongs.

My Backdoor Draft Story (Motivation to get out and vote)

Well, here it is, three weeks before I get pulled away from my family to go serve, yet again, in the Army. You may ask yourself, "Well, what's so bad about that, you signed up for it, right?"

Well, yes I did sign up for it, but that was in 1985. Here, almost 20 years later, after serving four years on active duty, part of which was in Operation Desert Storm and 13 more years of reserve duty, I think it's time for them to leave me alone!

I chose to stop doing the reserve duty as my civilian career was taking off and I started a family. Imagine what a tailspin ones life must go into after walking away from the uniform three years earlier and having a wife and one year old daughter.

My wife has absolutely no experience with the military and can't understand how they can just say do this, and it gets done. How scary must it be for her to now face the day with our daughter alone, without help. She now must handle the two houses and all the finances we have (we're incurring a significant decrease in our income) by herself.

I must put aside a career that was just about to burst into a new and exciting direction as I am beginning to put together all the skills I have gained over the past 10 years.

My daughter must now go without a father by her side for two years now during the years when she will be learning and developing.

I make all these complaints knowing full well that there are already thousands of families in the same situation as me. Well, maybe they should all start speaking out as well.

My wife and I fully understand that John Kerry may not be the best candidate that America has ever seen, but he does offer some relief from the reign of terror that George Bush perpetuates on the American people.

Do you really believe that Johnny Jihad lives around every corner that you may turn in life? We don't! The world is no less safe than it was 15 years, 10 years, 5 years or even 6 months ago. You just think it is less safe because that is all you hear about on the news. You have been cast in fear for the past three years all while your civil rights are slowly being eroded away.

Join my wife and I in supporting John Kerry this November second. Lets begin the journey to repaired and improved international relations. A more secure feeling in our own home. The development of a plan to begin the end of the mess in Iraq and the return of all our men and women back to their families. Join us in the beginning of a new and improved America, where we can all get healthcare, not just the haves and (Bush's) have mores.

In addition, keep one thing in mind. My words don't indicate my lack of patriotism. In fact, they ring from the freedom that we sometimes take for granted that I can say how I feel. And that my friends, makes me COMPLETELY American.