Words of Wisdom From a Dear Friend

The embodiment of a true Patriot:

We believe the war in Iraq was wrong from the beginning because it is the wrong way to fight extreme ideology, which is never destroyed by missiles, planes, artillery, and tanks. We believe in resistance to terror and resistance to those who threaten the "blessings of Liberty", but refuse to give up our Liberties in the process. We do not believe the Iraqi war was necessary to secure our liberty but rather that our security resides in the strength of our Constitutional ideals and our willingness to preserve them.
Being an American patriot has always involved the pledge of "...our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor..." but it does not include the sacrifice of our blood on the altar of war profiteering and greed!

--Judson Malone

Iraq Veterans Against the War - Winter Soldier March

"These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it NOW, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."
--Thomas Paine

Winter Soldiers march to Valley Forge

Dozens of members of IVAW participated in a 25-mile march in Philadelphia from March 1-2, starting at the Constitution Center and ending at Valley Forge. In spirit, Valley Forge is the first Winter Soldier event. "230 years ago, a group of soldiers gathered at Valley Forge to stand up against oppression on behalf of their people. And we aim to do the same here today," said Steve Mortillo, president of the Philadelphia chapter of IVAW and former Calvary Scout in Iraq.
Read the Philadelphia Daily News' coverage of the Valley Forge March

This march is leading up to the main event to be held from March 13-16th, U.S. veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan will testify to what is really happening day in and day out, on the ground in these occupations. To provide a preview, we've created this short film. The film features three members who will be testifying at Winter Soldier and includes videos and photographs of Iraq from their deployments. This video contains graphic content. We need your support to help make Winter Soldier a success.
Find out more about Winter Soldier.


Folks,
I have met both IVAW and VVAW members. They have a very compelling story to tell and they deserve to be heard. They all have served their country and at least deserve your attention. Or are you going to dish out the same disrespect that was shamefully done to our boys returning from Vietnam? I am certain that they are upholding their oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. More so now than when they were in country. Sunshine Patriots they are not!

Andy
Desert Storm Veteran, Sgt, USAF

The War In Iraq: A Soldiers Perspective

From the page: "I think this is a must see video. It was created by U.S. Army Specialist Colby Buzzell and details the events of a battle in Iraq. His drawings are well done and his story well told."

Putting it in a shoe box may work for now... PTSD manifests itself in many ways. Sometime years later. This is an excellent animation video showing what it's like to 'go on a patrol' in Iraq. This needs to be put into a full feature production. Let's just hear it from their perspective, without all the propaganda for or against the war. We Americans owe our veterans the honor of understanding what they have and are going through over there. More importantly, to remember them when Congress votes to cut veteran's benefits.

Why am I not surprised?

	I received 78 credits on The Sci Fi Sounds Quiz How much of a Sci-Fi geek are you?
Guess the Sci-Fi Movie Sounds hereCanon powershot

IMG_0480

IMG_0480, originally uploaded by androidny.

This is Jenny O'Connor, a Celtic music performer from the group E Muzeki at the Texas Renaissance Festival near Conroe, TX. She played as beautifully as she looked. Wifey had to slap me several times to stop drooling as I zoomed in too closely..."

9th Grade Science Lab Epiphany

Not to rain on anyone's parade after the recent Bush referendum, but there's a threat looming on the not to distant horizon that scares the dog pee-pee out of me. It's not anthropogenic warming, peak oil, or even Armageddon. One day in 9th grade biology, my class was studying bacteria cultures where I placed three spots of bacteria in a nutrient rich petri dish. I observed the colonies bloom after what initially seemed like not much happening. Before I knew it, the entire dish was filled edge to middle with the little critters. Then all of a sudden the entire colony died. It wasn't lack of food, they had more than they could hope to eat. What killed them was each other through the antigens they produced themselves! Extinction due to overcrowding. Even though I was only a 15 year-old, I got what the implications were. We humans are no different than bacteria as far as population in a confined space is. When I was in that class, in 1975,  the world population was about 4 billion. It's now 6.5 billion! My question is this: How long can humanity survive in this proverbial petri dish we call Earth before we destroy each other just like the bacteria in that science experiment? I've come to the conclusion that overpopulatoion is the root cause of the problems we are to face in the future. Anthropogenic warming, peak oil, religious extremism, pandemics, are all just symptoms of the geatest threat to humanity since GeeDuhbya. We've been warned many times by those evil scinetists that this was coming. Unfortunately, our elected officials only think as far ahead as the next election. Unless that process changes, nature will take its course and correct the situation for us. Nature doesn't really care what we do or believe.

---

"Which is the greater danger - nuclear warfare or the population explosion? The latter absolutely! To bring about nuclear war, someone has to DO something; someone has to press a button. To bring about destruction by overcrowding, mass starvation, anarchy, the destruction of our most cherished values-there is no need to do anything. We need only do nothing except what comes naturally - and breed. And how easy it is to do nothing."

--Dr. Isaac Asimov, biochemist and science writer (in this 1966 interview he predicted that world population would reach 6 billion around 2000. Most leaders dismissed his prediction as outrageous. Population passed 6 billion in 1999.)

Once again a contribution from Dave:

A few months ago I attended a presentation by a retired petroleum geologist of considerable ability and even greater ego. He is now a consulting geologist to two of our area Groundwater Conservations Districts. His presentation dealt with the incredibly complex and varied geology and, importantly, hydrology down here on the Edwards Plateau. To draw attention to the impact of homo sapiens on the water resources, he opened with a graph depicting said population over the species existence. The line was almost flat until a point on the far right of the graph when it suddenly went all most vertical. He then asked, "Does anyone know what year that is", as he pointed to the "knee" of that curve? "1859, the year oil was discovered in Pennsylvania."

He then said he did not expect that the projections of 14 billion people by 21xx wouold ever occur, "we'll blow ourselves up first." He concluded the presentation with a Hubbert's Peak graph of global oil production. "$8.00 a gallon in my life time", said the mid-late 60s scientist.

dave

Life: Explained

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

"Not very long," answered the Mexican.

"But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. I have a full life."

The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."

"And after that?" asked the Mexican.

"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."

"How long would that take?" asked the Mexican.

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied the American.

"And after that?"

"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting," answered the American, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the Mexican.

"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."

And the moral of this story is: ......... Know where you're going in life... you may already be there.

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