Erbil Notes

Settling in Sateside--End of this Chapter

2009-07-11T01:40:00.003+03:00

Hi folks!

(Earlier version of this post forgot to mention that my I-pod dried out after two days and now works fine...Yay!)

Well, it doesn't seem appropriate to continue blogging under this title any longer, since I am not, and likely will not be, in Erbil anymore.

My time there was up, and nothing special was cooking back in my company's HQ, so I am a free agent now. We shall see what happens.

I suppose, if time permits, I will start up another blog with a different title and address. It's good for the psyche to write, keep a record of good (and bad) jokes, and have something to jog my memory as to what happened when...for a possible book.

I will post something here for those that wish to follow along, once I set it up.

Peace and Love to all!

Time to rest

2009-06-22T13:19:00.002+03:00

Hi Folks!

Dunno which time of year you like to rest....but I do it in the summer. It's usually to hot to go outside, and I just like to stay in the A/C and sleep, eat, and watch TV in my free time.

Swimming is nice, but I've not been a big success at that lately.

Maybe I will read a book this summer, or write one and surprise you all!

In any case, I'll go to a couple of concerts, and a couple of soccer games, and have a great time with my kiddos.

Love and Peace to all!

Father's Day

2009-06-21T08:38:00.003+03:00

Hi Folks!

Today is Father's Day in the US. Not sure how it is celebrated here. I don't think there is Hallmark.

I thank God for my Dad, and for the opportunity to be a father to two wonderful kiddos. I wish I didn't have to be away from them for so many months of the year, but at least we'll be together for almost a month this summer. We will run and play and be happy together, unless it gets too hot at Grandma and Grandpa's house, in which case we'll go out to the movies, or to the pool....anything to have fun with my kiddos.

This may not be the last post from Erbil, but it's certainly getting near to the last post.

In other news:

Freaky thing happened yesterday. I went to soccer practice with the Blue Angels, and after that I had a songwriting session with my friend Deon, who has been helping me put some melodies to the words I write.

Anyhoo, as we were inside playing, it began to rain hard, and hail....never seen it here before. Well, I had just ditched my backpack in the courtyard of the house, thinking I'd grab it on the way down to dinner, but oops....my i-pod was in the outside pocket.

So my i-pod got soaked....I understand that it can be restored once it dries out. We shall see--Rozhek debini in Kurdish.

Only a few more days to go until I leave Erbil (AKA Evil). I have really enjoyed writing in this space. Gave me something to do when I was lonely, bored, or underutilized at work. LOL

Anyone who reads this knows that it's probably a good idea to get out of here. I am just not built for this kind of isolation. It was good while it lasted, but I'll be glad to be home.

With my Dad (not on Father's Day, but soon after) and with my Mom (not on Mother's Day, not even close), and my wonderful kiddos.

And with my brothers, who are all geniuses in their respective fields. I like to live among geniuses.

May all the Fathers, the Dads, the Peperes, the Grandpaps, and all of the folks that coach and minister in other ways to kids, be blessed today!

Love and Peace to all!

Got my Sh*t packed!

2009-06-17T14:52:00.002+03:00

Hi Folks!

It's done, 4 trunks of crap are out the door!

Yay!

Now, I just have to drag the rest of the crap with me in my luggage. Should be manageable.

Love and Peace to all!

Two weeks to Wapner

2009-06-17T06:26:00.003+03:00

Hi Folks!

It's getting close to the end of this Erbil adventure. I can't change the name of the blog, but soon the 'notes' will not be from Erbil anymore.

Not sure if I'll keep it up once I am back in the States. Of course, once I am there, there will be little of interest for most of the non-readers, let alone the dedicated readers (LOL).

Anyway, I will be in my own home in two weeks, wrapping up some administrative stuff at work and then blowing off the world for a month to hang out with my kiddos. Soccer games, barbecues, beach, maybe an amusement park, and just fun with family. Sounds like a plan!

Love and Peace to all!

Wednesday Legs

2009-06-16T22:36:00.002+03:00

Hi Folks!

Despite all the training, push-ups and sit-ups, soccer every day, I still have Wednesday legs. A South African friend said this to me. 'Wednesday legs'? What's that?

'When's dey gonna break?'

Hmmm, guess that means they are too skinny.

Better to be kids than to be old men

2009-06-16T10:54:00.002+03:00

Hi Folks!

I am always amazed at how my Dad plays with my kids. Even in his rocking chair, he manages to wrestle with D-Bop, or tickle Deborah.

When we were kids, we were big-time pyros. There are lots of guns around here and a lot of ammo, too. But the coolest trick is to lay a cheap Chinese lighter out in the direct sunlight at about 120 degrees, and wait for it to cook off. I know my military friends have seen far better detonations, and some of them have lost limbs or eyes in the process....and I have a great deal of respect for them.

So we have set up two Chinese lighter bombs to see what will happen.

My boss will probably run screaming for the first armored car. I will sit down and laugh my ass off, and then take the second armored car.

Love and Peace to all!

When I leave, who will coach the Blue Angels?

2009-06-16T09:50:00.002+03:00

Hi Folks,

Iraq recently tied Bafana Bafana (South African national team). Their keeper was amazing, but they could not strike. 0-0 was the score. Well done by Iraq.

As for my young Blue Angels:

Big question on my mind....who will coach the team?

There are a couple of bigger boys that come to play, but they get in fights. Christians vs. Muslims.

It makes me angry, and sad, and I cry when I think about my field becoming a battle-ground for this type of nonsense.

I told them if they fight on my field, I will pour gasoline (petrol) on it and destroy it.

I won't really do it, but I want to when they fight.

Probably, I will hand over the whistle to the oldest boy who comes regularly. Here, you are the coach. You are the hakam (referee in Arabic). Take my whistles, and my red and yellow cards, dear boy, and be a big brother to your friends. I will just have to get clearance for them to use the field inside the compound every day.

These are my Blue Angels, and they may produce some of Iraq's greatest footballers ever.

Time will tell. They need coaching, space, and a chance to prove themselves, just like all of us.

Love and Peace to all.

I'm leavin' on an Airbus!

2009-06-11T10:39:00.000+03:00

Hi folks!

Jeepers, Airbus has had some major problems these last few days!

Luckily my flight out of Iraq to Vienna is all over land.

I will be over the ocean on a good-old-fashioned Boeing.

I hope my kiddos are not on an Airbus over the Atlantic when they come to the States.

Love and Peace to all!

A year before 40

2009-06-10T13:01:00.002+03:00

Hi folks,

Jeepers, it's a year before forty. Yup, turning 39 today.

I can't say it's a lot of fun, as my muscles and joints are starting to rust.

I AM getting a bit better at writing songs and just hanging out and telling jokes. My jokes aren't alwasys great, but I we'll see. I think I will do a better job once I get home and get the requisite amount of sleep....

You should have noticed that on here by now....don't worry, we'll make up the damage

In any case, 40 is a big stretch. You have to realize that at 40 you have basicallylived half of your life. What are you going to do with the other half? Think about it little man? Big money don't count for a happy life, I'm sayin' big money don't count for a happy life, a little man with a big heart make a happy wife. (Lila Downs, Little Man).

Big money don't count for a happy life......

May God's peace be with you as I touch the threshhold of 40 years. It's amazing I lasted this long.

Love and Peace to all!

Rick

Unripe Raspberries

2009-06-08T13:50:00.002+03:00

Hi folks!

As I promised, a bonus day. There may be one more coming, can you believe it?

Umm, how to say this gracefully??? Don't eat unripe raspberries because they give you the shits.

That's about as good as I can put it.

The Baji [auntie] that normally brings me fruit and other Kurdish stuff for breakfast brought me a plate of unripe raspberries today.....you can't say no, thanks.... They are tasty, but my colon is feeling a bit funny.....the peaches were good, but the white raspberries are another thing altogether. Tasty, but runny.

So I am feeling a little liquidity in my gut right now, if you know what I mean. Also known as 'faucet ass'.

There will be more to come. (Man I crack myself up sometimes.)

Stay tuned.

Love and Peace to all!

The heat is on

2009-06-07T08:34:00.002+03:00

Hi folks!

It's getting hot here in the land of sand. It's over 80 degrees Fahrenheit at 0900. Forecast for the rest of the week says we'll be over 100 every day, with no rain in sight.

Great weather for snakes and scorpions.

For some reason, last year, when I first got here, I wasn't that worried about them.

Now, when I am down to a few weeks before kick-off, I am more concerned. Even in a second-floor room, I shake out my boots every morning before putting them on. Call it paranoia, or a foot-fetish, or whatever, but I'd like to go home with feet that fit in my shoes and not some swollen stub. Luckily we have some highly-toxic powder strung out on the edges of our office compound, but that may be worse than just getting bit or stung and getting it over with.

In other news.....

I got the most delicious potato chips from somewhere--they have been sitting in my office for weeks and I never opened them until today. I forget where I bought them....

Lays, with balsamic vinegar and oriental spices. I realize it's all MSG, but they are so good.

There goes my sodium quota for today. And tomorrow.

DC United is hanging tough near the top of the chart for their division, just three points behind the arch-rival Chicago Fire.

Team USA is faltering a bit in their bid for a World Cup final berth...now sitting behind Costa-Rica in a division in which they had earlier held a commanding lead. I hope it's because so many of the first-team players are busy with MLS or other team commitments. Can't be that Bruce Arena (the famed coach from UVA who took them to several NCAA championships) has lost his spark!

I really like the guy and think he's a good coach. When I was doing therapy on my knee in the old Scott Stadium at UVA, Arena was either assistant head coach or head coach. He was a really nice guy. Used to check up on the players every day in the therapy rooms (and he even rode the bike with me one day)....he won't remember, but I do.

Vamos Team USA!

World Cup 2010...gotta get there, gotta be there.

Today is a bonus day, because I started this one yesterday and didn't have time to finish it....but look for the second installment.....

Our internet sucks today at the office, so my lunch-break message may have to wait until I get home. This really sucks.

Love and Peace to all!

Memere's Birthday

2009-06-06T13:01:00.002+03:00

Hi folks!

My Nana's funeral was the other day, and my Memere's birthday was yesterday, and Pushkin's birthday is also today. And my birthday is in 4 days. Wow....the cycle goes on.

Anyway, Pushkin was the greatest poet and storyteller in the 1800s in Russia, and died in 1837. All Russians love Pushkin. He was not political, not too religious, but he spoke to the soul of the great Russian people.

The following is a poem by the great Pushkin that maybe works with the current things happening in the hearts of the family after Nana's death.

Imitation

I saw the Death, and she was sitting
By quiet entrance at my own home,
I saw the doors were opened to my tomb,
And there, and there my hope was a-flitting.
I'll die, and traces of my past
In days of future will never be sighted,
The look of my eyes never delighted.
My dear gaze, is my existence at last.

Farewell the somber world, where, precipice above,
My gloomy road was a-steering.
Where life for me was never cheering.
Where I was loving, without needing to love.
The dazzling heavens' azure curtain,
Beloved hills, the brook's enchanting dance
You! Mourn--the inspiration's chance.
You, peaceful shades of wilderness, uncertain,
And all, farewell, farewell at once.

Anyhoo, this is all Pushkin, translated by Yevgeney Bonver, and with a little editing by me to make it sound better, but I am really puzzled why he chose the word Imitation as a title. Perhaps Imitation of Christ as someone slides into death, but clearly it's a death poem.

I have seen too much death here and in Bosnia, because of war, and in Ghana, Burkina, India, because of malnutrition, natural disaster, etc.; I don't like to think about it anymore. Hopefully my own will come without announcing its approach.

Here I sit and I forgot Memere's birthday, and have a lot of work to do to wrap up here in Iraq and pack up my you-know-what, and arrange to move it all home.....It's too early to call Memere, so I will hold off on that, but it looks like she was born on the same day Nana was buried....only 80 something years apart.

My grandmothers have been wonderful to me over my 39 years (yes, in 4 days it's 39). I have loved them both dearly and hope to meet them in heaven when I go there.....if I make it there....I am sure Nana and Memere will help with a ladder from the other side of the wall if that becomes necessary!!! Maybe even a full-scale siege-engine to punch a hole in the wall for me to get there to be with them.

I will surely call Memere today to wish her a belated Happy Birthday. I totally forgot it was so close to mine.

Love and Peace, and Pushkin, to all!

Fun, Fun, Fun

2009-06-05T04:51:00.002+03:00

Hi folks!

Here's a little jingle I scribbled out today.

For those who don't remember earlier posts, T-Walls are 12-16 foot reinforced blast walls, with a foot at the bottom, so that they resemble an upside-down T. They are used around all the compounds and government installations here.

Enjoy!

Fun, Fun, Fun
After the Beach Boys

Well, we got our armored car
And we cruised to the shawarma stand now
Seems we forgot our flak jackets
Like we promised the man now
And with the radio squawking
We go cruising just as fast as we can now

And we’ll have fun, fun, fun
Till our daddy takes the T-walls away
Yeah we’ll have fun, fun, fun
Till our daddy takes the T-walls away

Well the Kurds can’t stand us
Cause we cruise all over their space now
(all over their space now, all over their space)
We make the Indy 500 come right up into their face now
(right up to their face now, right up to their face)
The bomb-chuckers try to catch us
But we lead them on a wild goose chase now
(right up to their face, right up to their face)

And we’ll have fun, fun, fun
Till our daddy takes the T-walls away

Well we knew all along
That the AKs weren’t much use now
(weren’t much use now, they weren’t much use)
And since they took our RPGs
We’ve been thinking that the fun is all through now
(weren’t much use now, they weren’t much use)

But you can ride along with us
Cause we ain’t got much to do now

And we’ll have fun, fun, fun
Till our daddy takes the T-walls away.

Love and Peace to all!

20 Years

2009-06-04T19:28:00.002+03:00

Hi folks!

Today marks 20 years since Tiananmen Square, and also 20 years since the transition in Poland.

What a strange juxtaposition of events.

A massacre of students and others asking their government to pursue democratic reforms, and the victory of Solidarity over the Communist system.

Beijing was horrible. Warsaw was beautiful.

Twenty years on, Poland is an EU member, and a strong ally of the US, while China is still suffering, despite the localized economic growth. And they are pressing their strong shoulder in support of North Korea.

The Poles have shown the possibilities when people join together to demand reform. China has capitulated to the heavy-handed, closed-minded, system of centralized rule. I hope and pray that the millions of Chinese will soon escape from the tyranny, and the regime will wither and fall off the vine.

Just a few thoughts on this anniversary.

Love and Peace to all!

Homeward Bound

2009-06-03T11:10:00.002+03:00

Hi folks!

Simon and Garfunkle's concert in Central Park was a bad choice for the ride in to work today.

I was fine with Mrs. Robinson, from the Dustin Hoffman movie, The Graduate, but lost it on Homeward Bound. That song just tore me apart. I am homeward bound, but not in a way that I would choose.

Few songs later it hits on a lot of notes that resonate with me.

What was amazing as I listened was the synchronization between Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, singing in perfect rhythm and harmony. Live, they played even better than the Beatles. I know that is blasphemy, but they were spot on with their singing.

This may be the best live recording I have heard.

Love and Peace to all!

23 Days to Wapner

2009-06-03T10:25:00.002+03:00

Hi Folks!

Wow, it really has become bonus day. Hope I haven't made you bored yet.

Well there are 23 days to go before I leave this fine city of Erbil for good. I will be pretty busy over those days, at work and at home--packing up my stuff and getting ready to ship out.

Also have to do some financial planning for the future. Probably going to buy a house in S. Texas and then rent it to a family I know. I figure the market now is so on the side of buyers that you cannot ignore the investment opportunity while you have the capital and a pre-approval from the bank.

23 Days to Wapner comes from the movie Rain Man, in which Dustin Hoffman played an autistic guy (at the time called 'idiot savant'), who always counted his time in terms of the time to the next episode of 'The Peoples' Court', with Judge Wapner presiding.

Just a way my kids and I started to count time, once I introduced them to the idea.

So it's 23 days to Wapner, and I am pretty happy!

I hope I can still pay my bills without having to tap my daddy for a loan in the meantime.

HMMMM Did I ever pay off the last one? Did any one of us pay off the debts we owe to our parents?

Something to think about.

Love and Peace to all!

My Nana has died

2009-06-03T09:36:00.002+03:00

Hi folks!

I just got word yesterday that my grandmother, on my dad's side, Nana, has passed away. I think she was 83 or 84. I remember her 80th birthday a few years back.

Anyway, this was one of the strongest women I have ever met, and her life story may be the reason why I have so much respect for all the women I meet professionally and personally. She was a single mom, and put her kids through school working nights, or whatever was necessary to raise them.

My dad is the product of this woman's effort to make a life for her kids that would be better than her own. And those of us who have descended from this effort have enjoyed a better and better life as we now grow older. We all appreciate the time and tears that were spent with a view toward the future....to us.

And now she's gone. I cry with my dad and all of the family. Even though I cannot be at the funeral because it's kind of far to fly to Pittsburgh from Erbil.

I wrote a couple of songs to get my feelings out, because my shrink says that's the way to go when under severe stress.

I must give credit to my favorite cartoonist, Stephan Pastis, who does Pearls Before Swine, for the inspiration for the first one I will share.....the other one is just from me.

Nana used to tease us when we were kids....She would say "Pull my finger" and then launch a ripper. Well pull my finger and see if this stuff stinks......

No Climbing on the Wall

Intro.
Insh’allah
I won’t have to climb up that wall
Insh’allah,
There will be nothing to fear at all

V1
The gates of heaven stand before us
We’ve got nothing left to say
The paths we’ve tread, the lives we’ve led
Speak in their own way.

And it’s too late to restore us.
And it’s hard to ignore us.

Ref.
Let the good Saint Peter beware,
We’re gonna get in there
‘Cuz there’s nothing like the fear of hell,
Nothing but the screams
That take up all your dreams.

V2
We’re gonna climb the walls to heaven
‘Cuz we know that God’s in there
We’re gonna sit down, take the crown
And take the highest chairs

At the table of the king
Like the prodigal with his ring

Bridge:
My God if I offend you
It ain’t because I’m meanin’ to.
Just that every time I turn around
Somebody’s beat me down
And I want to get there before him.

V3
If you can’t make it I have a ladder.
Or maybe you just have to dream harder.
The path to the kingdom is a narrow road
And you’ll be bearing a heavy load.

At the table of the king
Like the prodigal with his ring.

Ref.

Coda:
Let St. Peter man the gate
But we’re not gonna wait
We’ll climb the walls,
We’ll climb the walls,
Into heaven.

Farewell My Nana

There are no words to describe
And there’s nowhere I can hide

V1
You made my daddy who he was to me
You made my dear daddy bold enough to see
Through the pain and the fog
And he’s given all he could give to me

Ref.

You made my daddy,
You made my soul,
Please let me help you,
Help you climb the wall,
Into heaven.

V2.
We’ve all got puppets and Barbie dolls,
But Nana you were real.
Always gentle always kind,
Despite some wrong ideas,
You always had your mind.
Until you lost it.
Stolen by the sickness,
I love you, I love you in my weakness.

V3
I think there’s a place for you, waiting up above
And the only ones who ever get in,
are those who live in love.
So go lightly, go lightly with the Lord
You fear no more sorrow
And you do not fear the sword.

Bridge:

May you be blessed with the rest of the weary
The rest of us are stressed with eyes that are teary.
Build for us a bridge to the kingdom
Our souls may be lost
But we don’t yet know the cost.

Ref.

V4
Take your place at the table,
The banquet promised us in the Bible.
Sleep the sweet sleep of saints above,
And know that we surround you with our love.
You made my daddy, and this man is still here yet,
And as far as my Nana goes, I never will forget.

Ref.

Bridge

Ref.

Coda:
The end is always near
Some say there’s nothing to fear
But on that day
Are you sure you can just get away?

Sometimes you just gotta get words on paper, or else go crazy. Maybe I have already reached that point and it's a war of attrition. I hope not.

Anyway, I promised it would be a bonus day!

Love and Peace to All! Pray for my Nana, may she rest in peace!

Vipers, real and metaphorical

2009-06-03T08:58:00.003+03:00

Hi folks!

Today will be a bonus day with two or more special blogs to keep you on your toes.

I will begin with the viper story, the Kurdistan Viper we killed yesterday morning outside the office. Actually the Pesh-Merga guard found it early in the morning and maimed it pretty well before I got to work, but I finished it off with my handy-dandy leatherman.

These are some of the most poisonous snakes in the world, but they are not big like cobras or rattlers. They sneak into small places and wait for their food. Or they hide just underneath the sand of the desert, and strike from there. They don't pose much of a threat to people, as a rule, because they normally hunt at night. But if they get agitated in the daytime they do not run away....they go for it with gusto.

This guy was still struggling to get us even after his head had been pretty well beaten in with the butt of an AK. I then cut it off to take him out of his misery.

You can see him here:

Kurdistan Viper (Vipera raddei kurdistanica)
Range and preferred habitats: In Iraq, this species is known to occur only in a small region of the northeast. The Kurdistan viper is a montane species that prefers rocky slopes in higher elevations (4,000 feet plus).
General description: This species is gray or grayish brown with a row of orange to yellowish spots along the back, often forming a zigzag pattern. Average lengths measure 2 to 3 feet, and a shieldlike scale protrusion extends over each eye.

If you like to study snakes, look no further than the world of government contracting.

It is so fraught with the blame game, that many people, who are actually good at what they do, spend most of their time defending themselves against bullshit, and end up flinging poo like the monkeys in the movie Madagascar. No wonder so little actual work gets done.

The ones who have achieved their position by hiding in the sand and waiting for the small creatures to pass by, I call Vipers.

Like the Kurdistan Viper above, I am sure they will get their comeuppance.

Meanwhile, my advice is to steer clear of the places where the Vipers hide, and always wear thick boots.

Love and Peace to all!

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T17:06:00.003+03:00

Hi Folks!

What is there to say? Today is Memorial Day and no time for silly humor or the banter that sometimes appears in this space.

Please take a moment today to thank the men and women of our country's forces who have given their dedicated service, and sometimes their lives, so that we, even in the difficult economic times we face, can enjoy the prosperity of our beautiful and free nation.

To my Dad, my grandfathers, and to all the guys I met in Bosnia and here in Iraq.....I hope you never have to see another flag draped on a coffin. And to the women who have supported all of them, I hope that when you ultimately receive a triangle of red-white-and-blue, that it will be a good reminder of the dedication and service these men have displayed, and never bring you grief, but pride when you look upon it.

I will never have a flagged-draped coffin, or General Pershing's backwards boots, but I have seen enough of them--rather not see one from the inside. God bless the women and men who have given, and still give their bodies, minds, and spirits in defense of our nation.

Love and Peace to all.

The queen and the Blue Angels

2009-05-24T13:44:00.004+03:00

Hi Folks,

Marie Antoinette is supposed by some to have once said, as she paraded through the Paris streets thronged with beggars and widows with small children: "Let them eat cake."

She later lost her head. In a literal sense.

That was 1793, and this is now.

I say, "Let them eat grass!"

The Blue Angels are certainly not beggars or widows' children, as can be clearly ascertained by the pounds they have put on their little bodies during the off-season.

We're two days into training for summer, and already some of them are panting before they even reach the field. Not to mention the coach....

Anyway, they are doing their push-ups and sit-ups and squat-thrusts with much more gusto and good form than a year ago, when this whole thing began. They are fewer, and, thus more easy to control, and the ones who have shown up so far are the most disciplined.

However, once word gets out about the field trip I have planned for them to the College of Sports and Fitness, I am sure the ranks will swell again. Even a 12-year-old boy can appreciate a 22-year-old female volleyball player.

Looks like my remaining time here is rather limited due to some organizational issues.....so I need to get them fit and hand over the reins to someone else.

Still working on the latter issue.

In the meantime.....neigh! The grass is green and ready for grazing.

Love and Peace to all!

For Argument's sake

2009-05-21T00:25:00.002+03:00

Hi folks,

For the sake of argument, let's say you have two friends who each can't stand the other?

If you like to the play the diplomat, you invite both of them for a pint and try to loosen them up.

If you play the realist, you choose which one will me more useful to you in the future, and then make allegiance with him to screw the other guy.

Is that a way to live?

I only pose the questions, I don't have the answers!

Love and Peace to All!

You can't make up this stuff

2009-05-21T00:03:00.002+03:00

Hi Folks,

I have begun serious work on a book I am planning to publish somehow......

Working title was 'You Can't Make This Shit Up', but I have decided to make it 'stuff' instead.

So the new title will be 'You Can't Make This Stuff Up'--A long journey of a madman in a sad world.

I will include a lot of stories from my travels, my growing up, my attempt at adulthood and married life, and my addictions, and the various things that have been tried to make me 'normal'.

I will also, inevitably, tell you about the amazing things that I have participated in during my work, and the many people who have been developed into mature professionals thanks to the projects we worked on together. Maybe something about the factories we re-engaged in Bosnia to make clothes, shoes, pasta, bread, etc.......

I may also tell you about the earthquake in Bhuj, when I nearly crapped my pants before I got out of the building. I had some wonderful colleagues there, whose names I cannot recall, but I know they will remember me, as the first sight they had that early morning as they came in from their tents was me running out of the building with a pale, blood-ridden face, shaking in fright at the aftershock.

Unfortunately, dear friends, you will have to buy the the book, because, without a publisher's advance, I can't give away free copies.

I am sure you will enjoy it, once it is written.

If you want an advance copy, with author signature, you are out of luck, or simply SOL as we say here in Iraq.

If you have about $20K and want to start a publishing venture, please contact me!

LOL

Sometimes I crack myself up.

Love and Peace to All!

The bucket of coins....or the bucket of bullets

2009-05-20T11:39:00.003+03:00

Hi folks!

I was just talking to my psychotherapist yesterday and, well, we got to talking, which is pretty much what you do when you are with a psychopath....er, I mean psychologist.

Together, we boiled all my problems down a very simple analogy:

Let's say you go out one fine morning with a bucket of all the small change that has been accumulating in your pockets, on your dresser, in your washing machine....wherever....

The idea is to carry this bucket to the bank, and put into one of those coin-sorter machines and get the amount credited to your bank account.

But on this particular fine morning, the first person you meet is a beggar asking for a few bucks to get something to eat.

The next person you meet is the widow next door who has three kids and is not sure she can afford shoes for the new school year.

Then you meet the priest, who runs the local food pantry and is out of spaghetti noodles and rice.

Finally, rounding the corner to the street where the bank is located, you spot a young boy feeding a cat from his hand, but he hasn't got enough for the other cats that are in the neighborhood.

At the bank, you proudly approach the teller window to get your deposit done.

"Sir, I am afraid there is no money in this bucket."

Time to get a balance transfer, and stop carrying buckets of coins when you go out on fine mornings.

There is another, similar, story, about a bucket of bullets.

In some places in the world, when you leave home in the fine morning, you are not carrying a laptop, a peanut-butter sandwich, and a bucket of coins. You are carrying a scrap of bread, an AK-47, and a bucket of bullets.

When you see the beggar outside your place, you only spend one bullet.

When you meet the widow, you need 4 bullets.

The priest is old, so a rifle-butt to the head will suffice.....no need to spend a bullet.

The kid and the cats can be quickly dispatched with a big spray of automatic.

When you finally get to the bank, with your bucket of bullets, you realize it is still half-full. So why not pop in another mag and see if anyone left a bag of coins this fine morning.

Call me wrong, but I'd rather have the empty bucket of coins than the half-full bucket of bullets, even if I have to suffer a bit in the process.

Didn't Jesus ask us to renounce all worldly things and seek solace with him?

My shrink thinks that I need to focus more on me and not others, and keep some coins in the bucket, so that when I get to the bank I have something to offer.

But then again, it's just going to be handed over to a half-blind, half-deaf, illiterate, who, on this fine morning, is more concerned with the crappy manicure she got yesterday, and will probably misplace half the money and mistake the account number.

I'd rather give it to the widow. Well, come to think of it, if the widow has a bank account number that is close to mine, she might benefit after all.......

Have a fine morning.

Love and Peace to All!

Hot and getting hotter

2009-05-16T10:57:00.005+03:00

Hi folks!

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted on here.

I must say it has been heating up around here, and I don't just mean politics!

The weather is getting really warm. I am aching for the soccer field. My knee is much better, and hopefully will stay that way for at least a few months. The kids have been asking when we are going to start training....I guess I need to do a few weeks of fitness with them before we actually start scrimmages.

We will be on the field as soon as possible, but may need to give it one more mow before we hit the turf. My friend Tommy got us a lawnmower, so now we are pretty self-sufficient when it comes to that. After all, when you work 12 hours per day, six days per week, what could be more relaxing than cutting the grass at freaking 5:30 AM just to make noise and wake up the people who stay in our house and don't have to go to work until 9:30 or 10.

Man, I am jaded.

I guess it's the DNA.

Hope all are well!

Love and Peace to all!

God and Groceries, Part II

2009-04-19T06:06:00.004+03:00

Hi Folks,

As I finished the last post, I was reminded of something from my childhood. Probably should have included it in the original post, but did not want to change it because my subscribers get automatic notices with each post.

Anyway, when I was about 12 or 13, our Boy Scout troop worked at the Salvation Army one Saturday before Thanksgiving, putting donated food into bags for the poor folks in Mt. Clemens, Michigan. Our job was to put the stuff into the bags, based on the size of the family.

Now, some people would show up with six kids in tow, and when you talked to them, you realized that not all of the kids were their own. My job was to stuff the bags with the allotted amount of groceries per family, but I could never tell how big the family actually was.

There is a philosophical dilemma here--with limited resources (the donated food)--do you err on the side of giving one or two, or three families more than they are supposed to get, and at the end of the day, you have to turn people away because you have run out of stuff?

Another dilemma happened that day. How do you treat a middle-aged African American mother who comes with four kids, ranging from about 3 to about 15, and complains that she doesn't like Libby's canned green beans....she wants Green Giant? And she doesn't want store-brand rice, she wants Uncle Ben's?

Only a few years later, I was managing food programs for victims of the war in Bosnia (all sides) and impoverished people in Africa, and then in the aftermath of the 2001 earthquake in Buj, India. No one there ever questioned the brand of food they were getting. They just shook my hand and said........."Thank you."

Love and Peace to all!

God and Groceries

2009-04-19T05:32:00.002+03:00

Hi folks,

I promised more jokes, but it's hard to find clean ones in the Caveman environment. Luckily, I recently read a book that ties the various philosophical tenets to common jokes. It's called "Plato and a Platypus walk into a Bar...", by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein.

So, anyway, there was this very religious elderly Catholic lady, who used to rise early and go out to her porch with her coffee, or sometimes walk around the neighborhood with her dog, named Zippy. As she sat there in reflection, or exercised her legs, she would exclaim "Praise the Lord!!!!".

Her next-door neighbor, who just moved in, is an atheist. He comes out every morning and shouts "There is no God!!!"

This goes on for weeks: "Praise the Lord"....."There is no God"

So anyway, the little old Catholic lady ran into some financial trouble because she had given all of the life-insurance money she got when her husband died to the Sisters of Charity.

She ended up without enough money to pay for food. So, she prayed to God to help her get something to eat. "Praise the Lord!!!!"

Anyway, the next morning she goes out to take a walk with Zippy, and she sees two bags full of canned goods, coffee, rice, juice, tomato sauce and a cooler full of frozen ground beef and chicken on her front porch.

"Praise the Lord! He has answered my plea!!!"

Then the atheist neighbor jumped out from behind the hedge and says, "Ha! I bough the groceries for you because I knew you were having trouble....you see there is no God."

So the next morning, the lady, with a full belly, and a fresh cup of coffee, comes out on her porch.
"Praise the Lord.....thank you God. Not only did you provide for me, but you made Satan pay for the groceries!!!!"

Love and Peace to all!

The week from heck

2009-04-19T04:34:00.002+03:00

Hi folks,

Sorry for not posting anything since Easter. It's been a rough week.

When we switched accounting systems, I was given the impression that the data we upload to the home office twice per month would be sufficient for their review purposes. This was not the case, however, when the auditors came to visit. So, I have spent most of the last week and all of yesterday photocopying, hole-punching, stapling, and filing original vouchers into binders to ship off to Washington, DC.

My hands are raw from handling all the dry paper, and my back aches from leaning over the copier, stapler, hole puncher, and stacks of vouchers.

It's funny in a way, because I requested, and had support for an accounting assistant, back in October of last year. And now, the very people who did not move on the recruitment of the Accounting Assistant are the ones threatening my job if we don't get this done today!

Well, we got it done yesterday and all of the paperwork is on its way by DHL to Washington.

Insh'allah it will get there in time to quell the angry mobs.

Would love to post a bunch of jokes, but that will have to wait until next time, as I am bushed, need a shower, and I can't find my joke book!

Love and Peace to all!

The Easter Bunny with a short tail

2009-04-14T06:41:00.004+03:00

Hi Folks,

Hope everyone had a happy Easter.

Now, the man in the picture does not normally resemble a rabbit. However, the timing was right and his smile as captured here is quite rabbit-like.

This is my friend, Caveman Joe, who is in charge of our security service here in Erbil. He's from South Africa. There is an interesting article at the following link regarding the situation facing white South Africans in today's political environment.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/13/AR2009041302994.html?nav=hcmoduletmv

In any case, I'll be heading south for World Cup 2010.

Vamos USA!

Love and Peace to all!

Easter in Erbil

2009-04-12T06:38:00.003+03:00

Publish Post

Hi folks!

I normally don't start my posts with complaints, but today I must make an exception. Where is the ham???????

I really miss Mom's ham with pineapple slices, spikes of clove, and all the rest.

Needless to say, it has been an interesting week here in Erbil.

On Good Friday, they took the figure of Christ off of the crucifix and put it in a small coffin. They proceeded to the back of the church, and all the parishioners came and put their hands on the feet of Jesus, kissed their hands, made the sign of the cross, and proceeded back to their pews.

I could not get any pictures.

Yesterday, I colored eggs (29--broke one of a crate of thirty). This morning, I got up early to put the eggs with names beside each person's door, so they would find them. Will take some chocolate to the office, too.

Half a day off today, as I need to prepare the Easter service we are having here. None of us can understand Assyrian/Chaldean, so we decided to do something for ourselves. Somehow I became the minister. LOL

In other news:

Going to the US in July--sometime around 6th--to meet up with my kiddos and spend some time with Mom and Dad and my brothers. Maybe play as a guest in one of their matches?

Also, while I am in the States, we're gonna go see AC Milan vs. Chelsea. Wow!

Probably also have to get my daughter (12) on a roller coaster as well!! She loves them, while my son (9) has his reservations.

Team USA seems to be headed for the World Cup Finals in 2010. I have bought tickets to follow the US team....and I have free accommodations from the South African guys from my security team. I will be there next summer! I know there is a major bet outstanding between Graham Saunders and Jim Kelly.

The bet is that the US will/will not win a World Cup---ten WCs from 1996. Loser has to buy full round trip air and accommodations for the winner and family to wherever he is at the time, and treat to a big dinner out. And then tell him to F-off.

Love and Peace to all!

The ice-cream toaster and other dumb inventions

2009-04-07T00:33:00.006+03:00

Hi folks!

It's been a while since I have had the time or the energy to write on this little space of mine.....

I have promised you a spate of jokes, so here is the next installment (these are all clean, though maybe not Politically Correct).

Joke #1.

Do you know why they have that big fan on top of helicopters?

To keep the pilot cool......

If it stops, you should see how much he sweats.

Joke #2

Brazil, as a member of the Coalition, sends its Ambassador to see President Bush.
The Ambassador informs President Bush that three Brazilians have died yesterday.

Bush: Well, that's just terrible. What a tragedy.

Bush...to an aide in a whisper: Just how many are there in a brazilian?

Joke #3

Greatest inventions--you make up the nationality that invented them...I don't want to offend anyone:

Submarine screen door
Solar flashlight
Dehydrated water
Helicopter ejector seat
and Ice-cream toaster

Joke #4

This Iraqi guy has an old VW Beetle that he wants to get rid of, so he puts it up for sale. After several weeks, he still has had no offers, so he talks to a friend to get some advice.

The friend says, "Just take off the VW hood ornament and replace it with a BMW hood ornament....it will sell in no time."

So, three or four months later, the two friends meet up again, and the other one asks...."So, did you sell your car?"

"Are you crazy?!!! I'm not going to sell a BMW!!!"

Joke #5

A young man had recently enlisted in the German Coast Guard. After he finished his training, he was sent to work at a station on the Baltic Sea. On his first night on duty, his supervisor showed him around and explained to him all of the instruments and communication devices he would need to do his job.

"Look here, my son, this is the radio...if you hear anything on the radio, just press this button and you can talk to whoever is sending. We have to be vigilant to protect our coastline and the ships that pass by."

"Aye-aye Sir."

"OK, I think you'll do fine. Now, I am going to make myself a cup of tea. Just stand by and listen for any radio calls."

As soon as the captain leaves the room, the radio crackles with an English-speaking voice....

"Mayday, Mayday, SOS, we're sinking!!!!!!!!!"

"I am zo zorry, aber, just vat are you sinking about?"

You can see just how jolly we get when Spring comes to Erbil. Anyway, they always say that with jokes, it's not so much the story, but the delivery. Unfortunately, there are few delivery places here...badum ting.

At the Caveman Cafe, we have good laughs while we cook dinner and listen to music. Yesterday, we made some pretty authentic fish 'n' chips, complete with malt vinegar. Mom, we also had a salad.

We were simultaneously preparing the fish batter and making a lasagna, which will be baked tonight. I just assembled all the necessary bits last night and put it in a pan in the fridge, and we will cook it tonight. Pray for my lasagna. If it doesn't come out well, I may be banned from the kitchen at the Caveman Cafe, except to clean up and wash dishes.

In other news:

Obama is in Baghdad now....surprise visit. But not a big surprise to anyone who can take a ruler and measure the distance between Istanbul and Baghdad. I have to say I saw it coming.

There are kestrels (birds with black body and white patches on their wings) flying everywhere around our training center. They fly very erratically and make this sound that sounds like they are laughing....keekeekew, keekeekew. They chirp all the time they are in flight, and then when they land in the weeds, they become quiet. Word of caution: do not approach their nests or they will dive-bomb you and peck at you.

Haven't seen any snakes or scorpions yet this season, but I am sure they are out there in the wasteland that surrounds our training center.

My knee has still not fully healed from the bursitis that was diagnosed when I had the MRI a couple of weeks ago. So I am not playing soccer. I am also not coaching, as the kids are still in school and have a lot of homework. I wanted to at least get them running and doing some exercises, but they are very busy.

I got five new Adidas soccer balls from a friend I met through the Cavemen. She and her boyfriend chipped in to get these balls. Totally cool!

Speaking of the beautiful game, I will be going to the Chelsea vs. A.C. Milano game with my son in July.......what a treat!

OK--the lasagna went over quite well....full pan was finished among five of us. Many went for seconds, and before you know it, it's gone. And, Mom, we had salad, too!

Peace and Love to all!

My kids are better than your kids and my dad can beat up your dad

2009-03-29T11:25:00.003+03:00

Hi folks!

My dad is pretty strong, and I am sure he could beat up your dad, if he ever had the need to. Depending on what your dad was trying to do at the time, he might just run away and call the cops. As any smart person would normally do. Especially if your dad is bigger than mine. If he ever needed to resort to violence, I would be on his back, so warn your dad.

Anyhow, my kids are better than your kids, too. My son will whoop their butts in soccer and swimming, and drawing, and my daughter will shred them in piano, flute, and swimming, and math. At 9 and 12, they are quite amazing. Miniature super-heroes. At least to me!

I am pretty certain that my mom is holier than your mom, too. She does amazing things for people that are hurting...in the family, outside the family, in the church, outside the church, in the hospital....etc. I think she should be canonized. Oh, crap, you have to be dead for that....sorry Mom! I just think that Mom is a perfect example of Christian charity, even though she gets fussy sometimes.

My ex-wife is better than your ex-wife, also. She is patient and kind and loving with our children. She is smart and articulate. She's a decent cook and has a good ear for music. She just couldn't live with me anymore.

These thoughts all come to mind as I plan my summer leave to join my parents and the kids in the US and have some fun. There will be some work involved, but it's mostly family time.

Hope to see many of you then.

Love and Peace to all!

Lobster in the Land of the Lost

2009-03-29T09:44:00.002+03:00

Hi folks!

Can you believe I ate lobster tails with clarified garlic butter? Yes, this all happened last Thursday. The traditional caveman barbecue was transformed into an exotic feast. We still had pork and chicken, as some people in the caveman club are shellfish-averse, or allergic. But man that lobster was tasty.

Two of the cavemen went in on a deal to get two cases of 100 lobster tails each from someone nearby who knows how to get good stuff. At $250 per case, it's no small money. I pitched in $50, and have added another $40. We still haven't finished a third of the supply.

These are not your New England Maine lobsters. They are what some people call 'rock lobsters'. Much smaller--the tail is only about 6 inches long (maybe the Nidel curse?--inside joke hahah), and they don't turn red when you cook them....they stay grey.

We had a really good time, and told a lot of jokes, most of which cannot be repeated here! We're cavemen, after all, not barbarians. Did you ever hear the one about the genie with hard-hearing? Never mind.

In other news:

There was a bit of a scuffle in Kurdistan last week between Kurdish nationalists/separatists and Iraqi national forces. Seems it didn't amount to much, but I heard that 30 people were injured.

Also, a thumb tack, a paper-clip and a staple got into a bad situation. They were all about to be shoved into a shredder at the same time. As they contemplated their fate, the thumb tack said, "I'll try to jump out and see if the guy will step on me, so I can puncture his foot." So he managed to jump out, and he lay there on the floor beside the shredder, waiting to pounce on the poor office boy and gain escape for his buddies.

The paper clip said to the staple...."let me see if I can twist into a shape that he won't recognize, and then he might not remember that this shredder can take paper clips"

The staple said to the paper clip, "I think we might be in a jam."

When the office boy returned and stepped on the thumb tack, he had nothing but invective for the tack, the staple, and the paper clip. So he took them all off the pages he wanted to shred and threw them in the trash can. Where they lived happily ever after.

Peace and love to all!

On a theme.....dwarves

2009-03-24T22:20:00.002+03:00

Hi Folks!

One evening a dwarf went down to the local tavern for some dinner and some beer. He was quite a loquacious fellow, and spent the evening in good company, and had a bit too much to drink.

On his way home, he tried several times to get across the road, but each time he was nearly run down by a car or a tram.

So, he ambled along down the sidewalk looking for a good place to cross. An astute policeman saw him and offered to escort him to the zebra crossing and get him on his way home. At this, the dwarf became incensed, saying 'Whot dyo think I am ossifer, some kind of a skunk?'

The dwarf continued on in this line, and then beat the crap out of the police officer.

Moral: Never cross a drunken dwarf

A small car accident

2009-03-24T21:53:00.002+03:00

Hi folks!

There was a car accident recently. A man rear-ended another car. He was surprised to see that the driver of the other car was a dwarf. The dwarf was hopping mad!

He said, "I'm not happy, I'm not happy!!"

The other driver asked, "Well, then, which one are you?"

Love and peace to all!

Rapunzel and the Easter Bunny

2009-03-24T21:37:00.002+03:00

Hi folks!

You can probably see this one coming from a mile away......but here's the story.

Rapunzel got locked up in the tower by the wicked witch, who was jealous of her beauty. Prince Charming was in love with Rapunzel and loved to snuggle in her long tresses.

Prince Charming had to find a way to get Rapunzel free from the tower. He devised a plan....he would use her golden locks as a ladder to gain access to the tower and free her.

One day, his spies told him that the wicked witch was out of the house and he could gain access to the tower. So off he rode on his glorious steed, Sterling, to the base of the tower.

He called out: 'Rapunzel, Rapunzel, throw down your hair.'

He was astonished when he was pelted in the head by a large rabbit, which promptly scampered away into the forest.

If you don't get this, please consult an online dictionary of homonyms!

Love and Peace to all!

Vernal Equinox

2009-03-21T05:25:00.002+03:00

Hi Folks!

Tonight is the vernal equinox. Welcome to Spring!

Spring means the flies are out again here in Erbil. Everywhere else kids are playing, lovers are loving, but here the flies are buzzing.

I guess if I had my kiddos and a lover with me I wouldn't mind so much...but alas, it's me and the flies.

Planning to start training my Blue Angels again this week. We'll see how many show up. They need to get in shape for the summer. I'll let them train for a few weeks before we actually put a ball on the field.

If only the rain would stop. It seems to come every day now. The field is green and fresh, but unplayable because it's so wet. I am sure, come June, I will be wishing for rain, but now I'm tired of it.

Love and Peace to all!

A ball-peen hammer, a bucket of paint, a screwdriver, and a fire truck walked into a bar

2009-03-19T09:11:00.005+03:00

Hi folks!

Today, I am trying to get the finishing touches done on the Training Center. Should be a simple thing....just supervise the work of the contractor's guys. But, as usual, I have to put in a bit of physical labor as well....moving book-cases, taking down bulletin boards, etc. Outsourcing never really works.

Anyway, tomorrow I have a day off and there are still a few more days to get it all done. Unfortunately the intervening days are mostly holidays. Kurdish New Year! We don't officially observe it as a company, but just try to get anything done.....everyone is busy with their families, their feasts, and their good Turkish wine.

In other news:

Despite all the efforts of our cleaning lady and her assistant to clean our concrete apron around the building, it didn't seem to be good enough, in preparation for our grand opening. So today, they brought a fire-truck--a pumper/tanker truck and blasted it with a high-pressure hose.

Insh'allah the thorough cleaning will impress everyone that comes to the opening on the 25th.

The weather forecast for today follows:

It may be Sunni, or it may be Shiite. It is springtime after all, and these things are hard to predict.

So anyway, the ball-peen hammer got in an argument with the paint, and he said: I am going to smash you.

The paint said: Well aren't you just a smashing young man, whereupon the ball-peen let loose on the paint can. And as he faded away, the paint can said: You may smash, but I can splash. And he covered the ball-peen with thick white paint.

As the paint began to dry, causing the ball-peen to feel a little itchy, he walked over to the screwdriver, who said: Dude, you are really screwed.

It was lucky for poor ball-peen that the fire-truck had walked into the bar just behind him. He deployed his hose, called in the EMTs and got ball-peen out of that paint mess in no time. They gave him oxygen, since he had been suffocating under the paint fumes.

Unfortunately, due to the toxic chemicals in the paint that were covering ball-peen for some time, he did not recover.

When he got to heaven, he met the paint can, whom he had personally destroyed.

Screwdriver also joined them there after a few days, because someone tried to use him to drill a hole in concrete.

By the time fire-truck arrived, they were all singing Peter, Paul and Mary: If I had a Hammer

Jeepers, why do I write this crap? Maybe I need to watch more TV.

Anyhoo,

I had a nice dinner and chat with some colleagues last night, and though we did have some religious and philosophical disagreements, one guy that I think is really good told me this:

There are three priorities in life:

Love God and serve God

Love your fellow mankind (this includes your family)

Take care of yourself

These are ranked in order.

Sort of an updated 'Golden Rule'. For me, at least.

Love and Peace to all!

Sledgehammer to kill a fly....

2009-03-18T11:09:00.002+03:00

Hi folks!

Today we did a second round of inspection on the training center and surrounding property.

There are a lot of weeds growing all around, and although they can be pretty when they flower, they can also be a place for snakes and scorpions to hide.

I asked our office manager to arrange for a lawn-mower to cut the weeds down....they brought a full-blown tractor with a plow....so if anyone wants to grow wheat or corn in Erbil, I know a good place.

Love and Peace to all!

Chick-pea curry with spring-onions

2009-03-16T13:06:00.004+03:00

Hi folks!

I hate to post too many times in one day, but this one is worth it.

Unsolicited, Baji brought me a huge plate of chick-peas in curry sauce, a piece of somun (local type of bread, like a pita), and a big pile of beautiful, crunchy spring onions.

Those of you who have known me for a while know that I like to have a beer with heavy food. But, you can't drink at work, so I have tea.

The spring onions are good...unfortunately for my housemates they may be smelling them for a couple of days.

They say they are also full of good nutrients, so never-mind the farts.

In other news:

I was reminded that this is the anniversary of the death of my sister-in-law's brother. These kinds of anniversaries are always hard. Pray for my dear sister-in-law and her family.

I also learned that one of my old drinking-buddies from College Park is now dead. He was a good friend, and a great opponent in Scrabble, but he was addicted to booze and Percoset.

I have forgotten the exact dates of the deaths of my Uncle Peter and Uncle Danny, and don't have their funeral cards with me....maybe somewhere in my room, but not on my person. Anyway, I remember they were both great guys in their own way, and I pray for their souls.

The Clock ticks on all of us. I wish everyone could have a graceful death. I have seen lots of people die in ways that you would never imagine. Thanks to God, I never had that fate. Close, but no cigar, as they say. Too close for comfort. Luckily Erbil is safe.

When I get to heaven (that's a 'when', not an 'if'), I will greet you all and share more stories.

Love and Peace to all!

Washing Concrete

2009-03-16T11:27:00.002+03:00

Hi folks!

Today marks the anniversary of the Halabja massacre in 1988, when Saddam used sarin gas and killed over 8,000 Kurds.

Guess who sold him the sarin?

Good old Uncle Sam.

During the Iran-Iraq war, we provided all kinds of instruments of destruction to Saddam.

We had a five-minute moment of silence this morning to remember the dead and their families. Sirens were blowing all over the city and traffic was stopped.

In the meantime, I wanted to write about a particular Kurdish habit: Washing concrete.

For some reason, the Baji in our office insists on washing the concrete apron around the building every day. She enlists our office-boy, the Pesh-Merga guards that protect our property, and anyone else she can find. So they go outside and spray down the concrete.

Maybe it has to do with cleaning the blood from the many slaughters the Kurdish people have endured. Or maybe it just has to do with cleaning the mud that I drag in when I go out exploring around the office building...

Whichever way, it is a constant process of cleaning concrete.

I guess if you wash it enough you will eventually get to China....

Never been there....might be a nice place to visit!

Go Baji, go! Hose and mop and bucket.....

Meanwhile, I need to balance my books and make sure this center opens on time and in the right way.

Love and Peace to all!

My first MRI

2009-03-14T10:20:00.002+03:00

Hi folks,

Yesterday I had my first MRI. That was pretty intense. Besides having to strip naked, I also had to wear a set of headphones that played nothing but white noise. Could not even take my i-pod inside the machine.

At first, the machine started making a noise like a buzz-saw. I thought they were about to amputate my leg.

Then it made another noise, more like one of the later U2 songs. Then a huge buzz-saw again. Then Depeche Mode....it just kept going and there were many occasions in which I felt that I was going to just fade away inside the radiation machine.

There would be a horrible silence, and then a surge of machinery.

All of it ended up in the result that I have nothing torn, no ligaments or tendons, thank God. Turns out I have had platinum in my leg since 1998...no one ever told me.

And my camera is screwed.....the battery won't charge and it is acting up.

I would have liked to share my naked pictures with you all, but my camera was not working. Your loss! Or maybe not!

Love and Peace to all!

Help save DC United!

2009-03-13T13:09:00.003+03:00

Hi folks,

Those of you who know me and/or follow this blog know that I am a big fan of DC United of the Major League Soccer league. My team win or lose!!!

They are trying to get a new stadium built in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside the actual District of Columbia (DC). There are obviously financial issues in a big project like this, but they have a good plan, and should be able to generate the revenue to pay the bond as proposed.

The legislators are debating the proposal now. If you love soccer, and would like to see a team in our Nation's Capital, please use the following link and express your support.

https://secure.dcunited.com/node/104/done?sid=1927

In other news:

Just in time for the start of the soccer season here in Iraq, I had my first MRI. My right knee was reconstructed in 1988, and it has been relatively OK since then. Lots of therapy and many years of staying away from contact sports.....so much for that. Just walking up the street a few days ago, I wrenched it pretty badly. It finally got to the point where it was difficult to walk.

So, anyways, I have some great pictures of the inside of my knee...complete with a huge sac of fluid around my patella. The radiologist said I should basically forget about soccer for this season.

He also told me that the original surgery had involved a platinum strip replacing one of my ligaments. I never knew I had titanium in my leg. The surgeon who did the original operation told me he was taking a part of my patellar tendon to repair my medial cruciate ligament, and then simply stitching my posterior and anterior cruciate ligaments, and using an arthroscope to clean up the cartilage. No one ever mentioned platinum, but they put it in there anyway!

Got some anti-inflammatory medicine so that the pain will be less intense.

In the meantime, I am just amazed at how incompetent some doctors can be.

Love and Peace to all!

If a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush...

2009-03-08T12:40:00.002+03:00

Hi folks,

The old saying: 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush' always used to make me wonder....

Why would anyone want a bird in his/her hand...it will likely only squawk and possibly crap on you. At least if they are in the bushes, you can watch them and hear them sing.

Today, the baji (our all-purposes auntie) at our office brought four small birds. This is only the second time in my life I have been gifted a bird. The first was on Deborah's birthday years ago in Ghana, when our watchman brought an African Gray parrot.

Anyway, I am supposed to have two of these birds, and another colleague the other two. I don't know what kind of birds they are, or how she got them, or really what she expects me to do with them....Certainly not eat them, as they are too small to be worth the preparation time.

So, now I have two birds in the proverbial hand (actually a cardboard box, for now), and I have to get a cage and make sure they get food and water....

The calculus here is a bit confusing. If a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, is that merely doubling, or is there some kind of derivative involved, or maybe some kind of exponent? No, one raised to any power can only be one. But two can do all sorts of cool things.

I'll just buy the cage and let them figure out the math.

Love and Peace to all!

International Women's Day

2009-03-08T10:05:00.004+03:00

Hi Folks,

Yes, the day comes around again every year. You are supposed to remember all the women in your life....wife, mother, daughter, colleague, aunt, sister, whatever.... I guess it started out as a kind of communist thing...but I also guess that the nuclear (or nucular) family is also a kind of communist thing, after all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Women%27s_Day

I think the wonderful thing about women is that most of them can tolerate a lot of crap before they go crazy. Men would normally, instinctively start to fight at the first sign of crap. Not (hopefully) physically, but in more subtle ways.

I see it clearly in the culture here...and perhaps, upon reflection, in my own life. Bandmates, classmates, teammates...there is always a rivalry among men.

Women tend to crush you with their care and concern, and until they can understand that you are able to handle things on your own, they will badger you with advice and admonitions. This is, apparently, the way God made our fragile human species.

In honor of all the wonderful women who have been part of my life, from Thera and Deborah, to Memere and Mom to my aunts, and the teachers and other caregivers while I was growing up, to all the female friends and colleagues I have had the pleasure to work with, or play soccer with...especially the Charlie's Angels who really were there for me in tough times....I have to tell a joke....(some of you may have heard this before--forgive me)

___________________________________________________________________

In the beginning, God created all the stuff, and then he put Adam in the middle of a beautiful garden, and let him to his own devices.

Adam tooled around the garden, checked out all the birds and butterflies, animals and fish, flowers and fruits...and then got damn bored.

He sat down and cried out to God: 'My God, all these things you have given me are wonderful, but I have no one to share them with. Can't you please give me some companion with whom I can enjoy the wonders of your creation?'

God said: 'My dear Adam, created in my image and likeness, I will give you a wonderful creature that will love you always, obey your will, provide you with infinite happiness, teach you things, take care of your every need, and ensure that your belly is always full.'

Adam: 'My Lord, God....this is more than I could ever ask for.'

God: 'Well, yes, Adam....I am afraid it will cost you an arm and a leg.'

Adam: 'What can I get for a rib?'

__________________________________________________________________

No offense, my female friends, but you have to admit that is funny!

I pray for the intercession of Blessed Mother Mary, mother of all women (and men, too), for all of you today, and, when I remember and am not too tired, every day.

HERE ENDS THE SERIOUS PART OF THIS POST
_________________________________________________________________

Now leave me alone until Mothers' Day, Valentine's Day.....how many Days do you need? The guys get one...Fathers' Day...if they are a real father or a priest....otherwise SOL.

I know that was one bummer of an ending to an otherwise lovely post.

A real bummer.....

Love and Peace to all, especially the women!

Empty boxes

2009-03-07T04:39:00.003+03:00

Hi folks,

Sincere apologies for holding you all with bated breath (note: this is the correct spelling....see http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-bai1.htm for more information). That's a joke, since I presume very few people even think about my missing a few days.

Anyway:

Since I last wrote, I have returned to my wonderful home in Erbil, Iraq. My soccer field has turned a great green since I left on vacation, although the rain that has contributed to that also makes the underlying layer of soil a bit too wet to play on the field just yet. We'll get started soon if the rain stays away for a few days.

I wrenched my knee on a rough street on the first day I was back, so a little delay in starting the season gives me some time to rest, as well.

A few issues that have come to mind since I have been back:

Reduce, reuse, recycle: Please use your own fabric/plastic/whatever shopping bags when you go to the grocery store, and use a water filter and a reusable bottle for water. I see so much plastic trash here in Erbil, mostly bags and bottles. And I think about my old stomping grounds in SW Washington, along the Anacostia river (the most polluted on the East Coast), where storm drains clogged with plastic grocery bags resulted in raw sewage spilling into the river....

DO NOT rely on those bins in front of the grocery stores in which you are supposed to put your used, un-needed shopping bags, ostensibly for recycling. Many of the stores just dump them in landfills despite their PR programs.

Sudan: Bashir is a madman, and I am afraid we may see a river of blood, even bigger than we have seen so far. I have not heard specifics from my colleagues and former colleagues who have been working there as to what this means for their projects, but I don't imagine there could be any good news. Be prepared for another round of genocide, ala Rwanda.
The Economy: While most of us don't have lots of spare capital at this point, conventional financial wisdom tells me that whatever spare capital you do have should go into the market now. Buy low, sell high. I am not a licensed financial planner, but I do have a sense that things will start to turn around as the 'stimulus package' starts to kick in. I personally don't think that the market will go much lower. All that said, the most important financial action anyone can take is to get the heck out of debt (except insured college loans, etc.).

Whatever you do, don't buy GM, Citi, or AIG. Get index funds that benefit from more healthy companies' performance. It's too late to buy gold.

Toilets in Iraq: I have held off on this topic for some time, because I wasn't sure folks would understand. But since this is a grab-bag issue, I will share it with you.

Over here, most toilets are what we might commonly call 'Turkish toilets'--basically a hole in the floor with some porcelain around it over which you squat and do your business. The procedure is delicate, to say the least. You use a regular flush tank to push it all into the septic system, and then you have a hose with a kitchen-sprayer-type attachment to make sure you leave the place clean.

We also have 'Western toilets', although the flush tanks are much smaller than necessary, as a rule. In these types of bathrooms, you also have a hose with a sprayer, which is actually a pretty good way of making sure the bowl is clean--probably more hygienic than the traditional toilet brush.

The funny thing, and the whole point of this story, is that it is considered proper etiquette to leave drops of water on the toilet seat to show that it has been properly cleaned. Look for these drops of water before you sit down. The yellow drops are not part of the etiquette.

Ok, now the marquee story, and the best joke of a sad day in world affairs:

Empty boxes:

Our training center has benefited from some unilateral initiatives on the part of the University where we are based. One of these is the installation of big street-light posts all around the building. They dug trenches, laid the cables, poured concrete foundations for the poles, erected 25-foot lamp-poles, and then curiously delivered the products you see below.

Empty Street Light Cases.

We've had a few good laughs looking at this process.

That's the last joke of the day!

Love and Peace to all!

Galatasaray 4 - Bordeaux 3

2009-02-27T10:25:00.012+03:00

Hi folks!

I apologize for the big time-gap in the postings. I had intended to get this off right away, but there were many obstacles....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Man it was an exciting match. Seven goals altogether. The last one in the final minute of the match to put Galatasaray ahead and cement the win. Yes that is my hand.

The last two days have been amazing. Aya Sophia is probably one of the most beautiful things human beings have ever built. Too bad it was built by slaves. Too bad my camera battery died while we were inside. I bought a lot of postcards, which probably are better images than my camera could make. Unfortunately, they are not digital...will see if I can scan some and include later.

We got to tour the Blue Mosque as well, and sat in for afternoon prayers. That, too, is an unbelievable piece of architecture. There are some pictures here.In our wanderings through the city, we have met some really cool people. I
have already written about Hakan. There are also a few guys at our favorite restaurant--the Pasha Cafe--who have been nice. I traded a Barra Brava jersey with one guy for a Turkish national team jersey.

We also got to see a Dervish prayer ceremony...kinda touristy thing, staged just for people with some free cash...but heck, that's what is like when you are on vacation. At any rate, the music was mesmerizing and the dancing was really amazing. I couldn't understand a word of what the guy was singing, but the zither and the saz (not sax, saz--it's like a guitar) were unbelievable. Here is a photo. I bought a drum, flute, some finger cymbals, and a small saz (and some belly-dancing jingles) for my friend Alex Kharlamov, who makes music in California for TV and movies. I know he can sample the sounds and use them anytime after he burns the instruments to heat his house.

There is more to see and do here than one can possibly accomplish in a short few days. As with any famous place, the locals have seen less of it than the tourists. They live among these amazing historical places, and hardly notice them. Just like people who live in Washington, DC, I guess.

In other news:

This morning at the hotel, as I was sitting here checking e-mails and doing random stuff on the computer, I heard a woman asking in Bosnian (aka Serbo-Croatian) for some information from the hotel staff. Of course, I speak the language, and offered to help her translate. Her husband and daughter knew a little English, so that was useful, too....They were from Sarajevo. Cool!

I am returning to Erbil one day later than expected, due to a problem with the airline. They only informed me at the last minute, but the hotel was cool enough to let me keep the room for one more day. At least I got my shoes shined while visiting Istanbul--that is a Galatasaray scarf on my neck.

I highly recommend a Turkish bath (not a Turkish prison). The hot stone that you lay on makes you sweat like you wouldn't believe. Then you use room-temperature water to wash your body and hair, clear all the sweaty pores, and lie down again...to sweat....then cold water to rinse off the sweat and close the pores. Sorry, no pictures of this experience....You wouldn't wish it on your worst enemy!

Today, Hakan will meet me for a last coffee at his cafe, and he will help me organize transport to the airport, and also help convince the check-in attendants that I am an American doctor bringing stuff to Iraqi Kurdish kids who have had amputations from UXO and IEDs (unexploded ordinance and improvised explosive devices--for the uninformed). Hence all the soccer gear....

Really kinda sad to think about, but at least I won't have to pay for excess baggage.

Jeez, I need to write all this stuff down in a book. When I look at all these adventures, I can't stop laughing at myself and my friends, and the new friends we meet on the way. Human beings are just funny animals...we should try harder to make each-other laugh.

When I was a kid, and again when I was a Dad of two kids, I heard jokes that made the milk at dinner run out of my nose, from laughing so hard.

I think I already posted this joke, from my next-to-youngest brother....A fish is a boy. Stephan Pastis, creator of 'Pearls Before Swine', has probably already stolen it. Mike--you can ask him for royalties...I am sure he's rich from all the 'Pearls' merchandise I have bought and all the endorsements I have given him here and on Facebook.

You, my dear reader, have no idea how funny life can get....unless you live it to the fullest.

Love and Peace to all!

Istanbul...is everyone a cheat, thief, liar, or stealer?

2009-02-25T02:09:00.008+03:00

Hi folks!

Greetings from cold, rainy Istanbul. Wow, such an amazing place!!

We've had quite a good time of it, so far, but more is coming between now and when we finally wipe the mud of this place from our sandals and head off to our respective homes....

Yesterday, 02/23, we had lunch in a small cafe that happened to be showing soccer highlights on the flat-screen TV in the corner above the booth where we sat. The waiters and the owner were impressed by the fact that Americans actually watch/understand soccer.

Anyhoo,

We got to talking and found out that Galatasaray is playing Bordeaux on Thursday, here in Istanbul. Got the info for where to buy tickets. Also made a deal to swap a DC United jersey for a Turkish national team jersey. (Of course, I am not giving my real Adidas DC United jerseys....rather Barra Brava (fan club) jersey.)

So we get the cab to go buy tickets. The guy drives us 45 minutes out of town toward the stadium, where the tickets are supposed to be on sale. There is also a ticket kiosk in the shopping mall just adjacent to the stadium....only one problem, the guy tells us as we pull up, $100 poorer for the ride out there....the tickets are sold out. He knew it all along...just took us for a $200 joy ride.

We got back to town, and escorted into a nice cafe, where we met a wonderful man, Hakan, who helped us actually get tickets (you don't want to know the price). He also showed us to a very nice dealer of ceramics and glassware, and we got some coffee and smoked an apple-flavoured hookah--there is nothing narcotic in it...just tabac and fruit. Hakan carried our packages almost all the way back to the hotel.

Today, we bought the jerseys for Galatasaray. Thursday, we will be all set.

Now, about today's adventures:

We bought a packaged tour for the whole day, through Hakan, last night. We got a 5 euro discount on the tour, because he knows the owner of the tour company. The idea is that you get on a boat early in the AM, then cruise the Bosphorus/Golden Horn, then have lunch, then tour some of the old things that you see on the boat ride out toward the open sea. So, 0830 we board the bus, collect a few more passengers from other hotels, and then head down to the wharf.

We did the whole ride out....pics attached....had some tea on the boat, took a bus ride up to the top of one of the 7 hills of Istanbul, cable-car down, then promptly lost the group. One of our number was busy haggling over the price of a faux-silk scarf, and as we waited for him to finish, we lost sight of the group.

So here we are, four of us, somewhere in Istanbul....a place we would never have chosen ourselves, but into which we'd been dumped. Luckily, one of our crew was able to get us a table and order some lunch at a local-type establishment. I won't even begin to tell you how much organ meat I ate this afternoon for lunch. I don't know which organs they were, but it certainly was not filet mignon.

There, nice lunch, some tea, and off we go....where the heck is the tour group?

We gave up on that idea and the four of us just found our way down to the docks, hired a skiff for about $15, and set sail for the part of the city where our hotels are located.

Man, it was so cool....riding in a little boat, about 15 ft. long, and singing sailors' shanties and making jokes in English that the boatman couldn't understand. We also got to see some really interesting perspectives on the city, that you wouldn't get from a cab on the motorway. One guy in our group actually piloted the boat through the narrow pontoon thingies underneath a huge bridge. I was too afraid to take pictures...too busy watching the gunwales as we skimmed through there.

There were more adventures today, but I am too tired to write them down right now. Just think of things that are commonly thought of as Turkish....(hint: delight, clove cigarettes, dervishes, delight, ribald-speaking hamsters, flying carpets, coffee with too much sugar, delight--no, there were no shoes with the toes all curled up, and no, Bobby, there was no Turkish Bath, nor Turkish Prison!). I will give details tomorrow, though I would not get your hopes up too much. It's my vacation after all!

In other news:

We are getting toward the Easter season. We should be fasting and looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. Jesus risen from the dead and ascended into heaven. That's what our faith teaches us, at any rate.

As for me, I haven't given up anything for Lent, nor have I set any goals for myself for this Lent. I just try to keep on being the same good person that I think I am and not get waylaid by earthly temptations. That's penance enough, as far as I can tell.

I will add more on this idea tomorrow. Right now, I need to contact my bank and then get some sleep.

Love and Peace to all!

Holiday in Holland

2009-02-22T15:24:00.010+03:00

Hi Folks!

Believe it or not, I am sitting in the lounge of the hotel in Istanbul, waiting for friends to wake up from a nap, sipping a coffee, and listening to.....yes.....Gypsy Kings!

Just thinking back on the last week and relaxing before heading out for a walk and later a 'cultural-show' dinner. Heck, it will probably be total cheese, but it was part of the hotel package.

Anyhoo,

Let's see if I can put the pieces of last week together for you, and insert some photos this time....haven't done that in a while.

Saturday 14 Feb:

Left Erbil around 4 AM....(see earlier posts for all the intervening adventures). Arrived Amsterdam around 5PM. Drove to the town where my family lives. Got in around 8 PM. As it was a Saturday, it was necessary and proper to get some french-fries, kroket, and frikandel (Dutch fast-food...it's a family tradition to eat this on Saturdays). It was also necessary and proper for me to tour the 'new' house, haul my stuff up to the room where I was to stay, and share the gifts I had brought for all the family. Luckily, that night it was just me and the kids and their mom.

Sun 15 Feb:

Slept in a bit, then went to the 'big house' (my ex-wife's parents' house) for coffee with the whole family and my parents, who had just arrived that morning. I was totally exhausted and malnourished after all of the stress of getting ready to travel, traveling, and knowing what was going to happen later in the week. Took a nap and then went back to the 'big house' for dinner. I was shaking so badly from cold, nerves, fatigue, and malnutrition, that I could barely eat my dinner.

Mon 16 Feb:

Took a tour around the town and went to meet the kids' teachers (they came in during vacation week especially to meet with us). We saw the places where the kids play sports, take music lessons, and swim; their current school, and Deborah's future school (middle-school next year).

Can't remember what else we did that day...I think I took a nap, or played video-games with Dennis until dinner time.

Tues 17 Feb:

Orchid farm? Anyways, a museum of sorts where they have a tropical garden with ponds, fish, trees, and orchids, orchids, orchids everywhere....all inside a massive greenhouse, of course. Also a butterfly garden, in another part of the greenhouse.

There was also a great deal of old farm machinery/equipment on display, which, to no surprise, my soon-to-be-ex-father-in-law, who grew up sometime in the last century on a farm, knew a great deal about and could explain to us city-slickers what each thing was used for.

My daughter Deborah took a lot of pictures, some of which we think rival Georgia O'Keefe, but we'll see.

The only decent one I took is here....

Weds 18 Feb:

Took a long drive out to the Ijsselmeer, essentially a lake, which was converted from open sea to freshwater lake by the Dutch when they built the dykes to shut out the North Sea in the late 1800s-mid 1900s. What a feat of engineering. I was really impressed, as I have been before with some of the things I've seen in other Dutch museums. Like the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Don't go if you haven't got at least half a day to spend.

Anyway, on the water, windmills everywhere....and I don't mean the old-fashioned, quaint Dutch windmills. I mean power-generation, reverse electro-magnetic turbine windmills....as far as the eye can see.

Also visited a museum at a place called Batavia Stad (actually a part of Lelystad), dedicated to the history of the building of the dykes and the reclamation and cultivation of the land.

Then we went on board the ship Batavia, mostly restored, but work is still ongoing. This was one of the ships that the Dutch East India Company used in the spice trade with Malaysia, Indonesia, etc., and which ended up sunk somewhere for some reason....hey my Dutch is OK, but there is too much to absorb on these tours.

Went to watch my son Dennis' soccer training in the evening. Picture of the boy in action is attached.

Thur 19 Feb:

This was Market Day, when all of the merchants from the region come to town to sell their stuff. Clothes, cheese, meat, fish, toys....you name it. It's all here on Market Day. I bought a sweater from organic cotton and some spray that stops bleeding and keeps wounds clean--for my soccer kids.

In the afternoon, we went to an indoor ice rink...they have both a full-sized hockey rink and an Olympic 400m track. I didn't fall once, despite the fact that the night before I had a dream about breaking my femur.

My darling Deborah in her hip ice-gear is here:

This was also the day I signed the divorce papers.

Fri 20 Feb:

Quiet day at home in the morning, few rounds of last-minute shopping, then Pink Panther II with Steve Martin. As much as I like Steve Martin, he will never be Peter Sellers in the role of Inspecteur Clouseau!

Nice dinner out with the whole family...photo should be here....

Saturday 21 Feb:

Visited a dairy farm in the morning. They are piloting a new robotic system of milking cows using RFID chips in necklaces on the cows, and laser-guided suction cups that find the teats and then start the hydraulic milking system. Cows come to be milked when they feel they need to...rather than the old system of twice a day. One farmer can handle 200 cows, whereas in the past it would take easily four or five people to take care of that many cows.

Also, passed by the largest cheese factory in Europe. Right there in the town where my kids live. Milk comes from as far away as Poland to be made into cheese under all different brands, in all different styles....you probably buy some of it in your supermarket, but you'd never know it comes from this small town in the north of Holland.

Had Subway for lunch, and then got on the train to the airport....and here I sit.....the only one awake. Thank God for this blog, or I'd be bored.

I hope they have belly-dancers at the 'cultural show' tonight!

Love and Peace to all!

Holy blog-less people, Rat-man!

2009-02-22T14:16:00.002+03:00

Hi Folks!

Not that anyone has noticed, but I have been off the blog for about a week now.

Let's see...last I wrote, I guess, was Greetings from Turkey, then Mom's passport.

OK, so passport found, met up with Mom and Dad, my kiddos, and my soon-to-be-ex, and the soon-to-be-ex-family-in-law. (Howzat for the use of the dash?)

The story is long, so if you have no time to read, I suggest you just look at the pictures....they will be in the next post. I have to split them up a bit or they get too long.

Oh, no, sorry....not going into all the lurid details of the divorce, you nosey parkers. I was just going to tell you about my vacation.

After the last post about the airport in Turkey, I reported back to the transfer desk (I was switching airlines, so had to do the generic route instead of airline-specific) at the appointed time 1230. My flight to Amsterdam is at 1435. I have plenty of time.

Well, the guy disappears with my passport and my e-ticket printout.

I ask his colleagues where he went and they don't know. No one knows. So, I grabs a chair from behind the counter and plops myself down in front of the counter, with my i-pod on full blast, and starts to take a nap....I got at least another hour before I starts to get nervous.

The guy comes back and says there is a problem with my passport and the airport police want to talk to me....OK thinks me.

Apparently, they didn't like the fact that the extra pages that were inserted do not exactly match the original passport. Now, anyone who travels a lot knows that immigration agents are very haphazard in the way they stamp documents. Stamps that should take up 1/4 of the page can often take up the whole page. So, when you travel alot, you add extra pages to your passport (all under the fine supervision of the US Dept. of State), so you will have room for all the bozo stamps and full-page visas you get on the trail.

My passport was issued, as requested, with additional pages inserted from the very start, so I wouldn't have to go back and do it again later. It came kit-and-kaboodle with the extra pages, straight from USDOS. The extra pages also have a raised seal on them, testifying to the fact that they constitute an official part of the document.

Anyhoo....

The guy went away and came back again, this time with a 'supervisor' from KLM (the best airline in the world, by the way). The supervisor could tell me nothing more....Airport Police will come and talk to you any time now. It is now 1350....flight at 1435.

I am exhausted....don't really even know where I am...but I know whatever happens I need my passport. I am dreaming of Turkish Prisons!

Now, keep in mind, that during my long layover in Istanbul, I had left the controlled area on my passport, had a smoke, took a look around on the other side of the airport, had another smoke, and then walked back through immigration....all while killing time for the transfer desk to open.

The time is getting tight, and the airport police have not come to see me. I sit in the purloined chair, just in front of the counter....no one is going to get in front of me on this little adventure.

Finally, it's 1410 and I am really afraid I am going to miss my plane (who knows when the next one will be)!!!

So, I grabbed the 'guy' as he was passing and told him to give my passport or I was going to call the US consulate. He got nervous...but not as nervous as I was. Finally, I decided to pull the ace from my little rubber-banded wallet. My Department of Defense ID card. I told him to show this to the police and tell them that this card was issued on the basis of the very same passport they were holding, and that if I didn't get it back right away I would call not only the consulate, but the defense attache.

Two minutes....passport, ID card, and boarding pass.

Rushed to the gate, just in time for the end of regular boarding....only to find that the dang plane that was to take us to Amsterdam hadn't even landed yet...

More pleasant adventures, and pictures, in the next post!!!

Love and Peace to all!

Mom found her passport!

2009-02-14T11:35:00.003+03:00

Hi folks!

My mother has always been a bit of a clutter-nut. She knows where everything is, as a rule, but no sane person could ever find anything in the clutter.

Whenever we get together for holidays, and try to pitch in with the cooking or whatever, we'll ask...."Mom, do you me to bring you anything?" Mom keeps a massive pantry in the basement, in the same room as my dad's workshop. So, she'll often send us down to get a can of this or a bag of that. Normally we can find what she needs after a bit of searching. But sometimes you just come up empty, and have to back to Mom and say 'Mom, I can't find the X or Y you asked me to get.'

Mom will storm down the basement steps and promptly find item X or Y, and tell us 'You just don't know how to look!'

So I guess it is genetic. Glad Mom found her passport.

Love and Peace to all.

Greetings from Turkey

2009-02-14T09:54:00.002+03:00

Hi folks!

Well, the airline was relatively efficient getting us processed through the Erbil airport. When we got to Ataturk in Istanbul all hell broke loose.

One line for the whole plane and we had to do all the belt-shoe-other metal items dance again inbound. I thought that was only for outbound passengers at most airports. I guess this part of the world is a bit different. But the screwed up thing is that you could see people going through the search and the metal detectors, and noone had the freaking sense to take off his belt, put his keys in his carry-on, or whatever might have made the process more efficient.

Anyhoo, I fell asleep like a stone as soon as we got on that plane. Getting off was more a nicotine-fit than anything.

I am going to go and get my tourist visa now, because when I return through Istanbul, it will be really late at night, and I can bet you a dime to a dollar that the place will be closed and I will have to sit in the airport until they open in the morning.

In other news:

I am changing airlines between Atlas Air and KLM, so my baggage transfer is going to be a really interesting proposition. I packed some extra undies and socks (I think) in my carry-on, because yesterday there were renovations going on at the house and water aupply became a problem. I took one for the team and skipped the full shower and just washed up and shampooed my hair.

'The system is down' so I don't even have a valid boarding pass that will allow me to buy some perfume in Duty Free. And I have to report back to the freaking transfer desk two hours before my flight to get a new boarding pass. I will have been here close to six hours by then, and will still have to wait in another line. When we arrived from Erbil, I went straight to the counter.....stood behind about five other people....and now I get to do it again. Happy day.

I am so tired.

Jeepers, I thought Dulles was bad!

Love and Peace to all!

Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps

2009-02-13T23:21:00.002+03:00

Hi folks!

In my dorky days before rock & roll took over my sensibilities, I used to play in a drum and bugle outfit called The Patriots of Northern Virginia. Maybe I have already written about this, but I don't have the time to search all 130 messages on here. I fly to Istanbul pretty soon.

The guys that used to train us in marching and instrument technique were members of the Old Guard--Pershing's Own Fife and Drum Corps, US Army, 3d ID. Or something like that.

Anyways, just wanted to tell my peeps that the commander of the Old Guard mailed me a calendar/poster that is now on my wall. I wrote him a while back to request it, and sure enough it showed up today with a colleague from Baghdad.

Man we had some good times in the Patriots. My good friend, Jared, didn't stick it out for too long, but there was my brother Chris and our friend Theo, and we had rocking good times.

Theo wanted to zook the Holland Tunnel. We told him that was a bad idea.

Instead, what we did, just for s&g, was to take revenge on the other members of the Fife and Drum Corps, who used to always steal the Pringles mom would pack us for long bus trips.

We removed a handful of the chips from the Pringles can and my brother shat into the tube...then we replaced the top stack of chips. So anyone being greedy, digging out too many chups would get a handful--not of chips, but of something that kinda sounds like chips.

There are too many other stories to tell here. Ask Chris!

Oh, what we did for fun and entertainment back in the day.

Love and Peace to all.

Sometimes I crack myself up

2009-02-13T18:51:00.002+03:00

Hi folks!

If you ever come on this blog and don't laugh about something that I write, please just don't come back anymore.

I assume a basic sense of humor when I write these little messages.

When I was in high school, I worked with a team of guys to make videos for all of our English lit projects. We would rent a video camera from Erols (the Croat guy that eventually sold out to Blockbuster), get a few blank tapes, and spend a Saturday doing our project. To be honest with you, I think we spent more time on the parody commercials than the honest content of the analysis of the book in question. For sure, we had more fun doing the commercials. In any case, we always got an A or an A+ on the work, so I guess we survived.

I think I would pay pretty good money to get those tapes back from whoever has them. Maybe next HS reunion I will ask around.

One of our skits had me dressed like a Rennaissance bard, playing a lute, and singing fake Anglo-Saxon words, and we had subtitles running up the screen talking about Beowulf. I freaking don't know where we got the lute, the wig, the costume, or how we figured out to make subtitles, but I can tell you it was brilliant.

I think I already wrote on here about the 'readin' light'.

We had one scene where, I think Jim, was smoking a pipe, pretending to be some fancy professor of literature, and we were interviewing him.

Besides my band, these things were what made me happy back in those days. Dan, Jim, and whoever else pitched up to do a project with us. The band was the main thing. Unfortunately bands have their political issues and maybe some people got hurt as we formed and reformed.

If anyone still holds any grudge about those days, I apologize. I hold no grudges against anyone that ever made music with me, as bad as it may have been. I may have tried to steal your girlfriend or do some other harm to you.....those were immature and foolish days. We're all better than that now.

My concern now is for my children and their musical education. So many things are available to them now. Unfortunately, the piano sits unused in my apartment near DC.

They will both learn to play something. That is a given.

Love and Peace to all!

The Bathroom Boys, the Water Break, and the sheep that said 'Sheila'

2009-02-13T18:30:00.003+03:00

Hi folks!

A contractor has been working on the bathrooms all day in my house. He's making things a bit more aesthetically pleasing, putting in some shower cabinets so we don't stand in a big hall with water running over us, and adding some heating and ventilation (to swiff out the moisture so we don't get mildew).

It's a big job, and one which I would have ideally gotten started well before going on leave, but so be it.

They have a small boy working with them--probably about 8 years old. One part of me says, Man that's child labor and is wrong, and should be prosecuted. The other part of me says, The kid is learning something that may be useful later in life. Like when I used to help my dad fix cars. He never made me do it...I just wanted to do it. And now, I can fix almost anything on a normal gasoline-engine car. Or even diesel, for that matter--but I learned those things later.

I just shaved and came back to my room to make sure my packing was complete.

Everything but my computer and my i-pod are in place, and those won't be difficult to stuff in the backpack when I get out in the morning.

I wanted to take a shower, but somehow the water is gone. Guess the guys working on the bathrooms somehow drained the tank. I had started the shower to get the cabinet heated up for me, and by the time I got there with towel in hand, the water was gone. Hence, the water break.

Today was a beautiful day, with temperatures above 70F. I wanted so badly to play some soccer, but by the time I organized it and did it, I would have been so whipped. So I just decided this day is a rest day for me. Pack, clean the room, shave, shower, take a nap and get the heck to the airport on time!

Meanwhile I had to buy some lamb chops for tonight's dinner. We're Cavemen, after all, not Barbarians. The poor sheep.....kept saying Sheila, like his girlfriend was named Sheila or something.

If you bought that one, I have some real-estate in Cuba for you.

If you got the joke, you probably know that in Australian English a Sheila is a woman, and sometimes, it just so happens that sheep fall in love with human women. What goes between them is a matter of conjecture, and I will leave it at that.

I really need to leave it at that.

Love and Peace to all!

Jim Morrison is lost in Kurdistan

2009-02-12T12:53:00.003+03:00

Hi Folks!

We have a bit of a situation here. Jim Morrison seems to have gone missing. We were just listening to him sing last night, and today, he is gone. What the heck happened to him, we have no idea.

Even the security professionals are at a loss to figure out what happened to him.

We've dispatched all our best resources to find the poor man, but so far we've come up empty.

My theory is that Jim has fallen in love with a Kurdish girl, and doesn't want us snooping around into his private life. That would explain some of the music he was singing last night. 'Love Her Madly--wanna be her daddy?????" where does that come from, Jimmy?

As most of you know, I go on leave the day after tomorrow (tomorrow being my normal day off). I am so ready for my leave, if you can't tell by the way my sense of humor has started to warp.

That said, we need to find Jim. There are millions of fans waiting to hear him sing again. We cannot let them down.

I will spend my one remaining free day in the desert with my security team, searching for the missing Jim Morrison. I will bring my harmonicas to see if we can lure him back to civilization.

He'll ride the King's Highway west back into town (the West is the best, after all).

In other news:

The blue bus is calling us. Not sure if you knew that. Check your commo channel. Please have your ticket ready when you board.

The Beatles were better than the Doors and the Stones, by far. After several hours of deliberation, I have resolved this issue, just so everyone knows.

I will be on leave starting tomorrow, so there may not be much to read, in case anyone really cared.

Maybe I can get a guest host? Any volunteers?

Didn't think so!

My last task is the mid-month financials and I am $250 out of balance.....that never happens!!! Gotta find the mistake.

Ok Ciao for now!

Love and Peace to all!

La Guerra

2009-02-10T13:33:00.004+03:00

Hi Folks!

Excerpt From the Book ‘War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning’ by Chris Hedges

Sarajevo in the summer of 1995 came close to Dante’s inner circle of helll. The city, surrounded by Serb gunners on the heights above, was subjected to hundreds of shells a day, all crashing into an area twice the size of Central Park. Ninety millimeter tank rounds and blasts fired from huge 115mm howitzers set up a deadly rhythm of detonations. Multiple Katyusha rockets—whooshing overhead—burst in rapid succession; they could take down a four or five story apartment building in seconds, killing or wounding everyone inside. There was no running water or electricity and little to eat; most people were subsisting on a bowl of soup a day. It was possible to enter the besieged city only by driving down a dirt track on Mount Igman, one stretch directly in the line of Serb fire [believe me he is right here, as I had .50s on my vehicle as I came down]. The vehicles that had failed to make it lay twisted and upended in the ravine below, at times with the charred remains of their human cargo inside.

Having done the Igman road, and having had .50 cals aimed at me, and having nearly tripped a hand-grenade booby-trap, I have had enough of la Guerra. Give me a quiet house on the beach in Mexico, a good doctor for my PTSD, and some decent meat once in a while.

I am sure some of my friends have seen worse.

I can only speak for myself. I am tired of la Guerra. Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq. I think I have seen enough. I have probably been shot at more times than my father who was in the army for 28 years. Insh’allah they will never hit me,

All the same, I am really trying to make a difference here in Erbil. Through my soccer club, donations to orphanagesk by the way I treat people in my daily business routine, through the personal example I set for others….treating women as equals, treating everyone with respect and compassion.

For some, it may seem strange, but for me, it is natural. That’s how I was raised.

You all probably think I am crazy for being in Iraq in the first place, but I will help you to understand:

Our operations are covered 24-7 by private security, so I ride in armored cars, with two guys toting AKs, everywhere I go.

When I play soccer, I am inside the compound, and all the boys that play with me are cleared by security---they all have ID cards to allow them onto the compound.

I live in one room in a house with 8 bedrooms. I have access to a shower and toilet, but it’s not private. Sometimes, we have other visitors here that also need to access the bathroom. It’s not as bad as the army or the boy scouts, where you sit on the wooden latrine bench and you can talk to your neighbor as you poop.

Dang, I said I was going to try to avoid scatology here. Sorry!

Our internet is down, so I’m just getting a bit bored. I am writing this in Word, and will send it to the blog later, when I get to work and connect to the Internet.

To all music fans, I recommend Pistolera……..such a great band!

If you can’t find Waterboys, that is.

Love and Peace to all!

The end of days....

2009-02-09T12:57:00.002+03:00

Hi folks!

As you may know, I am going on leave soon.

They say the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Probably that is true. Maybe not exact East or exact West, but I guess it's a good general guide.

In any case, when you live in Kurdistan, the moon rises at about 3 PM (1500 to those who know military time).

The toothpicks you used yesterday have broken off and buried themselves in your gums. So you use a paper clip to get them out. You just dig, dig, dig, into your gums.....and you finally free the little pieces of wood or potatoes, or meat, that will irritate your teeth all night.

Luckily, I brought floss to the office with me today.

hmmm, why am I even discussing this.

Love and Peace to all!

Kurdish toilet etiquette

2009-02-09T09:42:00.002+03:00

Hi Folks!

Believe it or not, it is considered polite in Kurdistan to leave a ring of droplets of water on the toilet seat when you are finished. This way, others know that it is clean.

So, you take a leak, flush the toilet, then spray the whole works down with the handy-dandy hose that hangs inside the toilet cabinet. And you just leave a bit of water on the seat of the toilet so that everyone knows you have cleaned up after yourself.

Wow, it gets interesting here.

In other news:

Going on leave in 5 days. My actual departure is Valentine's Day at 0400. Not the nicest time of the day (or night) to depart from a god-forsaken spot, but hey....this is what we do. That's why we get paid the big bucks! Man, I thought the big bucks had all gone to the altar boy at St. Rita's. Bucky Dent, we used to call him.

Sorry mom, I know you know that kid, and he's probably a nice boy, but to me and Chris he will always be Bucky Dent. I don't even have an idea who the real Bucky Dent was. I think he hit a clinching homerun (three runs?) for the Yankees in 1974, against the Sox. But anyway, I always liked seeing that kid on the altar. Sorta reminded me of myself when I was that age. I didn't have the bucks that he has, but I was at least as dorky!

So now I have some extra bucks, and would like to invite everyone to either suggest a cause I can support or support a cause I have already adopted. My main one is Citizen Schools. If you believe in the idea that professionals do not necesssarily need to have teaching accreditation in order to pass on knowledge to the next generation, then you should support Citizen Schools.

Oh, here's a neat thing....

In Kurdish, the way you say 'Thank you' is 'spas.' The response is 'Sirtsau'; it is often said when someone says 'Thanks'and also when you say something nice to someone.....It's sort of more like 'Your Welcome.' Even when you greet someone, with 'Bayani bash', they will say 'sirtsau'....then you say 'Choni?' (how are you? and they will, say 'Bash, sirtsau').

Ok, that's the polite way of talking. However, there is a more colloquial way of talking.

I often say 'ciao' when I am saying goodbye. Just something I learned in Bosnia....everyone says it there.

Anyway, in Kurdish, chow means eye, and it often means the 'evil eye'.

b'chow eebert

That's the evil eye.

b'Chow Ebert means 'the evil eye'--a curse...has nothing to do with the movie critic.

So never say 'ciao' among Kurds!

Just so you know!

Hope everyone has a good day!

Love and Peace to all!

A mighty wind!

2009-02-08T12:56:00.002+03:00

Hi folks!

It's true that the wind does blow something fierce here in Kurdistan sometimes. While I normally refrain from using scatological humor in this space, this story is worth the tell.

I was sitting on the john last night, minding my own business (no pun intended), when a huge gust of wind came along and rattled the roofing sheets like they were made of paper. I thought maybe an animal had gotten between the roofing sheets and the ceiling. But we ain't got 'coons or critters like 'at here. Just birds and cats, and the occasional dog. A bird wouldn't make that much noise, and a cat would meowl if he got stuck up there, and I don't think a dog could get up to our roof. So, I'm sitting there in a rather compromised position, and the only think I can think of is that a banshee is crawling around above the ceiling, waiting for me to finish, so that she can finish me and haul me down with her to her infernal punishment.

Now, when I was a kid, when we lived in England, there was a brand of snack-chippy type thingies called 'Monster Munch'. They were basically puffed corn shaped in various forms that supposedly resembled monsters or their various ugly body parts. They were flavored with a good dose of MSG and other stuff....the best flavor was pickled-onion. We sometimes still get a packet once in a while, when someone travels to the UK. Luckily for me, though, the bonus part of the Monster Munch packet is that each one describes a different monster, and how to defeat it and/or escape from it.

So, I recalled the Monster Munch packet with the Banshee.

There is no running away from a Banshee. She flies too fast.

What you do is, when she starts wailing, you wail back at her at the same frequency, which, according to the laws of physics, cancels out the sound coming from her direction. Needless to say, howling and wailing in the night becomes a little unsettling to the other residents of the house. Luckily, I am in a locked bathroom and they can't get to me with the straitjacket. They COULD knock the door in and get to me that way, but that would cause even more uproar, and probably upset the Banshee even more. So they wait patiently in the hallway with the straitjacket and a bludgeon (just in case).

They don't know about the Banshee between the roofing sheets and the ceiling. They just think I'm going crazy in the toilet.

Well, I finished my business, having quieted the Banshee at least temporarily, climbed out the window onto the roof terrace, made my way back to the main entrance of the house, casually climbed the stairs, greeted the gawkers in the hallway, and opened the door to my room and went to sleep.

It was a bitch to climb back up to the bathroom window the next morning to unlock the door from the inside.....

I think I have been reading too much James Thurber! Hehe.

Hope you all got the fact that the foregoing was fiction. I really don't believe in Banshees, no matter what they print on the Monster Munch packets!

Love and Peace to all!

Learning Afrikaans

2009-02-07T23:38:00.004+03:00

Hi Folks!

I have no idea why I even care, as Afrikaans is probably spoken by fewer people than Basque. But since it's related to Dutch, which is the language that my kids speak, it's kinda interesting.

It's basically Dutch with a twist. I find it fun to hear the differences between real Dutch and Afrikaans.

There is a song by a singer named Valiant Swart, called Horisontaal (Horizontal). When I first heard it, I thought he was was saying: 'Wees van taal' (watch your language). So funny!

So now that is clear....it's Horisontaal! The state you will be in when you get in your grave.

And I learn the rest of the language by listening to the music and chatting with my Cavemen buddies.

Perhaps it's useless to learn Afrikaans.....but hey, who's going to be the tour guide for World Cup 2010?

That will be me with my security detail protecting me from all anti-fans! :-0

Dunno what will be the anti side, but I know that I will be protected. I will be buying two seats all the way through the finals.

There is a massive bet on the tournament. When I left Bosnia in 1997, my boss Jim and one of my project managers, Graham (from the UK) had a bet that the US would/would not win a World Cup within the next 10 chances. Now, the World Cup only happens so often, so I am not sure whether we've reached the 10 chances mark, but I am not all that hopeful for our team in 2010. Anyway their bet is that if the US can win within 10 chances from the time they placed the bet (I think 1996), the loser has to pay for the winner and his entire family to fly to the place where the other is, and the the other has to buy a luxury dinner and give them a weekend tour of their home city.

I think Jim will have to wait at least one more World Cup, as our boys don't seem too strong this year!

Love and Peace to all!

Would everyone please just leave Michael Phelps alone?

2009-02-06T08:13:00.002+03:00

Hi Folks,

Don't tell me you didn't shed tears of joy when Michael Phelps won his record-breaking eighth gold medal last year (at least if you are an American). That was a public feat of victory on the world's stage. The boy is a fish, to steal a phrase backwards from my brother Mike.

What I'd like to see is pictures of the butt-head who took the picture of Phelps and sold it for money. How smashed was s/he? And probably the editors of the tabloid that published the slanderous story were drunk on Pernod at the time.

This is a private affair that he needs to talk to his Mom about, not something we should all be sticking our noses into.

I will boycott Kellogs for ending their sponsorship. I will boycott any of his sponsors that drop him. I will also stop swimming, because USA Swimming is beating up on him. (That's a joke...we can't swim in February here in Erbil.)

Anyway, the way I see it, unless they shoot someone, or fight dogs, or illegally cut down trees, or dual-net fish for tuna, I don't give a flying what star athletes do. There are only so many I really respect, and they deserve that respect. I don't care if Tiger Woods smokes crack when he's not playing. He goes out and does his thing, and does it consistently well.

I don't care that Michael Phelps smoked a bong. He's still a hero to me. And he's from Bawlmer, hon!

Thirty-some years ago, we might have read that Terry Bradshaw snorted coke after winning a Superbowl. There might have even been pictures of him, Lynn Swann, Franco Harris and Mean Joe Greene all bug-eyed with ear-to-ear grins. But that was in the days before cell-phone cameras could spy on you from across the room. Still, does that diminish what they did?

Whether or not we know about these things, they happen.

I am sure that Bono and his boys have done a little toke once in a while in their day. I suppose they have all quit now, like I have quit drinking beer. Does it matter? Are they not still amazing?

Not to mention the Beatles.

There is all this yadda-yadda about Phelps being held to a higher standard because he is an example for others. Face it, people, in our own small worlds, we are all an example for someone. Aren't we all expected to live up to a higher standard....one we can really never reach without the grace of God?

Frankly, I think you should look closer to home for your role models. Wish we could all be good role models for those that look up to us.

Love and Peace to all!

Anyone notice the links????

2009-02-05T02:28:00.002+03:00

Hi Folks!

Did anyone notice the koinkidink between:

1. Taliban blows up Khyber Pass bridge--main supply route into Afghanistan for our troops. Feb 1, 2009.

2. Russia presses Kyrgyzstan to close the US airbase at Malam--main air route into Afghanistan for our troops. Feb. 2, 2009.

3. Iran launches a satellite into orbit...on a two-stage rocket. Feb. 3, 2009.

Hmmm....looks like Cold War II already.

This is scary!

Love and Peace to all!

We are the champions!

2009-02-02T08:37:00.002+03:00

Hi Folks!

The Black and Gold has done it again! A record six Superbowl wins. I couldn't watch the game per-se, but woke up just in time to track the last three minutes or so on ESPN.com.

What an amazing finish.

I don't think there has been a Superbowl this close in 15 years. Though, I don't follow the game that closely unless the Steelers are playing, and I am not a statistician.

I am jealous of those that got to watch. I think that last Pittsburgh touchdown may have earned the honors of 'Immaculate Reception II'.

For the first time since I can remember, they actually put the game on at a reasonable hour. I recall it used to start at, like, 9 PM and go all through the early hours. That schedule would have meant taking the day off to follow the game.

Actually, I probably could have done a better job channel surfing to find the game. Our satellite receivers here track 4 different satellites and there are thousands of channels.....one of them must have carried the game. Alas, it was time to get ready for work by the time the clock started winding down. I was just happy to see the play by play in text on the computer.

One thing's for sure: With the economic mess, the Steel City could certainly use a bit of happiness. Youns get out there and enjoy the moment! Have an Iron City or a Genny on me! And a Primanti's sandwich. And some Mike & Ikes or Necco wafers for dessert.

I just hope Big Ben doesn't get burned like Michael Phelps did.

Love and Peace to all!

Superbowl Sunday

2009-02-01T23:05:00.002+03:00

Hi Folks!

Well, looks like I'll be missing this year's Superbowl after all. We have to work tomorrow and it doesn't start until 0230 local time. And who knows how long it will take between the 'start' time and the actual kickoff. I figure it will end around the time I wake up in the morning, and maybe I can catch the results then.

Back in Ghana, we'd watch AFN (Armed Forces Network) and try to catch some games....but that was then, this is too tired and spent to even think about it.

I am a Steelers fan. Have been since I knew what football was, because my Dad grew up around Pittsburgh and he and my mom met at Duquesne, which is probably a 10 minute walk from the old Three Rivers Stadium. Now they play on Heinz field.

The Heinz 57 factory smokestack was a beacon for us as kids on our way to Nana's house up there near Pittsburgh. It always meant we were getting close to a warm bed and maybe some cookies.

I remember Nana used to bring out newspapers with the front pages for each of the Steelers' Superbowl wins back in the Bradshaw days. And the dang Pirates who beat the Orioles in that bizarre World Series back in the late 70's. I hope someone in the family still has them.

Anyway, go Steelers!

Love and Peace to all!

Assume sense of humor

2009-02-01T20:29:00.002+03:00

Hi Folks!

If you know me at all personally, you know that I have a strange sense of humor. My Dad and my brothers and I developed it out of careful research and much experimentation.

I recall one experiment that nearly blew the roof off the house. We were at dinner one night, I guess I was about 12, and we were all telling the jokes of the day. My brother Mike, who must have been 5 or so at the time comes out of the blue and says, 'I have a joke'. So we all look at him and ask what the joke is. He says, 'A fish is a boy' and bursts out laughing.

A fish is a boy!

Well, that may or may not be funny to you, but I remember we all cracked up over it at the time.

The point of this post is to tell you that you must read everything I write with a sense of humor. I live in a secluded place, and most of my friends are security guards, AKA cavemen. We sometimes get a bit warped with our humor, but we keep each other out of trouble. We defend each other from the floozies that pitch up into the Caveman Cafe, and make sure no one gets out of hand over a game of Carcassone.

We really do look out for each other. We're cavemen, not barbarians.

We even say grace before meals, most of the time.

'Grace!'

'Amen!'

Just want you all to be aware that sometimes a fish is a boy, and it's funny.

Most of the jokes we tell in the Caveman Cafe are not for publication on this site. However, so long as we are members of the fraternal order of the Caveman, we will joke as we see fit and leave it to the visitors to FIFO.

Love and Peace to all!

What's so great about Ernest Hemingway?

2009-02-01T12:07:00.002+03:00

Hi Folks!

Perhaps there's something I'm missing, but I am not a big fan of Hemingway. Not yet, anyway.

I am reading a collection of short stories I got in Russia years ago. It's quite an interesting book, as there are editor's comments at the end, with explanations, in Russian for various colloquialisms and other things that a Russian reader might find hard to understand. There are also quite detailed explanations in the back--talking about the stage of Hemingway's career when each story was written, and linking them to his biography, state of mental/spiritual health, etc.

All that said, the stories suck!

They are all just a running dialogue, normally between two characters, with no resolution. Sort of like this blog, perhaps....only here, it seems, there is only one character.

Perhaps there is something more in his full novels, which I have to admit I haven't read.

In the meantime, I'll keep reading the short stories to see if I can figure out what made the man so special.

In other news:

John Updike died. There's someone whose work I'd like to revisit.

Iraq's elections seem to have gone off smoothly. We'll know the results by Christmas. LOL

At least there wasn't any major violence or other disturbance.

It's nap time on my day off, but someone is using a jackhammer right outside my window.

Wonderful!

Love and Peace to all!

Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Big Bopper, RIP--50 years

2009-02-01T04:58:00.002+03:00

Hi Folks,

Don McLean said it best. It was the day the music died.

Long, long time ago....

50 years is hard to believe.

Tonight there is a Buddy Holly tribute concert in Bladensburg, Maryland, not far from my home near there. Last year, I was able to go to the show. So much for this year....

I will sit and listen to the music in my room, since we're locked down for the elections.

Too many good songs.

I hope I meet those guys if I make it to heaven.

Can music save your mortal soul?

Probably not, but it helps when things get rough and you're lonely.

Love and Peace to all!

Ash Wednesday

2009-01-31T09:26:00.003+03:00

Hi Folks!

February 25th is Ash Wednesday. Many of you probably know the meaning of Ash Wednesday.

TS Eliot wrote something that kind of captures the idea. It is here. If you don't have a few minutes to spare, now is probably not the right time to read this post, as the Eliot poem is rather long....
_______________________________________________________

Ash Wednesday

I

Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn
Desiring this man's gift and that man's scope
I no longer strive to strive towards such things
(Why should the agèd eagle stretch its wings?)
Why should I mourn
The vanished power of the usual reign?

Because I do not hope to know
The infirm glory of the positive hour
Because I do not think
Because I know I shall not know
The one veritable transitory power
Because I cannot drink
There, where trees flower, and springs flow, for there is nothing again

Because I know that time is always time
And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place
I rejoice that things are as they are and
I renounce the blessèd face
And renounce the voice
Because I cannot hope to turn again
Consequently I rejoice, having to construct something
Upon which to rejoice

And pray to God to have mercy upon us
And pray that I may forget
These matters that with myself I too much discuss
Too much explain
Because I do not hope to turn again
Let these words answer
For what is done, not to be done again
May the judgement not be too heavy upon us

Because these wings are no longer wings to fly
But merely vans to beat the air
The air which is now thoroughly small and dry
Smaller and dryer than the will
Teach us to care and not to care Teach us to sit still.

Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death
Pray for us now and at the hour of our death.

II
Lady, three white leopards sat under a juniper-tree
In the cool of the day, having fed to sateity
On my legs my heart my liver and that which had been contained
In the hollow round of my skull. And God said
Shall these bones live? shall these
Bones live? And that which had been contained
In the bones (which were already dry) said chirping:
Because of the goodness of this Lady
And because of her loveliness, and because
She honours the Virgin in meditation,
We shine with brightness. And I who am here dissembled
Proffer my deeds to oblivion, and my love
To the posterity of the desert and the fruit of the gourd.
It is this which recovers
My guts the strings of my eyes and the indigestible portions
Which the leopards reject. The Lady is withdrawn
In a white gown, to contemplation, in a white gown.
Let the whiteness of bones atone to forgetfulness.
There is no life in them. As I am forgotten
And would be forgotten, so I would forget
Thus devoted, concentrated in purpose. And God said
Prophesy to the wind, to the wind only for only
The wind will listen. And the bones sang chirping
With the burden of the grasshopper, saying

Lady of silences
Calm and distressed
Torn and most whole
Rose of memory
Rose of forgetfulness
Exhausted and life-giving
Worried reposeful
The single Rose
Is now the Garden
Where all loves end
Terminate torment
Of love unsatisfied
The greater torment
Of love satisfied
End of the endless
Journey to no end
Conclusion of all that
Is inconclusible
Speech without word and
Word of no speech
Grace to the Mother
For the Garden
Where all love ends.

Under a juniper-tree the bones sang, scattered and shining
We are glad to be scattered, we did little good to each other,
Under a tree in the cool of day, with the blessing of sand,
Forgetting themselves and each other, united
In the quiet of the desert. This is the land which ye
Shall divide by lot. And neither division nor unity
Matters. This is the land. We have our inheritance.

III

At the first turning of the second stair
I turned and saw below
The same shape twisted on the banister
Under the vapour in the fetid air
Struggling with the devil of the stairs who wears
The deceitul face of hope and of despair.

At the second turning of the second stair
I left them twisting, turning below;
There were no more faces and the stair was dark,
Damp, jaggèd, like an old man's mouth drivelling, beyond repair,
Or the toothed gullet of an agèd shark.

At the first turning of the third stair
Was a slotted window bellied like the figs's fruit
And beyond the hawthorn blossom and a pasture scene
The broadbacked figure drest in blue and green
Enchanted the maytime with an antique flute.
Blown hair is sweet, brown hair over the mouth blown,
Lilac and brown hair;
Distraction, music of the flute, stops and steps of the mind
over the third stair,
Fading, fading; strength beyond hope and despair
Climbing the third stair.

Lord, I am not worthy
Lord, I am not worthy

but speak the word only.

IV
Who walked between the violet and the violet
We walked between
The various ranks of varied green
Going in white and blue, in Mary's colour,
Talking of trivial things
In ignorance and knowledge of eternal dolour
Who moved among the others as they walked,
Who then made strong the fountains and made fresh the springs

Made cool the dry rock and made firm the sand
In blue of larkspur, blue of Mary's colour,
Sovegna vos

Here are the years that walk between, bearing
Away the fiddles and the flutes, restoring
One who moves in the time between sleep and waking, wearing

White light folded, sheathing about her, folded.
The new years walk, restoring
Through a bright cloud of tears, the years, restoring
With a new verse the ancient rhyme. Redeem
The time. Redeem
The unread vision in the higher dream
While jewelled unicorns draw by the gilded hearse.

The silent sister veiled in white and blue
Between the yews, behind the garden god,
Whose flute is breathless, bent her head and signed but spoke no word

But the fountain sprang up and the bird sang down
Redeem the time, redeem the dream
The token of the word unheard, unspoken

Till the wind shake a thousand whispers from the yew

And after this our exile

V
If the lost word is lost, if the spent word is spent
If the unheard, unspoken
Word is unspoken, unheard;
Still is the unspoken word, the Word unheard,
The Word without a word, the Word within
The world and for the world;
And the light shone in darkness and
Against the Word the unstilled world still whirled
About the centre of the silent Word.

O my people, what have I done unto thee.

Where shall the word be found, where will the word
Resound? Not here, there is not enough silence
Not on the sea or on the islands, not
On the mainland, in the desert or the rain land,
For those who walk in darkness
Both in the day time and in the night time
The right time and the right place are not here
No place of grace for those who avoid the face
No time to rejoice for those who walk among noise and deny the voice

Will the veiled sister pray for
Those who walk in darkness, who chose thee and oppose thee,
Those who are torn on the horn between season and season, time and time, between
Hour and hour, word and word, power and power, those who wait
In darkness? Will the veiled sister pray
For children at the gate
Who will not go away and cannot pray:
Pray for those who chose and oppose

O my people, what have I done unto thee.

Will the veiled sister between the slender
Yew trees pray for those who offend her
And are terrified and cannot surrender
And affirm before the world and deny between the rocks
In the last desert before the last blue rocks
The desert in the garden the garden in the desert
Of drouth, spitting from the mouth the withered apple-seed.

O my people.

VI
Although I do not hope to turn again
Although I do not hope
Although I do not hope to turn

Wavering between the profit and the loss
In this brief transit where the dreams cross
The dreamcrossed twilight between birth and dying
(Bless me father) though I do not wish to wish these things
From the wide window towards the granite shore
The white sails still fly seaward, seaward flying
Unbroken wings

And the lost heart stiffens and rejoices
In the lost lilac and the lost sea voices
And the weak spirit quickens to rebel
For the bent golden-rod and the lost sea smell
Quickens to recover
The cry of quail and the whirling plover
And the blind eye creates
The empty forms between the ivory gates
And smell renews the salt savour of the sandy earth

This is the time of tension between dying and birth
The place of solitude where three dreams cross
Between blue rocks
But when the voices shaken from the yew-tree drift away
Let the other yew be shaken and reply.

Blessèd sister, holy mother, spirit of the fountain, spirit of the garden,
Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Even among these rocks,
Our peace in His will
And even among these rocks
Sister, mother
And spirit of the river, spirit of the sea,
Suffer me not to be separated

And let my cry come unto Thee.

Thomas Stearns Eliot

___________________________________________________________

And after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb.

I won't try to interpret Eliot's words line by line. I'm not up to that task.

But here we are at the edge of Lent. Time to get on your knees and say 'Sorry' for all the stuff that has happened since you last said 'Sorry'. It's hard to go to confession here, because I can't find a priest that speaks decent English. I will ask around to try to find one willing to try in English.

Anyway, everyone has their own Lenten experience each year. I have done better some years than in others. This year I have a plan to reduce my smoking by 1/2 by chewing my sunflower seeds. Also, I have resolved to treat everyone I encounter with respect and sympathy, regardless of whatever harm they might try to do to me. To not be vengeful, in other words. To try to turn the other cheek no matter how many times it gets slapped. Even when you don't know why it's getting slapped in the first place.

I hope your Ash Wednesday is a good beginning to this season of repentance and renewal. My prayers go out to all of you. As you get your ashes in church, say a prayer for me.

Love and Peace to all!

The Drones!

2009-01-31T01:44:00.003+03:00

Hi folks,

The drones have been flying over us for the last couple of days.

Iraq's elections are today.

Our region doesn't get to vote, but the drones have been busy looking at us. You can hear them, but you can't see them. They just buzz over, sounding somewhat like a chopper.

It's weird to know that they can look at you from up there. When I go out to play soccer, they can tell what size shoes I wear--up to a 9 now, from too much running and kicking.

They come across us at high altitude, and even on a clear day, you can't see them up there.

Pretty amazing technology, but pretty strange to be on the ground when those things are flying over.

In other news:

I am getting some weird skin problems.

I have really dry patches on my shoulders, that itch and somehow scab up.

I had a big purple rash on my right hand and arm last week. It cleared up with a few applications of lotion, but it was strange.

My dentist says that the water here is just really not good. She has been here longer than I. But I figure it can't be worse than Ghana or Bhuj. Still, whatever it is is drying up my skin and giving me these itchy bumps all over my body. I keep putting lotion on, but I guess the water is getting the better of me.

Perhaps when I go on leave to Holland and Turkey, it will clear up.

There is rain this morning, so our soccer game may be scrubbed. The rain is good for the field, but not good for actually playing. I don't want to tear it up just in time for Spring, when the grass is supposed to rejuvenate.

More news later!

Love and Peace to all!

Cigarrette Smoke Invites Aliens, studies say

2009-01-30T09:26:00.003+03:00

Hi folks,

According to a friend of mine, cigarettes serve as a beacon to alien landing craft. These aliens can take over the world if you smoke too much.

I have dealt with one alien (read the last couple of posts), in the form of Friend D.

I have another alien whose name I will omit for now.

I thought my brother Mike at some point had given me a G2 light saber, but I must have misplaced it.

Anyhoo, it seems the more I smoke, the more aliens get generated.

In other news:

It is windy as all heck today.

We have the day off, as usual on Fridays.

Tiles are blowing off our roof....which, last time, led to water ingress, which led to a slippery floor, which led to a sore butt! Hamdul il'lah it wasn't a broken neck, or a smashed head!

I find it funny here that everyone worries about security and all my friends constantly ask whether I am safe, but in the end, it could just be a wet, slippery floor that sends me to my eternal reward (or punishment....since I am Catholic, I have to have a provision for that as well).

Today I will be careful on the floors.

One of my friends, who has already published a good book...the link here: www.bos-toe.co.za

Anyway he has a great story of sailing from South Africa to the Galapagos islands--a journey of several months. We are thinking of working together on a book about that story.

I will let you know if we ever get around to it....

In the meantime, watch out for those aliens, and for Pete's sake, if you have to smoke, do it somewhere where the aliens can't see the beacon!

Love and Peace to all

A new song--hang the DJ

2009-01-30T01:27:00.005+03:00

Hi Folks!

This is a song I wrote, inspired by the theme song of the Beverly Hillbillies.

Y'all probly remember that song, right? About a man named Jed, poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed?

To the tune of the Beverly Hillbillies theme:

Beastly Erbillies Theme Song

Come and listen to a story about a man named Joe
Kept a family safe though he was away from home.
Then one day he was cooking up some food,
And up through the ground came a bubblin crude.

Oil that is, black gold, Kurdish tea.

Well the first thing you know old Joe’s a worried man,
Cuz he’s just got so many clients on his hands.
He thinks Mexico is the place he wants to stay,
So loaded up his trunk and he went to get away!

Away far, that is. Sweet beaches, surfing stars, topless bars.

Well now its time to say good bye to Joe and all his kin.
And they would like to welcome you if you ever do drop in.
But just beware that Joe carries an AK
And if you come in unexpected, you might get blown away!

Erbilly that is. Take a stump. Take your shoes off.

Y'all come back now, insh’allah.

I like it, whether or not anyone else does.

These are the jokes we make when we're lonely and tired.

I can't even begin to tell you how tired I am. After the last lady left....God bless her....we had dinner and joked about life for a few hours.

Everyone ran out of smokes....but I still have a few left. SOL for the ones who forgot to load a second magazine.

Always keep another pack with you. In your backpack, shoulder bag, whatever you wear/carry. Keep them with you!

All is well now...the banner for the cafe has been restored to it's rightful position. Now we are just working on a velvet Jesus. (Our security boss looks somewhat like the classical Jesus in the velvet paintings.) So we want to hang a velvet Jesus just above his chair. If not Jesus, then Elvis...what the heck...something velvet and ultraviolet.

Please don't think I am being sacreligious. I think the creation of the velvet Jesus is more sacreligious than our intended purposes. In some respects, if you think about it, Joe could become my savior. At least on the mortal level.

Love and Peace to all!

Killer of the Cavemen

2009-01-28T21:15:00.003+03:00

Hi Folks!

As most of you who follow this blog know, we have a place in Erbil where we get together to have dinner, play board games or darts, and share old stories and jokes.

It's called the Caveman Cafe, and we have invested a lot of time and effort in getting it set up just right.

I had a friend make a cartoon representing the boss of the security company (Mighty Joe) and his girlfriend...it looked like a Fred Flinstone cartoon. We used it as the main decoration for the wall.

It reads, in Flinstones script: 'Welcome to the Caveman Cafe', then 'Home of Mighty Joe and the Stonebreakers', then 'Pleez see the Maitre'D who will see you to your stump.' With this nice cartoon in the middle.

We have a set of Cave Rules on another poster, but they are not fit for inclusion here...my daughter would scold me, my wife divorce me (oh, she already did that), my dad rebuke me, AND, my Mom would just say I don't know how to look (to find the rules)

My kiddos, on the other hand, still seem to have some respect for their dad, even if few others do.

Well, this is our little place where we make peace after work, if we have wronged each other, on a mission, or on the soccer field, sit down for a night of a board game, just get away from work.

So in comes D. She is from another organization, similar to ours, under a different contract. She likes bourbon, and brought half a ton with her when she came up to Erbil. I don't know where she got it....maybe she has PX priviliges that I don't have....or maybe there is just no PX close to here. Or maybe I prefer not to get drunk on bourbon......

Who knows? But so anyways, this woman decides she doesn't like the Caveman Cafe logo, because it's sexist. She missed the entire joke implied in the 1. Name of the Cafe, 2. Graphic on the banner and 3. the fact that we're actually a bunch of loving guys who just like to tell fart jokes once in a while.

So, I pitched off for home at 9 last night after dinner, leaving her in the hands of my trusty friend from our security team.

And I guess he thought he got her to bed safe and sound.....as she had work to do today.

Anyhoo, the next evening, I comes into the cafe, takes my normal chair, grabs a mug and a cigarrette, and sits there smoking and talking. Someone comes in and says "What happened to the thingy on the wall?"

Can you believe this low-life bourbon biatch tore down the banner and threw it in the trash because she didn't get the joke? I confronted her, because I knew it was her, but she denied anything to do with it.

Now I tell you compadres, there was no wind last night, and anyway we have put up canvas around the Cafe to make sure it stays warm and wind-free. I know who was on duty last night over at the security house and I know they would not do such a thing to me. The only variable in this equation is the woman.

So, after she is escorted to sleep by the chief of security, she sneaks back out into the Cafe and rips the thing off the wall!!!????

She tore down a 4-foot by 3-foot panel, that we had painstakingly installed, just to decorate the Cafe. This is OUR place....our little oasis from the pressures of the workday. And she comes up for a couple of days, mostly drunk on bourbon, and wants to change OUR space????

I am just so shocked and hurt that someone we had tried to take care of would do some dumb-ass thing like that.

She tried to cook dinner, but doesn't know how to cook lentils. I left before she was done...Good thing I didn't stay because I am more than ticked off. Turns out she didn't really know what she was cooking anyway.....Ramen was a better way to go. That's the way I went.

Thank God she's back to Baghdad today!

May she rest in peace! I have no more sympathy, I've cried out all my tears..... She tore down my banner.

I will not let this one ride.

Some insults, you take 'em on the chin and move on, especially in a a war-zone. This was a deliberate attack, from someone who's supposed to be on YOUR side.

I discussed it with my male colleagues , and they all agreed she was trying to get one of us in the sack. When everyone said no thanks, she walked out, pretended to to go to sleep, then came back to rip our banner down.

So, we'll resurrect the banner somehow, and put the place back together.

The main lesson has been learned by the cavemen:

Never trust a desperate woman.

Love and Peace to all!

Kleenex boy

2009-01-26T12:27:00.002+03:00

Hi folks!

If you haven't traveled to the developing world, you may not get the irony of this story. If you have, it will hopefully give you a chuckle.

You know how, at the intersections of town, people stand around hawking various things.....? In Ghana it was little baggies with sugarcane to chew on, or bandannas, or useless trinkets to entertain the kids on a long drive back from the beach.

I think I have seen everything from live snakes to bush-rats dried and splayed on a tennis-racket looking thing. And fake Pez dispensers, and handheld video games.....all for sale just outside your car window.

And there are the windshield washer kids.....we have them in the States, too. They scare me!

But here in Iraq, things are a bit more civilized. People don't stand on street corners offering to wash your windshield, or trying to sell you a used pair of shoes.....

The Kleenex boy just comes up to the window and offers you a tissue to wipe your runny nose or dry your tears....

Heck, you can carry 30 boxes of Kleenex the same as 10 coconuts.

I guess people buy them or they wouldn't be out there in the cold morning hawking tissues in reckless traffic (not wreck-less, but reckless).

Unfortunately, I can't roll down the window in the vehicle that takes me to and from work....so I just smile and pull out my little pocket-pack of tissues to show him that I already have some.

When he pulls out a box of chewing gum, I have to dig in my pocket to show him that I have that too...smile and drive on.

Love and Peace to all!

The curfew is coming

2009-01-26T10:35:00.002+03:00

Hi folks!

Greetings from Kurdistan. Elections are coming up here in Iraq, but our humble region will not be participating, because the issues between the Kurds and the Arabs has not been sorted out to the liking of the US Department of State. I pray that it will get sorted out, but in the meantime, our region is excluded from the democratic process.

All the same, the national curfew has been ordered for 30 and 31 January. January 30 is a Friday, so we wouldn't be working anyway that day, but January 31, which, as a Saturday would ordinarily be a workday, we'll have to stay buttoned down in the compound--no travel authorized on that day. Call it a long weekend, courtesy of Iraqi politics.

I will have to work anyway, since I am going on leave soon, and I don't want to leave a backlog of stuff to deal with when I get back.

In other news:

Here is a picture from the local paper after Inauguration Day. I had meant to get it out on here before now, but had a case of EEOA with our scanner (Equipment Exceeds Operator Ability).

Love and Peace to all!

Life in the trenches

2009-01-22T10:50:00.003+03:00

Hi folks,

We finally got approval from DC to have our office guarded 24/7, as opposed to only when expats are here.

So, now no-one has to carry tens of thousands of dollars home at night.

Also, the University has decided unilaterally (I like that) to install lights around our center, so we've been digging cable trenches for the last two days.

Here, you can see some of the fun we have when there is little else to do!

Love and Peace to all!

Maybe I forgot to mention

2009-01-22T06:49:00.005+03:00

Hi folks,

I had an amazing tour of the Sports and Fitness College of the University of Salahaddin, where my office is located, on the day before inauguration day. I saw facilities for basketball, volleyball, soccer....all except swimming.

Anyone out there got $400K to help me build an indoor pool here (1/2 Olympic size)?

Return on investment--probably none. Maybe an Olympic medal at some point down the road...

In other news:

I did have a great tour of the University facilities.

They have built a soccer field on the grounds of the College of Engineering, where my office is located. It's complete with a chain-link cage enclosure, well-lined field, goals....great for 5-a-side football. ALSO! They are using chipped tires to underly the artificial turf.

I was going to make my first million chipping tires to sell to Kurdish soccer clubs, but I guess someone has beaten me to it. There are bags and bags of that stuff stacked up around the field. When I asked the dean of the college where the chipped rubber came from, he was not even sure. I bet from Turkey, where most of what we get here comes from.

In any case, I am glad to see these athletes doing their best in the various sports offered by the College.

I also met a group of musicians, athletes just resting on their day off from training. One was playing a sweet classical guitar, the others were just listening. When I passed them again on the way back to the car, a different guy was playing. I gave them my card and said let's get together and play sometime. I have three harps with me here...not all in the best key, but they'll do in a pinch.
Love and Peace to all!

Hail to the chief!

2009-01-17T05:12:00.000+03:00

Hi folks,

So, today we get a new President! Let us hope and pray that he will have the courage to truly change our society in the ways that he described in his inaugural address. What an amazing speech it was.

Some pundits are saying that it was not the best speech he's delivered over the course of his campaign and election to the presidency. I can't make comparisons, because I never really had time to watch the other speeches (given the time difference, and the fact that most of the public events take place in the evening, US time, you can understand). Anyway, I was literally crying most of the day, as I watched the people stream onto the Mall, saw them with their banners, heard their chants and songs.

And then, The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America makes a mistake in reading the oath of office. I had to pick myself off the floor and back into my chair when that happened. I still cried, because maybe people have started to realize that we are not robots, and that there is some room in the social sphere for love, kindness...something other than a machine-like march to get while the getting's good.

This day doesn't change anything, per-se, but it represents the potential for change, and the fact that our country desires the change. For me, it was just inspiring to see it all happen.

Some of my friends who didn't even bother to vote, felt inspired to go and see the spectacle. I suspect it was more about the event than the actual meaning of this change. They may be immature in their understanding of the importance of this....it's not just a week-long party....it's a four-year commitment to do something better for our country and the world.

But anyways, the whole world celebrated with us!

Good-riddance to the dispassionate, self-serving idea of compassionate conservatism, the big lie. Good-riddance to the idea that we can afford, as a nation, to let the wealthy avoid taxes while the poor loose their jobs. Good-riddance to the notion that the main effect that the USA can have on the rest of the world is death and destruction. Good-riddance to the belief that we can be the 'deciders' for the rest of the world.

Welcome collaboration, cooperation, communication. No more robots (except Hillary.....that was a bad mistake, but oh, well!).

I want to see our nation rise to its former glory as a shining star for all freedom-loving people. The level to which we have sunk as a result of the general economic malaise is appalling. W and his team have really ridden herd on the USA, and they may rot in the deepest pit of the darkest place, as far as I am concerned.

They ruined not just our country, but Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and, probably most importantly, most of the world's respect for the USA.

Those of us who work out here, trying to repair the damage the politicians have done, have to face this every day. Not only are people upset because of the damage that has been done to their country, but they mock us because of the damage we've done to our own.

WOW, who would imagine Iraqis telling us that we're the ones who are messed up?

Love and Peace to all!

Five days to Wapner

2009-01-15T13:15:00.002+03:00

Hi folks,

Something someone said yesterday evening when I was sitting playing a game of Carcassone with some of my security guys (AKA Cavemen), made me think of Dustin Hoffman's award-winning role in Rain Man. I can't even remember the character's name, but I remember he was always counting down the time until 'The People's Court' came on TV, with Judge Wapner.

My kids have never seen the movie, but they know what it means to be 5 minutes to Wapner.

Crap thing about Wapner, is that he's always on time. Turn on the TV at 4:30 PM, and he's there. Wapner can not be late, or we'd all scream at him and say he was irresponsible for being late.

I suppose I live in a whirlwind between a mother who is never on time for anything, and a father who is strictly by the clock. Just to be sure, I try to be the first one in the office, after the cleaning lady. Normally I am, indeed the first one in.

In other news:

Obama, our nation's first black president is about to be inaugurated, five days to Wapner.

I freaking can't believe we did this....elect a progressive PLUS black candidate.

I just hope he lives up to his promises and becomes more subtle and well-informed that he was during the race for the electric chair, ahem Oval Office.

Nominating Hillary for SecState was a dumb, politcally-motivated thing to do, but that pales in comparison with some of the nominations W. made. Harriet Miers? COME ON! She is like Palin^2. Palin squared.

What the heck do I care, I don't plan to live in that country anyway, just passin' through Joe.

Hmm, on second thought, what am I saying?

Our country, like it or leave it (hehe), has given me many good things: my Dad, my Mom, my Brothers....and a good education. Can we do better?

Have we tried?

We must try. Otherwise we're all just cynical hypocrites, armchair athletes, Monday-morning quarterbacks, pine-riders, sheep, lemmings, whatever! Just letting things happen while we watch.

Please, please go to Change.org and vote for something, anything, if you feel that you don't fit any of the categories above.

If you do fit in one of those categories, you can vote anyway, we don't discriminate.

Do not misunderestimate the value of your vote!

Love and Peace to all!

A New Deal?

2009-01-14T10:09:00.005+03:00

Hi Folks,

Action, and action NOW!

Thank God that my immediate family and most of my friends have jobs that will be somewhat insulated from the current crisis. (Although, most of us have probably seen a lot of our investments wiped out by the recent rape and pillage of the financial industry.)

I really hope that you will look at the causes I have posted over there on the right. Cast your vote for either or both....and vote for more (up to 10 votes), if you wish. They are not looking for money, they just want your vote.

Heck, is anyone even reading this?

Why do I waste my time....

I have the feeling, but not the statistics, that the US is the most under-educated population in the developed world. Both of the causes that I have posted on this blog are about education. Who among the reader(s)? would argue against the need for our country to pull itself up by the educational boot-straps and start to compete on an intellectual rather than brute-force level, with the rest of the world's economies.

We were able to advance through the 70's, 80's, and 90's (the only years I have been alive), despite gas crises, hostages, Reaganomics, etc., because we were a massively successful industrial economy, built on war-profiteering during WWII. We also had the best technology in the world, though much of it was controlled by the Department of Defense for a while. It took the Japanese years to catch up with us technologically, but they whooped our butts in industry, because all of their factories were built after 1945, whereas most of ours were built in the 1920's.

Not to mention that the USSR finally capitulated to our massive Military Industrial Complex.

I have written about this before, but I repeat that Eisenhower was right when he warned about the creeping influence of the big defense firms.

Unfortunately, in the 2000's, we have spent so much money fighting the Wars that Bush Made, and padding the pockets of well-connected cronies. Can you just imagine what we could have done with all that money? (Think, healthcare for kids, better schools, higher salaries for teachers, better benefits for vets...)

Arguments rage on Capitol Hill over $700 Billion...COME ON!

The War on Humanity (ahem, Terrorism) has cost us so much more....and that's only the monetary costs. Forget the men and women who came home in flag-draped caskets--they were expendable to begin with. Forget the people whose human rights have been abused in order to feed the fire of fear that the Cheney machine required in order to justify spying on innocent US citizens.

I am most concerned about the fact that we have been totally debased as a country, by the actions of a few small-minded people.

There was a song I used to sing in the Cub Scouts, when we lived in the UK:

I'll take the high road,
You take the low road,
And I'll get to Scotland before ye!

I think we as a country are losing the race to Scotland, if you get my drift.

Love and Peace to all!

http://www.change.org

Another day, another cause that needs support

2009-01-09T12:46:00.002+03:00

Hi folks,

As I write, things are going ballistic in the Middle East, and it seems the US doesn't have the cojones to do anything in this lame-duck period. But, then again, when did we ever do much to keep things in check over here?

I have put up a direct link to change.org so you can vote for Citizen Schools. I am now enrolled as a Citizen Champion for this cause.

At the same time, I am voting for a cause called the Dream Act, that would allow undocumented US-resident, immigrant children to attend a college or university in the States. It would not be free tuition--same terms as we all get/got for the financing, but at least a chance to attend. Basically, it would revoke the automatic prohibition many potential studends face, just because they don't hold the right passport.

As you can see, these two causes are closely linked. In my humble opinion, we'll never emerge from the social and economic doldrums we're in, unless we do something to improve our educational system.

Please go to www.change.org and vote for these causes.

There are many causes on the site that I don't necessarily support, so I don't vote for them. The two I have featured in this space are not ones that would probably cause a dilemma from a moral or social standpoint. The whole idea is that we can show our incoming president the things we really care about. The internet was a big factor in his election victory.....let's make it a HUGE factor in his policy decisions!

Love and Peace to all!

Please vote for citizen schools

2009-01-06T08:29:00.003+03:00

Hi folks!

I just got an e-mail from a former colleague from whom I hadn't heard in a while.

Apparently, he's now heading up a big effort to revitalize the educational system in the US.

If you have a moment spare, please put in your vote to place this effort on the radar screen of the Obama team.

https://www.change.org/ideas/view/mobilize_mentors_tutors_and_citizen_teachers_to_help_kids_succeed

I'd be very grateful for your support for this awesome idea, and for my former colleague, Matt.

Love and Peace to all!

Kiss me and smile for me!

2009-01-04T06:31:00.004+03:00

Hi folks,

We had a little scare yesterday. Something big went off in our neighborhood, and I evacuated the office. Windows and doors were rattling, and the University sent its guard force down to check on the sitch. No one was hurt, but it was too close for comfort, so we bugged out.

Back to work today! Yay!

My good friend, Caveman Joe, just said goodbye to his best friend today. She left early this AM. It's a sad thing to see someone missing someone else so much. When you care about someone and have to watch them suffer, it almost doubles the pain.

It reminds me of a song by Peter Paul and Mary! Oh, crap, I shouldn't put all these long posts up, or should I?

Aw, heck. I nearly got bombed yesterday, I can do whatever I want!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go
I'm standing here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin', it's early morn
The taxi's waiting, he's blowin' his horn
Already I'm so lonesome I could cry.

Chorus:
So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go.
(oh, baby, don't let me go!)
I'm leavin' on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go.

There's so many times I've let you down
So many times I've played around
I tell you now, they don't mean a thing
Every place I go, I think of you
Every song I sing, I sing for you
When I come back, I'll wear your wedding ring.

(Chorus)

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time let me kiss you
Then close your eyes, and I'll be on my way.
Dream about the days to come
When I won't have to leave alone
About the times, I won't have to say,

(Chorus)

I feel badly for my friend, Caveman Joe. He's a good man and it hurts to see him hurting. He will never admit it, of course, but he's hurting. He'll never be a wuss and break down and cry on my shoulder or anything like that. I would probably do that.

The feelings probably are multiplied by the scream-out we had yesterday, evacuating the office. Just an emotional day, for many reasons.

A lot of us have seen these sorts of bad things...shelling and sniper fire for a short list. Nevertheless, the worst fear and pain hits when you watch someone go away, whether by natural death or by the hand of another man, or just stepping onto a plane. The feelings are almost the same.

Ah, crap, done it again.....this post is too long!

Love and Peace to all!

Maybe I Write too Much?

2009-01-02T10:48:00.003+03:00

Hi folks,

I just realized that my last post was rather long. Mostly because I included the Bye bye Bush song. Sorry for that. And if you are one of the 1% of people who really like Bash (sic) then I am really sorry.

My Uncle Danny, (may his soul rest in peace) used to tell me about this amazing guy who played guitar and sang...and inspired the songs that Danny wrote (some were good).

Turns out it was Bob Dylan, who still remains the greatest songwriter of all time, with John Lennon running a close second, but since he's gone to his Maker, Cash may have to take the spot.

Danny was the greatest guy in the world, besides my dad and my brothers, but he died from bad habits....obesity, alcohol, tobacco. And loneliness. Since he was rather fat--even as a kid--he always felt left out. By his brothers, schoolmates, etc. That led, in my humble opinion, to a vicious cycle of depression and loneliness, that eventually ended in his early death. He found some solace in music, and actually wrote some good songs (never heard most of the melodies or arrangements he had in mind, just read some of the lyrics). I think I will ask my grandparents to give me access to his journals, so that I can be the archivist of that material. He was a very deep person, which I recognized when I was 14 or 15, but most others thought of him as just a joker and a good cook.

I know I will never become obese...got my dad's genes on that front. But I have had my fights with the other two....still can't give up the smokes. Just hope that my kiddos haven't inherited those genes. I'd rather they were fat than addicted.

In other news:

Hmmmm. Nothing to report.

Love and Peace to all!

All is Quiet

2009-01-01T16:21:00.008+03:00

Hi folks,

Happy New Year to everyone....I wish.

So the countdown begins.....20 days till 'Bye-bye Bush'....somehow reminds me of an Everly Brothers song.

To the tune of the Everly Brothers’ ‘Bye bye Love’

CHORUS1:
Bye bye Bush
Bye bye haplessness, hello intelligence
I think I'm-a gonna fly
Bye bye Bush, bye bye Wall Street mess, hello helpfulness
I feel like I could fly
Bye bye Mr Bush goodby-eye

There go the Bushies, they’re feeling blue
They screwed us over, both me and you.
We sure were happy, till he stepped in
Goodbye to the pension that might have been

CHORUS1

I'm-a through with Cheney, I'm a-through with Rove
And Donny Rumsfeld, just give him a shove
And here's the reason that I'm so free
Those goddamn Bushies made a job for me

CHORUS2:
Bye bye Bush
Bye bye arrogance, hello humbleness
I think I'm-a gonna fly
Bye bye Bush, bye bye duplicity, hello integrity
I feel like I could fly
Bye bye Mr Bush goodby-eye
To the tune of the Everly Brothers’ ‘Bye bye Love’

CHORUS1:
Bye bye Bush
Bye bye haplesness, hello intelligence
I think I'm-a gonna fly
Bye bye Bush, bye bye Wall Street mess, hello helpfulness
I feel like I could fly
Bye bye Mr Bush goodby-eye

There go the Bushies, they’re feeling blue
They screwed us over, both me and you.
We sure were happy, till he stepped in
Goodbye to the pension that might have been

CHORUS1

I'm-a through with Cheney, I'm a-through with Rove
And Donny Rumsfeld, just give him a shove
And here's the reason that I'm so free
Those damn Bushies made a job for me

CHORUS2:
Bye bye Bush
Bye bye arrogance, hello humbleness
I think I'm-a gonna fly
Bye bye Bush, bye bye duplicity, hello integrity
I feel like I could fly
Bye bye Mr Bush goodby-eye

Iraq’s a headache, but we ain’t won
There’ll be more bloodshed a-fore we are done
There goes my pension, it’s sink or swim
Think I’ll start robbin’ a-those banks agin.

CHORUS2

Fade to:
Bye bye Mr Bush goodby-eye
Bye bye Mr Bush goodby-eye

This parody is copyright of Rick Nidel, so if you are going to take a band out and play on Inauguration Day, you must give full credit to the bored dude who wrote it.

I wracked my brain over that parody and don't have much else to say.

In other news:

We had a rip-roaring New-Year's-Eve party over at the security house. We made salad, lasagna with tuna, and a ground beef dish we're calling Caveman's Quiche (something traditional South African, whose real name escapes me).

We blew off a crap-load of pyrotechnics (dang, I still need to go and pay for some of them...). Anyone who knows me well, knows that that is one of my favorite hobbies. We got commercial Chinese fireworks and had a little dance with those....and then the big boys came with their military flares. I wanted to flare off the little plastic Santa that came in the dumb sno-globe thingy that I had bought, which never
worked the way it was supposed to, but a friend's girlfriend objected. So we just made fire in the sky and Santa never made it home to the North Pole.

At the suggestion that we get out the AKs and load with tracers, we realized that that had been enough of the fireworks! There were plenty of funshots (sic) around town, with tracers. And at least one flare from another part of the compound landed, still lit, landed right beside us. All in fun.

There was a 'Gangster' theme party at one of the restaurant on the compound. I went as a 'Gangsta'....couldn't find a fedora or a trench coat. Anyhoo, I was taking pictures, and my friend Joe ended up in a sweet holiday hug from a woman in a shoulder-less dress. Her boyfriend didn't like the fact that I was taking pictures of her, and accosted me rather roughly.....so I left.

Despite all of my martial arts prowess, I did not want to hurt this guy and then get into a full-out Caveman brawl. Actually, I cried when I got home, either because I should have done something back to the butt-head, and didn't, or because I was just hurt that he doubted my intentions.

Anyway I am in one piece, and happily going about my regular weekend chores...after a long sleep-in. Missing all the football and everything else associate with the end of the year/beginning of the new year. I never get to watch football anymore, and I hardly get to watch soccer, since I cannot figure out the schedule, and I don't get all the right channels.

Last year, I subscribed to the MLS Live (or whatever it's called) channel for internet viewing, but all the games were at times when I should be asleep. Live and learn, as my Mom always said.

OK, that's enough for now. What was the old nursery rhyme, or kiddies' game? 'If you want more.....????' I have forgotten it.

Love and Peace to all!

The Lifeguard, B-School Finance, and the Train Wreck

2008-12-30T12:45:00.004+03:00

Hi Folks,

Who woulda thought that a glorified lifeguard could bilk people of $50 Billion. Bernie Madoff sure figured it out. I guess the folks that jumped into the trap either never went to B-school, or if they did, were never taught about 'moral hazard'(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_hazard), or maybe they were just dang greedy!

Or all three.

This and some of the other weird goings on in the financial sector make me glad I didn't spend a lot of time in elective finance classes, dealing with derivatives, interest swaps, and all the other tricks of the trade. To be honest, I wasn't the sharpest arrow in the quiver when it came to basic finance to begin with (though with the aid of good software, I am just fine), so I steered away and took what I figured would be more practical courses, like project management, supply chain management, etc.

As for Bernie, well, it seems he just went to Hofstra (BA Poli-Sci), where he must have figured out how to ride the gravy train. I guess he may be a small-fry scapegoat in the current climate, but I don't feel sorry for him. He and his club-mates have directly or indirectly created the problem we're facing. He's an old man now, and has lived life to the fullest, at the expense of a lot of people, from the wealthy fools who handed him their millions, to the Joe the Plumber investors who couldn't make the market work for them because there was too much foul play.

I kinda do feel sorry for old Bernie's sons and other family members, because blood is thicker than water. They still had milk behind their ears when they jumped on the bandwagon with dear old Dad. Can I think of another cliche to make this paragraph rich?

But seriously, if you were a young adult and had a parent who could offer you the finest education, a nice Manhattan apartment, and a job paying double what your classmates were making (plus a chance to 'get-in' on the magic by investing in the 'Plan'), wouldn't you pull the wool over your own eyes (oops, did it again) and just be the loyal scion?

Personally, I think Bernie turned himself in to save his family members who were in on the deal from getting burned.

Well, I hope they and their cronies all get burned somewhere down below.

I never was able to put aside a lot of money, so I haven't been hit as hard as many, but I think this and the other cases we've been reading about lately should remind us all that any promise of no-risk investment is the riskiest sort of investment there is.

Love and Peace to all!

Merry Christmas Palestinians!

2008-12-30T11:28:00.003+03:00

Hi folks,

Ehud^2 (Olmert and Barak) sure has proven to be bad calculus. Granted, Hamas went by the letter of the 'cease-fire' and started shooting as soon as the clock struck 2400 on the end-date. But come on guys, their Kassam rockets are over-rated. Two Israelis killed and now over 400 Palestinians. I don't say they were all innocents.

In any case, what a way to start the New Year.

I guess my quoting John Lennon's song, 'War is Over' in my last post was so anti-prescient. Or, maybe Ehud^2 hates my blog and wanted to make a point.

Well, I feel sorry for the other Barak, who will have to clean up the mess that George Bush allowed to fester, when opportunities were there.

Is there any hope for this region?

There were strong words yesterday from a senior Kurdish official to the effect that, since the Baghdad politicians cannot seem to sort out the oil issue, it may be time for the Arabs and Kurds to go to the mat. I suppose it would be a tactically smart move for the Kurds, as the Arabs (Sunni and Shia) seem preoccupied right now murdering each other. Kind of like a third party candidate, ala Teddy Roosevelt and the Bull Moose Party--let the big boys duke it out and drag each other down, then swoop in for the big prize. How did I get so jaded?

There's no 'other news' in this post.

Love and Peace (?) to all!

And so this is Christmas.....

2008-12-25T10:25:00.004+03:00

Hi Folks,

Merry Christmas to everyone. Personally mine started on a bit of a rocky note. After an unexpected dinner invitation to a Chinese restaurant that I hadn't been to before, I ended up in my bedroom with no heat. The main source of heat in the room is a 'split-unit' air-conditioner/heater with a compressor outside the room and a blower inside the room. If you have never visited the developing world, you probably would never have seen one of these machines.

In any case, when the blower works, but the compressor doesn't, all you get is the outside air blown across your bed.

Luckily, I have a space heater....one of the types with liquid inside that radiates a gentle warmth, but doesn't really heat a room. It's fine for sitting on the couch watching TV just to keep the legs and feet warm, but not for heating an entire room. Unfortunately, I don't sit on the couch watching TV anymore, and I want to have a warm bedroom in which to sleep....so I need the other machine to work.

There were options.....and I chose the worst. I totally forgot that our sitting-room downstairs is open all the time and has a big couch on which I could have rather comfortably gone to sleep. The other bedrooms in the house are always locked when unoccupied, and I didn't want to disturb a sick Caveman (there is a virus going around within the security community) with a petty request for a key to a warm room.

So I took my book and went to the bathroom, where the electric space heater was working quite well, and it was warm.

But......there is always a 'but' in my stories, there was pouring rain outside, and it just happened to leak through the roof of the bathroom. So I sat, with my feet in a puddle of water, a conduction heater frying my face, and a sci-fi book on my lap, for most of the night.

I couldn't help but think of Eliot's poem, The Journey of the Magi, and John Lennon's song Happy Christmas, (they are down below), while I was feeling sorry for myself.

I got 'Christmas with Johnny Cash' from I-tunes. That made me happier. He was an amazing songwriter and singer...even if his voice was not Pavarotti or Bono. To me, he's something like a 'more-accessible' Bob Dylan. Whereas Dylan has a rough voice and a raw style, similar to Cash, Cash just sings simple songs that you can understand at face value--and he can carry a tune.

Until his later work, Dylan always left you wondering what the heck he was talking about.

There are so many great songs out there, written by Bob Dylan, but performed by others, most notably, the Byrds. But.....always another 'but'....most of these were pop songs. His most serious work could not, or would not, be covered by anyone.

My most despised song in all my life of listening to and loving music (thanks Dad for that) is Joe Cocker's rendition of 'She Came in through the Bathroom Window', from the Beatles' Abbey Road. How could he dare wreck that song so badly? 'Didn't anybody tell him? Didn't anybody see? Sunday's on the phone to Monday. Monday's on the phone to me!'

As I have commented before, I believe Abbey Road could have been the greatest album ever made, had the Beatles not had to compromise among themselves and put Octopus's Garden and Maxwell's Silver Hammer on it. Those are the absolute most detestable songs they ever recorded. I have a hard time believing McCartney actually wrote and sang Maxwell.

So, they messed it up, and for now, I will give the honor to U2's 'Joshua Tree'. But that's just my opinion.

I wanted to get the White Album and Sgt. Peppers from I-Tunes for Christmas, but they are not available there. Will have to search other places.

Meantime, I will select the tracks from Abbey Road very carefully.

Enjoy the poems/songs below.

Peace and Love to all!

Happy Christmas
John Lennon

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong

And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
And a new one just begun

Ans so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over over
If you want it
War is over
Now...

The Journey of the Magi
TS Eliot

A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The was deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter."
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires gong out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty, and charging high prices.:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we lead all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I have seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

Christmas with the Man in Black

2008-12-24T02:00:00.003+03:00

Hi folks,

As you will observe, I have added a thingy to the blog that links to a Johnny Cash website. Lots of good songs on there you can listen to for free. I highly recommend the song 'The Man in Black'....you can find it on the right-hand side of the page that links below.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Rick-Nidel/1531992667#/johnnycash?ref=mf

I may add more stuff if I can figure out how to do it.

In the meantime, here is a cool story by Arthur C. Clarke, sent to me by a colleague.

____________________________________________________________________

THE STAR
by Arthur C. Clarke
[Copyright © Arthur C. Clark. Reprinted by permission of Arthur C. Clark
and Scott Meredith Literary Agency Inc., 845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022.]

Even popular or escape fiction may have a thematic basis; it may make a comment about some aspect of the human condition. Although escapist literature (like the following science fiction story) is written primarily for entertainment, it can also broaden
our own awareness of ourselves and our lives. The best stories achieve a balance between enlightenment and entertainment, skillfully blending the theme and the elements.
"The Star" makes a strong statement about human nature by blending literary elements like character, setting, and conflict with an entertaining narrative. Although the story is set in the future, Clarke's realistic characters still behave like people you may know. But their behavior is spurred by an event that is both familiar and puzzling.

Here are some things to keep in mind as you read.

The main character in this story is a Jesuit monk, a member of the Society of Jesus (a Catholic religious order founded by
Ignatius Loyola in 1534).

Jesuits devote their lives to missionary and educational work and are also known as the intellectuals of the church.

The story makes a reference to a painting by Paul Rubens (1577-1640), a Flemish artist who painted a well-known picture
of Loyola.

The story mentions two Latin phrases. The first, AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIUM, means "For the greater glory of God."

The second is the Exercitia Spiritualia, which means "Spiritual Exercises," a book written by Loyola, which the Jesuits use for guidance.

Everything that happens in this story--the actions and words of the characters, the setting, the slow-but-sure progress to the surprise ending--points to a central idea which is a statement about the relationship we each have to God; it's a concern that is as old as human nature itself.

___________________________________________________________________
It is three thousand light years to the Vatican. Once, I believed that space could have no power over faith, just as I believed that the heavens declared the glory of God's handiwork. Now I have seen that handiwork, and my faith is sorely troubled. I stare at the crucifix that hangs on the cabin wall above the Mark VI Computer, and for the first time in my life
I wonder if it is no more than an empty symbol.

I have told no one yet, but the truth cannot be concealed. The facts are there for all to read, recorded on the countless miles of magnetic tape and the thousands of photographs we are carrying back to Earth. Other scientists can interpret them as easily as I can, and I am not one who would condone that tampering with the truth which often gave my order a bad name in the olden days.

The crew are already sufficiently depressed: I wonder how they will take this ultimate irony. Few of them have any religious faith, yet they will not relish using this final weapon in their campaign against me--that private, good-natured, but fundamentally serious, war which lasted all the way from Earth. It amused them to have a Jesuit as chief astrophysicist: Dr. Chandler, for instance, could never get over it. (Why are medical men such notorious atheists?). Sometimes he would meet me on the observation deck, where the lights are always low so that the stars shine with undiminished glory. He would come up to me in the gloom and stand staring out of the great oval port, while the heavens crawled slowly around us as the ship turned end over end with the residual spin we had never bothered to correct.

"Well, Father," he would say at last, "it goes on forever and forever, and perhaps Something made it. But how you can believe that Something has a special interest in us and our miserable little world--that just beats me." Then the argument would start, while the stars and nebulae would swing around us in silent, endless arcs beyond the flawlessly clear plastic of the observation port.

It was, I think, the apparent incongruity of my position that caused most amusement to the crew. In vain I would point to my three papers in the Astrophysical Journal, my five in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. I would remind them that my order has long been famous for its scientific works. We may be few now, but ever since the eighteenth century we have made contributions to astronomy and geophysics out of all proportion to our numbers.

Will my report on the Phoenix Nebula end our thousand years of history? It will end, I fear, much more than that. I do not know who gave the nebula its name, which seems to me a very bad one. If it contains a prophecy, it is one that cannot be verified for several billion years. Even the word nebula is misleading: this is a far smaller object than those stupendous clouds of mist--the stuff of unborn stars--that are scattered throughout the length of the Milky Way. On the
cosmic scale, indeed, the Phoenix Nebula is a tiny thing--a tenuous shell of gas surrounding a single star.

Or what is left of a star . . .

The Rubens engraving of Loyola seems to mock me as it hangs there above the spectrophotometer tracings. What would you, Father, have made of this knowledge that has come into my keeping, so far from the little world that was all the universe you knew? Would your faith have risen to the challenge, as mine has failed to do? You gaze into the distance, Father, but I have traveled a distance beyond any that you could have imagined when you
founded our order a thousand years ago. No other survey ship has been so far from Earth: we are at the very frontiers of the explored universe. We set out to reach the Phoenix Nebula, we succeeded, and we are homeward bound with our burden of knowledge. I wish I could lift that burden from my shoulders, but I call to you in vain across the centuries and the light years that lie between us.

On the book you are holding the words are plain to read. AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM, the message runs, but it is a message I can no longer believe. Would you still believe it, if you could see what we have found? We knew, of course, what the Phoenix Nebula was. Every year, in our galaxy alone, more than a hundred stars explode, blazing for a few hours or days with thousands of times their normal brilliance before they sink back into death and obscurity. Such are the ordinary novae--the commonplace disasters of the universe. I have recorded the spectrograms and light curves of dozens since I started working at the Lunar Observatory.

But three or four times in every thousand years occurs something beside which even a nova pales into total insignificance. When a star becomes a supernova, it may for a little while outshine all the massed suns of the galaxy. The Chinese astronomers watched this happen in A.D. 1054, not knowing what it was they saw. Five centuries later, in 1572, a supernova blazed in Cassiopeia so brilliantly that it was visible in the daylight sky. There have been three more in the thousand years that have passed since then.

Our mission was to visit the remnants of such a catastrophe, to reconstruct the events that led up to it, and, if possible, to learn its cause. We came slowly in through the concentric shells of gas that had been blasted out six thousand years before, yet were expanding still. They were immensely hot, radiating even now with a fierce violet light, but were far too tenuous to do us any damage. When the star had exploded, its outer layers had been driven upward with such speed that they had escaped completely from its gravitational field. Now they formed a hollow shell large enough to engulf a thousand solar systems, and at its center burned the tiny, fantastic object which the star had now become--a White Dwarf, smaller than the Earth, yet weighing a million times as much.

The glowing gas shells were all around us, banishing the normal night of interstellar space. We were flying into the center of a cosmic bomb that had detonated millennia ago and whose incandescent fragments were still hurtling apart. The immense scale of the explosion, and the fact that the debris already covered a volume of space many billions of miles across, robbed the scene of any visible movement. It would take decades before the unaided eye could detect any motion in these tortured wisps and eddies of gas, yet the sense of turbulent expansion was overwhelming.

We had checked our primary drive hours before, and were drifting slowly toward the fierce little star ahead. Once it had been a sun like our own, but it had squandered in a few hours the energy that should have kept it shining for a million years. Now it was a shrunken miser, hoarding its resources as if trying to make amends for its prodigal youth.

No one seriously expected to find planets. If there had been any before the explosion, they would have been boiled into puffs of vapor, and their substance lost in the greater wreckage of the star itself. But we made the automatic search, as we always do when approaching an unknown sun, and presently we found a single small world circling the star at an immense distance. It must have been the Pluto of this vanished solar system, orbiting on the frontiers of the night. Too far
from the central sun ever to have known life, its remoteness had saved it from the fate of all its lost companions.

The passing fires had seared its rocks and burned away the mantle of frozen gas that must have covered it in the days before the disaster. We landed, and we found the Vault. Its builders had made sure that we would. The monolithic marker that stood above the entrance was now a fused stump, but even the first long-range photographs told us that here was the work of intelligence. A little later we detected the continent-wide pattern of radioactivity that had been buried in the rock. Even if the pylon above the Vault had been destroyed, this would have remained, an immovable and all but eternal beacon calling to the stars.

Our ship fell toward this gigantic bull's-eye like an arrow into its target. The pylon must have been a mile high when it was built, but now it looked like a candle that had melted down into a
puddle of wax. It took us a week to drill through the fused rock, since we did not have the proper tools for a task like this. We were astronomers, not archaeologists, but we could improvise. Our original purpose was forgotten: this lonely monument, reared with such labor at the greatest possible distance from the doomed sun, could have only one meaning.

A civilization that knew it was about to die had made its last bid for immortality. It will take us generations to examine all the treasures that were placed in the Vault. They had plenty of time to prepare, for their sun must have given its first warnings many years before the final detonation. Everything that they wished to preserve, all the fruit of their genius, they brought here to this distant world in the days before the end, hoping that some other race would find it and that they would not be utterly forgotten. Would we have done as well, or would we have
been too lost in our own misery to give thought to a future we could never see or share?
If only they had had a little more time! They could travel freely enough between the planets of their own sun, but they had not yet learned to cross the interstellar gulfs, and the nearest solar system was a hundred light-years away. Yet even had they possessed the secret of the Transfinite Drive, no more than a few millions could have been saved. Perhaps it was
better thus.

Even if they had not been so disturbingly human as their sculpture shows, we could not have helped admiring them and grieving for their fate. They left thousands of visual records and the machines for projecting them, together with elaborate pictorial instructions from which it will not be difficult to learn their written language. We have examined many of these records, and brought to life for the first time in six thousand years the warmth and beauty of a civilization that in many ways must have been superior to our own. Perhaps they only showed us the best, and one can hardly blame them.

But their words were very lovely, and their cities were built with a grace that matches anything of man's. We have watched them at work and play, and listened to their musical speech sounding across the centuries. One scene is still before my eyes--a group of children on a beach of strange blue sand, playing in the waves as children play on Earth. Curious whiplike trees line the shore, and some very large animal is wading in the shadows yet attracting no attention at all.

And sinking into the sea, still warm and friendly and life-giving, is the sun that will soon turn traitor and obliterate all this innocent happiness.

Perhaps if we had not been so far from home and so vulnerable to loneliness, we should not have been so deeply moved. Many of us had seen the ruins of ancient civilizations on other worlds, but they had never affected us so profoundly. This tragedy was unique. It is one thing for a race to fail and die, as nations and cultures have done on Earth. But to be destroyed so completely in the full flower of its achievement, leaving no survivors--how could that be reconciled with the
mercy of God?

My colleagues have asked me that, and I have given what answers I can. Perhaps you could have done better, Father Loyola, but I have found nothing in the Exercitia Spiritualia that helps me here. They were not an evil people: I do not know what gods they worshiped, if indeed they worshiped any. But I have looked back at them across the centuries, and have watched while the loveliness they used their last strength to preserve was brought forth again into the light of their
shrunken sun. They could have taught us much: why were they destroyed?

I know the answers that my colleagues will give when they get back to Earth. They will say that the universe has no purpose and no plan, that since a hundred suns explode every year in our galaxy, at this very moment some race is dying in the depths of space. Whether that race has done good or evil during its lifetime will make no difference in the end: there is no divine justice, for there is no God.

Yet, of course, what we have seen proves nothing of the sort. Anyone who argues thus is being swayed by emotion, not logic. God has no need to justify His actions to man. He who built the universe can destroy it when He chooses. It is arrogance--it is perilously near blasphemy--for us to say what He may or may not do.

This I could have accepted, hard though it is to look upon whole worlds and peoples thrown into the furnace. But there comes a point when even the deepest faith must falter, and now, as I look at the calculations lying before me, I know I have reached that point at last.

We could not tell, before we reached the nebula, how long ago the explosion took place. Now, from the astronomical evidence and the record in the rocks of that one surviving planet, I have been able to date it very exactly. I know in what year the light of this colossal conflagration reached our Earth. I know how brilliantly the supernova whose corpse now dwindles behind our speeding ship once shone in terrestrial skies. I know how it must have blazed low in the east before sunrise, like a beacon in that oriental dawn.

There can be no reasonable doubt: the ancient mystery is solved at last. Yet, oh God, there were so many stars you could have used. What was the need to give these people to the fire, that the symbol of their passing might shine above Bethlehem?
___________________________________________________________________

Pretty neat, huh?

Love and Peace to all!

The coming of the magi

2008-12-23T19:45:00.000+03:00

Hi folks,

The three kings (as we call them in American English) had no clue where they were headed when they set out across the vast space that separated them from the newborn King. They had no idea what they would encounter along the way, or what kinds of treachery Herod might bring to bear.

They followed a freaking star to find the Lord Jesus, born in a little shed in some God-foresaken place.

What better lesson do we need to teach us to be humble, teach us to be servants of men and women?

In this season of love and joy, we need to remember how fragile we are and be humble for this. It was an infant in a shed that changed our world. The shepherds who came to greet him represent most of us. Simple people whose sole purpose was to find a place to be warm and get some rest.

They stumbled upon our Lord, the baby Jesus, guided by a supernova who knows how many light years away. I guess we should all be so lucky to stumble on such a person, based on information that is probably 10,000 years old before we find it.

The kings or wise-men, or magi, depending on your translation, were probably trying to prove some astronomical theory, since astronomy was quite the big thing in the Middle East at the time. They got the gift of the star that led them to Bethlehem and fell down in worship of a little baby.

I think we all worship babies. I know that I worship mine in some way.

My dad used to sing songs from the musical "Ahmal and the Night Visitors". Lots of fun times with uncles and aunts doing all the parts, and Dad just blasting out 'Don't you dare touch my mother!' The funniest line, back then, was: "And one of them is black"! I can't believe we laughed at the racism inherent in such a line. Those were good, fun times! I guess the person who wrote that story had no clue....no malicious intent...just ignorance. No harm, no foul.

In other news:

There is no other news today. I am just winding down so I can celebrate Christmas in a proper way.

Love and Peace to all!

A howling wind

2008-12-23T19:36:00.000+03:00

Hi folks,

Last night, there was a mighty wind blowing through Ainkawa. At some point in the night, I thought I heard my housemate, Ms. C., rummaging through her cookware, or washing pots and pans.

Turns out that the wind was so strong it blew through the hallway between our rooms and started knocking stuff off the shelves and the top of the fridge.

I needed to go to the bathroom at that time, and as I did, it seemed to me that a cat or maybe a rat had gotten into the space between the drop-ceiling and the concrete block above the WC.

It was the wind making the noise!

Anyway, if you are disoriented and tired, it's easy to mistake some things for other things.

Life-lesson for me. If I had a weapon in my hand I would have killed the wind....LOL

Love and Peace to all!

A goose, a chicken and a ham

2008-12-23T10:08:00.000+03:00

Hi folks,

So anyway, a goose, a chicken and a ham walked into a fancy French place on Christmas eve.

When the waitress came to take their orders, they all agreed a glass of red wine would be a nice start to the holiday.

After she had brought their wine, she asked for their dinner orders.

The goose ordered apples and cinnamon and stuffed herself to the point of bursting.

The chicken ordered a loaf of white bread and some oregano, sage, thyme and onions, and stuffed himself as well.

The ham asked for a dish of cloves with brown sugar and some honey.

The waitress slapped the ham across his face, and shouted: "Just because it's Christmas, it doesn't mean you can call me 'Honey'"

If you couldn't tell, I made that one up.

But seriously, I am cooking a goose, a chicken and a ham for Christmas. Wish I could share with all of you, but alas... The cavemen will consume it all, I am sure.

We will celebrate on the 26th, as a few folks have already accepted invitations for the 25th. Since the 26th is a Friday, our office is closed, so I will be able to spend most of the day preparing the dinner.

Wish I could cook with Mom this year, like always, because she always helps me when I make mistakes, or simply don't know how to do something. I will have to revert to instinct this time!

Love and Peace to all!

A good time was had by all

2008-12-22T13:14:00.002+03:00

Hi folks,

This is a post of thanksgiving for the lovely times I have had over the last few days.

Most importantly, I got to talk to my kiddos for a bit on Sunday evening. It was great to be with them, albeit over the internet. They are so beautiful, and I miss them dearly. All the same, to be able to talk to them and see them almost whenever I want is a great thing.

I also talked to my wife, the wonderful, beautiful woman who helped me to raise two amazing kids and went through hellish times with me, not to mention moving around the world all the time. While we are moving through separation, and eventual divorce, I can still be thankful for the times we shared. We each grew a great deal, in many different ways, during the 14 years we spent together.

Also, I had the opportunity to celebrate two birthdays with colleagues from my security company and their friends. I say 'their' friends, because I really only have a few friends of my own here. Most of them work for the security company, and need to consider me first and foremost as a principal, or client. The few others that I do have are mostly not in Erbil, but scattered around Iraq, the US, the Balkans, etc....and it's hard to stay in touch.

(It's awkward to use names on here, so I will try to avoid full names.)

I think a lot about my Russian musician friend, whom I helped navigate immigration problems (before 9/11). Also about the Bosnian Serb pharmaceutical engineer that ended up being an office manager (he was good with systems, and was also my upstairs neighbor and spoke English). And Dr. Abdulai, and Fr. Kirby, and Jimi, and Jim M. (whose kitchen we nearly burned up once or twice, and Jared S. (with whom I spent many nights philosophising, until I tried to steal his girlfriend and he hated me forever!), and Mike B., whose mom passed away not long ago, and Dave G., and Steve S., and Jenny S. (with whom I was secretly (or maybe not so secretly) in love for many years), and so many others that have been a part of my life so far. All of their love and friendship has made me what I am today, for better or for worse.

Thanks to Facebook, I have started to reconnect with many people with whom I have not spoken in years. I was on the planning committee for the 20-year high school reunion, but had to drop out (haha) when I got assigned to Iraq. It's a neat tool to stay in touch and waste time at work.

To my parents, and my brothers, I am also eternally grateful for all the wonderful things they have done for me, some without my even knowing. I am really going to miss you this Christmas.

And to my grandparents, aunts and uncles, who have always treated me with love and respect. I thank God for Danny and Peter, who are not with us anymore. I remember many fantastic Christmases with those guys and the other relatives and friends that were always around.

It's amazing how many beautiful people one meets in life. Thank God for all of the ones I have met and all the ones I haven't yet, but may one day meet!

Love and Peace to all!

The taming of the shoe

2008-12-17T13:26:00.000+03:00

Hi folks,

Those of you who have not seen the shoe video (could there really be anyone?), you need not read further, unless you first visit YouTube and find out what I'm talking about. Just search for Bush, shoe, Iraq.

Anyway, there are a lot of differing opinions here as to whether this was a good way of protesting, a really dumb thing that's probably going to get the guy 'disappeared', or a ploy by the Bushies to generate some sympathy for W at home as he shines up his big belt buckle and gets ready to head back to Texas.

I don't have an opinion one way or the other. I do know that Iraqis don't play baseball, so the guy's aim can be excused. But I think they do play cricket....hmmm....maybe the double miss was on purpose after all????

In other news:

There are rumors going around in Iraq that the US is going to pull out before the end of Bush's term, and all the troops will be re-allocated to a massive invasion of China.

Apparently, there were two WMDs found in Baghdad, and both were stamped: 'Made in China'.

Business news:

According to economic analysts, things are going to be pretty nasty for some time to come. The dollar is down, oil prices are down, the Dow and Nasdaq are down. Hottest tip on Wall Street: Go long on Mohammed & Sons Shoes (Ticker: SHUZ).

Proctor and Gamble (Ticker: PG) is also expected to do well as coffee shop owners all over the Middle East scramble to stock up on Mr. Clean, to remove the footprints from the walls around the dart boards.

In Sports:

Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki has been drafted by the Iraqi national soccer team as goalkeeper.

American and Iraqi troops have been ordered to suspend their Saturday afternoon friendly games of horse-shoes.

In Fashion:

After a long history as the preferred footwear of hippie backpackers and urban wannabe's, chukka boots have come back strong at the end of this holiday shopping season.

Jeepers, I should get a day job!

Love and Peace to all!

Kirkuk Bombing

2008-12-14T11:32:00.000+03:00

Hi folks,

I suppose most of you have heard about the big blast in Kirkuk on Thursday. We got word of it within an hour, and our security team put out the antennae to get more intelligence on what had happened, and any possible threat to us in Erbil.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7777342.stm

The attack occurred in a restaurant, and was clearly targeted at local political and tribal officials.

The bad news is, lots of people were killed and wounded. And, the apparent attempt at rapprochement between the Kurds and the Arabs may be impossible now, after this tragedy.

The good news is, I never go anywhere outside of Erbil, which has a very tight security cordon around it.

Anyway, say a prayer for the victims and their families.

Love and Peace to all!

Greece, Zimbabwe, and Ghana

2008-12-11T10:46:00.000+03:00

Hi folks,

Riots in Greece, cholera and starvation in Zimbabwe, and a peaceful, albeit undecided, election in Ghana.

What a difference a vigorous civil society can make in a country! Ghana is the shining example that Africa can be a place where democracy thrives. And Ghana is one of the healthiest countries on the continent because civil society groups, the churches/mosques, and many international agencies have been able to work there unhindered by interference (for the most part) by the government.

Zimbabwe is an example of the opposite: civil society organizations have been harrassed, international donors have been driven away, and corruption has ruined any chance of success in developing the country--at least for a long time to come. Not to mention the racial tensions that have underpinned the ridiculous policies of the Mugabe government. What a basket-case. One of the most beautiful countries in the world has been driven into total chaos by one man and his cronies. Hmmm....1939 anyone? A few meridians of latitude to the north....I just pray Zimbabwe's troubles don't spill into the neighborhood the way Germany's did in the 30's.

I remember when Zimbabwe gained indepedence and changed its name from Rhodesia in 1980 or so. My brother and I were singing some song about the name change with our uncles. We had no idea what we were singing about, but the uncles had picked up the song somewhere, from a news broadcast or who knows where. And the words sounded cool....And, if you read history, Mugabe started out on a pretty good track after the white dictatorship of Ian Smith....but alas, absolute power....

And now we have Greece.....the most corrupt country in the EU. Young people are outraged by police brutality, lack of employment opportunities, and degradation of national pride because of political neglect and greed. I guess I don't have to say more about this....anyone who reads this regularly knows how I feel about what's happened to our beautiful country.

God bless Ghana, and let the next round of elections go as smoothly as the recent one!

Love and Peace to all!

Wax-paper fog

2008-12-11T09:30:00.000+03:00

Hi folks,

This morning's ride to the office was pretty scary. The fog was really thick, and many of the cars on the road either did not turn on their lights, or their lights don't work....we had a couple of close calls. The driver on the security team did a good job, and we had left in plenty of time, so there was no rush. We just took our time and he was really careful at every intersection.

All arrived in one piece at the office.

I wish I had my camera with me today. I have somehow gotten out of the habit of carrying it with me everywhere I go. You would not believe this fog. It reminds me of the mountains in Bosnia during the winter. Maybe 10 meters' visibility at best. We were riding right up onto trucks with no taillights and could only see them when it was better to get around them rather than brake to stay in behind them.

I guess sometimes life, in a philosophical sense, is like that, too. You hardly see the problem coming and then it's a massive obstacle in front of you. You can brake hard and risk losing traction on the slippery road, or push the gas and drive around the obstacle, putting it behind you. The latter requires more skill, and also, especially when the fog is thick, puts you at risk of hitting something else coming the other direction. Even on open road, there is the chance you will encounter something in the fog that you couldn't see until too late.

In other news:

I found a Catholic orphanage in my neighborhood and plan to donate the soccer equipment I've been hoarding. A friend is going to show me the place and we'll make arrangements with the monks that run it to bring the boys there something for Christmas.

The boys that play with me already have gotten enough stuff. I'd rather give the rest of it to the orphanage and clear out some space in my room.

It will be nice in our neighborhood, where most of the people are Catholic. On Christmas Eve, after the evening Mass, there is supposed to be caroling and Santa Claus(s) (multiple), going around the neighborhood to bring gifts to the kids. I hope to get out for that and take some pictures. We'll see what the security guys think about that plan.

In the meantime, I'm happy I found a place that can use the gear I have collected, and hope we'll have a fun time handing it out to the boys at the orphanage.

Photos to follow!

Peace and Love to all!

An infamous date

2008-12-08T10:56:00.000+03:00

Hi folks,

Today is the 67th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941. This was the beginning of the end for a brutal regime in Japan that slaughtered and otherwise abused millions of Chinese, Koreans, and others on the islands in South East Asia. A bold strike at an adversary they considered weak and lazy.

I believe we solved that issue in the right way. FDR put the entire nation to work to ensure that the Japanese would not control the Pacific and continue to rape and pillage in China, Indonesia, the Philippines, etc. The unfortunate final Ace of Spades is something historians will debate for years to come.

The ensuing war cost millions of lives, probably quadrillions of dollars, and changed the shape of the world. From a self-sufficient, isolationist country, content with its own natural boundaries, we returned to the interventionist stance embodied in the Monroe Doctrine, and the Gunboat Diplomacy of Woodrow Wilson.

Hmmmm. Today seems to look a lot different from May 7, or August 15, 1945, when Germany, and then Japan, finally surrendered.

I see an over-reliance on technology instead of brains and guts--machines instead of real human strength. Was Sept. 11, 2001 GW Bush's Pearl Harbor? Some have postulated that. But did he respond the way Roosevelt did, with a total mobilization of the country? No. He let most of us go scot-free as he sent a bunch of poor kids into combat, and beefed up the budgets of the Military Industrial Complex (which Eisenhower warned about) to make more drones and other stuff, but left the troops under-supplied, thanks to the corruption of the Halliburtons and others like them.

I am not saying that I wish there had been a general draft (I would have been ineligible anyway), but if more attention had been paid to the potential outcomes of these conflicts, their strategic relevance (or lack thereof) to US interests, their effects on US influence in the world, and the fact that we, as a nation, were not ready to devote WWII-style support to these efforts, we might have a better economy, and several thousand fewer graves in national cemeteries.

Not to mention the holes in the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq. Filled with people from families and villages that will forever suffer for their loss.

Is terrorism a threat? Yes. Would these fanatics lurch out at us regardless of who is president and what the current mood of the country is? Yes. Is it right to impoverish whole nations because of the alleged actions of some individuals? No. Should we remove the constraints on assassinations? Perhaps, but that approach has been seriously flawed in the past. Could we abduct the people we need to remove and change regimes that way?

Anyone got a helo to get into Zimbabwe and invite Robert Mugabe for a little dinner party on Crete? The guys and the guns are here. I just need to have plausible deniability!

However you choose to remember this day, please pray for our men and women in the field. George W. Bush is no Roosevelt. What he has done to our country is no equivalent of the emergence into a world power that came as a result of WWII. Pearl Harbor was the touchstone. Our nation rose to the challenge.

I think of the Bush administration as a reverse Pearl Harbor. Diminished influence, an anemic military, overstreched, underfunded (because all the money is going to the Halliburtons), AND UNDERMANNED because it's not politically correct to get our unemployed off the streets and into uniform, make them fit and train them, and finish the job. This is a long-sought-after scenario to have a low-key war (or two) in order to keep the coffers open for Halliburton and their ilk.

I am sick with this reality. But I also somehow am gaining from it. What a hypocrite.

All of my heart goes to the men and women putting their lives on the line to do what they are told. Sometimes I just wish they could have been told to do different things.

Love and Peace to all!

World Turned Upside Down

2008-12-07T21:02:00.000+03:00

Hi folks,

When I was in high-school, my brother Chris and I were members of a colonial-style marching outfit called the Patriots of Northern Virginia. Nan and Sam Evans ran the group, and taught us how to march, dress, and play the bugles, fifes, and drums.

We had a song called 'World Turned Upside Down'. It was normally played as we marched through the official reviewing area, where the judges and dignitaries sat.

I just thought of that song as I tried to make sense of the mess that became of my room due to the furniture exchange today.

See, we work on a specific contract with the US Government. The other companies that work here are on other contracts. So, each piece of furniture is designated to one or the other contractor. We have nearly identical property, as everything was bought at the same time from the same suppliers.

I had developed a plan to exchange one-for-one all of the furniture in the house where I live, with the house that we used to use across town. The other contractor does not have a house any more, and has to store their property in a warehouse anyway. The idea was simple.....rather than dismantle and reassemble all the stuff in our old house, let them do it once and be done with it.

Too logical for Bagdhad bureacrats. We had to take everything apart and reassemble it, and things got broken here and there in the process. Nothing is the way it should be.

I remember as a kid moving between houses and having my uncles come to help..... Any time there was a misstep carrying the furniture, my dad would say 'You're dorking up my walls' or something like that. We used to joke all the time any of us 'dorked-up' the walls moving furniture, bikes or whatever. 'Don't be dorking up my walls!!!!' The walls here are concrete, not drywall, so you can dork them up pretty much all you want, and get away with it....just a touch of plaster and all is good.

Anyhoo, my room needs a good re-organization. I will start on that in the morning.

In other news, Ghana had elections today! Those who know me realize how much I care for that country and its people. My kids did most of their early years there, and I had my first real leadership experiences there. Many of my friends are or have been involved with Ghanaian politics.

This election means a lot to Ghana, but also to W. Africa as a whole. Pray for a peaceful and honest outcome. We probably won't get a final result for a few days, but I think I already know who the winner is. Open the envelope after the results are in, and I will say, "I told you so".

Meantime, had a nice little run of soccer this evening, and I am logging off now to go to sleep.

Peace and Love to all!

Victory is ours!!!!!!

2008-12-06T12:09:00.000+03:00

Hi folks,

After several less than stellar outings, the little team I play with (not the boys I coach, but adults) has chalked up a stunning win yesterday: 12-6. I, personally, spent most of the game chasing down balls that got kicked over the blast walls. But then, again, as the oldest guy on the field, I was happy that I had a sub to take my place. The problem is that we have a new security officer in charge of the compound that connects to ours. We are now required to show a special pass to go from one side to the other, and sign a log book when we enter and leave.

So, I looked like some character in one of those sped-up movies, running around through the gate to the other side of the wall, flashing my badge, signing the book, searching for the ball (they have a habit of 'disappearing' if you don't get over there fast enough), then running back. By the fourth time, the guards stopped making me sign in and out.

I am thinking of putting a net across the top of the wall where most of the balls go, but that takes some money, and permission from the security chiefs on both sides of the wall.

Anyway, some photos of our fun are here for your enjoyment. The vanquished are in white and green, the victors in blue and black.

Peace and Love to all!