What Manner Of Men

It was late in the afternoon as we passed the Medical Lake entrance to I-90. A group of middle aged bikers merged into traffic. They seemed in no hurry, just fell in with the rest of us. I wondered out loud if they might be some of the honor riders who had been in town for the burial of a young Marine.

He was a good looking young man. All of 23. He was killed by an IED while on patrol. This young man who was liked by everyone who knew him and wanted some adventure in his life. Had he but chosen a different route. He joined the Marines and was promoted to corporal in record time. He dove into everything he was assigned with enthusiasm and commitment. As a reward his family was given the Purple Heart he was awarded for his service.

I wonder how much comfort that was to the young wife he left behind. The pregnant young wife. She and her yet to be born child represent a whole class of citizens left to fend for themselves while ill equipped to do so. They are basically a welfare class unto themselves. Because a soldier died too young.

Every small town newspaper in the country prints stories such as these. The loss of all these young men who have barely had time to live. To be husbands. To be fathers. Little else than soldiers. And they die.

His arrival home affected a whole plane load of people as they were asked to remain seated while his escort deplaned. They watched in reverent silence as the coffin was unloaded and placed in the hearse. I'm sure each had private thoughts about loved ones of their own.

The young Marine is one manner of man in my fantasies. Another is a young man, looking to be of a similar age, bragging about how he was going to use illegal fireworks over the Fourth. "It's America," he said, "We like to blow things up." I wonder if he ever served in the military. Then we have the Marine General who is going to take General Petraeus's place as head of the U.S. Central Command. Odd, since he has been reprimanded for loose language just as was General McChrystal! With typical Marine bravado, he once told a crowd in San Diego, "Actually it's a lot of fun to fight. You know, it's a hell of a hoot - It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up front with you. I like brawling." Bully for him.

I wonder, had the young man at the fireworks stand or the General been at the young Marine's funeral if they would have felt the same as taps sounded and rifles fired in salute and friends and family wept. Especially a young wife and her unborn child.

Beware The Tub!

This is one of those news items I had to catch twice. That's why I embedded the video from KREM 2 News. So you too can relish the full impact.

You readers who know me know how I love to find obscure studies that one wonders how they ever got funded. This one is an Australian study that found men over 40 who use erectile dysfunction medication are more likely to get sexually transmitted diseases, especially Aids, then those who don't, including younger men.

The rationale they found was that older men were less likely to use condoms than younger men. Okay. I'll buy that. But could it also be because if the older men weren't taking the likes of Cialis and Viagra they wouldn't be having sex in the first place? Safe or otherwise?

Now, if they really want to do a study to clear up one of the great mysteries of life, what's the deal with Cialis and bath tubs? Unless there is a way to engage in sexual activity I'm unaware of, and that is certainly possible, I see no way those men could possibly get an STD with or without a condom!

Just saying...

Why Just The TSA?

Once upon a time long, long ago I worked for my living. In an office. For a major corporation. We began work at 8 a.m. and finished at 5 p.m. Not 4:30 or 4:45. Five. We had a 15 minute coffee break in the morning and another in the afternoon. Staggered with other employees so the office was always manned. Lunch was one hour. Period. Personal calls were discouraged; if the privilege was abused we heard about it. Computers were unheard of except for huge mainframes doing work that had nothing to do with mine. As I said. A loooong time ago!

Today I read where the TSA is to block "controversial opinion" on the web. It's a very misleading headline. Actually they're planning on blocking access of certain types of websites on agency computers.

Shouldn't it be standard procedure in every office of every company in the nation? Of course Facebook, Twitter and blogs would suffer, but productivity might improve. What a novel idea.

Just what is meant by "controversial opinion" isn't clear, but the other categories make a lot of sense. Chat and messaging, criminal activity, extreme violence including cartoons, gruesome content and gaming. They neglected to include a real biggie. Porn.

I blurk a local newspaper's blog and am always amazed at how many of the participants making comments are people who are at work. Sometimes the conversations are quite lengthy. These people are being paid for what?

If one wants to Twitter away their time during their own hours, fine. Heaven knows I do enough of it myself regardless of the constant nagging from Hub to get a life. He's right. I'm trying to cut back. Especially on Facebook but I'm not doing too well. No one is paying me for my time that should be spent on other activity, however.

So to the TSA? Cheers! And to every other office that has similar restrictions. If it's too much to ask I'm sure there are some of the 14.6 unemployed who would be more than happy to take those jobs!

One Whale Of A Mistake

Nah. That's not Jonah sitting atop his whale. That's what the Taiwan oil skimmer, A Whale is going to look like after the Coast Guard and EPA are done 'inspecting' her!

Granted, we don't want to make matters worse, but some things my mind just refuses to grasp. Like why Obama has yet to suspend the Jones Act which would allow for foreign help aplenty. Why Washington State won't send it's skimmers. The reason given is they need them in case they have a spill in their waters. Excuse me? They don't have one now and the gulf coast does!

Finally, after 70 some odd days, the Taiwan vessel is in Norfolk. The EPA and Coast Guard are inspecting her to make sure she meets our standards. Some water returned to the sea may have traces of oil remaining. Wouldn't a trace be better than what we have now?

Wouldn't anything be better than what we have now! Why, when an entire region of the country is suffering ecologically and economically, does the government have to study everything to death? The time to do that is before we engage in a war rather than during a time of crisis that grows daily!

It isn't just our government, granted. BP has been inexcusably slow on the uptake also. It would seem common sense and a sense of urgency have been misplaced. To say workers have to wear haz mat suits and can only work in 20 minute stretches seems ridiculous if you actually want some work done! Consider those making an effort to save the wild life. They are under no such regulation. Are they not equally as important?

And just where is our President, our Secretary of Interior and our Secretary of Homeland Security? I'm sure those trying to get something accomplished are just as glad they are nowhere to be seen, but where is their leadership?

While ships are being inspected to see if they are worthy of helping our mess, there is one more that needs inspected. It's our ship of state ~ and it's commander in chief!

Readdressing Independence Day!

Ever since our founding fathers wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence this country was on an upward march to become the most powerful nation in and leader of the free world. We have taken tremendous pride in that and well we should. Now I find myself wondering how we've managed to elect a President who does not have maintaining that achievement as his goal. He wants us to be an equal among equals - or less.

While we were swooning over a young man with a silver tongue and patting ourselves on the back that we had reached a level where we could comfortably elect a minority President, world leaders wise in the way of politics on their level, saw naivety and inexperience. While people around the world turned out in mass to see our President many of their leaders were warming to opportunities newly available for exploitation.

There was a time when allies would not have been openly contemptuous of our President and his ideas. Look at them now. He tells them he wants to be like them yet he tries to dictate how they handle their own business. The message is mixed and weak.

The most egregious, however, is the constant tension between the Chinese and the U.S. The U.S. is angry they won't condemn the sinking of a South Korean ship purportedly by the North Koreans. Of course, to date, there is no proof the suspicion is true. As a retaliation of sorts the U.S. plans joint naval exercises with the South Koreans as a show of solidarity. In response the Chinese are going to conduct their own.

Perhaps it would have been wise to take the comment by the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman when he said, "China borders on the Korean peninsula and we have our own feeling on the issue, different from that of the countries tens of thousands miles away...We have more direct and intense concerns."

Isn't this always the point? Our reality isn't always that of another country and our suggestions are often not appreciated.

At the very least we should get our goals in line. I vote for regaining our status as leader of the free world. Of course to do that we'll need a different administration with clear cut goals and a Congress willing to compromise among themselves to get there. It will be a long climb back.

Of all countries to be sniping at however, China would not be on the top of my list. After all, they own us.