Selasa, 30 November 2004
Senin, 29 November 2004
Yahoo! News - U.S. General Warns Iran Against Exploiting U.S.
Yahoo! News - U.S. General Warns Iran Against Exploiting U.S.: "U.S. General Warns Iran Against Exploiting U.S.
Mon Nov 29, 7:20 AM ET
Add to My Yahoo! Top Stories - Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. commander in Iraq (news - web sites) warned Iran and others in comments published on Monday to think twice before trying to take advantage of the U.S. military at a time when it is fighting in both Iraq and Afghanistan (news - web sites).
Photo
Reuters Photo
Special Coverages
Latest headlines:
� Saddam Aides to Appear Before Tribunal Next Month
Reuters - 18 minutes ago
� Powell Confident Iraq Elections Will Go Ahead
Reuters - 25 minutes ago
� 'No reason' Iraqi polls should be delayed, Powell says
AFP - 48 minutes ago
Special Coverage
'Why the Iranians would want to move against us in an overt manner that would cause us to use our air or naval power against them would be beyond me,' Army Gen. John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command, said in an interview with USA Today.
Abizaid, who was speaking in Qatar, was asked about concerns in Congress that a shortage of U.S. troops might tempt nations such as Iran or North Korea (news - web sites), both accused by Washington of trying to develop nuclear weapons.
Abizaid, the top U.S. military commander for Iraq and Afghanistan, said the armed forces were not overextended.
The United States has 138,000 troops in Iraq and more than 18,000 in Afghanistan, with others deployed in Kuwait, Japan, Germany, Africa, South Korea (news - web sites) and Bosnia.
'We can generate more military power per square inch than anybody else on Earth, and everybody knows it,' Abizaid said. 'If you ever even contemplate our nuclear capability, it should give everybody the clear understanding that there is no power that can match the United States militarily.'
Washington and some Iraqi officials have accused Iran of supplying Iraqi insurgents with money, arms and militants, but on Sunday Tehran said it was ready to co-operate with Iraq to stop militants crossing their mountainous 1,000-mile border.
'We have no intention of interfering in Iraq's state matters. Iraq's stability is necessary for Iran's security,' Iran's deputy interior minister for security affairs, Ali Asghar Ahmadi, said in Tehran.
He told a news conference Iran was ready to help train Iraqi security forces."
Mon Nov 29, 7:20 AM ET
Add to My Yahoo! Top Stories - Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. commander in Iraq (news - web sites) warned Iran and others in comments published on Monday to think twice before trying to take advantage of the U.S. military at a time when it is fighting in both Iraq and Afghanistan (news - web sites).
Photo
Reuters Photo
Special Coverages
Latest headlines:
� Saddam Aides to Appear Before Tribunal Next Month
Reuters - 18 minutes ago
� Powell Confident Iraq Elections Will Go Ahead
Reuters - 25 minutes ago
� 'No reason' Iraqi polls should be delayed, Powell says
AFP - 48 minutes ago
Special Coverage
'Why the Iranians would want to move against us in an overt manner that would cause us to use our air or naval power against them would be beyond me,' Army Gen. John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command, said in an interview with USA Today.
Abizaid, who was speaking in Qatar, was asked about concerns in Congress that a shortage of U.S. troops might tempt nations such as Iran or North Korea (news - web sites), both accused by Washington of trying to develop nuclear weapons.
Abizaid, the top U.S. military commander for Iraq and Afghanistan, said the armed forces were not overextended.
The United States has 138,000 troops in Iraq and more than 18,000 in Afghanistan, with others deployed in Kuwait, Japan, Germany, Africa, South Korea (news - web sites) and Bosnia.
'We can generate more military power per square inch than anybody else on Earth, and everybody knows it,' Abizaid said. 'If you ever even contemplate our nuclear capability, it should give everybody the clear understanding that there is no power that can match the United States militarily.'
Washington and some Iraqi officials have accused Iran of supplying Iraqi insurgents with money, arms and militants, but on Sunday Tehran said it was ready to co-operate with Iraq to stop militants crossing their mountainous 1,000-mile border.
'We have no intention of interfering in Iraq's state matters. Iraq's stability is necessary for Iran's security,' Iran's deputy interior minister for security affairs, Ali Asghar Ahmadi, said in Tehran.
He told a news conference Iran was ready to help train Iraqi security forces."
NewsMax.com: Inside Cover Story
NewsMax.com: Inside Cover Story: "Saturday, Nov. 27, 2004 12:53 p.m. EST
Zarqawi: U.S. 'Infidels' Have Us on the Ropes
The world's most dangerous terrorist, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, announced on Wednesday that the battle of Fallujah was a massive defeat for the Iraqi insurgency, blaming the debacle on Sunni Muslim clerics who failed to support his reign of terror.
'Hundreds of thousands of the nation's sons are being slaughtered at the hands of the infidels because of your silence,' Zarqawi said in an audiotape posted on an Islamic Web site known as al-Qala'a, which has been a mailbox for Islamic militant groups.
Story Continues Below
'You have let us down in the darkest circumstances and handed us over to the enemy,' the notorious mass murderer complained. 'You have stopped supporting the holy warriors.'
The finger-pointing tape from Zarqawi is the clearest indication yet that the U.S. offensive in Fallujah has been a massive success and could be the beginning of a rout for terrorist forces in Iraq.
The tape reveals the Jordanian-born terrorist sounding desperate as he admits that his forces are 'surrounded' by U.S. troops, who are 'cutting the throats of the holy warriors.'
'Are your hearts not shaken by the scenes of your brothers being surrounded and hurt by your enemy?' he asks plaintively.
'How long will you continue to abandon the nation to the tyrants of the east and of the west, who are inflicting the worst suffering, cutting the throats of the holy warriors, the best children of the nation, and taking its riches? ...
'You made peace with the tyranny and handed over the country and its people to the Jews and Crusaders by resorting to silence on their crimes and preventing our youth from heading to the battlefields in order to defend our religion,' he complained.
Though the Zarqawi tape is the best news to come out of Iraq since Saddam Hussein's capture last year, the American press has downplayed the story.
The New York Times, for instance, covered the top terrorist's stunning admission on page A22 of its little-read Thanksgiving Day edition.
The Washington Post buried the bombshell news in a Thanksgiving Day report headlined 'American Envoy Killed in Baghdad,' where quotes from the Zarqawi tape weren't even mentioned until the 17th paragraph."
Zarqawi: U.S. 'Infidels' Have Us on the Ropes
The world's most dangerous terrorist, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, announced on Wednesday that the battle of Fallujah was a massive defeat for the Iraqi insurgency, blaming the debacle on Sunni Muslim clerics who failed to support his reign of terror.
'Hundreds of thousands of the nation's sons are being slaughtered at the hands of the infidels because of your silence,' Zarqawi said in an audiotape posted on an Islamic Web site known as al-Qala'a, which has been a mailbox for Islamic militant groups.
Story Continues Below
'You have let us down in the darkest circumstances and handed us over to the enemy,' the notorious mass murderer complained. 'You have stopped supporting the holy warriors.'
The finger-pointing tape from Zarqawi is the clearest indication yet that the U.S. offensive in Fallujah has been a massive success and could be the beginning of a rout for terrorist forces in Iraq.
The tape reveals the Jordanian-born terrorist sounding desperate as he admits that his forces are 'surrounded' by U.S. troops, who are 'cutting the throats of the holy warriors.'
'Are your hearts not shaken by the scenes of your brothers being surrounded and hurt by your enemy?' he asks plaintively.
'How long will you continue to abandon the nation to the tyrants of the east and of the west, who are inflicting the worst suffering, cutting the throats of the holy warriors, the best children of the nation, and taking its riches? ...
'You made peace with the tyranny and handed over the country and its people to the Jews and Crusaders by resorting to silence on their crimes and preventing our youth from heading to the battlefields in order to defend our religion,' he complained.
Though the Zarqawi tape is the best news to come out of Iraq since Saddam Hussein's capture last year, the American press has downplayed the story.
The New York Times, for instance, covered the top terrorist's stunning admission on page A22 of its little-read Thanksgiving Day edition.
The Washington Post buried the bombshell news in a Thanksgiving Day report headlined 'American Envoy Killed in Baghdad,' where quotes from the Zarqawi tape weren't even mentioned until the 17th paragraph."
Yahoo! News - U.S. Sends in Secret Weapon: Saddam's Old Commandos
Yahoo! News - U.S. Sends in Secret Weapon: Saddam's Old Commandos
U.S. Sends in Secret Weapon: Saddam's Old Commandos
Sat Nov 27, 2:12 PM ET
By Alastair Macdonald
NEAR ISKANDARIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - Twenty months after toppling Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), U.S. troops still battling his followers in the heartland of Iraq (news - web sites)'s old arms industry are hitting back with a new weapon -- ex-members of Saddam's special forces.
For five months, Iraqi police commandos calling themselves the Black Scorpions have been based with U.S. Marines in the region along the Euphrates south of Baghdad, which roadside bombs, ambushes and kidnaps have turned into a no-go areas and earned it the melodramatic description "triangle of death."
"All of them were previously officers in the Iraqi army or special forces," the Scorpions' commander, Colonel Salaam Trad, said at the Marines' Kalsu base near Iskandariya on Saturday.
"But Saddam was dirty and no good for Iraq."
The performance of this SWAT team, as the Americans call it, could be a critical test of how U.S. forces can hand over to Iraqis to meet their goal of withdrawing from a stable Iraq. U. S. officers in the area say they are increasingly optimistic.
"The hardest fighters we have are the former special forces from Saddam's days," Colonel Ron Johnson, commander of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, told reporters.
Praising their local knowledge and fighting skills, Johnson singled out one man who fought against him at Nassiriya, the hardest battle of last year's brief war against Saddam's army.
"If I could have an Iraqi security force guy who's honest, reliable and dependable, it's worth five Marines," he added.
Captain Tad Douglas, who leads almost daily raids with the Scorpions, said he believed it was a unique experiment that made use of the Iraqis' feel for their home province of Babylon.
"Ninety-five percent of our intelligence is from the SWAT," he said. "They can put a guy in a cafe in the way we never could ... They have a good finger on the pulse."
NO HARD FEELINGS
U.S. officers are reluctant to discuss how big the SWAT team is and Trad and Douglas brush off questions on what they may or not have done to each other in last year's war.
"It doesn't matter to me what they did. They're staunchly anti-insurgent," said Douglas, who dismissed suggestions their training under Saddam might have made them too violent.
"We just had to polish them up a bit," he said. This week, Johnson has stepped up raids against insurgents in an operation code-named Plymouth Rock, hoping to keep pressure on Sunni rebels after their rout at Falluja to the northwest.
Of Johnson's 5,000-strong force in the region, which was once the heart of Saddam's arms industry and base of the Medina armored division of the elite Republican Guard, more than 2,000 are Marines, 850 British soldiers and the rest Iraqi.
At the camp 30 miles south of Baghdad, the Scorpions are very visible, wearing the khaki jumpsuits of Marine special forces and black mustaches traditional in the Iraqi military.
Occupying powers have a long and patchy history of creating local units and Iraqi forces in other regions have had mixed success. This month, thousands of police in the northern city of Mosul fled or changed sides when Sunni insurgents took charge.
Johnson acknowledges the loyalties of some Iraqis in his force may be divided but says they "want to be on the winning side" and is confident that U.S.-led troops can end what he sees as limited and decentralized violence by at most a few thousand disgruntled Saddam supporters and local bandits.
Iraqi police here have stuck to their posts despite killings of comrades in bomb attacks and murders of off-duty officers: " They don't cut and run, despite their losses," Johnson said.
Clearly exasperated by the "triangle of death" tag, he said: "I'm getting more optimistic every day."
As for Colonel Salaam, a small, wiry man of 32, he shrugs off insurgent threats to himself and his family and says what he wants is: "Freedom, a new Iraq, peace."
U.S. Sends in Secret Weapon: Saddam's Old Commandos
Sat Nov 27, 2:12 PM ET
By Alastair Macdonald
NEAR ISKANDARIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - Twenty months after toppling Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), U.S. troops still battling his followers in the heartland of Iraq (news - web sites)'s old arms industry are hitting back with a new weapon -- ex-members of Saddam's special forces.
For five months, Iraqi police commandos calling themselves the Black Scorpions have been based with U.S. Marines in the region along the Euphrates south of Baghdad, which roadside bombs, ambushes and kidnaps have turned into a no-go areas and earned it the melodramatic description "triangle of death."
"All of them were previously officers in the Iraqi army or special forces," the Scorpions' commander, Colonel Salaam Trad, said at the Marines' Kalsu base near Iskandariya on Saturday.
"But Saddam was dirty and no good for Iraq."
The performance of this SWAT team, as the Americans call it, could be a critical test of how U.S. forces can hand over to Iraqis to meet their goal of withdrawing from a stable Iraq. U. S. officers in the area say they are increasingly optimistic.
"The hardest fighters we have are the former special forces from Saddam's days," Colonel Ron Johnson, commander of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, told reporters.
Praising their local knowledge and fighting skills, Johnson singled out one man who fought against him at Nassiriya, the hardest battle of last year's brief war against Saddam's army.
"If I could have an Iraqi security force guy who's honest, reliable and dependable, it's worth five Marines," he added.
Captain Tad Douglas, who leads almost daily raids with the Scorpions, said he believed it was a unique experiment that made use of the Iraqis' feel for their home province of Babylon.
"Ninety-five percent of our intelligence is from the SWAT," he said. "They can put a guy in a cafe in the way we never could ... They have a good finger on the pulse."
NO HARD FEELINGS
U.S. officers are reluctant to discuss how big the SWAT team is and Trad and Douglas brush off questions on what they may or not have done to each other in last year's war.
"It doesn't matter to me what they did. They're staunchly anti-insurgent," said Douglas, who dismissed suggestions their training under Saddam might have made them too violent.
"We just had to polish them up a bit," he said. This week, Johnson has stepped up raids against insurgents in an operation code-named Plymouth Rock, hoping to keep pressure on Sunni rebels after their rout at Falluja to the northwest.
Of Johnson's 5,000-strong force in the region, which was once the heart of Saddam's arms industry and base of the Medina armored division of the elite Republican Guard, more than 2,000 are Marines, 850 British soldiers and the rest Iraqi.
At the camp 30 miles south of Baghdad, the Scorpions are very visible, wearing the khaki jumpsuits of Marine special forces and black mustaches traditional in the Iraqi military.
Occupying powers have a long and patchy history of creating local units and Iraqi forces in other regions have had mixed success. This month, thousands of police in the northern city of Mosul fled or changed sides when Sunni insurgents took charge.
Johnson acknowledges the loyalties of some Iraqis in his force may be divided but says they "want to be on the winning side" and is confident that U.S.-led troops can end what he sees as limited and decentralized violence by at most a few thousand disgruntled Saddam supporters and local bandits.
Iraqi police here have stuck to their posts despite killings of comrades in bomb attacks and murders of off-duty officers: " They don't cut and run, despite their losses," Johnson said.
Clearly exasperated by the "triangle of death" tag, he said: "I'm getting more optimistic every day."
As for Colonel Salaam, a small, wiry man of 32, he shrugs off insurgent threats to himself and his family and says what he wants is: "Freedom, a new Iraq, peace."
Yahoo! News - U.S. Sends in Secret Weapon: Saddam's Old Commandos
Yahoo! News - U.S. Sends in Secret Weapon: Saddam's Old CommandosU.S. Sends in Secret Weapon: Saddam's Old Commandos
Sat Nov 27, 2:12 PM ET
By Alastair Macdonald
NEAR ISKANDARIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - Twenty months after toppling Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), U.S. troops still battling his followers in the heartland of Iraq (news - web sites)'s old arms industry are hitting back with a new weapon -- ex-members of Saddam's special forces.
For five months, Iraqi police commandos calling themselves the Black Scorpions have been based with U.S. Marines in the region along the Euphrates south of Baghdad, which roadside bombs, ambushes and kidnaps have turned into a no-go areas and earned it the melodramatic description "triangle of death."
"All of them were previously officers in the Iraqi army or special forces," the Scorpions' commander, Colonel Salaam Trad, said at the Marines' Kalsu base near Iskandariya on Saturday.
"But Saddam was dirty and no good for Iraq."
The performance of this SWAT team, as the Americans call it, could be a critical test of how U.S. forces can hand over to Iraqis to meet their goal of withdrawing from a stable Iraq. U. S. officers in the area say they are increasingly optimistic.
"The hardest fighters we have are the former special forces from Saddam's days," Colonel Ron Johnson, commander of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, told reporters.
Praising their local knowledge and fighting skills, Johnson singled out one man who fought against him at Nassiriya, the hardest battle of last year's brief war against Saddam's army.
"If I could have an Iraqi security force guy who's honest, reliable and dependable, it's worth five Marines," he added.
Captain Tad Douglas, who leads almost daily raids with the Scorpions, said he believed it was a unique experiment that made use of the Iraqis' feel for their home province of Babylon.
"Ninety-five percent of our intelligence is from the SWAT," he said. "They can put a guy in a cafe in the way we never could ... They have a good finger on the pulse."
NO HARD FEELINGS
U.S. officers are reluctant to discuss how big the SWAT team is and Trad and Douglas brush off questions on what they may or not have done to each other in last year's war.
"It doesn't matter to me what they did. They're staunchly anti-insurgent," said Douglas, who dismissed suggestions their training under Saddam might have made them too violent.
"We just had to polish them up a bit," he said. This week, Johnson has stepped up raids against insurgents in an operation code-named Plymouth Rock, hoping to keep pressure on Sunni rebels after their rout at Falluja to the northwest.
Of Johnson's 5,000-strong force in the region, which was once the heart of Saddam's arms industry and base of the Medina armored division of the elite Republican Guard, more than 2,000 are Marines, 850 British soldiers and the rest Iraqi.
At the camp 30 miles south of Baghdad, the Scorpions are very visible, wearing the khaki jumpsuits of Marine special forces and black mustaches traditional in the Iraqi military.
Occupying powers have a long and patchy history of creating local units and Iraqi forces in other regions have had mixed success. This month, thousands of police in the northern city of Mosul fled or changed sides when Sunni insurgents took charge.
Johnson acknowledges the loyalties of some Iraqis in his force may be divided but says they "want to be on the winning side" and is confident that U.S.-led troops can end what he sees as limited and decentralized violence by at most a few thousand disgruntled Saddam supporters and local bandits.
Iraqi police here have stuck to their posts despite killings of comrades in bomb attacks and murders of off-duty officers: " They don't cut and run, despite their losses," Johnson said.
Clearly exasperated by the "triangle of death" tag, he said: "I'm getting more optimistic every day."
As for Colonel Salaam, a small, wiry man of 32, he shrugs off insurgent threats to himself and his family and says what he wants is: "Freedom, a new Iraq, peace."
Sat Nov 27, 2:12 PM ET
By Alastair Macdonald
NEAR ISKANDARIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - Twenty months after toppling Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), U.S. troops still battling his followers in the heartland of Iraq (news - web sites)'s old arms industry are hitting back with a new weapon -- ex-members of Saddam's special forces.
For five months, Iraqi police commandos calling themselves the Black Scorpions have been based with U.S. Marines in the region along the Euphrates south of Baghdad, which roadside bombs, ambushes and kidnaps have turned into a no-go areas and earned it the melodramatic description "triangle of death."
"All of them were previously officers in the Iraqi army or special forces," the Scorpions' commander, Colonel Salaam Trad, said at the Marines' Kalsu base near Iskandariya on Saturday.
"But Saddam was dirty and no good for Iraq."
The performance of this SWAT team, as the Americans call it, could be a critical test of how U.S. forces can hand over to Iraqis to meet their goal of withdrawing from a stable Iraq. U. S. officers in the area say they are increasingly optimistic.
"The hardest fighters we have are the former special forces from Saddam's days," Colonel Ron Johnson, commander of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, told reporters.
Praising their local knowledge and fighting skills, Johnson singled out one man who fought against him at Nassiriya, the hardest battle of last year's brief war against Saddam's army.
"If I could have an Iraqi security force guy who's honest, reliable and dependable, it's worth five Marines," he added.
Captain Tad Douglas, who leads almost daily raids with the Scorpions, said he believed it was a unique experiment that made use of the Iraqis' feel for their home province of Babylon.
"Ninety-five percent of our intelligence is from the SWAT," he said. "They can put a guy in a cafe in the way we never could ... They have a good finger on the pulse."
NO HARD FEELINGS
U.S. officers are reluctant to discuss how big the SWAT team is and Trad and Douglas brush off questions on what they may or not have done to each other in last year's war.
"It doesn't matter to me what they did. They're staunchly anti-insurgent," said Douglas, who dismissed suggestions their training under Saddam might have made them too violent.
"We just had to polish them up a bit," he said. This week, Johnson has stepped up raids against insurgents in an operation code-named Plymouth Rock, hoping to keep pressure on Sunni rebels after their rout at Falluja to the northwest.
Of Johnson's 5,000-strong force in the region, which was once the heart of Saddam's arms industry and base of the Medina armored division of the elite Republican Guard, more than 2,000 are Marines, 850 British soldiers and the rest Iraqi.
At the camp 30 miles south of Baghdad, the Scorpions are very visible, wearing the khaki jumpsuits of Marine special forces and black mustaches traditional in the Iraqi military.
Occupying powers have a long and patchy history of creating local units and Iraqi forces in other regions have had mixed success. This month, thousands of police in the northern city of Mosul fled or changed sides when Sunni insurgents took charge.
Johnson acknowledges the loyalties of some Iraqis in his force may be divided but says they "want to be on the winning side" and is confident that U.S.-led troops can end what he sees as limited and decentralized violence by at most a few thousand disgruntled Saddam supporters and local bandits.
Iraqi police here have stuck to their posts despite killings of comrades in bomb attacks and murders of off-duty officers: " They don't cut and run, despite their losses," Johnson said.
Clearly exasperated by the "triangle of death" tag, he said: "I'm getting more optimistic every day."
As for Colonel Salaam, a small, wiry man of 32, he shrugs off insurgent threats to himself and his family and says what he wants is: "Freedom, a new Iraq, peace."
Minggu, 28 November 2004
Identifying Moderate Muslims - article by Daniel Pipes
Identifying Moderate Muslims - article by Daniel Pipes: "Identifying Moderate Muslims"
2004 Weblog Awards: Nominations - Best Military Blog (* New *)
2004 Weblog Awards: Nominations - Best Military Blog (* New *): "Nominations - Best Military Blog"
Telegraph | News | Revealed: the full story of the Ukrainian election fraud
Telegraph | News | Revealed: the full story of the Ukrainian election fraud: "the full story of the Ukrainian election fraud"
Sabtu, 27 November 2004
the evangelical outpost: Sin on a Bun:The Forgotten Vice of Gluttony
the evangelical outpost: Sin on a Bun:
The Forgotten Vice of GluttonySin on a Bun:
The Forgotten Vice of Gluttony
The appetite for sex, thought C.S. Lewis, is in “ludicrous and preposterous excess of its function.” How else, he wondered, can we explain the fascination men have with watching a girl publicly undress on a stage? The “strip-tease” shows the absurdity of our propensity for sexual titillation:
Now suppose you come to a country where you could fill a theatre by simply bringing a covered plate on to the stage and then slowly lifting the cover so as to let every one see, just before the lights went out, that it contained a mutton chop or a bit of bacon, would you not think that in that country something had gone wrong with the appetite for food? And would not anyone who had grown up in a different world think there was something equally queer about the state of the sex instinct among us?
One critic said that if he found a country in which such striptease acts with food were popular, he would conclude that the people of that country were starving. I agree with him that if, in some strange land, we found that similar acts with mutton chops were popular, one of the possible explanations which would occur to me would be famine. But the next step would be to test our hypothesis by finding out whether, in fact, much or little food was being consumed in that country.
...
Nor is the hypothesis of 'starvation' the only one we can imagine. Everyone knows that the sexual appetite, like our other appetites, grows by indulgence. Starving men may think much about food, but so do gluttons; the gorged, as well as the famished, like titillations.
In a country that spends more money on “adult entertainment” than pro-football, basketball and baseball combined, we shouldn’t be surprised that other appetites are also prone to overindulgence. While we may not have special theaters where food in seductively unveiled (at least not yet), there is certainly something “queer about the state” of the food instinct in America. Take, for example, the introduction of the MONSTER THICKBURGER™ by the fast-food chain Hardee’s.burger.bmp
Described as a “monument to decadence”, the burger contains an artery-clogging 1,420 calories and 107 grams of fat. When combined in a “combo meal” with large fries and a medium drink, the total tips the scales at 2,285 calories. Such a meal would comprise 77% of the daily caloric intake for the average male (175 lbs., moderately active) and 99% for the average female (150 lb, moderately active). To work off those calories a person would need to jog for over 3 hours, walk briskly for 7.5 hours, or simply sit in front of the TV for 31 hours straight.
The MONSTER THICKBURGER™ is an iconic representation of America’s embrace of gluttony, a sin that has long been forgotten. While many churchgoers have heard sermons warning against the dangers of sexual sins such as adultery or fornication, they’re not likely to have heard their pastor speak out against gluttony. It’s doubtful that many Christians would even consider it a sin. An openly homosexual couple attempting to join the congregation would be looked down upon by the obese deacon showing them to the door; and no one in the pews would even recognize the irony. The stink of our hypocrisy is so overwhelming that it’s amazing we can hold down our order of Super Size fries.
Gluttony was once listed among the seven deadly sins. But now it's considered, when it's thought about at all, as a private health matter. We may realize that overeating has led to weight gain, a change in appearance, or diminished health. But we never recognize it as a spiritual problem.
Oddly enough, with the exception of those related to sex, American Christians tend to take an antinomian view of “physical sins.” We act as if corrupting our bodies will have no impact on our souls. Such an an un-Biblical view, however, must be rejected by anyone who acknowledges that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Lest we start to feel superiour to the obese, though, we should remember that not all gluttons are overweight. I’m 5’10”, 165 lbs and, thanks to the Marine Corps preoccupation with physical activity, in relatively good shape. But while my waistline may not expose my shame, I’m prone to overindulging in food. I eat several snacks between meals. I eat when I’m in my car. I eat when I’m bored. I eat when I’m restless, when I’m frustrated, when I’m watching TV, when I’m on the computer…I eat constantly for no other reason than that I can.
In stuffing my face, I neglect my spiritual life. I turn to the refrigerator instead of turning to prayer. I pause at the vending machine instead of pausing in meditation. I seek out a piece of bread instead of seeking the Bread of Life. I fill my life with food in order to avoid filling it with God.
“Their end is destruction,” the Apostle Paul warned, for those for whom “their god is the belly.” We worship a false idol when we succumb to the sin of gluttony. We replace the focus on the Lord with a focus on our own indulgences. We make a god of our belly and allow our souls to turn softer than the crème filling in our Twinkies.
The Forgotten Vice of GluttonySin on a Bun:
The Forgotten Vice of Gluttony
The appetite for sex, thought C.S. Lewis, is in “ludicrous and preposterous excess of its function.” How else, he wondered, can we explain the fascination men have with watching a girl publicly undress on a stage? The “strip-tease” shows the absurdity of our propensity for sexual titillation:
Now suppose you come to a country where you could fill a theatre by simply bringing a covered plate on to the stage and then slowly lifting the cover so as to let every one see, just before the lights went out, that it contained a mutton chop or a bit of bacon, would you not think that in that country something had gone wrong with the appetite for food? And would not anyone who had grown up in a different world think there was something equally queer about the state of the sex instinct among us?
One critic said that if he found a country in which such striptease acts with food were popular, he would conclude that the people of that country were starving. I agree with him that if, in some strange land, we found that similar acts with mutton chops were popular, one of the possible explanations which would occur to me would be famine. But the next step would be to test our hypothesis by finding out whether, in fact, much or little food was being consumed in that country.
...
Nor is the hypothesis of 'starvation' the only one we can imagine. Everyone knows that the sexual appetite, like our other appetites, grows by indulgence. Starving men may think much about food, but so do gluttons; the gorged, as well as the famished, like titillations.
In a country that spends more money on “adult entertainment” than pro-football, basketball and baseball combined, we shouldn’t be surprised that other appetites are also prone to overindulgence. While we may not have special theaters where food in seductively unveiled (at least not yet), there is certainly something “queer about the state” of the food instinct in America. Take, for example, the introduction of the MONSTER THICKBURGER™ by the fast-food chain Hardee’s.burger.bmp
Described as a “monument to decadence”, the burger contains an artery-clogging 1,420 calories and 107 grams of fat. When combined in a “combo meal” with large fries and a medium drink, the total tips the scales at 2,285 calories. Such a meal would comprise 77% of the daily caloric intake for the average male (175 lbs., moderately active) and 99% for the average female (150 lb, moderately active). To work off those calories a person would need to jog for over 3 hours, walk briskly for 7.5 hours, or simply sit in front of the TV for 31 hours straight.
The MONSTER THICKBURGER™ is an iconic representation of America’s embrace of gluttony, a sin that has long been forgotten. While many churchgoers have heard sermons warning against the dangers of sexual sins such as adultery or fornication, they’re not likely to have heard their pastor speak out against gluttony. It’s doubtful that many Christians would even consider it a sin. An openly homosexual couple attempting to join the congregation would be looked down upon by the obese deacon showing them to the door; and no one in the pews would even recognize the irony. The stink of our hypocrisy is so overwhelming that it’s amazing we can hold down our order of Super Size fries.
Gluttony was once listed among the seven deadly sins. But now it's considered, when it's thought about at all, as a private health matter. We may realize that overeating has led to weight gain, a change in appearance, or diminished health. But we never recognize it as a spiritual problem.
Oddly enough, with the exception of those related to sex, American Christians tend to take an antinomian view of “physical sins.” We act as if corrupting our bodies will have no impact on our souls. Such an an un-Biblical view, however, must be rejected by anyone who acknowledges that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Lest we start to feel superiour to the obese, though, we should remember that not all gluttons are overweight. I’m 5’10”, 165 lbs and, thanks to the Marine Corps preoccupation with physical activity, in relatively good shape. But while my waistline may not expose my shame, I’m prone to overindulging in food. I eat several snacks between meals. I eat when I’m in my car. I eat when I’m bored. I eat when I’m restless, when I’m frustrated, when I’m watching TV, when I’m on the computer…I eat constantly for no other reason than that I can.
In stuffing my face, I neglect my spiritual life. I turn to the refrigerator instead of turning to prayer. I pause at the vending machine instead of pausing in meditation. I seek out a piece of bread instead of seeking the Bread of Life. I fill my life with food in order to avoid filling it with God.
“Their end is destruction,” the Apostle Paul warned, for those for whom “their god is the belly.” We worship a false idol when we succumb to the sin of gluttony. We replace the focus on the Lord with a focus on our own indulgences. We make a god of our belly and allow our souls to turn softer than the crème filling in our Twinkies.
Top 10 Myths About Thanksgiving
Top 10 Myths About Thanksgiving: "Top 10 Myths About Thanksgiving
By Rick Shenkman
Mr. Shenkman is the editor of HNN.
MYTH # 1
The Pilgrims Held the First Thanksgiving
To see what the first Thanksgiving was like you have to go to: Texas. Texans claim the first Thanksgiving in America actually took place in little San Elizario, a community near El Paso, in 1598 -- twenty-three years before the Pilgrims' festival. For several years they have staged a reenactment of the event that culminated in the Thanksgiving celebration: the arrival of Spanish explorer Juan de Onate on the banks of the Rio Grande. De Onate is said to have held a big Thanksgiving festival after leading hundreds of settlers on a grueling 350-mile long trek across the Mexican desert."
By Rick Shenkman
Mr. Shenkman is the editor of HNN.
MYTH # 1
The Pilgrims Held the First Thanksgiving
To see what the first Thanksgiving was like you have to go to: Texas. Texans claim the first Thanksgiving in America actually took place in little San Elizario, a community near El Paso, in 1598 -- twenty-three years before the Pilgrims' festival. For several years they have staged a reenactment of the event that culminated in the Thanksgiving celebration: the arrival of Spanish explorer Juan de Onate on the banks of the Rio Grande. De Onate is said to have held a big Thanksgiving festival after leading hundreds of settlers on a grueling 350-mile long trek across the Mexican desert."
Jumat, 26 November 2004
Kamis, 25 November 2004
Thankful for America -- The Washington Times
Thankful for America -- The Washington TimesThankful for America
By David Boaz
Published November 25, 2004
Not long ago a journalist asked me what freedoms we take for granted in America. I spend most of my time sounding the alarm about the freedoms we're losing, but this was a good opportunity to step back and consider how America is different from much of world history -- and why immigrants still flock here.
If we ask how life in the United States is different from life in most of the history of the world -- and still different from much of the world -- a few key elements come to mind:
m Rule of law. Perhaps the greatest achievement in history is the subordination of power to law. That is, in modern America we have created structures that limit and control the arbitrary power of government. No longer can one man -- a king, a priest, a communist party boss -- take another person's life or property at the ruler's whim. Citizens can go about their business, generally confident that they won't be dragged off the streets to disappear forever, and confident that their hard-earned property won't be confiscated without warning. We may take the rule of law for granted, but immigrants from many parts of the world know how rare it is.
m Equality. For most of history people were firmly assigned to a particular status -- kings, lords and serfs. Brahmans, other castes, and untouchables in India. If your father was a noble or a peasant, so would you be. The American Revolution swept away such distinctions. In America all men were created equal. Thomas Jefferson declared "that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God." In America some people may be smarter, richer or more beautiful than others, but "I'm as good as you" is our national creed. We are all citizens, equal before the law, free to rise as far as our talents will take us.
• Equality for women. Throughout much of history women were the property of their fathers or their husbands. They were often barred from owning property, signing contracts or participating in government. Equality for women took longer than equality for men, but today in the civilized parts of the world women have the same legal rights as men.
• Self-government. The Declaration of Independence proclaims that "governments are instituted" to secure the rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and that those governments "derive their just powers from the consent of the governed." Early governments were often formed in the conquest of one people by another, and the right of the rulers to rule was attributed to God's will and passed along from father to son. In a few places -- such as Athens, Rome and medieval Germany -- there were attempts to create a democratic government. Now, after America's example, we take it for granted in civilized countries that governments stand or fall on popular consent.
• Freedom of speech. In a world of Michael Moore, Ann Coulter and cable pornography, it's hard to imagine just how new and how rare free speech is. Lots of people died for the right to say what they believed. In China and Africa and the Arab world, they still do. Fortunately, we've realized that while free speech may irritate each of us at some point, we're all better off for it.
• Freedom of religion. Church and state have been bound together since time immemorial. The state claimed divine sanction, the church got money and power and the combination left little room for freedom. People used to think that a country could only survive if everyone worshipped the one true God in the one true way. The American Founders established religious freedom.
m Property and contract. We owe our unprecedented standard of living to the capitalist freedoms of private property and free markets. When people are able to own property and make contracts, they create wealth. Free markets and contract law make possible vast economic undertakings, ranging from the design and construction of airplanes to worldwide computer networks and ATM systems. But to appreciate the benefits of free markets, we don't have to marvel at skyscrapers while listening to MP3 players. We can just give thanks for enough food to live on, and central heating and the medical care that has lowered the infant mortality rate from about 20 percent to less than 1 percent.
A Kenyan boy who managed to get to the United States told Woman's World magazine that America is "heaven." Compared to countries that lack the rule of law, equality, property rights, free markets, and freedom of speech and worship, it certainly is. A good point to keep in mind this Thanksgiving Day.
David Boaz is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of "Libertarianism: A Primer."
By David Boaz
Published November 25, 2004
Not long ago a journalist asked me what freedoms we take for granted in America. I spend most of my time sounding the alarm about the freedoms we're losing, but this was a good opportunity to step back and consider how America is different from much of world history -- and why immigrants still flock here.
If we ask how life in the United States is different from life in most of the history of the world -- and still different from much of the world -- a few key elements come to mind:
m Rule of law. Perhaps the greatest achievement in history is the subordination of power to law. That is, in modern America we have created structures that limit and control the arbitrary power of government. No longer can one man -- a king, a priest, a communist party boss -- take another person's life or property at the ruler's whim. Citizens can go about their business, generally confident that they won't be dragged off the streets to disappear forever, and confident that their hard-earned property won't be confiscated without warning. We may take the rule of law for granted, but immigrants from many parts of the world know how rare it is.
m Equality. For most of history people were firmly assigned to a particular status -- kings, lords and serfs. Brahmans, other castes, and untouchables in India. If your father was a noble or a peasant, so would you be. The American Revolution swept away such distinctions. In America all men were created equal. Thomas Jefferson declared "that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God." In America some people may be smarter, richer or more beautiful than others, but "I'm as good as you" is our national creed. We are all citizens, equal before the law, free to rise as far as our talents will take us.
• Equality for women. Throughout much of history women were the property of their fathers or their husbands. They were often barred from owning property, signing contracts or participating in government. Equality for women took longer than equality for men, but today in the civilized parts of the world women have the same legal rights as men.
• Self-government. The Declaration of Independence proclaims that "governments are instituted" to secure the rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and that those governments "derive their just powers from the consent of the governed." Early governments were often formed in the conquest of one people by another, and the right of the rulers to rule was attributed to God's will and passed along from father to son. In a few places -- such as Athens, Rome and medieval Germany -- there were attempts to create a democratic government. Now, after America's example, we take it for granted in civilized countries that governments stand or fall on popular consent.
• Freedom of speech. In a world of Michael Moore, Ann Coulter and cable pornography, it's hard to imagine just how new and how rare free speech is. Lots of people died for the right to say what they believed. In China and Africa and the Arab world, they still do. Fortunately, we've realized that while free speech may irritate each of us at some point, we're all better off for it.
• Freedom of religion. Church and state have been bound together since time immemorial. The state claimed divine sanction, the church got money and power and the combination left little room for freedom. People used to think that a country could only survive if everyone worshipped the one true God in the one true way. The American Founders established religious freedom.
m Property and contract. We owe our unprecedented standard of living to the capitalist freedoms of private property and free markets. When people are able to own property and make contracts, they create wealth. Free markets and contract law make possible vast economic undertakings, ranging from the design and construction of airplanes to worldwide computer networks and ATM systems. But to appreciate the benefits of free markets, we don't have to marvel at skyscrapers while listening to MP3 players. We can just give thanks for enough food to live on, and central heating and the medical care that has lowered the infant mortality rate from about 20 percent to less than 1 percent.
A Kenyan boy who managed to get to the United States told Woman's World magazine that America is "heaven." Compared to countries that lack the rule of law, equality, property rights, free markets, and freedom of speech and worship, it certainly is. A good point to keep in mind this Thanksgiving Day.
David Boaz is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of "Libertarianism: A Primer."
washingtonpost.com: Thankful for the Settlers . . .
washingtonpost.com: Thankful for the Settlers . . .: "washingtonpost.com
Thankful for the Settlers . . .
By George F. Will
Thursday, November 25, 2004; Page A43
When giving thanks this year, think of Lena Woebbecke. She and many others paid a terrible price for misreading the prairie sky on the afternoon of Jan. 12, 1888.
That day was unseasonably balmy, by prairie standards -- some temperatures were in the 20s -- and many children scampered to school without coats or gloves. Then, at about the time schools were adjourning, death, in the shape of a soot-gray cloud, appeared on the horizon of Dakota Territory and Nebraska.
In three minutes the temperature plunged 18 degrees. The next morning hundreds of people, more than 100 of them children, were dead beneath the snow drifts. David Laskin, a Seattle writer, reconstructs this tragedy in a terrifying but beautifully written new book, 'The Children's Blizzard.'
It picks up the many threads of the story in Norway, Ukraine, Germany, Vermont and other tributaries to the river of immigration set in motion partly by the 1862 Homestead Act. In return for an $18 filing fee and five years' farming, the act conferred ownership of 160 acres. By the tens of thousands the homesteaders came, to live in sod houses, heated by burning buffalo chips and twisted hay.
Of immigrants, the saying was that the cowards stayed home and the weak died on the way. One in 10 crossing the Atlantic in steerage did die. But, Laskin says, 'the mystique of the Dakotas' was such that the territory's population nearly quadrupled in the 1880s. Those who made it, with a trunk or two and the clothes on their backs, reached towns that were perishable scratches on the prairie. They got land, freedom and hope.
And prairie fires. And grasshoppers, 100 billion at a time in roaring clouds a mile high and 100 miles across. And iron weather in which children, disoriented by horizontal streams of snow as hard as rock and fine as dust, froze to death groping their way home from a school 150 yards away.
Lena was five in 1882 when her father, a German immigrant, died of smallpox. Her mother remarried twice, having 11 children, eight of whom survived. In August 1887, Lena, her marriage prospects diminished by her smallpox scars, was sent to live with the Woebbeckes and their three children in a two-room house. It was a half-mile from the school where she was, five months later, when a cataclysmic cold front came dropping southeast out of Canada at 45 miles per hour.
'To those standing outside,' Laskin writes, 'it looked like the northwest corner of the sky was suddenly filling and bulging and ripping open.' In 4 1/2 hours the temperature at Helena, Mont., fell 50 degrees. The prairie air tingled with the electricity of a horizontal thunderstorm. All over the region, school teachers, many of them not much older or more educated than their pupils, had to make life-or-death decisions about how to get the children home.
'The fear came first,' Laskin writes, 'but the cold followed so hard on its heels that it was impossible to tell the difference.' In minutes nostrils were clogged by ice. Eyelids were torn by repeated attempts to prevent them from freezing shut. Unable to see their hands in front of their faces, people died wandering a few yards from their houses, unable to hear, over the keening wind, pots being pounded a few yards away to tell them the way to safety.
'For years afterward,' writes Laskin, 'at gatherings of any size in Dakota or Nebraska, there would always be people walking on wooden legs or holding fingerless hands behind their backs or hiding missing ears under hats -- victims of the blizzard.' Lena learned to walk on a wooden foot. In 1901, at 24, she married. At 25 she died, perhaps in childbirth, or perhaps of a complication from the amputation necessitated by frostbite.
'Lena was laid to rest in her wedding dress in the graveyard of the Immanuel Lutheran Church near the country crossroads called Ruby. If there ever was a town called Ruby, it has disappeared, as has the Immanuel Lutheran Church. The church cemetery remains -- a fenced patch of rough grass studded with headstones between two farmhouses not far from the interstate. A tiny island of the dead in the sea of Nebraska agriculture.'
This Thanksgiving, when you have rendered yourself torpid by ingesting an excess of America's agricultural bounties, summon thoughts of thanks for the likes of Lena, those whose hard lives paved the stony road to America's current comforts.
georgewill@washpost.com
"
Thankful for the Settlers . . .
By George F. Will
Thursday, November 25, 2004; Page A43
When giving thanks this year, think of Lena Woebbecke. She and many others paid a terrible price for misreading the prairie sky on the afternoon of Jan. 12, 1888.
That day was unseasonably balmy, by prairie standards -- some temperatures were in the 20s -- and many children scampered to school without coats or gloves. Then, at about the time schools were adjourning, death, in the shape of a soot-gray cloud, appeared on the horizon of Dakota Territory and Nebraska.
In three minutes the temperature plunged 18 degrees. The next morning hundreds of people, more than 100 of them children, were dead beneath the snow drifts. David Laskin, a Seattle writer, reconstructs this tragedy in a terrifying but beautifully written new book, 'The Children's Blizzard.'
It picks up the many threads of the story in Norway, Ukraine, Germany, Vermont and other tributaries to the river of immigration set in motion partly by the 1862 Homestead Act. In return for an $18 filing fee and five years' farming, the act conferred ownership of 160 acres. By the tens of thousands the homesteaders came, to live in sod houses, heated by burning buffalo chips and twisted hay.
Of immigrants, the saying was that the cowards stayed home and the weak died on the way. One in 10 crossing the Atlantic in steerage did die. But, Laskin says, 'the mystique of the Dakotas' was such that the territory's population nearly quadrupled in the 1880s. Those who made it, with a trunk or two and the clothes on their backs, reached towns that were perishable scratches on the prairie. They got land, freedom and hope.
And prairie fires. And grasshoppers, 100 billion at a time in roaring clouds a mile high and 100 miles across. And iron weather in which children, disoriented by horizontal streams of snow as hard as rock and fine as dust, froze to death groping their way home from a school 150 yards away.
Lena was five in 1882 when her father, a German immigrant, died of smallpox. Her mother remarried twice, having 11 children, eight of whom survived. In August 1887, Lena, her marriage prospects diminished by her smallpox scars, was sent to live with the Woebbeckes and their three children in a two-room house. It was a half-mile from the school where she was, five months later, when a cataclysmic cold front came dropping southeast out of Canada at 45 miles per hour.
'To those standing outside,' Laskin writes, 'it looked like the northwest corner of the sky was suddenly filling and bulging and ripping open.' In 4 1/2 hours the temperature at Helena, Mont., fell 50 degrees. The prairie air tingled with the electricity of a horizontal thunderstorm. All over the region, school teachers, many of them not much older or more educated than their pupils, had to make life-or-death decisions about how to get the children home.
'The fear came first,' Laskin writes, 'but the cold followed so hard on its heels that it was impossible to tell the difference.' In minutes nostrils were clogged by ice. Eyelids were torn by repeated attempts to prevent them from freezing shut. Unable to see their hands in front of their faces, people died wandering a few yards from their houses, unable to hear, over the keening wind, pots being pounded a few yards away to tell them the way to safety.
'For years afterward,' writes Laskin, 'at gatherings of any size in Dakota or Nebraska, there would always be people walking on wooden legs or holding fingerless hands behind their backs or hiding missing ears under hats -- victims of the blizzard.' Lena learned to walk on a wooden foot. In 1901, at 24, she married. At 25 she died, perhaps in childbirth, or perhaps of a complication from the amputation necessitated by frostbite.
'Lena was laid to rest in her wedding dress in the graveyard of the Immanuel Lutheran Church near the country crossroads called Ruby. If there ever was a town called Ruby, it has disappeared, as has the Immanuel Lutheran Church. The church cemetery remains -- a fenced patch of rough grass studded with headstones between two farmhouses not far from the interstate. A tiny island of the dead in the sea of Nebraska agriculture.'
This Thanksgiving, when you have rendered yourself torpid by ingesting an excess of America's agricultural bounties, summon thoughts of thanks for the likes of Lena, those whose hard lives paved the stony road to America's current comforts.
georgewill@washpost.com
"
HoustonChronicle.com - An adopted daughter gives thanks to America
HoustonChronicle.com - An adopted daughter gives thanks to AmericaAn adopted daughter gives thanks to America
A child of refugees counts her many blessings
By ANH V. SAWYER
I wish you could have been with me this morning. It was snowing, not heavily, but enough flurries to prevent many of my international friends from coming to our monthly International Wives Club. Most of them came from the other side of the world where the coldest temperature hovers above 60 degrees.
ADVERTISEMENT
There were only 14 of us, half of the normal gathering. Six were Americans and the rest from different parts of the world. Together, we decorated our tables and spread out the food that everyone had brought. Our theme was American Thanksgiving, so I brought a turkey, my first attempt at cooking the giant chicken. The American wives brought pies, and others brought fruit and salads.
Our group leader told us of the history of American Thanksgiving, of the 102 persons who first arrived in Plymouth, Mass., on the Mayflower, of the local Indians' kindness and of the many deaths that followed from the hardship of life in this new place.
When she finished, I asked everyone in the group to share their Thanksgiving thought if they were comfortable doing so. Many of us don't speak English well, and besides, where we came from, we do not always share our hearts so readily like our American friends.
The American wives were thankful for God, families and friends. The foreigners, one after another, with their limited English, wanted to give thanks for this country, for the freedom and peace they have experienced here, for the friendship and unconditional love and help they have received from American friends and strangers. Several had tears roll down their cheeks as they spoke.
Tan, a lovely Mainland Chinese visiting scholar, said: "I wake up so happy every morning. I cannot believe I am here in this country. I feel so free. Sometimes, I have to pinch myself."
Chin, a Taiwanese graduate student, young and gentle, shared with us: "Before I came here, I didn't even know how to open a can. I had a very sheltered life. So when I arrived here, I was very fearful for my life. But the Americans take care of me and teach me many things.
Sandi, a Korean nurse, thoughtful and wise, said, with tears in her eyes: "I want to give thanks to my parents who came here with absolutely nothing. They had to work very hard and sacrificed much for my sister and me. And this country made it possible for them to give us what we have now."
And more I wish you could hear with your own ears.
Many of the International Wives were intrigued to hear that their own beginnings in this country were similar to the Pilgrims. They, too, had a very difficult time with learning English, getting a job and finding a niche for themselves, but after all is said and done they would not trade what they are having to go through here for anything else.
As a former refugee, I, too, want to thank you, dear America, for your love for humanity, for the profound understanding that liberty is indeed the core of genuine humanness, and for sharing your resources, your opportunities and your wonderful heritage with the refugees and immigrants of the world.
You also impart to us a willingness to love and to forgive. These are very vulnerable concepts for many of us foreigners who were bound by traditions of getting even. You know, my Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese friends told me that they don't really get along well with each other, but it was Tan who reached out to Chin and invited her to our gatherings. In our international fellowship, I've often seen Croats break bread with Serbs and people from all over the Middle East — people who would be each others' enemies if they were still in their countries — befriend one another.
I meant to send this article for publication on Veterans Day; but I was worried that I would be misunderstood and categorized as a war-lover. I do not like war or any kind of bloodshed because I myself had to go through that hellish experience for the first 20 years of my life. However, I often ask myself, without the men and women who went to war and laid down their lives, even for the peoples they didn't know, would I be able to taste this precious freedom and liberty?
Sometimes I think of America as the children, and myself as the dog, in one of Jesus' parables: "First, let the children eat all they want," Jesus told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs.
"Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."
Even with the crumbs, I am grateful and satisfied. However, I long to be one of the children, not because America wouldn't let me, but because after 30 years of living and breathing free in this country, I am still going through a healing process. It continues to be a long journey for me to unlearn the fear I grew up in and to learn to truly enjoy the bread.
It was a struggle to put these words on paper, because deep down I am afraid of retaliation. I think the most wonderful gift America offers is freedom from fear. So, I thank you, America. I am the daughter you have adopted and raised to become someone who has faith in life and lives with real purpose. I now dare to dream and to believe that my dreams can come true. Where I came from, the most important wish a child can have is to bring honor to his or her parents. I hope I will bring honor to America.
Sawyer is a writer and speaker. With her friend Pam Proctor, she wrote "Song of Saigon," published by Warner Books in 2003
A child of refugees counts her many blessings
By ANH V. SAWYER
I wish you could have been with me this morning. It was snowing, not heavily, but enough flurries to prevent many of my international friends from coming to our monthly International Wives Club. Most of them came from the other side of the world where the coldest temperature hovers above 60 degrees.
ADVERTISEMENT
There were only 14 of us, half of the normal gathering. Six were Americans and the rest from different parts of the world. Together, we decorated our tables and spread out the food that everyone had brought. Our theme was American Thanksgiving, so I brought a turkey, my first attempt at cooking the giant chicken. The American wives brought pies, and others brought fruit and salads.
Our group leader told us of the history of American Thanksgiving, of the 102 persons who first arrived in Plymouth, Mass., on the Mayflower, of the local Indians' kindness and of the many deaths that followed from the hardship of life in this new place.
When she finished, I asked everyone in the group to share their Thanksgiving thought if they were comfortable doing so. Many of us don't speak English well, and besides, where we came from, we do not always share our hearts so readily like our American friends.
The American wives were thankful for God, families and friends. The foreigners, one after another, with their limited English, wanted to give thanks for this country, for the freedom and peace they have experienced here, for the friendship and unconditional love and help they have received from American friends and strangers. Several had tears roll down their cheeks as they spoke.
Tan, a lovely Mainland Chinese visiting scholar, said: "I wake up so happy every morning. I cannot believe I am here in this country. I feel so free. Sometimes, I have to pinch myself."
Chin, a Taiwanese graduate student, young and gentle, shared with us: "Before I came here, I didn't even know how to open a can. I had a very sheltered life. So when I arrived here, I was very fearful for my life. But the Americans take care of me and teach me many things.
Sandi, a Korean nurse, thoughtful and wise, said, with tears in her eyes: "I want to give thanks to my parents who came here with absolutely nothing. They had to work very hard and sacrificed much for my sister and me. And this country made it possible for them to give us what we have now."
And more I wish you could hear with your own ears.
Many of the International Wives were intrigued to hear that their own beginnings in this country were similar to the Pilgrims. They, too, had a very difficult time with learning English, getting a job and finding a niche for themselves, but after all is said and done they would not trade what they are having to go through here for anything else.
As a former refugee, I, too, want to thank you, dear America, for your love for humanity, for the profound understanding that liberty is indeed the core of genuine humanness, and for sharing your resources, your opportunities and your wonderful heritage with the refugees and immigrants of the world.
You also impart to us a willingness to love and to forgive. These are very vulnerable concepts for many of us foreigners who were bound by traditions of getting even. You know, my Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese friends told me that they don't really get along well with each other, but it was Tan who reached out to Chin and invited her to our gatherings. In our international fellowship, I've often seen Croats break bread with Serbs and people from all over the Middle East — people who would be each others' enemies if they were still in their countries — befriend one another.
I meant to send this article for publication on Veterans Day; but I was worried that I would be misunderstood and categorized as a war-lover. I do not like war or any kind of bloodshed because I myself had to go through that hellish experience for the first 20 years of my life. However, I often ask myself, without the men and women who went to war and laid down their lives, even for the peoples they didn't know, would I be able to taste this precious freedom and liberty?
Sometimes I think of America as the children, and myself as the dog, in one of Jesus' parables: "First, let the children eat all they want," Jesus told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs.
"Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."
Even with the crumbs, I am grateful and satisfied. However, I long to be one of the children, not because America wouldn't let me, but because after 30 years of living and breathing free in this country, I am still going through a healing process. It continues to be a long journey for me to unlearn the fear I grew up in and to learn to truly enjoy the bread.
It was a struggle to put these words on paper, because deep down I am afraid of retaliation. I think the most wonderful gift America offers is freedom from fear. So, I thank you, America. I am the daughter you have adopted and raised to become someone who has faith in life and lives with real purpose. I now dare to dream and to believe that my dreams can come true. Where I came from, the most important wish a child can have is to bring honor to his or her parents. I hope I will bring honor to America.
Sawyer is a writer and speaker. With her friend Pam Proctor, she wrote "Song of Saigon," published by Warner Books in 2003
HoustonChronicle.com - An adopted daughter gives thanks to America
HoustonChronicle.com - An adopted daughter gives thanks to AmericaAn adopted daughter gives thanks to America
A child of refugees counts her many blessings
By ANH V. SAWYER
I wish you could have been with me this morning. It was snowing, not heavily, but enough flurries to prevent many of my international friends from coming to our monthly International Wives Club. Most of them came from the other side of the world where the coldest temperature hovers above 60 degrees.
ADVERTISEMENT
There were only 14 of us, half of the normal gathering. Six were Americans and the rest from different parts of the world. Together, we decorated our tables and spread out the food that everyone had brought. Our theme was American Thanksgiving, so I brought a turkey, my first attempt at cooking the giant chicken. The American wives brought pies, and others brought fruit and salads.
Our group leader told us of the history of American Thanksgiving, of the 102 persons who first arrived in Plymouth, Mass., on the Mayflower, of the local Indians' kindness and of the many deaths that followed from the hardship of life in this new place.
When she finished, I asked everyone in the group to share their Thanksgiving thought if they were comfortable doing so. Many of us don't speak English well, and besides, where we came from, we do not always share our hearts so readily like our American friends.
The American wives were thankful for God, families and friends. The foreigners, one after another, with their limited English, wanted to give thanks for this country, for the freedom and peace they have experienced here, for the friendship and unconditional love and help they have received from American friends and strangers. Several had tears roll down their cheeks as they spoke.
Tan, a lovely Mainland Chinese visiting scholar, said: "I wake up so happy every morning. I cannot believe I am here in this country. I feel so free. Sometimes, I have to pinch myself."
Chin, a Taiwanese graduate student, young and gentle, shared with us: "Before I came here, I didn't even know how to open a can. I had a very sheltered life. So when I arrived here, I was very fearful for my life. But the Americans take care of me and teach me many things.
Sandi, a Korean nurse, thoughtful and wise, said, with tears in her eyes: "I want to give thanks to my parents who came here with absolutely nothing. They had to work very hard and sacrificed much for my sister and me. And this country made it possible for them to give us what we have now."
And more I wish you could hear with your own ears.
Many of the International Wives were intrigued to hear that their own beginnings in this country were similar to the Pilgrims. They, too, had a very difficult time with learning English, getting a job and finding a niche for themselves, but after all is said and done they would not trade what they are having to go through here for anything else.
As a former refugee, I, too, want to thank you, dear America, for your love for humanity, for the profound understanding that liberty is indeed the core of genuine humanness, and for sharing your resources, your opportunities and your wonderful heritage with the refugees and immigrants of the world.
You also impart to us a willingness to love and to forgive. These are very vulnerable concepts for many of us foreigners who were bound by traditions of getting even. You know, my Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese friends told me that they don't really get along well with each other, but it was Tan who reached out to Chin and invited her to our gatherings. In our international fellowship, I've often seen Croats break bread with Serbs and people from all over the Middle East — people who would be each others' enemies if they were still in their countries — befriend one another.
I meant to send this article for publication on Veterans Day; but I was worried that I would be misunderstood and categorized as a war-lover. I do not like war or any kind of bloodshed because I myself had to go through that hellish experience for the first 20 years of my life. However, I often ask myself, without the men and women who went to war and laid down their lives, even for the peoples they didn't know, would I be able to taste this precious freedom and liberty?
Sometimes I think of America as the children, and myself as the dog, in one of Jesus' parables: "First, let the children eat all they want," Jesus told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs.
"Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."
Even with the crumbs, I am grateful and satisfied. However, I long to be one of the children, not because America wouldn't let me, but because after 30 years of living and breathing free in this country, I am still going through a healing process. It continues to be a long journey for me to unlearn the fear I grew up in and to learn to truly enjoy the bread.
It was a struggle to put these words on paper, because deep down I am afraid of retaliation. I think the most wonderful gift America offers is freedom from fear. So, I thank you, America. I am the daughter you have adopted and raised to become someone who has faith in life and lives with real purpose. I now dare to dream and to believe that my dreams can come true. Where I came from, the most important wish a child can have is to bring honor to his or her parents. I hope I will bring honor to America.
Sawyer is a writer and speaker. With her friend Pam Proctor, she wrote "Song of Saigon," published by Warner Books in 2003
A child of refugees counts her many blessings
By ANH V. SAWYER
I wish you could have been with me this morning. It was snowing, not heavily, but enough flurries to prevent many of my international friends from coming to our monthly International Wives Club. Most of them came from the other side of the world where the coldest temperature hovers above 60 degrees.
ADVERTISEMENT
There were only 14 of us, half of the normal gathering. Six were Americans and the rest from different parts of the world. Together, we decorated our tables and spread out the food that everyone had brought. Our theme was American Thanksgiving, so I brought a turkey, my first attempt at cooking the giant chicken. The American wives brought pies, and others brought fruit and salads.
Our group leader told us of the history of American Thanksgiving, of the 102 persons who first arrived in Plymouth, Mass., on the Mayflower, of the local Indians' kindness and of the many deaths that followed from the hardship of life in this new place.
When she finished, I asked everyone in the group to share their Thanksgiving thought if they were comfortable doing so. Many of us don't speak English well, and besides, where we came from, we do not always share our hearts so readily like our American friends.
The American wives were thankful for God, families and friends. The foreigners, one after another, with their limited English, wanted to give thanks for this country, for the freedom and peace they have experienced here, for the friendship and unconditional love and help they have received from American friends and strangers. Several had tears roll down their cheeks as they spoke.
Tan, a lovely Mainland Chinese visiting scholar, said: "I wake up so happy every morning. I cannot believe I am here in this country. I feel so free. Sometimes, I have to pinch myself."
Chin, a Taiwanese graduate student, young and gentle, shared with us: "Before I came here, I didn't even know how to open a can. I had a very sheltered life. So when I arrived here, I was very fearful for my life. But the Americans take care of me and teach me many things.
Sandi, a Korean nurse, thoughtful and wise, said, with tears in her eyes: "I want to give thanks to my parents who came here with absolutely nothing. They had to work very hard and sacrificed much for my sister and me. And this country made it possible for them to give us what we have now."
And more I wish you could hear with your own ears.
Many of the International Wives were intrigued to hear that their own beginnings in this country were similar to the Pilgrims. They, too, had a very difficult time with learning English, getting a job and finding a niche for themselves, but after all is said and done they would not trade what they are having to go through here for anything else.
As a former refugee, I, too, want to thank you, dear America, for your love for humanity, for the profound understanding that liberty is indeed the core of genuine humanness, and for sharing your resources, your opportunities and your wonderful heritage with the refugees and immigrants of the world.
You also impart to us a willingness to love and to forgive. These are very vulnerable concepts for many of us foreigners who were bound by traditions of getting even. You know, my Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese friends told me that they don't really get along well with each other, but it was Tan who reached out to Chin and invited her to our gatherings. In our international fellowship, I've often seen Croats break bread with Serbs and people from all over the Middle East — people who would be each others' enemies if they were still in their countries — befriend one another.
I meant to send this article for publication on Veterans Day; but I was worried that I would be misunderstood and categorized as a war-lover. I do not like war or any kind of bloodshed because I myself had to go through that hellish experience for the first 20 years of my life. However, I often ask myself, without the men and women who went to war and laid down their lives, even for the peoples they didn't know, would I be able to taste this precious freedom and liberty?
Sometimes I think of America as the children, and myself as the dog, in one of Jesus' parables: "First, let the children eat all they want," Jesus told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs.
"Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."
Even with the crumbs, I am grateful and satisfied. However, I long to be one of the children, not because America wouldn't let me, but because after 30 years of living and breathing free in this country, I am still going through a healing process. It continues to be a long journey for me to unlearn the fear I grew up in and to learn to truly enjoy the bread.
It was a struggle to put these words on paper, because deep down I am afraid of retaliation. I think the most wonderful gift America offers is freedom from fear. So, I thank you, America. I am the daughter you have adopted and raised to become someone who has faith in life and lives with real purpose. I now dare to dream and to believe that my dreams can come true. Where I came from, the most important wish a child can have is to bring honor to his or her parents. I hope I will bring honor to America.
Sawyer is a writer and speaker. With her friend Pam Proctor, she wrote "Song of Saigon," published by Warner Books in 2003
Power Line: In memory of Dimitrios Gavriel
Power Line: In memory of Dimitrios GavrielThe Lance Cpl.Who Left Wall St.
by Sheelah Kolhatkar and Anna Schneider-Mayerson
No one who knew Dimitrios Gavriel, 29, was surprised when he joined the Marines, even though it seemed an unlikely choice for an Ivy League–educated Manhattan research analyst. In 1998, just a few months after moving to New York City, Mr. Gavriel had written in his diary: "I feel like I’m swimming in a sea with sharks working on Wall Street." Mr. Gavriel meant that in a good way.
"The expression was meant to deliver the message that it’s hard here: ‘It’s like swimming in a sea of sharks, but I am not giving up,’" said Mr. Gavriel’s mother, Penelope Gavriel, 55. What her son meant, Ms. Gavriel insisted, was that working in these conditions was a badge of honor.
"It’s only going to make me a better man," Ms. Gavriel said her son told her.
It was that same love of a challenge—combined with a fiery patriotism and a desire to take action after the death of two friends on Sept. 11, 2001—that prompted Mr. Gavriel to enlist in the Marines in October 2003. Last Thursday, Nov. 18, Lance Cpl. Dimitrios Gavriel was killed during a battle in Falluja. His family said he was awarded two Purple Hearts on Tuesday, Nov. 23.
Corporal Gavriel did not fit the image of the prototypical U.S. soldier in Iraq: the baby-faced teen from red-state America, looking for a ticket out of small-town life. "Dimmy," as his friends and family called him, grew up in several different places, but spent his high-school career at Timberlane Regional High School in Plaistow, N.H. His father, an aerospace engineer, and his mother, a corporate quality-control manager for Dunkin’ Donuts, immigrated from Greece in the 1970’s. (He had one younger sister, Christina, 27.)
Mr. Gavriel attended Brown University, where he concentrated in organizational behavior—the closest area of study to a business major at the artsy school. He also wrestled in the heavyweight division for the school, developing a close circle of athletic friends and fraternity brothers.
He went on, as many young men with certain socioeconomic aspirations do, to enter an analyst program at the investment bank PaineWebber after graduating in 1998, where he became an equity analyst in the real-estate department. From there he joined the research department at J.P. Morgan, then bounced with his research team to Credit Suisse First Boston and finally Banc of America, where he put in 16-hour days crunching numbers and writing research reports until he was laid off in 2002. It was then that Mr. Gavriel made the decision to join the Marines.
One of the biggest questions surrounding Mr. Gavriel’s life and the circumstances of his death is the mystery of why he went to Iraq, considering the other options he had and the certain ugliness of the war. And it’s not as though he was suffering from permanent unemployment woes; in fact, the day before he left to start training, he was offered another finance job, after months of looking.
"He was deeply affected by 9/11, but that was a small part of why he went," said Matt McClelland, 30, Mr. Gavriel’s best friend and fraternity brother from Brown. "It wasn’t about revenge and payback. He supported the war but wasn’t happy with how they were handling it. I think the way he looked at it was, no matter what side of the aisle you stand on, that’s the most important place in the world right now, there’s no way to turn back and we had to succeed, and he wanted to be a part of that."
That rationale for volunteering to fight—for wanting to be a part of something important, something unexpected—was very much part of the way Mr. Gavriel envisioned his life and his own abilities. His mother, in compiling a printed eulogy for her son’s memorial service, included these telling excerpts from Mr. Gavriel’s diary, under the title "An American Hero … Our Hero": "I have heard that Great Men often kept journals—I’d like to be great …. They assure me that whatever the situation or circumstance—Honesty—Discipline—Character—Humility—Timing and Luck will lead to a comfortable situation. This belief put me into College—an Ivy League education—It helped me in sports where I held my own against the best in Division 1 Wrestling—it put me in the capital of the world—New York City—and placed me in the water with sharks—Wall Street. When I was younger—each one of these worlds was a magical place, a myth—I have broken into these worlds however—called them home and sanity."
Conversations with Mr. Gavriel’s friends, family members and former colleagues yield a portrait of a man who chose his friends carefully, but who chose them for the long term; who valued loyalty and the idea of brotherhood; who immersed himself wholeheartedly in whatever he did; who was an oddball prankster; who loved sports, fishing and working and living in New York City. And in some ways he was like every other young banker: toiling day and night on Wall Street, crowding the bars of Murray Hill and the Upper West Side on weekends, and courting the occasional girlfriend.
He spent the majority of his four years in New York living in a small studio on 72nd and Columbus, which he referred to as "a box." It was filled with antiques his parents bought for him at New England yard sales, an acoustic guitar he was teaching himself how to play and group shots from the weddings he had attended.
"I’d never seen someone in so many wedding parties," said Anthony Farinha, 29, a house mate from Brown. When his college friends came to town, he’d host them all at his place, and they’d hit the Upper West Side dive bar Yogi’s, his favorite haunt. They’d play Johnny Cash on the juke box, toss peanut shells on the floor. His drink of choice? Jim Beam.
Mr. Gavriel rode his royal blue BMW 1150 motorcycle to work, and occasionally wore his biker boots to the office. "He didn’t show up in a navy blue pinstriped suit and Hermès tie, because every other banker in the world did," said Alexis Hughes, 31, a former colleague from Wall Street. "He showed up at meetings with his motorcycle helmet. And I think that’s something to respect."
This tiny form of uniform rebellion might have represented Mr. Gavriel’s deeper ambivalence about his white-collar world. Prior to being laid off, in fact, Mr. Gavriel had been reconsidering his options. The Henry Blodget–era scandals on Wall Street discouraged him, piercing a hole in his own sense of self-worth.
In his last months at Banc of America, he’d begun to call it a "jobby-job," which his mother described as his version of a nine-to-five job. He wasn’t satisfied.
"Ordinary, everyday man’s expectations—he wasn’t that," she said proudly. Joining the Marines was a way to grow personally and professionally. "He was looking primarily for leadership skills, integrity, honor. It was a good package deal for him. He felt that the military—specifically the Marines—with the regimen and the strict discipline they have, was the best place that he could learn new skills and hone the ones that he had to allow him to become a new leader."
Lee Schalop, his boss at J.P. Morgan, Credit Suisse and Banc of America, remembered Mr. Gavriel as a tireless, motivated worker, but also said he could tell banking wasn’t his ideal fit.
"It’s clear he didn’t love it the way other people did," Mr. Schalop explained. "I just thought, That is so perfect for him. He was a tough, quiet guy and to me … he sort of represented what the Marines were."
To prepare for the Marines, Mr. Gavriel trained for a year—mostly near a friend’s house in New Jersey, where he loved to go fishing—running 10 miles a day and eventually losing more than 40 pounds. But the Marines initially rejected him, citing lingering knee injuries left over from his wrestling career. He lobbied for the Marines to accept him, and eventually shipped off to boot camp last fall.
So when Mr. Gavriel was offered another finance job the day before he left for training (after a year of not working), by then his decision was firm.
"My wife and I went to see him off to boot camp, in Haverhill, Mass., and he said that he felt it was fate playing with him, that he would have been miserable had he not gone [to boot camp]," said Mr. McClelland.
Still, it wasn’t a blind decision. "We all expressed our reservations and hesitations; he knew what the risks were," said Mr. Farinha.
Once in Iraq, his parents were often unsure about what was happening to their son, clinging to the promise Mr. Gavriel had once made: "They have better use for me than having me run around with a gun," he had told his mother. "His biggest worry was that his mother would find out and worry about him," said Mr. McClelland.
But, in fact, Mr. Gavriel was serving as a rifleman in Iraq. According to Mr. McClelland, he heard from Mr. Gavriel not so long ago, after he had caught a clump of shrapnel in his leg from a grenade explosion. About a week later, they were short men for a mission. Though still limping, Mr. Gavriel went into battle in Falluja.
"There’s no way that I would have conceived that this would have been the outcome," said Mr. Farinha. "He was too talented, too strong, too cunning to ever get hurt."
Mr. Gavriel’s funeral will be held Tuesday, Nov. 30, at Holy Apostles Church in Haverhill, Mass. His burial will take place at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 2, at Arlington National Cemetery.
You may reach Sheelah Kolhatkar and Anna Schneider-Mayerson via email at: skolhatkar@observer.com and anna@observer.com.
by Sheelah Kolhatkar and Anna Schneider-Mayerson
No one who knew Dimitrios Gavriel, 29, was surprised when he joined the Marines, even though it seemed an unlikely choice for an Ivy League–educated Manhattan research analyst. In 1998, just a few months after moving to New York City, Mr. Gavriel had written in his diary: "I feel like I’m swimming in a sea with sharks working on Wall Street." Mr. Gavriel meant that in a good way.
"The expression was meant to deliver the message that it’s hard here: ‘It’s like swimming in a sea of sharks, but I am not giving up,’" said Mr. Gavriel’s mother, Penelope Gavriel, 55. What her son meant, Ms. Gavriel insisted, was that working in these conditions was a badge of honor.
"It’s only going to make me a better man," Ms. Gavriel said her son told her.
It was that same love of a challenge—combined with a fiery patriotism and a desire to take action after the death of two friends on Sept. 11, 2001—that prompted Mr. Gavriel to enlist in the Marines in October 2003. Last Thursday, Nov. 18, Lance Cpl. Dimitrios Gavriel was killed during a battle in Falluja. His family said he was awarded two Purple Hearts on Tuesday, Nov. 23.
Corporal Gavriel did not fit the image of the prototypical U.S. soldier in Iraq: the baby-faced teen from red-state America, looking for a ticket out of small-town life. "Dimmy," as his friends and family called him, grew up in several different places, but spent his high-school career at Timberlane Regional High School in Plaistow, N.H. His father, an aerospace engineer, and his mother, a corporate quality-control manager for Dunkin’ Donuts, immigrated from Greece in the 1970’s. (He had one younger sister, Christina, 27.)
Mr. Gavriel attended Brown University, where he concentrated in organizational behavior—the closest area of study to a business major at the artsy school. He also wrestled in the heavyweight division for the school, developing a close circle of athletic friends and fraternity brothers.
He went on, as many young men with certain socioeconomic aspirations do, to enter an analyst program at the investment bank PaineWebber after graduating in 1998, where he became an equity analyst in the real-estate department. From there he joined the research department at J.P. Morgan, then bounced with his research team to Credit Suisse First Boston and finally Banc of America, where he put in 16-hour days crunching numbers and writing research reports until he was laid off in 2002. It was then that Mr. Gavriel made the decision to join the Marines.
One of the biggest questions surrounding Mr. Gavriel’s life and the circumstances of his death is the mystery of why he went to Iraq, considering the other options he had and the certain ugliness of the war. And it’s not as though he was suffering from permanent unemployment woes; in fact, the day before he left to start training, he was offered another finance job, after months of looking.
"He was deeply affected by 9/11, but that was a small part of why he went," said Matt McClelland, 30, Mr. Gavriel’s best friend and fraternity brother from Brown. "It wasn’t about revenge and payback. He supported the war but wasn’t happy with how they were handling it. I think the way he looked at it was, no matter what side of the aisle you stand on, that’s the most important place in the world right now, there’s no way to turn back and we had to succeed, and he wanted to be a part of that."
That rationale for volunteering to fight—for wanting to be a part of something important, something unexpected—was very much part of the way Mr. Gavriel envisioned his life and his own abilities. His mother, in compiling a printed eulogy for her son’s memorial service, included these telling excerpts from Mr. Gavriel’s diary, under the title "An American Hero … Our Hero": "I have heard that Great Men often kept journals—I’d like to be great …. They assure me that whatever the situation or circumstance—Honesty—Discipline—Character—Humility—Timing and Luck will lead to a comfortable situation. This belief put me into College—an Ivy League education—It helped me in sports where I held my own against the best in Division 1 Wrestling—it put me in the capital of the world—New York City—and placed me in the water with sharks—Wall Street. When I was younger—each one of these worlds was a magical place, a myth—I have broken into these worlds however—called them home and sanity."
Conversations with Mr. Gavriel’s friends, family members and former colleagues yield a portrait of a man who chose his friends carefully, but who chose them for the long term; who valued loyalty and the idea of brotherhood; who immersed himself wholeheartedly in whatever he did; who was an oddball prankster; who loved sports, fishing and working and living in New York City. And in some ways he was like every other young banker: toiling day and night on Wall Street, crowding the bars of Murray Hill and the Upper West Side on weekends, and courting the occasional girlfriend.
He spent the majority of his four years in New York living in a small studio on 72nd and Columbus, which he referred to as "a box." It was filled with antiques his parents bought for him at New England yard sales, an acoustic guitar he was teaching himself how to play and group shots from the weddings he had attended.
"I’d never seen someone in so many wedding parties," said Anthony Farinha, 29, a house mate from Brown. When his college friends came to town, he’d host them all at his place, and they’d hit the Upper West Side dive bar Yogi’s, his favorite haunt. They’d play Johnny Cash on the juke box, toss peanut shells on the floor. His drink of choice? Jim Beam.
Mr. Gavriel rode his royal blue BMW 1150 motorcycle to work, and occasionally wore his biker boots to the office. "He didn’t show up in a navy blue pinstriped suit and Hermès tie, because every other banker in the world did," said Alexis Hughes, 31, a former colleague from Wall Street. "He showed up at meetings with his motorcycle helmet. And I think that’s something to respect."
This tiny form of uniform rebellion might have represented Mr. Gavriel’s deeper ambivalence about his white-collar world. Prior to being laid off, in fact, Mr. Gavriel had been reconsidering his options. The Henry Blodget–era scandals on Wall Street discouraged him, piercing a hole in his own sense of self-worth.
In his last months at Banc of America, he’d begun to call it a "jobby-job," which his mother described as his version of a nine-to-five job. He wasn’t satisfied.
"Ordinary, everyday man’s expectations—he wasn’t that," she said proudly. Joining the Marines was a way to grow personally and professionally. "He was looking primarily for leadership skills, integrity, honor. It was a good package deal for him. He felt that the military—specifically the Marines—with the regimen and the strict discipline they have, was the best place that he could learn new skills and hone the ones that he had to allow him to become a new leader."
Lee Schalop, his boss at J.P. Morgan, Credit Suisse and Banc of America, remembered Mr. Gavriel as a tireless, motivated worker, but also said he could tell banking wasn’t his ideal fit.
"It’s clear he didn’t love it the way other people did," Mr. Schalop explained. "I just thought, That is so perfect for him. He was a tough, quiet guy and to me … he sort of represented what the Marines were."
To prepare for the Marines, Mr. Gavriel trained for a year—mostly near a friend’s house in New Jersey, where he loved to go fishing—running 10 miles a day and eventually losing more than 40 pounds. But the Marines initially rejected him, citing lingering knee injuries left over from his wrestling career. He lobbied for the Marines to accept him, and eventually shipped off to boot camp last fall.
So when Mr. Gavriel was offered another finance job the day before he left for training (after a year of not working), by then his decision was firm.
"My wife and I went to see him off to boot camp, in Haverhill, Mass., and he said that he felt it was fate playing with him, that he would have been miserable had he not gone [to boot camp]," said Mr. McClelland.
Still, it wasn’t a blind decision. "We all expressed our reservations and hesitations; he knew what the risks were," said Mr. Farinha.
Once in Iraq, his parents were often unsure about what was happening to their son, clinging to the promise Mr. Gavriel had once made: "They have better use for me than having me run around with a gun," he had told his mother. "His biggest worry was that his mother would find out and worry about him," said Mr. McClelland.
But, in fact, Mr. Gavriel was serving as a rifleman in Iraq. According to Mr. McClelland, he heard from Mr. Gavriel not so long ago, after he had caught a clump of shrapnel in his leg from a grenade explosion. About a week later, they were short men for a mission. Though still limping, Mr. Gavriel went into battle in Falluja.
"There’s no way that I would have conceived that this would have been the outcome," said Mr. Farinha. "He was too talented, too strong, too cunning to ever get hurt."
Mr. Gavriel’s funeral will be held Tuesday, Nov. 30, at Holy Apostles Church in Haverhill, Mass. His burial will take place at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 2, at Arlington National Cemetery.
You may reach Sheelah Kolhatkar and Anna Schneider-Mayerson via email at: skolhatkar@observer.com and anna@observer.com.
Selasa, 23 November 2004
Itzaz� Around Here!
Itzaz� Around Here!
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
An Open Letter to Europe
November 17, 2004 -
Hi. Are you nuts?
Forgive me for being so blunt, but your reaction to our reelection of President Bush has been so outrageous that I’m wondering if you have quite literally lost your minds. One of Britain’s largest newspapers ran a headline asking “How Can 59 Million Americans Be So Dumb?”, and commentators in France all seemed to use the same word – bizarre -- to explain the election’s outcome to their readers. In Germany the editors of Die Tageszeitung responded to our vote by writing that “Bush belongs at a war tribunal – not in the White House.” And on a London radio talk show last week one Jeremy Hardy described our President and those of us who voted for him as “stupid, crazy, ignorant, bellicose Christian fundamentalists.”
Of course, you are entitled to whatever views about us that you care to hold. (And lucky for you we Americans aren’t like so many of the Muslims on your own continent; as the late Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh just discovered, make one nasty crack about them and you’re likely to get six bullets pumped into your head and a knife plunged into your chest.) But before you write us off as just a bunch of sweaty, hairy-chested, Bible-thumping morons who are more likely to break their fast by dipping a Krispy Kreme into a diet cola than a biscotti into an espresso – and who inexplicably have won more Nobel prizes than all other countries combined, host 25 or 30 of the world’s finest universities and five or six of the world’s best symphonies, produce wines that win prizes at your own tasting competitions, have built the world’s most vibrant economy, are the world’s only military superpower and, so to speak in our spare time, have landed on the moon and sent our robots to Mars – may I suggest you stop frothing at the mouth long enough to consider just what are these ideas we hold that you find so silly and repugnant?
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
An Open Letter to Europe
November 17, 2004 -
Hi. Are you nuts?
Forgive me for being so blunt, but your reaction to our reelection of President Bush has been so outrageous that I’m wondering if you have quite literally lost your minds. One of Britain’s largest newspapers ran a headline asking “How Can 59 Million Americans Be So Dumb?”, and commentators in France all seemed to use the same word – bizarre -- to explain the election’s outcome to their readers. In Germany the editors of Die Tageszeitung responded to our vote by writing that “Bush belongs at a war tribunal – not in the White House.” And on a London radio talk show last week one Jeremy Hardy described our President and those of us who voted for him as “stupid, crazy, ignorant, bellicose Christian fundamentalists.”
Of course, you are entitled to whatever views about us that you care to hold. (And lucky for you we Americans aren’t like so many of the Muslims on your own continent; as the late Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh just discovered, make one nasty crack about them and you’re likely to get six bullets pumped into your head and a knife plunged into your chest.) But before you write us off as just a bunch of sweaty, hairy-chested, Bible-thumping morons who are more likely to break their fast by dipping a Krispy Kreme into a diet cola than a biscotti into an espresso – and who inexplicably have won more Nobel prizes than all other countries combined, host 25 or 30 of the world’s finest universities and five or six of the world’s best symphonies, produce wines that win prizes at your own tasting competitions, have built the world’s most vibrant economy, are the world’s only military superpower and, so to speak in our spare time, have landed on the moon and sent our robots to Mars – may I suggest you stop frothing at the mouth long enough to consider just what are these ideas we hold that you find so silly and repugnant?
IBN_ALRAFIDAIN: Security & Freedom!!!!
IBN_ALRAFIDAIN: Security & Freedom
Monday, November 22, 2004
Security & Freedom
It is known in politics that there is no permanent friendship but mutual interests. I’ve been thinking what sort of interests may incite the US and UK administrations to keep on backing the ambitious Iraqis for better society. The answer came from Washington last week. President Bush and Prime Minister Blair held a press conference on November 12th.
Mr. Blair said
“ … we have to complete our mission in Iraq, make sure that Iraq is a stable and a democratic country. And I have no doubt at all that whatever the difficulties the terrorists and insurgents, supporters of Saddam Hussein may pose for us, that we will overcome those difficulties -- ourselves, the multinational force, together with the Iraqi government -- and ensure that Iraq can be that democratic, stable state that the vast majority of Iraqis, I know, will want to see…”
Nice words which raise hopes of a brighter future.
A question resided in my mind for long time till the early days of the invasion last year which says ( What makes the US and UK knock Saddam down?).
Saddam served their interests since the early days of his time in power. For example, he fought Iran for them. It is not a secret, Saddam said it clearly “We are fighting Iran on behalf of the civilized world”.
He made it justifiable for them to bring their forces to the region, which floats on oil, after he invaded Kuwait. Even in his last days, he offered them free Iraqi oil for keeping him in power.
Isn’t it better to put someone in power who can maintain their interests regardless the way he rules?
A pressman, in the conference, asked a question coincides with my query. He said
“ What if the Iraqis come up with somebody who's not friendly to the United States, is not a democrat, but it's peaceful, is this something you can live with?”
Mr. Bush answered
“…the Iraqis will have come up with somebody who is duly-elected. In other words, democracy will have spoken. And that person is going to have to listen to the people, not to the whims of a dictator, not to their own desires -- personal desires…”
I don’t know whether Mr. Bush knows the conception of Iraqis, and Arabs, of possessing power or not. It is the concept of the Sheikh who gains power and to grasp firmly, never let go till death.
Anyhow, one should have faith in change. This can be observed in Bush’s words
“…. I readily concede there are skeptics, people who say democracy is not possible in certain societies. But, remember, that was said right after World War II with Japan…”
US & UK represent, together, an influential factor in Mideast and in the world, so no one can plan for a country without taking this factor in his calculations. I’m saying so to put aside comments say (Iraqis have to decide their future), which I admire highly. One should be pragmatic and tries to understand the strategy of the influential factor.
Now let’s see what the new strategy in the region is. It is, according to Mr. Blair
“…there was a view in foreign policy that you dealt with countries on the basis of whatever attitude they had towards you, but really whatever they did within their own countries, that was up to them, and didn't really make a difference to your long-term relationship…” and “…it does mean that there's been a shift, and I think a shift quite dramatically, since 9/11 in the thinking that is informing our view of how we make progress…”
It seems that the events of 9/11 are paradoxical, (Should we thank Bin Laden for his crime?haha..)
A clear point is to be said by Mr. Blair
“…That's why in Iraq we decided when Saddam was removed, we didn't want another hard man coming in, another dictator…” .
It is a firm rule to be followed from now on, but is it a matter of morality. In politics there is no morality but there is interests. Interests is the pivot of politics. So, what kind of interests that makes Mr. Blair set this rule.
He added
“…The people want the freedom (referring to the Iraqis). What we recognized, I think, today, is that we're not going to have our security unless they get that freedom…”
He made it clear (our security=their freedom). Thank you Mr. Bush. Thank you Mr. Blair.
Monday, November 22, 2004
Security & Freedom
It is known in politics that there is no permanent friendship but mutual interests. I’ve been thinking what sort of interests may incite the US and UK administrations to keep on backing the ambitious Iraqis for better society. The answer came from Washington last week. President Bush and Prime Minister Blair held a press conference on November 12th.
Mr. Blair said
“ … we have to complete our mission in Iraq, make sure that Iraq is a stable and a democratic country. And I have no doubt at all that whatever the difficulties the terrorists and insurgents, supporters of Saddam Hussein may pose for us, that we will overcome those difficulties -- ourselves, the multinational force, together with the Iraqi government -- and ensure that Iraq can be that democratic, stable state that the vast majority of Iraqis, I know, will want to see…”
Nice words which raise hopes of a brighter future.
A question resided in my mind for long time till the early days of the invasion last year which says ( What makes the US and UK knock Saddam down?).
Saddam served their interests since the early days of his time in power. For example, he fought Iran for them. It is not a secret, Saddam said it clearly “We are fighting Iran on behalf of the civilized world”.
He made it justifiable for them to bring their forces to the region, which floats on oil, after he invaded Kuwait. Even in his last days, he offered them free Iraqi oil for keeping him in power.
Isn’t it better to put someone in power who can maintain their interests regardless the way he rules?
A pressman, in the conference, asked a question coincides with my query. He said
“ What if the Iraqis come up with somebody who's not friendly to the United States, is not a democrat, but it's peaceful, is this something you can live with?”
Mr. Bush answered
“…the Iraqis will have come up with somebody who is duly-elected. In other words, democracy will have spoken. And that person is going to have to listen to the people, not to the whims of a dictator, not to their own desires -- personal desires…”
I don’t know whether Mr. Bush knows the conception of Iraqis, and Arabs, of possessing power or not. It is the concept of the Sheikh who gains power and to grasp firmly, never let go till death.
Anyhow, one should have faith in change. This can be observed in Bush’s words
“…. I readily concede there are skeptics, people who say democracy is not possible in certain societies. But, remember, that was said right after World War II with Japan…”
US & UK represent, together, an influential factor in Mideast and in the world, so no one can plan for a country without taking this factor in his calculations. I’m saying so to put aside comments say (Iraqis have to decide their future), which I admire highly. One should be pragmatic and tries to understand the strategy of the influential factor.
Now let’s see what the new strategy in the region is. It is, according to Mr. Blair
“…there was a view in foreign policy that you dealt with countries on the basis of whatever attitude they had towards you, but really whatever they did within their own countries, that was up to them, and didn't really make a difference to your long-term relationship…” and “…it does mean that there's been a shift, and I think a shift quite dramatically, since 9/11 in the thinking that is informing our view of how we make progress…”
It seems that the events of 9/11 are paradoxical, (Should we thank Bin Laden for his crime?haha..)
A clear point is to be said by Mr. Blair
“…That's why in Iraq we decided when Saddam was removed, we didn't want another hard man coming in, another dictator…” .
It is a firm rule to be followed from now on, but is it a matter of morality. In politics there is no morality but there is interests. Interests is the pivot of politics. So, what kind of interests that makes Mr. Blair set this rule.
He added
“…The people want the freedom (referring to the Iraqis). What we recognized, I think, today, is that we're not going to have our security unless they get that freedom…”
He made it clear (our security=their freedom). Thank you Mr. Bush. Thank you Mr. Blair.
Senin, 22 November 2004
Minggu, 21 November 2004
Jack Kelly: Victory in Fallujah
Jack Kelly: Victory in Fallujah: "Jack Kelly: Victory in Fallujah
Iraq's Iwo Jima gets scant media respect
Sunday, November 21, 2004
The rule of thumb for the last century or so has been that for a guerrilla force to remain viable, it must inflict seven casualties on the forces of the government it is fighting for each casualty it sustains, says former Canadian army officer John Thompson, managing director of the Mackenzie Institute, a think tank that studies global conflicts.
Jack Kelly is national security writer for the Post-Gazette and The Blade of Toledo, Ohio (jkelly@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1476).
By that measure, the resistance in Iraq has had a bad week. American and Iraqi government troops have killed at least 1,200 fighters in Fallujah, and captured 1,100 more. Those numbers will grow as mop-up operations continue.
These casualties were inflicted at a cost (so far) of 56 Coalition dead (51 Americans), and just over 300 wounded, of whom about a quarter have returned to duty.
'That kill ratio would be phenomenal in any [kind of] battle, but in an urban environment, it's revolutionary,' said retired Army Lt. Col. Ralph Peters, perhaps America's most respected writer on military strategy. 'The rule has been that [in urban combat] the attacking force would suffer between a quarter and a third of its strength in casualties.'
The victory in Fallujah was also remarkable for its speed, Peters said. Speed was necessary, he said, 'because you are fighting not just the terrorists, but a hostile global media.'
Fallujah ranks up there with Iwo Jima, Inchon and Hue as one of the greatest triumphs of American arms, though you'd have a hard time discerning that from what you read in the newspapers.
The swift capture of Fallujah is taxing the imagination of Arab journalists and -- sadly -- our own. How does one portray a remarkable American victory as if it were of little consequence, or even a defeat? For CNN's Walter Rodgers, camped out in front the main U.S. military hospital in Germany, you do this by emphasizing American casualties.
For The New York Times and The Washington Post, you do this by emphasizing conflict elsewhere in Iraq.
But the news organs that liken temporary terrorist success in Mosul (the police stations they overran were recaptured the next day) with what happened to the terrorists in Fallujah is false equivalence of the worst kind. If I find a quarter in the street, it doesn't make up for having lost $1,000 in a poker game the night before.
The resistance has suffered a loss of more than 2,000 combatants, out of a total force estimated by U.S. Central Command at about 5,000 (other estimates are higher) as well as its only secure base in the country. But both the Arab media and ours emphasize that the attack on Fallujah has made a lot of Arabs mad. By this logic, once we've killed all the terrorists, they'll be invincible.
'The experience of human history has been the more people you kill, the weaker they get,' Thompson noted.
For the Arab and European media, the old standby is to allege American atrocities. In this they have had invaluable assistance from Kevin Sites, a free lancer working for NBC, who filmed a Marine shooting a wounded Iraqi feigning death in a mosque his squad was clearing. Al Jazeera has been showing the footage around the clock.
The mutilated body of Margaret Hassan, the aid worker kidnapped in Baghdad last month, has been discovered in Fallujah, as have torture chambers. Residents of Fallujah have been describing a reign of terror by the insurgents. But it is the Marine's alleged 'war crime' that is garnering the most attention.
The Marine did the right thing. The terrorist he shot was not a prisoner, was not attempting to surrender and was not a lawful combatant under the Geneva Convention. The squad had other rooms to clear, and couldn't afford to leave an enemy in their rear. The San Jose Mercury News described how Lance Cpl. Jeramy Ailes was shot to death by an Iraqi who was 'playing possum.'
'It's a safety issue pure and simple,' explained former Navy SEAL Matthew Heidt. 'After assaulting through a target, put a security round in everybody's head.'
Journalists quick to judge the Marine are more forgiving when it comes to the terrorists. 'They're not bad guys, especially, just people who disagree with us,' said MSNBC's Chris Matthews.
And journalists wonder why we are less popular than used car salesmen."
Iraq's Iwo Jima gets scant media respect
Sunday, November 21, 2004
The rule of thumb for the last century or so has been that for a guerrilla force to remain viable, it must inflict seven casualties on the forces of the government it is fighting for each casualty it sustains, says former Canadian army officer John Thompson, managing director of the Mackenzie Institute, a think tank that studies global conflicts.
Jack Kelly is national security writer for the Post-Gazette and The Blade of Toledo, Ohio (jkelly@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1476).
By that measure, the resistance in Iraq has had a bad week. American and Iraqi government troops have killed at least 1,200 fighters in Fallujah, and captured 1,100 more. Those numbers will grow as mop-up operations continue.
These casualties were inflicted at a cost (so far) of 56 Coalition dead (51 Americans), and just over 300 wounded, of whom about a quarter have returned to duty.
'That kill ratio would be phenomenal in any [kind of] battle, but in an urban environment, it's revolutionary,' said retired Army Lt. Col. Ralph Peters, perhaps America's most respected writer on military strategy. 'The rule has been that [in urban combat] the attacking force would suffer between a quarter and a third of its strength in casualties.'
The victory in Fallujah was also remarkable for its speed, Peters said. Speed was necessary, he said, 'because you are fighting not just the terrorists, but a hostile global media.'
Fallujah ranks up there with Iwo Jima, Inchon and Hue as one of the greatest triumphs of American arms, though you'd have a hard time discerning that from what you read in the newspapers.
The swift capture of Fallujah is taxing the imagination of Arab journalists and -- sadly -- our own. How does one portray a remarkable American victory as if it were of little consequence, or even a defeat? For CNN's Walter Rodgers, camped out in front the main U.S. military hospital in Germany, you do this by emphasizing American casualties.
For The New York Times and The Washington Post, you do this by emphasizing conflict elsewhere in Iraq.
But the news organs that liken temporary terrorist success in Mosul (the police stations they overran were recaptured the next day) with what happened to the terrorists in Fallujah is false equivalence of the worst kind. If I find a quarter in the street, it doesn't make up for having lost $1,000 in a poker game the night before.
The resistance has suffered a loss of more than 2,000 combatants, out of a total force estimated by U.S. Central Command at about 5,000 (other estimates are higher) as well as its only secure base in the country. But both the Arab media and ours emphasize that the attack on Fallujah has made a lot of Arabs mad. By this logic, once we've killed all the terrorists, they'll be invincible.
'The experience of human history has been the more people you kill, the weaker they get,' Thompson noted.
For the Arab and European media, the old standby is to allege American atrocities. In this they have had invaluable assistance from Kevin Sites, a free lancer working for NBC, who filmed a Marine shooting a wounded Iraqi feigning death in a mosque his squad was clearing. Al Jazeera has been showing the footage around the clock.
The mutilated body of Margaret Hassan, the aid worker kidnapped in Baghdad last month, has been discovered in Fallujah, as have torture chambers. Residents of Fallujah have been describing a reign of terror by the insurgents. But it is the Marine's alleged 'war crime' that is garnering the most attention.
The Marine did the right thing. The terrorist he shot was not a prisoner, was not attempting to surrender and was not a lawful combatant under the Geneva Convention. The squad had other rooms to clear, and couldn't afford to leave an enemy in their rear. The San Jose Mercury News described how Lance Cpl. Jeramy Ailes was shot to death by an Iraqi who was 'playing possum.'
'It's a safety issue pure and simple,' explained former Navy SEAL Matthew Heidt. 'After assaulting through a target, put a security round in everybody's head.'
Journalists quick to judge the Marine are more forgiving when it comes to the terrorists. 'They're not bad guys, especially, just people who disagree with us,' said MSNBC's Chris Matthews.
And journalists wonder why we are less popular than used car salesmen."
Sabtu, 20 November 2004
2Slick's Forum: What's Next For Fallujah?
2Slick's Forum: What's Next For Fallujah?
EXCERPT FROM AN UPCOMING BOOK BY ERIC T. HOLMES:
I think the winning idea for “The Blinding Flash of the Obvious” goes to the 101st Infantry Division. In the course of combat operations and searching for weapon caches the 101st came across large amounts of Ba’athist cash. They immediately turned right around and spent the money in the local economy for humanitarian efforts. During 2003 they seized and spent $178 million. Other units are now continuing the program.
EXCERPT FROM AN UPCOMING BOOK BY ERIC T. HOLMES:
I think the winning idea for “The Blinding Flash of the Obvious” goes to the 101st Infantry Division. In the course of combat operations and searching for weapon caches the 101st came across large amounts of Ba’athist cash. They immediately turned right around and spent the money in the local economy for humanitarian efforts. During 2003 they seized and spent $178 million. Other units are now continuing the program.
Telegraph | News | Tension rises as China scours the globe for energy
Telegraph | News | Tension rises as China scours the globe for energy: "China's insatiable demand for energy is prompting fears of financial and diplomatic collisions around the globe as it seeks reliable supplies of oil from as far away as Brazil and Sudan."
Jumat, 19 November 2004
WHY DOES THE UN GET OFF?
OrlandoSentinel.com: Opinion: "f the United Nations were a democratic country under the rule of law, Secretary General Kofi Annan would have resigned in disgrace, and might well be under criminal investigation for, at the least, tolerating massive corruption.
If that idea surprises readers it is only because the mainstream U.S. news media have done an abysmal job reporting on what is undoubtedly the largest bribery and embezzlement scandal in world history.
So far, says a U.S. Senate investigation -- one of five under way across the globe -- Saddam Hussein is alleged to have skimmed $21.3 billion from a U.N. humanitarian-aid program.
The betting is that when the investigative work is done, that amount will grow even more. Even so, $21.3 billion is more than twice the $10 billion estimate from the top U.S. arms inspector a few months ago that made the scandal the largest in world history.
Whether Annan himself is culpable is unclear, but he is acting like the politician whose friends' hands have been caught in the cookie jar and is worried he will be implicated, too. And there are allegations his son was on the take also.
Annan has done everything possible to impede serious efforts to get to the bottom of the scandal, which has implicated Benon Sevan, who was in charge of the U.N. Oil for Food program, the humanitarian effort at the scandal's center.
After the U.S.-led campaign to evict Saddam's troops from Iraq in 1991, the United Nations slapped an embargo on its oil exports to weaken Saddam and encourage efforts to overthrow him. The only Iraqi oil that was to be sold was through the U.N. program, and the proceeds were then to buy humanitarian goods for the Iraqi people.
But, between 1991 and 2003, Saddam skimmed at least $21.3 billion from oil and food sales. Most of it, an estimated $13 billion, came from his regime smuggling out oil through neighboring countries. He allegedly bilked another $4 billion-plus in kickbacks on the goods intended for his people.
If U.N. officials did not know what was going on, they are even less on the ball than their well-established reputation for incompetence would indicate.
Under U.S. law many of those officials would have been indicted under the statutes that allow prosecution of those who knew about an illegal act, or should have known under any reasonable standard.
There are many reasons why Americans should be outraged, not the least of which is that U.S. taxpayers fund more than 20 percent of the U.N. budget. Remember, U.N. officials whose job was overseeing the Food for Oil program allegedly took payoffs from Saddam to look the other way. And, according to investigators, some of the money Saddam skimmed went to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers.
Think of the $21.3 billion as more than two-thirds of the budget for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, or three times the annual spending by the Environmental Protection Agency -- serious folding money, even in Washington, D.C.
Common sense requires one to question whether U.N. efforts to stop the U.S. intervention in Iraq were tied to its under-the-table relationship with Saddam. Also, among those who allegedly got payoffs from Saddam in the scandal were prominent officials and businessmen from France and Russia, nations that also sought to stop the American effort to oust Saddam.
Even Americans who disagree with President Bush about the Iraq war should not give the United Nations a pass on corruption because of its political stand. And those American politicians who insist on defending the United Nations in this matter, such as Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, need to think again.
An American politician who presided over a minor bribery and embezzlement scandal, much less one of this mammoth dimension, would be long gone by now.
Why the American news media have given this story short shrift -- it hardly makes the network evening-news shows and is buried inside most newspapers, including this one, when mentioned at all -- is a worthwhile question.
The United Nations has long enjoyed a magical image in much of the United States. The idea of all nations getting together to solve problems is a warm and fuzzy one that makes many Americans tingle.
Giving the United Nations a free ride in the news media may well be a function of the red America/blue America divide. The elites along the coasts and in the major news media may see this as a minor issue. My guess, however, is that the resulting public outrage when this story gets its day in the sunshine will be as much a revelation to many of those same folks as Bush's re-election."
If that idea surprises readers it is only because the mainstream U.S. news media have done an abysmal job reporting on what is undoubtedly the largest bribery and embezzlement scandal in world history.
So far, says a U.S. Senate investigation -- one of five under way across the globe -- Saddam Hussein is alleged to have skimmed $21.3 billion from a U.N. humanitarian-aid program.
The betting is that when the investigative work is done, that amount will grow even more. Even so, $21.3 billion is more than twice the $10 billion estimate from the top U.S. arms inspector a few months ago that made the scandal the largest in world history.
Whether Annan himself is culpable is unclear, but he is acting like the politician whose friends' hands have been caught in the cookie jar and is worried he will be implicated, too. And there are allegations his son was on the take also.
Annan has done everything possible to impede serious efforts to get to the bottom of the scandal, which has implicated Benon Sevan, who was in charge of the U.N. Oil for Food program, the humanitarian effort at the scandal's center.
After the U.S.-led campaign to evict Saddam's troops from Iraq in 1991, the United Nations slapped an embargo on its oil exports to weaken Saddam and encourage efforts to overthrow him. The only Iraqi oil that was to be sold was through the U.N. program, and the proceeds were then to buy humanitarian goods for the Iraqi people.
But, between 1991 and 2003, Saddam skimmed at least $21.3 billion from oil and food sales. Most of it, an estimated $13 billion, came from his regime smuggling out oil through neighboring countries. He allegedly bilked another $4 billion-plus in kickbacks on the goods intended for his people.
If U.N. officials did not know what was going on, they are even less on the ball than their well-established reputation for incompetence would indicate.
Under U.S. law many of those officials would have been indicted under the statutes that allow prosecution of those who knew about an illegal act, or should have known under any reasonable standard.
There are many reasons why Americans should be outraged, not the least of which is that U.S. taxpayers fund more than 20 percent of the U.N. budget. Remember, U.N. officials whose job was overseeing the Food for Oil program allegedly took payoffs from Saddam to look the other way. And, according to investigators, some of the money Saddam skimmed went to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers.
Think of the $21.3 billion as more than two-thirds of the budget for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, or three times the annual spending by the Environmental Protection Agency -- serious folding money, even in Washington, D.C.
Common sense requires one to question whether U.N. efforts to stop the U.S. intervention in Iraq were tied to its under-the-table relationship with Saddam. Also, among those who allegedly got payoffs from Saddam in the scandal were prominent officials and businessmen from France and Russia, nations that also sought to stop the American effort to oust Saddam.
Even Americans who disagree with President Bush about the Iraq war should not give the United Nations a pass on corruption because of its political stand. And those American politicians who insist on defending the United Nations in this matter, such as Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, need to think again.
An American politician who presided over a minor bribery and embezzlement scandal, much less one of this mammoth dimension, would be long gone by now.
Why the American news media have given this story short shrift -- it hardly makes the network evening-news shows and is buried inside most newspapers, including this one, when mentioned at all -- is a worthwhile question.
The United Nations has long enjoyed a magical image in much of the United States. The idea of all nations getting together to solve problems is a warm and fuzzy one that makes many Americans tingle.
Giving the United Nations a free ride in the news media may well be a function of the red America/blue America divide. The elites along the coasts and in the major news media may see this as a minor issue. My guess, however, is that the resulting public outrage when this story gets its day in the sunshine will be as much a revelation to many of those same folks as Bush's re-election."
Yahoo! News - SEX V. WAR IN '04
Yahoo! News - SEX V. WAR IN '04: "I got curious, like maybe you are, about the reasons behind this new cultural divide.
I don't have a staff of statisticians to crunch numbers for me, but I do have my trusty copy of the 2002 Statistical Abstract of the United States. So just for fun, I decided to compare the candidates' own two home states: Red Texas and Blue Massachusetts.
The first clue is to look at the marriage rates: In 2001, Massachusetts had a lower-than-average divorce rate (2.4 per 1,000 residents, compared to a national average of 4 per 1,000 residents). But it also had a lower-than-average marriage rate: 6.4 per 1,000 residents vs. 8.4 in the national average. Texas was the exact opposite: a higher-than-average crude divorce rate and a higher-than-average marriage rate.
Hmm. I smell a demographic rat. People in the United States, on average, marry in their mid to late 20s, and half of all divorces take place in the first seven years of marriage. Marriage and divorce are thus both disproportionately a young person's game. The more young people in a state, the more marriages and divorces.
Could this explain part of the divorce divide? Yup, at least a little bit. According to Census data, about 22 percent of Massachusetts residents are 55-plus, compared to 17 percent of Texans. Red states tend to be younger than blue states overall.
Notice something else about the great red-blue divorce divide: Red states, especially the Bible Belt South, have lots of minorities (and minorities have higher divorce rates, in part due to lower socioeconomic status). Yup. That's a big part: Massachusetts may be blue, but it isn't very black. It has only half as many African Americans as Texas (5 percent vs. 11 percent). Add in the Latinos, and it's no contest: In 2000 just 12 percent of Massachusetts' citizens were black or Hispanic, compared to 44 percent of Texans.
Enough of these parlor games. Can we agree? Some of my best friends are from blue states. Most blue-staters are perfectly nice people with good personal values. And divorce rates are not just a red-state problem.
And oh, by the way, as an election issue, sex sometimes does trump war. Ask President Bush (news - web sites)."
I don't have a staff of statisticians to crunch numbers for me, but I do have my trusty copy of the 2002 Statistical Abstract of the United States. So just for fun, I decided to compare the candidates' own two home states: Red Texas and Blue Massachusetts.
The first clue is to look at the marriage rates: In 2001, Massachusetts had a lower-than-average divorce rate (2.4 per 1,000 residents, compared to a national average of 4 per 1,000 residents). But it also had a lower-than-average marriage rate: 6.4 per 1,000 residents vs. 8.4 in the national average. Texas was the exact opposite: a higher-than-average crude divorce rate and a higher-than-average marriage rate.
Hmm. I smell a demographic rat. People in the United States, on average, marry in their mid to late 20s, and half of all divorces take place in the first seven years of marriage. Marriage and divorce are thus both disproportionately a young person's game. The more young people in a state, the more marriages and divorces.
Could this explain part of the divorce divide? Yup, at least a little bit. According to Census data, about 22 percent of Massachusetts residents are 55-plus, compared to 17 percent of Texans. Red states tend to be younger than blue states overall.
Notice something else about the great red-blue divorce divide: Red states, especially the Bible Belt South, have lots of minorities (and minorities have higher divorce rates, in part due to lower socioeconomic status). Yup. That's a big part: Massachusetts may be blue, but it isn't very black. It has only half as many African Americans as Texas (5 percent vs. 11 percent). Add in the Latinos, and it's no contest: In 2000 just 12 percent of Massachusetts' citizens were black or Hispanic, compared to 44 percent of Texans.
Enough of these parlor games. Can we agree? Some of my best friends are from blue states. Most blue-staters are perfectly nice people with good personal values. And divorce rates are not just a red-state problem.
And oh, by the way, as an election issue, sex sometimes does trump war. Ask President Bush (news - web sites)."
Belmont Club
Belmont Club: "Friday, November 19, 2004
War In the Darkness
Al Bawaba offers a glimpse into lowest level of urban warfare -- tunneling. 'According to The AP, Israeli military sources said the tunnel collapsed while an unknown number of Palestinians were digging toward an Israeli outpost near Rafah in southern Gaza Strip. Palestinian officials conveyed the tunnel collapsed following the heavy rains in the area overnight. They said five people, all from the same family, were trapped in the rubble. Israel's Army Radio said three Palestinians were wounded.'"
War In the Darkness
Al Bawaba offers a glimpse into lowest level of urban warfare -- tunneling. 'According to The AP, Israeli military sources said the tunnel collapsed while an unknown number of Palestinians were digging toward an Israeli outpost near Rafah in southern Gaza Strip. Palestinian officials conveyed the tunnel collapsed following the heavy rains in the area overnight. They said five people, all from the same family, were trapped in the rubble. Israel's Army Radio said three Palestinians were wounded.'"
PALO ALTO / Rice's success no surprise at Stanford / Bush's choice to lead State Dept. called decisive, charming
PALO ALTO / Rice's success no surprise at Stanford / Bush's choice to lead State Dept. called decisive, charming: "Rice's success no surprise at Stanford
Bush's choice to lead State Dept. called decisive, charming"
Bush's choice to lead State Dept. called decisive, charming"
Kamis, 18 November 2004
News from Baghdad: 18 November 2004
News from Baghdad: 18 November 2004: "18 November 2004
Good evening, or should I say, good morning to everyone. It has been a very rough time since I have returned, as you all know. My wife has kept you posted as much as she could, and did a rather good job of it too.
As you all know, I lost a very good friend of mine last week. I will not go into the particulars of it at this time, however, suffice it to say, that yesterday was a really hard day for me. The memorial for him was held along with another soldier we lost in the battalion a few days following my friend. The hardest part for me, was as we filed out of the chapel, we came to attention, saluted the empty boots, lone rifle, dog-tags and helmet there on the stage. As I stood there, I began to cry like a little child, knowing that my friend and fellow soldier was gone. As I stood there, I thought of the times that we spent together, on the same tank crew, in the field, training, or when he would be at my house for dinner or asking advice. He was a great soldier and just wouldn't give in. To know that he was mortally wounded, get up, begin to fire his weapon to protect his fellow soldiers and friends is the true mark of a soldier. He gave his all, so others could live and continue the fight. He will always be remembered as a good friend, a great soldier and a comrade in arms. He was a true Cavalryman in every sense of the word. God bless his family and take him in Your arms for now into eternity. Goodbye my friend.
posted by Jay | 1:10 AM
7 Comments:
Shar said...
They say as long as you have the memories, they will always be a part of you. I think that is true.
My familes thoughts and prayers are with you and yours. Take care.
3:20 AM
Ramrod said...
I can't really comment, not having been through a hot war, but if those events didn't affect you, you would need help. God Bless you for not having been changed by your Iraq experiences.
Ramrod
4:59 AM
iKnit said...
I am sorry for your loss. I haven't read your blog in a few days. I guess I thought you were home for good and that there would be no more news from Baghdad.
I just want you to know that I'm praying for you, your family and your troops. I know it doesn't seem like much, but the title of your blog tugs at my heart when I see it on the list of my daily reads. It reminds me that others are sacrificing so much and that I need to keep you all in my heart and in my prayers.
Please post if you or any of your fellow soldiers has a need. So many here would love to help. God bless!
5:05 AM
Jen said...
This post just breaks my heart. I'm so sorry.
6:52 AM
Anonymous said...
Just wanted to say I'm sorry for the loss of your friend. Sounds like he was a real hero; a lot of those coming out of the USA lately. I'll say an extra prayer to help you get through the loss.
Take care, and remember we are ever grateful for your service.
Anthony
6:04 PM
song_and_dance_mam said...
When a good man die, we weep as their souls finds peace, who leave good for others to complete.
We can only pray to finish the good fight they began and died striving for.
My father fought in WWII and survived, but not old age.
I am standing and appluading in my heart for all you do, and am glad I found your blog.
10:16 PM
Liberty said...
My husband and I cannot express to you how sorry we are for the loss of your good friend, our HERO!
We pray for all of you everyday. God keep our heros safe.
We love you for what you are doing for the US and the world! God Bless You All!
3:40 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home
"
Good evening, or should I say, good morning to everyone. It has been a very rough time since I have returned, as you all know. My wife has kept you posted as much as she could, and did a rather good job of it too.
As you all know, I lost a very good friend of mine last week. I will not go into the particulars of it at this time, however, suffice it to say, that yesterday was a really hard day for me. The memorial for him was held along with another soldier we lost in the battalion a few days following my friend. The hardest part for me, was as we filed out of the chapel, we came to attention, saluted the empty boots, lone rifle, dog-tags and helmet there on the stage. As I stood there, I began to cry like a little child, knowing that my friend and fellow soldier was gone. As I stood there, I thought of the times that we spent together, on the same tank crew, in the field, training, or when he would be at my house for dinner or asking advice. He was a great soldier and just wouldn't give in. To know that he was mortally wounded, get up, begin to fire his weapon to protect his fellow soldiers and friends is the true mark of a soldier. He gave his all, so others could live and continue the fight. He will always be remembered as a good friend, a great soldier and a comrade in arms. He was a true Cavalryman in every sense of the word. God bless his family and take him in Your arms for now into eternity. Goodbye my friend.
posted by Jay | 1:10 AM
7 Comments:
Shar said...
They say as long as you have the memories, they will always be a part of you. I think that is true.
My familes thoughts and prayers are with you and yours. Take care.
3:20 AM
Ramrod said...
I can't really comment, not having been through a hot war, but if those events didn't affect you, you would need help. God Bless you for not having been changed by your Iraq experiences.
Ramrod
4:59 AM
iKnit said...
I am sorry for your loss. I haven't read your blog in a few days. I guess I thought you were home for good and that there would be no more news from Baghdad.
I just want you to know that I'm praying for you, your family and your troops. I know it doesn't seem like much, but the title of your blog tugs at my heart when I see it on the list of my daily reads. It reminds me that others are sacrificing so much and that I need to keep you all in my heart and in my prayers.
Please post if you or any of your fellow soldiers has a need. So many here would love to help. God bless!
5:05 AM
Jen said...
This post just breaks my heart. I'm so sorry.
6:52 AM
Anonymous said...
Just wanted to say I'm sorry for the loss of your friend. Sounds like he was a real hero; a lot of those coming out of the USA lately. I'll say an extra prayer to help you get through the loss.
Take care, and remember we are ever grateful for your service.
Anthony
6:04 PM
song_and_dance_mam said...
When a good man die, we weep as their souls finds peace, who leave good for others to complete.
We can only pray to finish the good fight they began and died striving for.
My father fought in WWII and survived, but not old age.
I am standing and appluading in my heart for all you do, and am glad I found your blog.
10:16 PM
Liberty said...
My husband and I cannot express to you how sorry we are for the loss of your good friend, our HERO!
We pray for all of you everyday. God keep our heros safe.
We love you for what you are doing for the US and the world! God Bless You All!
3:40 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home
"
Blogs for Bush: In The Media Archives
Blogs for Bush: In The Media Archives: "The comments to yesterday's post about the Marine who (gasp) killed an insurgent reveal a clear sense of outrage against the selective use of truth by the media to propagate the notion that our military is inhumane. By completely ignoring all context, teh Kevin Siteses of the world give aid and comfort to the enemy by providing propaganda material to the Jihad Network (aka Al-Jazeera) and likeminded outlets whose goal is to incite Muslim rage against America."
Belmont Club
Belmont Club
Marine Lance Cpl. Jeramy Ailes, 22, of Gilroy was killed Monday in Al-Fallujah by small arms fire. "They had finished mopping up in Fallujah and they went back to double-check on some insurgents. From what we gathered, somebody playing possum jumped up and shot him,'' said his father, Joel Ailes, who learned of his death Monday evening. "It's extremely hard."
Marine Lance Cpl. Jeramy Ailes, 22, of Gilroy was killed Monday in Al-Fallujah by small arms fire. "They had finished mopping up in Fallujah and they went back to double-check on some insurgents. From what we gathered, somebody playing possum jumped up and shot him,'' said his father, Joel Ailes, who learned of his death Monday evening. "It's extremely hard."
Belmont Club
Belmont Club: "It was in Grozny that Islamic fighters first learned that they could defeat a multidivisional superpower force equipped with armor, artillery and aviation."
Shaking Spears: Iraq's Auschwitz; The CIA's Waterloo
Shaking Spears: Iraq's Auschwitz; The CIA's Waterloo: "Can we now retire the canard that Iraq is not central to the war on terror?"
Rabu, 17 November 2004
“Where is the man?”
Real Live PreacherWhere Is The Man?
Part Two
A Real Live Preacher Dramatized Bible Story
Click here to read part one
Jesus slowly lowered himself into a squatting position, eyes still on the woman. Then he looked at the ground before him and wrote with his finger in the dust as he thought and wondered. The crowd was quiet. They stared at him and wondered what he was going to do next.
And then he froze. His index finger stopped moving in the dirt. He understood. He knew what was missing. His eyes closed and he let the air out of his lungs with a groan. His shoulders sagged. He became intent on the ground before him, and he wrote in the dirt, “Where is the man?”
He stood quickly and stepped across what he had written and toward the Pharisee who seemed to be the ringleader. He spoke directly to him, but loud enough for everyone to hear.
Part Two
A Real Live Preacher Dramatized Bible Story
Click here to read part one
Jesus slowly lowered himself into a squatting position, eyes still on the woman. Then he looked at the ground before him and wrote with his finger in the dust as he thought and wondered. The crowd was quiet. They stared at him and wondered what he was going to do next.
And then he froze. His index finger stopped moving in the dirt. He understood. He knew what was missing. His eyes closed and he let the air out of his lungs with a groan. His shoulders sagged. He became intent on the ground before him, and he wrote in the dirt, “Where is the man?”
He stood quickly and stepped across what he had written and toward the Pharisee who seemed to be the ringleader. He spoke directly to him, but loud enough for everyone to hear.
Real Live Preacher
Real Live Preacher: "South Beach & Astronomy
So how's the South Beach Diet going, you ask? Pretty good. Jeanene and I started the South Beach diet a little over a month ago. I wrote about it here, and then gave an update here.
The point of the 'diet' has not been to lose weight. My goal is to learn to eat in new ways. I'm 5' 8', and I was 193 or 194 when I began. I spent a couple of weeks with virtually no carbs or sugars. Proteins and vegetables only. I ate as much as I wanted, but only from a limited menu. In phase two, I began to reintroduce a few carbs and some fruits. But only good carbs like whole grain breads. No candy either. Just fruit.
I feel like an alcoholic speaking after receiving his 30-day chip. I don't want to act like I'm some fancy nutrition expert or anything. Nor am I under any illusion about how easy it would be for me to go back to my old way of eating. But yesterday I weighed 178 pounds, and I feel better than I have in the last six or seven years. That's all I know at this point, and I'm celebrating that for myself.
I have discovered a couple of things along the way. First, every meal does not have to be a pleasure trip for me. I can eat very simply day in and day out. I don't mind eating the same things over and over either. The new way of thinking about food tells me that I eat meals to give me strength and to nourish my body. Regular meals are not about pleasure. So who cares if I'm having a salad again today, and it isn't that exciting. No big deal. I'm hungry so I eat. That's all.
Second, carbs and sugars are trigger foods for me. The more I eat of them the more I want to snack and eat more of them. My apetite has dropped off. I can't eat as much as I used to. I don't even want to eat that much. It's truly amazing how a couple of pieces of lunch meat, a slice of cheese, a few olives, and some peanuts can fill me up. The body really doesn't need as much food as we have come to think in our culture. I'm stunned to find that a salad is a filling meal. Amazing to realize that a chicken breast and a helping of vegetables is enough for me.
Again, the more I eat, the more I seem to want to eat. I think I'm getting in touch with my body's natural desires and rhythms. Don't get me wrong. I'm scared as hell that I'm going to start eating like I used to again - as much of whatever I want whenever I want it. I'm frightened of becoming like that again. And I sense that fear is a good thing here.
I'm beginning to allow myself to have a celebration now and again. Slowly, and with caution. Last night I had a few pieces of pizza with a couple of close friends. That was a special night, and that was okay. So far so good. I'm learning some things about myself, and let me tell you this:
NOTHING tastes as good as being thinner feels!
Astronomy
I mentioned that I am beginning the process of writing a dramatized account of the Wise Men story from Matthew. This is part of a larger plan in which I'm creating a collection of dramatized Christmas stories. Anyway, I've been talking to an astronomer who reads Real Live Preacher sometimes. In fact, he sent me an email once when I wrote this. Turns out I was wrong in that piece. The mass of that galaxy is equal to 800 billion stars, but the actual star count is lower, if I remember his email correctly.
His name is Bill, and he's a professional astronomer. We talked today. He's going to help me be astronomically correct when I write about the heavenly phenomenon that lead the magi on their journey.
Thanks Bill!
Part two of 'Where is the Man' will be online tomorrow. I promise!
rlp
11:43:24 AM Leave a Comment [18]
Click here to visit the Radio UserLand website. � Copyright 2004 Preacher.
Last update: 11/17/2004; 7:11:46 AM.
"
So how's the South Beach Diet going, you ask? Pretty good. Jeanene and I started the South Beach diet a little over a month ago. I wrote about it here, and then gave an update here.
The point of the 'diet' has not been to lose weight. My goal is to learn to eat in new ways. I'm 5' 8', and I was 193 or 194 when I began. I spent a couple of weeks with virtually no carbs or sugars. Proteins and vegetables only. I ate as much as I wanted, but only from a limited menu. In phase two, I began to reintroduce a few carbs and some fruits. But only good carbs like whole grain breads. No candy either. Just fruit.
I feel like an alcoholic speaking after receiving his 30-day chip. I don't want to act like I'm some fancy nutrition expert or anything. Nor am I under any illusion about how easy it would be for me to go back to my old way of eating. But yesterday I weighed 178 pounds, and I feel better than I have in the last six or seven years. That's all I know at this point, and I'm celebrating that for myself.
I have discovered a couple of things along the way. First, every meal does not have to be a pleasure trip for me. I can eat very simply day in and day out. I don't mind eating the same things over and over either. The new way of thinking about food tells me that I eat meals to give me strength and to nourish my body. Regular meals are not about pleasure. So who cares if I'm having a salad again today, and it isn't that exciting. No big deal. I'm hungry so I eat. That's all.
Second, carbs and sugars are trigger foods for me. The more I eat of them the more I want to snack and eat more of them. My apetite has dropped off. I can't eat as much as I used to. I don't even want to eat that much. It's truly amazing how a couple of pieces of lunch meat, a slice of cheese, a few olives, and some peanuts can fill me up. The body really doesn't need as much food as we have come to think in our culture. I'm stunned to find that a salad is a filling meal. Amazing to realize that a chicken breast and a helping of vegetables is enough for me.
Again, the more I eat, the more I seem to want to eat. I think I'm getting in touch with my body's natural desires and rhythms. Don't get me wrong. I'm scared as hell that I'm going to start eating like I used to again - as much of whatever I want whenever I want it. I'm frightened of becoming like that again. And I sense that fear is a good thing here.
I'm beginning to allow myself to have a celebration now and again. Slowly, and with caution. Last night I had a few pieces of pizza with a couple of close friends. That was a special night, and that was okay. So far so good. I'm learning some things about myself, and let me tell you this:
NOTHING tastes as good as being thinner feels!
Astronomy
I mentioned that I am beginning the process of writing a dramatized account of the Wise Men story from Matthew. This is part of a larger plan in which I'm creating a collection of dramatized Christmas stories. Anyway, I've been talking to an astronomer who reads Real Live Preacher sometimes. In fact, he sent me an email once when I wrote this. Turns out I was wrong in that piece. The mass of that galaxy is equal to 800 billion stars, but the actual star count is lower, if I remember his email correctly.
His name is Bill, and he's a professional astronomer. We talked today. He's going to help me be astronomically correct when I write about the heavenly phenomenon that lead the magi on their journey.
Thanks Bill!
Part two of 'Where is the Man' will be online tomorrow. I promise!
rlp
11:43:24 AM Leave a Comment [18]
Click here to visit the Radio UserLand website. � Copyright 2004 Preacher.
Last update: 11/17/2004; 7:11:46 AM.
"
Chrenkoff
Chrenkoff: "How Poland came to say 'Non' to France and hitch up with America
The most historic shift in Poland's international orientation in a half a millennium has been taking place in recent times. A staunch Atlanticist, a faithful ally both in the war on terror and in Iraq, and one of the few countries in the world that names streets and public squares after right-wing American presidents, it's hard to imagine that until quite recently - in historic terms - of all the Western states, Poland was most closely associated and allied with France."
The most historic shift in Poland's international orientation in a half a millennium has been taking place in recent times. A staunch Atlanticist, a faithful ally both in the war on terror and in Iraq, and one of the few countries in the world that names streets and public squares after right-wing American presidents, it's hard to imagine that until quite recently - in historic terms - of all the Western states, Poland was most closely associated and allied with France."
Selasa, 16 November 2004
Patriot Paradox: Some Advice From A Bad Example?
Patriot Paradox: Some Advice From A Bad Example?Harvey offers some advice to a blogson:
Look around the room. Look at every object in it, one at a time. Think about why you have that object. It'll probably be because it's a gift given to you by someone who loves you. Or maybe it's something useful that makes your life easier. Or maybe it's something decorative you bought for yourself - a small aesthetic joy.
Look at those things. Feel the good thoughts & memories associated with them. Drink in warmth, joy, and smiles.
What you do for money has helped bring these wonders into your life.
So, maybe not always, maybe not in every way, but on the whole...
...it's worth it.
Look around the room. Look at every object in it, one at a time. Think about why you have that object. It'll probably be because it's a gift given to you by someone who loves you. Or maybe it's something useful that makes your life easier. Or maybe it's something decorative you bought for yourself - a small aesthetic joy.
Look at those things. Feel the good thoughts & memories associated with them. Drink in warmth, joy, and smiles.
What you do for money has helped bring these wonders into your life.
So, maybe not always, maybe not in every way, but on the whole...
...it's worth it.
Mosul
Mosul: "Mosul
US Military Occupation Facilities
City Maps
Mosul Presidential Site
Units
*
References
* Iraq Army 2001 by Larry Smith
* Key Targets in Iraq Anthony H. Cordesman February 1998
With a rich ancient Assyrian history, Mosul is a historically important trade center linking Persia and the Mediterranean. In the 8th century, Mosul became the principal city of northern Mesopotamia under the early Muslim Abbasid dynasty. In the Ottoman period it was one of the provincial seats of administration. The largest city in Iraqi Kurdistan, Mosul is predominantly Kurdish with a sizeable Turkomen minority. The Yazidi sect is most numerous in the surrounding mountainous area. Mosul also has the largest number of Iraqi Christians of any Iraqi city, including Nestorians, Jacobites, Catholics and Chaldeans. There are churches in Mosul that are historically and culturally important for several of these Christian sects."
US Military Occupation Facilities
City Maps
Mosul Presidential Site
Units
*
References
* Iraq Army 2001 by Larry Smith
* Key Targets in Iraq Anthony H. Cordesman February 1998
With a rich ancient Assyrian history, Mosul is a historically important trade center linking Persia and the Mediterranean. In the 8th century, Mosul became the principal city of northern Mesopotamia under the early Muslim Abbasid dynasty. In the Ottoman period it was one of the provincial seats of administration. The largest city in Iraqi Kurdistan, Mosul is predominantly Kurdish with a sizeable Turkomen minority. The Yazidi sect is most numerous in the surrounding mountainous area. Mosul also has the largest number of Iraqi Christians of any Iraqi city, including Nestorians, Jacobites, Catholics and Chaldeans. There are churches in Mosul that are historically and culturally important for several of these Christian sects."
Wizbang
Wizbang: "We alienated and scarred a whole generation of those who served our nation, and in many ways we're still paying the price for that.
It's not talked about much, but it's probably the most significant social change brought out by that war.
I've noticed it a lot lately. It seems that nearly every highway overpass I see has a home-made 'WELCOME HOME' or a 'COME HOME SAFE' or 'WE'RE PROUD OF' or -- most sad of all -- 'IN MEMORY OF' banner for at least one service member, by name. Radio stations hold drives to get supplies and care packages for troops, and the biggest fashion accessory on cars these days are gold, red/white/blue, or camouflage ribbons.
Not everyone, it seems, has learned that lesson."
It's not talked about much, but it's probably the most significant social change brought out by that war.
I've noticed it a lot lately. It seems that nearly every highway overpass I see has a home-made 'WELCOME HOME' or a 'COME HOME SAFE' or 'WE'RE PROUD OF' or -- most sad of all -- 'IN MEMORY OF' banner for at least one service member, by name. Radio stations hold drives to get supplies and care packages for troops, and the biggest fashion accessory on cars these days are gold, red/white/blue, or camouflage ribbons.
Not everyone, it seems, has learned that lesson."
"What Hath I Wrought?": I Am Not A Baby Killer
"What Hath I Wrought?": I Am Not A Baby KillerAmazing story about a college boy who was a Vet and his experience with an antiwar demonstrator.
Senin, 15 November 2004
Minggu, 14 November 2004
KR Washington Bureau | 11/12/2004 | Foreign fighters now reviled by Fallujah residents
KR Washington Bureau | 11/12/2004 | Foreign fighters now reviled by Fallujah residents: "Once admired as comrades in an anti-American struggle, foreign fighters have become reviled as the reason U.S. missiles are flattening homes and turning Iraq's City of Mosques into a killing field. Their promises of protection were unfulfilled, angry residents said, with immigrant rebels moving on to other outposts and leaving besieged locals to face a superpower alone.
The fact that Iraqis are turning away from foreign terrorists, however, doesn't necessarily mean that they're turning toward the United States and Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government.
'We didn't want the occupation and we didn't want the terrorists, and now we have both,' said a Fallujah construction worker who gave his name as only Abu Ehab, 30. 'I didn't think the Arabs would be so vicious, and I never thought the Americans would be so unmerciful.'"
The fact that Iraqis are turning away from foreign terrorists, however, doesn't necessarily mean that they're turning toward the United States and Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government.
'We didn't want the occupation and we didn't want the terrorists, and now we have both,' said a Fallujah construction worker who gave his name as only Abu Ehab, 30. 'I didn't think the Arabs would be so vicious, and I never thought the Americans would be so unmerciful.'"
Energy a long term view
: "It is therefore inexplicable that some people cling to the Malthusian logic when discussing modern economic issues. Bartlett argues that the conditions of the energy market call for a halt in population growth. Yet no economic data exist to support his claim. Although market dynamics occasionally impact the world economy otherwise, the downward overall trend in the real price of energy indicates faster growth in the supply curve than the demand curve.
In the past decade, energy has been cheaper than in previous decades even as total energy demand has grown to historic highs. Bartlett presents data indicating that world per capita petroleum consumption grew steadily through the period of US energy price regulation in the 1970s and has declined since the Carter administration's deregulation late in that decade. He incorrectly suggests that the data are evidence of production limitations 'as production struggles to keep up with growing demand.' However, his suggestion could only be supported if prices had been rising during the entire period. In fact, the declining price trend during that time is evidence that per capita demand for petroleum was slowing even while supplies were plentiful. Bartlett unwittingly contradicts his own thesis"
In the past decade, energy has been cheaper than in previous decades even as total energy demand has grown to historic highs. Bartlett presents data indicating that world per capita petroleum consumption grew steadily through the period of US energy price regulation in the 1970s and has declined since the Carter administration's deregulation late in that decade. He incorrectly suggests that the data are evidence of production limitations 'as production struggles to keep up with growing demand.' However, his suggestion could only be supported if prices had been rising during the entire period. In fact, the declining price trend during that time is evidence that per capita demand for petroleum was slowing even while supplies were plentiful. Bartlett unwittingly contradicts his own thesis"
Sabtu, 13 November 2004
Over a Barrel
Over a Barrel: "Experts say we're about to run out of oil. But we're nowhere near having another technology ready to take its place." Long, good article on Energy!
Pejmanesque: BURNING DRIFT-WOOD
Pejmanesque: BURNING DRIFT-WOOD: "I know the solemn monotone
Of waters calling unto me;
I know from whence the airs have blown
That whisper of the Eternal Sea.
As low my fires of drift-wood burn,
I hear that sea's deep sounds increase,
And, fair in sunset light, discern
Its mirage-lifted Isles of Peace.
--John Greenleaf Whittier, Burning Drift-Wood"
Of waters calling unto me;
I know from whence the airs have blown
That whisper of the Eternal Sea.
As low my fires of drift-wood burn,
I hear that sea's deep sounds increase,
And, fair in sunset light, discern
Its mirage-lifted Isles of Peace.
--John Greenleaf Whittier, Burning Drift-Wood"
Marine Corps Moms: PFC Halvorson's final trip home
Marine Corps Moms: October 17, 2004 - October 23, 2004 Archives
October 21, 2004
PFC Halvorson's final trip home
Pfc. Andrew Halverson, 19, of Grant, Wis. died Oct 9 as result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Halverson was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. Bridget Warns, mother of a deployed Marine, was a passenger on the plane that carried him home from the country he served:
“Because of my job, I travel a good deal. Last Thursday night I was returning from Albuquerque via Minneapolis and was one of the last passengers to board. As I was getting on the plane, a Marine in full dress uniform was coming up the jetway stairs from the luggage storage area of the airplane. I thought that was very odd. A few minutes later, the captain came out of the cockpit to thank everyone for flying Northwest. As he was finishing, a flight attendant told him that there was a Marine on board escorting a fallen Marine home. I was stunned when I heard this and at that time didn’t realize who it was. A gentleman sitting across the aisle from me immediately offered his seat in first class to the Marine escort. I couldn’t say anything since I was crying so hard.
As soon as we were airborne, the captain got on the loud speaker and announced the situation to everyone. He had to stop several times before he could continue. He asked that we all stay seated after landing until the Marine escort had deplaned. I have never experienced anything like this in all of my years of travel. I just wanted the parents to know that their son was brought back home by a plane full of people that knew of the precious cargo they were privileged to escort…and by a Marine mom who wept openly for their terrible loss.
They have been in my thoughts and prayers constantly.”
I cannot imagine how painful it is to learn that a beloved son has died in battle and my prayer, like that of all Marine parents, is that I will never find out. But if it happened, I would hope that a Marine Mom like Bridget Warns would be on the plane for his final ride home.
Posted by Deb at 01:39 AM
October 21, 2004
PFC Halvorson's final trip home
Pfc. Andrew Halverson, 19, of Grant, Wis. died Oct 9 as result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Halverson was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. Bridget Warns, mother of a deployed Marine, was a passenger on the plane that carried him home from the country he served:
“Because of my job, I travel a good deal. Last Thursday night I was returning from Albuquerque via Minneapolis and was one of the last passengers to board. As I was getting on the plane, a Marine in full dress uniform was coming up the jetway stairs from the luggage storage area of the airplane. I thought that was very odd. A few minutes later, the captain came out of the cockpit to thank everyone for flying Northwest. As he was finishing, a flight attendant told him that there was a Marine on board escorting a fallen Marine home. I was stunned when I heard this and at that time didn’t realize who it was. A gentleman sitting across the aisle from me immediately offered his seat in first class to the Marine escort. I couldn’t say anything since I was crying so hard.
As soon as we were airborne, the captain got on the loud speaker and announced the situation to everyone. He had to stop several times before he could continue. He asked that we all stay seated after landing until the Marine escort had deplaned. I have never experienced anything like this in all of my years of travel. I just wanted the parents to know that their son was brought back home by a plane full of people that knew of the precious cargo they were privileged to escort…and by a Marine mom who wept openly for their terrible loss.
They have been in my thoughts and prayers constantly.”
I cannot imagine how painful it is to learn that a beloved son has died in battle and my prayer, like that of all Marine parents, is that I will never find out. But if it happened, I would hope that a Marine Mom like Bridget Warns would be on the plane for his final ride home.
Posted by Deb at 01:39 AM
Langganan:
Postingan (Atom)