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TAPS

Tue, 28 May 2013 03:44:38 GMT

TAPS.

Sebastian Junger; Veterans Need to Share the Moral Burden of War

Sun, 26 May 2013 22:09:41 GMT

At the Washington Post Veterans Need to Share the Moral Burden of War.

Gordon Brown: Girls in the Crosshairs

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:17:10 GMT

At RSN Girls in the Crosshairs.

While we try to bring freedom to other nations so girls will be treated as intelligent human beings, some try to undermine the rights of women here.

That is not what so many, in so many ways, have fought for.

Please stand behind the girls trying to learn and to help protect this young girl. Sign if you think a 15 year old raped by her father should be lashed 100x for "sex outside of marriage.

How about a car that floats and doesn't need gas!

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 12:53:02 GMT

Levitating Car.

Sgt.Christopher Gaynor: American Hero Quilts

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 11:24:41 GMT

American Hero Quilts struggles to continue its mission

I am sitting with my cherished friend Sue Nebeker, co-founder of American Hero Quilts, at the breakfast table in her Vashon Island, Washington home (on three levels directly below us are the workshops and storage for American Hero Quilts. See my Album of photos). We are enjoying excellent cups of coffee and looking out over South Puget Sound on this, the first day of spring. The view from our vantage point is spectacular. The clouds have been swept away by the strong winds from the west and the water sparkles. Sue calls my attention to the eagles that have nested at the top of a tree very near her house. An adult eagle soars past us, its huge wings catching the updraft as it expertly touches down on a branch next to the nest. We have been comparing notes on the progress of our respective diseases, as we usually do when we meet, her MS, my Parkinsons.
But, as enjoyable as it always is to chat with my friend, this is not purely a social call. I have just handed her a check for $500 on behalf of American Legion Post 159 in my capacity as 1st Vice Commander. I ask her, How is American Hero Quilts doing? The short answer, Were in trouble. Sadly, this fine organization, which has delivered 12,486 quilts to wounded warriors since its founding in 2004, has run out of funds(each quilt costs about $300 in materials, all labor is donated). One company which has been donating essential materials is no longer able to do so, and donations have fallen off sharply because of the mistaken impression that the war in Afghanistan is winding down.

Please donate to help create these beautiful quilts for our soldiers. American Heroes Quilts.

Review: William Peterson: Missions of Fire and Mercy Until Death Do Us Part

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 05:54:58 GMT

Missions of Fire and Mercy.

I am of an age that saw the transition of helicopters, which, as kids, we all looked up to see with excitement, become the choppers of the American War in Viet Nam with all the mixed emotions that very name carries with it.

I have never physically been in one, not one much for flying, but I just spent a year with Bill Peterson and his crew flying in one over, and into, the green. It took me several weeks to read this book as Bill's words, descriptions, adrenaline highs, terror, doubt, pride all seized my heart, soul and mind and I could hear the blades cutting through the air; feel the vibration; smell the cordite and fuel; and taste the very soul of their missions of fire and mercy.

I had to stop, put down the book awhile to process it all, even though I write with veterans of Viet Nam all the time. Bill's words are so open, so on target, that the reader has to come down from the mission.

That is real writing; that is Bill's truth that he is sharing with readers.

The crew took the soldiers into cold or hot LZ's, knowing they would come back for them, perhaps later that day seeing their fear going in; carrying some out grievously wounded; bringing some out for whom the war, for whom life, was over. They flew in with adrenaline highs to stay alive; to shoot at the enemy from the air; to feel the impact of the enemy shells on the skin of their flying machines. They knew, absolutely knew, each time they went out that this could be the last mission; that they might crash and burn, crash and explode, be shot out of the air as they went on these missions of fire and mercy.

They lost their buddies, their fellow crew members; they made bonds that would last for a lifetime. They manned their flying ships, hating the enemy; questioning the impact of the war on the Vietnamese; bewildered, and yes, angered, by the ineptitude of those in Washington running the war, doctoring kill rates, white washing the Five O'Clock Follies.

They rejoiced at letters and packages from home; they sweltered in the heat and humidity; and they carried on, each and every day, revving up those engines, taking those birds on missions only with the thought of protecting, supplying, transporting those consigned to fight their way through the boonies, the jungle, the night that belonged to the enemy.

They sought cover as their base of operations was leveled and they lost the few precious personal possessions and letters they had; the witnessed first hand the nightmare of Khe Sanh. And each morning, they got up before dawn, revved up those engines, and went at it again.

I simply cannot recommend this book highly enough if you want to know; really want to know, really want to feel what it was like to be in one of those metal birds: flying over, into the green, defying enemy guns, defying death each time you rev up an engine and take to the air; each time you come down to drop off soldiers or supplies; each time you drop down to pick up soldiers running on their own, being carried by the buddies with their innards spewing out of them.

Purple Heart Awards, 36 Air Medals, Presidential Citation, Vietnamese Cross of Galantry tell you something of what Bill knew; but what is open heart, open soul is what Bill shared with a refugee from Viet Nam, a woman who became an American citizen, years later, who brought him coffee, breakfast, and perhaps some healing for both of them. What bond did her time starving in the jungle and his in the air form between them?

If you want truth, if you want reality, if you want to know war and what those we send come to know when we send them, the open your heart, your soul, and your mind to what Bill Peterson has to tell you. It just might change your thoughts on oh so many realities only those who have been there know; it just might make you work harder so less get to know those horrors. So less live forever after with post-traumatic stress. Live or die with the legacy of Agent Orange of the chemical du jour.

Iraq and Cancer

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 03:52:30 GMT

At Truthout Iraq Wars Legacy of Cancer. by Dahr Jamail.

Native American Gardening

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 12:16:55 GMT

These are tough economic times, and I assume that no one is handing you bailouts. So, let's back up and learn to live with nature as our Native Americans do, and some still do. From Mother Earth News Native American Gardening. From William Woys Weaver

Josette Keelor: Home At Last

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 06:29:46 GMT

Home at last: Family welcomes return of POW 62 years after his death.

John Scura and Dane Phillips: Battle Hymn

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 01:22:45 GMT

Wondering where the American Dream went? You might
find some answers here Battle Hymn.

Gulf War Illness Symptoms

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 02:53:19 GMT

From Veterans for Common Sense Gulf War Illness Symptoms.

Want to start vegies/herbs earlier to supplimant food budget?

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 01:39:13 GMT

From Mother Earth News and Niki Jaboor The Amazing Cold Frame.

Wall Street Untouchables

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:26:12 GMT

Glenn Greenwald, Guardian UK and PBS Untouchables How Obama's Administration Shielded Wall Street From Prosecutions.

So too have others been shielded. Justice must be for all, no matter how high up.

Stress Management for Marines

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 08:00:47 GMT

From the AP Marines Studying Meditative Practices Yoga Type Exercises.

Paula Griffin: Tu Du

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 08:12:49 GMT

I am grateful for another day in Room 1.

Read this and then answer how your day has been compared to these children who probably can't spell Agent Orange.

Video: 1968 Viet Nam Entertainment

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 14:13:14 GMT

Culture Unplugged.

Jamie Haden: Spirit Seeker

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 14:51:11 GMT

Spirit Seeker is an enchanted, beautiful book.

It has been several weeks since I finished Spirit Seeker and I have been walking around with it in my head, thinking of Talisa and the world she is beginning to walk her path in. It has been half a century since I was Talisa's age, but I do recall searching at sixteen for the place that I fit in, could say it was a place that I belonged. I did find that, but not at sixteen.

Perhaps that is why I have been, well, holding Talisa in my heart because I find that I rejoice in her beginning her journey in finding her roots, in finding her love, at the same time that I react to her as a mother and find myself mentally saying to her: "Tread softly, tread slowly, there is joy to be found; there is experience to be found; there are undreamed of depths to begin to excavate, but, well, I hold a sense of trepidation for you. Again, tread softly, tread slowly. There is light here, but also there is darkness for which you have not yet been prepared."

Talisa is walking on a path, being exposed to a path of the old ways; ways tied to nature, to nature's forces, her secrets, and her mysteries. As the daughter of a daughter of a shaman of the desert, Talisa's path is water. She begins to walk the path of the spirits, one that takes great training which she has not had. She is mesmerized, hypnotized, and yes, in love with Jag who can only partially be there for her; mysteriously not able to, well, be at one with her and he is already at one with others whose fur is coarse, whose jaws possess a seven hundred psi bite.

Yes, Talisa is attracted to Jag, quite literally at blood level, but blood has deserted her before and she holds back trust as do daughters of fathers who walk away and don't look back. But blood attracts, Native American blood with its beautiful ties to ancestors, to the land, to the spirits. Native American ways to which we should be open.

Paranormal, supernatural, or a depth of the world that so sadly most never have any exposure to, any experience with, or any instruction about. Jag plunges her head first into this world before she has had time to learn to swim. And so, because Jamie Haden's words immerse you in such depth, I have walked around as a mother worried for Talisa, wanting her to follow her path, wanting her to, yes, tread softly, tread slowly.

I am ready now to continue this journey with Talisa in Illuminate-Alive, She Cried. Somehow I feel I should be there for her which is a sign of truly wonderful story telling.

Ms. Haden has caught my heart in this truly enchanted tale.

Spirit Seeker.

Oral history must be preserved.

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 14:24:28 GMT

Untold Millions. wants to help, and so do I. Your Words, Your Way.

Robert Parry: How Richard Nixon Sabotaged the 1968 Vietnam Peace Talks to Get Elected

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 05:38:59 GMT

How Richard Nixon Sabotaged the 1068 Vietnam Peace Talks to Get Elected.
Robert Parry at Media Consortium

This is not "new news" for anyone with their eyes open at the time. We are supposed to forgive; will have to work on that one.

Robert Parry: The Right's Dangerously Bad History

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 00:48:21 GMT

At Consortium The Right's Dangerously Bad History.

This is pathetic, twisting history, and doing it publicly to try to make people believe it is true.
FDR was long passed on before the Amendment. Or was it supposed to ex post facto in regards to him? Maybe if these men read the Constitution they might learn something about that too.