Then, one day something happens. In the blink of an eye and for reasons unknown to us, they find themselves in the enviable -- or unenviable, depending on your perspective -- position of being solely responsible for their young grandchildren. And, instinctively, they change themselves. Transform. Reform. Clean up. Get it together. Get a home. Provide stability and guidance and nurturing. They discover characteristics and values in themselves no one, maybe not even them, knew existed. They become the men they need to be to raise these kids.

The special grandfathers. Respect.

Last year: "The first time Zuul made himself known to me was the only time I ever "saw" him...." from Me and Zuul (a retelling).

Prisoner of the Taliban | As a captive in the worst place on earth to be an American, David Rohde pinned his hopes on winning over a ‘good’ Taliban commander. After months of lies and fear, he learnt a cruel lesson (May cause pop-ups.)

Over those months I came to a simple realisation. After seven years of reporting in the region, I did not fully understand how extreme many of the Taliban had become. Before the kidnapping I viewed the organisation as a form of “Al-Qaeda lite”, a religiously motivated movement primarily focused on controlling Afghanistan.

Living side by side with the Haqqanis’ followers, I learnt that the goal of the hardline Taliban was far more ambitious. They wanted to create a fundamentalist Islamic emirate with Al-Qaeda that spanned the Muslim world.

* NPR has a good piece on the copper deal; note also the map which shows Afghanistan's very interesting border with China: China Becomes A Player In Afghanistan's Future.

* Forty-three photos from Afghanistan.

* Rethink Afghanistan is a ground-breaking, full-length documentary focusing on the key issues surrounding this war.... (The documentary is broken up in chunks to make it easier for internet viewing. Thank you, @Karoli.)

* New York Times Lede Blog: A Video Guide to the Afghan War Debate, which includes a trailer for Danfung Dennis's upcoming documentary, "The Battle for Hearts and Minds."

* Speaking of hearts and minds, Police fire on anti-US protesters in Kabul.

* Finally, from the Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs (do you think they read my blog?), a long list of recent missions and their results: Forces Kill Taliban Commander, Other Enemy Fighters.

Fifty dollars each, or two for $65.00 at Pet Smart, courtesy of the APL.

“The rules of engagement here have been very frustrating,” said Capt. Tammy Lanning. As the intelligence officer for the 4th Battalion, 25th Artillery Regiment of the 10th Mountain Division’s 3rd Brigade operating in Wardak, she must fight a daily battle to keep detained bombing suspects from being released back onto the streets.

“Guys back in Washington need to get, I think, a better operational understanding, [of] what goes on here,” she said. “To separate the enemy from the population to make progress will take a really long time, and the administration really needs to understand that. Even more than in Iraq, to get to the point where they … they can build a government — which they can’t do now — [and] get rid of corruption, is going to take years.”

If the U.S. is not in this fight for the long haul, she added, “you may as well not waste the effort and not kill any more soldiers.”

It would help, too, if the American people were more tuned in to what's happening on the ground in Afghanistan. When we do hear about Afghanistan on the news, it seems to focus much more on the political than on what the troops are going through. What the troops are going through is war. Political is not war. Political is useful, but it's surely not enough.

The American people are not getting the full message of what this war is and what is happening over there. Occasionally, we'll get some "news" personality proudly standing in front of a Humvee with a microphone clipped to his Army issued flack jacket reporting from "inside the wire." But, that's not the same as those dark and grainy satellite images we got on our black and white TVs of fighting (and the sounds of pop pop pop of machine guns) from behind the 17th Parallel in the late 60s and early 70s. I think when you saw those images and heard those sounds, whether you were for it or against it, you knew what war is.

I hate to say this, because I'm sure it will be taken the wrong way, but the way the American public has been shown Afghanistan, one might think Afghanistan has been painless. Well, compared to Vietnam, anyway.

Of course, this lack of facts and images and sounds can't be put solely on the media. The Defense Department, for whatever reason -- to shield us from the blood and guts or to keep us ignorant -- shares the bulk of the blame for keeping us in the dark.

But, I don't want to be pointing fingers here. I just want them to do their jobs. Stop shielding us from the realities. Put it in our faces, everyday, every night. When the people have a better grasp of what's going on, then I believe the president and congress will know what to do.

One more time, the article: U.S. forces struggle with Washington’s perceptions and reality in Afghanistan. Read the whole thing. There's a lot more there.

corinacorona: One last thing: does anyone else get creeped/grossed out by that halls refresh commercial with the mom & the son's roommate? Ew.

dicegrrl: Trying new halls refresh losenges and cant keep up with the saliva production in my mouth... I might drown!

wlicis: Does anyone else think that Halls Refresh commercial with the mom and her kid's friend is WAY beyond creepy?ugh! Who that that was ok to do?

motormouthnc: The Halls Refresh commercial gets creepier every time I see it.

jtravisbradford: Halls Refresh commercial = HOT

mrizek: The Halls Refresh commercial where the mom is making kissy faces with the roommate reminds me of college where I crossdressed for cash.

dwheelchair: Halls Refresh ad with room mate and mum = genius.

molliemoon: I bought Halls Refresh because of the awesome commercial. Advertising really works on me. #funfact

In my non-scientific sample, more people are talking about the commercial than about the product.

I did not like this commercial at first. But, after three or four times, it's growing on me. (Don't hate me.)

In case you missed it, here's the 30 second commercial: Halls Refresh.

The front door of LINCOLN-DOUGLAS CAFE, 312 E. Monroe St., has been locked for several weeks. The A la carte column isn’t sure yet what is going on there. The cafe opened one year ago.

I just sent an email to the owner at the address she gave when she left a comment back in May to find out what's going on, but it came back, "Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently..."

End of update.

Originally posted on January 8, 2009:

The Lincoln-Douglas Cafe is a fairly new eating establishment in Springfield, Illinois. It's located on Monroe between the Third Street tracks and Fourth Street, almost across from Two Brothers.

My daughter and I phoned ahead and carried out from there at 3:00 in the morning one Friday night a couple weeks ago. She had the grilled cheese and pasta salad, and I had the Chicago dog and fries. We already had Cokes at home.

While I can tell you they had the authentic Chicago hot dog toppings, I had to ask for mustard as it was not listed on the menu. The meat part was not what I expected based on memories of Chicago dogs past. The meat was like a foot-long hot dog on a regular size bun. This alarmed me. We don't usually see footlongs around here, except at the state fair. Also, the hot dog was a little wrinkled. You know what I mean? And a little chewy. But, hey, this is Springfield, so what are you going to do. Sitting here a few weeks later, I can't honestly remember if it had a poppy seed bun. The fries were your basic frozen Ore-Ida crinkle cuts. We expect better fries in a restaurant.

From the SJ-R: "Lincoln-Douglas Cafe is in the space formerly occupied by HONEST ABE’S CAFE. Hours are from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 24 hours Friday through Sunday. Phone: 523-7867. Catering is available." (Emphasis added.)

Despite the wrinkled hot dog and frozen fries, I'd give it a 3-1/2 out of 5 stars. Anytime you can get food at 3:00 in the morning without having to go to Denny's is a major plus in my book.

Scanned menu (jpg): Front and Back. (I hope those are readable. If not, let me know.)

Sheriff: Charges Will Be Filed In Balloon Saga

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- A Colorado sheriff said he was pursuing criminal charges in the case of a 6-year-old boy who vanished into the rafters of his garage while the world thought he was zooming through the sky in a flying saucer-like helium balloon.

[...]

The Heenes were expected to speak to reporters outside their home later Saturday, after a strange day that began with Richard Heene knocking on the windows of journalists camped outside his home and promising a "big announcement." A few hours later, he did an about-face when he told reporters that they should leave questions in a cardboard box on the front doorstep.

As Heene walked away, a reporter shouted, "Can you tell us once and for all if this is a hoax?"

"Absolutely no hoax. I want your questions in the box," Heene said, waving a cardboard container before going back into his home.

I'm glad the little boy isn't up in some tree, but I fear he's going to have other problems.

Jiffy Pop in action.

It was a Friday night in the late summer of 1962 (or maybe early summer of '63). We were camping next to the shore of Little Grassy Lake in Southern Illinois. My brother and I were already in for the night, asleep in our sleeping bags inside the tent when my mom and dad woke us up and quickly hustled us into the car. A baby bear had wandered into our campsite. I remember my dad saying that her mother couldn't be too far away. The other family we were camping with also got into their car.

The only light was from the moon. However, I still got a pretty good look at her as she was snooping around our picnic table. She appeared to be shiny black and about the size of a chubby four year old girl. She was so curious and cute. But, of course, we all knew that her cuteness belied the true nature of her wild viciousness and especially that of her unseen mom.

Even though this was our first year of camping, we were experienced enough to know to bury our garbage away from the campsite and to keep the rest of our unused food in the cooler in the trunk of the car. So, not finding any food or snacks to get into, she wandered back off to wherever she came from with no damage done.

We spent the rest of the night sleeping in the hot car. I'm sure my dad had his hand on the ignition the whole time, ready to take off if need be. As soon as dawn hit, we broke camp and moved farther north. All our vacations and many of our summer weekends were spent camping for about eight more years, but we never went back to Little Grassy.

This bear story is inspired by an article in today's SJ-R, Bear Facts in Illinois by George Little. (I have more bear stories, but those will have to wait for another time.)