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CNN.com – Al-Jazeera: Militants kill missing soldier – Jun 28, 2004: “BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — The Arabic-language television network Al-Jazeera reported Monday that it had received a statement and a videotape from militants who claimed to have killed 20-year-old U.S. Army Spc. Matt Maupin, missing since April.”

Apparently it has come down to this. You know, I’ve heard it all. Comparisons of this war, to other wars. Are these terrorists no different than the “patriots” portrayed in the movie of the same name starring Mel Gibson?

I believe that history has written that chapter, and suffice it to say, America had help in it’s civil war from a coalition of the Willing, to help unseat the taxing tyrant, King George the 3rd.

America did not unseat Hussein to create a 51st state. But I do believe that unfettered oil trade was a minor part of a bigger plan. There had been long term intelligence that suggested weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and I do believe that this was the true catalyst for the war.

Currently Michael Moore has a movie, Fahrenheit 9/11, which is supposed expose this war. It is truly impossible for people who have never been part of our Military Machine to understand what it means to be at War. What it means to sacrifice your best years of your life to support what you believe is keeping the peace.

In the upcoming months, this war will become highly debated. I expect to see rallies and protests. Yet, I hope that Americans realize that they can protest the war without protesting our military, and our soldiers and sailors. After all that is said and done, with even the tarnished reputation of prison guards in Iraq, I believe that we have some of the finest Americans serving in our Armed Forces. It would be a disservice not to support them in anyway that we can.

Recently a Commanding Officer of a Navy Reserve Center asked his sailors to bring in $6 worth of assorted sundries each month to help the Seabees and Marines stationed overseas in Iraq. They NEED our support.

So back to the headline. Murder of a Marine.

Do we get revenge? Do we respond? Is there a tactic that would work? Can we even find any targets? It’s time we strike! And make the consequences of murdering a Marine, or anyone else for that matter so costly, that even these terrorists find it too expensive to do again.

Politics News Article | Reuters.com: “Cheney Says He Has No Regrets for Cursing Leahy”

Well the media won’t use it, Howard Stern can’t say it, but the Vice President claims “It badly needed to be said…” Well I say, let ’em go back to the 200 years ago, when dueling was part of the process, and lets have them shoot it out on the HILL! Heck, televise it as a Pay Per View Special, in an effort to either pay for the war, or pay down the deficit.

But the news is the news, and now parents have to explain to their children why the Vice President of the United States used bad language to speak to a person whom he works with. He personally owns the American people an apology for his conduct.

Wanna talk like you are in a locker room, go to a gym. The US Senate floor is hardly the place for that sort of thing.

Politics News Article | Reuters.com: “Amid continuing violence in Iraq and questions about the justification for the war, 54 percent of the 1,005 Americans polled said it was a mistake to send U.S. troops into Iraq, compared with 41 percent who held that view three weeks ago.”

What a great article! The headline reads that THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS NOW CALL IRAQ WAR A MISTAKE. Of course when we get to the paragraph that you aren’t supposed to read, it says they polled 1005 Americans. Now with the Millions of Americans at large, One Thousand and 5 Americans have captured the headlines.

I guess I’m just concerned on the size of the sample. That’s like a presidential election with a +/- margin of error of 10%. In this America, anyone’s guess is good. Didn’t less votes decide the US Presidency? Maybe that should be considered adequate sample size.

I’m always amazed at “opinion polls” and what they aren’t saying. That seems just as important as what they are saying.

It is time to Blog. I’m sure that the few folks that visit here will find my posts either thought provoking, or at the least entertaining. My focus here is on the world. I plan to share tips and little known facts that someone may find useful.

Just a little Ice Breaker, a Bio, if you will.

Who am I?

I’m not really anyone special. I’m 34 at the start of writing this blog, and in the last 16 formative years I have done more than I really could imagine. I joined the US Navy and sailed to sea on board submarines. I’ve launched Navy Rockets, and after that, as a civilian, I’ve helped place some of the most important spacecrafts into space as a technician for the Titan program. Now I write technical manuals, and for now, we will leave it at that.

My philosophy: I believe in people, and it is up to all of us to make this place a better world.