Sunrise - Kandahar, Afghanistan

Sunrise this morning in Kandhar, Afghanistan...we got rain overnight which is odd here as we get rarely get rain.  Winter here is the only rainy season.

I send this picture with thoughts and prayers for all back home in harm's way.  The residents of the East Coast, especially NYC, NJ, Philly, The Virginias and Delware are in our thoughts and prayers.

The aftermath of Hurricane Sandy has overwhelmed all and it will be sometime before life resembles normal back home.

Hurricane Sandy, Politics and How the President acted yesterday

The news over the last 24 hours has been grim.  75 million affected by Hurricane Sandy in an area from North Carolina to Maine.  By all accounts NJ, NYC, MD and Delaware took the worst of it.  Philly too.

It will take weeks to asses the totals.  The number of people lost will be the grim statistic of the storm as 60+ were lost in the tropics and more will be added to that total in areas of the East Coast effected.

Meanwhile, the political grandstanding goes on.  The President made sure to make himself highly visible yesterday, in a manner he did not do a year ago when Irene hit the East Coast or more importantly, when 4 Americans died in Benghazi.  That night instead of manning the Situation Room, he went back to bed and then after a small news conference, he went to Vegas.

Charles Krauthammer made a point of outlining his feelings about it last night:

“Well, he says he’s not concerned about the impact on the elections. I’m sure he’s very sincere on that. But it is a little odd that he shows up in the Briefing Room where he hasn’t shown up in the Briefing Room for what, a month-and-a-half? 

For Libya or for anything else for that matter. Then you get the photo-ops of him in the Situation Room deploying I guess the utility crews who restore power all over America. 

Where you would think he might want to use the Situation Room to convene high level people during the night hours when our people were under attack in Benghazi. 

It’s hard to look at this, playing the president, playing the Commander in Chief in what’s a natural disaster that really doesn’t require a lot of from the White House. It’s up to the governors mostly. The White House and the government release money. That’s all they do and he’s really good at releasing money.”

8 more days until we can send a message to the White House that it is time for ADULT LEADERSHIP and not this immature pol who has been a utter failure.

September 11th - Remembering Michael Uliano

Michael Uliano was a star quarterback at Canton, MA High School, a budding Thespian and enjoyed fishing on Cape Cod. He was working on the 104th Floor of the North Tower at World Trade for Cantor Fitzgerald on 09/11/01. He was a good friend to many, left a wife Linda and many family behind.

Mike, we remember you today and always. Rest easy good friend.

A soldier remembers

As in all things, the most accurate point-of-view willl come from from "first person observation". This soldier who was on scene at the Pentagon on 09/11 and has served in Iraq & Afghanstan provides insight into what our military experienced over the last 10 years.

Sage words from one of our warriors.

A soldier remembers
Thu Sep 8, 2011 / Gettysburg Times By Colonel Brian D. Prosser

On September 11, 2001, I was serving in the Pentagon. Today, I am deployed in Afghanistan and serving alongside approximately 130,000 other U.S. and Coalition service members. Yes, one could say that 9/11 holds a special, almost reverent, significance to me. To simply say that 9/11 has affected hundreds of thousands of military members misses the point, and underestimates its impact. The attacks of 9/11drastically changed our lives and those of our families.

It is hard to believe ten years have passed since the events of that terrible day shocked the world. Do you still remember the ashes and the smoke, the complete devastation of the World Trade Center - the black void - the crevice in the Pentagon, the scorched field in Shanksville, Pa.?

As it unfolded, we didn't want to believe it was true. And as it washed over us, the pictures, the destruction, it was almost too much to imagine; not in THIS country. If there is one city in this country we love to hate, it's New York City. But on that day we simply loved New Yorkers, we ached for them - and admired them for their character in dealing with the devastation.

Do you remember the shrines, the memorials, the flowers, the pictures, the poems, and the thousands of people who converged on Ground Zero to just be closer and to hope above hope that their loved one, friend, or colleague had somehow been spared?

The temptation is to look back, to remember our lost in sadness and in silence. We have labeled it a tragedy. But it was far more than that. Merriam-Webster defines tragedy as "a disastrous event." Another source adds that a tragedy involves a, "distressing loss or injury of life." Distressing, hmm - how about wanton, unjustifiable, shameless and indefensible? Nineteen al-Qaida terrorists murdered almost 3,000 innocent men, women and children, and it is right to honor and mourn them. But it is also important, and right, to remain committed to ensuring that men never again get the opportunity to murder innocents as they did just ten years ago.

Do you remember the firemen? When the first plane hit the tower, there were no firemen on the scene. Yet by the time the towers crumbled under the heat of the fire, over 300 of them died inside, many of them being blessed by a priest or a minister as they entered the buildings - in fact 343 firemen were murdered inside those towers. Some have said that those men were thrown into the situation and were made into heroes that day. I disagree. I don't think they were made into heroes that day; I think they were simply discovered that day. They were heroes long before they entered the towers. They were there all the time, among us.

For over thirty years, I've been a soldier and among heroes. And for the last ten years, be it here in Afghanistan, in Iraq, back in the States and elsewhere in the world, there have been many heroes, and not just those in uniform.

I know that Afghanistan no longer resides on the front pages of our newspapers. And I appreciate that the economy, lost jobs, the debt debate, and other important affairs which affect the daily lives of Americans have overshadowed this war. Having been here in Afghanistan for 11 months, I can assure all Pennsylvanians that their service men and women know why they are here. We understand the formidable challenges yet to overcome, and yet also appreciate the success that we've encountered along the way.

I don't know whether it will all work out here in Afghanistan. Who really does? I admit that there are real and substantial difficulties in working to inform, educate, and change a culture and society so different from ours. But I also believe that we're making an incredible difference in the lives of many Afghans. We may save a lost generation of young Afghan men and women who weren't given the opportunity to learn because of Taliban. In the last 20 months, we have taught more than 100,000 Afghan National Security Force soldiers and policemen to read and write at a 1st grade level. This initiative and so many others take time, resources, but most of all, people. We've spent billions of dollars, millions of man-hours and lost incredible and courageous people along the way. Many tears have been shed the last 10 years for those lost fighting to help ensure another 9/11 does not occur.

I am reminded of a newspaper article I read several years ago that was written about the Rangers killed in Grenada. It seems appropriate on this day:

No phrases can fill the void or soothe the hurt left by the loss of young men's lives, however worthy the cause for which those lives were given.

Hymns and speeches in praise of patriotism and bravery, in celebration of skill and daring, pale as platitudes when compared to the acts and attitudes they are meant to honor.

In the end it comes down to the lump in the throat, the glistening in the eye, the choke in the voice - the search for something to say that can't be said, but can only be expressed in the gushing forth of the innermost feelings.

As in all battles and all wars, the final ceremony is accompanied not by the roll of drums, but by the fall of tears.

Maybe that's what this day is about. Not so much the waving of the flag as our looking upon it with reverence, appreciating the ideal it stands for. Not so much the public proclamations as the quiet moments by ourselves, remembering those who died so needlessly at others' hands. Not so much by sounding the war cry as by the fall of tears.

I am proud to be a soldier and to serve with heroes, and I am honored to call Pennsylvania my home. On this 10th anniversary of 9/11, I ask that you remember those we lost on 9/11, those lost fighting for freedom in the years since, and those who continue to work to prevent such murder again.

Colonel Brian D. Prosser is a 30-year Army veteran currently serving as the Deputy Chief of Staff in NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan in Kabul. He and his family currently live in Springfield, Va. He is a native of York Springs, Pa., and a 1978 graduate of Bermudian Springs High School. He graduated from the Army War College, Carlisle, Pa., in 2007

The NY Times declares "Blogging is Dead"....Really ? I have two words for the NY Times, and they ain't "Happy Birthday"

The vaunted NY Times has an article today titled " Death of Blogs " which basically states that Blogging is passe and the youngsters are more influenced by Facebook and Twitter. Like I care about Facebook ( I don't) and/or Twitter (tweet away, not something I care about either)

I have a message for the NY Times, it is two words long and it ain't " Happy Birthday ".

To the Editors of the NY Times, I can only quote Col. Nathan Jessup (from A Few Good Men) about what I expect from them and the rest of the establishment media:

" I can deal with the bullets, and the bombs, and the blood. I don't want money, and I don't want medals. What I do want is for you to stand there....and with your Harvard mouth extend me some ....courtesy."


I was going to write a long elegant piece here about how they can all take a flying leap but one of my fellow Bloggers did a much better job and saved me the time.

To the editors of the NY Times, I say YOU are the ones who don't matter anymore. That is why your newspaper is going down the tubes. I like reading the daily paper but the Internet relegated the newspapers to the dustbin 10 years ago....

So read on my Blog Fans.....I enjoy writing my daily thoughts and highlighting ideas/concepts/thoughts that I feel are worth sharing, and based on the number of people who read this milblog (10-12K per month), you do also. I write this for my own personal satisfaction and don't care if the youth demographic doesn't get it....I'm not writing for them.

I am glad to have you along and once more to the NY Times......Retire...and get out of the way.

The New York Times declares blogs are dead
From JrDeputyAccountant.com

I'm not surprised the NYT would go out on a limb and let out a premature death call on the blogosphere's heartbeat, attempting to reign in those unruly readers who have defected to bask in the wild wonderland that is blogging. Really?

Blogs were once the outlet of choice for people who wanted to express themselves online. But with the rise of sites like Facebook and Twitter, they are losing their allure for many people — particularly the younger generation.

The Internet and American Life Project at the Pew Research Center found that from 2006 to 2009, blogging among children ages 12 to 17 fell by half; now 14 percent of children those ages who use the Internet have blogs. Among 18-to-33-year-olds, the project said in a report last year, blogging dropped two percentage points in 2010 from two years earlier.

Former bloggers said they were too busy to write lengthy posts and were uninspired by a lack of readers. Others said they had no interest in creating a blog because social networking did a good enough job keeping them in touch with friends and family.

Really?

As one such dinosaur who still blogs, I don't even know where to begin with this NYT piece. Maybe I'm too busy to write a lengthy criticism of everything wrong about this article or just another lazy blogger who can't bring myself to do any research or make any valid points outside of my own opinion. Maybe the bile is rising in my throat so quickly that I can't sit by my laptop long enough to pound it out. Hopefully the future gets here soon so I can get that WiFi-enabled toilet bowl I've always wanted.

Since when do 12-year-olds define an entire ecosystem? My bread and butter as a blogger comes from advertising revenue, including my gig at Going Concern (which consists of advertising I, thankfully, do not have to get my hands dirty with), and last I checked, I wasn't writing for 12-year-olds. In fact, if any 12-year-olds are reading this I respectfully request that you ......go over to Club Penguin or Justin Bieber's myspace page so the grown ups can talk amongst ourselves. Does the NYT write for 12-year-olds?

Don't answer that.

NYT continues:

Defining a blog is difficult, but most people think it is a Web site on which people publish periodic entries in reverse chronological order and allow readers to leave comments.

Yet for many Internet users, blogging is defined more by a personal and opinionated writing style. A number of news and commentary sites started as blogs before growing into mini-media empires, like The Huffington Post or Silicon Alley Insider, that are virtually indistinguishable from more traditional news sources.

Blogs went largely unchallenged until Facebook reshaped consumer behavior with its all-purpose hub for posting everything social. Twitter, which allows messages of no longer than 140 characters, also contributed to the upheaval.

No longer did Internet users need a blog to connect with the world. They could instead post quick updates to complain about the weather, link to articles that infuriated them, comment on news events, share photos or promote some cause — all the things a blog was intended to do.

I'm sorry but I'm not going to put my Internet eggs in Facebook's diabolical basket, regardless of what the social mediatards say. Facebook, in this blogger's humble opinion, is for connecting with people I actually know, most of whom don't care about economics or my opinion thereof. Twitter, on the other hand, is a medium of communication to advance my blogging goals, not the be all end all of the conversation. As NYT obviously figured out, there is a limitation on Twitter that doesn't apply to the blogosphere.

I refuse to believe that NYT actually believes blogs are dead and am a tad disappointed that they didn't try harder to sway public opinion if the goal is to get their former readers back to NYT and away from those dirty, nasty blogs.

Maybe the oversharing livejournal blog is dead and if that's the case, we're just as thrilled as the NYT but let's be sure we differentiate the livejournal blog from the independent writer who uses opinion to reflect on news that matters to said independent writer. Too bad hackery is alive and well, NYT. The attempt to demonize the competition is so obvious it's sad. I, for one, am not at all deterred by the New York Times pointing its shotgun at me telling me to get off the porch. It's a big porch and we all own it....

ROGER THAT.

" My son, we're pilgrims in an unholy land..."

Yes, I have traveled to tougher places ( Fallujah, Mumidiya and Baghdad Iraq; Herat, Qalat, Kandahar and Helmand Province, Afghanistan) but for this die hard New England Patriots fan, this trip represents going in to the " Heart of Darkness "...

I will be traveling to NYC for the next three and a half days on business. Normally, this would be an acceptable trip as it is where my company has the home office but this week is different.

The NY Jets, a.k.a. " The Guys We Beat like Rented Mules" in early December 45-3, along with their loud-mouth, foot fetish loving coach, will be coming back to Foxboro on Sunday to play the New England Patriots in Foxboro. It will be a great opportunity to teach them additional lessons in what Tom Brady and company can do....of course, there is always risk....No guts, no glory.

This will be " the game" to beat all games for this NFL Season....and for the majority of the week before the game, I get to reside in the opposition's city....pissa.

I will wear my New England Patriots Necktie for business meetings and wear my Red Sox lanyard which holds my company ID Badge.

Yea, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil...

I'm ready for the NY Jets fans as I have plenty of smack talk waiting for them....just like last time as I was in NYC the week before the last game.

I'll send along updates as I can.

Reminds me of another scene......

[Indiana Jones and Professor Jones Sr. are trapped between a room on fire and a room full of Nazis]

Professor Henry Jones: "Our situation has not improved."

Somehow, I think I know how he feels....and not unlike the Dr. Jones Sr. & Jr., I know we will win the day and defeat our foes....