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Noted in Passing.

Friday, November 11, 2005 by Scot H. Laney Bass fisherman There are things in this world that should not be commented on by those who have no actual grounding in the subject - no hands-on experience to pull from, no personal knowledge to fortify any sort of opinion on the matter.

War is one of those things for me. I have never experienced it in either its hot or cold form - have never risen to that challenge, made those kinds of sacrifices.

So I, like many others, can only imagine. We can read about the subject, see it on television and at the movies, but still not be equipped to carry one boot let alone be fitted for our own pair.

Let's face it, you've either been on the point of the spear or you have not. You have learned the hard lessons of life from the world's most unforgiving teacher or you have not. There is no opportunity to be "kind of" in this club. If you act as if you are, or are filled with some sense of bravado about what you would do if you ever were, then you have committed a gross felony on those who have. An abortion of human decency and respect to those who actually deserve it.

It seems to me that there is just no way to know the hardship, sorrow, kinship with one another, pride in a job well done, personal sacrifice, and sense of duty to something bigger and more worthwhile than ourselves, without going through that particular gauntlet.

So we (the uninitiated) are only left with a thank you on this day to the men and women who know what it means to be there, to have done it, and are doing it even now. Places with names like Lexington and Concord become Normandy and Tarawa, then Mount Baldy, Saigon, Mogadishu, Baghdad and a thousand other places in-between.

But the job is always the same. Protecting our way of life, that is. Taking it to them before they take it to us, here where we are. The cost is inscribed on marble walls, millions of white crosses, and deep lines on the faces - and cracks in the hearts - of the mothers and fathers of those who did not come back.

But that thank you, however sincere it is, regardless of how much significance we attach to it, seems to be so damn feeble. Somehow so much less than it should be for what some have done for the rest of us. Still, it is all that we have to offer on this day, and it is meaningful in that we owe it to you and you have earned it.

There are still people, lots of people, who believe this way in this great country. Regardless of what you read in the paper or see on the news, we believe in what you do now and what you have done before, and we honor you for it.

God bless the veterans.

I will add this. First Responders know. It's different, but not that much, in the end. H/t, Bill S.

11 Comments

The latest poll has 60% of Americans saying the war in Iraq is not worth fighting. That's six out of ten for those who are bad with percentages. Looks like the Rebels have thoroughly crushed the American public's support for this debacle.
 
Concur. Verbatim.
 
Umm, I was concurring with the Original Post. Sorry to cross telegrams with Jerome.
 
Um, Jerome - that has *what* exactly to do with the post? What's yer spambot set for?
 
But that thank you, however sincere it is, regardless of how much significance we attach to it, seems to be so damn feeble. Exactly how I feel when I try to express my gratitude to you guys.
 
Loved this letter. Jerome, yeah, I'd agree. But I think not being worth it is about many things along with losing lives of soldiers. you know that people are want to put their heads in the sand and ignore problems instead of facing them. when it is in your face that you are fighting an enemy which is bombing and hurting people all over the world and the enemy is "weaker" than you but still capable of continuing to wreak havoc, people tend to believe that they might have, could have avoided this problem if we hadn't gone in there. sort of like a very myopic view of the world. You know, if we hadn't cut down that one tree, the forest would not have caught fire. People are scared of what will come. They really believe that the enemy will attack them again and use some sort of chem, bio or nuke weapon. They are worried that we are not using the right tactics and weapons to find these guys. This worry keeps going on and on and people want to return to some other time when they didn't have to face this problem. It's a natural response. The other natural response is to believe that, had they made a different decision, they would not be worrying about what they worry about now. I for one believe that there is a serious problem with this beyond the head in the sand issue. You see, I read the history of the Afghan Russo war and I kept thinking that we are going to be there for 10 years like the Ruskies and we are going to have to fight these forces in the mountains and they are going to try to do what they did to the Ruskies: use them up and wear them out. I knew that the mujihadeen had not gathered there in force in a short period of time, but rather had a steady influx of fighters, as we see in Iraq, over a long period of time and these fighters were well protected by the mountains and the tribes. Iraq served some really great purposes including putting a dagger in the heart of the caliphate, taking out a potential threat from passing weapons, materials or information, putting the heart of jihad and democracy struggle into the back yards of the people who fund it while maintaining our relationships and still getting oil, forcing the mujihadeen to leave their hiding places in Afghanistan, well stocked and dug in, to come out and fight us in the "open" of Iraq, where they did not have logistics and tribal support built in. Whether all of these were the original intention or not, I don't know, but it seems that way to me. But, regular people aren't really students of history. They barely remember last year, much less 20 years ago.
 
Well, amigos... The American people may be against the war, but seeings how the "great un-washed" (does not include true-believers and supporters - or folks with at least two brain cells to rub together) seems to regard things through their rose-colored glasses, it's interesting that the folks actually doing the fighting are committed to achieving victory... Pssst, hey, Jerome... C'mere... *whisper* Sod off, mate...
 
Program on the emergence of civilization. "14 species of large animals capable of domesitcation in the history of mankind. 13 from Europe, Asia and northern Africa. None from the sub-Saharan African continent. " Favor. And disfavor. They point out Africans’ failed attempts to domesticate the elephant and zebra, the latter being an animal they illustrate that had utmost importance for it's applicability in transformation from a hunting/gathering to agrarian-based civilization. The roots of racism are not of this earth. Austrailia, aboriginals:::No domesticable animals. The North American continent had none. Now 99% of that population is gone. AIDS in Africa. Organizational Heirarchy Heirarchical order, from top to bottom: 1. MUCK - perhaps have experienced multiple universal contractions (have seen multiple big bangs), creator of the artificial intelligence humans ignorantly refer to as "god" 2. Perhaps some mid-level alien management 3. Evil/disfavored aliens - runs day-to-day operations here and perhaps elsewhere Terrestrial management: 4. Chinese/egyptians - this may be separated into the eastern and western worlds 5. Romans - they answer to the egyptians 6. Mafia - the real-world 20th century interface that constantly turns over generationally so as to reinforce the widely-held notion of mortality 7. Jews, corporation, women, politician - Evidence exisits to suggest mafia management over all these groups. Movies foreshadowing catastrophy 1985 James Bond View to a Kill 1989 San Francisco Loma Prieta earthquake. Many Muslims are being used like the Germans and Japanese of WWII::being used to hurt others and envoke condemnation upon their people. They can affect the weather and Hurricane Katrina was accomplished for many reasons and involves many interests, as anything this historical is:: 1. Take heat off Sheenhan/Iraq, protecting profitable war machine/private war contracts 2. Gentrification. New Orleans median home price of $84k is among the lowest in major American cities, certainly among desirable cities. Our society gives clues to the system in place. We all have heard the saying "He has more money than god." There is also an episode of the Simpsons where god meets Homer and says "I'm too old and rich for this." This is the system on earth because this is the system everywhere. god is evil because of money. I don't want to suggest the upper eschelons are evil and good is the fringe. But they have made it abundantly clear that doing business with evil (disfavored) won't help people. They say only good would have the ear, since evil is struggling for survival, and therefore only the favored could help. The clues are there which companies are favored and which are disfavored, market domination being one clue, but they conceal it very hard because it is so crucial. I offer an example of historical proportions::: People point to Walmart and cry "anti-union". Unions enable disfavored people to live satisfactorly without addressing their disfavor. This way their family's problems are never resolved. Without the union they would have to accept the heirarchy, their own inferiority. Unions serve to empower. Walmart is anti-union because they are good. They try to help people address and resolve their problems by creating an enviornment where there are fewer hurdles. Media ridicule and lawsuits are creations to reinforce people's belief that Walmart is evil. Low-cost disfavored Chinese labor is utilized by corporate america to maximize margins. They all do it. Only WalMart gets fingered because they are the ones who help, and those who seek to create confusion in the marketplace want to eliminate the vast middle class who have a real chance and instead stick with a lower classes who may not work otherwise. So they dirty him up while allowing the others to appear clean. The middle class is being deceived. They are being misled into the unfavored, and subsequently will have no assistance from their purchases with corporate america. I believe the coining of the term "Uncle Sam" was a clue alluding to just this::Sam Walton and WalMart is one of few saviors of the peasant class. Amercia is a country of castoffs, rejects. Italy sent its criminals. Malcontents. Between the thrones, the klans and kindred, they "decided" who they didn't want and acted, creating discontent and/or starvation. The u.s. is full of disfavored rejects. It is the reason for the myriad of problems not found in European countries. As far as the Rockafellers and other industrialists of the 19th century go, I suspect these aren't their real names. I suspect they were chosen to go and head this new empire. Royalty is the right way to organize a society. Dictatorships and monarchies are a reflection of the antient's hierarchical organization. Positions go to those who have favor with the rulers, as opposed to being elected. Elections bring a false sense of how the world is. Democracy misleads people. Which is why the disfavored rejects were sent to the shores of America::To keep them on the wrong path. Jesus Christ is a religious figure of evil. These seperatist churches formed so they could still capture the rest of the white people, keeping them worshipping the wrong god. And now they do it to people of color, Latinos and Asians, after centuries of preying upon them. Since Buddism doesn't recongnize a god, the calls are never heard, and Chinese representation is instead selected by the thrones. It was set up this way. Perhaps dyanstic thrones had a say, but maybe not. Budda was the Asian's Jesus Christ::: bad for the people. "They came up at the same time for a reason." Simpson's foreshadowing::Helloween IV special, Flanders is Satan. "Last one you ever suspect." "You'll see lots of nuns where you're going:::hell!!!" St. Wigham, Helloween VI, missionary work, destroying cultures. Over and over, the Simpsons was a source of education and enlightenment, a target of ridicule by the system which wishes to conceal its secrets. Jews maim the body formed in the image of "god", and inflicted circumsision upon all other white people, as well as the evil that is Jesus Christ. I think about how Jews (were used to) created homosexuality among Slavics, retribution for the Holocaust. Then I think of the Catholic Church and its troubles. What connection is here between Jews and the Catholic church??? If it is their sinister motives that’s behind the evil that is Jesus Christ are they being used at all? Perhaps it is them who are pulling strings. Their bondage in Egypt proves their disfavor. Were they preying on the up-and-coming Europeans to try to fix their problems with the ruling elite? I believe Islam is the one true religion, and those misled christians who attack "god's" most favored people will pay for it dearly one day.
 
Wow. You get the best, most unhinged, most un-medicated comment spam! Keep this one in a glass jar for the Castle Curio Cabinet! A fine specimen indeed of Flowering Paranoid Schizophrenia.
 
Whew! Catch a comet, dude. Please.
 
Ok, some simple speaking from a simple grunt turned wrench. Jerome 10 out of 10 children are against getting vacinations because the needles hurt. However, Polio and a many other diseases have been wiped out because of these vaccines. Grandpa Huh?? Please get off the sauce when you decide to ramble
 
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