http://clothofthenation.org/
We launched 9 days ago.
351 different folks have visited the site.
From 11 countries.
From 33 of our United States.
But only 50 notes of support.
The power in this idea will come from your note of support. Your note is needed to let our folks in uniform know someone cares.
Visits are of course appreciated. But today, we covet your note being added to the site.
On Saturday two members of 4th Squadron, Second Stryker Cavalry Regiment, were killed by small arms fire in Kandahar province in Afghanistan. Pete's squadron.
There are men and women in that unit today that need to hear a good word from somebody. And, there are units like that around the world.
Please, take five minutes to add your note of thanks. And, then pass the site on.
Thanks in advance from someone who longs to hear from you.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Join the Cloth of the Nation
Please click on http://clothofthenation.org/
If you are a civilian, say a word of support to YOUR military.
If you are a member of our military, see that you are loved, appreciated and supported by the CIVILIANS that you serve and protect.
There are over 1.3 million currently serving in uniform and another 1.1 million in Reserve and National Guard forces.
There are 310 million U.S. civilians.
Over 150 million of us are on Facebook.
Let's let the folks that wear the Cloth of the Nation know that we appreciate them.
If you are a civilian, say a word of support to YOUR military.
If you are a member of our military, see that you are loved, appreciated and supported by the CIVILIANS that you serve and protect.
There are over 1.3 million currently serving in uniform and another 1.1 million in Reserve and National Guard forces.
There are 310 million U.S. civilians.
Over 150 million of us are on Facebook.
Let's let the folks that wear the Cloth of the Nation know that we appreciate them.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
The Sounds of Silence
Where, oh where, has al Qaeda (translated The Base) been?
On an NPR roundtable of experts tonight, that was the question.
Michael Scheuer, the former bin Laden team leader at the CIA, had this to say:
"bin Laden knows that silence is power.
Westerners don't understand that concept.
American Presidents don't understand that. They talk to much about things that we should be silent on.
The Base is expert at one thing. Media manipulation.
The reason folks in Cairo and Tunis aren't holding up signs supporting The Base is they know that will bring Western and U.S. forceful opposition.
Don't think that just because we haven't heard from them that they aren't active."
Revolutions have cycles.
Russia had two revolutions in 1917.
In February of 1917, the Tsar or Czar or the dictator was unseated.
In October of 1917, the Bolsheviks revolted and took power. Under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin with aid from Leon Trotsky. Joseph Stalin followed.
The Bolsheviks ruled until December 1991.
When viewed thru the lens of CNN, the recent events in the Middle East look like a call for secular democracy.
Tap the brakes.
The majority of folks there want Sharia law.
The Base wants just that. Worldwide.
Buckle up and wait.
It ain't over, by a long shot.
bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri are licking their chops. And Zawahiri is Egyptian, and was a leader in the Muslim Brotherhood.
It wouldn't be surprising if those two got into a power battle.
Watch Zawahiri.
He may one day try to collect the $25 million bounty on bin Laden.
On an NPR roundtable of experts tonight, that was the question.
Michael Scheuer, the former bin Laden team leader at the CIA, had this to say:
"bin Laden knows that silence is power.
Westerners don't understand that concept.
American Presidents don't understand that. They talk to much about things that we should be silent on.
The Base is expert at one thing. Media manipulation.
The reason folks in Cairo and Tunis aren't holding up signs supporting The Base is they know that will bring Western and U.S. forceful opposition.
Don't think that just because we haven't heard from them that they aren't active."
Revolutions have cycles.
Russia had two revolutions in 1917.
In February of 1917, the Tsar or Czar or the dictator was unseated.
In October of 1917, the Bolsheviks revolted and took power. Under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin with aid from Leon Trotsky. Joseph Stalin followed.
The Bolsheviks ruled until December 1991.
When viewed thru the lens of CNN, the recent events in the Middle East look like a call for secular democracy.
Tap the brakes.
The majority of folks there want Sharia law.
The Base wants just that. Worldwide.
Buckle up and wait.
It ain't over, by a long shot.
bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri are licking their chops. And Zawahiri is Egyptian, and was a leader in the Muslim Brotherhood.
It wouldn't be surprising if those two got into a power battle.
Watch Zawahiri.
He may one day try to collect the $25 million bounty on bin Laden.
Monday, January 31, 2011
"Why can't I just be normal?"
"We begin to find and become ourselves when we notice how we are already found, already truly, entirely, wildly, messily, marvelously who we were born to be."
— Anne Lamott
Be careful what you ask for.
The "normal" human is 28 years old.
Doesn't speak English.
Is religious, but not Christian.
And, has one boob and one testicle.
Normal is a mathematic term for the average.
There ain't no such thing as a normal human being.
We are each just one of 6 billion realities.
And our reality is our normal.
So, everyone else in the world is abnormal.
Just remember that the next time you feel out of place.
Or out of touch.
Or out of it.
You and me, we are just perfectly normal.
It's them that has issues.
— Anne Lamott
Be careful what you ask for.
The "normal" human is 28 years old.
Doesn't speak English.
Is religious, but not Christian.
And, has one boob and one testicle.
Normal is a mathematic term for the average.
There ain't no such thing as a normal human being.
We are each just one of 6 billion realities.
And our reality is our normal.
So, everyone else in the world is abnormal.
Just remember that the next time you feel out of place.
Or out of touch.
Or out of it.
You and me, we are just perfectly normal.
It's them that has issues.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Bridging a great divide
The country's top military officer praised the public's outward support of U.S. troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan on Monday, while lamenting the increasing gap between the U.S. military and the American public.
"America doesn't know its military and the United States military doesn't know America," said Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
As the father of a dead soldier, this statement hits home.
It is sad. It is scary. It needs examination.
Why is there such a disconnect between civilian America and military America?
There was a time when that wasn't so.
And sadly, I believe that time was everything prior to Vietnam.
The Vietnam War was a mess. And it was a mess from the top down.
And as a result, it created distrust of our elected leaders. It created distrust of our military. It created a disconnect between civilian America and military America.
Those young men and women who served in Vietnam did so as their government directed them to do.
The young men and women who have served in our military since have one distinct difference from the folks that served before them.
They have all volunteered.
And, the leadership of our country has not properly or adequately enrolled the soul of America to fight as one.
I remember Vietnam and the impact on lives.
My older brother was 18 at the time of the first draft. I remember the night of the great ping pong ball drop and the dread and fear of it coming.
I remember my brother and several of his friends gathering at our house to watch it. I remember them bringing Jack Daniels to the house as they watched the U.S. government play Russian Roulette with their lives.
I remember my mom objecting to the sight of alcohol. I remember my dad intervening and telling her it was time for her to go down the hall and let these boys turn into men.
I remember the angst of those with low numbers and the relief of those with high numbers.
I remember Mike Jones being called out of class when news of his brother's fall came.
We all shared in that experience.
Since that war, there has been no draft.
We have had an all volunteer military. Not that there weren't many volunteers before. But in wars before, the country was as one in a willingness to fight those that would destroy us.
And because of the horrendously bad decisions made by our elected leaders during the Vietnam War, families that had for generations shared in the honor of sacrifice and service to our country began to counsel their young men and women to steer clear of wearing the Cloth of the Nation.
The disconnect between civilian America and military America started then, and continues to this day.
There is a book that needs reading by a much wider audience today.
AWOL: The Unexcused Absence of America's Upper Classes from Military Service-and How it Hurts Our Country by Kathy Roth-Douquet and Frank Schaeffer. Published May, 9 2006.
Publisher's Weekly had this recap.
"In this impassioned, convincing manifesto, Schaffer and Roth-Douquet, a former Clinton White House and Department of Defense staffer, call for class integration of the military. Their arguments are personal: Roth-Douquet is a military wife and Schaffer's son is a marine, and the authors fall within the demographic they critique. Alternately narrating, they relate their experiences with the military and detail the liabilities of the present all-volunteer "corporate" force: the hindered policy-making ability of a civilian leadership without significant ties to the military, the weakening of the armed forces themselves, and "the sense of lost community and the threat to democracy that results when a society accepts a situation that is inherently unfair." While Schaffer proposes a lottery draft and Roth-Douquet suggests the military "convince" people to sign up, they both call for all young people to submit to some form of national civilian service. Though the authors occasionally exaggerate ("we are fast approaching the day when no one in Congress and no president will have served or have any children serving"), they make a clarion call in the face of increasingly controversial foreign policy and a military stretched thin."
America, when did it become someone else's job to defend our country?
America, when did it become patriotic to guide our best and brightest away from the most fundamental and important jobs our country has?
America, when did it become smart to not put our best and brightest on the front lines against those that would destroy America?
It is time to correct this.
We need to reconnect civilian America and military America.
For those currently being served by those who have chosen to serve.
But more importantly, for our future, we need all of us connected to our military.
They are our sons and daughters. Our neighbors. Our friends.
They protect our freedoms.
They are paid for by our tax dollars.
They wear not some strange uniform with which we have no connection.
They wear The Cloth of the Nation.
Our nation.
Your nation.
The one you enjoy.
The one you have the freedom to complain about.
The one you don't have the freedom to not support.
Get connected.
Get aware.
Shake a hand in the airport.
Stop by a recruiting station and say thanks.
Find a base, a VA hospital, an ROTC unit, a military family and see how you can help.
We are disconnected because we have chosen to be disconnected.
The wars we fight are your wars. Not someone else's. Not "theirs".
Your wars.
Get involved. Get connected.
Show some love for America and those that defend us all.
And most importantly, controversially, and honestly, what will you do?
Will you encourage your sons, daughters, nephews, nieces, neighbors, students, employees, and friends to do their part?
Will all of America take part or is it a job beneath you and your family? Is it a responsibility your family isn't responsible for? Is it not part of a life plan you have in mind? Why not?
Be challenged. Be angry if you wish.
But know this.
Your grandparents knew whose job it was. Your great-grandparents knew whose job it was.
And you and I know too. But, it is just too easy to pass the hard task to someone else.
I was 18 in 1972. I got called by the Selective Service and registered. I was never called to serve.
And to this day, I regret that I didn't serve. I didn't have to, it was unpopular, it wasn't cool, I wasn't encouraged to do so, so I didn't.
I missed a great opportunity. I failed my country. I failed myself.
E pluribus unum.
Our country's motto.
We need to relearn it.
If not, this divide will never be bridged.
"America doesn't know its military and the United States military doesn't know America," said Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
As the father of a dead soldier, this statement hits home.
It is sad. It is scary. It needs examination.
Why is there such a disconnect between civilian America and military America?
There was a time when that wasn't so.
And sadly, I believe that time was everything prior to Vietnam.
The Vietnam War was a mess. And it was a mess from the top down.
And as a result, it created distrust of our elected leaders. It created distrust of our military. It created a disconnect between civilian America and military America.
Those young men and women who served in Vietnam did so as their government directed them to do.
The young men and women who have served in our military since have one distinct difference from the folks that served before them.
They have all volunteered.
And, the leadership of our country has not properly or adequately enrolled the soul of America to fight as one.
I remember Vietnam and the impact on lives.
My older brother was 18 at the time of the first draft. I remember the night of the great ping pong ball drop and the dread and fear of it coming.
I remember my brother and several of his friends gathering at our house to watch it. I remember them bringing Jack Daniels to the house as they watched the U.S. government play Russian Roulette with their lives.
I remember my mom objecting to the sight of alcohol. I remember my dad intervening and telling her it was time for her to go down the hall and let these boys turn into men.
I remember the angst of those with low numbers and the relief of those with high numbers.
I remember Mike Jones being called out of class when news of his brother's fall came.
We all shared in that experience.
Since that war, there has been no draft.
We have had an all volunteer military. Not that there weren't many volunteers before. But in wars before, the country was as one in a willingness to fight those that would destroy us.
And because of the horrendously bad decisions made by our elected leaders during the Vietnam War, families that had for generations shared in the honor of sacrifice and service to our country began to counsel their young men and women to steer clear of wearing the Cloth of the Nation.
The disconnect between civilian America and military America started then, and continues to this day.
There is a book that needs reading by a much wider audience today.
AWOL: The Unexcused Absence of America's Upper Classes from Military Service-and How it Hurts Our Country by Kathy Roth-Douquet and Frank Schaeffer. Published May, 9 2006.
Publisher's Weekly had this recap.
"In this impassioned, convincing manifesto, Schaffer and Roth-Douquet, a former Clinton White House and Department of Defense staffer, call for class integration of the military. Their arguments are personal: Roth-Douquet is a military wife and Schaffer's son is a marine, and the authors fall within the demographic they critique. Alternately narrating, they relate their experiences with the military and detail the liabilities of the present all-volunteer "corporate" force: the hindered policy-making ability of a civilian leadership without significant ties to the military, the weakening of the armed forces themselves, and "the sense of lost community and the threat to democracy that results when a society accepts a situation that is inherently unfair." While Schaffer proposes a lottery draft and Roth-Douquet suggests the military "convince" people to sign up, they both call for all young people to submit to some form of national civilian service. Though the authors occasionally exaggerate ("we are fast approaching the day when no one in Congress and no president will have served or have any children serving"), they make a clarion call in the face of increasingly controversial foreign policy and a military stretched thin."
America, when did it become someone else's job to defend our country?
America, when did it become patriotic to guide our best and brightest away from the most fundamental and important jobs our country has?
America, when did it become smart to not put our best and brightest on the front lines against those that would destroy America?
It is time to correct this.
We need to reconnect civilian America and military America.
For those currently being served by those who have chosen to serve.
But more importantly, for our future, we need all of us connected to our military.
They are our sons and daughters. Our neighbors. Our friends.
They protect our freedoms.
They are paid for by our tax dollars.
They wear not some strange uniform with which we have no connection.
They wear The Cloth of the Nation.
Our nation.
Your nation.
The one you enjoy.
The one you have the freedom to complain about.
The one you don't have the freedom to not support.
Get connected.
Get aware.
Shake a hand in the airport.
Stop by a recruiting station and say thanks.
Find a base, a VA hospital, an ROTC unit, a military family and see how you can help.
We are disconnected because we have chosen to be disconnected.
The wars we fight are your wars. Not someone else's. Not "theirs".
Your wars.
Get involved. Get connected.
Show some love for America and those that defend us all.
And most importantly, controversially, and honestly, what will you do?
Will you encourage your sons, daughters, nephews, nieces, neighbors, students, employees, and friends to do their part?
Will all of America take part or is it a job beneath you and your family? Is it a responsibility your family isn't responsible for? Is it not part of a life plan you have in mind? Why not?
Be challenged. Be angry if you wish.
But know this.
Your grandparents knew whose job it was. Your great-grandparents knew whose job it was.
And you and I know too. But, it is just too easy to pass the hard task to someone else.
I was 18 in 1972. I got called by the Selective Service and registered. I was never called to serve.
And to this day, I regret that I didn't serve. I didn't have to, it was unpopular, it wasn't cool, I wasn't encouraged to do so, so I didn't.
I missed a great opportunity. I failed my country. I failed myself.
E pluribus unum.
Our country's motto.
We need to relearn it.
If not, this divide will never be bridged.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
And wonders of His love
My sister sent an email to my brother and me on Friday recounting favorite Christmas memories from our childhood.
As the images flickered thru my brain, I felt like Clark Griswold in the attic. Those memories are fantastic.
And then reality hit and I felt like Clark when the attic door was opened beneath him.
In Los Angeles. Such a warm and fuzzy place for the holidays. And strife continuing in the most unbelievable of situations. Who knew it would take lawyers and judges and the State of California and thousands of dollars to be able to parent your own daughter.
Feeling cynical and not in the holiday mood, I had no idea of the miracle I was to witness on Saturday.
Peanut's Brownie Troop was going to the Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House to take gifts and dinner for the families staying there. I got to go along.
If you are feeling sorry for yourself, go visit a place where parents and grandparents are away from home staying in a strange place while their children are across the street clinging to life.
The Brownies and the moms were amazing. Preparing dinner. Making crafts with the kids. Arranging presents to match the ages of the children.
After a meal of golden arches burgers and lots of homemade desserts, a choir appeared.
In the lobby of this home for frightened and needy souls, about 40 of the best voices in the world began to sing carols. A Cappela.
This wasn't just any choir. These were pros. Stage. Movies. Music industry. Amazing voices.
And they were singing their hearts out for about 30 children and family members on a Saturday night in Los Angeles in December.
The choir leader invited several of the kids to come participate. And what joy it was to see their faces as they joined the music.
And then, the leader spotted one young boy in a stroller next to his mom.
The tumors on Andre's head are the size of softballs.
Scars tell the story of previous operations on this little angel's head.
He is two.
As she brought Andre to the front, the choir began to sing "Joy to the World".
The look on Andre's face was pure. Happy. Excited.
The look on his mother's face was the same. Her little boy was having a Christmas moment.
As I stood in the back of the room and took it all in, tears streamed down my face. I swear a golden light shown on that child's face. In this cold place, a song almost 300 years old and love from all around made that instant as warm and magic as any I've ever experienced.
Thank you, Isaac Watts.
Thank you, Handel.
Thank you, choir.
Thank you, Ronald McDonald House.
Thank you, Brownie troop and moms.
Thank you, Andre. And Godspeed.
Thank you, Lord.
I will forever repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
As the images flickered thru my brain, I felt like Clark Griswold in the attic. Those memories are fantastic.
And then reality hit and I felt like Clark when the attic door was opened beneath him.
In Los Angeles. Such a warm and fuzzy place for the holidays. And strife continuing in the most unbelievable of situations. Who knew it would take lawyers and judges and the State of California and thousands of dollars to be able to parent your own daughter.
Feeling cynical and not in the holiday mood, I had no idea of the miracle I was to witness on Saturday.
Peanut's Brownie Troop was going to the Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House to take gifts and dinner for the families staying there. I got to go along.
If you are feeling sorry for yourself, go visit a place where parents and grandparents are away from home staying in a strange place while their children are across the street clinging to life.
The Brownies and the moms were amazing. Preparing dinner. Making crafts with the kids. Arranging presents to match the ages of the children.
After a meal of golden arches burgers and lots of homemade desserts, a choir appeared.
In the lobby of this home for frightened and needy souls, about 40 of the best voices in the world began to sing carols. A Cappela.
This wasn't just any choir. These were pros. Stage. Movies. Music industry. Amazing voices.
And they were singing their hearts out for about 30 children and family members on a Saturday night in Los Angeles in December.
The choir leader invited several of the kids to come participate. And what joy it was to see their faces as they joined the music.
And then, the leader spotted one young boy in a stroller next to his mom.
The tumors on Andre's head are the size of softballs.
Scars tell the story of previous operations on this little angel's head.
He is two.
As she brought Andre to the front, the choir began to sing "Joy to the World".
The look on Andre's face was pure. Happy. Excited.
The look on his mother's face was the same. Her little boy was having a Christmas moment.
As I stood in the back of the room and took it all in, tears streamed down my face. I swear a golden light shown on that child's face. In this cold place, a song almost 300 years old and love from all around made that instant as warm and magic as any I've ever experienced.
Thank you, Isaac Watts.
Thank you, Handel.
Thank you, choir.
Thank you, Ronald McDonald House.
Thank you, Brownie troop and moms.
Thank you, Andre. And Godspeed.
Thank you, Lord.
I will forever repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
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