Jon Kary in Iraq, Christmas Cav Links, Plan for Iraq

John Kerry made a little stop in the Middle East last week. Fortunately, he didn't make it to my neck of the woods. The word on the street is that for some reason, Mr. Heinz was not received too warmly. I wonder why. Here is a pic of him enjoying his breakfast by his lonesome.

ROFASix, a retired soldier and current blogger, has the link to the story His source, Scott Hennen of Hot Talk radio had this quote:

"This is a true story.....Check out this photo from our mess hall at the US Embassy yesterday morning. Sen. Kerry found himself all alone while he was over here. He cancelled his press conference because no one came, he worked out alone in the gym w/o any soldiers even going up to say hi or ask for an autograph (I was one of those who was in the gym at the same time), and he found himself eating breakfast with only a couple of folks who are obviously not troops. What is amazing is Bill O'Reilly came to visit with us and the troops at the CSH the same day and the line for autographs extended through the palace and people waited for two hours to shake his hand. You decide who is more respected and loved by us servicemen and women!"

Can't say that I feel sorry for him. Your actions have consequences John, and I guess you could say the joke is on you.

On a more positive note, your favorite Guard unit was featured prominently on Christmas day back at home. Omaha.com had a great story about the Brewer family. 3 brothers and a sister are all currently serving our Armed Forces, and at one point all 3 brothers were here in Iraq. One was part of the 172nd Stryker BDE, which you probably read about as they were extended in theater at the very last minute. He is home safely now. The other 2 brothers are in our LRS unit. The Journal Star also had a good story about another LRS soldier and his brush with fame. Check it out.

ROFASix has another great link that I would like to direct your attention to. It is the story of a Marine CPT who put together a incredibly witty PowerPoint on how to win this war against the insurgency. Sadly, CPT Patriquin died a week or so ago in an IED blast. Well worth your time.

Interview with Jim from Thinking Right, Misc Stuff

I did an email interview this week with a gentleman named Jim for his blog Thinking Right. You can find it here. Thanks to SPC Erickson from Centcom public affairs for setting it up.

Also, the '95 Huskers were voted College Football's greatest team of all time. Herbstreit I guess accused the homer Nebraska fans of stuffing the ballot box, threw a hissy fit, and stomped off the stage at the show they had to announce the winners. Then they debated whether this years OSU team would compete with the '95 Huskers. No way. OSU is the best team this year, but greatest of all time? I think that is a stretch. This kind of reminds me of last year when everyone said last years '05 Trojans were the greatest team ever, right up unit the time they got beat by Texas.

Here are a few articles from around the web about our unit. SFC Lassek is one of our battle NCOs and runs a shift in the JDOC. This story from Omaha.com is about how his family is coping back home and a Sesame Street video that the military puts out. Benjamin gives the video 2 thumbs up. LTC Apprich, the Squadron Commander, did 2 interviews with Omaha.com while he was home. You can find them here and here. One interesting thing about being in a combat zone is there are lots of opportunities to do cool things. This story is about some of our guys that are part of an airborne command post, keeping the lines of communication open. SFC Brehm is one of our soldiers that went from being a medic to crew member.

Everyone's favorite soldier, SPC Beans, is going to be featured this week on KOLN 10/11. You can tune in Sunday night at 10:00pm. They profile a different soldier every week. After the story airs, it is posted on their website along with a short story.

Finally, I had to laugh when I read this article on Omaha.com. My brother is good buddies with the Jarvis brothers. My dad prayed for me when I left, their dad is giving them tips on how to be a better killer. Good stuff.

Internet Fun - 4

Stuff from around the Web for your viewing pleasure:

I did a post awhile back about Rock, Paper, Scissors and how an Omaha guy won the nat'l tournament. It turns out there is a World Championship as well. However the to prize is only 8 grand, so this once again shows that the USA is still superior.

You have all surely seen or heard of the racist rant that Kramer went on recently. It was of course completely uncalled for and way out of line. The funny thing was that he said afterwards that he's not a racist. I think he would have been better off just saying he was drunk or on drugs, that would have been more believable. Of course, the people that he offended know exactly what will make them feel better. Some cash please! That always makes me feel better when I've been insulted. The 4 people that he directed his remarks at have a lawyer and are setting up a meeting. Gotta love America.

Here is an update on the story I talked about Friday with the AP and their use of unverified sources. In the same article you can find this quote from a soldier here on Balad about our living conditions.

Living accommodations are nice, but then the Army has this magical ability to lower expectations. They let you sleep on the forest floor and then they give you a bedroll and you think you have it made. Then at some point you graduate to tents without floors and you think to yourself, "Why do I need to buy a house--this is great." Then they give you a cot to sleep on and maybe a plywood floor. Your feet never get dirty and you swear to yourself that you'll do this for 20 years because they treat you first class. In Kuwait they gave us an air-conditioned tent which made it like sleeping at the Ritz. The smell of suntan lotion and sand made it feel like Miami without the water and palm trees. Finally here in Balad we get small trailer rooms with floors, air conditioning and heating. They even have TV hookup and power. I only think to myself "I get paid to do this--sweet!" This is like a five-star resort. It's the biggest secret in the world. I better not tell anyone or else everyone will want to come to Iraq. Pretty funny stuff.

This was on the front page of the LJS, Nebraska Guard soldiers watching the Big Red at Anaconda. Unfortunately, it is not about our unit, which we are a little bent about because they just got here, and we have been suffering for the entire season. They also got a live feed for the game last week. And it looks like their chain of command lets them wear there Husker gear. No love for the Cav.

Finally, I've been meaning to touch on the Muslims that were removed from the US Airways flight last week. But, I read this piece and don't feel I need to say anymore. I think we've taken being tolerant a little too far, when 6 Muslims that are acting in bizarre ways are surprised when they are pulled from a plane. You can find a copy of the police report here, along with an eyewitness account of the incident that shows there was way more involved than just Muslim's saying their prayers.

NY Times + Omaha = Love

I can honestly say that I never expected to read anything good in the NY Times about O-Town. I signed up awhile back to get the daily headlines from the NY Times emailed to me (lots of interesting stuff from the center of the Universe). Imagine my surprise when the following op-ed piece by Richard Dooling appeared in my inbox. The full story is here. The article addresses the falling real estate prices around the country (the topic du jour for the sky is falling crowd) and suggests that one solution is to cash out of the coast lifestyle and find a new home in the Midwest. Some highlights:

What if it is time to cash out? Where do you go? If you sell on either coast, then you need to find real estate somewhere that the housing bubble missed. Guam? American Samoa? Wait, how about eastern Nebraska? Downright frothless when it comes to housing: the median home price here usually chugs along at the annual rate of inflation and never goes down (up 4 percent last year, up 22 percent over the last five years).

Before you recoil in horror at the thought of living in Omaha, a city of 414,000 souls, consider that this year Money magazine ranked it seventh of the nation's 10 best big cities to live in, ahead of New York City, which ranked 10th. O.K., now you may recoil in horror.

So, why do people live in a state with high taxes, no mountains, no ocean beaches, no lakes to speak of, no major professional sports teams, no grand old museums or dazzling science centers? The three answers you hear most often from Nebraskans are: (1) quality of life; (2) good schools; (3) wouldn't moving be kind of a bother?

Surprising stuff. Now, there are some jabs at us simple Midwestern folks, which is to be expected, but all in all is a decent read. Of course, if you are reading this, live in New York, and are actually thinking about moving to Nebraska, don't do it. You won't like it. We don't want you. See, we aren't all that friendly. Unless of course your name is Ol' Buddy B than you are welcome any time.

Here is some other stuff I've been accumulating from around the web:

• Dance your cares away. Worry is for another day. Let the music play. Down in Fraggle Rock. Yup, there is a movie is on the way. I think we'll be there on opening night.
• This article is on everyone's favorite topic. Regardless of your stance on immigration, this should make you laugh. Or maybe not, but I laughed so there.
• Paint ball guns are for sissies. We need armor!

Tomorrow is Halloween of course. Benjamin is daddy's little scarecrow and is quite the cutie. I am going to dress up as a Legal NCO for the first half of the day. Then my costume will be an out of shape sweaty guy at the gym. That is about it. Not really a trick or treat kind of town where I'm at, so you can rule that out. I'm sure there will be something good at the chow hall though. Enjoy your holiday and stay safe.

Internet Fun - 3

A few more articles from around the Web dealing with our deployment.

This is a story about our Civil Ops team and how they are working on getting clean water to villages. Trick or Treat: the latest from Rebecca Santana about the dangers of handing out candy to the locals. This may be the last rotation of a Nat'l Guard Brigade Combat Team. Read the Shrinking Guard Role in Iraq for more.

Internet Fun - 2

I stumbled across on this article on the web. Good read. Why I Continue to Believe in the War in Iraq

This article is on some of the soldiers in the Cav who work in the Effects Cell. SGT Carper was my roommate in the "closet" I stayed in for the first few weeks I was here.

Charlie Armor is our unit that runs the Guntrucks on the convoy missions. They have arguably the toughest mission in the Squadron. The article was written by SFC Schultz and published on GX online.

Internet Fun

I thought this story about Screech getting accosted in Omaha was pretty funny when I read it this morning on Omaha.com. I was even more surprised when it showed up on Yahoo news as the most viewed AP Story of the day. No word yet if the woman was Lisa Tuttle. This seems like a likely scenario though, a woman breaks into his hotel room to steal his video games. And he detains her while she screams rape. Right. This is about as believable as Justin Gatlin saying the reason he tested positive steroids was that an angry masseuse poked him with a syringe or Floyd Landis saying "insert any of his 10 excuses here." I think Screech pulled the whole, "Hey, come back to my hotel room and I'll introduce you to Zach" card after a long night of telling dirty jokes at the Funny Bone.

Richard Hatch in Jail was the second most viewed story of the day. I had forgotten that he actually got some jail time. 51 months in prison, albeit a low security one. Not a small sentence by any means. I wonder how much time he'll spend walking around his cell naked and whether he think he can get voted out of prison.