Greetings Earthlings!

"[We] have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honor. They have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information. The Baghdad communiqués are belated, insincere, incomplete. Things have been far worse than we have been told, our administration more bloody and inefficient than the public knows. It is a disgrace to our [national] record and may soon be too inflamed for any ordinary cure. We are today not far from a disaster. Our unfortunate troops ... under hard conditions of climate and supply are policing an immense area, paying dearly every day in lives for the willfully wrong policy of the civil administration in Baghdad but the responsibility, in this case, is not on the army which has acted only upon the request of the civil authorities."

T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)
The Sunday Times, August 1920

I dont like to be too political here because I dont think the internet tends to intelligent discourse on this subject. People feel more likely to attack and and rant madly because it can be so anonymous. But when I saw this quote wandering the web the other night I felt it deserved comment.

I am very conflicted about the war in Iraq. While I was very against going in the first place, but I dont think we can just pull out in a hurry now that we are there. Karl von Clausewitz said that "War is nothing more than the continuation of politics by other means." I am afraid far too many politicians believe this. Sending men to die should be the action of last resort. I have had too many of my cousins serve in the Army and the Air Force to feel sending them somewhere without a well thought out plan of attack and withdrawal does not serve our military well. We also cannot sustain the current level of troop deployments. The National Guard wasnt meant to be used as much as they have called upon to do and now they are having trouble keeping those they have. Also the main source of recruits they had (recently discharged members of the service) are no longer as willing to sign up because they dont want to go back into Iraq.

It is just sad that we havent learned by all the countries that have tried to "fix' the middle east countries that it dosent work. They dont trust us and I dont blame them.

Few thoughts by others wiser than I.....

"There has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefited."
--Sun Tzu ((ca. 500 BC))

"War is like a big machine that no one really knows how to run and when it gets out of control it ends up destroying the things you thought you were fighting for, and a lot of other things you kinda forgot you had."
-- Anonymous

"The past is prophetic in that it asserts loudly that wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Nothing to see here move along.

Presented for no good reason

Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants to see us happy. - Benjamin Franklin

When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. Sooooo, let's all get drunk and go to heaven! -- Brian O'Rourke

WOODY: What's the story, Mr. Peterson?
NORM: The Bobbsey twins go to the brewery. Let's cut to the happy ending.

WOODY: How would a beer feel, Mr. Peterson?
NORM: Pretty nervous if I was in the room

COACH: Can I draw you a beer, Norm?
NORM: No, I know what they look like. Just pour me one.

If my mother was tied up and held ransom, I might think about making a light
beer -- Greg Koch, CEO and co-founder of Stone Brewing

All right, brain, I don't like you and you don't like me - so let's just do this and I'll get back to killing you with beer. -- Homer Simpson

Beer: The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems. -- Homer Simpson

He was a wise man who invented beer. -- Plato

I would give all my fame for a pot of ale, and safety. -- Shakespeare, King Henry V

A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the decency to thank her. -- W. C. Fields

I drink with impunity...or anyone else who invites me. -- W.C. Fields

It is a fair wind that blew men to the ale. -- Washington Irving

I dont know who he is but if you have your own Blog take this survey...

From rickj The Eye of Sauron?

From wicked_wish It's a writer's job to eavesdrop, yes?

It's a writer's job to eavesdrop, yes?
[Overheard in McDonald's this morning]

Two little boys, approximately 4 or 5 years old, spy each other in line. Their mothers are holding their respective hands, staring straight ahead at the menu board with that dispassionate glazed look -- like they're pumping gas, or waiting for a dog to do its business.

Little boy #1: Hey! You get McDonald's for breakfast too!
Little boy #2: Yeah! I'm getting pancakes! I thought I was never going to get pancakes again.
Little boy #1: How come? Your mom doesn't make pancakes at home?
Little boy #2: No. I only get them here. And I didn't think I was ever going to taste them ever again.
Little boy #1: How come?
Little boy #2: Because after my little brother's birthday party, my Mom said she'd rather take it up the ass than eat here anymore.

* Who, as he was being led back to a booth by his hysterically laughing mother, was fussing, "BUT I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!"

Instead of saying the the regular Pledge of Allegiance what the kid said was (mind you he is only 8) "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United Federation of Planets, and to the galaxy for which it stands, one universe, under everybody, with liberty and justice for all species."

Kid kicked out for saying Star Trek pledge

Coming soon from DC Comics....

KAMANDI ARCHIVES VOL. 1 HC
Written by Jack Kirby Art by Kirby & Mike Royer Cover by Kirby

The first archive in a series collecting the adventures of Kamandi, the last boy on Earth, by Jack Kirby! In these tales from KAMANDI #1-10 (1972-1973), Kamandi - one of the few survivors of the Great Disaster - must make his way in a world populated by bizarre mutated animals and other strange wonders!
On sale Sept 14 o 244 pg, FC, $49.99 US

Now we can only hope that DC does the Fourth World and OMAC in archives as well.