Four Star Week.....

Sometimes in life, things seem to come in clusters. This week it was interaction with U.S. Army four star generals. Last weekend, as noted below, we spent a great two days with my old friend Gen. Tom Hill and his wife Toni. This week's four star encounter was with none other than recently retired General Tommy Franks.

Gen. Franks was back in his old hometown to receive the honor of "Outstanding Citizen" from the local boy scout council. No small award, as past winners who have picked up their awards here are President G.W. Bush, Texas Governor Rick Perry and First Lady Laura Bush. We attended a small reception for the General before the main event which gave us a little one on one time with him and a chance for me to say hell-o to him from several mutual acquaintances like the aforementioned Gen. Tom Hill and my good buddy, author Joe Galloway. Tom and Joe both know Tommy Franks well. We also presented the General with one of the photo images that Galloway took in Vietnam of the actual battle portrayed in the film, We Were Soldiers. The General seemed most appreciative.

We were the guests of Julie's employer, Limark Corp. who were a major sponsor of the event, so we sat at one of the head tables and had the opportunity to say hell-o to Governor Perry. Equally as interesting to me, as an old Eagle Scout, was the great privelage to be seated with the National Executive Director of the Boy Scouts, Mr. Roy Williams. And since everyone at the table was associated with scouting, we had some great conversations about our days and our experinces in the program.

Thanks to Limark Corporation for their kind invitation and it has been fun attending two formal dinners with four star generals in the last six days, but now, I'm looking forward to an informal dinner with the bride to be......Frito Pie perhaps!

The Oil Field.....
I love the oil business, and not just for the money. Quite frankly, most of the time we in the industry don't make as much as the popular consensus or the press ascribes to us. Most of us are not J.R. Ewing. Most of us make a pretty good living, but I dare say that the across the board wages in say, the computer industry, are higher than the average of all those in the energy industry.

One of the things I like about the business is that we are working for ourselves and have a chance to be innovative without asking permission from any higher authorities. Also...truthfully, I love the chance to go out of doors, which is where I prefer to be...and to work with big powerful Bubba type equipment. At least be around it. Not to offend anyone, but it's still pretty much of a mans world out in the oil field.

One of the several creeping changes in the oil business in West Texas is the fact that newly found deposits are increasingly rare. Therefore we come up with ways to better utilize the fields that have been found in the past. One of these methods is to go into old wells that have drained dry their original producing formation, and to try to produce from another untried zone. A "recompletion" we term them. We are currently recompleting a well in Andrews County Texas, attempting to coax more oil from the top of the Devonian formation, the lower half of the zone having been depeleted. Others within close proximity have had some success in this, and for about one third the cost of drilling a brand new well, it is worth the effort to try. This old well was plugged, that is....all the possible producing zones in the well bore have been covered with concrete and now this material must be drilled out in order for us to reach the Devonian over 12,000 ft. below. Catch a glimpse of this operation at the Linaka re-entry photo site.

Old Friends....

There is nothing finer than spending time with old friends, which is what Julie and I did this past weekend in San Antonio. Actually my old friends, but of course, Julie fit right in and she felt like she knew them from the myriad of stories I had told her. The occasion was a college fraternity reunion honoring my dear friend General Tom Hill who was named the Trinity University Alumni of the Year. As Tom said in his acceptance speech, "who would have ever thought this would happen". All of us at the table laughed out loud at that, perhaps a little to loudly.

But Tom has done well. He is only one of a handful of Generals in the Army today with four star rank, and he commands all military forces in the Carribean, and Central and South America. Which includes the miasma in Colombia and the Al Queda detention center in Guantanamo Bay Cuba. Needless to say he had some interesting stories to relate! Like the time he called the head of the military in Colombia to suggest that he support the new president and their constitution. The Generalisimo there said he would and in fact was at that very moment doing so. Tom said that on the phone he could hear automatic weapons firing right outside the Generals office, so he supposed he wasn't lying.

Tom and Toni are great friends and great people. I lived with them at Ft. Benning Georgia when I was a new 2Lt. in the Army, and we became very close. They have traveled in the Army life, so I don't get to see them much at all, though we do call and keep up. So it was a thrill to be able to spend some good time with them in San Antonio...and of course have them meet Julie. Toni kept telling me how much she like Julie and I think Julie enjoyed them, and it was rather exciting to a point. After all she's never ridden in an armed convoy before. Tom, because of his position, has a security staff that travels with him. Three very serious, intent and large young men who wear blue blazers everywhere. The blazers are to hide their automatic weapons. It's a nice feeling, while driving around San Antonio, to have a Ford Explorer following you with well trained young men packing automatic weapons, there to jump in if anything should go amiss.

To honor Tom and Toni, many of my fraternity brothers came to town, and we all had a wonderful time, like you do when you tell the same stories that you tell everytime you get together. But they get better with age, and I didn't mind, Julie got to hear a little about my past life, from those who lived it with me. She didn't jump ship on the drive back to Midland, so I suppose it all went well.

If you'd like to browse through a few pictures of the weekend here they are.

Canned Spam......maybe!

I've always believed that nothing will thwart Spam until it is made illegal. All the blacklists, server and client side filters, and searching out DNS numbers and reporting repeat offenders will do very little until there is actually some punishment involved for the scum who spam.

But now, a glimmer of hope is on the horizon. The Senate has passed anti-spam legislation that is a good start to curbing the problem. And there was no waffling, the vote was 97-0 in favor. As one Senator related, he gets more comments, letters and emails about Spam than any other topic. That's saying something in these troubled times. The vote was 100% in favor, in part, because there can be no one lobbying for Spam. Who would do so, the medical fakirs, Viagra con men, or get rich quick scheme criminals? No, there is no good in Spam.

The bill will not totally prohibit unsolicited email, but will fine, heavily I might add and with jail time, anyone who sends messages under false addresses, highjacked ISP's or where the product is a scam......in other words, everyone who sends Spam these days. I'm not naive enough to think that this will stop all spammers, but it will help. And..it will give prosecuters something to work with. However much of the Spam comes through foreign sources now days, so I would hope that there would be some wording in the bill that penalizes the major US backbone carriers like Verio, Level3, and Sprint if they allow the traffic to come into the US over their lines.

It's about time.......

The thrill of speed......!

The John Foster Open Road Race was run yesterday and by all accounts was a big success. For out of towners, this is something relatively new for Midland and West Texas, an unlimited speed time trial event on the public roadways. If you've ever had the urge to take the old family station wagon and go as fast you can on the open road, this is the event for you.

Approximately 100 miles of remote, yet in good condtion, backroad highways are closed off for several hours while entrants race from St. Lawrence to Rankin to Midland. As you read if you perused the website, the vehicles are divided up by performance classes from your basic car, minimum speed 85 mph, to the unlimited cars with speeds in excess of 200 mph. There are some safety requirements, generally a little more stringent according to the speed of the vehicle class, but basically the event is open to all comers over age 21 and able to pay the somewhat hefty entry fee [most going to charity].

I have mixed feelings about the race, though in the main they are positive. It's a little known fact that I, in my earlier years, attended the Bob Bondurant Racing School in California. A great time and better learning experience concerning driving vehicles very quickly. We learned the basics in suped up production model cars and culminated our experience by driving Formula Ford 2000 machines. Thus I have some knowledge on the topic and even more hefty respect for driving at high speed. Many things not good can happen, and happen more rapidly than one thought possible. I'm not sure that some of the drivers in this event are prepared to cope with such emergencies.

I think that this type of race is a good concept and if I still had one of my Corvettes and it was in good shape, I'm sure I'd give a hard thought to participating in the John Foster. ......however. The however is that I really think that the organizers need to consider very strongly being more circumspect with whom they allow to drive in the event. As the old saying goes, this is an accident waiting to happen. There is a vast difference in having driving experience at somewhat above highway speeds like we do in W. Texas, say 85 mph, and driving the family car at 125 mph. Something will happen. A tire will go, hit a bump the wrong way with soft shocks, be hit with those sudden W. Texas wind gusts and tragedy strikes. It's only a matter of time.

Don't get me wrong I haven't given up on speed in my old age, I think the event should go on, but all it will take is one death with the inevitable lawsuits and the race will be history. Just take a look at the rules and the types of cars allowed in the race. Come to think of it, I really have been getting the urge to get another older model Corvette.

Major League Disappointment.....

As readers know I try and report the news without comment or bias....well some comments and my biases are always justified. But tonight I have to violate my reporting ethic and say my peace on the just named World Series teams. What a major league disappointment.

Who really cares about the Florida Martins or whatever they're called and the once again in the fall classic New York Yankees. A team from Florida named after a bird or a fish or whatever doesn't belong in the series....period. And the Yankees, the best team that money can buy, are seemingly always there. They also feature Roger Clemens, who is without doubt a Hall of Fame player but scores below zero in the category of being a human being. Sorry to say he's from Texas, but he is an anamoly. Most Texans aren't dirtwads, as he is.

You are not a true baseball fan if somewhere within, you weren't rooting for the Chicago Cubs. You may have a hometown or regional favorite club, but your heart told you to at least wish the Cubs the best. The Cubs are the team of the common man. Hard workers, a little inept at times, but always in there trying their damnedest to win the big one. This time, and once again, hard work did not overcome ineptitude and it may be an entire century, or longer, before they do make it to the Big One.

And though not really a Red Sox fan, we were just hoping to see them beat the Yankees if for no other reason than a good ol' Midland High School graduate, Mike Timlin, pitches for them which he did tonight. All in all this will be a Series that I doubt we will watch and besides we won't get to see several of the games anyway, we'll be in San Antonio next weekend whooping it up on The River with old college friends I've known for 35 years. But it's to bad....it could have been such a great Series.

Cure alls........
You can have all the riches in the world, money, fame and a good looking young compassionate fiancee, but if you don't have your health you have nothing! I have learned this once again. For today my sickness is breaking and once again I have all these, excepting fortune and fame. But a sweet fiancee to nurse me on the road back to health is good enough! As you can see by the photos taken yesterday [left] when I was in the death grip of the consumption and the one on the right now that I'm recovering, there is all the difference in the world!

And thanks to the thousands of readers [well OK a couple of emails and a few "comments"] who took the time to send their home remedies. Especially Kev in Australia who remitted one of my old favorites the "rum" cure. In my case being born in Kentucky, I used to take the Early Times whiskey cure. And it really worked. A day home from work sipping the sweet nectar would actually not cure the common cold, but by afternoon you would most certainly not give a damn about the illness. However, in my sad and pathetic case, not only would I forget about the sniffles, I would also forget that I had a job and a mortgage and bills to pay. Thus, and with a great effort, I gave up the whiskey cure almost ten [10] years ago. As they say the cure was killing me, thus the reason for my unfortunate stay in Intensive Care previously mentioned.

I think, actually, the cure that turned the corner today was the chicken soup so graciously provided by my Mother-in-Law to be Pat. A steamy medley of chicken, broth, liberal garlic, onions and black pepper with assorted vegetables. Don't laugh, I have read scientific reports that conclude that there is something in chicken soup that actually does promote the demise of a cold more quickly than most other substances. I didn't try the weedy plant that the Big Gold Dog eats, but that idea still intrigues me.

Now, sometimes in a wistful state I may miss the whiskey cure but if that were the remedy of choice for me now I would not have much of anything including the rambling Bedford Road estate, a career or a beautiful young fiancee. I'll stick with chicken soup anytime!

Disturbing news......

I have very disturbing news today, very disturbing and I hope you can handle it.

I am sick. It is really disturbing for me because I very rarely get sick and this is a most pernicious ailment. The common cold. I'll have to say up front that I don't "do" sick to well, the reason being that this is me we're talking about, not you with your minor complaints. I went for years without having a cold and now I've had one in each of the last two years. It's shameful and I think caused by the continuing allergy problems that plague folks in West Texas. I believe this constant assault on my sino-respiratory system has caused my immune response mechanism to get fairly tired of fending off attacks on my nasal cavities and now it just gives up on occasion.

I don't deserve to get the common cold like you common people. I religously take a plethora of vitamens, minerals and herbs to stay healthy.....which mostly I do. So to feel ill is really a large deparature from normal and although I always have some breathing problems [allergy related], to not be able to breathe at all sucks rotten eggs.

Mind you, I'm not whining here, I'm just stating the facts.....I really feel ill, not like your pathetic little illnesses, but really ill. However I'm soldiering on through the day and starting to think of ways to cure this malady as it has become worse today. I'm a believer in modern drugs, a modern drug having saved my life in Intensive Care twelve years ago, but I also believe in using some of natures own remedies. I believe that sometimes by observing how animals take care of their illnesses we humans might learn a thing or two.

Recently the Big Gold Dog has been amazing me by seeking out one particular plant in the alley. This is not a common plant and he knows the one exact spot to find this broadleaf weed. Apparently this weed has some magical cureative power as he eats quite alot of it and he's feeling fine. So...following in the Big Gold Dog's footsteps I'm going to go out in the back yard and lay in the sun and then walk two blocks up and get some of this dog medicine and make a tea out of it. If it works it may make me a fortune.....Big Gold Dog Cold Cure.

The other all natural cure I would like about now is to be hooked up to a drip IV of antibiotics with an opium chaser. I'd prefer to sleep through this dire illness.

Busy week updates......

**Rain, humidity and cool weather. And then more rain. Light though and the kind that soaks into the soil. If you're not from West Texas you don't know what a need we have for this kind of weather. It's resembling last year's wet October.

**We have a new dining room table. With a good sale price and a gift certificate that Julie had at the store.....we feel like it was almost free. We were somewhat worried about the wood fitting in with the existing Mission and Arts and Crafts furniture, but it's a great fit. We can now have genuine banquets for the masses.


**I've been in discussions with the Dept. of Energy and Sandia National Labs concerning new oil field technology. You remember the Peace Dividend? Of course you do, that's the benefit that would befall the economy by switching from the production of nuclear weapons in the arms race with the Evil Soviet Empire to more positive economical endeavors for the benefit of mankind. Of course, peace didn't really break out all over and one could argue that we are spending more than ever before on defense against the Evil Terror Empire. But...slowly, quietly and in diverse areas, the scientists who once were paid top dollar to devise newer and larger atomic weapons, are using their technological skills to redefine things in the business world.

One of those areas is Microhole Drilling for oil and gas which I am researching. Instead of drill bits and pipe in the 8 to 9 inch range, microhole drilling pipe is as small as 1 7/8th inches with a motorized micro motor attached to the drill bit. The drilling pipe is actually semi-rigid continuous coiled tubing and the whole arrangement is steerable downhole allowing precise directional drilling. Using this technology we could drill certain more shallow wells for one-third to one-quarter of the costs of conventional means. And it's more friendly to the environment too. Currently the boys at Sandia tell me wells down to 3000 ft. are no problem and that eventurally wells to 10,000 ft. will be attainable. It's exciting stuff.

In the News.....

Ask anyone from around my hometown to pinpoint the location of the photo above and most assuredly they would answer, "Well, it's certainly West Texas, and if I had to guess I would say probably down around Rankin or maybe over in Glasscock County on the road to San Angelo". These would be excellent guesses, but would be off be many, many thousands of miles. I was stunned when I saw this image, for the photo was taken right outside of my sister city of Coober Pedy, Australia.

With only the barest of information that I had at the time, I had an inkling that Coober Pedy was in fact much like West Texas, from the local geography right down to the good folks who are mostly scratching a living out of the earth as we do here. I had seen a few photos of the city of Coober Pedy, and had somehow imagined that it was purely flat, but now I can visualize mesas in the distance with scrub brush and perhaps some dry stream beds or as we call them....draws. It feels just like home.

The current edition of The Coober Pedy News features yet another similarity between these Outback Aussies and those of us in West Texas, an interest in horses. Excitement reigns in CP, as the horse racing track is now set to open again after a haitus caused by loss of proper insurance. And I feel that my journalism career has been given a big boost as I have a nice mention by Gary [scroll down].

And if you are in the market for quality opals or just want to view some of these gorgeous stones go to Nick's site Opal Mines Online

Air Show....Day 2

The Canadian Snow Birds flight team is really a spectacular airborne ballet compared to the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds which feature overpowering speed and power. Where else can you see nine jet aircraft flying together straight up and then spliting into a fantastic aerial fleur de lis? They are really top notch.

And top notch is a good description of today's show. I always like the Sunday show....it's less crowded, more at ease and gives me and the volunteers more time to actually watch some of the amazing flying. The weather was the best we've had in years with a warm sun along with a cool breeze to keep temperatures just right, and with puff ball cumulus clouds that give a certain perspective to the aircraft overhead. Especially for the Snowbirds and the Pearl Harbor reenactment where we have over 40 aircraft in the skies at once.

As always, I met someone rather unique today, however, not involved with aviation fame. Mr. Holiman is a rancher in Midkiff, some distance south of Midland. He was one of our gate greeters today. Mr. Holiman is 87 years old and drives up by himself just to help out in anyway he can. I had read the story of how he gave one of his ranches to our local Jr. College, and then sued them to get it back when their trustees, in effect, violated the terms of his endowment. His intent is to find someone or group to make this ranch into a multi-discipline learning experience for kids. A place to learn about their agricultural heritage along with the ecology, geology and history of West Texas. We talked for an hour about ideas to bring his dream into reality. I told him that this interested me greatly and that I would be pleased to help. He promised to give me a call. A really interesting and generous man, and I hope that I look as great as he does should I become 87 years old. Oh, and he said that now that his beloved wife had passed away last year, he was starting to notice women again, and weren't there some great looking ones in shorts at the Air Show!

Another Show under our belts and now we can get some rest!

Air Show......Day One

The first day of the Air Show went splendidly with great flying weather. High broken cumulus clouds at about 5,000 ft., moderate temperatures and gusty but manageable winds. And judging by the number of people we transported, the crowds really exceeded our expectations. Show goers started arriving early and kept coming for hours. The events went as scheduled, and the Canadian Snowbird flight team was spectacular as usual. It's not often you get to see nine jet aircraft flying wingtip to wingtip.

But I have to say again, the highlight of the show [and being in the CAF] is always the people I meet. Usually there is one special person that makes all the hard work worth the effort. Today it was meeting and chatting for awhile with astronaut Bill Anders above. Bill was a crew member on Apollo 8, the first mission to the moon. Bill and his two crew mates Frank Borman and Jim Lovell were the first men to leave earth's gravity and the first to reach the moon, and the first humans ever to view the dark, farside of the moon. Bill's photograph of the earth rising above the moons surface was judged by Life magazine to be one of the 20 most important images of the 20th century.

With a special thanks to Julie, her kids and Dad, and to all my volunteers it was a great day, though exhausting........and another just like it tomorrow.

McGovern Now!.......
For those to young to remember, that was George McGovern's campaign slogan in 1972. George was a very significant figure in 20th century American politics, and although I can't subscribe to many of his more liberal ideas, I have to say that I do admire the man. He came from the era when morals, ethics and political conduct mattered to candidates and to voters.

That is until his opponent Richard Nixon helped to change the game. Senator McGovern was the Democratic candidate for president in '72 and his campaign was the object of Nixon's Watergate break in. McGovern gained his strength from the ever increasing anti-war movement as the Vietnam War dragged on into its 7th year of combat.

The Senator was in town today and at the air show to honor author Stephen Ambrose. Senator McGovern is the subject of Ambrose's best seller The Wild Blue, for while he championed the peace movement, he himself was a warrior. McGovern flew 35 combat missions over Germany as the pilot of a B-24, winning the Distinquished Flying Cross. So, putting personal politics aside it was great to get to greet him [that's me behind him] and to pay our respects to his accomplishments. And Julie got to say hell-o to the authors son, Andy Ambrose, and give him best wishes from the man she works for, who had known Stephen Ambrose.

Tomorrow, the Air Sho starts in earnest! My troops and equipment are ready.

Men at work......

While at the Air Sho site this morning I met and had a good chat with these men at work from the Land Down Under. These Aussie aviation technicians were preparing a 1930's Russian airplane owned by a group in Austrailia. As I've said before, one of the real benefits of the air show is meeting people from parts far distant. And seemingly I've never met an Aussie I didn't get along with famously. These blokes from Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Alice Springs seemed overjoyed to be here and to learn a little bit about our dry desolate part of the earth. I think it reminded the guy from Alice Springs a little of home. We also had a nice conversation about my sister city of Coober Pedy and they were surprised to learn that I had even heard of it, much less that I am the local expert. Two of them had been there.....and opined that Coober Pedy is one of the world's more unique locales.

My mission at the Air Show site was to confirm that all my equipment was "good to go" and that all arrangements for it's use were in order. I'm worried now. Everything was in exactly the right spot, was in a high order of maintenance and all personnel were knowledgable about the timing and location of it's use. I was in the Army far to long to know that when all things are running this smoothly, something of an ill nature is about to happen. Stay tuned for more.....

The one armed paper hanger.......

Digital publishing has been taking very much a back seat to real life of late. I/We/Us, Julie and I, have been very busy with trying to rearrange our lives to merge them into one household. We have been eating, sleeping and dreaming of fabrics, rugs, and window treatments while trying to decide which avenue to approach with the goal of redecorating the Estate. We may have made some progress. While these important decisions were being formulated we also had to finally buck up and decide just where and when we would actually tie the knot. That, thank goodness, is finally decided. The nuptial union will be performed the afternoon of December 30, 2003 at the First Presbyterian Church in Midland.
We think.

While visions of fabrics danced in my head, I've also been spearheading an October reunion of my old fraternity boys from Trinity University. One of our very own, my very close friend Gen. Tom Hill is being honored as the University Alumni of the Year. Tom is a four star general and the commander of SouthCom where he overseas all U.S. military operations and personnel in Central and South America. We're proud of Tom and his wife Toni and I've been trying to get as many frat brothers as possible from our era to come to San Antonio next month to honor him. In a word, trying to get 40 or 50 people from all over the country to merge together at one time is like herding worms. I am making progress.

And for the next five days my attention turns to The CAF AirSho where I hold the exalted position of Transportation Chairman! The crux of this high level assignment is basically imposing upon friends, family [Julies] and neighbors to give up part of their weekend driving vehicles that carry guest and VIPs around the air show grounds. I have a good crew this year and the operation really runs itself once everything is set up prior to the show. But, tomorrow, it is out to the airport for the first inspection of the equipment, obtain volunteer passes......and get Julie a flight suit to befit her positon as "supervisor" of the Transportation Chairman.

The AirSho is a large scale operation, one of the largest tourist events of the year in Midland......and is important in honoring those who have given so much to their country. Downright entertaining too, seeing so many historic warbirds in the air at one time. And just as important is meeting so many of the men who flew them in WWII. This year we have as our feature, The Canadian Snow Birds who are a spectacular show. Also The Bob Hope USO collection from his decades of entertaining the troops. This is only one of two times this exhibit will be shown in the US at a private event. And Bob's long time press agent will be here to help put it into perspective. Also actor Cliff Roberston and Sen. George McGovern will be here to honor author Stephen Ambrose along with Ambrose's son. Ambrose's book, "The Wild Blue", chronicles McGovern's years as a B-24 pilot. I'm looking forward to meeting the Senator. I didn't agree with his politics, particularly, but I always respected him. He came from a time when politics was not based upon personal attacks on the opponents, < oldperson > a somehow better time and one that I miss.< /oldperson > I hope to see you there!

The Emmy's.....

CNN's Quick Vote asks:

What show do you think will win an Emmy for best dramatic series?

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Six Feet Under
The Sopranos
24
The West Wing

My response: Who gives a rat's rear end......I haven't seen a one of them.

Mars......

If you have missed your close encounter with the planet Mars this month, here's an upclose and personal view. Amateur astronomers at our planetarium were out last night allowing the public a great chance to see the red planet. The amateur telescopes were impressive, some linked into computers to allow viewing on laptops and to automatically track Mars as it moved across the sky. The photo above was taken by simply [and carefully] applying my digital camera to the viewing piece of a rather large instrument. Note the ice cap at the north pole!

A flashback in history....

Via email comes this "what if" satire originally written by Rand Simberg. What if.....today's standards of political short sightedness and media bias were applied to the situation in 1945. Interesting.

August 12, 1945

WASHINGTON DC (Reuters) President Truman, just a few months into his young presidency, is coming under increasing fire from some Congressional Republicans for what appears to be a deteriorating security situation in occupied Germany, with some calling for his removal from office.

Over three months after a formal declaration of an end to hostilities, the occupation is bogged down. Fanatical elements of the former Nazi regime who, in their zeal to liberate their nation from the foreign occupiers, call themselves members of the Werwolf (werewolves) continue to commit almost-daily acts of sabotage against Germany's already-ravaged infrastructure, and attack American troops. They have been laying road mines, poisoning food and water supplies, and setting various traps, often lethal, for the occupying forces.

It's not difficult to find antagonism and anti-Americanism among the population--many complain of the deprivation and lack of security. There are thousands of homeless refugees, and humanitarian efforts seem confused and inadequate.
In the wake of the budding disaster, some have called for more international participation in peacekeeping.

A Red Cross official said that, "...the German people will be more comfortable if their conquerors weren't now their overlords. It makes it difficult to argue that this wasn't an imperialistic war when the occupying troops in the western sector are exclusively American, British and French."

The administration, of course, claims that, given the chaos of the recent war, such a situation is to be expected, and that things will improve with time. As to the suggestion to internationalize the occupying forces, the administration had no official comment, but an unofficial one was a repetition of the quote from General McAuliffe, when asked to surrender in last winter's Battle of the Bulge--"Nuts."

In an attempt to minimize the situation, a White House spokesman pointed out that the casualties were extremely light, and militarily inconsequential, particularly when compared to the loss rates prior to VE Day. Also, the attacks seem to be dying down with each passing month. But this statement was leaped upon by some as heartless, trivializing the deaths and injuries of young American men.

Many critics back in Washington seem now to be prescient, with their previous warnings of just such an outcome a little over a year ago. One congressman said that "...it's time to ask whether the German people are better off now than they were a few months ago. Yes, a brutal dictator has been deposed, but at least the electricity and water supply were mostly working, and the trains running on time. After years of killing them and destroying their infrastructure with American bombs, it seems to me that the German people have suffered enough without the chaos that our occupation, with its inadequate policing, is bringing."

It's not clear how much support the Werwolf has among the populace, who may be afraid to speak their true minds, given the fearfully overwhelming "Allied" presence in the country. But it is possible that, like the guerilla forces themselves, the people have been inspired by Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels' pre-victory broadcasts, and those of Radio Werwolf.

"God has given up the protection of the people . . . Satan has taken command." Goebbels broadcast last spring. "We Werewolves consider it our supreme duty to kill, to kill and to kill, employing every cunning and wile in the darkness of the night, crawling, groping through towns and villages, like wolves, noiselessly, mysteriously."

While no new broadcasts of Goebbels' voice have been heard since early May, no one can be certain as to whether he is alive or dead, and continuing to help orchestrate the attacks and boost morale among the forces for German liberation. As long as his fate, and more importantly, that of the former leader Adolf Hitler himself, remains unresolved, the prospects for pacifying the brutally conquered country may be dim.

Although Grand-Admiral Donitz made a radio announcement of Hitler's brave death in battle to the beleaguered German people on the evening of May 1, some doubt the veracity of that statement, and there has been no evidence
to support it, or any body identified as the former Fuehrer's. Rumors ofhis whereabouts continue to abound, including reported sightings as far away as South America, and many still believe that he is hiding with the "Edelweiss" organization, with thousands of Wehrmacht troops, in a mountain stronghold near the Swiss border.

Many have criticized flawed intelligence for our failure to find him, causing some, in the runup to next year's congressional elections, to call for an investigation. A staffer of one prominent Senator said, "For months, starting last fall, we were told by this administration that Hitler would make a last stand in a 'National Redoubt' in Bavaria. General Bradley diverted troops to the south and let the Russians take Berlin on the basis of this knowledge. But now we find out that there was no such place, and that Hitler was in Berlin all along. And now we're told that we can't even be sure of where he is, or whether he's alive or dead."

For many, marching in the streets with signs of "No Blood For Soviet Socialism," and "It's All About The Coal," this merely confirmed that the administration had other agendas than its stated one, and that the war was unjustified and unjustifiable. General Bradley's staff has protested that this is an unfair criticism--that the strategic decision made by General Eisenhower was driven by many factors, of which Hitler's whereabouts was a minor one, but this hasn't silenced the critics, some of whom have bravely called for President Truman's impeachment, despite the fact that most of these decisions were made even before he became president in April.

But some have taken the criticism further, and say that failure to get Hitler means a failed war itself. "Sure, it's nice to have released all those people from the concentration camps, but we were told we were going to war against Hitler, even though he'd done nothing to us," argued one concerned anti-war Senator. "Now they say that we have 'Victory in Europe,' but it seems to me that if they can't produce the man we supposedly went to war against, it's a pretty hollow victory. Without this man that they told us was such a great threat to America, how can even they claim that this war was justified?"

More benevolence for Veterans....

In the continuing story of how our lawmakers treat the very heart and soul of our society, the Veteran, we have the story of the disability squabble. Read as: how can we spend less money on Veterans than we promised.

I am not a retired veteran, nor a disabled veteran, but I spent over 17 years of my life in some form of the military, including ROTC, the Regular Army, the National Guard and the Army Reserves. I have many close friends who are in the retired, disabled or the retired and also disabled category. From the later I have been kept abreast of the government's campaign to short change the ones who have given the most to their country.

Under current mandate, if you are a retired veteran who happens to also be disabled, the total amount of your disability payment is deducted from your retirement pay. Some veterans who are 100% disabled, receive no retirement stipend at all, only disability. In other words, if you flew 100 deadly missions over Hanoi for your country's sake, but were shot down, spent 7 years as a POW, were tortured to the point that you ended up as a quadriplegic, all you could collect is your disability payment. A payment intended to help defray the cost of your injuries. You would kiss your retirement pay, based on 30 years of selfless service good-bye.

Now after years, and legions of veterans explaining how unfair this is, the Congress is prepared to rectify this injustice. And how do they propose to do this? As Joe Galloway explains in his current article Robbing Sgt. Peter to Pay Sgt. Paul the "honorable" men on the Potomac are set to pay current veterans what they are due by not paying future veterans what they might be due. I can see the volunteer ranks swelling when the potential recruit learns that losing a leg might be, according to the new philosophy, only a minor injury.

We Support our Troops.....But!
"Jeebus h. Christ! Is about the only thing I can think of to say in response to this one".

That was the accompanying comment written by my friend, author Joe Galloway, when he sent me this article from the Stars and Stripes newspaper. Apparently in it's infinite wisdom the Department of Defense is making some soldiers wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq pay for their meals while in the military hospital.

Surprising? Not really when you consider some of the other pronouncements coming from DoD recently. Like the "study" currently being done that would aim to considerably lower benefits to Veterans in the future. Veterans benefits, like a free education, decent retirement pay and medical benefits, have long been a lure to young people in joining the military and a just reward for a hard life of service in harms way. Now the reasoning seems to be that American citizens volunteer for our armed services, they know the dangers in the job, and so they should not receive any special treatment beyond the abnormally low wages received for serving and protecting the Nation.

Despite all the election time high speaking from most politicians about how we love and support our servicemen and women, the sad truth is that mostly it's a lot of hot air. The bottom line is money and a reelection ticket that can show that "we lowered our spending" for you the taxpayer.... and oh yeah, the voter. This reminds me of the situation currently ongoing in our area of West Texas. The Veterans Administration is "studying" the possiblity of closing the large regional Veteran's Hospital in Big Spring and transfering services to smaller clinics. The V.A. press releases state something to the effect that they are doing this "to better serve our servicemen and women......." Sadly, whenever I see that the Dept. of Veterans Affairs is doing something to "better serve me", I know I'm screwed.

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The following comment arrived by email from a retired Army Officer......

"Ah, but you don't know the half of it. Lets say I'm so *Bleep*ed up I'm on IV drip for six months in a coma. Under the current miserly government regulations which are passed by Congress and not the military, I would be charged for three meals a day for six months or about 180x$8.10 a day. We are the only *Bleep*ing army on the planet that charges its troops to eat in the field and in combat!!!! During DS/DS the *Bleep*suckers took my BAS back each month because they were giving me MRE's and other crap for the 7 1/2 months I was deployed. I lost 30 lbs on their largesse. Congress needs to fix it for everybody, not just the wounded. Why should a soldier give up his Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) WHICH IS TAX FREE AND DONE IN ORDER TO INCREASE HIS MEASLY *Bleeping* PAY because he is now being shot at??? How could we be so stupid!!??"