Work Your Brain — 09/02/06

First Some Fun

• Thursday Thirteen #3 — Baggage @ Baggage That Goes With Mine wrote thirteen reasons why the internet is better than real life. This is my favorite.
  

  11. On the internet, you can pop into a forum or a blog and tell a person that their beliefs are dumb, they should be breastfeeding, they should never co-sleep, they should divorce their husband, they should shave their legs, and they should stop wearing mom jeans. In real life, people would punch you in the face.

In Memory Of Katrina

• But you can keep them for the birds and bees — Mac @ PeskyApostrophe wonders about all of that Katrina aid money the U.S. asked for and got from other countries last year. She comes to the same conclusion I did.
  

  I’m appalled at a variety of things when it comes to the Katrina rebuilding effort and FEMA’s role in it all, but this is a whole new level of incompetence. As part of my new job, I am now involved in grant-writing. In a good portion of grants, the grantee expects a report as to how the money was used. While I’m sure these gifts did not come with any reporting requirements, if one of our grantees found out their money had been either wasted or didn’t got to the program for which it was intended that would pretty much guarantee they’d never give money to us again. And you have to wonder if, should another emergency situation arise, these countries would think twice about giving aid money to the U.S. if we’re not going to use it and use it wisely.

• First the Flood, Now the Fight — Spencer S. Hsu @ WashingtonPost.com wrote a special report on the butting of heads between FEMA and state and city officials in the rebuilding of the Gulf States and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. FEMA swears it’s not trying to be difficult but the process seems to be designed to wear down those requesting help until they just give up and either take what little they’ve been given, which isn’t much if anything.
  

  Through hundreds of such disputes large and small, the most costly disaster in U.S. history is fast becoming its most contentious, with appeals and disputes worth nearly a billion dollars bogging down repairs of critical public systems and delaying the return of residents.

  Current and former officials at all levels blame FEMA workers’ inexperience with eligibility rules, weaknesses in U.S. disaster laws and inconsistent treatment by Congress for much of the wrangling. The huge scale of the storm and honest disagreement over whether federal or local taxpayers should pay the tab add to the conflict.

  “Disasters should be difficult to declare. . . . But once you get them, FEMA should not worry about cutting costs,” said Daniel A. Craig, who stepped down in October as head of FEMA’s recovery division and is now consulting for New Orleans. “Public entities are eligible for everything they have lost due to the disaster. It is not up to FEMA to cut corners or makes sure money is saved.”

  Gil H. Jamieson, FEMA’s deputy director for Gulf Coast recovery, agreed that “we’re in this to rebuild the city” and added: “We are not in it to delay for the sake of delay. Are there folks who sometimes hose it up? Absolutely. But I think we’re doing a good job of helping it recover.”

  The disputes come as the costliest part of the recovery begins: restoring water, power, roads, bridges, schools and other public facilities along the Gulf Coast. Agency veterans said the spending will have more impact on the physical rebuilding of the Gulf area than anything else FEMA does over the next decade, possibly eclipsing its role in aiding individual victims of the storm.

  The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, for instance, sustained $446 million in storm losses, said Executive Director Marcia St. Martin. But FEMA has committed just $113 million so far.

  FEMA notes that New Orleans promised U.S. environmental regulators $640 million in repairs before Katrina, and that the antiquated system is too big for the Crescent City’s reduced population.

  “That’s what makes a city — if you don’t have water, sewer and drainage, you don’t have a city,” lamented Robert Jackson, spokesman for the sewer board. “The money so far only scratches the surface of the devastation.

  Hat Tip: Susie @ Suburban Guerrilla

More

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, Internet, Hurricane Katrina, FEMA, aid money, Gil H. Jamieson, Daniel A. Craig, Gulf Coast recovery, New Orleans, Islamofascism, George W. Bush, Muslims, women in the media, Support the Troops, defense appropriation bill, Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, Iraq, Afghanistan, Congress, Pentagon, Lower 9th Ward, National Hurricane Canter, 9/11, Max Mayfield, Osama bin Laden, Hezbollah, terrorism, Ann Jones, Taliban, NATO, Christians, American Dream, Martin Niemoller, Germany, Nazis, Rocky Anderson, Utah, Salt Lake Tribune, patriotism, lie, Walter Jones, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, Colin Powell, Dick Cheney, Caddam Hussein, Donald Rumsfeld

Support Our Sci-Fi/Gamer American Troops

Today at DragonCon in the independent dealer’s room, I met Richard Tucholka, President of Tri Tac Systems (Fantastic Games & Graphics). He is collecting donations of sci-fi/fantasy-related or RPG gaming reading materials to American troops over in Iraq and Afghanistan. After all, believe it or not but geeks can be soldiers too.

You know, they can’t have a large selection of reading materials and such over there. It’s not like they can run into the Barnes & Nobles or Borders down the street. I mean, it’s hard enough to find good sci-fi/fantasy and gaming materials in the States. I keep thinking of that episode of M*A*S*H where they have no reading material and BJ gets the murder mystery and they’re tearing the pages out and sharing them.

Anyway, in support of our troops, I’m posting his email and address with his permission for you to either contact him or send donations to him. I know I’ll be going through my own bookshelves when I get home. I might even have some extra games to send. Actually, I just remembered that SJ Games’ Dealer’s table is having a big sale on old books; I might stop by there in the morning.

Richard can be contacted via Tucholka At aol DOT com. Be sure to ask to see a picture of his kitchen table. The amount of donoations he’s already collected is quite impressive.

You can mail your donations to:

Support Our Sci-Fi/Gamer Troops
c/o Richard Tucholoka
Tri Tac Systems
235 West Fairmount Ave.
Pontiac, MI 48340

Update: When I went to the SJ Games booth to buy some books from their sale table, I told the sales guy what I was up to and he put together a separate bag of boxes of miniatures to donate as well! Yay for them. I was also stopped by a young man who is in the military and thanked for what I was doing. I wish I’d gone to more booths now and asked for more donations.

Tags: American soldiers, roleplaying games, Iraq, Afghanistan, Support the Troops, SJ Games

Not All Soldiers & Vets Take Anti-War Protests Personally

Some people would have you believe that all of the soldiers oversees are glad to be there and see the Iraq War as a noble mission. Some people would have you believe that all of the soldiers are personally insulted by war protestors. Some people would have you believe that you cannot support your troops and be against the war in Iraq at the same time.

I don’t believe that’s true. I’m of the opinion that the soldiers in the military have their own minds and their own opinions despite the fact that the military tries to train that out of them early on. My friend D, who’s a military lawyer and an officer, who’s been told he could ship out for active duty in Iraq any day, has indicated to me that he doesn’t have this hive thinking. He thinks this is the wrong war and the wrong time. He’s not the only one I’ve talked to either. He’s not the only one who’s voicing his opinion either.

I think there are just as many soldiers both here in the states and overseas in Iraq who have mixed feelings about the whole thing as there are civilians. I think there are just as many soldiers as civilians who have questions that the administration won’t answer. I think we’re all in the same boat.

And I don’t believe that soldiers today are affected the same way by anti-war protests as they were in Vietnam. For the most part, most of those protesting don’t hate the military. They seem to be interested in bringing our soldiers home safely and alive and all in one piece. We’ve learned from the Vietnam experience. We’ve come of age. Well, some of us anyway.

The following is from a transcript of an interview with First Sergeant Perry Jefferies, a 20 year veteran, who served in Iraq before retiring last year:

BRANCACCIO: What do you make of [Cindy Sheehan’s vigil]?

PERRY JEFFERIES: I think it’s pretty interesting. I like the fact that she’s putting stress on the system. Asking for an answer to a question that has not been asked enough yet. There’s a lot of people out there. I don’t know that they’re all germane to that situation. But I don’t think it’s bad that they’re being allowed to express their opinions.

BRANCACCIO: Do you consider yourself a– I don’t know, a peacenik?

PERRY JEFFERIES: No, not at all.

PERRY JEFFERIES: I love this country. I think we need a strong defense. In a perfect world, sure, nobody would fight. Nobody would want to invade our land or take over our ideals or force their way of life on us. But that’s not how the world is. And so the only way that we can maintain our way of life is to have a strong defense and to be ready to defend that when need be. To do that we need an accomplished army. Well trained. Well resourced. With all the things they need to do what they do. And we had that before we started this little adventure here. Now we’re beginning to eat it up and chew it up. The equipment and the people are getting chewed up and spat out. And that’s not the right way to defend our country.

BRANCACCIO: I was reading Reuters this week and I saw a quote from a Vietnam vet over at the VFW convention. And he thought that Cindy Sheehan can’t have it both ways. You can’t be against the war and for the troops. What are your thoughts on that?

PERRY JEFFERIES: Oh, I don’t think that’s right at all. I tell you I was in Iraq and we saw some of the peace protests that were done at that time. And I felt like people really cared about me because they were taking the time to address the issues. And get really involved and do something rather than just emit jingoistic slogans.

BRANCACCIO: And you’re not concerned that it somehow dishonors people who are working so hard over there, putting their lives at risk, when people question the policy there?

PERRY JEFFERIES: No, I think that’s why our people– that’s why our young men and women all are working over there. So that people can express that opinion. And we want that for the Iraqi people and we want to make sure we maintain that for us here too.

BRANCACCIO: Now the President of the United States said this week that the best way to honor people who are serving there, as well as those who have served, like yourself, is to stay the course and get the job done. What’s your reaction?

PERRY JEFFERIES: Well, I think what he’s done is he’s tried to set up a straw man and say that people there are advocating an absolute pullout.

BRANCACCIO: An immediate withdrawal?

PERRY JEFFERIES: Right. I don’t think that’s reasonable now. And I think that Mrs. Sheehan’s question is ‘what noble cause?’ And I think that’s an issue that needs to be addressed. And we accomplished all of the objectives that we said that we were going to Iraq for. So for what reason are we staying? Everybody talks about this course and winning. But no one can define it. And until we identify that problem and assess what we have to do to accomplish the goal. Our men and women are just idling in the kill zone. They’re just killing time over there.

So we need to figure out what we’re doing there, make sure the American public agrees to do that, and will make the sacrifices necessary, and to give our men and women on the ground the resources they need. And when they come home then we need to make sure that they are taken care of properly.

BRANCACCIO: You’re saying the resources they need. But also what? A more clearly defined strategy? That’s what you’re asking for?

PERRY JEFFERIES: Exactly. There seems to be no real mission right now. We keep talking about winning and fighting terrorists. But terrorism is a technique. You can’t win against terrorism. We’ve talked about turning it over to the Iraqi Army and we’ve talked about the constitutional process. The original reasons that were given to the public are obviously not true.

But the fact is we got about 140,000 of America’s best and brightest sitting in the desert and just sort of standing in a kill zone, waiting for something to happen so that they can react to it. They’re working hard. At the company level, each and every day they’re doing their little projects. They’re making schools. They’re building roads. But that’s not why we sent them there. That’s not why we’re spending that money. So we need to tell them what the goal is, what they have to achieve. The military will make a plan to accomplish that and you can get those people home.

BRANCACCIO: What about just the goal establishing political stability in Iraq? I mean that’s ostensibly what’s going on. That’s what we’re waiting for?

PERRY JEFFERIES: Well, that’s what they’re saying but that’s an awful amorphous goal. You can’t define that in metrics. Mr. Rumsfeld, the civilian head of the Pentagon right now, he comes from a corporate world where everything is measured. And every night our commanders in Iraq have to submit all kinds of data, reams of data and numbers to what they call a battle update brief. Where they keep track of what they’ve done that day. And yet there seems to be no metric that defines our success. And the only numbers we hear are changed constantly. How many Iraqi troops are trained. How many schools are built. How many soldiers are coming or going. We have the generals saying one thing. The civilian leadership saying another. And none it seems to make any sense. We need a hard and fast goal. [“Now Transcript - August 26, 2005″ (PBS)]

Jefferies is obviously someone who’s lived it and put a lot of thought into what needs to be done. We need more people like him — people who see the big picture and don’t focus on knee-jerk reactions of “us” vs. “them”.

The following is from the Star Tribune in the Letters from readers section:

As a U.S. Marine currently deployed to Iraq, I would like to respectfully disagree with a fellow Minnesotan who stated that people who protest the war hurt troops’ morale (”Letters from readers,” Aug. 26).

Public debate and discussion are vital to the health of a democracy. It is a good thing when I see Americans exercising their right of freedom of speech.

Seeing people exercise freedoms that many in other countries don’t have is something that we all should be thankful for — whether you agree with what is being said or not. Semper Fidelis!

James Haugerud,
Camp Blue Diamond,
Ar Ramadi, Iraq. [“What Is He Fighting For?” (Star Tribune)]

Yay for Haugerud for realizing that our right to protest is what he’s a defender of. We can’t sacrifice our own freedoms in the name of bringing freedom to other countries. That’s extremely hypocritical.

And these quotes are from an article in The Pensacola News:

If there’s growing sentiment against the war in Iraq, many area veterans of the fight aren’t taking it personally.

Vets see the opposition as a protest against policy, not them or their service.[“Vets see protests as attack on policy” (The Pensacola News)]

“I have run into people who don’t support the president’s views on Iraq or our objectives, but I haven’t run into a single person who said (he or she) doesn’t support the troops,” said Jason Crawford, a Purple Heart recipient who was shot in the face by opposition forces in December 2003 while in Iraq. “I think our society learned from Vietnam that it’s not the men and women who sacrifice their lives and signed on the dotted lines who make up the plans and objectives. I think pretty much everyone supports the troops.”

That’s even if they don’t approve of the U.S. involvement in Iraq that began in March 2003. [“Vets see protests as attack on policy” (The Pensacola News)]

Finally someone who gets that you can support your troops while disapproving of the Commander -in-Chief and his minions.

Army Reserves Lt. Col. Alice Bell, 46, who spent 10 months in Kuwait in support of the Iraq invasion, said she has heard nothing but praise since returning home.

“It’s not like in Vietnam, when they spat on troops coming back,” she said. “Some people don’t agree with the mission itself. But even if they’re against the war effort, they’re for the troops. They realize we’re doing what we have to do, what we’ve been ordered to do, whether we agree with it or not.” [“Vets see protests as attack on policy “(The Pensacola News)]

But Crawford and others believe there would be fewer protests and more support for military operations in Iraq if Americans had a clearer picture of what’s going on there.
[“Vets see protests as attack on policy” (The Pensacola News)]

That last one is so true. Maybe if Americans felt that the Administration was more upfront with them, maybe if the Administration answered some of the publics questions with real answers instead of slogans and rhetoric, maybe if more time was spent explaining the productive efforts of the troops and not just the fighting part, maybe there would be fewer protestors.

Hat tip to The Green Knight and Shakespeare’s Sister.

Tags: Iraq, anti-war, protest, American soldiers, Support the Troops

Support Thy Troops Anecdote

Thanks to pen & sword for directing me to this great anecdote by a reservist back from Afghanistan.

Tags: blogs, Support the Troops

A Nation Divided

I have for some time been searching for a way to express how I feel about the war in Iraq. I’m tired of being told I’m unpatriotic and Unamerican if I disagree with the war itself. I’m tired of being insulted and being accused of not supporting the troops because I vocally believe exactly what Kerry has said — “Wrong war, wrong time.”

Someone finally put into words what I’ve been trying to convey. It is possible to support our troops while disagreeing with the commander-in-cheif. I think the men and women who choose to serve in the military are very special, brave people who deserve respect. I am aware that many of them believe in the “cause” they are fighting for in Iraq, though I suspect that number is higher than it probably would be if many didn’t feel the need to believe it’s righteous to make themselves feel better about it all.

D was supposed to ship out to Iraq last month. His orders changed at the last minute to my relief. Apparently to his as well. He told me how important it is to vote in this election and vote for someone who’ll put an end to the madness.

My neighbor, a man who has served in the Navy in several wars including Vietnam, doesn’t like what Kerry did immediately after coming home from Vietnam (something he and I disagree on), but he’s voting for Kerry. He doesn’t seem to think that Bush is doing a very good job making decisions for this country, particularly where our military is concerned.

My father who was Army, who I thought was a Republican growing up, is probably the most liberal person I know now. He’s voting for Kerry. Like me, he never believed in the WMD claims by this administration.

I feel so sad because at one time I did respect President Bush. I thought that while he didn’t appear to be a very smart man, he had been smart enough to surround himself with smart people. Now I think that has turned around and bit him in the ass. I think he sees the world through rose-colored glasses provided to him by the likes of Dick Chenney and the other Bush minions. I think that Bush can stand up there and tell lies and mislead the country because he’s been misled by his own people, the people he trusts. I’m not saying his completely innocent. I also think he wanted to get Sadaam and he challenged his people to find a way.

It’s all such a disappointment.

The truth is that I like Kerry. I even like most of the things that the Republicans accuse him of. When I have gone to investigate the accusations and claims, I’ve found that in the correct context, mis-quoted things make sense and show him to be an intelligent man who looks at the changing world and changes with it as needed. I look at his record in Congress and I am not at all upset by most of his choices. I don’t know how he’d be as president. Obviously I hadn’t known how Bush would be. You take that risk when you vote. I know how Bush has been the last two years. I see how his administration has misled this country, sent our men and women to die, left Osama Bin Laden running free despite claims to get him no matter what, and destroyed most of the environmental protection legislation in favor of unregulating corporations who are out to help themselves despite the effects on the less-than-priviliged and the next generations who inherit the world.

But still mostly, I’m tired of the division in this country. Bush was supposed to be a uniter but from Nov. 2, 2000, he has been everything but with the exception of the few months following September 11, 2001 — which was more a coming together of patriotism and pride and mourning by the American people. Al-Queida united us far better than Bush has.

Tags: Iraq, patriotism, John Kerry, George W. Bush, Support the Troops, mud-slinging