The Laughing Wolf

Murtha And Cunningham

No links, I am on vacation and lazy. While I respect the fact that both served, I have no respect for either person this day. At best, both are fools. My take is that both are tools who have betrayed the trust of their band of brothers many times over. One does it for politics and power, the other for money. Ultimately, there is no difference as both have placed the volunteers in our military in harms way -- in point of fact, willfully endangered them by their actions. Both deserve contempt and censure for their acts and to be shunned by all who are Men, be they male or female.

LW

A Day Of Thanks

Amidst all that is bad in the world, it is good and right to set aside time to remember all that is right with our worlds. Indeed, I think it should be done more often than once a year. That said, here are a few of the things for which I am thankful:

Old Friends: Or rather, long-term friends. Those that have known me for years and still -- for some odd reason -- like me and continue to be the family that has chosen me, or I them. They stand through thick and thin.

New Friends: I have made a number of new acquaintances in the last few years, a number of new friends, and even some True Friends in the bargain.

Absent Friends: Two-legged, four-legged, whatever. Each has enriched my life and given more than I would ever have dared ask, or deserve. A reminder that it oft is nice to get what we need, rather than what we think we deserve. See you in the light my friends.

Health: No, I am not in the shape I care to be, but the results of the physical appear to be quite good so far. In fact, far better than I expected. Who can complain about that?

Work: A steady paycheck has been good, and I have gotten to work on or with some neat and interesting things and some neat and interesting people. For the latter in particular, I am thankful.

The Lair: I have long wanted a home of my own, and while it has been a money pit of sorts, it is also wonderful. For it, and the opportunity it presents, I am thankful. Still think friend G is trying to kill me with the flowers and landscaping though...

Good Neighbors: One set of neighbors in particular have reminded me of what it means to be a neighbor, and to be neighborly.

Meeting People: I've had the chance to meet a lot of people this last year, and I have met some truly wonderful ones. Meeting new and different people is truly a wonder and a blessing.

Learning: I have been given so many chances to learn this last year. Work has exposed me to new professional concepts, reminded me of things long forgotten, and -- best of all -- has introduced me to new areas of research that are simply fascinating. Wolf Park has exposed me to so much more than just wolf poo. P & G have taught me more about animal behavior in just a few short months than I have learned in the last ten years, and may even allow me to expand that into animal care a bit as well. A has taught me a good bit about bison and bison herding, though A may be coming around (at least in one particular case) to my position that bison are best medium rare. A different A has taught me so much about foxes, and taken the time to show the details and subtle points on these fascinating creatures. My thanks also to Wolf Park for letting me attend Dr. Ray Coppinger's seminar, more on that soon once my brain tops hurting...

Those Who Serve: Some I know, most I do not, but for them very special thanks this day! Each sails into harms way, no matter how they serve. Those in the military openly defend me and mine, and keep the enemy at bay. They liberate not just territory, but hearts and minds as well. There are those, military and other, who fight in the shadows and the dark. They too keep the enemy at bay, and remove their fangs as most sleep. Special thanks to you, the unheralded and unsung. Here at home, law enforcement, paramedics, and firefighters deserve our thanks too, for they oft fight a different foe. In particular, thank a paramedic or a firefighter today, and remember that outside of the cities many/most of these are volunteers. They are your neighbors, your friends.

The Good, The Bad: The Ugly, the beautiful, the pleasurable, the painful and all else have shaped this year and me. Together and individually, they provide the opportunity for growth and growth is good. The day we stop learning, and stop growing, is the day we truly die even if the body lives on.

For You: My readers, my acquaintances, my friends, and more. Your being here, your reading, your taking part in blog and in life is something for which I am deeply and truly thankful.

There is so much more, but this hits the high points.

Oh, one more thing:

J, I miss you too.

LW

Looking Out My Back Door

With apologies, no Buck Owens (more a Flat & Scruggs type myself) but just thought I would share the view out my back door with you today.

LW

If You Use Frelling Poison

To kill pests, then for Ifni's sake use it responsibly. I had thought that Ginger had been poisoned based on symptomology. I got a message this morning from my neighbor that they had found Ginger's remaining kitten dead, also apparently from poison. I've also found out that we have a neighbor who is known to use poison on pests.

There are times when poison needs to be used. Even then, there is no excuse for not using it properly. Animals that get hit by direct or secondary poison die very painful and nasty deaths. By the time symptoms manifest, it is usually way too late to do any good.

A cat who loved me and her kitten suffered because someone did NOT do things properly, IMO.

Think before you spread poison around, because other lives will be affected if you don't do it right.

LW

Changes

Change is the one constant in life. Cliche, but true and it is time for some changes here. My hope is to change software, layout, and update the blogroll over the next few months. Yet, the largest change will have an even more profound impact on the site.

Since somewhere around March 2003, I have been posting on various topics. My start was at Winds of Change and I have posted daily here since April of 2003. Many days have more than one post, and very few days have been skipped. No more.

There are many things going on in my life right now, some for good, some for the worse, and some that could go either way depending on how I deal with them. So, I am going to be putting the time into them, for the better. I have no intention of quitting, just of dropping back a little and trying not to feel that I have to post. I may take a week off here or there, so that I can recharge the batteries a bit, and get back to the type of posts that I like to do. To once again be able to look in detail at what lies behind, to spur some thought, and to avoid the deadly either/or democrat/republican left/right false binary mindset of which there is already far too much out there.

So, go enjoy the wide range of excellent food for thought out there. I will still be here, and maybe with some better food on the plate soon.

LW

Into The Light: Ginger The Barn/Feral Cat

It has been far too interesting a week on many levels. I just had to put Ginger down. I had found her yesterday on a quick trip home, obviously with a problem, but she had moved off when I came back out of the house. I got home again around 0230 and found her again, but made the decision to do nothing as it was late and I could not consult with the neighbor who owned her (if anyone could claim such) and did not want to fire a gun then. She was still there this morning, curled up, twitching, not really responsive, and cold. I got my neighbor and we checked her out. There was nothing that could be done, except keep her from suffering, so I dug a grave and gave her the final gift: a round in the back of the head and a round in the ear. May the light welcome her home, warm her, and may her next be much better than this.

LW

Go Soldier's Angels! Go Project VALOR-IT!

It is true that I have spent a large portion of time around the boys in blue, no, not the Post Office but the others using the same uniform, the Air Force. It is true that a lot of my ROTC time was with AFROTC. Yet, not all my time is there and the little certificate upstairs for ROTC and training says Army. Besides, one should never trust a smiling Blackfive, for the camera is loaded with infrared film I do not want shared, so...

I have joined the Army Team for Project VALOR-IT. What is it, you say?

Project Valour-IT, in memory of SFC William V. Ziegenfuss, provides voice-controlled software and laptop computers to wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand and arm injuries or amputations at major military medical centers.  Operating laptops by speaking into a microphone, our wounded heroes are able to send and receive messages from friends and loved ones, surf the 'Net, and communicate with buddies still in the field without having to press a key or move a mouse. The experience of CPT Charles "Chuck" Ziegenfuss, a partner in the project who suffered hand wounds while serving in Iraq, illustrates how important this voice-controlled software can be to a wounded servicemember's recovery. (text stolen from Blackfive, why work when great is there)

I am going to add to this post as time goes by, and it will stay at the top until the 11th, so please help.

See Blackfive's posts here and here
LW

To All Our Veterans

Thank you.

You left your comfortable homes
You left behind that softer world
For marching, drill, and kit
For rules and days with bugles lit
For barracks and grounds and rounds

So that others could peaceably sleep
in beds soft and sweet
You stood post in the cold
on hard grounds untold

In peace and in war you have stood
between the darkness and homes warm hearth

So well have so many served that today many fail to see, much less appreciate, the job done so well. To be honest, I am around people every day who look down upon those who serve. Who refuse to acknowledge or even consider that they can spout off -- even complete and utter nonsense -- without fear of true repression only because of the sacrifices made by those who's shoes they are not fit to clean.

To every man, woman, and child who has served in the U.S. military since the very beginning, my thanks to you. Because you have stood your watch, and made your sacrifice, we enjoy the sweet fruits of liberty in a way that the majority of the world still does not.

LW

NOTE: Yes, children. Study your history as children have fought as everything from Navy powder monkeys (as young as five if memory serves) to infantry. Some of our greatest soldiers lied about their age to get in. And just for the record, you will find that some who have served lied about their gender to do so too -- just check out the Civil War for a few examples... Each and every one of them, man, woman, and child has more balls, honor, and integrity than all of the anti-military types put together.

This Is The Way To Celebrate Veteran's Day

Just take a look at the post at the top and cheer. This is so much better, more meaningful, than any memorizing of In Flanders Fields and such.

We went over the top yesterday and are moving towards some serious overachievment. I don't want just serious, I want ridiculous. I want completely absurd. So, get to it. Click that button and make a donation if you have not already done so. Let's give our wounded a way to communicate, and to rehabilitate.

At the risk of being treasonous, I am even going to point out a couple of other options to you. Courtesy of T1G I found out that Holly Aho is running a kissing and tattoo booth to raise money. You know, I may just have to go for that as I think she is not just a great lady, but a cute one too. FWIIW Holly, I might just have bought an autographed picture of you...

Or, you can go here and star in your very own Day-By-Day strip. The talented and wonderful Chris Muir is pitching in too.

So why aren't you?

Remember what this guy said and advance! For the real winners of all this are our wounded, and for them we can do no less than our best.

LW

Happy Birthday USMC!

Go wish the Marines a Happy Birthday and go wish both Eric and the Marines Happy Birthday here.

To my Marine friends around today: Happy Birthday!

To my Dad, his friends, and friends of mine passed: Absent Friends

They shall finds the streets of Heaven guarded by United States Marines...

LW

Ethanol vs Petroleum -- the true costs?

This blog is now being hijacked by the English Werewolf for a brief rant.

The English Werewolf has long been an advocate for alternate sources of energy, though for most of the time I've failed to put my money where my snout is. (In my defense, for part of the time I was an underpaid flunky for the State of Alabama, and for much of the rest I've been dumping my revenues into my business, which MAY provide some spendable income by the time I reach my '80's...)

However, ever since one brave (some would say idiotic, I'm sure) gas station owner in Nashville converted one pump station to E85 fuel, I've headed there as often as possible to blend about 20% ethanol into the tanks of both cars I drive. This even though neither of them is considered a "flexible fuel vehicle," which is a vehicle designed and constructed to run on any blend of gasoline and ethanol, up to 85% ethanol. Since most cars and trucks built for the US market since the 1980's have been designed to run on what used to be called "gasohol" -- a blend of 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline -- my gut feeling was that a somewhat greater proportion of ethanol would not be likely to cause any damage to the engine, or reduce its life expectancy significantly. And both my 148k+ mile Astromofuzzyvan and the '03 Volvo sedan run just fine with the blend.

In fact, the Astro runs MUCH cleaner on the blend than it does on gasoline alone. In years past, the beastie has just barely passed the unburned hydrocarbons emissions test; in fact, two or three times it took adjustments and a second test for it to pass. This year (after I replaced the cheap airfilter with a "high-performance" K&N filter, and after a year + of running the 20% ethanol blend), the van showed hydrocarbon emissions of only 30% of maximum. On the first test.

This ALONE justifies my using this blend of fuel. Not to mention the option of dropping one grade of gasoline -- from midgrade to regular -- since ethanol is a 105+ octane fuel, and so boosts the octane rating of the gasoline it's blended with. Fuel economy and performance remain comparable to straight gasoline.

But on to the main point for my hijacking of the Laughing One's blog.

I hear, and read, everywhere that ethanol will never "make it" as a significant fuel source for the US because its production "requires" huge subsidies from the government, and because of this the "true cost" of ethanol is not borne by the driver. Arguments are also made that ethanol uses more energy in production than it provides when it is burned.

Argument two first -- Typical production methods, such as those used in the production of drinkable ethanols, DO use a considerable amount of energy; usually provided from fossil sources or electricity (which may itself be fossil-fuel generated). The further distillation required to produce a burnable fuel DOES result in a negative energy balance for ethanol.

Newer, fuel-grade specific ethanol plants do not require nearly so much energy input per unit of output. Since drinkability of the product is not a consideration, other methods of production are now options -- such as enzyme-assisted distillation, waste sources of process heat (crop debris, sawmill waste, even cow patties), and different materials used in the production line which allow more efficient production without leaving trace elements that would negatively affect the final fuel. Factories producing biodiesel, another alternative fuel, can be built using thermal depolymerisation technologies, which allow low-temperature/high pressure processing to turn waste vegetable oils and meat fats into excellent diesel fuel very efficiently. The best factories today can produce over 2.5 units of ethanol energy for every unit of energy put in.

Both ethanol and biodiesel production have the added benefit of reducing significantly some of the waste stream that now feeds directly into our landfills, while producing byproducts of animal feed (brewer's grain and silage from ethanol production) and fertilizers and base chemicals for other products (biodiesel).

Much, much more online on both fuels. Dig around!

Argument one -- ethanol requires federal subsidies, and can never be more cost-efficient than gasoline. Hogwash! Just in the past months, E85 has sold for up to 70¢ LESS than regular gasoline at my local station. With US production of ethanol for fuel use of some 4 billion gallons, and an annual subsidy for the ethanol fuel industry last year of some $1.7 billion, that's a subsidy of about 43¢ per gallon of ethanol. Even with the federal subsidies, E85 was selling for 27¢ LESS per gallon than gasoline. Of course, this was during the price spike following Katrina and Rita, but it shows that ethanol can be equivalently priced (even when factoring in its lower energy content per gallon).

But is gasoline not without its' own subsidies?

How about the several billion dollars Congress tossed to the (formerly) Seven Sisters in the 2006 budget? This in a year when they're ALL reporting record PROFITS in the tens of billions of dollars? PER QUARTER! This subsidy alone is well over three times what the ethanol industry gets.

And the preferential tax treatment the petroleum industry receives -- another subsidy of many tens of billions of dollars, every year. Depletion allowances, expensing of exploration costs, foreign tax credits, foreign income deferrals, and dozens more -- add up to some $9 to $17 billion in subsidies for gasoline production alone. Each year.

Allocate a portion of the Defense budget to petroleum subsidies, too -- the petroleum industry has a unique relationship with our government, in that it is the ONLY industry we'll protect by declaring war.

Were all the subsidies and benefits the petroleum industry gets to be reflected in the pump price, a gallon of gasoline would be upwards of...

$9.00.

So which is the better deal? Let's not even think about where the dollars are going -- do you prefer to send your money to Venezuela, Saudi, Iran, Russia....or Kansas, South Dakota, Missouri, Oklahoma?

I could go on for quite some time with this, but you can find it all online with some research time. A couple of good links:

http://www.drivingethanol.org/userdocs/Real_Cost_of_Oil_Aug_05.pdf

A good summary article. The drivingethanol.org site is fairly new and still growing. Another good entry point is one from the Department of Energy:

http://www.eere.energy.gov

Lots of info on all kinds of alternative energy sources. Amazing the Bushies and their petrofriends haven't shut it down yet...

Ask around your area, and see if you can find ONE good retailer who will add E85 to his fuel offerings. At the moment, there are only about 500 stations selling the fuel in the entire country, while there are upwards of 6 MILLION cars on the road today that are built to use it, and EVERY car can use a 10-20% blend. Blend it into your tank when you fill up -- if you usually get 15 gallons of gas for a fillup, put 3 to 4 gallons of E85 in first, then top up with gasoline to ensure a good mix of the fuels in your tank. If you use premium, you can drop down to midgrade -- whenever you want to -- and save 10¢+ per gallon. You WILL be driving a cleaner car at the end of the day. Emissions-wise, anyway -- mine are still pretty grungy looking...

EW

And now we return you to your regular ranter...

VALOR-IT: An Address

Be seated.

Now, I want you to know that no bastard ever won a competition by sitting on their butt. They won it by getting off their butt and getting others to do so as well.

All this stuff you've heard about America not supporting its troops, especially the wounded troops, is a lot of horse dung. Americans traditionally love those who fight. All real Americans love the sting of competing to help them. When you were kids, you all admired the champions in various competitions, and there are no greater champions than our wounded soldiers. Americans love a winner, and will not tolerate a loser.

That is why the Army team will not lose this important competition. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for anyone who laughs at this and does not do their part. The very thought of losing is hateful to us, and to all Americans.

Now the Army is a team, and we are raising money as a team for our wounded. This individuality stuff is a bunch of crap. The bilious bastards who write that it is about them know as much about helping the wounded and raising money as they do about fornicating. The Army team has the finest writers, the best blogs, and the best people in the world. You know, by God, I actually pity those poor fools on the other teams. We are going to leave them in the dust, raise our goal, and keep on raising money so that every wounded soldier who needs VALOR-IT from any service has it. We are going to use their blogs to grease the skids to raise even more money than they ever dreamed of.

Now, some of you are wondering if you will chicken out under the stress of competition. Don't worry about it. Wade into this, spill their ink, and get their readers as well as your own to donate to the Army team. When you put your hands into the goo left behind by the Navy team (they don't call them pukes for nothing), well, you will know what to do.

Now, there is one other thing I want you to remember. I don't want to get any comments that our team is holding its own. Leave that for the Marines. We're not holding on to anything, let the Air Force do that. We are advancing constantly, and we are only interested in raising more money than all the others combined. We are going to hold them by the nose and kick their collective asses. We are going to go through them like crap through a goose.

Now, there's one thing that you will be able to say when this is all done, and you may thank God for it. When your grandchildren ask you what you did for the troops, you will not have to say that "I shoveled shit for the enemy." You will be able to proudly state that you helped our wounded, because you gave in the great campaign for VALOR-IT.

All right now you sons of bitches, you know how I feel. I am proud to be beside you in this, and to help with this effort.

That's all.

*****
Other news from the front here, here, and here. Go read it now and spread the word!

LW

All Bloggers On Deck!

Or, rather, all bloggers want to be on this deck. If both of you reading this care to go nominate me for one of the spades, feel free. Otherwise, go over and check out who is up for what, and put in a good word for Blackfive as King of Clubs.

LW

VALOR-IT

You don't have to crawl on your belly. You do not have to drop and give me 50. All you have to do is scroll up, click the button, and help us advance on this extremely important objective. Now move out.

LW

A Belated Happy Birthday

Goes out to Deb of Accidental Verbosity. May you have many happy and healthy returns!

LW

Please Stand By

It is going to be a very busy week, and it does not help that I lost most of Sunday. I would not mind not remembering chunks of it had alcohol been involved... But, drat it, it wasn't. The tornados down south did not get me, but life sure has. Please stand by...

LW

It Has Been Suggested

That I may not have been honest with myself or with you in my entry on #10 in the 20 Random Things listing. It was pointed out that I have done work for NASA twice, and that both times I did it for five or more years. With reluctance, I must admit that, as noted in the comments, it might just move me from sadist, past masochist, and into pain slut territory.

LW

My Secret Identity Discovered

Last weekend, I discovered that my secret identity has been revealed. While out at Wolf Park, someone was talking with a staffer and said something like "Satan did (it)" and without anything else being said, the staffer turned and looked straight at me. Good to know what they think of me, and also probably good to know that my cover is blown. Yes, I know I accused Blackfive of it, but that was just tradecraft.

Wrangling bison yesterday may have also earned me the title of "Beaner of Bison." I took my lunch hour yesterday morning to help out at Wolf Park with vaccination and worming of the bison. Getting started required coaxing Spike, the head bull, to move away. Spike wasn't interested, so Zammers and I went in to work the issue -- in a truck, as crazy we may be, stupid I try to avoid. Zammers drove us up and I was in the back, and after re-loading with apple chunks, we got close. I needed to get a chunk of apple near Spike to get his attention, and lure him towards those already thrown in a vain effort to move him, or just to get him out of the way. I picked my spot and threw -- and beaned Spike in the face near his eye. That got his attention. My next few throws were better, and we got him away enough to get started.

Started included acting as part of a mobile "wall" (at least it is that from the POV of the bison), to get the chosen bison into the chute for the squeeze cage. Being on the end of the mobile wall, I found myself more-or-less eye-to-eye with more than one unhappy bison looking to escape. As in just a couple of feet between us, and if they had figured out that they could break the wall with ease or decided to try to take the end of the wall (and one did think about it) it would not have been pretty.

As soon as we let out the first vaccinated and wormed bison, however, Spike burst into the holding pen, causing the call to go out and everyone to run and climb like hell. It seems that one of the bison cows in the chute leading to the squeeze cage was his current favorite lady, and Spike was not happy. Not happy to the point that if he could have gotten anyone, at best they would have been maimed for life. I was standing next to the Vet when this happened, and I went up, flipped out and over the overhang, and got up on top of the squeeze cage in just about two seconds when the call went out. It is most interesting to have more than 1,200 pounds of large, angry bison jumping up, attacking things, and giving you very nasty looks (did he remember the beaning?) from just a few feet away. Yep, #16 in spades, or spikes. I'm taking Monday afternoon off to go help with doing as much of the rest of the herd as possible.

LW

You Can't Hide Your Lying Times

Why anyone believes anything in the newspaper with a record anymore is beyond me. Greyhawk has a good roundup of just one part of the fiasco that is the Shady Lady.

LW

Friday Wolf Blogging

They have their eyes on you...

LW

20 Random Things

Well, I've been tagged by Zammers to list 20 random things about myself. In no particular order:

1. I have been presented to royalty, a Queen, by a Playboy photographer
2. I have 5 static line parachute jumps
3. The reason I don't have a free-fall jump is that we had problems with repacking the chute after that 5th static line, and as I was starting to jump I was told "If it doesn't open, just reach behind you and beat the hell out of it with your elbows." I caught a handhold and went back into the plane
4. I only jumped chutes I packed
5. My very first jump took me through a cloud, and it was bright, moist, and peaceful -- one of the most wonderfull experiences in my life and over way too quick.
6. I was a virgin until my 20s
7. In high school, I played the trumpet and while in college was in a fortunately short-lived band known as the Devastation Hall Jazz Band
8. In middle and high school I was in the Chorus, as well as in church youth choir
9. By the time I was a junior, I was singing first bass, but was (and still am) flexible enough to handle most bass and baritone parts
10. I am sadistic
11. I will always regret not forcing Dad's doctor to get us the morphine patches we asked for instead of using the liquid the twit gave us
12. An aunt who lived on the coast could call the dolphins, and get them to come up to us.
13. Dolphins are wonderful, and I suspect many tursiops are smartass
14. As a pilot, I have never gotten sick in a plane
15. I am told that I did turn an interesting shade of green flying through some weather that popped up, but I did not get sick -- too busy.
16. It scares me that I only feel fully on and alive in a crisis, particularly a life or death crisis, but damn what a rush
17. I have seen more than one ghost
18. I was born allergic to almost everything
19. One of my fondest memories of a lover was simply holding them, inhaling their scent, and listening to the sounds of their body -- peaceful it was
20. I have yet to begin to live

I am not going to tag anyone, but do sort of throw it out as a challenge

LW

What Party Are You?

Not sure where she got it, and I think it needs more definitions. For me, if it takes more than a double-tap, then I am doing something very wrong... Yet, for all that, I Like It.

LW

Music Review: The Cruxshadows, Ethernaut

John Ringo has the interesting habit of setting his books to music, or at least to make music an integral part of the book. In his latest book, this has led me to buy The Cruxshadows, Ethernaut and I am glad I did so.

The music is interesting and it was a very pleasant surprise to find what I consider three good songs on the album -- usually just finding one good song is a major plus. In this case, I liked the first song for reasons I can't fully explain. It appears to use some techniques from classical Chinese music, including the use of discordant and atonal vocals (which I have heard referred to as that @$#@#% caterwauling), giving it a very oriental feel.

The song "Winter Born" is the one from the book, and is well worth a listen. The lyrics are good, the tune quite good, and the overall effect wonderful. I can see why he likes it.

There are others on there that I think are good, along with several "there" songs. The overall result is that I am considering buying other CDs by the group to check them out.

LW

Book Review: The Weapon

The Weapon by Michael Z. Williamson is a very good exploration of the morality of war and a discussion of what is just and right in a war. In some ways,it reminds me of the book Vengeance in tone, and somewhat in pacing.

Again, this is not an easy read, and that is deliberate. No, don't get me wrong, it is an easy read if one does not stop to think about the deeper parts. It is an excellent action/adventure story, but Williamson also loads it with layers that can be pursued. So much so, that it reminds me very much of an Air Force officer I knew who wanted to be sure that a callow bunch of kids understood what we were swearing to do, and spent some time one day forcing us to think about the unthinkable. Williamson does that, and more, in this book.

Recommended.

LW

A Good Reason Not To Buy Sony Products

Especially music CDs. I like to promote small and independent labels anyway, and this gives even more reason to do so. I believe in protecting digital rights, but this goes way too far. Thanks to Jan at Cascade Exposures for the heads-up.

LW

Book Review: Ghost

Well, John Ringo is at it again. You have what appears to be a typical lite read action/adventure story about a former SEAL who breaks up terrorist plots around the world. Lots of action, sexy women, death (it is a Ringo book after all, there is a great battle and everyone dies...), and the testosterone that comes with such books.

Yes, but no.

This is a book that has a surprising (to anyone not familiar with Ringo) number of levels. It deals with the whole "rough men" and sleeping soundly concept, and reminds us of them and why we need them. It deals with the "plaster saint" concept and why trying to perpetrate it is a bad thing. It deals with some of the dark things that drive people to be protectors, to be those rough men. It also deals with how such people cope, and a bit more. This book is anything but a typical "fluffy" action adventure book.

I could tell you more, everything from a description of the flawed but ultimately noble protagonist to how reading opened up some dark places in my soul. I could do all that, but why spoil the book.

I will, however, address some quick points. There will be some that describe the first part of the book (if not all the book) as over the top and unrealistic. Got news for you: go read the jihadists own works, look at what Saddam did to his own people, look at what the Taliban did to girls as young as 5. Don't take my word for it or the government's, go read their own frelling words and records. Go read the reports from the UN, for some of the less-well-known ones will give you more detail than you can stomach. In that regards, the book is a good reminder of why we fight and why we must fight and win.

The book reminds us that no, we are not perfect, but that there is a world of difference between our striving for perfection and failing and what the enemy practices on a daily basis where it can.

Go read it. For many, it will not be an easy lite read. Make the effort and do it. The food for thought is well worth it.

LW