tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59039232011-04-22T00:43:16.453+02:00If someone invades your house, you call the cops. Who do you call if someone invades your country? You dial Washington. -- KrauthammerSarahnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4161100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1078133622877483702004-02-29T23:59:00.000+01:002004-03-01T10:36:38.500+01:00

I'VE MOVED!!! I'm already over there and posting, so swing by when you have the chance. And update your bookmarks (grumble, grumble) when you get the chance! The new address is the neat and clean www.tryingtogrok.com See you all soon. Sarah

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077957436174366222004-02-28T09:37:00.000+01:002004-02-28T22:32:47.140+01:00

HA... For those of you who think I only get a laugh out of parodies of John Kerry, here's an Australian article that takes a shot at everyone and had me giggling at all of the candidates. (via Pixy Misa) And the Chief has words on his return from Iraq that we should all read. I plan to spend the rest of the day working on figuring out my new blogsite, so I won't be around here much, but

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077953080709752362004-02-28T08:24:00.000+01:002004-02-28T22:07:30.326+01:00

RANKISM... ...Warning! Unbecoming military rant follows... Why does rank make people crazy? Why won't the junior enlisted soldiers believe that my husband grew up in a run-down suburb of St. Louis instead of in the lap of luxury? Why do wives of junior enlisted soldiers keep telling me that I can't understand how hard their life is because my husband is an officer? "You just don't know what

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077949394524275122004-02-28T07:23:00.000+01:002004-02-28T07:28:54.653+01:00

A SOLUTION... Vi LGF we find an answer to the burning question: When is it OK to rape a jihad slave? Nevertheless, the wisdom underlying the permission granted by Shariah to copulate with a slave woman is as follows: The LEGAL possession that a Muslim receives over a slave woman from the “Ameerul-Mu’mineen” (the Islamic Head of State) gives him legal credence to have coition with the slave

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077872780836969782004-02-27T10:06:00.000+01:002004-02-27T14:16:55.860+01:00

CRAP... Why is it that 15 minutes drags on like an eternity when things are slow here at work, but it passes in the blink of an eye when you get a call from Kuwait? I'm so stupid; I cried on the phone. I haven't cried since the day he left, and I've been so good about being strong. I don't even know what happened, we were laughing about the camels crossing the road in front of his convoy and

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077864576143438202004-02-27T07:49:00.000+01:002004-02-27T07:52:27.310+01:00

JUST A BIT MORE... I don't want to harp on one issue, but Amritas sent an email with interesting thoughts about the marriage amendment that I thought deserved sharing: Now that I'm calmer, hours later, I can say that Bush is probably sticking to his beliefs. Maybe this isn't the political move I thought it was. Let's be nice (quite unlike me) and suppose he is being sincere and not

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077863385252178742004-02-27T07:29:00.000+01:002004-02-27T08:40:45.123+01:00

AH HA... This is why my husband hasn't called... The convoys left for Camp New York in groups of 20 to 100 vehicles. Some soldiers found themselves skipping a night’s sleep Monday or Tuesday as they waited for their vehicles or had to drive them back to camp. Still, their work was far from finished. Bunker puts it like this: For those of you with no real concept of logistics, consider

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077863192120452742004-02-27T07:26:00.000+01:002004-02-27T07:29:23.513+01:00

TWO THINGS... I was thinking about two things last night before I went to bed. 1. My co-worker's mother shook Hitler's hand. I'm amazed she even told me this story, because it's not often someone would admit something like that, but it's actually a knitting story. Her mother knitted boxes and boxes full of socks and hats for the German soldiers when they went into Russia, and when Hitler

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077803582224211362004-02-26T14:53:00.000+01:002004-02-26T20:59:00.076+01:00

MESSY... Iraq is not only dangerous and stressful; it also affects your personal life. From an article on military marriages via Tim: At a recent "chaplain's brief," where the military tries to prepare its soldiers for reintegration to the world, the officer in charge cited Army statistics that indicated 30 percent of the spouses believe deployment harms their marriages. The Army's Judge

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077780020966957042004-02-26T08:20:00.000+01:002004-02-26T08:23:11.106+01:00

INTERVIEW... A laugh-out-loud mock interview with Lieutenant John Kerry.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077778065978657372004-02-26T07:47:00.000+01:002004-02-26T08:18:54.686+01:00

MOVING... I had planned on devoting this weekend to moving over to my new blog site, but this broken comments deal was the last straw. I can't wait to make the move now. Reader Ruth emailed an interesting comment that makes sense to me: I am sorry there is so much emotion being spent on this. I am not denigrating the emotion but it does make me sad. As I see it the real issue is judges making

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077743643147672442004-02-25T22:14:00.000+01:002004-02-25T22:16:52.716+01:00

TEAR ME AWAY... I promised myself that I'd get in bed early tonight, which is easy since the comments are busted and I don't have anything new to read and digest. More tomorrow perhaps.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077725282263837382004-02-25T17:08:00.000+01:002004-02-25T22:04:05.653+01:00

COMMON GROUND... I've compiled quite a round-up of the Marriage Amendment below, but Amritas reminded me of something important. He dug up my old post on common ground (I swear he keeps better tabs on my posts than I do) that I read again. I also went to the Lileks link again, and I started thinking about common ground as it applies to this new amendment. I've read just about everything

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077694611648488782004-02-25T08:36:00.000+01:002004-02-25T16:19:31.686+01:00

MARRIAGE... I was afraid this day would come. Andrew Sullivan is a British-born homosexual Catholic whose blog reflects this problematic triangle of beliefs. He's extremely intellectually honest and strives to adress homosexual issues not emotionally but logically. Today he says that his support for the President has always been about defending the Constitution from Muslim fanatics who want

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077612339062202352004-02-24T09:45:00.000+01:002004-02-24T09:52:06.030+01:00

EUROPE... I got a lot of flak a while back for a post I wrote on why I think Europe's overrated. If you read the comments section of Mike's post on American travel, you'll see that he too is taking a bit of flak. One commenter said: You seem to have a nice life. Why do you have such a chip on your shoulder? That previous American exceptionalism post was a bit startling. I mean, look at it

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077533419601284742004-02-23T11:50:00.000+01:002004-02-23T11:53:05.340+01:00

A GOOD QUOTE... My dad is a man of blunt wisdom, and he usually makes us laugh with his sayings. Last night on the phone he asked what I was doing. I said, "Nothing, just trying to cross another day of this year off my calendar." He came back with, "Well, it's just like eating an elephant: tackle it one bite at a time." That's the best deployment advice possible.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077522299162771762004-02-23T08:44:00.000+01:002004-02-23T09:00:57.326+01:00

WOW... Talk about irony..."An Armenian military officer attending a NATO Partnership for Peace program was hacked to death with an axe and a knife today by an Azerbaijani participant." (via Esotericus) Dogs has a funny rant on voting. And the Oriental Redneck posts some very unilateral photos from Iraq (via Baldilocks).

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077521897749065542004-02-23T08:38:00.000+01:002004-02-23T08:41:03.606+01:00

SERIOUSLY... I take the Army very seriously. Perhaps to the extreme, but I think that there are some things that deserve respect and deference. I don't like when fashion trends include camouflage. I stopped my car in the middle of the road last week and rescued a house's flag that had fallen on the ground. I walked through the lines on the day of deployment and helped soldiers carry their

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077465799572040042004-02-22T17:03:00.000+01:002004-02-22T17:19:09.653+01:00

HOME... Chief Wiggles is home, and he has reflections on opposition and patriotism. Welcome home, Chief. And a blogger met the President! And liked him! And it's driving Daily Kos' readers crazy!

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077464926104569222004-02-22T16:48:00.000+01:002004-02-22T16:53:27.390+01:00

LEARNING IS FUN... I said a while back that the first plan I had made after my husband deployed was to travel to see the Koerperwelten exhibit in Frankfurt. Three other wives and I took the train there and went to the exhibit. Here's a brief summary of the theme of the exhibit from the website: Until recently the privilege to view corpses and the human body’s interior has been confined to

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077463790596967052004-02-22T16:29:00.000+01:002004-02-22T16:32:35.513+01:00

LINES... The husband waits and waits. And Ralph Nader's running?

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077289813012300802004-02-20T16:10:00.000+01:002004-02-20T16:13:18.360+01:00

ADS... Frank J has come up with some campaign ads that President Bush can run. But the time I reached the end I was laughing out loud. I like when he yells boo-yah at Kerry.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077276254618188072004-02-20T12:24:00.000+01:002004-02-20T12:36:26.000+01:00

LONG... My husband has a bad habit of playing with his wedding ring. He twists it and flips it and it usually goes rolling and clanging across the floor. It's always falling down into his recliner or rolling under the bed. So he left it with me when he deployed, and I'm a hobbit again. I know that, just like Frodo, the longer the journey, the heavier the load will feel. I can tell it with

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077204406818844162004-02-19T16:26:00.000+01:002004-02-19T16:29:27.653+01:00

A PHONE CALL... The husband called me at work today, and he sounded really upbeat and happy. He said that they're not doing much in the way of training yet, so he's spending his time inventing duties for them. They do PT and have had lots of briefings on things like first aid. He's just making stuff up as he goes along. However, I was really proud of him for designing his own briefing on "

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077181264782418322004-02-19T10:01:00.000+01:002004-02-19T11:23:07.890+01:00

P.S. I wonder if anyone who comes here looking for nudie photos of that girl from Joe Millionaire actually stays to read? I get more hits looking for that foot fetish girl than referrals from anyone else... Have I mentioned that I'm also ranked much lower than the German-language tribute to Tupac? MORE TO GROK: I just realized in my re-read that I used the phrase "real hardcore" to

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077180611708400362004-02-19T09:50:00.000+01:002004-02-19T09:52:51.856+01:00

NICE... Got a new button for Home Fires Burning today via Democrats Give Conservatives Indigestion (ha, what a name). What an inspirational site it is. It seems like a great place to go when you need a pick-me-up.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077177096850305282004-02-19T08:51:00.000+01:002004-02-19T12:37:13.513+01:00

WEARY... It seems I'm not the only one who feels like she's run out of stuff to stay lately. The Best is taking a break. It's understandable, really. He cranks out quality every day; I crank out drivel and find it exhausting. I hope he comes back refreshed and full of ideas. In addition, Dogs writes a funny post about what he's not blogging about. (He also has a hysterical post on Beavis

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077086229321185182004-02-18T07:37:00.000+01:002004-02-18T07:39:48.140+01:00

HANDSOME AND SMART... Vodkapundit is right: agree or disagree with President Bush, you always know where he stands.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077051798151155232004-02-17T22:03:00.000+01:002004-02-17T22:05:56.890+01:00

HAHAHAHA... Fun Facts About John Kerry (Thanks, Annika)

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077050799123602112004-02-17T21:46:00.000+01:002004-02-17T21:49:17.263+01:00

DEMONSTRATION... My German co-worker commented today that there was a demonstration over the weekend at the Nuremberg airport against the troop movement. I tried to find some info on it, but there was nothing in English and my German isn't that good yet. So David came to my rescue. He found out that it was only about 100 people and that (his words) "the organizers came from Nuremberg and from

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077047078623440732004-02-17T20:44:00.000+01:002004-02-17T20:47:16.733+01:00

WELL DONE... I went to Bunker Mulligan and he said I should go to Mudville Gazette, so I did. He was right. It seems Greyhawk found someone who can read the points system for the National Guard, and he reviewed President Bush's record and said everything was in order. I tend to agree with Greyhawk; why can't any of the major news networks find someone who awards points for the National Guard,

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077035419287708322004-02-17T17:30:00.000+01:002004-02-17T17:36:30.966+01:00

MY HUSBAND... I'm taking care of a friend's car this year while he's down range, so I had to walk over to Battalion to pick it up today. I saw the Rear D's car in the parking lot and thought I'd pop in and say hi, but I couldn't find him. Just as well, since I was choking on tears by the time I left the completely empty Company headquarters. Not only do I miss my husband, but I miss all of

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077006737264082652004-02-17T09:32:00.000+01:002004-02-17T13:41:38.060+01:00

HE HE... A scholarship only for white people... Ha. And here's a new one: African-Americans offending Native-Americans.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077006076481041372004-02-17T09:21:00.000+01:002004-02-17T09:23:54.250+01:00

YES... The chickens are finally coming home to roost, as a racist once said. And France is going to get it hard... Suspect Oil Deals Were Norm Under Saddam (via LGF)

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077004100869845012004-02-17T08:48:00.000+01:002004-02-17T09:01:37.686+01:00

BLOG FRIENDS... Yesterday when LGF wrote about Noam Chomsky and people in the comments started discussing Chomsky's linguistics, Amritas was right there as our linguistics expert, and he got a lot of traffic yesterday because of it. I'm glad for him, because that's how I found him in the first place, over the summer when The Best linked to him and I headed on over. I was hooked from then on,

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077002731006771652004-02-17T08:25:00.000+01:002004-02-17T08:28:08.763+01:00

BACK TO SERIOUS BLOGGING... I read this Mark Steyn article yesterday about how the media can't stop talking about Bush-was-AWOL but has completely ignored the Kerry-is-a-slut story. And today I found out he was dead on when my mom emailed to ask if I had heard anything about Kerry having an affair because she heard a snippet on the news and wondered what the heck that was about. We've known

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1077002320939507482004-02-17T08:18:00.000+01:002004-02-17T08:21:18.750+01:00

YUCK... The husband's getting sandstorms.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076909337716366532004-02-16T06:28:00.000+01:002004-02-16T06:31:33.840+01:00

HE CALLED! I got a wonderful wake-up call this morning from sunny Kuwait. He's doing just fine, and we got to talk for our full 15 minutes. Things are good there despite being a little crowded; the camp designed for 3000 is holding 11,000 right now. Yesterday he waited in line for over four hours to buy a phone card and a Mountain Dew! He's already run into his brother, whose tent is right

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076863315827160982004-02-15T17:41:00.000+01:002004-02-15T17:44:31.030+01:00

NO WAY... I just found out that my brother's best friend from elementary school, Matt Metzger, was one of the American Idol contestants this time around. He just rocketed past a girl I used to play soccer with to become the most famous person from my childhood.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076838940177371462004-02-15T10:55:00.000+01:002004-02-15T10:58:14.793+01:00

RELIEF... I just got called by the FSG's wife and the LTC's wife. The battalion is safe in Kuwait, but the lines for the phones are three hours long. I hope my husband doesn't waste his time standing in one...

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076836064426173972004-02-15T10:07:00.000+01:002004-02-17T09:02:27.296+01:00

LIFE GOES ON... Here's a nice long article to pass the time: Krauthammer And here are some things in the past few days that have ticked me off. 1. Moby Apparently he thinks it's a good idea to spread lies about Bush around the internet so that swing voters might be persuded to vote Democrat. Lying to win. What are we facing in the build-up to November? 2. Practical Joker Apparently

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076771021791873042004-02-14T17:32:00.000+01:002004-02-14T21:19:50.746+01:00

HE'S GONE... Well I know what's right, I've got just one life In a world that keeps on pushing me around But I stand my ground And I won't back down... It's our favorite AFN commercial; the Johnny Cash version of this song over photos of our servicemembers: Every generation has its heroes. This one is no different. I did really well this morning. I didn't cry at all. Until I sat down four

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076669019139110522004-02-13T11:43:00.000+01:002004-02-14T07:12:44.840+01:00

ARGH... Wanna know how NOT to spend your last day before deployment? Getting promoted. Because that means all your insignia has to change on all of your uniforms in one day. Which means your wife has massive sewing to do. And you know what's impossible to get straight? Rank on the soft cap. I had to rip that stupid black bar off the cap four times and sewed through my fingernail before I

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076657529002802102004-02-13T08:32:00.000+01:002004-02-13T08:34:41.013+01:00

ONE SMALL COMMENT... We're getting ready to go to formation this morning; the husband is getting promoted today. But I saw this and had to make one small comment. Anti-Semitism is so prevalent in some of the housing projects that ring Paris and other major French cities that “it’s become infused into the language,” according to Barbara Lefebvre, a history teacher at a French public school. “

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076603561136433802004-02-12T17:32:00.000+01:002004-02-12T17:35:12.293+01:00

TIMEFRAME... Sometime in the middle of the night between Friday and Saturday. Is it worse to leave on Friday the 13th or on Valentine's Day?

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076574588281521492004-02-12T09:29:00.000+01:002004-02-12T15:24:28.560+01:00

TODAY'S ROUNDUP... Celebrating 9/11 at the FBI (via Amritas) The second half of The Bleat (I mean, read the first of course, but the second is where it's at...) a letter from a retired Colonel who served in the Guard with President Bush (via lots of people) You'd be better off without a college degree...and a bank account instead. (via Joanne Jacobs) And CD takes his school paper to task

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076505944048960522004-02-11T14:25:00.000+01:002004-02-11T14:28:13.840+01:00

P.S.... I have gotten lots of emails lately that have not received responses. Please know that my mind is just a little scattered right now and that I will reply to everyone starting, oh say, next week. When free time is plentiful. Just know that I'm not ignoring anyone, nor do I not appreciate your comments. I'm just prioritizing things differently this week.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076490141542244182004-02-11T10:02:00.000+01:002004-02-11T11:39:12.106+01:00

HMMM... On the DU today there was a thread about where to move if Bush gets reelected. I think that's a great idea; if you don't like where you live, then do something about it. Great. People suggest Canada, UAE, Germany, and Finland. About Finland one person says "It's progressive and rich. Apart from the crazy taxes and prices it's a very nice place to live in." I'd add to crazy taxes

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076488262781759672004-02-11T09:31:00.000+01:002004-02-11T14:18:46.530+01:00

HA HA HA... Hilarious. Top Ten Ways Bush Can Raise His Popularity And Porphyrogenitus addresses a reader's question about why intellectuals are stupid enough to believe things even a truck driver can see are false. It's an interesting post. And Blueshift has comments related to my rant last week about polite blogging, as well as the story of a real-life War Games incident. How about a nice

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076479429243259482004-02-11T07:03:00.000+01:002004-02-11T15:12:57.640+01:00

GEEZ... As Instapundit says, this is a huge admission by ABC, that "the Washington and political press corps operate with a good number of biases and predilections." Like the Lieutenant's story said yesterday, the media is only looking for stories that fulfill their predetermined interest. And like Nelson Ascher said months ago, "Don't write about stuff you know nothing about without at least

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076478297593834372004-02-11T06:44:00.000+01:002004-02-11T09:27:21.543+01:00

PAYING ATTENTION... In the beginning I was too busy paying attention to Dean and Clark, thus I haven't really given much thought to Kerry. But I'd better start paying attention to things like this photo of him with Jane Fonda (via Parkway Rest Stop) or the fact that Kerry wrote an email to Iran saying he'll repair the damage President Bush has done. I need to start paying attention now.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076425734731508172004-02-10T16:08:00.000+01:002004-02-10T16:11:23.356+01:00

RETRACE THE SOURCE... I just took a fun little trip back through the blogosphere trying to find the original article that David Bernstein of the Volokh Conspiracy mentioned when he wrote Europe and Canada vs America. I think I have it all worked out chronologically. First, some guy named Hellie (whose blog advocates 1. impeaching President Bush, 2. giving money to anti-Bush organizations, and

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076423594411872652004-02-10T15:33:00.000+01:002004-02-10T15:35:42.653+01:00

HE HE... My new favorite quote on current Republican spending: Republicans, so desperate to appear "compassionate" or not out to eat minority babies cooked in tobacco leaves under the flames of burning books, keep giving in to more liberal demands hoping they'll get a little credit and that Democrats will then also give in a little.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076396112186425282004-02-10T07:55:00.000+01:002004-02-10T08:47:34.153+01:00

TIRED... Another day, another stack of CDs to rip, another 24 hours closer to deployment. Sigh. Stuff to keep you occupied: Philosophy, Not Policy: Why Bush isn't good at interviews (Via LGF) Weapons of Mass Hysteria: If anything, the war was about 100,000 corpses too late (via Tim) A Lieutenant's Story: Interaction with the media in Iraq (via Vodkapundit) Let's Rid the World of Fences (

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076314463353829072004-02-09T09:14:00.000+01:002004-02-09T09:16:50.123+01:00

HI... The husband and I had a lovely but much too short weekend; on a whim we went with a group to a casino in the Czech Republic. Now we are just trying to tie up loose ends and make sure that he's all packed and ready to go; he leaves sometime at the end of the week. My jobs today include ripping about 100 CDs to MP3, getting his insignia sewn onto his IBA, printing photos for him to take,

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076150000776939682004-02-07T11:33:00.000+01:002004-02-07T11:35:44.670+01:00

THE BOSS... The thing about being in the military is that the President is your boss. Your Commander in Chief. All of the military under him, General to Private, follows his plan. Regardless of politics. Regardless of who the President is. I was already thinking about this before I read Nelson Ascher's new post, but I too wonder what might happen if Bush loses. Kerry (or whoever) will

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076138853914063262004-02-07T08:27:00.000+01:002004-02-07T08:30:46.420+01:00

GRRR... Once again by clicking on random blogger blogs, I found something worth noting. I'm not providing a link because we don't need to give this guy more traffic, nor do I want people from my blog going over there to harrass him. But I've learned that people say some very interesting things when they think only people who agree with them are reading: POST #1 Today's Lie Of The Week: "If I

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076079940207550212004-02-06T17:28:00.000+01:002004-02-06T17:31:32.076+01:00

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SUPPORT... I'd have sworn I'd written before about supporting our troops, but I can't find it if I have. At any rate, I'm often irritated by the but that follows that phrase (as in I support our troops, but...). I appreciate that people don't think my own husband as an individual is a baby killer or a monster, which is usually what they mean when they start that sentence,

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076068309668168032004-02-06T12:51:00.000+01:002004-02-06T12:58:59.810+01:00

HE HE... Scrappleface counters the Bush-was-AWOL-ers with Kerry, Edwards Went AWOL from Senate. And Ali is an up-and-coming Iraqi satirist in his own right. He explains how much worse life is without Saddam... (Thanks, RWN, for the heads up.)

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076064633588045412004-02-06T11:50:00.000+01:002004-02-06T11:52:55.890+01:00

FIVE MORE... Semi-Intelligent Thoughts needs five more hits to make it to 5000 before he wakes up this morning. Can we push him over the mark?

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076059945264220842004-02-06T10:32:00.000+01:002004-02-06T10:34:47.733+01:00

A FRIEND... I found this article via Tim, and I read it with great interest because I know PFC Wolf, the soldier in the second photo. We arrived here at the same time, and he was my favorite student in our Headstart class, a week-long integration program into Germany. I used to joke with my husband that I was going to get PFC Wolf to help me build a bed for our guest bedroom. He left for Iraq

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076049276351987942004-02-06T07:34:00.000+01:002004-02-06T07:36:58.623+01:00

MORE ON MEAN PEOPLE... I finished The Demon-Haunted World this week and there was one passage that really struck me since I've been thinking about mean people lately. Sagan says: Imagine that you enter a big-city taxicab and the moment you get settled in, the driver begins a harangue about the supposed iniquities and inferiorities of another ethnic group. Is your best course to keep quiet,

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1076014210711148632004-02-05T21:50:00.000+01:002004-02-06T07:06:58.903+01:00

WOAH... Tonight was an experience. We decided we were going to go buy a DVD and then go through the Burger King drive-thru to get dinner as a treat for our last few weeks together. Total time to buy the DVD: 10 minutes. Total time to go through the Burger King drive-thru: 62 minutes. Seriously. An hour in the drive-thru line. See here BK is the only drive-thru, and it's a one-lane road

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075991566990625582004-02-05T15:32:00.000+01:002004-02-05T15:56:32.123+01:00

NICE... Found via Annika: Our Republican President Was A DESERTER!!! (Hint: it's not Bush) And this photo caption contest had me in stitches.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075970274423907852004-02-05T09:37:00.000+01:002004-02-05T22:06:30.590+01:00

PEOPLE ARE MEAN... I was checking my links to make sure they all still work, and I hopped on to my 100 Things. I noticed that the comments in the archives are now working (they weren't before) and I stopped to read them. Lo and behold there was a comment I hadn't seen yet, from a month ago, where someone whose fake email address is whatever@getalife.com said that my 100 Things is "arrogant

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075968483676990642004-02-05T09:08:00.000+01:002004-02-05T09:10:25.043+01:00

UM... Where's Saddam? Has anyone else noticed that he's dropped off the face of the earth since the day they found him? Where is he? What's going on? Why do we know more about Janet Jackson's boob than Saddam Hussein's whereabouts?

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075908044148345742004-02-05T09:07:00.000+01:002004-02-05T09:07:35.420+01:00

TERMINATOR THOUGHTS... After receiving a strong tongue-lashing from the husband's good friend, as well as incredulous looks from my brother, I managed to watch all three Terminator movies this month. I had never seen any of them, and I was surprised to find as I watched them that the stories had never been ruined for me. I knew shockingly little about the themes and plot, though I found the

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075903326838806232004-02-04T15:02:00.000+01:002004-02-04T15:04:27.233+01:00

ARGH... I. Am. Appalled.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075900568356813032004-02-04T14:16:00.000+01:002004-02-04T14:18:48.340+01:00

VOTING... Kim du Toit makes an excellent point today (#3) on voting. For those of you in Afghanistan/Iraq or getting ready to go there next week like a Certain Adorable Housemate of mine, make sure to make voting a priority. If you're in a leadership position, make it a priority for your soldiers, and if you're a soldier, suggest it to your commander. It's important. I don't care WHO you

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075885945945215502004-02-04T10:12:00.000+01:002004-02-04T10:15:48.326+01:00

TRAVEL... Everyone else has been marking which states they've visited. I decided to do it because I'm ashamed of my map. Here's the European countries I've visited. create your own visited country map or write about it on the open travel guide That basically leaves out Portugal, Slovak Republic, and Ireland (plus Liechtenstein). Now look at my states. create your own visited states map

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075878531580390362004-02-04T08:08:00.000+01:002004-02-04T08:11:11.483+01:00

ART... We've had a discussion of art here this week, and now an art exhibit has been brought to my attention. Den Beste (yep, that's right, The Best) writes about an exhibit at LeHigh University that shows our current political leaders in tawdry situations (e.g. President Bush groping a whore). As an update, Den Beste points out that you can view the exhibit online. OK, fine, artists can

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075819158868024092004-02-03T15:39:00.000+01:002004-02-03T15:41:37.420+01:00

HA... Random clicking on Blogger again. Some guy named Cameron posts a funny conversation: Billy: Hey, you ever thought about fun sized candy bars? Cameron: Uh, no, what about them? Billy: Well, what's so fun about getting less candy?

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075816291247010872004-02-03T14:51:00.000+01:002004-02-03T14:53:49.590+01:00

RATS... Looks like I'm not moving back to the US any sooner than scheduled. Europe forces shift not seen until ‘06

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075804185811207102004-02-03T11:29:00.000+01:002004-02-03T11:32:27.653+01:00

GRRR... Yesterday a student came into our office and requested a school transcript. In my haste, I absentmindedly wrote down my home phone number instead of the office fax number as the number to which the transcript should be faxed. In short, my home phone has been ringing every five minutes for the past hour while headquarters tries to send the fax. Ugh.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075793045532028202004-02-03T08:24:00.000+01:002004-02-03T08:41:47.700+01:00

HA... Everyone blogs the same thing. And check out Semi-Intelligent Thoughts. He's an excellent blogger, he's even younger than I am, and he's more than semi-intelligent.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075789282341602632004-02-03T07:21:00.000+01:002004-02-03T07:23:40.653+01:00

OREOS... Those of us not in Iraq or heading over will never be able to understand what it's like there. Those of us who are sympathetic will try to understand, will do anything to make life easier and happier for our soldiers, but we will never quite be able to grasp what happens in your head when you're in that situation. Take the Oreos, for example. I'm a fan of Oreos. They're yummy. But

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075721131941980992004-02-02T12:25:00.000+01:002004-02-02T12:30:17.873+01:00

FIXING PAST WRONGS... I got an email forward from a friend recently, one of those ones that asks a million questions for you to answer. One of the questions was "Have you ever said you read a book that you never read?" That question was the beginning of my atonement for a lie I never forgot. I don't remember what age I was, but my dad gave me a book to read for one of those summer reading

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075674856306237302004-02-01T23:34:00.000+01:002004-02-02T00:07:56.936+01:00

I'M WORTH IT, APPARENTLY... *** Warning: four months of fed up-ness follows *** I started noticing all the unfamiliar names and negative posts in my comments section, and it took me all of five seconds to figure out who was behind it. My good friend Seb from Sadly No. See back in like the first week of my blog somehow this guy found me and started bugging me. He comments frequently, and he's

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075469674466319262004-01-30T14:34:00.000+01:002004-01-30T14:36:47.530+01:00

STRETCH OF THE MIND... I am trying to finish up The Demon-Haunted World, but I never seem to have time to read. But today is so uneventful, and I've already read everything on the internet, so I picked it back up. I just heard for the first time about the Ik tribe in Uganda, and I googled to find more information. I found a lot of bunk, some stuff about a book written by Colin Turnbull, and a

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075465914773328072004-01-30T13:39:00.000+01:002004-01-31T22:48:33.890+01:00

ADMITTING DEFEAT... I love George Bush. There's something about him that draws me to him beyond politics. Maybe it's a mothering instinct, that I hate when everyone gangs up on one person. Maybe because I could see myself having lunch with him and knowing he would never be stuffy. Maybe it's his cowboy nature, his ability to not appear like an intellectual snob and instead just put foot to

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075463842192600302004-01-30T12:57:00.000+01:002004-01-30T12:59:34.840+01:00

GOOD MAN... If you've never checked out Cavalier's Guardian Watchblog, by all means you should. I found him in the comments section on RWN a few months ago and I've been captivated ever since. He doesn't waste time with trivial linking or posts in Swedish; he provides lengthy posts replete with links on a variety of myths and misinterpretations. Go check him out today if you're interested in

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075455023561213752004-01-30T10:30:00.000+01:002004-01-30T10:39:54.700+01:00

YUP... Another nail in the Bush-was-AWOL coffin. And, wow, this is good stuff.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075454548128857342004-01-30T10:22:00.000+01:002004-01-30T10:24:41.106+01:00

A CHALLENGE... Via Amritas: When you look at an Iraqi blog in English, ask yourself: How many Anglophones could blog in a foreign language, particularly one they learned without much if any first-hand exposure? Jag kAnner mig lite lOjlig men Amritas anropade mig. Jag har aldrig bloggat pA svenska, och det Ar synd att jag inte kan anvAnda de kula svenska vokalerna, men jag vet inte vad jag

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075453418179995452004-01-30T10:03:00.000+01:002004-01-30T10:05:51.403+01:00

GIRLISH COMMENT... Has anyone else noticed how hot Stephen Green is?

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075451937604377792004-01-30T09:38:00.000+01:002004-01-30T09:41:10.310+01:00

SADNESS... I watched Charles Johnson's video of the bus bomb in Jerusalem yesterday because sometimes I need a good dose of reality. And you know what hurts my heart the most? It's not the dead bodies or the severed feet, it's the remnants of their lives scattered on the road. Their briefcases, their cell phones, their math homework blowing in the wind. It's the thought that these people

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075450607682123042004-01-30T09:16:00.000+01:002004-01-30T09:19:00.670+01:00

YAY... In my mind, this is the kind of conversation I have with idiotarians. In reality, I bite my tongue and try to change the subject...

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075447002788785962004-01-30T08:16:00.000+01:002004-01-30T08:18:55.796+01:00

WONDERFUL NIGHT... Last night we had a going-away party for my husband's Company. The soldiers organized it, which meant a cook-out with lots of meat and lots of beer. The rest was just details, even the snow. The food was good and the company better. If you had told me that while I was living in Germany I'd see a guy with a stars and bars shirt, cowboy hat, and no front teeth singing "

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075388210056458882004-01-29T15:56:00.000+01:002004-01-29T15:59:01.513+01:00

YES... LGF points to an article by Claudia Rosett with a great message: Screw WMDs, we've got worse things to think about.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075368254176968112004-01-29T10:24:00.000+01:002004-01-29T10:26:25.856+01:00

OUR AWESOME SOLDIERS... Just a quick word on our soldiers and education. A bunch of our soldiers just returned to our post after a year in Iraq. They returned on a Friday and many of them came in first thing on Monday and registered for college classes. I was so pleasantly surprised that they valued education so much that they prioritized it right after Iraq. Six hours per week in class on

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075367554775537192004-01-29T10:12:00.000+01:002004-01-29T10:14:46.560+01:00

SOME ESTROGEN... I've felt the absence of women on my sidebar. I know I have many women readers; they email and we discuss. But I've felt alone in the sphere for a little while. Look at my Heroes...they're all men. There was a time when I first started blogging that I thought Kim du Toit was a female, and I was crushed when I found out he wasn't. It wasn't until later that I learned his

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075295900026611922004-01-28T14:18:00.000+01:002004-01-28T16:10:10.856+01:00

HA... I don't know why people keep dogging President Bush for being stupid. He sounds knowledgeable enough for me! (Thanks, Me Myself and I, for pointing this out.) And Greyhawk has uncovered a gem of his own: Dean's campaign didn't pay their $1000 bill for lunch at an Iowa deli. The kicker: the deli owner had planned to vote for Dean, but changed his mind after he got shafted. Tsk tsk.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075240289014222232004-01-27T22:51:00.000+01:002004-01-27T22:53:38.983+01:00

THOUGHTS... The LTC saw someone's head explode in Iraq last week. I talked to the husband tonight about safety. He promised to stay safe in Iraq, and I promised in turn to stay safe here in Germany. Because the truth of the matter is that you never know. We have a running tally of soldiers who have been killed in Iraq, but I'd like to see that tally in contrast to other bodycounts. The

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075216697701513702004-01-27T16:18:00.000+01:002004-01-27T16:20:27.076+01:00

OOH... Jim's right; this guy's good. And he's blogrolled now.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075186259582648382004-01-27T07:50:00.000+01:002004-01-27T07:53:07.920+01:00

LANGUAGE BARRIER... Tim points out a good story about the language barrier in Iraq: U.S. troops warned Iraqi guards they should leave the area because it was ''risky.'' The Iraqis thought the soldiers threatened them unless they brought ''whiskey.'' The husband is mad that he hasn't been able to spend more time studying Arabic. When he first started, I had no idea his intention was to be

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075183618422651352004-01-27T07:06:00.000+01:002004-01-27T07:09:07.310+01:00

WOW... I've linked to a few parodies before about how Bush is indeed not Hitler, but Andrew Sullivan points out a journalist who argues that he is. Huh. I'm just not sure I see the parallel between burning the Reichstag and the felling of the WTC. I'm reminded of a time when I was in a literature class in France. Our teacher was so post-modern that we spent a whole term dissecting on 100-

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075104858108095712004-01-26T09:14:00.000+01:002004-01-26T09:16:25.653+01:00

FULL HEAD... Interesting discussion of anti-Americanism in Germany going on at Davids Medienkritik.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075103792136704532004-01-26T08:56:00.000+01:002004-01-26T08:58:39.093+01:00

EXACTLY RIGHT, MERLE... I heard this again this weekend, and I realized I had forgotten how well it sums up my thoughts recently. Thanks, Merle, for being an American. I hear people talkin' bad, About the way we have to live here in this country, Harpin' on the wars we fight, An' gripin' 'bout the way things oughta be. An' I don't mind 'em switchin' sides, An' standin' up for things they

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1075040477763954472004-01-25T15:21:00.000+01:002004-01-25T15:23:24.263+01:00

HMMM... If you haven't read this article that Instapundit pointed out, go read it. It might surprise you. Lies, Myths and Downright Stupidity: Stossel's List of Popularly Reported Misconceptions

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1074869683047773232004-01-23T15:54:00.000+01:002004-01-23T15:56:47.076+01:00

NO PLACE LIKE HOME... So once I get my own site going, I will be part of Munuviana, a group of blogs with the mu.nu at the end. I thought I would check out some random blogs since many Munuvians have been welcoming me with open arms. Random Blog #1, a college student who fisks his school paper. Exactly the kind of stuff I thought when I was at school. Random Blog #2, a girl who lives in

Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903923.post-1074850480576611682004-01-23T10:34:00.000+01:002004-01-23T10:36:43.763+01:00

HMMM... Do you remember when Charlize Theron hosted Saturday Night Live and Tracy Morgan did the tongue-in-cheek monologue on how nice it was to have another African-American on the show? Tracy might've thought that was funny, but apparently other African-Americans don't. Bunker Mulligan has a connundrum for the "Distinguished African-American Student Award" at a school in Nebraska.

Sarahnoreply@blogger.com