on behalf of our soldiers and everything we hold dear:

Call or email your senators and congresspeople TODAY and tell them to STOP THIS THING! DO NOT allow the Maniac-in-Chief to attack Iran!

You can cite any of these latest news items:

Lieberman's saber rattling on Face the Nation

The warning by the Iranian dep. interior minister in charge of security

A successful campaign requires disciplined troops.

Everyone must be able to do their part when called upon to do so. On whom can we depend?

When the short term destination or reason isn't clear, trust in the leader is required.

This is one of those times. To everything there is a season and a purpose.

How well can we mobilize when asked?

I woke up this morning, got my coffee, and started my morning rounds on the internet to make sure the world was still here.

I found a couple of things that sent wisps of smoke rising from my hair.

Our friend the President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf just happened to mention in an interview in Sarajevo that it would be a terrible mistake if the US were to attack Iran.

Sorry I'm so late posting this. Long couple of days here.

I listened to the latest ClarkCast - Thoughts on 9/11 - this morning. Great stuff. Really great stuff.

I got the longer and more dynamic (read that: stellar, mindblowing, electrifying) version of the those remarks last night, live and in person, at Bethany College in WV.

We were running a little late and walked into the packed hall just as the General was beginning to speak, so I didn't try to take notes. I'm more of a watch and listen person anyway--I know, old fashioned of me in this new century. Truth is, I'm an idiot when it comes to technological things like filming, recording, and even taking pictures. So I'll give you the essence of my recollection of what he said.

Hot on the heels of this morning Washington Post story about the 9/11 Commission's suspicions that they were deceived by the Pentagon about what happened that day--

"We to this day don't know why NORAD [the North American Aerospace Command] told us what they told us," said Thomas H. Kean, the former New Jersey Republican governor who led the commission. "It was just so far from the truth. . . . It's one of those loose ends that never got tied."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/01/AR2006080101300_pf.html

--here is the link to the Vanity Fair article The NORAD Tapes:

From the diaries -- Larry 

 "Just WHAT THE EFF are you people DOING over there?"

He's just back from field exercises--and his squad did good, so good his commander rewarded him with a cigar...this bodes well for any eventual deployment in the sense that he has a good bunch of guys around him who know how to take care of business.  We had a long talk on the phone this afternoon (well, this evening, German time, where he is getting ready to enjoy his cigar with a glass of Chivas). He had a lot to say about the mission in Iraq, as it is coming to him in bits in pieces from his guys who have been there--that they go over there gung ho thinking it's about one thing, and it isn't long before their main mission becomes staying alive, keeping the rest of their guys alive, and getting the hell out of there in one piece. Do soldiers still support the mission, as the rightwing media keeps crowing? Well, yes...in that, they do the job they are trained to do and they do it well. BUT there's a lot of disillusionment and disappointment in the politics and policies here that require them to do these things inappropriately to the situation.