tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148193322009-10-26T05:48:13.569-07:00<center>The wartime thoughts of a "Fuzzybear Lioness..."<p> USO girl, Soldiers' Angel, Sheepdog caretaker and proud American</center>FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.comBlogger1268125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-31864012216875199222009-10-26T05:43:00.000-07:002009-10-26T05:48:13.716-07:00

For my two remaining readers...Why have I been AWOL? Part of it is this: It's Valour-IT Competition Time! I'm remaining neutral this year, but Cassandra of the Marine Team says it all so beautifully, regardless of which team you want to join:Please open your hearts and your wallets. Dig deep. These are some extraordinary young men and women - they've given their all in service of this great

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-71604698935884762292009-10-03T20:22:00.000-07:002009-10-03T20:25:42.643-07:00

One man talks about why he flies...More here.

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-64270837916679546282009-10-02T07:08:00.001-07:002009-10-02T07:08:52.520-07:00

It's just one picture.Go.

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-82883536199330939522009-10-01T20:34:00.000-07:002009-10-01T21:23:32.575-07:00

Drove down the freeway this afternoon to my local airbase, one eye on the road and one eye on the Blue Angels practicing the entire way. Saw the full wedge dive straight for the pavement on the horizon, then scatter in six arcs that skimmed the ground. My own mini airshow.Believe it or not, I didn't have any near-mishaps until I left the base (that stretch of freeway is notorious for accidents

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-76254792191616314782009-09-27T19:12:00.000-07:002009-09-27T19:15:09.291-07:00

Is it just me, or is this not even remotely cute?:

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-4114708451588382292009-09-27T17:13:00.000-07:002009-09-27T17:51:24.073-07:00

As I've written many times, the wounded servicemen and women who come back from war and conquer their gargantuan new challenges are an inspiration, a testament to the human spirit. A reminder that much of what we do and don't do is "all in our heads."We celebrate those who successfully conquer physical challenges and remake their lives in defiance of supposed "limitations." When we see how far

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-16640415041473169272009-09-24T19:05:00.001-07:002009-09-24T19:29:46.600-07:00

I suppose part of why I'm not blogging right now is that the big military-related issue right now is Afghanistan, and it's a political snake pit. I hate writing about politics.But a couple of other people have been saying it well without turning into the raving, foaming-at-the-mouth lunatic I'd be if I started on the topic...Marine Wife Cassandra: Take Your Time, Mr. PresidentRetired Naval

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-78243477349969509962009-09-23T21:19:00.000-07:002009-09-23T21:26:41.045-07:00

I'm still here... I think.I just really don't have anything military-related to say these days. And I hate how I've been making this blog about me instead of the troops. Thing is, I spend all my day doing troop-related stuff, and I feel like my life has been kind of interesting lately, so my ego would rather talk about me than about them.This is just embarrassing. This blog used to be

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-32670832489198211542009-09-14T18:32:00.000-07:002009-09-14T18:41:33.356-07:00

I've been on vacation, but fighting mild migraines (yes, there is such a thing, fortunately). I wanted to write about John and his father, but I can't wrap my hurting head around it.In the meantime, read this:Some people talk about how brave or heroic this attitude is, but for me it is simply practical. I refuse to let this keep me from living my life to the fullest, and you would too. It's

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-27830089656178645362009-09-13T08:16:00.001-07:002009-09-13T08:24:47.584-07:00

This time of year, doting parents are seeing their kids off to the first day of school. Many of those with young adults are leaving their dear ones in the rear view mirror and wondering how their how their kids will do at college so far away from home...This past week? The president addressed a joint session of Congress, the war in Afghanistan took an evil turn, throngs converged on Washington

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-14218954174951496422009-09-11T07:30:00.001-07:002009-09-11T07:46:17.265-07:00

Today I wasn't going ot mention the links below. I didn't want to make this political.But just now I turned on the radio and they used brief excerpts of news reports from 9-11-01 as a lead-in to the local talk show. Those sounds still chill me, make my stomach turn and my hair stand on end... they still make me cry. Because I'm the kind of girl who cries when anger becomes overwhelming, and

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-55802665236610142902009-09-11T07:27:00.000-07:002009-09-11T07:49:29.242-07:00

Over at Lex's house, a commenter had a fascinating analogy to explain and illuminate the meaning of the congressman who shouted out in anger (frustration?) during Obama's speech last night. He compares it to the subtleties of leadership and chain of command (two very different things) in a naval aviation squadron, and what happens when the lower levels rebel:So, it is like a squadron. If the

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-53403890046411791512009-09-11T06:26:00.000-07:002009-09-11T06:49:13.311-07:00

Today my biggest worry is that the ant scouting party in my kitchen is the harbinger of a third full-scale insect assault in 10 days.For that lightly-borne concern, I owe a lot of people more than could ever be adequately expressed, much less repaid. Exactly eight years ago, my worries were a lot more primal.Some of our heroes fell that day, but those who remain have proven over and over again

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-15694889504484198422009-09-09T07:01:00.000-07:002009-09-09T07:23:25.943-07:00

Is it possible to be a mentally-healthy female AND a misogynist?Between this and this and this, and now this, I could easily end up hating most of my sex. At the very least, if this is a true representation of a majority of women these days, I certainly better-understand the attitudes of some of the men I encounter...From relieving boredom, to keeping the peace or curing a headache, women have

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-5046584993648660512009-09-06T09:57:00.000-07:002009-09-06T10:52:00.529-07:00

Yes, the title is shamelessly stolen from CDR Salamander. Hey, it's a good one!Somewhere in my surfing yesterday, stumbled into the vast store of funny videos created by America's military service members. Some of it is downright dangerous--warning: don't search some various of "bored soldier" on YouTube. You'll come up with some funny but very "scary" stuff.Here's what happens when soldiers

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-65366620664417480492009-09-04T12:43:00.000-07:002009-09-04T16:12:45.088-07:00

That's what the SECDEF called it, and that's powerful language for someone in his position.Others are thoroughly documenting this repugnant story, so just allow me to add that the argument that publication was justified because it "shows the truth of war," more clearly than otherwise is ridiculous (that was reportedly the photographer's justification: to get people to "think about the war").It

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-16920044635044575662009-08-31T07:32:00.000-07:002009-08-31T07:59:59.308-07:00

As a non military type, this whole evolution seems to translate to if it seems easy, blame the people who do the job - they make it look easy. And it’s not.Take a look at some of the people who make it look easy, then check out one of the things they make look oh-so-easy (be sure to read the comments for a fuller understanding).From an Air Force pilot:Every branch has it’s technical quirks, but

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-64184409298060384362009-08-29T20:33:00.000-07:002009-08-29T21:20:35.017-07:00

That must be what it is.So, I'm following up the drivel below with more halo-crowned drivel...I think most of this essay is rather pedestrian (I imagine the writer sitting in front of her computer thinking, "What's the most eye-catching column I could write this week? I've got absolutely nothing of substance to write about. Hmmm..." Commercialism meets the shallowest of feminism). But this

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-36347883392026263492009-08-28T17:34:00.000-07:002009-08-29T21:26:52.982-07:00

I honestly don't understand. I have my opinions, but I'm obviously missing something here, 'cause I just don't get this...A married woman puts for the following reasons why lies are necessary in a happy marriage (now, I understand "No honey, that doesn't make you look fat," but these examples in support of lying don't seem to me to speak to a happy marriage. Or to a person I'd really trust very

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-69177331698796040472009-08-27T21:23:00.000-07:002009-08-27T23:11:51.436-07:00

It may not seem like much, but for someone who doesn't even have to step outside the house in order to work a 40-50-hour week in front of the computer, this is a lot! Two days ago I only had two things scheduled for these four weeks. I'm almost afraid to discover what will get added tomorrow...September 15 - A day of touring a Marine base to see infantry training/facility. Supposedly it

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-38788500399409363622009-08-23T22:11:00.000-07:002009-08-23T22:18:20.503-07:00

Rachel Lucas has had one of those amazing cold turkey successes with addiction and credits attitude as a huge part of that success:After 20 years of serious addiction, all I had to do was decide that not smoking was a liberation rather than a punishment. Just decide it. Not being able to have that cigarette isn’t something that sucks, it’s more like being slowly but surely released from

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-32641355208289011712009-08-23T20:21:00.001-07:002009-08-23T22:22:52.631-07:00

He has no personal effects. The only things that came with him from downrange [to Germany] were an envelope with a couple of [military challenge] coins and his Soldiers' Angels backpack.A wounded warrior who is has gone back to work now has a friend following a familiar path. Read what he says about those who have come to the aid of his wounded friend and the wife who is now shouldering a

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-86183418393345284802009-08-22T08:11:00.000-07:002009-08-22T13:27:27.993-07:00

We're not in the post-racial period," Paterson said. "The reality is the next victim on the list - and you can see it coming - is President Barack Obama, who did nothing more than trying to reform a health care system." Paterson said the campaign against him is being "orchestrated" by reporters who would rather make the news than report it.Well, let me just go take my racist self off to that

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-66302193400741677372009-08-20T22:18:00.000-07:002009-08-20T22:20:27.634-07:00

Three strikes....followed by a homerun.

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819332.post-25634870818657237632009-08-18T21:30:00.000-07:002009-08-18T22:39:18.947-07:00

As might be seen in the posts I wrote below, I was in a foul mood for most of the day, the kind of mood that makes you want to say, "To hell with work! Let's go eat chocolate and watch a movie!" Well, I persevered and completed my work (and only indulged lightly in the chocolate), though it was a real battle with my undisciplined mind.This evening I dragged my sorry rear end out to go bike

FbLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05719429913217863052noreply@blogger.com0