Shawn's (Highly) Motivated Life

Thiepval, France

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:00:41 GMT

....To commemorate those that were killed, and churned into the mud or destroyed by the millions of rounds of artillery that were fired-- or, more succinctly, have no known grave-- the Empire built the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme. On it are inscribed over 72,000 names. Most of these men were killed between the 1st and 4th of July, 1916.

It's on my list of places to visit, and it's where you'll find me on 11/11/11, inshallah.

LulZ

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:59:18 GMT

"We throw that weapon around, eight to ten hours a day...."

"Us new guys, we're out there training, trying to be the best, to get out on that four man."

Thanks Air Force Rifle Drill Team. Good to know you're out there.

Open in New Tab

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:48:41 GMT

I'm hooked on tabs. When I'm reading on the internet I can't help it, I right click and open that new tab. Writing this I've got at least a dozen waiting, and each wanting me to open a dozen more.

Last month I was training-- real, no bullshit training, the kind with bullets-- and that was great. And now I'm training some more, taking a crash course in Pashto that is supposed to make me a "conversationalist" in the language, and allow me to substitute for the interpreter that we're supposed to have, Inshallah.

It's six months out, give or take, and it's bearing down quick, and before I know it, I'll be walking in fields of poppies. I think of Ty Cobb, "They were all against me and tried every dirty trick to cut me down. But I beat them bastards and left them in the ditch."

It's unreal sometime, living here in Bavaria and drinking some hefe-weissbier, and just a season away from wrestling towards that ditch, where I plan to leave 'em.

Shoot straight. Drive on.

Turns out nobody even cared.

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:23:26 GMT

With ban over, who should cover the fallen at Dover?
Few in media choosing to capture events, but military posts pictures
By Christian Davenport
Washington Post
Saturday, October 24, 2009

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, DEL. -- When the first Bush administration banned the media from covering the arrival of the fallen at Dover Air Force Base during the Persian Gulf War nearly 20 years ago, the stated reason was to protect the families' privacy.

But in the six months since the controversial ban was lifted and 258 families were allowed to choose whether they wanted the media present, 60 percent said yes, according to the military.

In August, the Pentagon quietly amended the policy so that families were given a third option for coverage. Now they can have military camera crews cover the short, solemn ceremony at Dover, known as a dignified transfer, while barring professional news reporters. Fifteen percent more families have chosen this option, meaning that about 75 percent of all arrivals of the country's war dead are covered in some fashion.

But just because families consent to coverage doesn't mean news organizations are always interested. After First Amendment advocates fought for the right to document the arrival of the flag-draped metal caskets, dubbed "transfer cases" by the military, there are often just a handful of journalists on hand. More than a third of all ceremonies open to the media during the first six months were covered by a single outlet: the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, the military, which had feared from the beginning that families who said yes to media coverage would be disappointed by the turnout, has provided its own crews to cover those events approved by the family and posts the images on the Web. As a result, the Defense Department has become one of the main distributors of the images of the fallen.

It's a development that troubles free speech advocates, who say the media, not the military, should capture the images the public sees.

"Taking pictures of the returning casualties to Dover is a measure of the human cost of war," said Ralph Begleiter, a journalism professor at the University of Delaware who with the Natonal Security Archive successfully sued the Pentagon in 2004 to release its images of the fallen arriving at Dover. "Do you want the government ultimately to have control over what we see or not see? Or do you want independent observers, an independent press or media, relaying those images?"

Free speech vs. privacy

The arrival of war dead at Dover has long pitted free speech advocates against the government, which had been accused of using the ban to hide the horror of war from the public -- especially as the casualty rates in Iraq and Afghanistan began to climb. In 2004, Vice President Biden, then a U.S. senator from Delaware, said, "The idea that they are essentially snuck back into the country under the cover of night so no one can see that their casket has arrived, I just think is wrong."

This year, the Obama administration sought a middle ground. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates lifted the ban but said families should decide whether the media cover the homecomings of the fallen: "We ought not presume to make that decision in their place."

The first family offered a choice under the new policy was that of Air Force Staff Sgt. Phillip A. Myers of Hopewell, Va., who was killed in Afghanistan on April 4. His wife approved coverage because she "wanted the world to see what was going on over there, to let the world see that it is bodies coming back," Eddie Myers, Phillip Myers's father, told The Post at the time.

When Army Spec. Daniel P. Drevnick was killed in Iraq in July, his father approved coverage for the same reason. Still, Ken Drevnick said he was glad the media were forbidden from taking pictures of family members, who stand behind a large bus that shields them from the media stationed just a few feet away.

"I think that's a good thing," Drevnick, of Woodbury, Minn., said, "because it was within 48 hours of me finding out that my son had been killed, and I was in no position to talk to the media."

But not all families say yes to the media -- or think the ban should have been lifted. Brian Wise, executive director of Families United for Our Troops, an advocacy organization, said media coverage is an unwelcome intrusion that "is like bringing a camera into a funeral home."

Shortly after Daryl Burrow of Laurel was notified that her son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dennis Burrow, 23, had been killed in Afghanistan, she refused news coverage, she said, because she feared the media would turn her son's homecoming into a "spectacle." Welcoming him home, she said, "was something we wanted to do in private."

Few media frenzies

Since the ban was lifted, media coverage at Dover has fluctuated. On April 5, 35 news organizations crammed together on the runway to witness Myers's arrival home. And after five soldiers were allegedly killed by an Army sergeant at a mental health clinic in Iraq, 22 media crews descended on Dover on May 13.

So Gloria Crothers of Edgewood, Md., was a little taken aback when just two news crews appeared for the arrival of her son, Army Sgt. Michael Heede, and another soldier from Maryland. She wasn't so much disappointed as surprised, she said. "I was told there could be quite a few" news crews.

But a few is the norm, said Maj. Carl Grusnick, an Air Force spokesman. Often the only professional journalist is a lone Associated Press photographer.

"The feeling is that somewhere there is a home town, a family, a newspaper for whom the homecoming of the soldier is very important news," said Paul Colford, an AP spokesman. "So we have made the commitment to covering each and every one of those at Dover."

Along with the AP, the military has sent a photographer and videographer to every arrival approved for coverage by families since the ban was lifted. The Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center at Dover gives a DVD of the ceremony to each family, which officials say helps in the healing process.

Some families said they agreed to media coverage just so they could get the DVD, which is why the military created the option of Defense Department-only coverage. Before the change in policy, about 70 percent of families approved general media coverage. Afterward, families said yes to professional media 60 percent of the time.

The military also posts a photograph of every ceremony approved for coverage on the Air Force's Mortuary Affairs Web site, which can be downloaded by anyone.

"Many small publications around the country regularly take advantage of this free information as a basis for their localized stories," Grusnick said.

Since the media ban was lifted, the military also started paying for families to travel to Dover to welcome their loved ones home. More than 70 percent of families have made the trip.

That's what mattered most to Shane Wilhelm of Plymouth, Ohio: being there for the quiet white-gloved military rite. Wilhelm said it made him feel proud of his 19-year-old son, Army Pvt. Keiffer Wilhelm, and of his country.

"It was representative of the United States, that's the way I viewed it," he said. "It shook me to the bone, but it made me feel proud instead of having all that grief. All these people are here all because of my son."

Isiah Rider

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:58:35 GMT

Funny thing: Yahoo! Sports has a blog called "The Ball Don't Lie" and it had a story on Isiah Rider. What it doesn't mention is that it was Isiah Rider that coined the phrase.

I miss basketball.

Always Ready

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:25:24 GMT

I have a paid for three bedroom townhouse in Bavaria and make close to 40k a year. I'm about a quarter of the way to my 50% pension. Not bad for that 7th grade education. Of course, sometimes the job ain't easy, 31/42 turns into 44/61, give or take....

DoD Announces Units For Afghanistan Rotations And Deployment

The Department of Defense announced today major units scheduled to deploy as part of upcoming rotations of forces operating in Afghanistan. The announcement involves two active duty brigade combat teams totaling 7,700 personnel, and one National Guard brigade with approximately 3,500 personnel. The scheduled rotation for these forces will begin in the spring of 2010.

Specific units receiving deployment orders include:

1st Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky.

2^nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment (SCR), Vilseck, Germany

2^nd Brigade Combat Team, 34^th Infantry Division, Iowa National Guard

The spring/summer rotation of the 1st BCT, 101^st Airborne Division (3,700 personnel) and the 2^nd SCR (4,000 personnel) continues the U.S. commitment to maintain the current level of forces assigned to the NATO-International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Read More

Toujours Pret.

Shoot straight. Drive on.

The benefits of a 7th grade education.

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:15:16 GMT

10/18/09 08:20 pm - swingland - one pyramid scheme to rule them all

post secondary education.

yes, in today's dumbed down society, a post secondary education is absolutely critical to resupply retiring and aging workers with specialized jobs. on the job training requires employers to spend money on employees. we all know that's a dumb way to do business. instead, we will send these people to a university where they will PAY for a piece of paper that lets employers know that said applicant is qualified to perform X,Y,and Z.

The only problem is that most jobs don't need X,Y, and Z. They need sigma, delta, or epsilon. Well? I don't have epsilon but I have some experience with delta. Too bad, go back to school. Get more school. Oh shit, I'm back where I started.

Okay, I have sigma, delta, and epsilon. Can I get a job? Nope. You don't have two to seventeen years experience working with a specialized type of sigma that's about to become obsolete in two weeks. Shit.

Okay, sir, would you like fries with that? Please pull around to the drive thru.

In the meantime, universities and colleges rake in the big bucks selling this shit to kids and adults thinking they can learn their way to a better standard of living.

The ability to appreciate Chaucer does not equate to a job, unless that job is explaining your appreciation of Chaucer to a bunch of people who PAID to hear about it because they think learning your appreciation of Chaucer will fulfill a course requirement to graduate.

What's your end result?

A complete and absolute dearth of self-made men and women, who are able to challenge and critically think their way through situations. Peasants dressed up as businessmen are still peasants. Literate, somewhat, but still pissants clamoring on a big giant hills for scraps from the big dog tables.

The Posada

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:08:24 GMT

I've been in Romania on an outstanding field problem. We recieved some awesome training and shot an international Table XII. It was pretty hot shit. I got to play a pretty key role in the entire thing to, which was great. It's nice that I'm starting to get some responsibility here at this unit. During the training event for a week I exercised tactical control of the 33rd Mountain Infantry Battalion platoon that was assigned to us, almost like a one man MiTT.

I was going to tell the story of how I lead a successful counterattack that saved most of Red Platoon with my platoon of Romanians, but I think that I'm going to get kicked off this computer soon.

This entry is a placeholder for when I have more time.

Shoot straight. Drive on.

Briefly home.

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:47:16 GMT

Just completed the very last 30 day Warrior Leader Course in the entire United States Army. From here on out it's gonna be two weeks everywhere. 20 men from the Squadron, maybe 50 from the Regiment. Not many came to see us finish.

A few days at the house and then off to Romania for another month.

Get with me offline and I'll paint the picture if you can't read between the lines.

Shoot straight. Drive on.

RIP Saber 3

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 08:15:29 GMT

Been four years.

How you doing Brad?

Did I mention that I'm living in Germany?

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:00:26 GMT

I miss Murka.

He punched a magician. That's right, you heard me.

Wed, 20 May 2009 14:09:02 GMT

Scattered Thoughts

Sat, 09 May 2009 03:14:46 GMT

I worry that I "ain't got it no more." You see it in Pro-Sports, but it's the same in my own profession. We don't get paid as much, but there's not a lot of difference. America's Wars over the past seven years have been fought by the same guys, only for a lot less money.

There was rust before. We'd gone chasing the guns on Iraq Highway 2 and found some Iraqi Army (IA) overwhelmed. I was on the gun, a year seperated from when I had last been handling it, and I wasn't sure what to do. There are always different Rules of Engagement (ROE) and when we showed up I had no idea who had killed those IA Soldiers.

I figured it out pretty soon. Our platoon leader asked higher for some armor support, and some Cavalry Fighting Vehicles (Bradley CFV) were sent down. We stopped and after a few minutes the enemy started going after us. There's a big wall on HWY 2 and they were taking full advantage of it, using the other side that neither us or them could cross to drop rounds. At first it was kind of scattered, then they started laying rockets.

The first one hit next to my wingman. I love Montoya forever because he was unafraid. He was facing that direction and opened on the butterfly (the trigger for the .50 caliber machine gun) immediately. It was the general direction, but who knows if that was the actual firer. We called again for armored support.

Some Bradleys showed up from our A Company just after that. Things got quiet for a while. Haji saw the big guns and took cover, and for good reason; our Brads started firing on the first shot that came across us, and almost leveled a building. It was the feared "sniper house", a place that had been determined to have killed half a dozen Soldiers and even wounded a full Colonel. Of course it was the target of our supressive fire.

Then the Brads rolled out. The IA guy that had been fucked up was dead, another one was in the back of a truck and on the way to the hospital. For whatever reason that's when things got really sticky.

The sun had started to go down, and so I went to load up my night vision. I snatched it up and swung left and right. I'd been scanning steadily and turning back and forth the whole time. A sniper, trained or not, isn't going after someone that is paying attention. My bats were dead though, and right after I reached down, that's when the bullets started flying.

Fucker was aiming at the back of my head.

I came back up late, and didn't shoot. There's the rust. I hadn't done it in a while, hadn't fought and almost been killed in over a year. I swung the turret around to direction and was cussing something fierce. When the Rules of Engagement change and you haven't done it in a year things are harder. I wanted to lay down on the buildings, .50 API (Armor Piercing Incendiary), but I didn't know if I could. Didn't want to, that stuff causes damage, collateral type.

Curtains flowed outward from a doorway. I remember and only see it in the slow motion I saw it happened. Of course I could tell you I dropped a bunch of rounds in the window and doors, but that's bullshit; I ducked into the gun housing. A RPG has a double pop and a smoke trail between, but a rocket is fast, and that's one of those where I really think I should have been dead. I got low in the gun and it wouldn't have helped, but their aim was low, and their rocket hit the highway wall.

From farther to my left came small arms fire (SAF). The SAF was part of the attack, it was coordinated. I tell my Soldiers, "If it sounds loud they have no idea and are shooting. If it sounds like bees it's in your general direction. If it sounds like bacon you're gonna die." That shit sounded like the second batch of bacon in some hot grease. A few rounds pinged off my armor, and I almost thought I could see them-- if only in streaks.

The rust though. Hadn't done it in a while. The new ROE. Having to make positive identification, legally bound to actually see the guy. I didn't shoot back at all. Rattles in my head and I feel guilty to this day: fuckers almost got me, almost took my face off. And I never even tried to kill them back.

Frustrating is the word, but it doesn't even start. Maybe if I still "had it" when we got into that fight the fight would've been over, and I wouldnt've almost died. Maybe I would have shot those sons of bitches dead. Rust is a motherfucker.

Shoot straight. Drive on.

Statistical Oddity

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 16:07:07 GMT

Can anyone explain the jump in the curve of age on the LJ Stats page?

And more as a placeholder because I want to remember this one. We were sitting in the tent out on the big bullet range the other day, and the tanks were one range up. Some of the cherries were like, "What was that?," to which Jason replied: "That's the sound of Freedom." I thought it was profound and well spoken at the perfect time, but maybe you'd have to be there.

And that picture is a bumper sticker I saw yesterday that had me smiling well into the evening.

Shoot straight. Drive on.

TOP HEADLINES

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:11:30 GMT

I thought I'd see some good Opinion pieces at least when I looked at some "news" today, maybe even a front page headline. And I did, about some rich bit actress that died falling off a mountain in Canada where she was skiing. Her rich actor husband (star of the feature film in theaters now! Taken) was very broken up about it.

Then there's those dirty AIG guys, who had a pretty clearly stated contract that the "people" want Obama to renege on. Apperantly after they got done stealing all your monies they negotiated to get some bonuses for the executives as part of their compensation. I get a bonus when I rewrite my contract, and I try to push it as high as I can. Got it, the Nation is in debt, but a man has to eat. At the end of the day it's only a few hundred million of a very, very large bailout.

Also, what's a few hundred million against what should have been the biggest story right? The one that should be on page one. Oh wait, we forgot all about that, didn't we?

It's March 19th people, and we're 800 billion (yeah, that's a B) in the hole--on this--the anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.

Poor Natasha or Lisa or whatever her name was. I hope those execs with the big bonuses wear ski helmets when they spend that money in the lodge to avert another senseless tragedy.

Shoot straight. Drive on.

Kick them in the face with your RANGER legs!

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:47:15 GMT

Should be doing IMPORTANT things.

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 16:34:49 GMT

I got up a little after nine today and I should have doing some important things. I've got a to-do list a mile long, the old "five minutes and three of them done gone" type thing going on. Instead I've relaxing watching the Goonies and now Zoolander, and reading one of my birthday presents.

The Spaces Between Buildings. This is an endlessly fascinating subject for me. I've lived in all sorts of places, and in all of them I've been almost hypnotized by the areas around structures. A lot of people want to be Art Vandelay, architect. And while architecture is interesting enough, it's the entire context that holds my attention.

I'm glad I got another copy of this book. Thanks baby.

Words Mean Something

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:43:49 GMT

I picked up a lot from Ike- I refer to him as my mentor or sensei in conversation. That guy has forgotten more about professionalism and warfare than most people will ever know. Back in Iraq he'd be busy on the phone and when he hung up he'd begin; it's as if talking to higher HQ jogged his brain. He was probably just venting, but there were many, many lessons to be learned.

One of his rants was that words mean something. That of course is stating the obvious, but most people just don't get it. It takes a lot of practice, a lot of concentration, and a lot of knowledge. He'd lean back in his chair, half facing away from us and talk, "Words mean something, right?" Then the lesson would begin, he'd start off pissed, then smile as he went, then back to his usual only half-irritated because of exhaustion mood that most of us have in country. I'd make a joke that was the polar opposite of the lesson he tried to impart, show that I was paying attention and had learned enough to see the antis, and that I fully grasped the concept.

Yesterday my mentor came down to our HQ and administered the Oath to me.

I... do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same....

So help me God.

Words mean something.

Incidentally I turned 30 yesterday.

Shoot straight. Drive on.

Jet Lag

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:00:07 GMT

The Daylight Savings Time switch has me all messed up. I walk outside of our TOC at 1800 and it feel like 1630, and it's almost like I don't mind working late.

House of the Rising Sun

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 07:45:22 GMT

On my recent deployment I had it easy enough I guess. There are not many sunrises that really stick out, that jog the memory. That's probably because on most days I was awake around seven and in Iraq it's always light at that hour.

A particular morning I remember: I walked up the ramp out of the basement of the Uday Hussein palace we were living in; it was about this time last year. Suprisngly the weather is kinda nice in the Middle East, and living in our building it was far more pleasant outside. A piss, a cigarette, and a few words to our infantrymen, then off to work.

So I expected to talk to Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) rep Sergeant First Class Ezell when I got into the Tactical Operation Center (TOC). We liked to talk "shop" when it was slow. Except it was silent when I came in, and not the normal silent. The night guys were totally underworked because the Army owns the night and there's just not that much enemy activity to report, except for every now and then.

It was always so bright when I went in. We slept most of the time in a dark room or the basement of the palace; our operations sergeant major made sure we had enough downtime for our mission. So I'd get up and it would be brough daylight and I'd be squinting when I walked outside because to me it was too bright. I'd stumble up the ramp of the palace into the house of the rising sun.

Of course EZ wasn't there that morning. That wasn't unusual because the area of operations (AO) had been pretty quiet for a while and our improvised explosive threat (IED) pretty predictable. SFC Ezell, E-Z, our Dave as those the knew him said, would mostly come for shop talk, not for briefs.

The night before he'd gone out on a mission. He was a platoon sergeant and didn't have to go most of the time. When we had the parking lot full of booby trapped cars he went out; not that it was the beyond the technical proficieny of his team leaders or anything, it's just what he thought was right when West asked to put on the bomb suit. He had to go on more missions after: one of his Team Leaders went on leave and then the Mahdi Army rose up in Sadr City and we sent the other team; in the end all we had to go out and find the bombs was Dave.

He preferred to be called EZ. I still remember Staff Sergeant West, "He was my platoon sergeant, and he was my friend." He talked about various kinds of explosives and devices he'd encountered in two tours before. He also talked about Christina a lot, and his two boys. He was a platoon sergeant, and he was my friend.

Our DOD and 4 ID tones down what a great guy he was. The press release says he was killed by an IED near his unit. Flash. His unit was two other men and a truck. Dave had walked up on the IED himself in an attempt to disarm it; because the way it was hidden in an alley there was no safer way. Flash. Fully cognizant of the dangers to his two junior explosive technicians, the Scouts of Charlie Troop, 3-7 CAV, and the people of that neighborhood, he attempted to render safe the bomb, flash, and in doing so sacrificed his own life.

These guys I know are always flashing before my eyes. Flash. Fade to black.

Shoot straight. Drive on.

Bryan Fishermen's Co-Op

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 01:07:15 GMT

Today we went exploring, mostly looking for this little bar I want to check out. We had negative contact, but then we went exploring all the little roads that dead end to the inlets and marshes, and after driving five miles on a road with nothing but a tree farm, we came around a bend and found this. Definitely one of the sweeter spots I've found down here.

Voytek, the most basass Soldier in WWII

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:25:12 GMT

All military insignia are pretty uniformly badass. Their imagery is rife with skulls, guns, bombs, and lightning bolts; but all that shit’s got nothing on this simple, modest, and entirely accurate depiction of what appears to be a grizzly bear with bullets for fists.

Read why.

I've always been fascinated by this story.

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:33:16 GMT

     ...But when Bruno announced his intention of returning to Frankfurt, Mocenigo notified the Inquisitors, and on May 23, 1592, Bruno found himself in the prison of the Holy Office in Venice. Mocenigo explained that he had acted "by the constraint of his conscience and by order of his confessor." He informed the Inquisitors that Bruno was averse to all religions, though he liked Catholicism best; that he denied the Trinity, the Incarnation, and transubstantiation; that he charged Christ and the Apostles with having deceived the people through alleged miracles; Bruno had said that all friars were asses, defiling the earthy by their hypocrisy, avarice, and evil life, that religion should not be replaced by philosophy, that indulgence in "carnal pleasures" is not sinful, and that he, Bruno, had satisfied his passions to the extent of his opportunities; Bruno had told him that "ladies pleased him well, though he had not yet reached Solomon's number."
     The Inquisition examined the prisoner at its leisure, from May to September 1592. Bruno pleaded that he had written as a philosopher and availed himself of Pomponazzi's distinction between the "two truths" -- that one might question, as a philosopher, doctrines that he accepted as a Catholic. He admitted his doubts as to the Trinity. He confessed that he had been guilty of many errors; he professed repentance and besought the tribunal, "knowing my infirmity, to embrace me to the breast of Mother Church, providing me with remedies suitable for my welfare, and using me with mercy." The Inquisitors gave him no comfort, but returned him to his cell. On July 30 they examined him again, heard his confession and his plea for mercy, and again remanded him to his cell for another two months. In September the head of the Roman Inquisition instructed the Venetian Inquisitors to send their prisoner to Rome. The Venetian government objected, but the Inquisitors pointed out that Bruno was a citizen of Naples, not of Venice, and the Senate consented to his extradition. On February 27, 1593, Bruno was deported to Rome.
     It was part of Inquisition procedure to let a prisoner brood in jail for long periods before, between, and after examinations. Almost a year passed before Bruno was brought before the Roman tribunal in December 1593. He was examined again--or tortured by questioning--in April, May, September, and December of 1594. In January 1595 the Inquisitors met twice to study the record; in March 1595 and April 1596 Bruno, says the trial record, "was brought before the Lord Cardinals and was visited" in his cell "and was interrogated by them and heard concerning his necessities." In December 1596 his complaints were heard "concerning food." In March 1597 he was brought before the examiners, who again "heard him concerning his necessities"; we are not told what these were, but the repeated pleas suggest nameless hardships, not including the long suspense aimed presumably to bread down an ardent spirit into an edifying humility. Another year passed. In December 1597, another questioning; then another year in the cell. In December 1598 he was allowed paper and pen. On January 14, 1599, he was again summoned. Eight heretical propositions taken from his books were read to him, and he was asked to recant them. He defended his views, but agreed to accept the decision of the Pope as to the quoted passages. On February 4 Clement VIII and the Congregation of the Holy Office decided that the excerpts were plainly heretical. No mention of Bruno's Copernican views occurs in the record of the trial; the heresies related to the Incarnation and the Trinity. He was allowed forty days more to acknowledge his errors.
     He was heard again on February 19 and in April, September, and November. On December 21 he declared that he would not retract. On January 20, 1600 he addressed a memorial to the Pope, claiming that the condemned propositions had been wrongly taken from their context, offering to defend them against any theologians, and again expressing willingness to accept the decision of the Pope. Thereupon, reads the record, "the most holy lord, Pope Clement VIII, decreed and commanded that the cause be carried to final measures,...sentence be pronounced, and the said Brother Jordanus be committed to the secular court." On February 8 the Inquisitors summoned Bruno, repeated the accusations, and told him that he had been allowed eight years in which to repent; that he had agreed to accept the decision of the Pope as to whether his propositions were heretical; that the Pope had so decided, and that the prisoner still persisted in his heresies, continuing "impenitent, obstinate, and pertinacious"; wherefore sentence was now passed upon that he should be "delivered to the secular court,...to the Governor of Rome here present, that thou mayest be punished with the punishment deserved, though we earnestly pray that he will mitigate the rigor of the laws concerning the pains of they person, that thou mayest not be in danger of death or of mutilation of thy members." The sentence was signed by nine cardinals, including Bellarmine. According to Caspar Scioppius, a German scholar recently converted to Catholicism and then residing in Rome, when the verdict was read to Bruno he said to his judges, "Perchance you who pronounce my sentence are in greater fear than I who receive it."
     He was at once transferred to a secular prison. On February 19, still impenitent, his body nude, his tongue tied he was bound to an iron stake on a pyre in the Piazza Camp de'Fiori and was burned alive, in the presence of an edified multitude. He was fifty-two years old. On that same spot in 1889, a statue was erected to him by subscription from all quarters of the world.

It's Paula Deen Y'all

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:00:17 GMT

Uncle Bubba's Oyster House
Originally uploaded by qp4pictures

Yesterday after Jen got off work we decided to try out a new place to eat. That's something we're adding to our weekends (we already do a wildlife/outdoor activity), going to new nice restaurants. I don't know how the economy is working out for y'all, but there are upsides to the good guvmint job. And since there's no football there's no scheduling conflict. So we went to Uncle Bubba's (he's like Paula's cousin or little brother or something), and when I saw the porch next to the channel I couldn't resist; places like this are some of my favorite in the world. I grabbed a beer and a cigarette, and headed outside to make a memory.

Stray Cat
Originally uploaded by qp4pictures

Of course if you're a stray cat the economy is always iffy, but not if you're at Uncle Bubba's Oyster House. There were these little guys all over the place, and I can't think of a better place to be if I was a stray cat. While we were waiting on our food I briefly entertained a few thoughts on what it might be like to be a cat, how they live out their little lives by the dock and the seafood joint, and wait out the day to get some fish heads.

Tybee River
Originally uploaded by qp4pictures

After we ate we went to the mouth of the Tybee River along the ocean that I love having just a few hundred feet from the house. We got out there just in time. The picture here was taken right after I paid for our parking; anecdote: I paid $3 to park and when I grabbed the ticket I found a buck fifty in quarters. Timing is everything, and it was nice to find the center on this one.

Tybee River Dock
Originally uploaded by qp4pictures

Once we got up on the deck it was a little chilly. The wind was blowing in right off the sea, but I had Jen with me, and we kinda cuddled up and watched the sun go down. It's always been enjoyable to me to stare right at the sun. I think if I was still a religous guy, I'd probably worship the sun.

Turtle Art
Originally uploaded by qp4pictures

Once the sun went down we took a driving tour of the beaches, and then walked around the "town" of Tybee for a while. There's some art gallery jammed into an old building. Had it been open we might have gone in, but since it was closed all we were really able to check out was this big turtle sculpture.

Steamers
Originally uploaded by qp4pictures

Once we got home it was still pretty early, so I headed over to the local brewhouse. A few years ago I discovered the Mid-Atlantic's best kept secret, but up until a few months ago it was outlawed here: Yuengling. With the sale of Anheiuser Busch to the Belgians though certain things have changed, and now the most popular beer in Georgia is also my favorite, so this story has a happy ending.
Shoot straight. Drive on.

Rewards

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:18:44 GMT

I'm up at five most days, in the car before a quarter after. A few days a month it's more like four, or even two. I'm doin' sixty hours before I get fatigued, and now I can run at full speed for over an hour before I get tired.

The wreath and star doesn't check my work anymore, "I trust you." The other star and I are starting to get along good. And the field grades give me attaboys and treat me like a staff officer, except for that annoying crap that they do where they call their underlings by the their first names. Of course they wouldn't do that with me, I'm the Backbone.

No one is more professional than I. And that is it's own reward.

I'm gonna go have some Yeungling.

Shoot straight. Drive on.