Samantha Pierce

I heard just a snippet about this young man on the news and I knew I had to find out more. Meyer, who left active-duty service in June 2010 as a corporal, will be honored for his actions Sept. 8, 2009. He charged into a kill zone on foot and alone to find three missing Marines and a Navy corpsman, who had been pinned down under intense enemy fire in Ganjgal, a remote village near the Pakistan border in violent Kunar province. Already wounded by shrapnel, Meyer found them dead and stripped of their gear and weapons, and helped carry them from the kill zone, according to military documents obtained by Marine Corps Times. Meyer — who now lives in Austin, Texas — could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday night. In interviews with Marine Corps Times in November, he said he felt "like the furthest thing from a hero" because he did not find his fellow Marines alive. You really ought to read the whole thing. Stories like this always bring to mind that we are unworthy ...

Shock, followed by a sleeplessness night, followed by time in front of the television once the kids were on the school bus, followed by surprised tears upon viewing a brief collection of footage from the last ten years. That is a general overview of the sequence of my reaction to the news that Osama bin Laden is dead. It is remarkable to see so many young people in the streets celebrating Bin Laden's meeting with justice. Partly because I'm now old enough to think of them as young people but mostly because so many of them were just kids on September 11, 2001. The events of that day in New York City, Washington DC, and Shanksville left a mark the scope of which we still don't fully comprehend. The rest of the world should remember that. Bin Laden's buddies who will use this as an excuse to remain on the war path (as if they ever had any intention of leaving it) need to remember that. Some are beginning to talk about the unintended consequences of killing Osama bin Lade...

Today we remember the evil that was done 9 years, we remember those who were taken from us, and we remember the heroism of those who rose to the challenge that day and every day since. Icarus II In the darkness I rise, long before the dawn I was dreaming of home and the life I led I can hear the sound, of the engines roar And I crave the embrace of my empty bed Where I'm safe (there I'm safe) But the call is clear, and the task is set And my enemies wait in the dark sky Do they fear the same fear, do they dream like us Do they long for the day when it's over And they're safe We are cruising above the horizon Never knowing if we will return In a moment we'll loose the destruction And we'll justify all that we burn Here the air is cold, but my thoughts are clear And so I'm wondering why I must be here For the evil that can come, from the heart of a man Must be answered in kind 'til it disappears And we're safe Now we're cruising above the horizon N...

This picture sparked a lot of thoughts in my head. My first thoughts were, oh come one not again! Particularly after reading this post's title, Is There a Foregin Potentate Obama Will Not Bow Before? My second thoughts, before looking at the picture, were, it can't really be that bad can it? My third thoughts, after looking at the picture, were, when did we decide to become vassals of the Emperor of Japan? I don't think even the Emperor's own son bows that low to him. My fourth thoughts were, we'll survive this little snafu same as the others. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger right? While we're all moaning and groaning and picking sides in the dust up over this display of ignorance about the significance of bows in Japanese culture has our leader made up his mind yet about how/if he is going to fight the war on terror?

Back from my vacation and ready to comment on the craziness in the world. So... North Korea has been shooting off missiles left and right and kidnapping American journalists ( remember them? ) as a cover for the fact that the dear leader is dieing of pancreatic cancer. They put me so much in mind of a small terrified child that doesn't want to take its medicine. Like a friend said, this is how you make new racists. Idiots. The follow up story doesn't make anything clearer or sound better. The comments on that second story are a hoot as well. I wonder how much of that bluster those people have in real life? I found this story about Iraqis being disgruntled that they are still seeing US service men and women on their streets amusing in light of the stories ( here's just one ) about the bombs that keep going off in their streets.

Back after an unplanned break. So... Nancy Pelosi taking pot shots at the CIA? Really? I know that they regularly take one for the team but the CIA knows how to fight dirty (if they don't we're in bigger trouble than I thought). My money is on the CIA in this fight. Drought, Politics Trouble Farmers In California . Why is it that when there is a dispute over water farmers (the ones responsible for growing the food you stuff your face with every day) get shafted? Why turn around and complain about how much food costs if you're going to do stuff that ruins crops or keeps farmers from planting enough to meet your demands? Trying to portray as "greedy" farmers who want enough water to keep their crops alive long enough to harvest them suggests a complete disconnect from what the lives of farmers are actually like. Why aren't the people who live in an arid climate but want to act like they live in a rain forest not the greedy ones? In the long run cheap food is mo...

Clinton Seeks End to 'Scourge' of Piracy as U.S. Navy Races to Hijacked American Ship Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Wednesday for world action to end the "scourge" of piracy as U.S. warships raced to the scene where a U.S.-flagged ship was hijacked off the coast of Somalia. American crew members aboard the ship hijacked were able to regain control of the vessel Wednesday, but the ship's captain is still being held hostage, FOX News confirms. *** Wednesday's incident was the first such hostage-taking involving U.S. citizens in 200 years. In December 2008, Somali pirates chased and shot at a U.S. cruise ship with more than 1,000 people on board but failed to hijack the vessel. I'd say it's time that they be reminded why it's been 200 years since this kind of thing has happened to an American ship. Call me a blood thirsty warmonger if you like but I think these pirates need to be dealt with with extreme prejudice. Take them out on the wa...

This child did not have to die. Only weeks after her birth Dana, the Lennox Head grand-daughter of former Kangaroo Ken McCaffery, contracted whooping cough. On Monday she died. She was only four weeks old. “We miss her so much and are devastated that such a beautiful, innocent child is the victim of ignorance. She never stood a chance against this epidemic.” Hat tip to Left Brain/Right Brain where it is also noted that this disease is on the rise in the US. How many more people have to die before we stop letting our actions be dictated by those spreading false fears about vaccines? We've been the "Great Satan" to Iran since at least 1979 so I'm not really surprised that this didn't go over too well. Iran’s Supreme Leader Dismisses Obama Overtures Iran's supreme leader rebuffed President Barack Obama's latest outreach on Saturday, saying Tehran was still waiting to see concrete changes in U.S. policy. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was responding to a video mess...

I've been meaning to share this bit of text ever since I read it several months ago. The following is an exchange between Sergeant Fred Colon and Corporal Nobby Nobs of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch from Thud! ( Wiki with spoilers, Amazon ) by Terry Pratchett. "War, Nobby. Huh! What is it good for?" he said "Dunno, sarge. Freeing slaves, maybe?" "Absol--Well, okay." "Defending yourself from a totalitarian aggressor?" "All right, I'll grant you that, but--" "Saving civilization against a horde of--" "It doesn't do any good in the long run is what I'm saying, Nobby, if you'd listen for five seconds together," said Fred Colon sharply. "Yeah, but in the long run what does, sarge?" The whole book is a good read. Leave it to Terry Pratchett of make ethnic and fundamentalist strife damningly funny.

Cross posted at Say Anything: Reader blogs . The blogosphere is abuzz with the news of the recent bombings in Baghdad targeting a pet market full of children who had the day off from school. The fact that children were the target is not what has people up in arms. We've grown all too familiar with that terrorist tactic. What has everyone aghast is the possibility that the female bombers were mentally disabled and unaware that their lives would be sacrificed for the terrorist cause. Mentally Disabled Women in Baghdad Bombing The Despicable Nature Of Our Enemy Reality Check: Al-Qaeda in Iraq Sinks to Ghastly New Low Report: Al Qaeda uses mentally disabled women as suicide bombers I found this essay on the bombings from NPR's Scott Simon particularly moving, A Tragedy in Baghdad . The subdued but shocked tone of his voice really grabbed my attention. I'm not surprised by the possibility that the women in this bombing may have been mentally disabled. Using the disabled to carry...

Most fake bombs missed by screeners . Not because I'm afraid of being blown up. But because I don't see the point of wasting all of that time and money, being stripped of my water and lip balm, possibly being stranded in an airport or an a plane without food or water, or subjecting my children to all of that, in an effort to keep me safe while actual bomb components still make it onto a plane.

(Cross posted at Say Anything: Reader Blogs .) Sis2 just called to tell me that CNN is reporting that Turkey has recalled its ambassador to the US over this: House Bill on Armenian Genocide Angers Turks A House committee has voted to condemn the killing of more than 1 million Armenians in Turkey in World War I, explicitly calling the event "genocide." The Turkish government opposes the resolution — as does the Bush administration, which warns that relations with a key ally could be damaged. The House Foreign Relations Committee's vote on the 1915 massacre infuriated Turkish officials. It also prompted protests in Ankara, where crowds of people marched on the American embassy. Sis2 works in an office full of Turks and they are all worried. Turkish opposition to any mention of the words "Armenian" and "Genocide" anywhere near each other in any context is just about legendary. There are laws in Turkey to prosecute people for insulting Turkishness by talk...

Aside from the fact that I wasn't born until after the whole hoary mess went down and so have no memory of it I have been thinking much the same thing ever since Democrats started talking non-binding resolutions. After years of resisting claims that Iraq was another Vietnam I am now ready to admit that those who made the claim maybe after all right. But only because those who made the claim over and over again have done their best to make it so. Gambling on Defeat By Michael Novak Once again, they have repeated their deed of 39 years ago, turning victory into defeat, setting the stage for last-minute departures by helicopter, banging with rifles the up-reached hands of friends of the United States, who are begging not to be abandoned. I thought that day that that obscene, humiliating, disgraceful departure from the United States embassy in Saigon was the most dishonorable day in American history. I still feel sick thinking about it. That dishonor was brought about by a Congress det...

I heard this program on NPR yesterday, Personal Stories of the Iraq War While arguments rage over troop increases or withdrawals, for millions of Americans and Iraqis the war is a family issue. The mother of a recent enlistee, the father of four U.S. servicemen, and two Iraqis talk about how they are directly affected by the war in Iraq. I found it interesting that the callers that I heard were more interested in talking about how much they don't like President Bush, the war is about oil, the war is a personal vendetta, etc rather than themselves and their family members who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Chaldean-Iraqi expatriot on the show made it very clear that were it not for the intervention of US troops Iraq would be a different and not good place. Her message seemed very much to be that she was grateful that the sons and daughters of these people choose to serve. I also found it interesting that one mother said she was proud of her son for joining the military an...

'Chaos' Reigns in Iraq, Speaker Pelosi Says Consider, Nancy Pelosi considers "insurgents" in Afghanistan killing men, women, children, and US and coalition troops as part of the war on terror and worthy of the sacrifice of American lives to keep the peace. But "insurgents" in Iraq killing men, women, children, and US and coalition troops is not a part of the war on terror and not worthy of the sacrifice of American lives to keep the peace. Why? Why is declaring the situation in Iraq "chaos" and then demanding that we run away from it as quickly as possible seen as preferable to restoring order? What kind of foreign policy is that? How exactly is sending a US general to Iraq who wants to increase troop levels there and then telling anyone who will listen that you want to vote to cut off funding for troops in Iraq supportive of the American military? I'm asking because I really would like to know.

This seems particularly relevant now that John Kerry has made his " joke " that if you don't study and work hard you may end up fighting in Iraq at a college campaign stop. Moving from the War to Law School at Yale Commentator Ken Harbaugh spent nine years in the Navy before he started Yale Law School last year. Among his new peers at Yale, he's found very few people who have resumes like his, combining both military service and an Ivy League education. Because few have military experience or plan to join the military, notes the reporter introducing the piece. Harbaugh notes that: The elites who shape our national policy are growing dangerously out of touch with the men and women sent to fight in their place. It is an unfortunate truth that some socio-economic groups bear far heavier burdens than others in defending this country. But for all the nuanced explanations out there the real reason we always send the poor is because the privileged refuse to go. I thought th...

I got in the car today just in time to hear this broadcast: 'Axis of Evil' Comedy, on Tour Three stand-up comedians with roots in the Middle East are performing across America on the "Axis of Evil Comedy Tour." Egyptian-American Ahmed Ahmed, Iranian-American Maz Jobrani and Palestinian-American Aron Kader talk to Robert Siegel about the challenges of humor during times of war -- and their favorite air marshal joke. Ahmed says he always know [sic] who the air marshal is on a flight: "It's the guy who's reading People magazine upside down and is looking right at me." They were indeed funny. The best comment came at the end when Mr. Jobrani said, "The reason I criticize the government here is because we can....We have freedom of speech. I could not make fun of the President of Iran in Iran." Long live the land of the free and the home of the brave.

I saw a Lebanese flag flying from a house as I drove through the neighbourhood yesterday. I had to wonder what they thought the were saying by flying that flag. Were they encouraging the Lebanese people to resist Hezbollah's essentially using them as human shields? Were they trying to encourage the Lebanese government to take on Hezbollah themselves? Were they trying to encourage Lebanon to take back its sovereignty from Hezbollah? Were they trying to show disapproval of Israel for attacking Hezbollah even though Hezbollah is essentially using Lebanese civilians as humans shields? I won't venture to offer any answers. I know nothing of the people in that house other than that they chose to fly the Lebanese flag at a time when Hezbollah has declared war on Israel from inside Lebanon's borders.

He's not exactly the Wicked Witch but ding dong he is dead. Like most of you I heard the news early this morning. (I was still in bed hoping that the kids would sleep a little bit longer.) Here's to hoping that we don't have a hydra on our hands. U.S. Air Raid Kills Terror Figure Zarqawi NPR.org, June 8, 2006 -- BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida's leader in Iraq who led a bloody campaign of suicide bombings and kidnappings, has been killed in an air strike, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday, adding that his identity was confirmed by fingerprints and a look at his face. It was a major victory in the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the broader war on terror. Solemn Bush Hails 'Severe Blow' to Al-Qaida NPR.org, June 8, 2006 -- WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush said Thursday that the death of al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq is "a severe blow" to the al-Qaida terrorist network. The text of his speech in the Rose Garden this mo...

I like songs that paint vivid pictures in my mind either with the lyrics or the music or both. "Icarus II" from the album Somewhere To Elsewhere (2000) by Kansas paints a stunning picture that moves mr every time I hear it. The first time I heard the song the music reminded me of an aerial battle between ace fighter pilots. I saw World War II era planes weaving in and out of the clouds. As I learned the lyrics I discovered that it was indeed about an aerial battle. The music alone weaves a spell that puts you in the cockpit with the pilot. It has you soaring in the air. The beginning of the song brings to mind a dark pre-dawn airstrip where pilots are suiting up and climbing into cockpits psyching themselves up for the task ahead. You can feel the sense of unease about what's about to happen along with the commitment to do the job and do it well. The music and lyrics evoke all of the phases of an aerial battle. The calm before the first sighting of the enemy, the rush ...