I Love History And Archeology

Last night the History channel started it's series on the crusades. The film shot at the ruins of some of the important sites of the 1st crusade were wonderful, and again reminded me of how much I would love to explore them my self.

Old buildings, Ruins, Castles, Walls, anything old interest me. The desire to find the time to travel and explore is almost urgent. Like a junkie needing a quick fix, a trip back to Ireland, or the Czech Republic, is now in order.

To make matters more urgent we see this.



And now it is announced that what may be one of the oldest Christian Church may have been found, in a prison in Israel of all places.

Prisoners helped discover one of Christianity's earliest churches when they took part in an archaeological dig inside one of Israel's top security jails.

A large and superbly preserved mosaic with a Greek inscription referring to the "Lord Jesus Christ" and featuring two images of a fish - an early Christian symbol - was discovered during renovation work inside the prison at Megiddo, thought to be the modern name for the biblical site of Armageddon.

Just another place I would love to visit, to see what existed there thousands of year ago, and how it has survived to this day.

Violence Still Rebounding Across France

and day 11 of the unrest and yielded it's first death.

A man who was beaten by an attacker during rioting north of Paris has died, becoming the first fatality since urban unrest started 11 days ago, according to the French Foreign Ministry.

The man was beaten as he tried to put out a trash can fire on Friday in the Paris suburb of Stains in the region of Seine-Saint Denis.

The violence has spread all across the nation is now threatening to creep into across the borders.

Fears were also growing Monday that the unrest could take hold elsewhere in Europe. Five cars have been torched in both Brussels and Berlin and police said they were they were investigating if they were copycat attacks.

Some have focused on the religious aspect of these events, and in response an anti-violence Fatwa has been issued.

Reacting to official suggestions that Islamist terrorists might be orchestrating some of the protests, one of France's largest Muslim organizations issued a fatwa against the unrest.

In the end, the root cause of this will turn out the be that same root cause of the US Urban riots of the 60s: poverty, hopelessness, and insufficient education and opportunity.

Cheney Wants His Torture Option

and is fighting all efforts to restrict him.

Over the past year, Vice President Dick Cheney has waged an intense and largely unpublicized campaign to stop Congress, the Pentagon and the State Department from imposing more restrictive rules on the handling of terrorist suspects, according to defense, state, intelligence and congressional officials.

{snip}

Last week, Cheney showed up at a Republican senatorial luncheon to plead with legislators for a CIA exemption to an amendment by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that would ban torture and inhumane treatment of prisoners. The exemption would cover the CIA's covert "black sites" in several eastern European democracies and other countries where key Al-Qaida captives are being kept.

This mans 19% approval rating is totally understandable. There is no doubt that he is one of the most disgusting members of the Bush Administration, and with this group of people that is quite an accomplishment.

Another Offensive In Western Iraq

This time it is Operation Steel Curtain.

About 2,500 U.S. marines and 1,000 local Iraqi soldiers met sporadic resistance on Saturday as they moved through Qusayba on the Syrian border, the U.S. military said in a statement.

U.S. officials described the town, which lies about 320 kilometres northwest of Baghdad, as the key to controlling the volatile Euphrates River valley.

The U.S. military said in a statement that "Operation Steel Curtain" was aimed at dislodging al-Qaeda in Iraq, led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

It sounds just like the last 4 operations in the Euphrates River Valley.

The trouble is, once we clear these towns, the insurgents just come back in. Maybe this time the security force we leave behind can stand up and do their job, or we will be back in 4 months.

Halliburton Steals, US Taxpayers Pay

and it is not limited to it's military and disaster no-bid contracts.

AMMAN, Jordan -- A U.N. auditing board has recommended that the United States reimburse Iraq up to $208.5 million for contracting work carried out by KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton, in the last two years.

The International Advisory and Monitoring Board of the Development Fund for Iraq said that the work, paid for with Iraqi oil proceeds, was either overpriced or done poorly by the Virginia company.

When the Bush administration is out of power, and a real investigation can be done, we will find that KBR and Halliburton has stolen billions from the various governments it was working for.

This test, I think, is flawed

You fit in with: Agnosticism Your ideals mostly resemble those of an Agnostic. You are fairly ambivalent towards any religion or spiritual connection. You lead a very busy life and find that religion and spirituality are unnecessary to your life. 0% scientific. 10% reason-oriented.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

You Can Lead Horses To Water

But, you can't make them embrace ethics, but I guess it makes for a nice PR stunt.

President Bush has ordered White House staff to attend mandatory briefings beginning next week on ethical behavior and the handling of classified material after the indictment last week of a senior administration official in the CIA leak probe.

According to a memo sent to aides Friday, Bush expects all White House staff to adhere to the "spirit as well as the letter" of all ethics laws and rules. As a result, "the White House counsel's office will conduct a series of presentations next week that will provide refresher lectures on general ethics rules, including the rules of governing the protection of classified information,"

You have to love the 'spirit and letter' bit, coming from a man who keep lowering the standard of behavior that would force him to remove a person from employment in his administration.

I suspect this ethics booster shot will be as effective as the treatment offered to sexual predators. In both cases It doesn't help much.

Typical

George Bush shows up, and the city goes to hell.

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina (CNN) -- Protesters set a building on fire and threw objects at police in the streets of this resort city as the leaders of 34 nations met at the fourth Summit of the Americas.

The summit wraps up Saturday afternoon after two additional working sessions with trade, jobs and combating poverty on the agenda.

While I do have great sympathy for many of their positions, you do have to question the logic of their actions. Of course, those who feel they have nothing to lose may question the logic of just being polite.

Friday Night Football, A Mixed Bag

Heathwood Hall moved to 11-0, winning their first round playoff gave over Orangeburg Prep 48-0. Unfortunately, Irmo was upset by Dutch Fork 35-30, and that loss cost them a share of the region championship.

Irmo's Playoffs start next week.

Republican Culture Of Corruption - DC

Everyone knew it had to happen, and now it has; Congressman Bob Ney (R-Ohio) has been subpoenaed.

A federal grand jury investigating disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff has subpoenaed records from U.S. Rep. Bob Ney of Licking County, Ohio.

This is believed to be the first subpoena issued to a Congress member in the Abramoff matter -- a tangle involving a rich lobbyist with a taste for foreign travel and skill at raising campaign money from clients seeking congressional favors.

While he may be the first, there is little to indicate he will be the last.

But, Unorthodox Is A Tactic

Ulysses S. Grant You scored 70 Wisdom, 39 Tactics, 69 Guts, and 45 Ruthlessness!

Like you, Grant went about the distasteful business of war realistically and grimly. His courage as a commander of forces and his powers of organization and administration made him the outstanding Northern general. Grant, though, had no problem throwing away lives on huge seiges of heavily defended positions. At times, Union casualties under Grant were over double that of the Confederacy. However, Grant was notably wise in supporting good commanders, especially Sheridan , William T. Sherman , and George H. Thomas. Made a full general in 1866, he was the first U.S. citizen to hold that rank.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 79% on Unorthodox You scored higher than 3% on Tactics You scored higher than 88% on Guts You scored higher than 44% on Ruthlessness

Link: The Which Historic General Are You Test written by dasnyds on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Places To Visit, Posts To Read

Click over and check out some of these blogs.

How do republicans really feel about their religious right base? Crooks and Liars has the view of one.


Bark Bark, Woof Woof examines reasons to bar gay marriage (humor).


A teaching opportunity is embraced at Shades of Grey.


No doubt you have seen a couple of these, but a large collection of how Fox News would have reported major events in history.


Two blogs have a look at the income potential in faith. Religious Right Watch points to the lifestyle of Jay Sekulow, and Bartholomew's notes on religion shows how this is effecting religion in Europe.


and Skippy the Bush Kangaroo is taking votes on who is the greatest American. There are only a couple of days left, go over and vote.

Desperation In Virginia ?

While many republican politicians are now running away from Bush, Republican candidate for Governor, Jerry Kilgore will embrace him.

Republican candidate for governor Jerry Kilgore plans to announce later today that President Bush will campaign with him in Virginia on Monday night.

A statewide poll by the Mason-Dixon Polling and Research firm this morning shows Kilgore and Democrat Tim Kaine approaching a photo finish four days ahead of Tuesday's election.

The polls have been swinging away form Kilgore, and this is another indicator that Kilgore may be getting desperate. The gamble here is that Bush visit will lead to a higher turnout among the hard right that will be greater than those in the middle and the left who will be turned off by his visit.

A risk indicating desperation when you consider Bush's 60% disapproval ratings.

Still A Mess In The Gulf

It looks like the federal efforts at rebuilding of the Gulf are just about as solid as their rescue efforts were.

Two months after the government began allotting billions of dollars for disaster relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, subcontractors in the Mississippi Gulf Coast say they are not being paid. As a result, they say, they cannot pay their workers, who are mostly immigrant laborers and who have painted homes, removed debris and completed other salvage chores.

{snip}

Karen Tovar, owner of KTC Services, acknowledged that she could not pay about 80 workers she had employed, noting, "There's nothing I can do until I get paid."

Tovar said she is owed $130,000 for yard cleanup and debris removal by a company called United Disaster Relief, whose manager, Zachary Johnson, said he also has not been paid in two months. Johnson said he is a subcontractor of a company controlled by Halliburton Co., which was awarded a no-bid contract for disaster relief work by the Bush administration.

When this happens, just remember; Republicans hate government, that want to destroy government, so to expect anything but a screwed up government from a republican is a huge mistake.

Argentina: Thousands Gather To Greet Bush

and to tell him to GO AWAY!!!.

Thousands of marchers on the streets of a heavily policed Argentine resort protested on Friday against U.S. President George W. Bush and his free-trade push as leaders from the Americas convened for a contentious debate on improving Latin America's economy.

Kinda like the G8 protest, only more anti-American.

At Least Food Stamps Were Spared

The cost of Katrina, and the deficit had to be addressed. The Senate approved 36 billion in much needed cuts, unfortunately mostly in the wrong places. Choices were made, and as expected the rich were protected.

Give more handouts to Big Oil by opening up ANWR for drilling and don't ask Mega Corporate Farms to join in the cuts. Don't even bother wondering who's going to get stuck with the bill because we've been here too many times already. Heaven forbid corporate welfare would be trimmed or tax cuts for the wealthy because it ain't gonna happen.

These actions were predictable, as the big money in the Republican party have been cracking the whip of late.

During a speech yesterday to a Heritage Foundation group, former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) repeatedly apologized for excessive spending by Congress, including recent highway legislation that was loaded with lawmakers' pet projects.

In addition, this was vital in their effort to justify another huge tax cut for the rich.

Democrats generally opposed the bill because it allows the oil drilling and increases the deficit when coupled with a $70 billion tax cut bill that they say largely benefits well-off taxpayers.

"Their budget ... Actually would make the deficit worse," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada. "That's fiscally irresponsible at any time, but especially when we should be saving to prepare for the baby boomers' retirement."

Typical.

Another Record Low For Bush

The ABC, Washington Post Poll, has his at 39% approvial, 60% Disaprove.

The Pandemic Battle Plan Is Released

The report runs almost 400 pages. It is getting OK reviews by those in health care, but valid concerns about some of the pro-business recommendations are voiced.

The report does appear to take a rational look at the numbers, and my little half hour projections are way off. In my defense, I was using the current mortality rate we are seeing in this flu, and not the much lower rate seen in 1918. These are still some frightening numbers.

One is a "moderate" pandemic comparable to those in 1957 and 1968. It would cause illness in one-third of the population, hospitalize 865,000 and kill 209,000.

The other is a "severe" pandemic comparable to that in 1918. It, too, would sicken about one-third of the population. But about 9.9 million people would need to be hospitalized, and 1.9 million would die unless optimal preventive or treatment measures are in place.

This more terrifying point is also made.

"It is clear that pandemic influenza has the potential to pose disease control challenges unmatched by any other natural or intentional disease event," the authors of the plan wrote.

As I noted earlier, this will be where the planning has it's greatest weakness, those who actually have to implement the plan.

Just remember, these people will be selected by Bush and his staff, the man who gave this performance review "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job", is responsible for selecting those who would save the nation.

So this piece of advice becomes very important.

It also suggests that citizens consider having enough food to stay at home for 10 days. That is because local authorities might invoke a "snow days" option to keep people apart for the full incubation period of flu should an epidemic begin.

make sure you are in a position to sustain yourself,without the assistance of others, for a week or two. It may be the best part of the plan.

Europe To Air US Dirty Laundry?

It appears that our secret prison system may soon be a be a little less secret. The EU plans on investigating what our congress will not or can not look into.

"We have to find out what is exactly happening. We have all heard about this, then we have to see if it is confirmed."

He said such prisons could violate EU human rights laws and other European human rights conventions, and as the watchdog to ensure EU rules are properly adhered to the Commission would look into the issue.

The sad part is; Our nation's actions should be right enough, should be legal enough, should be moral enough, to stand review in the light of day. The secrecy involved makes it clear that out leaders know in their black little hearts that what they are involved in is, at least to some extent, wrong.

35%

The latest Bush approval rate.

35%

Republican Culture Of Corruption - Georgia

Well the evidence is now building up, and it appears that Ralph Reid may be proven to be the SOB (Swell ol' Boy) that we all suspect he is.

Ralph Reed helped orchestrate an effort to conceal payments he received from the gambling revenues of a Louisiana Indian tribe, according to a U.S. Senator speaking at a hearing in Washington.

Reed directed that his compensation from the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana be routed through "a variety of entities ... Because of his concern about being publicly associated with gambling money,"

Ralph Reid, one time head of the Christian collation, a man who professes a firm anti-gaming stand, not only accepted hundred of thousands of dollars from gambling groups, but worked to cover-up his acceptance of this money to protect his image.

I am not sure his actions are illegal, but they are sure immoral. This man, who at one time claimed to represent millions of Christians, has proven that he can be bought and sold, a true political prostitute.

Another sad example of what a modern Republican politician looks like. Cunningham, DeLay, Nay, Reid; on and on and on and on.

I must admit, the Abramoff investigation that the Senate Indian Affairs Committee are hosting are proving much more interesting that I had dared to hope.

It is quietly painting a truly disgusting picture of how the Amramoff corruption was totally interwoven into the Republican infrastructure. Yesterday another Bush administration official was implicated.

Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton's former legal counselor yesterday accused J. Steven Griles, the department's recently departed second in command, of improperly trying to meddle in decisions affecting tribal clients of lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Former legal counselor Michael G. Rossetti, seated beside Griles before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said he repeatedly rebuffed Griles's efforts and, at one point, confronted him in front of other officials. He accused Griles of attempting to do Abramoff's bidding on an issue affecting the Coushatta tribe of Louisiana, an Abramoff gambling client.

The Battle For The Moderates Is On

over the Alito nomination.

Those who oppose his nomination need the moderate Republican Senators to vote him down.

WASHINGTON: Maine's Republican senators, who will be pivotal in the contested Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel Alito, reacted cautiously Monday on the confirmation process ahead. "What I most hope is that this debate over one of the most important positions in our country can be conducted in a fair and civil manner," said Sen. Susan Collins. "The outside groups on both sides are so eager for a battle royal that it worries me that the debate may degenerate into an unpleasant, bitter, divisive and partisan showdown."

unfortunately, the demanding tone of the right has already assured that it will be both bitter and divisive.

Of course, those who want Alito are also making moves on moderate Democrats from republican leaning states, trying to move them into the supporters camp.

WASHINGTON; Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. launched his campaign Tuesday to court lawmakers who could prove crucial to his confirmation; moderate Democrats such as Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota, who found himself near the top of the judge's meet-and-greet list.

Johnson, who rarely attracts national attention, seemed to relish being the first Democrat outside the party's leadership with whom Alito met. The senator was so far down Harriet E. Miers' list of courtesy calls that she had withdrawn her nomination to the high court before their scheduled session.

What will be closely followed, but seldom mentioned, is what the polling is telling each of these moderate voices. Some of the early Gallop polls indicate that, in perception at least, Alito is much close to Miers than Roberts at this point.

Some key points.

About the same number of Americans rate Alito's selection either excellent or good (43%) as rate it fair or poor (39%). Miers received a similar rating, but Roberts' rating was somewhat more positive: 51% excellent or good, 34% fair or poor.


If it becomes clear Alito would vote to reverse Roe v. Wade, Americans would not want the Senate to confirm him, by 53% to 37%.

So it is clear that the line of attack that Democrats must use is his position on this. His early writings do indicate that he will be a vote to end the legal protection that Rove affords. If the public become convinced of this, he will follow Miers off into the sunset.

Other good news for the Democrats.

If most Senate Democrats oppose the nomination and decide to filibuster against Alito, 50% of Americans believe they would be justified, while 40% say they would not.

If the Republicans then decide to eliminate the filibuster on judicial nominations, to ensure an "up-or-down vote" on the nomination, Americans would be evenly divided as to whether that tactic was justified -- 45% say it would be, 47% say it would not.

The American public are far more supportive of their options that of those of the Republicans.

Election 2004, The Questions Continue

and Lynne is looking at a G.A.O. Report that raises many questions.

The exit polls showed Kerry winning in Ohio, until an unexplained last minute shift gave the election to Bush. Similar definitive shifts also occurred in Iowa, Nevada and New Mexico, a virtual statistical impossibility.

Things that make you go hummmm.

What America Now Stands For

The CIA has been hiding and interrogating some of its most important al Qaeda captives at a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe, according to U.S. and foreign officials familiar with the arrangement.

{snip}

The hidden global internment network is a central element in the CIA's unconventional war on terrorism. It depends on the cooperation of foreign intelligence services, and on keeping even basic information about the system secret from the public, foreign officials and nearly all members of Congress charged with overseeing the CIA's covert actions.

Just how low and how far into the slime that Bush has drug us. This is an American disgrace; He is allowing the CIA to hide their activities from even those who are supposed to give oversight.

Virtually nothing is known about who is kept in the facilities, what interrogation methods are employed with them, or how decisions are made about whether they should be detained or for how long.

Our own system of black holes where the president can throw someone to be tortured and held forever, with no legal recourse or protection.

This is now what we stand for, injustice, torture, and imprisonment without recourse, without hope.

Host countries have signed the U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as has the United States. Yet CIA interrogators in the overseas sites are permitted to use the CIA's approved "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques," some of which are prohibited by the U.N. convention and by U.S. military law. They include tactics such as "waterboarding," in which a prisoner is made to believe he or she is drowning.

The Presidents Chruch Call For Iraq Withdraw

The church that both the President and the Vice President claim to be members of has voted to call for withdraw od US troops from Iraq.

"As people of faith, we raise our voice in protest against the tragedy of the unjust war in Iraq," the statement read. "Thousands of lives have been lost and hundreds of billions of dollars wasted in a war the United States initiated and should never have fought.... We grieve for all those whose lives have been lost or destroyed in this needless and avoidable tragedy. Military families have suffered undue hardship from prolonged troop rotations in Iraq and loss of loved ones. It is time to bring them home."

They have also taken a stand against Bush's efforts to make the use of torture acceptable.

The board also issued a strong statement against torture, urging Congress to create an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate detention and interrogation practices at Guantanamo, Iraq and Afghanistan.

I suspect he will fail to notice this.

Bush To Outline Bird Flu Plan

and based on the early information, it sounds like a solid plan.

The president will ask Congress for money not just for a vaccine against bird flu but also to fund a buildup of infrastructure ready to deal with any pandemic, said a senior administration official, who spoke yesterday on the condition of anonymity.

{sinp}

"Understand that a lot of the things we need to do to prepare are not related to magic bullets," said Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota, an infectious-disease specialist who has advised the government on preparations for the next worldwide flu outbreak but has not seen the final version of the plan.

How to provide food supplies, everyday medical care for people who do not have the superflu, basic utilities and even security must be part of the plan, Osterholm and others have counseled the Bush administration.

unfortunately for the American Public, plans don't save people, effective implementation of plans do. For three years this administration touted the ability of Homeland Security and F.E.M.A. to respond to any national emergency that may occur. Katrina exposed what happens when the plans of experts implemented by people who have no experience in the field.

So, while this first step looks promising, it is vital that the follow up is led by people who know what they are doing.

Unfortunately, the decision of who these people will be falls into the lap George Bush. This is the man who assured us that Miers was the most qualified person in the US for a Supreme Court seat, and his administration placed, at the head of the office of woman's Health, a man who spent the vast majority of his career in the office of veterinary medicine (women are pets or chattel?).

So remember, it is the implementation, more that the planning, that we need to keep focused on.

UPDATE

Bush offers to spend $7,100,000,000.00 to keep us safe (or at least the drug companies profitable).

Reid Almost Made Them Cry

After a very smooth parliamentary move by Sen. Reid, holding the Republicans feet to the fire on past promises, Bill Frist, and some other leaders of the Senate Republicans, were almost in tears. They were absolutely in hysterics, denouncing the democrats for having the gall to demand that they do what they had promised.

Some of the funniest TV I have seen in years.

Keep it up guys, you will have them weeping in public any day now.

The best part is it worked. The Republicans have agreed to get the investigation into the White House use of intelligence and the Iraq war.

U.S. Senators reached an agreement to monitor a congressional investigation into the Bush administration's use of intelligence about Iraq after Democrats forced an unusual closed session on the Senate floor to draw attention to the issue.

The closed session began about 2:15 p.m. today Washington time when Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid invoked a rule forcing the session, which required the chamber to be cleared of visitors and cameras to be turned off. It ended about 4:35 p.m. with Majority Leader Bill Frist announcing the creation of a six- member task force to monitor progress of the probe.

Good news all the way around.

Koreas To Combine Olympic Teams

A very interesting and promising announcement. North and South Korea have agreed to field a unified team in the Beijing Games.

North and South Korea have announced they will compete at the next Olympics as a single team for the first time.
South Korea Olympic Committee spokesman Baek Sung-il revealed that the first united team would take part in the 2006 Asian Games.

"We had discussed a single team since we made joint marches in international events six times," he said. "As our exchange in South and North Korea has been progressing, the mood was ripe for reaching an agreement."

Sports can serve as a pathway to diplomacy, and this is a very solid start to reducing tensions in the area.

The Moons Of Pluto?

Hubble is still busy, and has found a few new moons, maybe.

Pluto, that cosmic oddball at the far reaches of our solar system, may have three moons instead of one, scientists announced on Monday.

Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope glimpsed the two new satellites back in May, and were intrigued when the pair of possible moons appeared to move around Pluto over three days in what looked like a nearly circular orbit.

Time to update those school science text books, again.

A New Battle Line

Parents are taking a stand against military recruiting on high school campuses.

A group of parents in Seattle says most families don't have a clue the new law exists. And they argue that schools have done a poor job letting parents know there is an alternative that schools must provide the so-called opt-out forms that give students the chance to withhold their information from the military.

"When it comes to education, I think the colleges have the right to contact the students," says Linda Summers, a parent. "I'm not sure that the military should have the same right."

Despite the increased access, the military has had a tough time meeting recruiting targets. The Army has achieved only 92 percent of its goal. The Army National Guard, 80 percent. The Army Reserve, 84 percent.

The Army's new series of ads show that the Army is aware of the backlash and is trying to fight back.

The trouble is, as my mother points out, the ads are basically a lie.

The one that she noticed is a son talking to his father about joining the reserve. His father says "it's the Army" the son counters "it's he reserve" and talks about college opportunity and 'growing up'. My mother points out that Army, Guard, Reserve, it doesn't matter, you still may end up in Iraq.

It is clear that the parents understand this reality.

Parents in Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties last month asked their school boards to better publicize military opt-out choices for parents.

The National PTA also is pushing for change. It wants the law rewritten so that students would have to sign a form saying they want their information released to the military, said spokesman James Martinez.

"We don't have anything against what the military is trying to do," he said. "We're just concerned about student privacy."

Parents know that recruiters are, in the end, salesmen. They have goals and targets to meet, and will hype the good, and hide the bad.

So, while the recruiters will say, 'Hey, Listen' this is the reserve, not the Army' the parents know that, guard, reserve, regular Army, it doesn't matter, they are all serving and dying in Iraq.

The recruiters focus the kids on the education, but the parents know that the army will you where they need you, and while they can modify the deal, you can't.

This will just be another obstacle that the Army must face in it's efforts to keep our forces fully staffed.