AskASoldier

What a collection! Each photo-based image image is truly a work of art. All were lovely, some were thought-provoking & a couple almost brought out goosebumps.
I get so caught up in current projects & mini-crises that it's hard to think of things beyond my own limited sphere... am always glad to find a resource like this, creating a virtual "happy place" where beauty & awe can drown out the mundane.
Thank you, peacemakr, for making the SU world brighter :-)

Another powerful call for help & sanity on behalf of the overall military, as well as individual troops & our families.
Most noteworthy: Mr. Galloway is no stranger to the military ideals of heroism, sacrifice, duty or single-minded service for the greater good -- he wrote one of the most successful translations (--EVER--) of a dry, tactics-heavy, bloody combat engagement, into *human* terms that evoked emotion & understanding from soldiers and civilians alike.
That was the book _We Were Soldiers Once...and Young_, which was a beloved classic in military-history circles before its (uneven) treatment in theaters as "We Were Soldiers" (Mel Gibson's whitewashing & bizarre inaccuracies are another rant).

Bottom line: this guy knows the military. Soldiers open up to him in ways most civilians will never hear.
And like many military leaders & family members before him, he is expressing his well-informed opinion that the current level of military activity is unsustainable. Moreover-- it was "unsustainable" several extensions ago.
Failure to significantly change policy will most likely have terrible consequences for the miltiary, each soldier & family, & ultimately our whole country's well-being.

Great stuff! Commentary that makes me think or smile ~ and better yet, has a fantastic vision for stumbleaid. I enjoy using goodsearch when possible (earns charities a little $ with each search) -- but wouldn't have considered a similar application for StumpleUpon without fup-duck.
Great stuff!

Well-written dKos diary by kredwyn: the national obsession w/the "horserace" minutiae of the 2008 Prez primaries has completely pushed crucial issues into the background.
Whatever your primary preference or ideology, ya gotta respect a leader like Biden who has been giving 110% to his "day job" (e.g., opposing Kyl-Lieberman, pushing the Biden-Gelb responsible plan for Iraq, and raising hell over CIA/DOJ abuses), WHILE ALSO following the punishing Iowa/NH Primary campaign schedule.
I worry often about how long we can get by on the leadership of interest groups, focus groups & gifted PR reps.
Whomever America chooses as my next Commander-In-Chief, I hope & pray that person will, like Biden, consider a title to be more of a duty/burden/responsibility, than a personal accomplishment/"mandate"/license to exercise power for its own sake.

TRUE - doesn't necessarily mean military families will trust a Dem candidate more (largely depends on who the nominee '08 is), but the "logic" of Support Troops = Support All Officials needs to finally suffer a quick, long-overdue death.
--> Token clue that this idea never had much truth in the first place:
The only Presidential candidate with IMMEDIATE FAMILY IN THE MILITARY is Joe Biden (whose son heads to Iraq this spring)... a Dem & vocal opponent of the current admin's policies.