My Round Box

The State Within A State

2010-08-14T10:09:00.000-04:00

Now.

Still Kicking & Being Entertained

2010-08-14T08:23:00.003-04:00

Yes, yes, yes. It has been quite some time., the other side of the deployment, actually. Anyway, LuMoWaMi has forwarded various articles to me from "Haley's Halo". I'm not a dedicated reader, but I go back from time to time to scan. I scanned over a gem of a quote today. While discussing the metro-sexual undercurrents of an introduction post on another blog, Haley pumped out this quote (for which I'm extremely jealous):

...But here is a very good example of how to write about yourself in a way that advertises that you find cats more exciting than women.

Glorious!

The Castle Doctrine

2008-12-07T21:00:00.003-05:00

Having recently read the comments on Rachel Lucas' blog entry, I decided it was time to put my fingers to the keys once more.

What is the Castle Doctrine? Some believe it gives them the legal permission to utilize deadly force as a means of preventing an invader from "taking my stuff or my neighbor's stuff". This is wrong! The Castle Doctrine has nothing to do with property protection. The Castle Doctrine has everything to do with defense of self & others inside your home.

Let's say you live in a 3 room home. It has your bedroom, a living room and your child's room. Your front door opens into the living room which is between your room and your child's room.

Scenario #1: An intruder breaks & enters into your home through the front door. You are standing in your bed room. He sees you & begins moving towards you. You in turn fire (a controlled pair making a grouping of 1/4" in his mid to upper torso), killing the intruder. Was the scenario a justified shooting under the Castle Doctrine? Yes, because he was inside your home (castle) you could reasonably believe he intended to do you harm.

Scenario #2: Same home set up. Intruder breaks & enters through the front door again, but turns away from you & continues moving within the home. You fire (a controlled pair making a grouping of 1/4" in his mid to upper back), killing the intruder. Was the shooting justified under the Castle Doctrine? Again, you can justifiably shoot the intruder because he is inside your home and there is again the reasonable belief that he could do harm to your child.

Scenario #3: Same home set up. Intruder breaks & enters through the front door. Upon seeing you take up a good sight picture and apply the other three fundamentals of shooting, the intruder turns and begins to exit the home through the same door. At this point, you can no longer justifiably shoot him.

Scenario #4: Same home set up. You happen to have just reassembled your firearm after completing your weekly firearm maintenance. The intruder breaks & enters through the front door. Upon seeing you in the with a firearm sitting in the living room, he freezes. Instead of taking the chance, you again fire & kill the intruder. This shooting was also justified under the Castle Doctrine because the intruder was inside your home.

Scenario #5: You wake up in the middle of the night & go to get a drink of water. Due to your usually high level of preparedness diligence, you have a firearm in next to your drinking glasses. Suddenly, you noticed an intruder carrying your plasma TV out the front door. You cannot legally shoot the intruder under the Castle Doctrine because he is 1) leaving your home and 2) is posing no threat to anyone inside your home. Property is not included under the provisions of the Castle Doctrine.

Thanks for your attention.

Crispy

Worthy of a Pulitzer

2008-11-02T20:35:00.007-05:00

I was shopping online when I ran across this posted on a website...

Crispy

IceMan Said It Best

2008-11-01T20:23:00.000-04:00

IceMan said it best, "Who's side are you on?".

Bing West makes most of the important points about Nir Rosen's adventures with the Taliban in Afghanistan, which recently appeared in Rolling Stone. I don't really think I need to go into it. Most of the readers here, or at least both of you, will see where this is going real quick.

To give you a quick glimpse into the level of intelligence we're dealing with in Mr. Rosen in defense of his actions, and after he attacks Bing West for "showing a lack of imagination" by using a parallelism between the Taliban and the Nazis of 1942,

"moreover, journalists regularly embed with the american military when it is conducting operations, attacks, killing. whats the difference?"

And yes, that is his actual grammar. I changed nothing. The last time I checked, "imagination" had NOTHING to do with reporting the facts. Imagination does come into play when you flash your American media pass as you go through an Afghan Army checkpoint while riding with two Taliban commanders though. If you're interested, read Bing West's "An American Journalist". The comments are particularly entertaining as well.

If you need more proof that Mr. Rosen should have his citizenship revoked, begin reading, "Killing Fields". After painting a dire & hopeless picture of Iraq, he tells a story of American Soldiers executing a man. "Hussein" is the supposed brother of the deceased,

I later asked Hussein if they wanted revenge. "We are Muslim, praise God," he said, "and we do not want revenge. He was innocent and he was killed, so he is a martyr."

Call me crazy, but the last time I checked, innocent people weren't considered martyrs.

May My Hammer Fall As My Muzzle Passes Over You,
Crispy

Thanks to BlackFive for publishing the story to Small Wars Journal.

Glorious Me

2008-09-28T15:14:00.002-04:00

I'm still here. Just preoccupied with fun, exciting things such as establishing a new household, work, and getting used to the Communist way of life in the wonderful State of New York.

Crispy

Discretion of a Rock

2008-07-06T11:25:00.000-04:00

Throughout my criminal justice education both in the civilian world as well as the military side, it has always been stressed that in order for police to not only be effective but to maintain positive relations, especially with consideration for the "Community Policing" model, the use of discretion is paramount. When my MPBOLC class was addressed by the Assistant Commandant of the MP Corps, he continually reinforced the principle of "The spirit of the law; not the letter of the law." To put this in context, allow me to elaborate. At a particular four-way stop sign intersection on the post, there are thick hedges on the left & right sides of one of the approach roads. As a result, a certain driver approaching the intersection did not bring his vehicle to a complete stop until he was on the other side of the hedges, by no means into the intersection, but far enough so he could now see the oncoming traffic. To the dismay of that driver, an overzealous young Military Police officer (PFC) had set up across from the intersection behind another series of hedges where he could overwatch the intersection. After observing the driver "blow" the stop sign, the soldier initiated a traffic stop. Unfortunately, the driver was either the Commandant (BG) of the MP Corps or the Asst. Cmdt of the MP Corps. The MP Regimental Sergeant Major was also pulled over by this very same MP at the very same intersection. For my point, according to the letter of the law, yes, both drivers did not come to a complete stop prior to crossing the line of the stop sign thereby, failing to stop. However, the spirit of the law was by no means broken. The drivers stopped once at a location where they could observe the intersection & move once it was safe as opposed to stopping twice with the first stop being only due to the location of the sign itself.

Now that I have explained spirit of the law versus letter of the law, let me get to my main point for today. The Transportation Safety Administration is staffed mostly by blithering idiots. Today I had my shower gel & shaving cream seized. The primary officer in contact also attempted to seize my deodorant and toothpaste but once a more reasonable officer approached (interestingly enough, the same one that checked my ID & boarding pass), talked her into allowing me to keep my toothpaste, since there was very little remaining inside of it. I was proud of her (primary officer) for figuring out all on her own that was indeed allowed to have my deodorant. Had I not had about 25 minutes to get to my plane before departure, we would have had a chat at the security checkpoint this morning. The primary officer, though hesitant & still not sure "what was inside", complied. Wow. Call me crazy, by I have this wild idea that its probably the Crest Minty Fresh toothpaste inside of it just like the tube says. Here's the real kicker - THEY DIDN'T TAKE MY FOUR ZIP TIES that I had prepped in my bag! And I'm not talking the little thin ones people use to hold the wires under and behind their desks together with; I mean the thick white military style ones that we use to detain people in the "zip tie" phase of the "zip tie & choke slam" exercise. By prepped, the ends were inserted into the locking clamp to facilitate quicker apprehension. Letter of the law: Yes, take my shower gel & and my shaving cream. According to the spirit of the law however, you probably don't need to seize the property of a Military Police Lieutenant; he's probably trustworthy. I'll also refrain from the point that had we gotten into a foot pursuit, I could have run back to the hotel I spent the night in before they made it to the end of the airport terminal.

Common Sense is a precious & endangered resource. Don't lose yours.

Crispy

"Stop resisting!"

Are You Sure You Want to Know?

2008-06-21T10:34:00.005-04:00

The other day I received an email from a family member with a link to an internet video by USAWakeUp.org. I was asked in the email to let the sender know what I thought. One thing I failed to mention is the email was that these "facts" didn't require a video. They could have been presented in a normal text format. However, they would have lost most of the emotional appeal. I was drafting my reply as I watched the video. One thing I quickly noticed was how fast the information was presented & they moved on to another topic. There wasn't much time for the individual viewer to process the information presented, thus creating a feeling of being overwhelmed. So, make good use of the pause feature when you watch the video.

Minus the personal chatter, here was my reply:

Yes, I believe, if Iran were to gain nuclear capabilities it would be a risk to our national security. I think it would also greatly destabilize the Middle Eastern region, the effects of which are too much for this email.
However, to say that result of an improvised nuclear device explosion in a major city would be "enormous" isn't quite as probable. If it is an improvised device, that means that the most desirable components are not available, therefore the yield of the explosion, radiation fall-out, etc would be limited. Granted, several blocks from ground zero may be destroyed, however the outlying areas would not be so greatly affected. The mental images of the nuclear blast on "Judgment Day" from Terminator 2 are a bit over the top for such an attack. Personally, I would be more concerned with a biological attack. The saving grace with a biological attack is, who wants to carry around a fragile vile of something that will make your organs turn to mush? So, the likelihood of such an attack is limited, but the results of a successful one are a different matter. The only reason the Sarin gas attack on the Japanese subway was not successful was because one of the very first victims fell on top of the vile that it was delivered in. Even though this is a chemical agent, my point remains the same - It takes a certain level of skill to properly employ such techniques not to mention the logistics required to get the device all the way down to the operational cells without being compromised.

I think it can be said that the "struggle" against Islamofascism is being lost on the home front, or at the very least, we are not gaining ground. I don't define this by the number of mosques, but by the will of the American people to support our military efforts abroad. Without getting too in depth, I blame this on the media for not reporting the truth or the whole story.

As for the numbers of the radicalized Muslims, I don't know. I do know that Saudi Arabia, which was specifically mentioned, turns a blind eye to Wahabbi doctrine & will not recognize its existence. In general, they don't necessarily directly fund terrorism. We need to remember that in the Muslim view of the world, they are not countries separated by religions, but a religion separated by countries (tribal issues are yet another discussion). They have a completely different world view when compared to Americans.

Regarding Al Qaeda, they were initially created by the Pakistani government to act as destabilizers in Afghanistan (Pakistan & Afghanistan don't like each other) to give the Afghan government (Taliban) something to be pre-occupied with. Al Qaeda became too strong for Pakistan to control & relocated to Afghanistan. The original Taliban was the government of Afghanistan which did not necessarily like Al Qaeda, but as time went on, was required to deal with Al Qaeda due to their strength & influence. Eventually, the Taliban government essentially became a puppet for Al Qaeda.

As for recruiting, I would be less concerned about our prisons & more concerned about our colleges & universities & the European "religious facilities". CAIR is funded directly by Hamas. I don't think I need to say more on that...

The on the horizon section... the problem with fighting terrorism is that if we get too caught up in fighting "terrorism", we will lose the war. Al Qaeda received a notable amount of funding from the drug trade, so simply fighting "terrorists" is not the key to success. A growing trend that we're seeing is that criminal organizations are starting to act more like terrorists & terrorists are starting to act more like criminals. (this again, is a discussion all its own) & they are beginning to collaborate more. For these reasons, the open borders, illegal aliens, etc are issues. Any laws that restrict law enforcement's (LE) ability to describe a suspect is an issue. HOWEVER, the guy with the beard and turban aren't always the one you need to watch. Sometimes is the small, quiet & shy single female traveling with only one bag & staying for a few days that you need to check out. With a few other factors, she would match the profile of a drug mule (human drug trafficker). As for the Patriot Act, I have very mixed feelings about that to the point that I'm not sure where I stand on it. My military side says check everyone, but my US citizen side says, butt out & leave me alone.

If LA went down, I wouldn't mind. haha The effects of their blasts are a bit overestimated. Yes, an EMP weapon is a problem. However, one could not take down the entire US, not even 10. And Mexico & Canada would go dark too. Instead of no money, I would rather say, no sizable amounts of cash or currency. Money will be anything people want or can use - gas, cigarettes, chocolate, copper, gold, silver, water, coffee, tobacco. In that simulation, yes, there would be wide-spread economic collapse, however it would be possible for grass-roots stability to arise, but that would be entirely dependent on the people of the area.

Regarding immigration, I think we've started to see a change in this trend all ready, but time will tell.

It should be noted that we do not have a democracy, but a representative republic, again another discussion. I'm not sure how accurate this section is. I'm leery of this section as they give no true reference from which their basing these statements & numbers.

Don't necessarily let all these internet videos get you all riled up. Look at them critically and do some research on your own.

In God We Trust, All Others Are Suspect.
Crispy

I Am Your Gummibär

2008-01-05T21:55:00.000-05:00

For those of you who thought BadgerBadgerBadger was the greatest thing to rock the face of the earth, or for those who believed "DubDubDub" was the other coolest thing to shake your Internet Explorer browser window, a new day has come. Let me introduce you to Gummibär.

The internet is wonderful.

I am your Gummibär.
Crispy

A Story You Should Read

2007-12-28T09:48:00.000-05:00

I was over at BlackFive catching up on some of the stories that I've missed over the past several weeks when I came across a post from "Laughing Wolf". (For those that don't know, BlackFive brought in some other bloggers on his site.) The particular article is entitled, "Christmas Eve: Baghdad 2007". I highly recommend you read this post. For most people, the only exposure to Iraq that they receive is from the images of the mainstream media over the television (which usually consists of the same ten 2-second clips played indefinitely). This particular article, in addition to an excellent story, includes some pictures which show the true progress which the words of the media can't hide or distort.

Crispy

PSA: Evan Trembley

2007-12-04T09:24:00.000-05:00

Attention, Earth.

"Evan Trembley" is NOT missing. Check your sources, kids. Geez.

That is all. Please resume your normal mindless wanderings (except for my readers; y'all are thinkers).

Crispy

UPDATE (minutes later):
So I decided to check my source for all my "how dumb is America today" information: Facebook. I did a search for "Evan Trembley" which turned up 35 results. One person claimed to be The Fake Person who was a member of the North Korea network (undoubtedly a hoax) with the remainder being groups. Twenty-five of those groups were about finding Evan Trembley with members from the twenties and others into the thousands. Nine groups were about the fact that The Fake Person isn't missing. Titles for these groups ranged from "Evan Trembley is FOUND" to "evan trembley is a punk who needs community service".

And for my favorite internet video, with this in a close third and this in second.

Little Thing Called Respect

2007-12-02T22:08:00.000-05:00

What the hell is wrong with the world today? How hard is it for people to NOT trash things that do NOT belong to them? So, I get home from work. I notice that someone very generously raked up all the leaves from the front yard/drive way. Wow, what a nice gesture. I get in the house & note a few leaves on the carpet. Yeah, no big deal. Whoever it was worked hard outside. Then I notice a controller of mine sitting on the couch. I guess someone watched a movie & left in a hurry & didn't put it back. No big deal.

Then I get to my rooms.

I had closed my bedroom door before I left, so nothing was touched in there. My bathroom, however, looks like Paul Bunyan came through. There's enough leaves & general "crap" in there to make half a forest. Not to mention my floor mat for when I get out of the shower has leaves & stains on it. Then I notice a funny smell. Not only had I just cleaned my bathroom counter yesterday night (which, oh by the way now has a fine coat of dirt over it) but some ass wipe used my toilet bowl brush as a plunger - the source of the smell. WTF is wrong with you people? If it isn't yours, don't Freaking touch it!! By the way, that toilet brush hadn't yet been used. Thanks, dick hole. The worst part about that toilet bowl brush? It smells like FAT person.

"Vengeance is Mine. I will repay, says the Lord."
Well, God, if you ever need a replacement, here I am.

Grow Up & Be Responsible,
Crispy

P.S. - Just found toothpaste stains on my hand towel. Awesome. Useless wastes.

Another News Story I Agree With

2007-11-02T08:31:00.000-04:00

The planets must be aligning or something because I don't recall this ever happening in the past. Even though this particular article focuses on the Kerry speech at UF involving Andrew Meyer, it could easily be applied to Jena Six.

"What YouTube doesn't show" by Dennis Jett

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many are conveyed by a video tape? Whatever the number, it is not always enough to understand the situation. That will not stop many people from rushing to judgment based on what they think they know. Their views are formed more by the media stampede and their own biases than by what really happened. And that says a lot about how people react and how information is used today.

Take the case of Andrew Meyer, the University of Florida student who had a Taser used against him by campus police at a speech by Sen. John Kerry (D) of Massachusetts last month. Videotapes of the incident made the evening television news and immediately found their way onto YouTube.

People around the world saw the incident replayed as thousands of newspapers and television stations picked up the story. The YouTube videos were viewed more than 3 million times.

As the story spread, many people formed a firmly held opinion. I also had an opinion on the event, but my perspective was unique. I was the moderator of Sen. Kerry's talk and the only other person on stage with him.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement was called in to investigate whether the actions of the officers were appropriate. Their 300-page report was recently turned over to university officials. (A summary of it is at www.president.ufl.edu/incident/.) The report concluded the officers acted "well within" their guidelines and also pointed out that the student had provoked an earlier disturbance on campus. He boasted at that time to a friend that if he liked that confrontation he should come to Kerry's speech and see a real show. In a letter released October 29, Mr. Meyer publicly apologized for his "failure to act calmly" during the speech and admitted he had "stepped out of line" and was truly sorry for tarnishing the university's image.

What was not on the YouTube videos was the fact that the student disrupted the speech twice. After Kerry had responded to numerous questions, I announced that one final one would be taken from the microphone on my right. The student then grabbed the microphone on the left and loudly demanded that he be allowed to ask a question. When a female police officer intervened and tried to escort him out, he broke away and continued shouting. At that point, Kerry said he would take the student's question, but would respond first to the questioner who was supposed to have been last. As he finished answering that question the famous videos began.

Because the student had already been disruptive once, there were police officers and officials of ACCENT, the student organization that brings speakers to campus, standing next to him. When he launched into a diatribe and used a vulgar expression, the mic was cut off and he was carried off to the applause of many in the audience, all the while resisting the police.

The reaction of some on the political right who saw video was that the student was silenced because he had asked the senator an embarrassing question. Some on the left suggested his freedom of speech was suppressed. Neither version could be further from the truth.

On television, any number of talking heads offered similar thoughts or ones that were even more farfetched. But the electronic news media require only that those on the air speak with conviction. Any real insights or even information are entirely optional and usually rare. The pundits in print were often equally uninformed and off the mark. Few were willing to wait until a thorough investigation laid out the facts and, when it did, it was barely news. A relative handful of articles came out on the 300 page report and even fewer on Meyer's apology.

In an age of instantaneous communication, there seems to be a widespread expectation of equally rapid judgment. No one was lynched, but the virtual mob, fed by the media and a post-your-own-videos website, drew all the conclusions they needed for a verdict. And what the truth eventually turned out to be hardly got reported. It would be useful for the electronic media (besides NPR and PBS) to offer context and analysis and for the pundits to hold their judgments until they had more facts. That would require the former to cut back on the celebrity news and the latter to engage in less populist pontification. Neither will happen unless the audience demands it.

• Dennis Jett, former US ambassador to Peru and Mozambique, is dean of the International Center at the University of Florida. His second book, "Why American Foreign Policy Fails," will be published in May.

Crispy

P.S. - I haven't received any hate mail from the blind supporters of the Jena 6. Is that because I'm not making my position (or this one) clear, not enough people read this stuff or because their supporters don't read these types of things? Who cares. DOWN WITH THE JENA 6!!

What You Won't Hear in the News

2007-11-01T10:40:00.000-04:00

"U.S. Troop Loses Plunge in Iraq" by Gordon Lubold

US troop losses in Iraq have plummeted in the past few months to levels not seen since early 2006 – an encouraging sign, say analysts and defense officials, that the US strategy is working, at least for now.

American defense officials cite recent weapons finds, disruption of bombmaking cells, and the 2007 "surge" of US forces as contributing to a dramatic improvement in security in many parts of Iraq, cutting casualties among both Iraqi civilians and US troops.

It is too soon to know if the trend will last or whether the reduction of American forces in coming months, as planned, will undermine what remains a fragile security on the ground.

Nor does it signal that victory is imminent. Instead, the security gains present a "window of opportunity" that will stay open only if economic opportunity, government coherence, and stronger Iraqi security forces materialize in Iraq, says a senior defense official.

"If those things don't occur, then you'll begin to see things backslide on the military side," says the official, who asked not to be named in order to speak more freely.

It's far from clear if the pieces that US officials see as needing to come together in Iraq will do so. Much of the Iraqi government is still not functional, and US commanders marvel at its inability to spend its budget – seen as key to establishing permanent security by stimulating economic activity and restoring basic services to Iraqis.

120 deaths in May; 23 in OctoberThe Pentagon reported 23 service members killed in combat this month as of Tuesday, noting that insurgent and other attacks have plunged in violence-prone places like Baghdad. As recently as May, as the Pentagon completed its "surge" of about 30,000 additional US forces and began military operations in more dangerous areas of Iraq, US combat deaths were five times as high, with 120 killed. This month, by contrast, the casualty rate is on par with that of March 2006, when 27 service members were killed. Since the beginning of the war, only a few months have seen fewer fatalities than this month, including February 2004, arguably the predawn of the insurgency in Iraq, when 12 US service members were killed.

Still, the number of US forces killed so far this year is a few dozen more than the total number killed in action during all of 2006. Yet the recent trend is a positive sign, officials and analysts say.

What makes it significant is that US forces in Iraq are still conducting operations, not "hunkering down" in the relative security of the many sprawling US bases.

"There is no other way to interpret it but as extremely good news," says Michael O'Hanlon, a senior analyst at the Brookings Institution, a think tank in Washington.

Conditions remain dangerous, of course. A suicide bomber on Monday killed nearly 30 people at the morning roll call of a police unit in Baquba, north of Baghdad. The same day, a brigadier general assigned to the US Army Corps of Engineers became the most senior American officer to be seriously injured by a roadside bomb. He is expected to make a full recovery. In the meantime, extremist elements within the Iraqi security forces pose an ongoing concern.

But it's hard to argue with fewer US casualties, says Mr. O'Hanlon, who is both hawkish and critical of the war. He took some flak over the summer for co-writing an op-ed that critics said was too rosy about the troop surge in Iraq, though much of the article's analysis has so far been borne out.

"There are a million things still wrong in Iraq, but it is extremely good news in what remains a very difficult war," he says.

In Iraq, there's never a simple answer to any question, and the explanation for why security is improving is no different.

The so-called Anbar Awakening, in which Sunni sheikhs in Anbar Province came together to fight Al Qaeda in Iraq, and an apparent retreat of the Shiite militia Jash al-Mahdi have lessened the number of bombings and other violence, US military commanders in Iraq say. In addition, the proliferation of what is known as "concerned citizens" – average Iraqis typically paid by the US to maintain security in their neighborhoods – has changed the security situation on the ground in places like Babil and Diyala Provinces, where both US and Iraqi officials say people have tired of the violence.

But the senior military official says recent discoveries of major weapons caches – five in the past week – and the disruption of bombmaking cells by going after their leaders have also had an impact.

"We've really focused on attacking the leadership," the senior defense official says. "We're really focusing on trying to take down that enemy line of operation."

But the situation there is still very wait-and-see. Pentagon officials say violence in Iraq is down considerably since the last of the surge forces arrived there in early summer, and incidents during the holy month of Ramadan – typically a time of heightened violence – were the lowest in three years, according to Maj. Gen. Richard Sherlock, director of operational planning at the Pentagon, during a briefing last week. (Iraq's Interior Ministry has reported that the nation's death toll in October is at the lowest level in 18 months.)
"While this is indeed encouraging, Al Qaeda in Iraq, other extremist groups, and criminal elements in Iraq continue to be major threats," he said. "The likelihood that those groups will attempt spectacular attacks, especially in places like northern Iraq and in and around different areas of Baghdad, remains significant."
Lawrence Korb, a former top Pentagon official who is now at the liberal Center for American Progress, another think tank in Washington, says he is hopeful but not altogether confident that a drop-off in troop losses represents a turning point in Iraq.
"We've seen these lulls before," says Mr. Korb, a critic of US policy in Iraq. He's hoping this one will be permanent.
More US losses in '07 than '06There have been more US combat-related fatalities in Iraq in the first 10 months of this year, 713, compared with all of last year, in which 704 US service members died, he notes.
Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, has said he is planning to cut the number of US brigades in Iraq from 20 to 15 by sometime next summer, with some reductions coming later this year. About 170,000 US forces are in Iraq now. A brigade has about 3,500 service members. Many analysts say that plan is doable, but suggest that, given the current competency of the Iraqi security forces, the second phase of a withdrawal is a much farther reach.
Increased security could unravel when more US troops are sent home, says Korb.
"I think it offers you hope if you're willing to keep a very large number of troops in there for a very long time."

This isn't exactly the kind of story you'd see on Dateline or ABC News.

Let the Truth Be Spread!
Crispy

The Way Things Work

2007-10-16T19:25:00.000-04:00

Hello Free Thinkers of the World,

I hope this message finds you happy, safe & fit. The last few days I've started to become irritated with fat people again. Don't bother posting your "You're an insensitive puke" blah blah blah messages, either.

Obesity (from here on out referred to as "fatness") isn't a disease.
It isn't a "social problem".
It isn't a disorder.
Fatness is laziness.

With the exception of those who's thyroids have gone berserk, and a few other rare exceptions, the state of being fat or "fatness" is your own fault. Don't blame it on the way your parents raised you or the fact that no-one else in the class liked you. They might not have liked you because you were fat, but instead of their taunts becoming your motivation to change, you isolated yourself further & found relief in the Double Quarter Pounders that you'd throw down after an exhaustive day in the 4th grade. Logic would lead us to conclude that when you no longer fit in a seat at the movie theater, you need to change. However, in our modern twisted way of "Oh, it isn't your fault" thinking, people have come to believe that the movie theater should accommodate our fatness by getting wider chairs. WRONG ANSWER.

Time for a fatness horror story. So, I was going on a trip & wherever I was headed, I need to fly there. Well, I get on the plane & take up my seat (either in the middle or by the window, I can't recall exactly). As luck would have it, a not-fit female was assigned to the seat next to me. Do you know what I observed & was continued to be horrified by for the duration of the flight? I took note of how her fat conformed to and overlapped the armrests! Needless to say (I'm pretty sure I was in the middle seat), I kept my head & eyes straight forward for the rest of the flight. Do you know how sore your arms, after several hours of having your hands folded in your lap, can get when you can't put your elbows on the arm rests? They begin to burn quite smartly after a while. You know, that is a rather awkward situation to begin with. "Excuse me, ma'am. Could you please pick up your fat and shift it to the other side so I can use my arm rest? My arms are getting a little sore from being out front like this." That would have made for an even more awkward situation.

Back to the point, fatness is your fault. Webster defines "obesity" (fatness) as, "a condition characterized by the excessive accumulation and storage of fat in the body". According to Healthline.com, there are three common caused to fatness. They are: 1) consumption of more food [calories] than the body can use, 2) excess alcohol intake, 3) sedentary lifestyle. I think with just #1 & #3 they described about 90% of America. *light bulb* Oh wait, that's why most of America is fat.

Now, its time to prove my earlier point of "Fatness is laziness". Webster & Healthline agreed that the state of being fat (fatness) is caused by taking in more food (calories) than you expend. This intake/expenditure ratio is further skewed by the fact that fat people sit around (sedentary lifestyle) and don't do anything. If you're fuzzy on how calorie intake should work, here's an example. Our bodies are very similar to motor vehicles. For this exercise, the gas tank is your stomach/intestines, the odometer is your activity level and the fuel is your food. You put more gas in a car when it has spent the fuel it had previously taken in, correct? The rate at which the car consumes (metabolizes) the fuel (food) is directly related to the distances it travels (work done). Therefore, your food intake should be like a car with fuel as opposed to a savings account (in a perfect picture). In a savings account, you are hopefully putting in more money than is going out. This practice will leave you with an excess of money in the future (something we would all like). However, when you take in more food than your body uses, the excess food is deposited in your body which brings us back to becoming fat.

"You didn't explain how being fat is lazy". Maybe I didn't make it clear enough. You are FAT as a result of NOT doing anything which is known as being LAZY. Hopefully this lesson of "The Way Things Work" has been helpful to you and has increased your understanding of how the body works. If you are fat, I truly hope you take this message and use it as motivation to change. In the words of Jonathan Ramirez, "If you keep telling a fat kid he's fat, he'll eventually lose weight." Hopefully we can all have the courage to tell our friends & family that they're fat which will lead to their changing. I'm not even going to bother discussing all the negative effects of being fat.

Big is NOT Beautiful; Fat is NOT Okay.
You're FAT, America. Change!

Crispy

Tearing It Apart

2007-10-05T08:50:00.000-04:00

Andrew Higgins, an intellectual from Akron, had this to say regarding the Jena Six at 0150 this morning:

i no way am i defending the Jena six at all...they deserve a punishment, they really do the only thing i want to know is why do people ask how do they let a symbol allow them to be enraged when back in the day and STILL today color does the same thing.....I still believe that their punishments are way too harsh. And you say they had difficutlties capturing us, but they did, and it was wrong for africans to sell africans for guns and liquor but hell they didn't have anything themselves!...so they did what they had to do...
I think that is horrible in it's self. But at the same time they capture and they did bring us here unwillingly, and they forced us into slavery. That is why we ask for what we ask for today.

As usual, I did not change the spelling, punctuation, or content in any way. Now for the fun part.

-Back in the day, color, enraged: I really have no idea what the statement is supposed to mean.

-Punishments too harsh: As Jonathan McQueen of Southern Mississippi stated almost six hours later, "You [the victim] don't have to be on your death bed to warrant an attempted murder charge."

-Capturing us: You were a slave? Didn't think so. You've probably never been to Afrika, let alone had been born there. Use "them", not "us".

-Didn't have anything, what to do?: This is the one I've been waiting for. I'll leave the argument of "How the hell did they manage before the Europeans showed up?" alone. I'm aiming for the more entertaining one today, folks. So using your logic, if they had nothing to start with then you and everyone else should be grateful that the Europeans came to Afrika because they brought you a means to survive. In fact, the slave trade should be considered an act of mercy! They brought you out of the jungles of Afrika where you were starving and gave you food in the States (or Colonies). My God, you should thank every Caucasian you ever see or meet from now on for such a merciful & compassionate work that they performed on your behalf.

-Why we ask for what we ask for today: What the hell are you asking for anyway? Once again, based on your statements, it would seem quite logical to me that you want a one-way ticket back to Afrika. I would gladly accommodate such a desire if it resulted in one less ignorant person being in America! I prefer to fight for people who think & don't blindly follow beings like Sharpton and Jesse. What do you think of Liberia?

While scanning through some other comments and posts on an Anti-Jena Six group (which I am proudly a member of & have recruited others into), I ran across this from Douglas Gagnon of Monroe, LA. It is entitled, "Myths VS Truth":

Myth: Black student asked principal if he could sit under 'White' tree

Truth: Black student JOCULARLY (jokingly) asked the principal if he could sit under the tree (the word white was not mentioned)

Myth: Nooses were hung in response to black students sitting under tree

Truth: Nooses were hung because of pep rally for an upcoming game against the cowboys along with signs saying 'hang'em high', 'Hang dem cowboys' and the like. Also BOTH blacks and whites were putting thier heads through the nooses in a joking manner

Myth: the DA was stictly refering to the blacks with his 'I could end your lifes with a stroke of a pen' statement

Truth: he was addressing EVERYONE who was cutting up, and being immatture (he was rather irritated no one was listening to him/taking him seriously) ; whites and blacks

Myth: a white guy beat up a black guy for trying to enter his all-white party

Truth: There were white and blacks at this INVITATION ONLY party; the one trying to enter where there trying to cause trouble.

Myth: A white man pulled a shotgun on a group of blacks, just because of thier color

Truth: The white man feared for his life being approuched by 3 black students trying to start a fight. So he ran to his truck because he was outnumbered

Myth: The white boy (Justin Barker) said something racial to deserve the beating he got

Truth:they were going to jump somebody (to prove a point). [i am about to repeat what i heard from eye witnesses] they were sitting there waiting for one boy in particular to come out of the gym, when he came out, there were football player behind him, so they back up and let him pass... then a minute or two later Justin came out (random redneck whiteguy - not original target- not directly involved in the 'trash talking') Justin only had girls around him, so they attacked him, while one of them held the door to the cafeteria. ... it was not an honorable fight, he was way outnumbered, on purpose

Myth: Justin was well enough to attend a social function (most interpet this as a party)

Truth: Justin attended a RING ceremony, something he's been waiting YEARS for. He was in excruciating pain, and left right after he got his ring.

Myth: The Jena six were 'Good ole boys'.. they were All-Star athletes.. etc..

Truth: while they were All Star athletes, yes..BUT most had prior convictions. Mychal Bell had 4 prior convictions AND was on probation at the time he helped beat up Justin Baker.

Myth: there was a racist ALL white jury

Truth: The jury was all white because the blacks that got a jury summons DIDN'T appear for jury duty..

Well, that pretty much ends the debate in my eyes. Lock up the Jena 6, or we could do it Mr. Higgins' way & send them back to Afrika.

Justice for ALL.
Crispy

Get Over It

2007-09-21T09:06:00.000-04:00

Against my better judgment, I decided to scan some news headlines this morning. Two students were shot in Delaware. The UN & the AU (African Union. No, I didn't make that up) can't agree on the composition of the peace keeping force. China is scheduling a day to talk to North Korea about nukes, and Israel is being urged to turn over Arab areas. In rapid fire succession, here are my thoughts (you know at least one of them has a rant attached to it).

-Delaware students: As my own dad taught me, nothing good happens late at night. Though I don't believe that nothing good happens, I do agree that the probability of "bad things" exponentially increases when it is late. Lesson learned: Don't be walking around at 1AM, especially when NASCAR people are in town.

-UN/AU: Suck it up, AU. You need all the help you can get. It doesn't really matter if the support comes from Norway. Maybe you should ask them to bring some ice & snow too. I don't believe you are really in a position to pick & chose where you're help comes from.

-China & N. Korea: The dialogue:
China: So, what's a good day for us to meet and talk about your nuclear program, Kim Jong?
KJong: Well, I'm throwing a party for the next week.
China: A party?
KJong: Yeah, man. We gonna party down in P'yang for an entire week straight!
China: But you have starving people in your country. And your people barely have any electricity. Who's paying for this "party"?
KJong: North Korea's paying, baby! I don't care about those people. I'm looking out for number one. Speaking of which, can you guys send some more Crown Royale? I think my country is out.

-Israel & "Them": Israel, being their usual, Army Strong selves, got fed up with the rocket attacks from Gaza (which is controlled by Hamas, at this time). As a result, Israel is cutting back their fuel, electricity and other non-essential goods (not specified). Various Gypsy organizations that exist in Israel (yeah, they're not just here in the US&A) stated the following:

In a joint announcement released Thursday, seven different Israeli rights groups said any such move would be "a grave breach of the foremost principle of international humanitarian law: the obligation to distinguish between combatants and civilians."

The statement also said the step constituted "collective punishment" and would worsen Gaza's "existing humanitarian crisis." Since the Hamas takeover, Israel has closed Gaza's border crossings to nearly everything but humanitarian aid, adding to the economic hardship in the already impoverished territory.

What these knuckleheads can't figure out is that the CIVILIANS in the Gaza area MUST become fed up with the lifestyle that they are living AS A RESULT of the actions of Hamas (read: terrorists). Once the PEOPLE step up & demand that Hamas take a hike, Israel will be safe (from that threat) and the quality of life in the Gaza area will improve. Israeli government spokesman David Baker had this to say:

"Any situation in which Palestinian terrorists fire upon Israeli cities and towns is an untenable situation, one we won't tolerate, and we will use the means necessary in order to enable our citizens to live in peace and quiet once again."

I agree with Mr. Baker's comments 120%. To the Gypsy's out there: Shove Off!

Jordan is Palestine. Yahweh Akbar!
Crispy

Setting It Straight

2007-09-14T08:33:00.000-04:00

Thanks to a particularly annoying feature now found in Facebook, a few days ago I noticed a friend of mine had joined a group entitled, "THE JENA SIX PETITION PLEASE READ AND LET EVERYONE KNOW". Well, curiosity got the best of me. The groups photo, or icon, is of a black female wearing a shirt which reads, "FREE THE JENA "6"". Now, I'm getting interested. As I read over the description of the group, which is in all CAPS, and peruse the main page as well as the comments posted by members, my BS Meter is starting to squeal... very, very loudly. The supporters of the Jena 6 produced a video that can be seen on YouTube (of all places). If you can't tell after watching that "documentary" that it is extremely one-sided, you should be stripped of your right to vote.

Thank God a thinking person had run across the group before I did. Chase Gibson of South Carolina smelled a fish and did some research of his own. He came across, and posted, the article entitled, "Journey to Jena, justice is long, misleading" by Jason Whitlock. Here it is:

Forgive me. This column is going to ramble and stumble a bit before I get to my main point. Real Talk is like that sometimes. Good conversations don't always fit in a tight package. They wander from time to time, and the wandering provides context to the point.
My dad once explained to me that absolutely everything you accept from another human being comes with a responsibility whether stated or not. He was a bit tipsy and the conversation took place around 2 a.m. He drifted, bad-mouthed some of his best friends, bad-mouthed a couple of my friends. I was 17. I've never forgotten his message, and repeat it at least two or three times a year.
I'm already meandering. Stick with this column; you'll enjoy the journey to Jena.
We're in this age of whining and bitching about the lack of accountability among professional athletes and wannabe pro jocks when it comes to bad behavior. The message sells. I've sold it.
But America's accountability crisis extends well beyond the sports world and bad behavior. You know that. Wednesday afternoon, I surfed the 'Net and came across the video of Miss Teen South Carolina absolutely butchering a relatively easy question about why one out of five Americans can't find the USA on a map.
Lauren Caitlin Upton's response was unintentionally hysterical, a piece of comedic gold that must be viewed to be appreciated. Her fourth-place finish in the Miss Teen USA pageant and the subsequent Today Show pity party thrown in her honor say all you need to know about how we treat our "beautiful people."
They can do little wrong, little we can't excuse, and we hold them to the lowest of all standards in nearly every regard.
The 40-plus contestants who finished behind Miss Teen South Carolina should all file lawsuits. The clip is literally making millions laugh, but her rambling, incoherent soliloquy didn't really hurt her in the pageant standings. Short of calling a group of women's college basketball players "nappy-headed hos," I'm not sure how the 18-year-old could've answered the question any worse.
I clicked from the Miss Teen video to stories about Chicago linebacker Lance Briggs' one-Lamborghini, hit-abandon-n-run accident early Monday morning.
Briggs, a Pro Bowler, met with reporters Tuesday and fed them a line of (spit) that they pretty much refused to swallow. He claimed he "panicked" and ditched his $350,000 vehicle because he didn't want to create a "big scene."
Good move. By running, Briggs avoided a sobriety test, and left the police with no choice but to hit him with a few misdemeanor traffic citations. More important, Briggs handcuffed commissioner Roger Goodell, the discipline dean of the NFL. An arrest for driving under the influence could've potentially landed Briggs in the league's substance-abuse program and in Goodell's suspension crosshairs.
Instead, Bears coach Lovie Smith quickly announced that the club planned to take no action against Briggs, and Lovie grew angry when reporters asked if Briggs had been drinking.
Well, this is the organization that lost Tank Johnson to guns, pit bulls and a driving-while-sober traffic stop. I'm sure Lovie feels like his roster is owed a get-out-of-Goodell's-office free card.
Again, it's not just pro jocks who feel like they're owed something. It's not just pro jocks who have their failures rationalized and excused. It's a societal problem, brought on by the fact that our pursuit of a bigger house, a fancier car and a splashier vacation has short-circuited our commitment to parenting. At the end of the day, only your parents can truly hold you responsible for your misdeeds. Coaches can't. The media can't. A judge can't. Teachers don't stand a chance.
This belief crystallized for me over the past couple of months as I tracked and researched the case involving the "Jena Six," a group of Louisiana black boys who have been charged with a very serious crime after jumping, beating and stomping a white boy on school grounds.
The "Jena Six" are becoming a cause célébre for Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and the media. At least two or three times a week for the past three months, I have received an e-mail from someone asking me to support the "Jena Six."
On the surface, the story sounds like a horrifying tale of Emmett Till-style justice. At a predominantly white high school in a segregated town (Jena), a black student sat under a shade tree that was traditionally used by white students. The next day three white students hung nooses from the tree, sparking racial tension and a sit-in (under the tree) by black students. The principal attempted to expel the three white students, but the school board overruled the principal and the students were given a suspension, which sparked more racial tension.
Police patrolled the school's hallways. The town's district attorney visited the school for an impromptu assembly, allegedly looked at the black students and said he could end their lives with one stroke of his pen. A little more than three months after the noose incident — and just days after two off-campus fights/heated exchanges involving a black student and white former students — the "Jena Six" punched, beat and stomped a white kid who made fun of a black kid for getting whipped in a Friday-night fight.
The white kid was knocked unconscious. After a three-hour hospital visit, he was released. The town prosecutor initially charged the "Jena Six" with attempted murder. Mychal Bell, the first of the six to stand trial and a Division-I football prospect, was convicted of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy by an all-white, six-person jury, a white judge and a white prosecutor. His public defender did not call a single witness in his defense. Bell could be sentenced to 22 years.
Whew!
Before I go any further, let me state this: The prosecutor should've never charged these boys with attempted murder. The entire school board should be replaced for stopping the noose-hanging kids from being expelled.
OK, having said that, much of the mainstream reporting on this story has been misleading, irresponsible and inflammatory.
No one mentions that Mychal Bell's clueless public defender was black. No one mentions that there were no black jurors because of the 50 people who responded to the more than 100 summons, none were black. No one mentions that Bell was already on probation for battery relating to a Christmas day incident in 2005. No one mentions that Bell was adjudicated (convicted) of two other violent crimes in 2006 and one charge of criminal damage to property. No one mentions that Bell's father acknowledged he moved back to Louisiana in February (after seven years in Dallas) to supervise his son because of the "Jena Six" mess. No one mentions that Bell starred on the Jena High football team while constantly jeopardizing/violating his seemingly flimsy probation.
This was all talked about in open court during a bond hearing for Bell, and a newspaper in Alexandria, La., wrote about it. Just about everybody else has pretty much ignored the "other side" of the story. Including the fact that not one witness — black or white, and there were 40 statements taken — connected the jumping/beatdown of the white student (Dec. 4) to the noose incident (Sept. 1).
No one mentions that a black U.S. Attorney, Donald Washington, investigated the "Jena Six" case and held a town-hall meeting explaining that there was no evidence connecting the jumping/beatdown to the noose incident.
Only after the prosecutor overreacted (or tired of letting Bell and others skate once the successful football season was over; Bell wasn't the only football star charged) did the "Jena Six" blame the attack on the nooses and the white shade tree.
Rather than report the truth, flames have been fanned by lazy or cowardly or agenda-driven members of the media. Because the white kid regained consciousness and survived the attack with only a swollen eye, defenders of the "Jena Six" have called it a typical "schoolyard fight." Would anyone call it that if six white football and basketball players jumped one black kid?
I've mulled this topic for months, and I keep coming back to one question: Where in the hell were the parents — all of the parents, white and black?
Shame on the parents of the kids who hung the nooses for hiding behind a seemingly racist and insensitive school board when their kids were inexcusably wrong. Shame on the parents of the "Jena Six" for blaming white racism for the cowardice of a six-on-one attack.
And shame on the prosecutor, the media and Al Sharpton for not rising above the ignorance and distortions, and seeking a truth that will set everyone in Jena free, including the "Jena Six."

Hmmm... Get a different picture of the story now?

Unfortunately, for every thinking person there are approximately 100 non-thinkers. Mac "blackghost" Bundick of Virginia Beach/Norfolk, VA had this to say concerning the prosecutor having reduced the charges:

I just read about the reduced charges this morning and when I heard about it while reading I got happy at first and then it slowly truned right back down to anger. Mychal Bell is still going to be charged as an adult with the Battery charge but is going to be charged with comspricy to commit batter in juvy. Does anyone see a problem. I do. Really who hasn't got into a high school fight.
Now I have a question for EVERYONE IN THIS GROUP.
Where is Lil Wayne, Manny Fresh, Byrd Man, Master P, Juvnile, Reggie Bush, Warick Dunn, and ect?
Where are the rappers and R n B singers, the role models; where are they at?
The same people who fight for black people's rights, Al sharpton, Jessie and ect. are are involved. We, the new generation need to speak up, get involved with our local television station and give our concern, join the NAACP chapter in your area, This is our generation and WE need to step up, if it means no more than writting letters and signing peittions to let our voice be heard. Make you tube video's send mass emails something to let your voice be heard, underground rap artist and poets(as myself) let us step up to the plate and start writing with a purpose and a message. I will have to practice what I preach but I will make sure that my voice is heard, some one no matter if its the kid down the street, a rap session at church, a poetry night at a jazz club, on local tv/radio or national tv/radio, I'm going to make my voice heard and I suggest that ya'll do the same. Just because your not getting national attention doesn't mean your not getting the attention.

Lets contunie to fight for these six young men and don't let the fight just stop here. Let the see that we will continue to fight for JUSTICE and this is a fight that WE will win.

Yes, let's all get the rappers, R&B singers & Al Sharpton involved. That will do the trick. Or maybe we could prosecute the offenders? Novel, I know. I'm not going to waste the time in dissecting his comments. He's an idiot. And no, I didn't change any of the spelling, either. I'll not bring up the point that maybe he's fighting against justice too.

I should note that the first thread from Chase Gibson was deleted by the group's administrator. So if you go to do research and find it gone, the very people that are fighting for people's rights (supposedly) is also the group that is stopping the free (& informed) speech of other people.

With that said, let justice be served. Down with the Jena 6.

Death From Above.
Crispy

UPDATE: 21SEPT2007 @ 18:56:
For law enforcement officers it is considered an application of deadly force should they strike someone in the head with an impact weapon (baton, asp, flashlight). The Jena 6 should be charged with attempted murder since they kicked and continued to kick the victim in the head, especially once unconscious. For this reason, if the Jena 6 are "justified" then the officers involved in the Rodney King incident were even more justified in their application of force.

Also, see Vox's post "Of Brussels and Jena" for further thoughts & facts regarding this case.

Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0.0 Released!

2007-04-18T23:22:00.000-04:00

Click here for more information.

Crispy

Thoughts of a Wild Man Late At Night

2007-04-18T01:32:00.001-04:00

Its about 0017 as I begin to pound this post out on my keyboard. My mind is going so there is no sense in even trying to get to sleep.

I'd like to start by offering my condolences to those who lost a friend in the recent events at Virginia Tech, a fellow Senior Military College. May you rise from the ashes stronger.

If you aren't ready for the truth, go away and come back later.

****

So the 23 year old English major flipped his wig and decided that it would be a great idea to lay waste to the college that he attended. Wonderful. Other than blaming the shooter, who can we blame? Well, as usual, I'll tell you. First, you can blame the government of Virginia for allowing the students of Virginia Tech to be sacrificial lambs. As with 9/11, had the law-biding citizen students of VTech been allowed to carry firearms to defend themselves, this tragedy could have been avoided or substantially minimized. If you still can't figure out how this would work, you should probably spend the rest of your life confused while licking self adhering stamps at the post office.

Second, we can blame those who designed the most ignorant policy of "stay where you are, lock your doors & stay away from the windows." Well done. Now all the psycho has to do is break one door lock & everyone inside that classroom is a sitting duck. The other flaw with this "plan" became evident when the law enforcement officials discovered that the shooter had chained the doors closed. [Shooter chained the doors closed, popped off some rounds at people & gave the impression that he left. As they then clamored for the doors in the herd mentality, he came back & shot them like fish in a barrel.] The last thing you want to do is keep people contained within the same building as where the danger exists. That would be like telling people who are inside a burning building to go into a room where nothing is burning & just wait it out because the fire won't bother them if they keep the door closed. How do we handle fires? WE GET THE PEOPLE AWAY FROM THE DANGER! We get people out of the building.

Third, I blame every person who enforced this policy and held back others from reacting when they saw what was happening. Just because you are too fearful to defend the defenseless, you shouldn't stop others. Virginia Tech is a Senior Military College, as I stated earlier. I know what kind of person they are capable of producing. I'm sure that at least tens of students were prevented from protecting those who were murdered that day. They didn't have guns; they didn't have body armor. Would some of them have been killed? More than likely, yes. Could they have stopped this deranged English major? Of course. Would they have been able to save at least one person? Without a doubt, yes. There are photos of the students taking the initiative to evac the wounded from inside the buildings because help wasn't coming to them fast enough. I'm sure they would have done more had they been allowed. One person can only shoot so many rounds so fast & reload so quickly. I doubt he could have accurately fired on a target more than 10 meters (30 feet) away.

Fourth, and I hate to do this, but I blame out the situation was handled by the university and by law enforcement. If there is a shooting, you cordon off the area and promptly send in sweeper teams to clean the area. While you are doing this, you can gain intelligence from those attempting to flee the scene (In law enforcement, we would call the screams and direction from which people are running a CLUE). Next, you locate & subdue the threat with whatever means necessary. It should not have taken any more than one and a half hours to clear the building, which is a very liberal estimate. You shouldn't need a reason to think shootings are related to respond! Once the first shots were fired, there should have been a certain, swift & strong response. Granted, the media would have accused the police of "murdering a disgruntled student", but so what? Lives could have been saved. Also, law enforcement does not have the intestinal fortitude to handle these types of situations. If you aren't familiar with the military mindset, this will probably go right over your head, but that's okay. Stick with me. When I watch TV with some of my friends, we are amazed with how fearful "SWAT" teams react to situations. Let's put this in perspective. These guys are wearing more body armor than American soldiers who are down range, they have bullet proof shields & a greater array of weapon systems than most Army infantry platoons. They are only facing one person, in most situations, and how do they react? They don't. They wait for hours upon hours and fearfully stand behind trees and become distraught when they find out the suspect has a bow & arrow with hunting tips inside the house because "that sort of thing can tear straight through our body armor". Boo hooo! Your job to subdue the threat to prevent the further loss of innocent life. Grab some flash bangs, cowboy up, and get in that building & take him out! Maybe the guy carrying the shield won't be able to shoot the suspect with the first three shots from his pistol. I'm sure the next guy in line who has his M-4 on the shoulder of the point man will be able to make the shot. The fact that the first shooting took place at 7AM and the situation was still not contained by 1PM is ridiculous! FIVE HOURS?? The operation to take out Sadaam's sons didn't take that long to execute! This kid only had two pistols, a 9MM & a .22. Both of these calibers would have been easily stopped by 1) the shield & all of their body armor. "We didn't want to harm the suspect." BS! He's already shot, or shot at, at least one person. There is nothing stopping him from doing it again. Besides, that's why you have bean-bag shot guns. I know that dude is dying to use it. There is NO excuse for this kind of time delay.

Fifth, I blame the media. Just the other day they were criticizing the university's president & public safety supervisor for not showing emotion as these events unfolded. That was the best thing those two could have done. They had countless people under them falling apart at the seems. As leaders of that university, it was their JOB to maintain composure. Say your on a plane flying across the country when, suddenly, one of the engines burst into flames. Now, imagine that the flight attendants start balling & slinging snot like 2 year olds. How do you feel? "We're doomed" is running through your head and I'm sure its a little stronger than "doomed". Now, imagine they maintain their composure & reassure you that the pilot is qualified enough to handle this situation and all it will cost you is a delay as they unload your luggage onto another plane after you've safely landed. Fairly contrasting situations, huh? I also blame the media for how they would have reported the incident had the police acted in a strong & decisive manner. I already covered how that headline would read. But there comes a time when you need to more beyond what others are going to say or think & do what you know is right. If your job is to Protect & Serve, by God you better protect & serve to the best of your abilities.

What irks me the most about this whole thing is how much it smells of the same cowardice as the recent shooting at the CNN building in Atlanta, GA, which I wrote about earlier. "Get outta my way, pimpin'." And without a word, Charles moved.

What if someone, even just one person, had stood their ground & said, "No," in either instance? Simple. Someone would have been hugged by their family at least one more time.

Crispy

UPDATE: 18APR2007 @ 0814:
See "Hypothesis and observable evidence" by Vox Day for more information on my first point & a few things I didn't say.

On Gun Control & a Little Two-Letter Word

2007-04-04T15:52:00.000-04:00

Maybe this will change your mind, maybe it won't.

After you read the WND article, I encourage you to read the CNN article. Its pathetic how many people could have done something, but failed to act and take a stand to defend the defenseless. What if Charles had said no? Upon remembering where this took place, it really isn't a surprise that no employee acted.

From this point forward, any person who recoils upon learning that a family member or friend carries a firearm should be slapped in the face.

Crispy

Good to Know Some Things Never Change

2007-03-23T13:57:00.000-04:00

I know you'll never believe this, but the a plane was recently (minutes ago) shot down in Somalia. Take a wild guess where! That's right! The Mog.

Real smart that they shoot down the technicians that trying to fix stuff (that the people probably broke!).

Make It All Glass,
Crispy

The New SOP & Today's Question

2007-03-21T11:56:00.000-04:00

If you look back at headlines from the month of October in 1993, you will see news article after article about how the Somalian militias dragged the dead bodies of US Soldiers through the streets in the tragedy known as Mogadishu, or simply, "The Mog" (pronouced with a long O). Well, as much as I think that place should be carpet bombed & sown with salt, don't take their previous actions personal because they've done it again. The difference is this time it was to their own military or their allies.

This brings us to the question of the day!

In a cage match who would win: Liberians or Somalians?

Kill Them All,
Crispy

Look What the Cat Dragged In

2007-01-25T08:04:00.000-05:00

I don't even remember how, but I somehow stumbled across this nightmare on Facebook. Keep in mind, this circus freak goes to MY COLLEGE. God help us.

The following was taken from the "About Me" section:

I would drink a triple-tall mocha with every meal if I were wealthy enough. I have two of the best roommates a guy could ask for (Ben and Danny G). I am a total nerd. I am oblivious to the world around me. I spend waaayyyy too much time getting ready in the morning. I love and accept almost everyone. If I don't have anything going on I will usually be at home reading. I hate mayo more than I hate Satan. I wish I could get my lip pierced again. I take a very strong stance in what I believe and will defend it until the bitter end. I have a hard time just walking up and talking to someone I've never met. I want to grow my hair long again. I am a hopeless romantic. People who are users, fakes, liars, and cheaters need to get a life. Running and working out makes me happy. I want to be a rock star. I'm reformed, although I don't go to a reformed church. I have a man-crush on Brad Pitt. I love my true friends; the ones who would do anything for me and never betray me. I'm not sure if I will ever graduate. I used to really love listening to music but am becoming more and more bored with it. I love God with all my heart but can't seem to obey him for even one day. I despise country and rap music. I am a Calvinist. I don't drink, smoke, cuss, or have sex not because I'm better than you; I just don't have a desire to do those things. Jimmy Eat World melts my heart. I'm not as social as I used to be. I have zero tolerance for cheaters and those who betray their loved ones. I'm a nice and level-headed guy because I suppress any and all meanness that gets built up inside me. I have many dreams and ambitions in life. You couldn't offend me if you tried. I am a neat-freak. I love talking to people who have a differing religious viewpoint and are just as firm and stubborn as I am. I hate drama. I spend more money on my hair than I should. I highly recommend that you take a high-quality multi-vitamin if you don't already. I can't dance. No, really, I can't dance. I'm very easy going and hate to talk about myself. I believe things that almost everyone else disagrees with. I play drums in a band called THE STATUS (formerly NOVA). Also, I have a super amazing girlfriend!!!!!!

Before you say it, no, I didn't make it up. No, I didn't edit ANYTHING. So, are you curious to see Prince Charming?

Once you get yourself back together & seated in your chair again from all the laughter, think about whatever it was you just read. Keep in mind that I did not edit one word or undo any formatting.

When I stumbled across it, the first sentence in the "About Me" sent my jaw through the floor. See, all this time you all have thought that I was making this stuff up about the Starbucks Hippies. They're real, man!

Peace Through Superior Firepower,
Crispy

US-CERT TA07-024A -- Cisco IOS is Affected by Multiple Vulnerabilities

2007-01-24T21:58:00.000-05:00

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA07-024A.html

Crispy

US-CERT SA07-024A -- Apple QuickTime Update for RTSP Vulnerability

2007-01-24T21:56:00.001-05:00

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA07-024A.html

Crispy

A Must Read

2007-01-24T00:17:00.000-05:00

Searching for meaning in your life? Here's how. BLACKFIVE reposts a letter from Ben Stein.

Crispy

If This Isn't Proof Enough

2006-12-26T23:06:00.000-05:00

I assume some of you are familiar with the "internet phenomena" known as Facebook. As a result of sheer boredom and my dangerous curiosity, I ran across the following quote. It was posted on the "Wall" of a particular student who goes to my university who, oh by the way, states her home town is "Tehran, Iran". You can fill in the rest of the pieces.

mina jan, i just saw some of ur pics of you getting coffee at starbucks...and as big of an admirer as i am...i am highly disappointed in you khanoom...... you see...starbucks is owned my the jews...and as a frequent customer of that place you are supporting and aiding them financially. this is where your persian instincts kick in and tell you to go running screaming from the next starbucks you step foot in. ...i think thats all i wanted to say...in conclusion,.....dont support the jews. ;) (im sure ahmedinejad would be so very proud of me right now. ) lol

If that isn't quite the reality check, I don't know what is. Where the hell do these people come from?

We Should Make Them All,
Crispy

Crispy Quote of the Day

2006-12-06T14:50:00.000-05:00

"War is only for a time, just as is peace."

Crispy

We Should All Have Pet Pigs

2006-12-03T15:28:00.000-05:00

See why here.

Crispy

The Inability to Grasp the Issue

2006-12-03T13:23:00.000-05:00

I was scanning over WND the other day when I stumbled across this article ([FL] "Turnpike to point drivers to Citgo rivals") that they had linked to. After reading the article and mainly out of curiosity, I started to read the comments that had been posted about the article. I'm not sure if I was more amused by the kid who managed to get his bachelor's degree in six years while working "over 4 years" at a Citgo and his inability to spell, the supposed professor who was unable to write in complete sentences of the incoherent ramblings of "John" (30NOV @ 2059). Another point that bothers me is that one commenter accuses BP of price-gouging because they had record profits compared to Citgo and other companies. I suppose no one attempted to take into account the fact that the US government recently lowered the required detergent levels in US-sold fuels thereby providing a less-expensive but also less-efficient fuel to Americans. As some consumers have reacted to this, take a wild guess which company didn't lower their products standards.

Anyway, it would seem to me that the idea of government signing a contract with a company to provide a service to a group of people where those people have no other option for service would indeed be a monopoly. Having been on the FL Turnpike just last month, I did notice that Citgo was the only gas station there.

I want my BP (or Shell V-Power in support of AudiSport North America)!

Crispy

US-CERT TA06-333A -- Apple Releases Security Update to Address Multiple Vulnerabilities

2006-11-29T22:14:00.000-05:00

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-333A.html

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA06-333A.html

Crispy

US-CERT TA06-312A -- Mozilla Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities

2006-11-08T21:25:00.000-05:00

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-312A.html

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA06-312A.html

Crispy

On the Starbucks Subculture

2006-11-04T13:51:00.000-05:00

As some of you may know, I am an avid hater of the Starbucks experience and everything Starbucks related. I'm about to relate another great example of why I hate Starbucks, in addition to the stuck up, superficial, tofu-eating hippies, metro-/homo-sexual males with the black rimmed rectangular glasses who waste their time reading their "uber-intellectual" books, and I can't forget the VW Beetle-driving, cat-worshiping, gossip circles of feminist women.

Now, for the unveiling of the masterpiece. With great distain, I had to enter the establishment. While I was inside, I was observing the decor and setup when I noticed this display:

A seemingly harmless display, right? Well, let me inform you of just how pretentious Starbucks and its patrons are. From the top to the bottom, the size names are as follows: Tall, Grande, and Venti.
*drums fingers and looks around for a few minutes*
So the smallest cup (12 fl. oz.), not to mention the shortest, is called the "Tall"? Then the medium (16 fl. oz.) is called a "Grande"? Now, I don't know much about Spanish, but I'm pretty sure "Grande" means large or something fairly similar to that. And for the next size... Venti. "Venti" is Italian for twenty, which amazingly coincides with the 20 fl. oz. that is found inside this abomination. On the other hand, they could have just called it a large, but what do I know.

Say what you mean and mean what you say.

Crispy

Mozilla Firefox 2 Released!

2006-10-24T23:50:00.000-04:00

Download it here.

Crispy

US-CERT TA06-291A -- Oracle Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities

2006-10-24T23:48:00.000-04:00

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-291A.html

Crispy

Not Quite My Idea of Heaven

2006-10-17T00:29:00.000-04:00

So, there I was innocently clicking around the internet when I stumbled across a music video. Of all places, it happened to be on MySpace (the 2nd worst cesspool on the internet) that I found this little gem.

After watching the music video to that "song", what were your thoughts? And no, I'm not talking about the guy with the turban and the blonde. Who noticed the hippie girl wanting world peace & the kid with dreams of success? If he didn't put the "right" answer the first two times, his third answer probably isn't going to be a sincere answer. But of course, once he joined her opinion, he was worthy of dating and having a relationship with the girl. Nothing like building a relationship on truths & integrity! So, she doesn't care about him for who he is but for what he is willing to give up in order to "impress" her. If she is ignorant enough to actually believe that he wants to see "world peace" (and extremely unobtainable goal), she deserves every bit of pain that she's going to get out of that break up (assuming she even remotely cares about him at all).

It's an interesting heaven that we create for ourselves.

Keeping my head out of the sand one day at a time,
Crispy

On Being a BadAss

2006-10-16T17:38:00.000-04:00

I've received a few questions about what's been going on with Little Iran and the rest of the class in general. Well, I haven't said anything because there hasn't been anything to say! I think my aggressive stance against stupidity has finally paid off with tangible results. Instead of me simply being satisfied with just the public humiliation of a stupid person, I've finally made an impact. Believe it or not, she hasn't said anything stupid. Granted, she hasn't said as much as she used to, but she's limited the stupidity of her comments, as has the class in general. I believe it has generally been accepted that the military side of the room runs everything that happens inside of it. ...Which is, after all, the way it should be.

Death to the Opposition!
Crispy

US-CERT TA06-270A -- Microsoft Internet Explorer WebViewFolderIcon ActiveX Vulnerability

2006-09-28T00:11:00.000-04:00

Gee, another one?!!

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-270A.html

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA06-270A.html

Crispy

US-CERT ST06-009 -- Coordinating Virus and Spyware Defense

2006-09-28T00:10:00.000-04:00

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST06-009.html

Crispy

US-CERT TA06-262A -- Microsoft Internet Explorer VML Buffer Overflow

2006-09-27T16:17:00.000-04:00

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-262A.html

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA06-262A.html

Crispy

When Can I Wear My Lederhosen?

2006-09-27T15:54:00.000-04:00

So, I just received this email from Student Affairs:

 This Saturday (Sept. 30) at 7:00pm, the Metrolanta Steel Orchestra will be performing Caribbean steel drum music on campus. The performance will be held in the [snip] dining hall and will be free and open to the public.  After an hour of music there will be a brief intermission and then the dinner portion of the event will begin.  People will be free to leave at this time, or stay and sample Caribbean food served by the Students of Caribbean Ancestry (SOCA).
There would be 5 plated exotic and tropical meals featuring cuisines from Trinidad & Tobago, East India, and Jamaica -- selections include jerk chicken, callaloo, fried plantains, paratha, bake & boljol, black cake, pelau and sorrel .
The cost is $25 per person. We will be serving the dinner shortly after 8:00pm.
The performance by the Metrolanta Steel Orchestra is sponsored by the kindness of the Cultural Events Committee. This part of the event is free and open to the public. If you just want to come and listen to real Caribbean steel drum music, SOCA would love for you to be there!
We invite you to come and enjoy the island life! Yeh Mon!

If interested Email: [snip]
Make checks payable to SOCA, cash also accepted.

Are you kidding me? What are they doing to my beloved college? Last year they tried some Harlem Jazz Celebration "thing". I would equate its success to something that rivaled that of Chernobyl. Not only was it impossible for students to carry on a conversation in the Trough over our less than usually substandard meal, but the staff couldn't stand it either. There was green, black and red stuff everywhere (no idea why they chose those colors). Personally, I was waiting for a shootout to start once the Black Panthers arrived. Thank God they never came.

So, let me know the day we have some real music with accordions and lederhosen. I mean, when you talk about the musical greats, who do you talk about? I don't mean Heatwave, The Spinners, and Freddie Jackson. I'm talking about Beethoven, Bach, Offenbach, Mozart, and Winschermann are some of the names that come to mind. The list doesn't start with Kunta Kinte. Sorry, but its a fact. Let's get our "musical entertainment" for the "Cultural Events Committee" back in line.

Crispy

Non-Updates in Terrorism

2006-09-26T21:52:00.000-04:00

So, in my not-so-Criminal Justice and a-heck-of-a-lot-Political-Science Terrorism class we took our midterm last Thursday. Then we watched a movie about the "Women of Hezbollah". Yeah, I left that place bored out of my mind and slightly riled up. We didn't have much worthwhile intellectual sparring that week. I have decided to make a prediction, though. Little Iran and Emo Flip Hair boy are gonna start going out. He was already wearing a Middle Eastern-inspired belt the other day (even though the buckle was on his right hip, but whatever, I guess they call that "fashion").

Death to the Opposition!

Crispy

The Disestablishment of the Established

2006-09-14T20:55:00.000-04:00

Four long years ago I learned in my "Strategies for College Success" class that when you go to class, you should have an object. Tonight, for the very first time, I took their advice. Tonight's objective was to get Little Iran to scream at me. Ironically enough, my "enough stupidity meter" went off early tonight. While I was in the middle of "my turn to talk", Little Iran jumps in with "Its all about oil!" Excuse me, but I fail to see how your people flying planes into buildings has anything to do with oil. As this was soon approaching a physical slaughter, the professor shut down that debate rather quickly. However, I had enough time to verbally assaulting the stupidity of my opponent around the half way mark of the class, and once again made it clear that I didn't like her. Another opportunity presented itself in the closing minutes of the period that I could not resist.

After we returned the classroom to a somewhat normal arrangement (remembering the circle of conversation that she likes to use), the professor spent the better part of the last hour explaining to us how Islam had gone from minding their own business to the raging dragon commanded by bin Laden that it is today (the terrorist side of the show). Also, to my benefit (for achieving my goal), this change was affected by, and in turn affected, all of Islam. I was located in the absolute farthest desk from where the teacher was standing. That I didn't plan, but it certainly worked to my advantage. I waited until approximately two minutes before the class was complete to I initiate my attack. Seeing the opportunity present itself and being the smart... *ahem* person that I am, I carefully took aim, took a deep breath, relaxed and squeezed at the perfect moment.

Me: *raises hand*

Prof: You have a question?

Me: Yes, ma'am. So... basically... with everything you just described, its all based on a lie?

Little Iran, I swear to Yahweh, sat up so fast in her chair that she looked like someone had stabbed her. A friend of mine thinks she dropped something too.

Prof: Uhh... Well, its really based on redefining things through newer interpretations of the Koran. blah blah blah

YAHWEH AKBAR!
Crispy

US-CERT TA06-256A -- Apple QuickTime Vulnerabilities

2006-09-13T17:27:00.000-04:00

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-256A.html

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA06-256A.html

Crispy

Memorial Post

2006-09-13T11:34:00.000-04:00

I wrestled with the idea of writing a "Where Were You" post on September 11 and telling my story. Then, I toyed with a few other ideas. By that evening, I still hadn't decided what I wanted to do.

But I've decided that instead of me saying something, I'll just relay the life story of a man who gave his life so that others may live, five years ago. It is a little long, but well worth it.

Originally posted 06APR2006:

-----------------------------

Someone you should know about: Rick Rescorla

In 1985, Rick Rescorla became the director of security for the stock brokerage Dean Witter, which later merged with Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley eventually occupied approximately 30-40 floors of the #2 Tower of the World Trade Center. Prior to the 1993 truck bombing in the WTC, Mr. Rescorla had forewarned the Port Authority that the parking garage was an area vulnerable to attack. He was told to butt out because that was none of his business. They did not take his advice. During the Gulf War, he believed the World Trade Center was at a great risk of attack. He expected the Tower(s) to be struck with a cargo plane carrying chemical or biological weapons. He even advised his supervisor that Morgan Stanley should look to relocate to New Jersey because of their present high-risk location and for shorter commute times for many of the employees. His advice was once again not heeded because the company had signed a "long term lease". He was however, granted permission to conduct completely random evacuation drills 4-6 times per year. Rick Rescorla took full advantage of their training opportunities. He would conduct "Rick's Fire Drills", with his bullhorn in hand, ingraining in his people the proper evacuation routes and procedures. As you can imagine, some of the brokers hated him for it, since they were losing thousands of dollars every minute they were away from their desks.

A Tower of Courage
On September 11, Rick Rescorla Died as He Lived: Like a Hero
By Michael Grunwald
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 28, 2001; Page F01
NEW YORK

"You watching TV?"

Rick Rescorla was calling from the 44th floor of the World Trade Center, icy calm in the crisis. When Rescorla was a platoon leader in Vietnam, his men called him Hard Core, because they had never seen anyone so absurdly unflappable in the face of death. Now he was vice president for corporate security at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., and a jumbo jet had just plowed into the north tower. The voices of officialdom were crackling over the loudspeakers in the south tower, urging everyone to stay put: Please do not leave the building. This area is secure. Rescorla was ignoring them.

"The dumb sons of bitches told me not to evacuate," he said during a quick call to his best friend, Dan Hill, who had indeed been watching the disaster unfolding on TV. "They said it's just Building One. I told them I'm getting my people the [expletive] out of here."

Keep moving, Rescorla commanded over his megaphone while Hill listened. Keep moving.

"Typical Rescorla," Hill recalls. "Incredible under fire."

Morgan Stanley lost only six of its 2,700 employees in the south tower on Sept. 11, an isolated miracle amid the carnage. And company officials say Rescorla deserves most of the credit. He drew up the evacuation plan. He hustled his colleagues to safety. And then he apparently went back into the inferno to search for stragglers. He was the last man out of the south tower after the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, and no one seems to doubt that he would've been again last month if the skyscraper hadn't collapsed on him first. One of the company's secretaries actually snapped a photo of Rescorla with his megaphone that day, a 62-year-old mountain of a man coolly sacrificing his life for others.

It was an epic death, one of those inspirational hero-tales that have sprouted like wildflowers from the Twin Towers rubble. But it turns out that retired Army Col. Cyril Richard Rescorla led an epic life as well. In this time when heroes are being proclaimed all around, when brave actions are understandably hailed as proofs of character, here was a man whose heroism was a matter of public record long before Sept. 11.

At the same time, Rescorla's own fascination with heroism and hero-tales was a matter of private record. He even co-wrote a screenplay about the World War II infantry legend Audie Murphy. Rescorla was a man of introspection as well as action, and some of his final soul-searching e-mails provide an eerie commentary on his final day.

Rescorla, after all, was once an infantryman himself, declared a "battlefield legend" in the 1992 bestseller "We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young." Another photo of Rescorla -- gaunt back then, unshaven, carrying his M-16 rifle with bayonet fixed -- graced the book's cover and became an enduring image of the Vietnam War.

The survivors of the 7th Cavalry still tell awestruck stories about Rescorla. Like the time he stumbled into a hooch full of enemy soldiers on a reconnaissance patrol in Bon Song. Oh, pardon me, he said, before firing a few rounds and racing away.

"Oh comma pardon me," repeats Dennis Deal, who followed Rescorla that day in April 1966. "Like he had walked into a ladies' tea party."

Or the time a deranged private pulled a .45-caliber pistol on an officer while Rescorla was nearby, sharpening his bowie knife. "Rick just walked right between them and said: Put. Down. The. Gun," recalls Bill Lund, who served with Rescorla in Vietnam. "And the guy did. Then Rick went back to his knife. He was flat out the bravest man any of us ever knew."

Rescorla was also a passionate and complex man, a writer and a lawyer, as well as a blood-streaked warrior and six-figure security expert. At his home in suburban Morristown, N.J., he carved wooden ducks, frequented craft fairs, took playwriting classes. He wrote romantic poetry to his second wife, Susan, and renewed their vows after just one year of marriage. "He was a song-and-dance man," she says. He was a weeper, too. He liked to quote Shakespeare and Tennyson and Byron -- and Elvis and Burt Lancaster. He was a film buff, history buff, pottery buff -- "pretty much any kind of buff you can be," says his daughter, Kim. He liked to point his Lincoln Mark VIII in random directions and see where it would take him.

In his last days, Rescorla had been reading up on Zen Buddhism and the Stoics, contemplating the directions his own life had taken him. A few years ago, he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer that had spread into his bones. His doctors had given him six months to live. But the cancer was in remission, and he couldn't help but wonder what it all meant. In a Sept. 5 e-mail to his old friend Bill Shucart -- once a medic in Vietnam, now the head of neurosurgery at a Boston hospital -- he mused about kairos, a Greek word for a cosmically meaningful moment outside of linear time.

"I have accepted the fact that there will never be a kairos moment for me, just an uneventful Miltonian plow-the-fields discipline . . . a few more cups of mocha grande at Starbucks, each one losing a little bit more of its flavor," he wrote.

But Rescorla's moment was coming soon.
'A Natural Number One Man'

This American story began in England.

Rescorla was born in Hayle, a seaport on the north coast of Cornwall. He was the only child of a single mom, although he didn't know that as a boy. He thought he had a traditional family with married parents, a much older sister and an older brother. He only found out later that his parents were really his grandparents. His "sister" and "brother" were his mother and uncle. No matter. It was still a close family. He called his mother Sis until the day he died. He never did meet his father.

Rescorla's neighbor and friend Mervyn Sullivan, a retired meter reader, remembers him as "a natural number one man," a broad-shouldered, curly-haired man-child who wowed the girls and led the boys. Rescorla, known as Tammy then, was also a talented, hypercompetitive rugby player. Sullivan still sports a scar on his forehead where Rescorla kicked him 50 years ago while chasing a ball -- and Rescorla was on his team that day.

"There was no need for that kick! No one was anywhere near us. We could've had a cup of coffee!" Sullivan recalls. "But that was Tammy, you know. Totally committed."

Hayle was a working-class tin-mining town, and the Rescorlas were a working-class family. But Tammy wanted to see the world -- and some action. He joined the British paratroopers as a teenager, then served as an intelligence officer in violence-torn Cyprus. He later joined Her Majesty's colonial force in Northern Rhodesia as a commando. As Northern Rhodesia -- now Zambia -- began its transition to independence, Rescorla returned to London to serve in Scotland Yard's elite "flying squad" of detectives. But the job and the paperwork bored him.

He was looking for a fight. In 1963, America seemed to be looking for one, too.

So Rescorla reported for basic training at Fort Dix, N.J., a mercenary at 24. "He was looking for bang-bang shoot-'em-up," says his best friend, Hill, who met him at Fort Dix.

Rescorla and Hill, who was starting his second Army tour, were the only grunts at Fort Dix with combat experience. It was the same story when they began Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Ga. -- the so-called Benning School for Boys was a hotbed of fresh-faced college graduates. Again, Rescorla emerged as a swaggering leader, belting out Cornish songs in his lusty baritone when his classmates were stressed out and exhausted.

After graduating as a second lieutenant in April 1965, Rescorla was assigned to lead a platoon in Bravo Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 7th Cavalry -- once General Custer's outfit at Little Big Horn, now the vanguard of a new helicopter-based "air-mobile" fighting concept designed for Southeast Asia. That fall, President Johnson shipped him to Vietnam.

"Most of us were in awe of Rick," recalls Larry Froelich, an OCS classmate who is now the news editor at the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader. "It came as no surprise when the stories began to trickle back from Vietnam about his exploits in the field."

The Valley of Death

The Vietnam War entered a new realm of seriousness on Nov. 14, 1965, in the elephant grass and termite hills of the Ia Drang Valley. That remote swath of the Central Highlands became known as the Valley of Death. And as retired Army Gen. Harold G. Moore and war correspondent Joseph Galloway wrote in "We Were Soldiers," their narrative of Ia Drang: "Rescorla, as usual, was in the middle of it all." In "Baptism," another Vietnam memoir, Larry Gwin dedicated an entire chapter of hagiography to Rescorla, describing him as a charming raconteur with a "crazed irreverent twinkle" at play, but also a ruthless killer with a "cold steely glint that could sear through you like the icy stare of death" in the bush.

"Rescorla was the best platoon leader I ever saw," says Moore, who will be played by Mel Gibson in an upcoming movie based on "We Were Soldiers." "What a unique man."

American troops were encircled that first night at a landing zone they called X-Ray, and one company was virtually wiped out in a hellish firefight. The next day, Rescorla's company was ordered to replace it on the perimeter at the foot of the Chu Pong mountain ridge. In a later letter to Moore and Galloway, Rescorla recalled that when he arrived -- after a U.S. fighter jet had mistakenly dropped napalm on his men -- he found corpses scattered everywhere from the night before, including an American with his hands still clenched around a North Vietnamese soldier's throat.

"Are your men up for this? Do you feel they can hold?" asked Myron Diduryk, his commander.

"If they break through us, sir, you'll be the first to know," Rescorla replied.

That night, Rescorla risked sniper fire to study the terrain from the enemy viewpoint. He ordered his men to dig new foxholes 50 yards back, lay booby traps, reposition their machine guns and artillery. After midnight, he sang a slow Cornish mining tune: "Going Up Cambourne Hill Coming Down." Lund remembers Rescorla stopping by his foxhole to reset his bayonet and critique his fields of fire, joking as if they were preparing to play paintball.

"What a command presence," recalls Lund, who now runs a cell phone accessory business in Omaha. "We all thought we were going to die that night, and Rescorla gave us our courage back. I figured, if he's walking around singing, the least I can do is stop trembling."

The next morning, Bravo Company beat back four assaults, mowing down about 200 enemy soldiers while sustaining only a few injuries.

"A quietness settled over the field," Rescorla wrote later. "We put more rounds into clumps of bodies nearest our holes, making sure. . . . Forty yards away a young North Vietnamese soldier popped up from behind a tree. He started his limping run back the way he had come. I fired two rounds. He crumpled. I chewed the line out for failure to fire quickly."

It sounds heartless, but Rescorla had a nasty job. Minutes later, he saved several of his men by dropping a grenade on an enemy machine-gunner. Rescorla still had the gunner's brain matter on his fatigues when his company was airlifted back to base.

"The stench of the dead would stay with me for years after the battle," he wrote. "Below us the pockmarked earth was dotted with enemy dead. . . . A grenadier next to me threw up on my lap. He was, like many, a man who had fought bravely even though he had no stomach for the bloodletting."

There was more to come. The next day, while Bravo Company rested, the rest of its battalion marched into a vicious ambush near a landing zone called Albany. Bravo was sent back to the rescue. "You know the battalion is in the [expletive]," Rescorla told his men. "We've been selected to jump into that [expletive] and pull them out." Once again, Rescorla sprinted into a ragged perimeter -- after a bone-rattling 10-foot jump from a Huey under fire -- and immediately lifted the spirits of weary soldiers who thought they were done.

"My God, it was like Little Big Horn," recalls Pat Payne, a reconnaissance platoon leader. "We were all cowering in the bottom of our foxholes, expecting to get overrun. Rescorla gave us courage to face the coming dawn. . . . He looked me in the eye and said, 'When the sun comes up, we're gonna kick some . . . .' "

Sure enough, the battalion fought its way out of Albany. Rescorla left the field with a morale-boosting souvenir: a battered French Army bugle that the North Vietnamese had once claimed as a trophy of war. It became a talisman for his entire division. But 305 Americans died in the Ia Drang, more than in the entire Persian Gulf War. The North Vietnamese death toll was 3,561. Even worse, leaders on each side concluded after the battle that they would be able to outlast the other side in a war of attrition.

Rescorla served one tour in Vietnam, earning a Silver Star, a Purple Heart and Bronze Stars for Valor and Meritorious Service, in addition to his $241.20-per-month salary.

He hated the way the Washington politicians were running things, with their kill ratios and no-fire zones and half-baked commitment to victory. He believed they were underestimating the enemy's resolve, mistaking fervent nationalism for Soviet-style communism, piling up body bags in a losing cause.

He liked to say the higher-ups "saw things through the rosy red hue."

"When I heard that Rick had quit the war, I felt in my heart that this was the wrong war for us," Froelich recalls. "I never thought he'd walk away from a noble pursuit."

Postwar American

In "Audie," the film script Rescorla wrote a few years ago with his friend Jim Morris, Audie Murphy cannot escape his past or his pain. He is "walking wounded," opening fire at his own alarm clock. He runs up gambling debts. He complains he's got no civilian skills except shining shoes and robbing banks. "How do you like sitting on that pedestal?" he is asked.

"I coulda done without it," he replies.

Rescorla did not want an Audie Murphy life after his war.

So he finished his Army tour back at Fort Benning, where he got his U.S. citizenship, then set off for the University of Oklahoma on the GI Bill in 1968. He hung around bookstores and coffee shops. He read up on American Indians and the Wild West. He studied creative writing. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in literature, then began law school.

"I'm sure everyone's talking about Rick the Celtic warrior, Rick the hero, but he also had a deep intelligence," says Fred McBee, a fellow student who later became a philosophy professor. "He'd lay Shakespeare on you. He'd quote Proust."

He also trained officers for the Oklahoma National Guard and took another job training security guards in hand-to-hand combat. But although he remained in the Army Reserve for years, the pure-macho stage of his life was over. He married a special-needs teacher in 1972 and became a criminal justice professor at the University of South Carolina. Elizabeth Rescorla, his first wife, once found his medals hidden in a round tin in their attic.

"He always said: 'The war was part of my life. It's not my life,' " she says.

Academia, however, was not his calling. "Can you imagine Rescorla sitting around with a damn pipe in his mouth?" Hill asks. The money wasn't great, either. So Rescorla shifted into corporate security, first at the Bank Administration Institute, then at a Chicago bank. In 1985 he moved to New Jersey to be director of security for the Wall Street brokerage Dean Witter, which later merged with the investment bank Morgan Stanley. He brought a military regimen to the job, frequently calling his guards at night to make sure they were at their posts, constantly analyzing new security threats. During the Gulf War, Hill says, Rescorla concluded that the main threat at the World Trade Center was an underground truck bomb.

"We walked the garage together, and that was obviously the soft spot," says Hill, who had been hired by Rescorla as a consultant. "He told Port Authority, but they said it was none of his business."

In 1993, of course, a terrorist truck bomb in that very garage created pandemonium. Legend has it that Rescorla dropped his pants to get the mob's attention, but that Rescorla legend is not quite true. He only jumped on a desk in the middle of the firm and threatened to drop his pants if his people didn't chill out and listen. In the stunned silence that followed, he launched an orderly evacuation, refusing to leave until the entire tower was empty.

Meanwhile, he and Elizabeth were raising a family. Trevor was born in 1976, a brawny kid with his dad's easygoing charm. Kim arrived in 1978, a thoughtful kid with her dad's creative flair. Rescorla coached their soccer teams, shouted at their referees. He watched movies with them, especially westerns, especially John Wayne westerns. He edited Kim's poetry in red pen and taught her how to sneak books under her covers after her mother demanded lights out. He boxed in the basement with Trevor.

"He'd cheat," Trevor recalls with a grin. "He'd throw elbows. He'd shoulder me into the sofa. But I got him a few times, and he'd always be proud: 'Hey, T knocked me down!' "

Today, both children are following their father's paths. Trevor is a security guard, considering a career in law enforcement. Kim is a law student.

They want people to know that their dad was only human. He could be stubborn, impatient, impolitic. He didn't have much of a filter between thought and speech. His first marriage dissolved in the mid-'90s, and there were fights over money. In Cyprus, he once backed a jeep into a restaurant after a night of drinking. He once told his National Guard bosses that they didn't have nearly enough combat experience to evaluate him. He didn't suffer fools at all.

But even his ex-wife wants people to know about his kindness. He used to shovel an old lady's driveway after every snowstorm. He once drove home to fetch a sleeping bag for a homeless man. He bought a co-worker a ticket home to Jamaica after a death in her family.

When Rescorla returned to Hayle to visit his mother, he always called on a lonely blind man named Stanley Sullivan at the town's nursing home. Sullivan loved his pint, and Rescorla always brought him cans of Guinness. Then they would sing Cornish oldies like "The White Rose" into the night, tears streaming down their faces.

"My God, I'm thinking of Tammy sitting on that bed, with his huge arm cuddling that frail man," sobs Rescorla's lifelong friend Mervyn Sullivan, no relation to Stanley.

Vietnam was always in the background, but Rescorla tried to keep it in the background. He told Kim that he was no longer the same man who used to kill 20 people before breakfast. He felt uneasy at reunions, complaining in an e-mail to Shucart about their "strange mixture of sentimentality, camaraderie, hucksterism and revisionist history." He once wrote that men who died in Vietnam were "as valid as any American hero in any war this country has ever fought," and he often visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. But he could not relate to veterans who still greeted him with "Welcome home, brother," who never got over their bitter homecomings.

"We didn't get no parade," a Vietnam vet tells Audie Murphy in Rescorla's script.

"My whole life has been a parade," Murphy replies. "Makes no difference."

'Our Time on Earth Is Brief'

One day in July 1998, Rescorla went jogging near his home, not far from the headquarters where George Washington spent two winters with his Continental Army. A divorced mother of three named Susan Greer was out walking her golden retriever.

"What are you doing?" she asked the passing jogger. "Why are you barefoot?"

Rescorla explained that he was working on a screenplay about Northern Rhodesia, where the people ran barefoot, and that he wanted to see what it felt like. It was the start of an abbreviated love story. In February 1999, they were married.

"I knew he was sick," says Susan, weeping at the memory. "But I also knew that if I only had five minutes with him, it would be the best five minutes of my life."

The Rescorlas moved into a Morristown subdivision called Windmill Pond, where they could sit on their patio and talk and watch the ducks float by. They would break into impromptu dances while running errands. She started fleeing girls-nights-out before dessert, because she hated to be without him for a whole evening. He wrote her a poem called "Soulmate just before dawn":

Awakening in the dark

when the geese are silent on the pond

your steady breathing helps me

face the daybreak with a smile

Susan introduced him to herbal medicine, and the Chinese roots and grains and gelatin caps seemed to work wonders. He still took hormones that made him puffy -- he was nearly 300 pounds, and he hated it -- but he felt healthy, and his bone scans were clean.

Last May, on a trip to Cornwall, the Rescorlas decided to renew their vows outside an old Norman church. "We had taken such long journeys to find each other. We wanted to savor every moment," Susan says. Rick had always liked churches for their architecture, but in his reading about religion he had come to believe in an ordered universe, in a higher power.

"The blossoming hawthorn tree nearby reminds us of the natural and orderly course of time," he wrote for their new vows. "We are aware that our time on earth is brief: the footprints that we make in this sandy soil will one day be washed away by an eternal tide."

Rescorla was thinking about those footprints in the months before he died. In April, when he was inducted into the OCS Hall of Fame, he philosophized over a few drinks with Hill, the best man at both of his weddings. "God, look at us," he told Hill, a convert to Islam who had just undergone major heart surgery. "We should have died performing some great deed -- go out in a blaze of glory, not end up with somebody spoon-feeding us and changing our nappies."

Then there was that September kairos e-mail to Shucart, his medic-turned-surgeon pal.

"I'm enjoying life at 62," he wrote. "Mulling over a lot of interesting stuff on Stoicism/Zen/Pantheism while trying to wrap the last few years of my security job with some degree of aplomb." He quoted "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," the T.S. Eliot poem about an aging man afraid to seize the day: "Do I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?"

Rescorla confided to Shucart that he was frightened about retirement, nervous that his "most significant contribution" was long in the past. But for all his gloomy musings about mocha grande and the elusive kairos moment, he was engrossed in an "inspirational" biography of Sitting Bull: "Countering the pessimism is the artistic/literary impulse." And he was "very happily married." Maybe, he suggested, there was still some living to do.

"Carpe diem," he wrote. "Let's Corvette ourselves forward into that dark night, Butch and Sundance. The outlaw streak . . . will serve us well, prepare us for that moment of truth."

It doesn't sound real, now that Rescorla's moment of truth has been captured in a snapshot. But Rescorla never sounded real. Morris says he often rewrote Rescorla's dialogue for the "Audie" script. "I told him: 'Look, it's too epic. People don't talk like that,' " he recalls. "I mean, Rescorla talked like that, but no one else does."

This was Rescorla's last e-mail to his daughter at law school, dated Sept. 10:

"Your mission . . . should you choose to accept it . . . dream, then scheme. . . . This country will be coming out of its slump about two years from now. It's going to be a time for legal eagles of all kinds to leave their rocky promontories, spread their wings, and do what eagles tend to do. . . ."

One September Morning

On Sept. 11, Rick Rescorla's alarm bounced him out of bed at 4:30 a.m.

Susan remembers him emerging from the bathroom, imitating Anthony Hopkins as the weirdo ventriloquist in "Magic," the movie they had rented the night before.

Then he broke into a British ditty, but she can't remember which one. She wishes she could.

He put on a gray shirt and a custom-made pinstripe suit.

She selected his matching red silk tie.

They kissed goodbye, and Rick was gone, off to the commuter train.

He called Susan at 8:15 a.m. from his corner office on the 44th floor.

"He told me he loved me. He said he didn't need the movies -- he had me," she says.

Rescorla wasn't even supposed to be at work that day. Susan's daughter Alexandra was getting married the next week in a 10th-century Tuscan castle, and they had planned to go abroad early. But his deputy, Ihab Dana, wanted to visit Lebanon, so Rescorla delayed his own vacation. "It should've been me in there," Dana says. "Rick was like a father to me."

The first plane struck the north tower at 8:48 a.m. Moments later, Morgan Stanley employees began evacuating the 44th through 74th floors.

"Really, Rick made that decision in 1993," Dana says. "He saved thousands of lives."

After the truck bombing that year, Rescorla had warned Hill: Next time by air. He expected a cargo plane, possibly loaded with chemical or biological weapons. In any case, he insisted on marching his troops through evacuation drills every few months. The investment bankers and brokers would gripe, but Rescorla would respond with his Seven P's: Proper prior planning and preparation prevents poor performance. He wanted to develop an automatic flight response at Morgan Stanley, to burn it into the company's DNA.

According to Barbara Williams, a security guard who worked for him for 11 years, Rescorla was in his office when the first plane hit. He took a call from the 71st floor reporting the fireball in One World Trade Center, and he immediately ordered an evacuation of all 2,700 employees in Building Two, as well as 1,000 Morgan Stanley workers in Building Five across the plaza. They walked down two stairways, two abreast, just as they had practiced. Williams could see Rescorla on a security camera with his bullhorn, dealing with a bottleneck on the 44th-floor lobby, keeping people off the elevators.

"Calm, as always," she says.

In his cell phone call to Hill, Rescorla said he had just spoken to a Port Authority official, who had told him to keep everyone at their stations. "I said: Everything above where that plane hit is gonna collapse," Rescorla recounted to Hill. "The overweight will take the rest of the building with it. And Building One could take out Building Two."

That, of course, is not exactly what ended up happening. But by the time the second hijacked jet rammed into the south tower at 9:07 a.m., many Morgan Stanley employees were already out of the building, and just about all of them were on their way out.

The rest of Rick Rescorla's morning is shrouded in some mystery. The tower went dark. Fire raged. Windows shattered. Rescorla headed upstairs before moving down; he helped evacuate several people above the 50th floor. Stephan Newhouse, chairman of Morgan Stanley International, said at a memorial service in Hayle that Rescorla was spotted as high as the 72nd floor, then worked his way down, clearing floors as he went. He was telling people to stay calm, pace themselves, get off their cell phones, keep moving. At one point, he was so exhausted he had to sit for a few minutes, although he continued barking orders through his bullhorn. Morgan Stanley officials said he called headquarters shortly before the tower collapsed to say he was going back up to search for stragglers.

John Olson, a Morgan Stanley regional director, saw Rescorla reassuring colleagues in the 10th-floor stairwell. "Rick, you've got to get out, too," Olson told him.

"As soon as I make sure everyone else is out," Rescorla replied.

Morgan Stanley officials say Rescorla also told employees that "today is a day to be proud to be American" and that "tomorrow, the whole world will be talking about you." They say he also sang "God Bless America" and Cornish folk tunes in the stairwells. Those reports could not be confirmed, although they don't sound out of character. He liked to sing in a crisis.

But the documented truth is impressive enough. Morgan Stanley managing director Bob Sloss was the only employee who didn't evacuate the 66th floor after the first plane hit, pausing to call his family and several underlings, even taking a call from a Bloomberg News reporter. Then the second plane hit, and his office walls cracked, and he felt the tower wagging like a dog's tail. He clambered down to the 10th floor, and there was Rescorla, sweating through his suit in the heat, telling people they were almost out, making no move to leave himself.

"He was selfless in that situation, and that's your ultimate character test," Sloss says. "He was not rattled at all. He was putting the lives of his colleagues ahead of his own."

Susan Rescorla watched the United Airlines jet carve through her husband's tower, and she dissolved in tears. After a while, her phone rang. It was Rick.

"I don't want you to cry," he said. "I have to evacuate my people now."

She kept sobbing.

"If something happens to me, I want you to know that you made my life."

The phone went dead.

Dying as He Lived

Susan watched the south tower implode in that unforgettable plume of smoke. She ran wailing into the street. She doesn't know why she did that. One of her neighbors did the same thing -- her husband had been at a meeting on the 100th floor.

The Rescorlas embarked on the grieving rituals that became so familiar to the world. The trips from hospital to hospital. The posters. The vigils. The desperate hope: If anyone could make it out of there, Rick could.

She kept calling his cell phone and hearing his message and disintegrating all over again.

Rick did not make it out. Neither did two of his security officers who were at his side. But only three other Morgan Stanley employees died when their building was obliterated.

The Rescorlas are still waiting for a body, or even a positive identification of some remains. Susan brought Rick's hairbrush to the victim center on the Manhattan piers. Trevor gave a saliva sample. But Rick never wanted a fancy funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. He wanted to be cremated with no fanfare. He told Susan that if she wanted a memorial, he'd be okay with a plaque at a nearby bird sanctuary called the Raptors. It'll go on the American eagle cage.

"My Rick has spread his wings and soared into eternity," Susan keeps saying.

Life goes on. Dana is drawing up a new security plan for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, trying to imagine what his fallen boss would do. Jacqueline Landrau, a Morgan Stanley payroll clerk, gave birth to an eight-pound baby boy two days after she escaped from the 45th floor. The company is expected to announce widespread layoffs soon. Its $220 million lawsuit against the Port Authority for negligence before the 1993 bombing is scheduled to go to trial next year. It turns out that the agency's own consultants had also warned that the underground garage offered "an enormous opportunity . . . for a terrorist to park an explosive-filled vehicle." Alexandra went ahead with her wedding, not in Tuscany, but in Morristown.

Meanwhile, the citizens of Hayle are raising money for a statue of their native son. Gen. Moore is pushing for a posthumous Medal of Freedom. Robin Williams read a short tribute to Rescorla on that all-star telethon broadcast in 156 countries. Morris is shopping the Audie Murphy script around Hollywood. Next month, the veterans of Ia Drang will honor Rescorla at their annual reunion in Washington. And the big-budget "We Were Soldiers" film is coming out next year. Rescorla's company was edited out of the script, but the bugle he recovered at Albany will make an appearance.

In the end, there was no great mystery to Rescorla's actions on Sept. 11.

It would have been mysterious if he had reacted any differently. And everyone who knew Rescorla agrees that if he had survived the evacuation, he would have said he was just doing his job. That's what Rescorla said after Vietnam, what Audie Murphy said after World War II.

"The man died as he lived," says Galloway, the co-author of "We Were Soldiers," who is now a consultant for Secretary of State Colin Powell. "What makes some people react like this, God only knows. In Rick's case, you always expected it."

The only real mystery is why Rescorla ultimately got his chance to Corvette forward into that dark night, why he never had to get spoon-fed in his nappies. It is not the kind of mystery that could ever be solved.

But to the friends he left behind, his death made a kind of cosmic sense on a day when the universe was out of order: The right man in the right place at the right time. He left in a blaze of glory. With no parade.

Crispy

US-CERT TA06-255A -- Microsoft Windows and Publisher Vulnerabilities

2006-09-12T18:30:00.000-04:00

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-255A.html

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA06-255A.html

Crispy

US-CERT SA06-250A -- Microsoft Word Vulnerability

2006-09-07T17:15:00.001-04:00

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA06-250A.html

Crispy

US-CERT ST06-008 -- Safeguarding Your Data

2006-09-07T17:15:00.000-04:00

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST06-008.html

Crispy

The Divide With Reality Widens

2006-09-06T00:18:00.000-04:00

In the past I reported that Cindy Sheehan had gone over the deep end. Now, one of two things is true: 1) I was wrong (extremely unlikely, as you all know) or 2) she's drifted even further from reality. Believe me, I didn't think she could go any farther after she spoke about lying on "Casey's Park".

She's a lunatic.

Crispy

On Socializing a Blogger II

2006-09-04T16:25:00.000-04:00

Origianl post: "On Socializing a Blogger"

CD did an inline reply to the interesting parts of my post over on SiT.

Crispy posted this:

...you've asked some good questions. In my experiences, I've noticed that with certain people conversations flow while with others, it is like running into a brick wall after you get their name.

This is true even for me. I just happen to have a lot more of the second kind. As mentioned in the original post, I think I'm so used to conversations going badly that when one goes well, I get paranoid and back off or something.

I honestly don't know what makes some conversations work and others fall to pieces. The other night we had a movie on the drill field. Since I generally have a high level of situational awareness and I was fairly bored with the movie (imagine that), I started to people watch. Well, someone caught my eye. My buddy kept badgering me to go talk to her so I finally gave in. I grabbed two sodas and headed down by her. I squatted down next to her blanket, and as I held out the drink, basically said, "Would you like a soda? I'm Crispy, how are you?" The conversation took off from there and we were talking until the end of the movie.

This is...you just...how the f-...what? Holy crap!

Sorry about that, but I honestly did a quick mental double take when I read that. This is exactly the kind of thing I see other people doing that I've never been able to do. Ever. I can't recall a single instance of a connection forming that fast. It always takes weeks or months to be that comfortable with someone.

Not to pry too much, but what exactly did you talk about? I really feel like I have enough social/life experience that if I could just keep a conversation going, it could be enough to overcome my natural awkwardness. This is especially intriguing given the experience I posted the other day about how I had a decent conversation with someone I was forced to interview for information. Maybe I should just start looking at more interactions that way.

Still, the whole "approaching someone you've never met and introducing yourself to them" thing...*shudder* The thought terrifies me. Especially when it comes to the opposite sex. I always think I'm going to come off as a creepy stalker and end up with mace in my eyes.

You know, the more I write, the more I think that a lot of my problems are just in my mind...

As for your first question: What can you talk about with someone you've never met? The shortest answer: ANYTHING! The technique that I use is to attempt to find out as much about the other person as possible.

Maybe I am on the right track with the "interview" approach.

Some call it charisma. Let's face it, most people enjoy talking about themselves. Asking questions about the other person also indicates your own interest in them. Dan Reiland, the VP of Leadership Development at INJOY says this, "How can you have charisma? Be more concerned about making others feel good about themselves than you are making them feel good about you." In short, be a good listener.

Dale Carnegie says essentially the same thing. This really must be a big part of it. One of the aforementioned extroverted friends was an expert at getting people talking (on the way to the UConn game last year, he spent about an hour listening to the SU band director discuss his teaching philosophy), and my own mother has, on many occasions, made friends with complete strangers in crowds and remembered a bunch of random crap about them for long periods of time afterwards.

This may be yet another area where my insecurity screws things up more than my execution, since I sometimes feel like I'm interrogating someone and pissing them off when I go for the question approach. Again, it's good to hear from someone more successful that this stuff from the books I've read does work in practice, even though I've seen it myself.

Bits of information that I like to try to find out include where people have traveled, where they would like to travel to, what their parents do, where they have lived in the past, where they want to move to once they get out of college and what they want to do, how many brothers and sisters and their ages, pets, what hall the person lives in and who their RA is, and anything else that comes up.

Whoa. That is a lot. I assume that remembering all this later can also make them feel important, right?

Your next question was: What's a good way to break an awkward silence? Ask a question. Talk about how much the food at the dining facility sucks and make fun of it.

The question thing is good. As for making fun of stuff, I think I usually come off as about 75% more negative than I mean to be, so people take me way too seriously and that approach tends to backfire on me (I could bring up specific examples for this one). Is it a matter of wording or just voice tone? I used to know a guy who made disparaging, sarcastic comments about everything and everyone, but people still loved him because they knew he wasn't serious. I would prefer to be like that, rather than being "Mr. Nice Guy." Thoughts?

As to voice inflections and expressions, I can't possible type a reasonable answer for you. My best advice is to become a people watcher and train your eye to pick up on the slightest facial expression changes. A general rule of thumb, and seemingly obvious answer is that when a question is asked (to include, "Ya know?"), they want an answer.

I could probably solve this one by not looking down so much. As for the question thing, does that include "what's up?" Because I basically use/interpret that as a synonym for "hello" at this point.

Regarding reciprocating questions, I always turn questions back to the other person after I've responded to their inquiry. As you develop your social skills, you will get to the point where you can manage to avoid their question but find out how their classes are going, if you don't want to answer them for some reason, but we'll address that at a future date.

All right, this is an area where I could really use help from someone who knows what they're doing (which you appear to). On one hand, you're supposed to ask a lot of questions and get people talking about themselves, but on the other hand, reciprocation is considered a good thing. This means that, in addition to the possibility of talking about yourself too much, you may actually be annoying the other person if you don't talk about yourself enough, since they're also trying to get to know you. Is this just a matter of interpreting which way the conversation is going, or is there really a way to achieve a good balance here? Again, I'm ridiculously confused about how to handle this one.

If I may be so bold as to recommend one more book for you to read: "The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader" by John C. Maxwell. Of all the leadership-based books that I've read, this is one of the best and one that I continue to relate to.

I may check that out.

As for remembering people's names, try to find something that it rhymes with or take note of a unique feature about the person. If you find a better method, let me know!
I hope at least some of this will be helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to send them my way.

Good advice. If I can ask one more question:

When you go through the random introduction routine like you described early in your post, how important is body language, voice tone, etc. in your experience? I think that one of my main problems is that I don't pay attention to what I'm doing and my lack of confidence/awareness freaks people out. There are some things I'm never going to have full control over (for example, the ADD-induced rapid-fire blinking I tend to do in social situations is almost totally involuntary), but I'd like to know how much of a difference this kind of thing can make from someone who is more situationally aware than me.

Again, thanks to both of you for responding. I've read books, been to counseling, etc., so it seems like I shouldn't have to request help from blog readers, but...socialization is very, very confusing.

All of to which I responded with the following:

I'm coming close to deciding that the success or failure of a cold conversation is based on how the new person reacts to the "introducer"/initiator (nice words, huh?). I won't even try to go into the causes of this reaction (sexual attraction, current mood, resembles other known person, setting, etc).

The example I gave was one of my first successful cold conversations (with no other known person, to either party, involved). Ask all the questions you want. I wouldn't have brought it up if I wanted to keep it private. Well, (college setting) I generally start out with what class the person is (FR, SO, JR, SR). This is in most cases met with a reciprocal at the end of their answer (which I tell). Then I'll dive into their major and when I hear what it is, I follow-up with an inquiry as to what they want to do with that type of degree (some are self-explanatory, though). Around this time I'm explaining that I'm a CRJU major and the other person assumes that I'm going to become a cop which opens the door for me to correct them & talk about the Army side. After that its just generally which questions come to mind first or fit the conversation the best: parent's occupation, siblings & ages etc, home town, where they live now, where they've traveled or would like to travel to, which dorm they live in/who their RA is (as I know most of them), things like that. When talking about their family and military service is mentioned, I generally dig into that a little bit deeper. While asking about where they've traveled or would like to go, the question usually gets returned so I talk about Europe a little. I try to find topics that interest the other person. But keep in mind, this stuff is tailored to me. I'm not use about your level of military knowledge and interest, but it may not do you any good to investigate further to such subjects. Based on what I know about you, you could probably talk to them about what type of music they like or that you share in common. Around here, that generally doesn't work too well for me as I am a staunch hater of country music. Try to pull past experiences into the conversation. Sometimes you have to bait the other person on a little bit (you can also use it to measure their interest in you). In some cases people will ask "Do you play any sports?” My response, "No, not up here." Depending on how the conversation has been going I might throw in the "Back home I used to," which opens up the door to talk about fencing.

Conversations are really fluid and there is no step-by-step guideline that you can follow. No two conversations are alike.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you try to pre-plan what you're going to say before you've even walked up to the person. You "review" the conversation prior to even making contact and somewhere along the way, you talk yourself out of going up in the first place because "It just won't work out." Right? What would be the difference between a conversation hitting a wall and never having said anything at all? If you attempt it and it fails, then you can at least have gained some experience from the interaction and at least you got to talk to the person. Look at it this way; you miss 100% of the shots you never take (Wayne Gretzky).

Remembering what you hear is the key. Eventually conversations will come back to something that was stated earlier. When you make that connection, eyes light up because it shows you were really listening. One of the most frustrating things for me is to repeat myself. Case in point (this has happened MANY times):

THEM: "Where do you go to school?"
ME: "North Georgia College and State University."
THEM: "What class/grade are you?"
ME: "I'll be a senior this coming year. I'm getting so excited; I can't wait to graduate and commission."
THEM: "Now where is that school located?" IT'S IN THE NAME, GENEIOUS!

Once that's happened, I stop making an effort in the conversation and I let my mind start to wander (had it not already started doing so). Granted, you aren't going to remember everything, but you should have a basic idea of the information.

As for sarcasm, I think it depends on voice tone and the wording. When I start making fun of things, I tend to become very animated. Until you've got it down, be careful with this one as people may think you're the biggest jerk ever. *grin*

Certainly be looking at the person you are talking to. When talking to someone, especially for the first time, I'll spend more time looking at the person than looking away. It shows interest and I can study their reactions to different things. Remember to look friendly and smile.

Don't worry about whether or not you're getting in enough words. If you want to say something, by all means say it, but if they want to know about you, they'll ask. (Tip: And if they don't want to know about you, find a different friend as this one is just too wrapped up in themselves.) Like I said, conversations are fluid and there is no "master key".

Body language, voice tone, where the person is looking, what they're touching or playing with are all very telling as to how the other person is feeling. I don't remember when it happened, but while going up I became very sensitive to people's body language. I've amazed friends with my ability to inquire about them when something was bothering them. Except for last night when I actually yelled (bitched, for lack of a better word) at for about 7 minutes straight because of my concern for one of my friends (now former, but that's another post). If I was talking to someone and they started blinking as you've described, it would probably get my attention. One method that you could use to disarm any concern would be that if you noticed someone is starting to get freaked out or whatever, just tell them that you have these ADD ticks and it’s just something that happens. Then, if you’re feeling gutsy, brush their arm or shoulder and say, "I thought I saw one of those ticks crawling on you." Granted, most probably won't get it, but it will reveal the owners of faster-firing synapses and at least you can have a little fun with it.

Crispy

The Crocodile Hunter Signs Off, Forever

2006-09-04T13:56:00.000-04:00

USA Today has the story.

I expect this will rock the "up close and personal with dangerous animals" community. Hopefully people will be a little more cautious in the future.

Crispy

The Missing Paperboy

2006-09-02T14:48:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately, this story will probably never make the mainstream media.

On September 5, 1982, then 12-year old Johnny Gosch disappeared while delivering newspapers in his neighborhood in West Des Moines.

Little Johnny was never found.

Noreen Gosch, Johnny's mother, claims she was contacted by her son in 1997 but he did not give her a means to contact him because he feared for his life.

On August 27, 2006, an envelope containing two photographs of Johnny Gosch, bound and gagged, with two other boys was left at Noreen Gosch's doorstep.

Local law enforcement officials believe the photos were taken within hours or days of Johnny's abduction as he was wearing the same sweatpants that he had on when he left to deliver the newspapers.

It is an eerie story of every parent's worst nightmare, but extremely interesting. Hopefully, Johnny, who is now 36, will be found and liberated.

Crispy

You Took my Boat to Save People... How Dare You!

2006-09-02T14:36:00.000-04:00

When I first saw the headline of the story, I was expecting it to be some type of misprint. Shortly after Katrina struck New Orleans:

Morice did try to borrow a boat the old-fashioned way. But because cellular phone service was out, Morice, a lawyer, said he began text-messaging several friends Tuesday asking if they had boats he could borrow.

But all the boats his friends suggested either sank or already had been put to use, Morice said. On State Street Drive, however, he noticed two boats that appeared usable and used bolt cutters to cut gate locks and check them out. Morice said he took Lyons' because the keys were in the ignition. He said he didn't know who owned it.
Morice used the boat to deliver Molly and Irving Gordon to nearby Memorial Medical Center on Wednesday, they said. The next day, as a nightmarish scene inside the dark, humid hospital was finally ending, Morice was one of 10 boaters who helped evacuate the last patients out of Memorial, he and the Gordons said, dropping them on dry ground at St. Charles Avenue.

The lawsuit accuses Morice of taking the boat "solely to promote himself and his law practice." Although he appeared in several newspapers in the storm's aftermath, Morice said he never sought the publicity.

Mills said Morice could have been more responsible when he took the Lyons' boat.

"If I felt I had to take the boat I would have at least left a note," Mills said.

Morice's reaction? "Next time there's a major storm or natural disaster and I'm called to save lives, I'll try to remember to bring a pen and paper," he said.

I'm having great difficulty putting my thoughts into coherent sentences. Mills is retarded is about all I can manage to get out.

Crispy

The Slippery Slope of Stupidity and My Intolerance

2006-08-31T21:03:00.000-04:00

So, I'm taking this Terrorism and Political Violence course. As you can imagine most of our discussions revolve around the predominantly Muslim terrorists that we see in the world today. I should also preface that there are approximately 8 military students (all of which are seniors) in this class. We've been here together for a while, so we're fairly tight and can get fairly rowdy. There also just happens to be a female in the class who is of Arab descent and says "we" when talking about Arabs and Middle Eastern people in general (not the brightest move being at this particular institution either). I should also note that the teacher had us move our desks into a giant circle to help facilitate a better atmosphere for a discussion. As fate would have it, Little Iran was sitting directly across from me in the circle and had been staring at me (mistake #1) for some time (the class is just shy of 3 hours long). It was so bad that several friends of mine commented about it at the break. As with most people, I get agitated if someone stares at me (For the new readers: I'm a little edgier than most people). This is at about 1.5 hours into the class. Well, for some reason the professor was making some connection or comparison between the Middle East and Asia. Little Iran speaks up and says that the reason Asia isn't completely backwards is because they were never colonized. As I can't contain myself any more I said, "No it isn't! Asia was colonized too! Ever hear of France and Vietnam?" She (mistake #2) responds, "But it says it in the book!" (mistake #3) while pointing to it. I let my jaw drop for approximately 0.27 seconds and quickly fired back, "Oh yeah! Its in the book!", as I shook my head in an obnoxious manner. By this time, one of my classmates already said, "That's what the entire Vietnam War was about." I don't recall if she said something else, but I then sent a fire for effect volley with "Are you that blind to history?!". The military side erupted with laughter. I'm not sure if anyone else found humor in what I said because I was so pissed that the room was spinning while I was just sitting there. I shortly thereafter got a "fist of power" (fist-to-fist version of the "high five") and some wide eyed grins & chuckles from allies.

*deep relaxing breathe*

At the break, with approximately 1 hour of class time remaining, as soon as we got clear of the classroom, everyone that came out our side of the classroom was like, "But its in the book!" So, expect some good stories to come out of that class! That class is once a week on Thursday nights.

Crispy

On Socializing a Blogger

2006-08-30T23:08:00.000-04:00

I recently ran across this excerpt from a fellow blogger:

This is where I could use some specific answers to questions I've had for a while:

- What kind of stuff can you talk about with someone you've never met once you're past the basic "where are you from, what's your major, etc." crap?

- What's a good non-awkward way to break an awkward silence?

- Is there some specific gesture or voice inflection that most people use when they're about to finish talking and want you to reply? This has baffled me all my life and is the source of most of my interruptions, since I have no [snip] idea when the other person is going to stop talking, and if I wait for a pause, it usually turns out that they were just gathering steam for something else, and I end up cutting them off.

- Is it a good idea to try and reciprocate in conversation as much as possible? For example, if someone asks how your classes are going, are you expected to answer and then add a "how about you?" or something, or is that considered rude since they didn't bring it up? Sorry I can't think of a better example, but you get the idea.

Any other conversational advice would be appreciated.

Well, you've asked some good questions. In my experiences, I've noticed that with certain people conversations flow while with others, it is like running into a brick wall after you get their name. I honestly don't know what makes some conversations work and others fall to pieces. The other night we had a movie on the drill field. Since I generally have a high level of situational awareness and I was fairly bored with the movie (imagine that), I started to people watch. Well, someone caught my eye. My buddy kept badgering me to go talk to her so I finally gave in. I grabbed two sodas and headed down by her. I squatted down next to her blanket, and as I held out the drink, basically said, "Would you like a soda? I'm Crispy, how are you?" The conversation took off from there and we were talking until the end of the movie.

As for your first question: What can you talk about with someone you've never met?
The shortest answer: ANYTHING! The technique that I use is to attempt to find out as much about the other person as possible. Some call it charisma. Let's face it, most people enjoy talking about themselves. Asking questions about the other person also indicates your own interest in them. Dan Reiland, the VP of Leadership Development at INJOY says this, "How can you have charisma? Be more concerned about making others feel good about themselves than you are making them feel good about you." In short, be a good listener. Bits of information that I like to try to find out include where people have traveled, where they would like to travel to, what their parents do, where they have lived in the past, where they want to move to once they get out of college and what they want to do, how many brothers and sisters and their ages, pets, what hall the person lives in and who their RA is, and anything else that comes up.

Your next question was: What's a good way to break an awkward silence?
Ask a question. Talk about how much the food at the dining facility sucks and make fun of it.

As to voice inflections and expressions, I can't possible type a reasonable answer for you. My best advice is to become a people watcher and train your eye to pick up on the slightest facial expression changes. A general rule of thumb, and seemingly obvious answer is that when a question is asked (to include, "Ya know?"), they want an answer.

Regarding reciprocating questions, I always turn questions back to the other person after I've responded to their inquiry. As you develop your social skills, you will get to the point where you can manage to avoid their question but find out how their classes are going, if you don't want to answer them for some reason, but we'll address that at a future date.

If I may be so bold as to recommend one more book for you to read: "The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader" by John C. Maxwell. Of all the leadership-based books that I've read, this is one of the best and one that I continue to relate to.

As for remembering people's names, try to find something that it rhymes with or take note of a unique feature about the person. If you find a better method, let me know!

I hope at least some of this will be helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to send them my way.

Crispy

On Emo Kids

2006-08-29T10:37:00.000-04:00

Does anyone know if they Emo kids (who are all individuals, by the way) band together and have a recruiting drive? This incoming class has been the most interesting I've seen yet. So far, I think I've seen more Emo kids this year than in all years past. My prediction is that within two months they will begin to return to normalcy and put away their dumpster clothes.

For those of you that are not quiet clear as to who or what, exactly, Emo kids are, they hail back to the "Poets" of days gone by. The newer, more Emo(tional) caste, however, have improved on the work of the Poets by incorporating gay/lesbian styles of ensembles. Don't stop there, though. Other flavors of the Emo incorporate light Gothic flare to their wardrobe.

You need to listen to the song whether you know about them or not. It will explain a lot.

Crispy

US-CERT NOTAMs

2006-08-26T21:00:00.000-04:00

FYI - There have been about 13 notifications that have come in since I last posted one. Check their website if you're really interested in knowing what they are. I plan on continuing to post the notices though. Enjoy!

Crispy

Yep, Still Alive

2006-07-20T17:27:00.000-04:00

Updates soon (don't know exactly when "soon" will be, but "soon")!

Crispy

On Painting an Accurate Picture

2006-05-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

This could be considered a continuation of my previous post.

I was clicking around on the Strategy Page to see what they were about and get a better feel for it when I noticed this article: "IRAQ: Trends You Don't Hear About". Well, it didn't take long for me to guide my touchpad to that link.

The article tells of the many improvements that have been seen in Iraq since Coalition Forces first entered Iraq. I strongly recommend you read the article.

Crispy

A Schooling in Army-Speak & A Class in Numbers

2006-05-29T08:34:00.000-04:00

A casualty and a fatality are two very different things. A casualty is someone who is injured and no longer considered "combat effective". These types are also known as "WIA" or Wounded in Action. A fatality is someone who assumes room temperature. Fatalities are "KIA" or Killed in Action. Technically, there is another category for those who die of medical or emotional complications as well as "Other" types of mishaps (falling off a tank, drowning, murder, etc).

Unfortunately, I'm writing this post in response to Vox's "Bring them home now" post. For the purpose of the discussion, I will use the same source as he did, Strategy Page. Vox cites the following figures in his post:

March 2003 267
March 2004 375
March 2005 407
March 2006 520

The problem with these numbers is that these are the total of KIAs and WIAs. Using Strategy Page still, here are the real numbers for US Fatalities:

March 2003: 65
March 2004: 52
March 2005: 35
March 2006: 31

These numbers paint a very different picture, don't they? It is also worthy mentioning that more people died during the attacks that took place on September 11, 2001, than have died in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom combined. An interesting fact is that there were far more casualties during the opening hours of the D-Day invasion than there have been in OIF & OEF combined.

Crispy

US-CERT TA06-139A -- Microsoft Word Vulnerability

2006-05-26T20:50:00.000-04:00

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-139A.html

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA06-139A.html

Crispy

US-CERT TA06-132B -- Apple QuickTime Vulnerabilities

2006-05-26T20:49:00.000-04:00

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-132B.html

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA06-132B.html

Crispy

S-CERT TA06-132A -- Apple Mac Products Affected by Multiple Vulnerabilities

2006-05-26T20:47:00.000-04:00

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-132A.html

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA06-132A.html

Crispy

US-CERT TA06-129A -- Microsoft Windows and Exchange Server Vulnerabilities

2006-05-09T19:17:00.000-04:00

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-129A.html

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA06-129A.html

Crispy

al-Zawahiri Goes Over the Deep End

2006-05-09T01:14:00.000-04:00

CENTCOM recently published a text-version (translated to English & original Arabic) of a 16 minute video released by al-Zawahiri entitled: "Message to the People of Pakistan". Basically, al-Zawahiri goes on a tangent against the Pakistani President Musharraf.

As a side note, Islam is still not a religion of peace. One of the verses quoted by Zawahiri is as follows: "Say to the Unbelievers, if they desist, their past would be forgiven them; but if they persist, the punishment of those before them is already. And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah altogether and everywhere; but if they cease, verily Allah doth see all that they do. If they refuse, be sure that Allah is your Protector - the best to protect and the best to help." - Koranic verse: Sura 8:38-40.

Though his speech is drawn out, it is worth the read simply for a good laugh. Do keep in mind that the Taliban was originally a creation of the Pakistani government, but it eventually got out of control and is, rather, was what was established in Afghanistan in 2001.

Crispy

As the (Academic) Year Comes to a Close

2006-05-04T22:31:00.000-04:00

I find myself reflecting, once again. This year has been chock full of a lot of growing. Granted, some of that was simply learning from mistakes that I'd rather not repeat. As a whole though, this has been a good academic year and I certainly learned a lot (not even speaking in relation to my "degree").

As a warning, don't expect much content for this summer. Here is a quick summary of my summer:
This coming week I'll be at Ft. Rucker, Alabama for a special physical exam. Upon arriving at home, I'll begin my criminal justice internship with a certain police department. On June 3rd, I won't even see a computer for about a month as I'll be flying out to do some special training. Once that is complete and I'm back home, I'll be resuming my internship. If I get that finished a week ahead of schedule, I'll report back to the college to help train some of the upcoming leaders where I will be busy straight up until classes start (with minimal sleep). If I don't get finished ahead of time, I'll have about a week to myself before I need to head back up to get ready for classes.

Yep, I'll have a thing or two to do this summer. I doubt I'll get bored very much. If I do manage to make some posts though (other than sporadic, 2-line updates), the stories from the internship should be pretty fun(ny).

Have a Great Summer!
Crispy

So This Is Justice, huh?

2006-05-03T23:34:00.000-04:00

So, Moussaoui gets sentenced to only life in prison. I was actually partially surprised by this verdict. I was expecting him to have received the death penalty. Sometimes being the good guy sucks.

In all honesty though, I know that if, by chance, he survives long enough to make it to the prison, he'll probably be killed inside. And to correct the quote in the first paragraph, which Moussaoui declared on his way out of the courtroom after the sentence had been read, "American, you lost. I won." Such a quote reminds me of his other winner: "Every day until we get you." Well, Mr. Moussaoui, I'm sure other people will be saying that about you from now on. Good luck with that, and don't ever close your eyes.

Freedom Will Be Defended (sometimes by even the unlikely)
Crispy

US-CERT SA06-117A -- Scripts in eBay Postings May Enable Phishing Attacks

2006-04-27T18:50:00.000-04:00

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA06-117A.html

Crispy

US-CERT ST06-004 -- Avoiding the Pitfalls of Online Trading

2006-04-27T18:49:00.000-04:00

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST06-004.html

Crispy

US-CERT TA06-109A -- Oracle Products Contain Multiple Vulnerabilities

2006-04-19T23:14:00.000-04:00

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-109A.html

Crispy

It's a Conspiracy, I'm Sure of It

2006-04-17T22:08:00.000-04:00

College, & formal education altogether, is a crazy thing. They tell you what, how and how long to write about a topic that doesn't necessarily interest you. Then it takes you all night (or several days). Yet, given a topic that you enjoy, you can write and easily satisfy any length requirement while gladly conforming to the "how" of the project. Using an English class as an example (since we all have to take them), how can that be a true assessment of your writing skills? Formal education is a joke.

Crispy

US-CERT TA06-107A -- Mozilla Products Contain Multiple Vulnerabilities

2006-04-17T21:11:00.000-04:00

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-107A.html

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA06-107A.html

If you downloaded the update that I posted about the other day, this CERT Alert is a non-issue now. The Thunderbird update is expected to be released tomorrow, April 18th.

Crispy

The False Religion of Anything But Peace

2006-04-14T19:14:00.000-04:00

So you say Islam is a religion of peace? They have no interest in hurting us, as Americans, and are only interested in peaceful relations? Okay. Well, you're wrong (again).

Moussaoui: 'No Regret, No Remorse'

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press Writer
Published April 13, 2006, 5:20 PM CDT

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Confessed al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui said Thursday it made his day to hear accounts of Americans' suffering from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and he would like to see similar attacks "every day."

Taking the witness stand for the second time in his death-penalty trial Thursday, Moussaoui mocked a Navy sailor who wept on the stand as she described the death of two of her subordinates.

"I think it was disgusting for a military person" to cry, Moussaoui said of the testimony of Navy Lt. Nancy McKeown. "She is military, she should expect people at war with her to want to kill her."

Asked if he was happy to hear her sobbing, he said, "Make my day."

Moussaoui said he had "no regret, no remorse" about the 9/11 attacks. Asked by prosecutor Rob Spencer if he would like to see it happen again, Moussaoui responded: "Every day until we get you."...

Yeah, they sure sound like they have peaceful intentions in mind.
Hat tip: BlackFive

While we're on the topic, here is the transcript of the voice recordings from United Airlines Flight 93. The text which appears in parenthesis were translated from Arabic. The following was said in the cockpit of Flight 93 on the 11th day of September, 2001:

09:31:57 — Ladies and gentlemen: Here the captain, please sit down keep remaining seating. We have a bomb on board. So sit.
09:32:09 — Er, uh … Calling Cleveland center … You’re unreadable. Say again slowly.
09:32:10 — Don’t move. Shut up.
09:32:13 — Come on, come.
09:32:16 — Shut up.
09:32:17 — Don’t move.
09:32:18 — Stop.
09:32:34 — Sit, sit, sit down.
09:32:39 — Sit down.
09:32:41 — Unintelligible … (the brother.)
09:32:54 — Stop.
09:33:09 — No more. Sit down.
09:33:10 — (That’s it, that’s it, that’s it), down, down.
09:33:14 — Shut up.
09:33:20 — Unintelligible
09:33:20 — We just, we didn’t get it clear … Is that United 93 calling?
09:33:30 — (Jassim.)
09:33:34 — (In the name of Allah, the most merciful, the most compassionate.)
09:33:41 — Unintelligible.
09:33:43 — Finish, no more. No more.
09:33:49 — No. No, no, no, no.
09:33:53 — No, no, no, no.
09:34:00 — Go ahead, lie down. Lie down. Down, down, down.
09:34:06 — (There is someone … Huh?)
09:34:12 — Down, down, down. Sit down. Come on, sit down. No, no, no, no, no. No.
09:34:16 — Down, down, down.
09:34:21 — Down.
09:34:25 — No more.
09:34:26 — No more. Down.
09:34:27 — Please, please, please …
09:34:28 — Down.
09:34:29 — Please, please, don’t hurt me …
09:34:30 — Down. No more.
09:34:31 — Oh God.
09:34:32 — Down, down, down.
09:34:33 — Sit down.
09:34:34 — Shut up.
09:34:42 — No more.
09:34:46 — (This?)
09:34:47 — Yes.
09:34:47 — Unintelligible.
09:34:57 — (One moment, one moment.)
09:34:59 — Unintelligible.
09:35:03 — No more.
09:35:06 — Down, down, down, down.
09:35:09 — No, no, no, no, no, no…
09:35:10 — Unintelligible.
09:35:15 — Sit down, sit down, sit down.
09:35:17 — Down.
09:35:18 — (What’s this?)
09:35:19 — Sit down. Sit down. You know, sit down.
09:35:24 — No, no, no.
09:35:30 — Down, down, down, down.
09:35:32 — Are you talking to me?
09:35:33 — No, no, no. Unintelligible.
09:35:35 — Down in the airport.
09:35:39 — Down, down.
09:35:40 — I don’t want to die.
09:35:41 — No, no. Down, down.
09:35:42 — I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.
09:35:44 — No, no. Down, down, down, down, down, down.
09:35:47 — No, no, please.
09:35:57 — No.
09:37:06 — (That’s it. Go back.)
09:37:06 — (That’s it.) Sit down.
09:37:36 —(Everthing is fine. I finished.)
09:38:36 — (Yes.)
09:39:11 — Ah. Here’s the captain. I would like to tell you all to remain seated. We have a bomb aboard, and we are going back to the airport, and we have our demands. So, please remain quiet.
09:39:21 — OK. That’s 93 calling?
09:39:24 — (One moment.)
09:39:34 — United 93. I understand you have a bomb on board. Go ahead.
09:39:42 — And center exec jet nine fifty-six. That was the transmission.
09:39:47 — OK. Ah. Who called Cleveland?
09:39:52 — Executive jet nine fifty-six, did you understand that transmission?
09:39:56 — Affirmative. He said that there was a bomb on board.
09:39:58 — That was all you got out of it also?
09:40:01 — Affirmative.
09:40:03 — Roger.
09:40:03 — United 93. Go ahead.
09:40:14 — United 93. Go ahead.
09:40:17 — Ahhh.
09:40:52 — (This green knob?)
09:40:54 — (Yes, that’s the one.)
09:41:05 — United 93, do you hear the Cleveland center?
09:41:14 — (One moment. One moment.)
09:41:15 — Unintelligible.
09:41:56 — Oh man.
09:44:18 — (This does not work now.)
09:45:13 — Turn it off.
09:45:16 — (… Seven thousand …)
09:45:19 — (How about we let them in? We let the guys in now.)
09:45:23 — (OK.)
09:45:24 — (Should we let the guys in?)
09:45:25 — (Inform them, and tell him to talk to the pilot. Bring the pilot back.)
09:45:57 — (In the name of Allah. In the name of Allah. I bear witness that there is no other God, but Allah.)
09:47:31 — Unintelligible.
09:47:40 — (Allah knows.)
09:48:15 — Unintelligible.
09:48:38 — Set course.
09:49:37 — Unintelligible.
09:51:27 — Unintelligible.
09:51:35 — Unintelligible.
09:52:02 — Unintelligible.
09:52:31 — Unintelligible.
09:53:20 — (The best thing: The guys will go in, lift up the) … Unintelligible … (and they put the axe into it. So, everyone will be scared.)
09:53:27 — (Yes.)
09:53:28 — (The axe.)
09:53:28 — Unintelligible.
09:53:29 — (No, not the.)
09:53:35 — (Let him look through the window. Let him look through the window.)
09:53:52 — Unintelligible.
09:54:09 — (Open.)
09:54:11 — Unintelligible.
09:55:06 — You are … One …
09:56:15 — Unintelligible.
09:57:55 — (Is there something?)
09:57:57 — (A fight?)
09:57:59 — (Yeah?)
09:58:33 — Unintelligible. (Let’s go guys. Allah is greatest. Allah is greatest. Oh guys. Allah is greatest.)
09:58:41 — Ugh.
09:58:43 — Ugh.
09:58:44 — (Oh Allah. Oh Allah. Oh the most gracious.)
09:58:47 — Ugh. Ugh.
09:58:52 — Stay back.
09:58:55 — In the cockpit.
09:58:57 — In the cockpit.
09:58:57 — (They want to get in here. Hold, hold from the inside. Hold from the inside. Hold).
09:59:04 — Hold the door.
09:59:09 — Stop him.
09:59:11 — Sit down.
09:59:13 — Sit down.
09:59:15 — Sit down.
09:59:16 — Unintelligible.
09:59:17 — (What?)
09:59:18 — (There are some guys. All those guys.)
09:59:20 — Lets get them.
09:59:25 — Sit down.
09:59:29 — (What?)
09:59:30 — (What.)
09:59:31 — (What?)
09:59:36 — Unintelligible.
09:59:37 — (What?)
09:59:39 — Unintelligible.
09:59:41 — Unintelligible.
09:59:42 — (Trust in Allah, and in him.)
09:59:45 — Sit down.
09:59:47 — Unintelligible.
09:59:53 — Ahh.
09:59:55 — Unintelligible.
09:59:58 — Ahh.
10:00:06 — (There is nothing.)
10:00:07 — (Is that it? Shall we finish it off?)
10:00:08 — (No. Not yet.)
10:00:09 — (When they all come, we finish it off.)
10:00:11 — (There is nothing.)
10:00:13 — Unintelligible.
10:00:14 — Ahh.
10:00:15 — I’m injured.
10:00:16 — Unintelligible.
10:00:21 — Ahh.
10:00:22 — (Oh Allah. Oh Allah. Oh gracious.)
10:00:25 — In the cockpit. If we don’t, we’ll die.
10:00:29 — (Up, down. Up, down, in the) cockpit.
10:00:33 — (The) cockpit.
10:00:37 — (Up, down. Saeed, up, down.)
10:00:42 — Roll it.
10:00:55 — Unintelligible.
10:00:59 — (Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest.)
10:01:01 — Unintelligible.
10:01:08 — (Is that it? I mean, shall we pull it down?)
10:01:09 — (Yes, put it in it, and pull it down.)
10:01:10 — Unintelligible.
10:01:11 — (Saeed.)
10:01:12 — … engine …
10:01:13 — Unintelligible.
10:01:16 — (Cut off the oxygen.)
10:01:18 — (Cut off the oxygen. Cut off the oxygen. Cut off the oxygen.)
10:01:34 — Unintelligible.
10:01:37 — Unintelligible.
10:01:41 — (Up, down. Up, down.)
10:01:41 — (What?)
10:01:42 — (Up, down.)
10:01:42 — Ahh.
10:01:53 — Ahh.
10:01:54 — Unintelligible.
10:01:55 — Ahh.
10:01:59 — Shut them off.
10:02:03 — Shut them off.
10:02:14 — Go.
10:02:14 — Go.
10:02:15 — Move.
10:02:16 — Move.
10:02:17 — Turn it up.
10:02:18 — (Down, down.)
10:02:23 — (Pull it down. Pull it down.)
10:02:25 — Down. Push, push, push, push, push.
10:02:33 — (Hey. Hey. Give it to me. Give it to me.)
10:02:35 — (Give it to me. Give it to me. Give it to me.)
10:02:37 — (Give it to me. Give it to me. Give it to me.)
10:02:40 — Unintelligible.
10:03:02 — (Allah is the greatest.)
10:03:03 — (Allah is the greatest.)
10:03:04 — (Allah is the greatest.)
10:03:06 — (Allah is the greatest.)
10:03:06 — (Allah is the greatest.)
10:03:07 — No.
10:03:09 — (Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest.)
10:03:09 — (Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest.)

"Every day until we get you." - Terrorist Zacarious Moussaoui

Freedom Will Be Defended.

Crispy

Security and Stability Updates for Firefox Released

2006-04-13T21:59:00.000-04:00

From mozillaZine:

Firefox 1.5.0.2 and Firefox 1.0.8 have been released. These updates contain several security fixes.

Firefox 1.0.8 is the last release in the Firefox 1.0.x product line. Mozilla Corporation recommends that all users upgrade to the Firefox 1.5.0.x product line. The Release Roadmap contains more information on product life cycles.

Crispy

US-CERT TA06-101A -- Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer Vulnerabilities

2006-04-11T21:24:00.000-04:00

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-101A.html

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA06-101A.html

Crispy

Please Be Seated

2006-04-10T22:09:00.000-04:00

Sit down before you read this. You should probably sit on the floor so you don't have as far to go, actually.

The other day I was shocked to the point of speechlessness after having a short conversation with a freshman. I was in the Trough waiting for my omelet when a girl came up and started talking to the person in line behind me. I had seen this girl one time before, that I can remember, because I was filled with the urge to walk over to her and punch her right in the face, for several reasons (one of which being where she was wearing this shirt). I remember her because she was wearing a red shirt, with white writing, that said “CCCP” and had the hammer and sickle on it. So, while we're standing in line, I decided to ask her why she's wearing a shirt that says, “CCCP” on it. Her response, I will never forget, was “This shirt is really comfortable and I never knew what it was until I got up here.”

I just stared. I really wasn't sure if I should just turn around and ignore her, ask her what she now "knew" the CCCP stood for, ask why she still wears the shirt anyway, ask how she managed to survive, presumably, 18 years and had avoided ever hearing of the CCCP, cry, or just hit her.

Are you freaking kidding me? How can we graduate people from high school without them knowing what the Союз Советских Социалистических Республик (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) is?!! Can we honestly say that this person is qualified to enter the workforce and become a productive member of society when that individual doesn't even know about one of the greatest powers on the earth just twenty-five years ago? Can you look me in the eye and say that you believe this person is qualified to live on her own? Can the parents of this girl truly say that they did everything they could to get this girl ready for marriage? Equal rights for all, huh? How about we just let her vote for American Idol and not anything else, okay?

The sum of all intelligence is constant. The population is growing.

Crispy

A Man You Should Know About

2006-04-06T21:57:00.000-04:00

Someone you should know about: Rick Rescorla

In 1985, Rick Rescorla became the director of security for the stock brokerage Dean Witter, which later merged with Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley eventually occupied approximately 30-40 floors of the #2 Tower of the World Trade Center. Prior to the 1993 truck bombing in the WTC, Mr. Rescorla had forewarned the Port Authority that the parking garage was an area vulnerable to attack. He was told to butt out because that was none of his business. They did not take his advice. During the Gulf War, he believed the World Trade Center was at a great risk of attack. He expected the Tower(s) to be struck with a cargo plane carrying chemical or biological weapons. He even advised his supervisor that Morgan Stanley should look to relocate to New Jersey because of their present high-risk location and for shorter commute times for many of the employees. His advice was once again not heeded because the company had signed a "long term lease". He was however, granted permission to conduct completely random evacuation drills 4-6 times per year. Rick Rescorla took full advantage of their training opportunities. He would conduct "Rick's Fire Drills", with his bullhorn in hand, ingraining in his people the proper evacuation routes and procedures. As you can imagine, some of the brokers hated him for it, since they were losing thousands of dollars every minute they were away from their desks.

A Tower of Courage
On September 11, Rick Rescorla Died as He Lived: Like a Hero
By Michael Grunwald
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 28, 2001; Page F01
NEW YORK

"You watching TV?"

Rick Rescorla was calling from the 44th floor of the World Trade Center, icy calm in the crisis. When Rescorla was a platoon leader in Vietnam, his men called him Hard Core, because they had never seen anyone so absurdly unflappable in the face of death. Now he was vice president for corporate security at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., and a jumbo jet had just plowed into the north tower. The voices of officialdom were crackling over the loudspeakers in the south tower, urging everyone to stay put: Please do not leave the building. This area is secure. Rescorla was ignoring them.

"The dumb sons of bitches told me not to evacuate," he said during a quick call to his best friend, Dan Hill, who had indeed been watching the disaster unfolding on TV. "They said it's just Building One. I told them I'm getting my people the [expletive] out of here."

Keep moving, Rescorla commanded over his megaphone while Hill listened. Keep moving.

"Typical Rescorla," Hill recalls. "Incredible under fire."

Morgan Stanley lost only six of its 2,700 employees in the south tower on Sept. 11, an isolated miracle amid the carnage. And company officials say Rescorla deserves most of the credit. He drew up the evacuation plan. He hustled his colleagues to safety. And then he apparently went back into the inferno to search for stragglers. He was the last man out of the south tower after the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, and no one seems to doubt that he would've been again last month if the skyscraper hadn't collapsed on him first. One of the company's secretaries actually snapped a photo of Rescorla with his megaphone that day, a 62-year-old mountain of a man coolly sacrificing his life for others.

It was an epic death, one of those inspirational hero-tales that have sprouted like wildflowers from the Twin Towers rubble. But it turns out that retired Army Col. Cyril Richard Rescorla led an epic life as well. In this time when heroes are being proclaimed all around, when brave actions are understandably hailed as proofs of character, here was a man whose heroism was a matter of public record long before Sept. 11.

At the same time, Rescorla's own fascination with heroism and hero-tales was a matter of private record. He even co-wrote a screenplay about the World War II infantry legend Audie Murphy. Rescorla was a man of introspection as well as action, and some of his final soul-searching e-mails provide an eerie commentary on his final day.

Rescorla, after all, was once an infantryman himself, declared a "battlefield legend" in the 1992 bestseller "We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young." Another photo of Rescorla -- gaunt back then, unshaven, carrying his M-16 rifle with bayonet fixed -- graced the book's cover and became an enduring image of the Vietnam War.

The survivors of the 7th Cavalry still tell awestruck stories about Rescorla. Like the time he stumbled into a hooch full of enemy soldiers on a reconnaissance patrol in Bon Song. Oh, pardon me, he said, before firing a few rounds and racing away.

"Oh comma pardon me," repeats Dennis Deal, who followed Rescorla that day in April 1966. "Like he had walked into a ladies' tea party."

Or the time a deranged private pulled a .45-caliber pistol on an officer while Rescorla was nearby, sharpening his bowie knife. "Rick just walked right between them and said: Put. Down. The. Gun," recalls Bill Lund, who served with Rescorla in Vietnam. "And the guy did. Then Rick went back to his knife. He was flat out the bravest man any of us ever knew."

Rescorla was also a passionate and complex man, a writer and a lawyer, as well as a blood-streaked warrior and six-figure security expert. At his home in suburban Morristown, N.J., he carved wooden ducks, frequented craft fairs, took playwriting classes. He wrote romantic poetry to his second wife, Susan, and renewed their vows after just one year of marriage. "He was a song-and-dance man," she says. He was a weeper, too. He liked to quote Shakespeare and Tennyson and Byron -- and Elvis and Burt Lancaster. He was a film buff, history buff, pottery buff -- "pretty much any kind of buff you can be," says his daughter, Kim. He liked to point his Lincoln Mark VIII in random directions and see where it would take him.

In his last days, Rescorla had been reading up on Zen Buddhism and the Stoics, contemplating the directions his own life had taken him. A few years ago, he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer that had spread into his bones. His doctors had given him six months to live. But the cancer was in remission, and he couldn't help but wonder what it all meant. In a Sept. 5 e-mail to his old friend Bill Shucart -- once a medic in Vietnam, now the head of neurosurgery at a Boston hospital -- he mused about kairos, a Greek word for a cosmically meaningful moment outside of linear time.

"I have accepted the fact that there will never be a kairos moment for me, just an uneventful Miltonian plow-the-fields discipline . . . a few more cups of mocha grande at Starbucks, each one losing a little bit more of its flavor," he wrote.

But Rescorla's moment was coming soon.
'A Natural Number One Man'

This American story began in England.

Rescorla was born in Hayle, a seaport on the north coast of Cornwall. He was the only child of a single mom, although he didn't know that as a boy. He thought he had a traditional family with married parents, a much older sister and an older brother. He only found out later that his parents were really his grandparents. His "sister" and "brother" were his mother and uncle. No matter. It was still a close family. He called his mother Sis until the day he died. He never did meet his father.

Rescorla's neighbor and friend Mervyn Sullivan, a retired meter reader, remembers him as "a natural number one man," a broad-shouldered, curly-haired man-child who wowed the girls and led the boys. Rescorla, known as Tammy then, was also a talented, hypercompetitive rugby player. Sullivan still sports a scar on his forehead where Rescorla kicked him 50 years ago while chasing a ball -- and Rescorla was on his team that day.

"There was no need for that kick! No one was anywhere near us. We could've had a cup of coffee!" Sullivan recalls. "But that was Tammy, you know. Totally committed."

Hayle was a working-class tin-mining town, and the Rescorlas were a working-class family. But Tammy wanted to see the world -- and some action. He joined the British paratroopers as a teenager, then served as an intelligence officer in violence-torn Cyprus. He later joined Her Majesty's colonial force in Northern Rhodesia as a commando. As Northern Rhodesia -- now Zambia -- began its transition to independence, Rescorla returned to London to serve in Scotland Yard's elite "flying squad" of detectives. But the job and the paperwork bored him.

He was looking for a fight. In 1963, America seemed to be looking for one, too.

So Rescorla reported for basic training at Fort Dix, N.J., a mercenary at 24. "He was looking for bang-bang shoot-'em-up," says his best friend, Hill, who met him at Fort Dix.

Rescorla and Hill, who was starting his second Army tour, were the only grunts at Fort Dix with combat experience. It was the same story when they began Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Ga. -- the so-called Benning School for Boys was a hotbed of fresh-faced college graduates. Again, Rescorla emerged as a swaggering leader, belting out Cornish songs in his lusty baritone when his classmates were stressed out and exhausted.

After graduating as a second lieutenant in April 1965, Rescorla was assigned to lead a platoon in Bravo Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 7th Cavalry -- once General Custer's outfit at Little Big Horn, now the vanguard of a new helicopter-based "air-mobile" fighting concept designed for Southeast Asia. That fall, President Johnson shipped him to Vietnam.

"Most of us were in awe of Rick," recalls Larry Froelich, an OCS classmate who is now the news editor at the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader. "It came as no surprise when the stories began to trickle back from Vietnam about his exploits in the field."

The Valley of Death

The Vietnam War entered a new realm of seriousness on Nov. 14, 1965, in the elephant grass and termite hills of the Ia Drang Valley. That remote swath of the Central Highlands became known as the Valley of Death. And as retired Army Gen. Harold G. Moore and war correspondent Joseph Galloway wrote in "We Were Soldiers," their narrative of Ia Drang: "Rescorla, as usual, was in the middle of it all." In "Baptism," another Vietnam memoir, Larry Gwin dedicated an entire chapter of hagiography to Rescorla, describing him as a charming raconteur with a "crazed irreverent twinkle" at play, but also a ruthless killer with a "cold steely glint that could sear through you like the icy stare of death" in the bush.

"Rescorla was the best platoon leader I ever saw," says Moore, who will be played by Mel Gibson in an upcoming movie based on "We Were Soldiers." "What a unique man."

American troops were encircled that first night at a landing zone they called X-Ray, and one company was virtually wiped out in a hellish firefight. The next day, Rescorla's company was ordered to replace it on the perimeter at the foot of the Chu Pong mountain ridge. In a later letter to Moore and Galloway, Rescorla recalled that when he arrived -- after a U.S. fighter jet had mistakenly dropped napalm on his men -- he found corpses scattered everywhere from the night before, including an American with his hands still clenched around a North Vietnamese soldier's throat.

"Are your men up for this? Do you feel they can hold?" asked Myron Diduryk, his commander.

"If they break through us, sir, you'll be the first to know," Rescorla replied.

That night, Rescorla risked sniper fire to study the terrain from the enemy viewpoint. He ordered his men to dig new foxholes 50 yards back, lay booby traps, reposition their machine guns and artillery. After midnight, he sang a slow Cornish mining tune: "Going Up Cambourne Hill Coming Down." Lund remembers Rescorla stopping by his foxhole to reset his bayonet and critique his fields of fire, joking as if they were preparing to play paintball.

"What a command presence," recalls Lund, who now runs a cell phone accessory business in Omaha. "We all thought we were going to die that night, and Rescorla gave us our courage back. I figured, if he's walking around singing, the least I can do is stop trembling."

The next morning, Bravo Company beat back four assaults, mowing down about 200 enemy soldiers while sustaining only a few injuries.

"A quietness settled over the field," Rescorla wrote later. "We put more rounds into clumps of bodies nearest our holes, making sure. . . . Forty yards away a young North Vietnamese soldier popped up from behind a tree. He started his limping run back the way he had come. I fired two rounds. He crumpled. I chewed the line out for failure to fire quickly."

It sounds heartless, but Rescorla had a nasty job. Minutes later, he saved several of his men by dropping a grenade on an enemy machine-gunner. Rescorla still had the gunner's brain matter on his fatigues when his company was airlifted back to base.

"The stench of the dead would stay with me for years after the battle," he wrote. "Below us the pockmarked earth was dotted with enemy dead. . . . A grenadier next to me threw up on my lap. He was, like many, a man who had fought bravely even though he had no stomach for the bloodletting."

There was more to come. The next day, while Bravo Company rested, the rest of its battalion marched into a vicious ambush near a landing zone called Albany. Bravo was sent back to the rescue. "You know the battalion is in the [expletive]," Rescorla told his men. "We've been selected to jump into that [expletive] and pull them out." Once again, Rescorla sprinted into a ragged perimeter -- after a bone-rattling 10-foot jump from a Huey under fire -- and immediately lifted the spirits of weary soldiers who thought they were done.

"My God, it was like Little Big Horn," recalls Pat Payne, a reconnaissance platoon leader. "We were all cowering in the bottom of our foxholes, expecting to get overrun. Rescorla gave us courage to face the coming dawn. . . . He looked me in the eye and said, 'When the sun comes up, we're gonna kick some . . . .' "

Sure enough, the battalion fought its way out of Albany. Rescorla left the field with a morale-boosting souvenir: a battered French Army bugle that the North Vietnamese had once claimed as a trophy of war. It became a talisman for his entire division. But 305 Americans died in the Ia Drang, more than in the entire Persian Gulf War. The North Vietnamese death toll was 3,561. Even worse, leaders on each side concluded after the battle that they would be able to outlast the other side in a war of attrition.

Rescorla served one tour in Vietnam, earning a Silver Star, a Purple Heart and Bronze Stars for Valor and Meritorious Service, in addition to his $241.20-per-month salary.

He hated the way the Washington politicians were running things, with their kill ratios and no-fire zones and half-baked commitment to victory. He believed they were underestimating the enemy's resolve, mistaking fervent nationalism for Soviet-style communism, piling up body bags in a losing cause.

He liked to say the higher-ups "saw things through the rosy red hue."

"When I heard that Rick had quit the war, I felt in my heart that this was the wrong war for us," Froelich recalls. "I never thought he'd walk away from a noble pursuit."

Postwar American

In "Audie," the film script Rescorla wrote a few years ago with his friend Jim Morris, Audie Murphy cannot escape his past or his pain. He is "walking wounded," opening fire at his own alarm clock. He runs up gambling debts. He complains he's got no civilian skills except shining shoes and robbing banks. "How do you like sitting on that pedestal?" he is asked.

"I coulda done without it," he replies.

Rescorla did not want an Audie Murphy life after his war.

So he finished his Army tour back at Fort Benning, where he got his U.S. citizenship, then set off for the University of Oklahoma on the GI Bill in 1968. He hung around bookstores and coffee shops. He read up on American Indians and the Wild West. He studied creative writing. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in literature, then began law school.

"I'm sure everyone's talking about Rick the Celtic warrior, Rick the hero, but he also had a deep intelligence," says Fred McBee, a fellow student who later became a philosophy professor. "He'd lay Shakespeare on you. He'd quote Proust."

He also trained officers for the Oklahoma National Guard and took another job training security guards in hand-to-hand combat. But although he remained in the Army Reserve for years, the pure-macho stage of his life was over. He married a special-needs teacher in 1972 and became a criminal justice professor at the University of South Carolina. Elizabeth Rescorla, his first wife, once found his medals hidden in a round tin in their attic.

"He always said: 'The war was part of my life. It's not my life,' " she says.

Academia, however, was not his calling. "Can you imagine Rescorla sitting around with a damn pipe in his mouth?" Hill asks. The money wasn't great, either. So Rescorla shifted into corporate security, first at the Bank Administration Institute, then at a Chicago bank. In 1985 he moved to New Jersey to be director of security for the Wall Street brokerage Dean Witter, which later merged with the investment bank Morgan Stanley. He brought a military regimen to the job, frequently calling his guards at night to make sure they were at their posts, constantly analyzing new security threats. During the Gulf War, Hill says, Rescorla concluded that the main threat at the World Trade Center was an underground truck bomb.

"We walked the garage together, and that was obviously the soft spot," says Hill, who had been hired by Rescorla as a consultant. "He told Port Authority, but they said it was none of his business."

In 1993, of course, a terrorist truck bomb in that very garage created pandemonium. Legend has it that Rescorla dropped his pants to get the mob's attention, but that Rescorla legend is not quite true. He only jumped on a desk in the middle of the firm and threatened to drop his pants if his people didn't chill out and listen. In the stunned silence that followed, he launched an orderly evacuation, refusing to leave until the entire tower was empty.

Meanwhile, he and Elizabeth were raising a family. Trevor was born in 1976, a brawny kid with his dad's easygoing charm. Kim arrived in 1978, a thoughtful kid with her dad's creative flair. Rescorla coached their soccer teams, shouted at their referees. He watched movies with them, especially westerns, especially John Wayne westerns. He edited Kim's poetry in red pen and taught her how to sneak books under her covers after her mother demanded lights out. He boxed in the basement with Trevor.

"He'd cheat," Trevor recalls with a grin. "He'd throw elbows. He'd shoulder me into the sofa. But I got him a few times, and he'd always be proud: 'Hey, T knocked me down!' "

Today, both children are following their father's paths. Trevor is a security guard, considering a career in law enforcement. Kim is a law student.

They want people to know that their dad was only human. He could be stubborn, impatient, impolitic. He didn't have much of a filter between thought and speech. His first marriage dissolved in the mid-'90s, and there were fights over money. In Cyprus, he once backed a jeep into a restaurant after a night of drinking. He once told his National Guard bosses that they didn't have nearly enough combat experience to evaluate him. He didn't suffer fools at all.

But even his ex-wife wants people to know about his kindness. He used to shovel an old lady's driveway after every snowstorm. He once drove home to fetch a sleeping bag for a homeless man. He bought a co-worker a ticket home to Jamaica after a death in her family.

When Rescorla returned to Hayle to visit his mother, he always called on a lonely blind man named Stanley Sullivan at the town's nursing home. Sullivan loved his pint, and Rescorla always brought him cans of Guinness. Then they would sing Cornish oldies like "The White Rose" into the night, tears streaming down their faces.

"My God, I'm thinking of Tammy sitting on that bed, with his huge arm cuddling that frail man," sobs Rescorla's lifelong friend Mervyn Sullivan, no relation to Stanley.

Vietnam was always in the background, but Rescorla tried to keep it in the background. He told Kim that he was no longer the same man who used to kill 20 people before breakfast. He felt uneasy at reunions, complaining in an e-mail to Shucart about their "strange mixture of sentimentality, camaraderie, hucksterism and revisionist history." He once wrote that men who died in Vietnam were "as valid as any American hero in any war this country has ever fought," and he often visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. But he could not relate to veterans who still greeted him with "Welcome home, brother," who never got over their bitter homecomings.

"We didn't get no parade," a Vietnam vet tells Audie Murphy in Rescorla's script.

"My whole life has been a parade," Murphy replies. "Makes no difference."

'Our Time on Earth Is Brief'

One day in July 1998, Rescorla went jogging near his home, not far from the headquarters where George Washington spent two winters with his Continental Army. A divorced mother of three named Susan Greer was out walking her golden retriever.

"What are you doing?" she asked the passing jogger. "Why are you barefoot?"

Rescorla explained that he was working on a screenplay about Northern Rhodesia, where the people ran barefoot, and that he wanted to see what it felt like. It was the start of an abbreviated love story. In February 1999, they were married.

"I knew he was sick," says Susan, weeping at the memory. "But I also knew that if I only had five minutes with him, it would be the best five minutes of my life."

The Rescorlas moved into a Morristown subdivision called Windmill Pond, where they could sit on their patio and talk and watch the ducks float by. They would break into impromptu dances while running errands. She started fleeing girls-nights-out before dessert, because she hated to be without him for a whole evening. He wrote her a poem called "Soulmate just before dawn":

Awakening in the dark

when the geese are silent on the pond

your steady breathing helps me

face the daybreak with a smile

Susan introduced him to herbal medicine, and the Chinese roots and grains and gelatin caps seemed to work wonders. He still took hormones that made him puffy -- he was nearly 300 pounds, and he hated it -- but he felt healthy, and his bone scans were clean.

Last May, on a trip to Cornwall, the Rescorlas decided to renew their vows outside an old Norman church. "We had taken such long journeys to find each other. We wanted to savor every moment," Susan says. Rick had always liked churches for their architecture, but in his reading about religion he had come to believe in an ordered universe, in a higher power.

"The blossoming hawthorn tree nearby reminds us of the natural and orderly course of time," he wrote for their new vows. "We are aware that our time on earth is brief: the footprints that we make in this sandy soil will one day be washed away by an eternal tide."

Rescorla was thinking about those footprints in the months before he died. In April, when he was inducted into the OCS Hall of Fame, he philosophized over a few drinks with Hill, the best man at both of his weddings. "God, look at us," he told Hill, a convert to Islam who had just undergone major heart surgery. "We should have died performing some great deed -- go out in a blaze of glory, not end up with somebody spoon-feeding us and changing our nappies."

Then there was that September kairos e-mail to Shucart, his medic-turned-surgeon pal.

"I'm enjoying life at 62," he wrote. "Mulling over a lot of interesting stuff on Stoicism/Zen/Pantheism while trying to wrap the last few years of my security job with some degree of aplomb." He quoted "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," the T.S. Eliot poem about an aging man afraid to seize the day: "Do I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?"

Rescorla confided to Shucart that he was frightened about retirement, nervous that his "most significant contribution" was long in the past. But for all his gloomy musings about mocha grande and the elusive kairos moment, he was engrossed in an "inspirational" biography of Sitting Bull: "Countering the pessimism is the artistic/literary impulse." And he was "very happily married." Maybe, he suggested, there was still some living to do.

"Carpe diem," he wrote. "Let's Corvette ourselves forward into that dark night, Butch and Sundance. The outlaw streak . . . will serve us well, prepare us for that moment of truth."

It doesn't sound real, now that Rescorla's moment of truth has been captured in a snapshot. But Rescorla never sounded real. Morris says he often rewrote Rescorla's dialogue for the "Audie" script. "I told him: 'Look, it's too epic. People don't talk like that,' " he recalls. "I mean, Rescorla talked like that, but no one else does."

This was Rescorla's last e-mail to his daughter at law school, dated Sept. 10:

"Your mission . . . should you choose to accept it . . . dream, then scheme. . . . This country will be coming out of its slump about two years from now. It's going to be a time for legal eagles of all kinds to leave their rocky promontories, spread their wings, and do what eagles tend to do. . . ."

One September Morning

On Sept. 11, Rick Rescorla's alarm bounced him out of bed at 4:30 a.m.

Susan remembers him emerging from the bathroom, imitating Anthony Hopkins as the weirdo ventriloquist in "Magic," the movie they had rented the night before.

Then he broke into a British ditty, but she can't remember which one. She wishes she could.

He put on a gray shirt and a custom-made pinstripe suit.

She selected his matching red silk tie.

They kissed goodbye, and Rick was gone, off to the commuter train.

He called Susan at 8:15 a.m. from his corner office on the 44th floor.

"He told me he loved me. He said he didn't need the movies -- he had me," she says.

Rescorla wasn't even supposed to be at work that day. Susan's daughter Alexandra was getting married the next week in a 10th-century Tuscan castle, and they had planned to go abroad early. But his deputy, Ihab Dana, wanted to visit Lebanon, so Rescorla delayed his own vacation. "It should've been me in there," Dana says. "Rick was like a father to me."

The first plane struck the north tower at 8:48 a.m. Moments later, Morgan Stanley employees began evacuating the 44th through 74th floors.

"Really, Rick made that decision in 1993," Dana says. "He saved thousands of lives."

After the truck bombing that year, Rescorla had warned Hill: Next time by air. He expected a cargo plane, possibly loaded with chemical or biological weapons. In any case, he insisted on marching his troops through evacuation drills every few months. The investment bankers and brokers would gripe, but Rescorla would respond with his Seven P's: Proper prior planning and preparation prevents poor performance. He wanted to develop an automatic flight response at Morgan Stanley, to burn it into the company's DNA.

According to Barbara Williams, a security guard who worked for him for 11 years, Rescorla was in his office when the first plane hit. He took a call from the 71st floor reporting the fireball in One World Trade Center, and he immediately ordered an evacuation of all 2,700 employees in Building Two, as well as 1,000 Morgan Stanley workers in Building Five across the plaza. They walked down two stairways, two abreast, just as they had practiced. Williams could see Rescorla on a security camera with his bullhorn, dealing with a bottleneck on the 44th-floor lobby, keeping people off the elevators.

"Calm, as always," she says.

In his cell phone call to Hill, Rescorla said he had just spoken to a Port Authority official, who had told him to keep everyone at their stations. "I said: Everything above where that plane hit is gonna collapse," Rescorla recounted to Hill. "The overweight will take the rest of the building with it. And Building One could take out Building Two."

That, of course, is not exactly what ended up happening. But by the time the second hijacked jet rammed into the south tower at 9:07 a.m., many Morgan Stanley employees were already out of the building, and just about all of them were on their way out.

The rest of Rick Rescorla's morning is shrouded in some mystery. The tower went dark. Fire raged. Windows shattered. Rescorla headed upstairs before moving down; he helped evacuate several people above the 50th floor. Stephan Newhouse, chairman of Morgan Stanley International, said at a memorial service in Hayle that Rescorla was spotted as high as the 72nd floor, then worked his way down, clearing floors as he went. He was telling people to stay calm, pace themselves, get off their cell phones, keep moving. At one point, he was so exhausted he had to sit for a few minutes, although he continued barking orders through his bullhorn. Morgan Stanley officials said he called headquarters shortly before the tower collapsed to say he was going back up to search for stragglers.

John Olson, a Morgan Stanley regional director, saw Rescorla reassuring colleagues in the 10th-floor stairwell. "Rick, you've got to get out, too," Olson told him.

"As soon as I make sure everyone else is out," Rescorla replied.

Morgan Stanley officials say Rescorla also told employees that "today is a day to be proud to be American" and that "tomorrow, the whole world will be talking about you." They say he also sang "God Bless America" and Cornish folk tunes in the stairwells. Those reports could not be confirmed, although they don't sound out of character. He liked to sing in a crisis.

But the documented truth is impressive enough. Morgan Stanley managing director Bob Sloss was the only employee who didn't evacuate the 66th floor after the first plane hit, pausing to call his family and several underlings, even taking a call from a Bloomberg News reporter. Then the second plane hit, and his office walls cracked, and he felt the tower wagging like a dog's tail. He clambered down to the 10th floor, and there was Rescorla, sweating through his suit in the heat, telling people they were almost out, making no move to leave himself.

"He was selfless in that situation, and that's your ultimate character test," Sloss says. "He was not rattled at all. He was putting the lives of his colleagues ahead of his own."

Susan Rescorla watched the United Airlines jet carve through her husband's tower, and she dissolved in tears. After a while, her phone rang. It was Rick.

"I don't want you to cry," he said. "I have to evacuate my people now."

She kept sobbing.

"If something happens to me, I want you to know that you made my life."

The phone went dead.

Dying as He Lived

Susan watched the south tower implode in that unforgettable plume of smoke. She ran wailing into the street. She doesn't know why she did that. One of her neighbors did the same thing -- her husband had been at a meeting on the 100th floor.

The Rescorlas embarked on the grieving rituals that became so familiar to the world. The trips from hospital to hospital. The posters. The vigils. The desperate hope: If anyone could make it out of there, Rick could.

She kept calling his cell phone and hearing his message and disintegrating all over again.

Rick did not make it out. Neither did two of his security officers who were at his side. But only three other Morgan Stanley employees died when their building was obliterated.

The Rescorlas are still waiting for a body, or even a positive identification of some remains. Susan brought Rick's hairbrush to the victim center on the Manhattan piers. Trevor gave a saliva sample. But Rick never wanted a fancy funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. He wanted to be cremated with no fanfare. He told Susan that if she wanted a memorial, he'd be okay with a plaque at a nearby bird sanctuary called the Raptors. It'll go on the American eagle cage.

"My Rick has spread his wings and soared into eternity," Susan keeps saying.

Life goes on. Dana is drawing up a new security plan for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, trying to imagine what his fallen boss would do. Jacqueline Landrau, a Morgan Stanley payroll clerk, gave birth to an eight-pound baby boy two days after she escaped from the 45th floor. The company is expected to announce widespread layoffs soon. Its $220 million lawsuit against the Port Authority for negligence before the 1993 bombing is scheduled to go to trial next year. It turns out that the agency's own consultants had also warned that the underground garage offered "an enormous opportunity . . . for a terrorist to park an explosive-filled vehicle." Alexandra went ahead with her wedding, not in Tuscany, but in Morristown.

Meanwhile, the citizens of Hayle are raising money for a statue of their native son. Gen. Moore is pushing for a posthumous Medal of Freedom. Robin Williams read a short tribute to Rescorla on that all-star telethon broadcast in 156 countries. Morris is shopping the Audie Murphy script around Hollywood. Next month, the veterans of Ia Drang will honor Rescorla at their annual reunion in Washington. And the big-budget "We Were Soldiers" film is coming out next year. Rescorla's company was edited out of the script, but the bugle he recovered at Albany will make an appearance.

In the end, there was no great mystery to Rescorla's actions on Sept. 11.

It would have been mysterious if he had reacted any differently. And everyone who knew Rescorla agrees that if he had survived the evacuation, he would have said he was just doing his job. That's what Rescorla said after Vietnam, what Audie Murphy said after World War II.

"The man died as he lived," says Galloway, the co-author of "We Were Soldiers," who is now a consultant for Secretary of State Colin Powell. "What makes some people react like this, God only knows. In Rick's case, you always expected it."

The only real mystery is why Rescorla ultimately got his chance to Corvette forward into that dark night, why he never had to get spoon-fed in his nappies. It is not the kind of mystery that could ever be solved.

But to the friends he left behind, his death made a kind of cosmic sense on a day when the universe was out of order: The right man in the right place at the right time. He left in a blaze of glory. With no parade.

Crispy

World Trade Center Steel Reborn

2006-04-06T20:02:00.000-04:00

BKP has the story. Jihad this.

A navy warship being built with World Trade Center steel and to be christened the “New York” has earned a special place in the heart of Avondale, La., shipyard workers.
Junior Chavers, operations manager of the foundry, said when the steel first arrived in 2003, he touched it and the “hair on my neck stood up.”
“It had a big meaning to it for all of us,” he told an Associated Press reporter. “They knocked us down. They can’t keep us down. We’re going to be back.”

Crispy

Some Phrases of Value

2006-04-04T23:06:00.000-04:00

I decided to write up a post about some of the quotes and phrases that I think of on a regular basis. I suppose it will give my readers more insight into me and what makes me tick. Some of the quotes I was able to give appropriate credit, others I have no idea where I picked them up. Enjoy!

Never Quit.

AIRBORNE All the Way!

Don't complain about what you permit.

Don't go where you are tolerated; go where you are celebrated.

You miss 100% of the shots you never take.

Your life moves in the direction of your most dominant thought.

Defend the weak.

Liberate the Oppressed.

Compromise methods but never principles.

Will this matter five minutes from now?

Zero (0) will always be greater than a negative one (-1).

Why?

Take a cold shower?

Cool off for 24 hours then write your reply.

Listen to your dreams for they are the sounds that no one else can hear.

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
-George Orwell

"Answer questions that no one else can answer. Keep promises that others break. Be willing to go where no one else will go. Be willing to do what no one else will and do it well."
-Dr. Robb Thompson

"When the law is an ass, a man has a responsibility to go and kick it."
-Vox Day

You don't have to be the best, just do your best.

"And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Who shall I send and who will go for Us?" And I said, "Here am I! Send me.""
-Isa. 6:8

Crispy

Questions About Iran?

2006-04-03T16:21:00.000-04:00

Get them answered here in the CIA World Factbook! Compare your findings to the US.

Crispy

This Whole Border Thing...

2006-04-03T12:51:00.000-04:00

While sitting in the Trough this morning and watching the news on the big protector & surround sound speakers that quite honestly only surround the salad bar (that's another post), the illegal Mexican issue came up (imagine that). I think they called the segment "Border Watch". Anyway, there were three of us sitting at the table. We're watching the little Mexicans get chased by the Honorable Minutemen and such and start discussing how we'd handle the situation.

Some of the proposed solutions:

1) Develop incendiary land mines and cover the border with them. This was followed by an EXCELLENT impression by one of friends of Our Fearless Leader informing the Mexican people that we've emplaced such land mines and it may be dangerous to try to cross illegally.
2) Build a 40 foot wall. The only way to get over is by catapult.
3) "Building" upon the previous idea (I'm good, aren't I?), on our side, put pungi sticks followed by a 30 foot deep trench. If they can make it across that, I proposed that we should allow them to stay in the country because we need people that creative.
4) Napalm their wheat field so they can't eat tortillas or rice anymore.
5) Napalm Mexico City.
6) Annex Mexico and make them the 51 state.
7) Bulldoze Mexico and salt the land (guess who came up with that one).

Crispy

Why, You Ask?

2006-03-30T23:18:00.000-05:00

It isn't about the recognition. It isn't about trying to look tough. It isn't about the little kids who stare and wave. It isn't about the adrenaline. It isn't even about the groupies.

It's because we believe in the ideals and values of this nation. It's because we see a need and are willing to fill that need. We believe in something greater than ourselves. As time goes on, even that will take a second place seat. It's about your loved ones back home. It's about the soldier to your left and the soldier to your right. It's about the, to use Steven Pressfield's thoughts, "lack of phobos" (Gates of Fire).

Crispy

US-CERT ST06-003 -- Staying Safe on Social Network Sites

2006-03-30T22:54:00.000-05:00

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST06-003.html

Crispy

US-CERT TA06-081A -- Sendmail Race Condition Vulnerability

2006-03-23T07:09:00.000-05:00

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-081A.html

Crispy

Today's Pre-Nap Time Reflective Thought

2006-03-20T12:31:00.000-05:00

This world of ours is an amazing place. It is really remarkable how quickly people come and go from our lives. While someone was involved they may have brought order to your life, taught you some new things, or just set a very good example for you to follow. Then, there are others who, while they were involved, caused stress, confusion, conflict and left a whirlwind of troubles and messes behind them. A key to success is to minimize or completely remove the mess makers from your life. Surround yourself with people who can and do speak wisdom into your life, not the fools who tax your wisdom.

Short and Sweet.
Crispy

Navy: 1; Pirates: 0

2006-03-18T20:41:00.000-05:00

5:40AM, local time, two US Navy vessels off the Somali coast got into a short-lived gun battle with people who are believed to be pirates. As you can imagine, the Navy won. Read about it here. The Navy received no casualties, though 1 suspect was killed and 5 other wounded (3 of which seriously).

Crispy

US-CERT TA06-075A -- Adobe Macromedia Flash Products Contain Vulnerabilities

2006-03-16T20:35:00.000-05:00

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-075A.html

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA06-075A.html

Crispy

US-CERT TA06-073A -- Microsoft Office and Excel Vulnerabilities

2006-03-14T21:18:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe, I know.

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-073A.html

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA06-073A.html

Or just go get OpenOffice.

Crispy

All Quiet

2006-03-12T22:14:00.000-05:00

Greetings, my consistent readers!

I really don't have much to report, but I didn't want to remain completely silent. I think WaMi summed up the "Well, You're Wrong" post quite well in his replies. Speaking of which, there was another "article" in there that I want to write about. Unfortunately, I haven't had enough motivation to sit down and have at it, as the next one will definitely take some time.

I have been toying with the idea of posting about a certain topic, but I'm not completely at ease with divulging thoughts that personal to me. Not to mention the facts that I don't want to start sounding Emo and that I'm having trouble putting it into English just in my head. Life is just bazaar and earth is a really weird place.

Late last week I failed to notify you that I changed the arrangement of links on the right side and divided them into "Military" and "General" categories. I had received an email from CENTCOM requesting that I link to their website, as they are trying to let more people know about. So, it seemed a bit weird to just add Central Command into the mix. As a result, I broke it down as I previously described. Also worth mentioning, CENTCOM has an e-newsletter to which you can sign up to receive, if you are interested in keeping up to date with military developments (not just the Army).

Like I said, I don't have much to say, so I hope you found that interesting. Stay safe!

Crispy

Well, You're Wrong

2006-03-05T13:19:00.000-05:00

The following passed as an article that appeared in the college's paper. It was written by Michael Parker.

"I Believe..."

""Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. This much we pledge, and more."

With these words and others, John F. Kennedy labeled every citizen a combatant fighting for some very revolutionary beliefs. Those beliefs that all men are created equal, that each person innately possesses freedom and liberty, and that no state or institution can take away our human rights for any reason remain as much at issue today and as undecided today as they were in 1961 or 1776.

There are many well-meaning people who ignore Kennedy, FDR, Truman or any other liberal as weak. Today, with 24-hour cable news, our country would not elect a man in a wheelchair. But from a wheelchair, FDR fought a global war and won. From that same wheelchair, his voice carried by radio waves, he stopped the sense of hopelessness caused by the Great Depression.

But by today's standards, he was a liberal and therefore too weak. He should have never been elected and he could not be elected today in a wheelchair.

Truman, forced to stand on his own two legs, delivered the orders that dropped the only two atomic bombers ever used in combat. He had to fire Gen. Douglas MacArthur, as much for stupidity as for insubordination. Just another mindless Democrat that supported FDR, who would vote for such a socialist today?

Kennedy labeled us all as combatants in the ideological war with godless communism. When tested in October 1962 by the Cuban Missile Crisis, he expected nuclear disaster, wonder aloud about his children. Yet, he would not allow offensive nuclear weapons in Cuba.

Kennedy, willing to fight a nuclear war where the survivors would envy the dead, is by today's standards just another East Coast-educated liberal. Who would vote for such a weakling today?

To those uninformed, we are not at war. We have no draft of our 18-year-olds. We have not rationed our food, clothing or gas. We have no Civil Defense network to guard our ports. That's seen as a job to be done by the lowest bidder, even another country. We have no frail old man in a wheelchair to assure us that we have nothing to fear but fear its self [author's misspelling]. What confronts us today is mere political posturing against an idea. Ideas must be fought with ideas and armies fought with armies.

To those brainwashed by the wingnuts of the far right, advocating the "eradication of extremist-terrorist Muslims:" With our military of a million and a half, an unlimited amount of time, no Republican leader will ever, by force of arms, eliminate or eradicate a single idea from the minds of 6 billion people. Not even if they burn all the books."

And now for but a few rebuttals.

You should really get a better understanding of the English language before you even attempt to persuade others with your views. I reference your third paragraph where you made mention of ignoring someone as weak. Now, you can ignore someone because they are weak, but not ignore someone as weak.

Referring to the Pacific Theater alone, FDR was thrust into a situation much like that of our current Fearless Leader. The only difference is that in Bush's situation it struck much closer to home, as it was civilians on the homeland, as opposed to only soldiers on a distant island, who died. I totally agree with the responses of FDR and Bush. When asked about the September 11 incident, Al Gore said we shouldn't attack anyone. For that reason alone the Gore Bot, a liberal, is too weak and inept to lead a nation. And where did you ever get the notion that FDR is too weak to lead America, by today's standards? Lay off the crack. Though I by no means agree with his policies, he was an excellent and dynamic leader. You're connection between Truman and FDR as socialists is actually correct (even a broke clock is right twice a day), just as Bush is.

The liberals that you did mention were by no means common place to the American political spectrum. They were all extraordinary people, just as Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, John Jay, Benjamin Franklin and many others throughout America's history have been.

You also say that we are not at war. Talk to the, at the time of this writing, 2506 American families that lost a loved one in Iraq or the 349 American families who lost someone in Afghanistan. And I guess the 16 other countries that have lost soldiers in Iraq and the 12 other countries that have lost soldiers in Afghanistan are all just a dumb luck coincidence? Get a clue.

Brainwashed wingnuts of the far right advocating the "eradication of extremist-terrorist Muslims", huh? Do you know what their ideology is? You surely don't understand the situation because you grouped all the Muslim people as being under a single belief, which is not the case. This is apparent to most people through the sect clashes that we've seen in Iraq, but I shouldn't expect an upcoming journalist to thoroughly understand the situation in which he or she chooses to write about. Yet, that is for another post. I should probably inform you that the belief of those "extremist-terrorist Muslims" is the complete destruction of all non-Muslim institutions. But, I guess you would rather sacrifice your culture, who was NOT the initial aggressor, than to actually take a stand for it and defend it. The affirmative action that you so loyalty stand by would be abolished. Feminists? Shot in the streets. But, alas, we shouldn't defend ourselves. Afterall, the brainwashed wingnuts of the far right should just idly sit on the way side and allow our society, culture, country and beliefs to be forever vanquished from the face of this Earth.

What really gets me is how you completely contradict yourself in a matter of just several paragraphs. You start by saying how great a man Kennedy was because he took a stand for America's values. Yet, when you finish, you are bashing the very people who are carrying on the defense of those values.

And I do beg to differ. Given enough time, you could surely "eliminate or eradicate" the idea of a collapsed America and that of total Islamic Imperialism. Watch me. Witty connection to the Nazis, by the way, but not applicable. The last thought I want to leave you with is this: Those brainwashed wingnuts of the far right who you are so quick to hate are ones who secure, defend, and guarantee your right to call them such by putting their lives on the line day after day.

Freedom Will Be Defended.

Crispy

US-CERT TA06-062A -- Apple Mac Products are Affected by Multiple Vulnerabilities

2006-03-03T19:37:00.000-05:00

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-062A.html

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA06-062A.html

Crispy

Today's Thought

2006-02-26T22:27:00.000-05:00

As I was just sitting here watching Andrea Boncelli belt out "Because We Believe" at the 2006 Torino Games Closing Ceremonies, it dawned on me that the next time I watch the Olympics, 2010, I'll probably be in a foreign country. That just struck me as odd and really put things into perspective.

Crispy

Measuring the Success

2006-02-25T17:51:00.000-05:00

As most of you know, the Democrats have been screaming for a withdrawal of US military forces from Iraq while members of the Republican party have been echoing the words of our Fearless Leader that we should stay. As I've said repeatedly, President Bush has never offered a tangible goal by which we could gauge our progress toward success in the Iraqi Theater. For this reason, our military has had to gauge our current levels of success using more creative methods.

After the conventional military excursion into Iraq was finished and Saddam had been removed from power, the US was in charge of what went on. Our goal is to be completely out of Iraq and within our own borders, once again. The only way to make these two situations meet would be a gradual shift of power and responsibility. The main problem is that when we first arrived, there was no one there for us to turn power over to. With the success of the Iraqi elections, this problem has been solved. Thinking back in time once again, when we were first establishing ourselves in Iraq, there were no Iraqi forces (police or military) to assist in keeping order and/or taking actions against the insurgency operations.

According to a DoD report, presently, there are 53 battalions of Iraqi military that are capable of operating with the support of US forces (Level 2). There are 45 that are trained enough to fight along side our forces (Level 3). That means there are 98 Iraqi battalions that are actively engaged in anti-insurgency and stability operations within Iraq. In September, there were only 88. The Level 2 forces are kicking in the doors while US forces, for example, are providing support by fire positions and assistance during searches, as well as logistical support (ie: vehicles, since they presently don't have any). Progress is being made in this area! There is no denying that.

As I have shown, Iraq is slowly coming into its own, militarily. Other ways that we are able to judge our success is through the local populations. Brigadier General Burgner, Deputy Commander, MultiNational Forces, Northwest (Iraq) recently made a stop here. He said that when we first started operating there, they would receive a tip from the indigenous people two-three times every two weeks. Now, it is up to 9-15 per day. The Iraqi people did, indeed, see us as an occupying army. However, we have been able to demonstrate to them, through tangible results, that we are there to help them and that we do not intend to stay. These things I attribute not to President Bush or any other politician, but to the soldiers on the ground walking the streets of Iraq. Our platoon leaders are responsible for setting up town meetings and getting the local leadership together to identify and solve their regions problems, whatever they may be. Our soldiers are the guys that are getting the job done, not those in Washington D.C.

Granted, there are still locations where people throw rocks at our guys. They will always be there. The media capitalizes on the body bags and the protests. They don't show all of the successes that we've had.

If you sincerely have an interest in our military's progress in Iraq, I strongly recommend that you read this news briefing from September with BGen Burgner. Keep in mind, this took place back in September 2005, so there has been even more progress since then.

Crispy

Vox Suggests Widening the Roads

2006-02-25T12:39:00.000-05:00

In his "IED efficiency" post, Vox stated the following:

One thing I've wondered is if it would make sense to widen the roads most often traveled by US forces to such an extent that anything planted offroad would have to be so large as to be easily detectable. I find it difficult to imagine that the explosives in the IED's are so powerful that they'd be undetectable if the roads were two or three times as wide.

This seems so obvious as to be hardly worth mentioning, but asphalt and active road crews are surely less expensive than Humvees, military hospitals and long rehabilitations. And perhaps they've already been doing this; I doubt the media would see fit to report the fact that Highway Whatever is now thirty feet wider than before.

Though I do not know if any such program has been enacted, I doubt it would have a high success rate. There are several reasons that I question its success rate. The first is that US forces travel on most, if not all, of the roads in Iraq. In some cases this happens on the platoon and section levels during presence patrols and general interaction with the assigned community. A second reason it would not have much success is that if they couldn't put the IED alone a widened road, they would simply put it where the road returns to its normal size. The affect, in essence, would only be displacement, which leads me right into my third point. In the urban areas, there simply isn't room to expand the roads. Mosul alone has about 2 million people in it. For comparison, the 2004 Census has Houston, TX at about 2 million people. (Those of your interested in doing a map/satellite recon of Mosul, 36 degrees 20'06.00" N 43 degrees 07'08.00" E.) Another thing that many people forget is that we are dealing with more than simple roadside bombs. There are suicide bombers and Vehicle-born IEDs (VBIED) that we need to defend against. And most of all, never to be forgotten, is that the insurgency force is very adaptive and should not be taken lightly.

In quoting someone else's post, the statistics were also brought up which showed that more IEDs were emplaced (almost double), but fewer were detonated that injured people between 2004 & 2005. For these reasons, it can be said that the members of the US military are some of the brightest members of society in that they must learn faster than our enemies can develop new weapons and strategies. Our military must develop contingency plans before they even know what is coming. It is truly an amazing system when you see the inner workings of it all.

To all those deployed, Godspeed.

Crispy

US-CERT TA06-053A -- Apple Mac OS X Safari Command Execution Vulnerability

2006-02-22T20:12:00.000-05:00

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-053A.html

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA06-053A.html

Crispy

US-CERT ST06-002 -- Debunking Some Common Myths

2006-02-22T20:11:00.000-05:00

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST06-002.html

Crispy

Since Its Been a While

2006-02-20T21:19:00.000-05:00

As it has been a while since I put up a post, here is a paper (only a 2 pg, dbl spaced) I recently wrote for social problems. It deals with the issue of the medical use of marijuana.

Medical Marijuana

It is my belief that marijuana should be legal. I do not think it is the job of the government to decide or attempt to regulate what I can and cannot put in my own body. If I want to smoke myself to oblivion, that should be my decision and my decision alone; it shouldn't be based on government policy. Throughout this paper, you may notice that my beliefs are similar to those carried by the majority of the Libertarian Party.
As for the medical use of marijuana, assuming it was legalized, if you desire to submit to the medical opinion of a doctor who recommends the use of marijuana, so be it. We are free to seek second opinions. If you are uncomfortable with the idea of using such a drug, you can always seek the recommendation of another physician, or ask the original physician if he knew of any other options.
Getting to the matter of the marijuana itself, there are several precautions that should be taken prior to the use of marijuana. The first is to know your source. When you take a look at a bag of marijuana off any average street corner, you will find that the contents is not a pure concentration of marijuana. Some drug dealers will mix other drugs in with the pot in an attempt to create an addiction in the casual drug user thereby guaranteeing business for tomorrow with a craving for a more expensive drug (such as cocaine or heroine). If you subscribe to the thinking that “The government is concerned with my best interests,” the reason I just described may be, in part, why we have seen the government take such a strong stance against the medicinal use of marijuana. One way to overcome that problem would be to grow your own, which leads me to the converse style of reasoning. If you are more in line with the school of the thinking that says, “The government is here only to take more control and look out for itself,” you may be more inclined to think that the government will not legalize the medicinal use of marijuana because 1) it will be difficult to regulate where people acquire the drug from and 2) will therefore make it more difficult to tax, which leads to reduced governmental income from the marijuana itself and from the taxation of the previously used prescription drugs.
It is not very easy to answer the question as to whether or not marijuana can benefit people when used as a medicine because the federal government has set up quite the obstacle course for scientists to negotiate. Therefore, you can already assume that most of the US studies will be skewed in their results. The studies that were completed, though, took place so long ago that the data may be obsolete or even incorrect, if re-run with today's equipment and methods.
I am a firm supporter of private research. Whether or not the researchers have kissed the ring of the Almighty State and received its blessing is irrelevant to me. I think there should be some limitations regarding what can be done in the name of science, but I would hardly classify researching alternative medicines as outside the moral bounds of science and medicine. What could the worse-case scenario of medicinal marijuana research be? Even if death was possible, how could that outcome be worse than the possible death outcome of other approved medicines? When you look at the “reported side effects in some cases” of modern day medicine such as, internal bleeding, nausea, blurred vision, birth defects, irregular heart beats, increased & decreased blood pressure, warnings not to drive, loss of appetite, stomach ulcers, do we really have anything else to worry about? In the long run, you're going to die of the disease if you don't take any drugs. It seems that the current attitude is along the lines of so what would be big deal be if you bite the dust a little early due to your medication? Almost everyone does things on a fairly regular basis that shortens their lifespan. If you're going to die, why not lessen the pain just a little. Again, I am back at my original point that people should be able to do to their bodies as they see fit.
In closing, I don't think you will see the government take any action which would result in, or could potentially result in, the relinquishment of any power from its own hands. It would be just as easy to assume that you could put medicinal marijuana up on the shelf right next to Elvis, Sasquatch and Area 51.

Crispy

US-CERT TA06-045A -- Microsoft Windows, Windows Media Player, and Internet Explorer Vulnerabilities

2006-02-14T19:52:00.000-05:00

Unbelievable, I know.

Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-045A.html

Non-technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA06-045A.html

Crispy

The Third One Bites the Dust

2006-02-10T22:19:00.000-05:00

Since I have been at this college, the third restaurant has been closed due to illegal activity. The first was KFC (Kan't Find the Chicken) which was closed for running a prostitution ring. The second was Burrito Express. They were using some plant other than lettuce in their burritos, at least according to the DEA. And most recently we had Huddle House shut its doors for drug trafficking. Hooray for this town... I told you the indigenous population was bright.

Crispy