Busy...and Angry.
I found out not too long ago that my landlord was terminating my lease because he wanted to move back into the condo. Good luck to him-I've enjoyed living in Adams-Morgan, but he is welcome to the noisy drunks out at all hours, the drunks who left the pizza crust under my windshield wiper and the influx of obnoxious hipsters that have invaded my neighborhood recently. As a result of the stress, I ran to my books to find something to take my mind off trying to find a new, affordable place. I started reading the Ian Rutledge series by Charles Todd. I read A Test of Wills a couple of years ago and liked it but was more blown away by Rennie Airth's River of Darkness-both mysteries set in post WWI England.
And then a funny thing happened-the series just got better and better. Darker, scarier and and more emotionally involved. Honestly, I thought this was going to turn into just another series with the haunted detective doing his best to solve cases-and it is but it's so much better and creepier than that. So kudos to the mother and son writing team that makes up Charles Todd. I think you could be a little more accurate in depicting post-WWI England but you write very engaging stories and have kept me from going crazy during this stressful time.
And here's one thing that made me angry. No, it's not about Barack Obama and his pastor-I find that funny. Obama used Wright as an entree into insular Chicago politics, which otherwise would have had a hard time accepting this outsider from Hawaii. They became friends and very close friends at that-and now that Obama is running for president, he can't afford to have a pastor that preaches hatred for white America, not to mention a proponent of the conspiracy theory that says AIDS was created to decimate the black community (if this is true, why has it decimated the gay community?). Anyway, now Wright looks like he wants to either take down Obama or promote himself-it's hard to tell which one. It's kind of funny but disheartening to me to see one member of the black community looking like he wants to destroy the candidacy of the first really viable black candidate.
Okay, here's the thing that made me angry. Women in the military. Why is this an issue? Women who have joined the armed forces or go to the service academies know the story, especially now. We've been in Iraq and Afghanistan for five years and the people who have joined recently know that it doesn't look like we're leaving anytime soon. So why is women in the military on the front line still an issue? Because there is no front line in those sectors so the military can't keep the women back and protected. Do they need to be protected? They made those choices as reasonably intelligent people-just as reasonably intelligent as any guy there so what is the problem? I bring this up because of this story in the Washington Post : http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/30/AR2008043003415.html?hpid=topnews
It's the story of Monica Brown, a medical specialist in Afghanistan. She enlisted a couple of years ago and not only has distinguished herself; she became a hero. She helped pull soldiers from a burring tank (fired on by the Taliban) and dragged them by their body armour to a roadside ditch, under fire. While the tanks mortars were exploding, along with the mortars fired by the Taliban, along with various guns and other weapons being fired, she covered the soldiers bodies with her own and held off long enough to get everyone safely back to the ambulance and get them to safety, where they were airlifted back to the States.
For this she was awarded the Silver Star, the nation's third highest military honor-and was stripped of duty and sent out of the war zone. Why? Because regulations call for no females on the front line-an order that in these combat situations mean no women at all in certain areas, even if that means that there are no medical personnel there because of the rule. This woman is a hero and her fellow soldiers want her back. Wouldn't you? If you were a soldier, wouldn't you want a medical specialist who was willing to do whatever it took to save your life, showed courage and bravery under fire and was a true leader? What soldier wouldn't want that?
You know who doesn't want that? The President, who apparently feels that Brown's talents could be better used in the White House (the article says she was offered a White House job) rather than helping her fellow soldiers. I know DC has the reputation of being dangerous but trust me, the people in Afghanistan need her more. Thank you, Mr President, for showing that when the best person for a job is woman, the best thing to do is give her an award and take her off the job. I'm sure her fellow soldiers appreciate it.
And then a funny thing happened-the series just got better and better. Darker, scarier and and more emotionally involved. Honestly, I thought this was going to turn into just another series with the haunted detective doing his best to solve cases-and it is but it's so much better and creepier than that. So kudos to the mother and son writing team that makes up Charles Todd. I think you could be a little more accurate in depicting post-WWI England but you write very engaging stories and have kept me from going crazy during this stressful time.
And here's one thing that made me angry. No, it's not about Barack Obama and his pastor-I find that funny. Obama used Wright as an entree into insular Chicago politics, which otherwise would have had a hard time accepting this outsider from Hawaii. They became friends and very close friends at that-and now that Obama is running for president, he can't afford to have a pastor that preaches hatred for white America, not to mention a proponent of the conspiracy theory that says AIDS was created to decimate the black community (if this is true, why has it decimated the gay community?). Anyway, now Wright looks like he wants to either take down Obama or promote himself-it's hard to tell which one. It's kind of funny but disheartening to me to see one member of the black community looking like he wants to destroy the candidacy of the first really viable black candidate.
Okay, here's the thing that made me angry. Women in the military. Why is this an issue? Women who have joined the armed forces or go to the service academies know the story, especially now. We've been in Iraq and Afghanistan for five years and the people who have joined recently know that it doesn't look like we're leaving anytime soon. So why is women in the military on the front line still an issue? Because there is no front line in those sectors so the military can't keep the women back and protected. Do they need to be protected? They made those choices as reasonably intelligent people-just as reasonably intelligent as any guy there so what is the problem? I bring this up because of this story in the Washington Post : http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/30/AR2008043003415.html?hpid=topnews
It's the story of Monica Brown, a medical specialist in Afghanistan. She enlisted a couple of years ago and not only has distinguished herself; she became a hero. She helped pull soldiers from a burring tank (fired on by the Taliban) and dragged them by their body armour to a roadside ditch, under fire. While the tanks mortars were exploding, along with the mortars fired by the Taliban, along with various guns and other weapons being fired, she covered the soldiers bodies with her own and held off long enough to get everyone safely back to the ambulance and get them to safety, where they were airlifted back to the States.
For this she was awarded the Silver Star, the nation's third highest military honor-and was stripped of duty and sent out of the war zone. Why? Because regulations call for no females on the front line-an order that in these combat situations mean no women at all in certain areas, even if that means that there are no medical personnel there because of the rule. This woman is a hero and her fellow soldiers want her back. Wouldn't you? If you were a soldier, wouldn't you want a medical specialist who was willing to do whatever it took to save your life, showed courage and bravery under fire and was a true leader? What soldier wouldn't want that?
You know who doesn't want that? The President, who apparently feels that Brown's talents could be better used in the White House (the article says she was offered a White House job) rather than helping her fellow soldiers. I know DC has the reputation of being dangerous but trust me, the people in Afghanistan need her more. Thank you, Mr President, for showing that when the best person for a job is woman, the best thing to do is give her an award and take her off the job. I'm sure her fellow soldiers appreciate it.
posted by SHbookworm at 6:51 AM
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