Oil Spill--Ecological Suicide

The oil is still pouring into the Gulf--and yet the story has all but dropped out of the news.

In classic American style--we've grown bored of the story and so our interest has waned while the environmental damage continues to mount at rates we cannot comprehend.

There is a great website called Google Crisis Response - Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill which I encourage you to check out.

It continues to document the extent of the oil spill and the efforts to contain it--which are largely or completely ineffective.

And we have done just as BP had hoped we'd do--totally begun to ignore the damage and the disaster.

We must not allow ourselves to fall into the trap of accepting the activity because we are bored with hearing about it.

It is still happening.

Here is something I found just this morning about the disaster:

The article is at Is BP Burning Sea Turtles Alive? and is reported by Fox Tampa.

VENICE, La. - A boat captain working to rescue sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico says he has seen BP ships burning sea turtles and other wildlife alive.

Captain Mike Ellis said in an interview posted on You Tube that the boats are conducting controlled burns to get rid of the oil.

"They drag a boom between two shrimp boats and whatever gets caught between the two boats, they circle it up and catch it on fire. Once the turtles are in there, they can’t get out," Ellis said.

Get this--over 82 MILLION gallons of oil have been released into the Gulf so far and rising daily! Bet you didn't know that did ya? My swimming pool is 40 thousand gallons. This would be more than 2050 of my swimming pools full of oil!

Did you know the Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil? We are already at a spill 8 times larger than the Exxon Valdez.

Congress need to get their heads up and get into the game. Total ecological destruction is being allowed to occur. AND--there is no assurance that BP's plan to plug the well with cement (which is supposed to occur in August) will work either.

What do we do?

1. Write Congress and let them know how concerned we are. Advise your senators and representatives in Congress that we expect action and not to trust BP, because so far--they have been wrong at every juncture.

2.Stop buying BP products--anything from BP just to make a point.

3. Don't let this story drop from the news. Keep reading and become informed. Keep pushing for answers.

They're Back! The Return of P&T

The dynamic couple who honeymooned in one of my favorite places in the world have returned home.

Awesome.

I had the pleasure of retrieving them from the airport early Monday morning, so that I could be among the first to welcome them back to Maryland and life as a married couple.

I can report, their big cat, Gus, was enthusiastically happy to greet them.

And their dive gear bag was really heavy.

It was fun that as they shared private time together in Key West, they also regularly checked in with the family to let us know how they were doing. It was kinda fun to hear of their adventures, their room upgrade, and the fun they had driving the rented Mustang convertible.

Key West is such an awesome town and there is always something to see and do.

And it seems they did a lot and had a great time. Just like they were supposed to do.

What a great way to start out a marriage--with some great memories upon which to build more great memories.

I guess I'm a hopeless romantic in wishing that the grind of everyday life doesn't get them so bogged down that they can't remember what a great foundation they have as they set out on the journey that is marriage.

Welcome home guys--

Monday Musings - June 28, 2010

1. USA Soccer lost--but they had a great run. 32 teams showed up for the World Cup and 31 of them are going to go as losers.

2. The Orioles have a four game winning streak! The longest of the season.

3. Another hot weekend and Sunday family day was memorable again because everyone was there.

4. Isn't it funny how sometimes you look forward to going on vacation but then at some point you begin to look forward to coming home again?

5. Why are commitments a convenient excuse to not to do the things that we should be doing?

6. When does the honeymoon really end? And why does it need to ever end?

7. Next weekend is the Independence Day holiday weekend! Lights and fireworks! What could be better?

8. We need some new movies to be released at the theaters. I haven't been to a movie in a while and I don't think I'm missing anything.

Hydrangea Morning

Another hot, summer day is starting.

The hydrangea are in full bloom in front of the house--standing tall against the summer sun and heat.

Filling our vision with a multitude of blooms.

The grass has slowed its growth as the heat and dryness of the summer have set in. I didn't need to even mow this past week.

Last evening, as night fell, the lightening bugs provided a spectacle of lights high in the canopy of trees that surround the back yard and pool.

Their lights rivaled that of the stars--but of course--their lights were only transient compared to the steady lights of those suns so far away.

Days like this are what I wait for during those long, cold, bleak days of winter--which will all too soon return. So I will enjoy these days--riding in the convertible with the top down and my hair blowing in the wind.

Soccer Saturday

Taking a break from the rest of the crises in the world--we will celebrate Soccer Saturday today.

USA Soccer is in the round of 16 for only the 3rd time since 1930.

There is a good chance they will move on for another game--but this is the elimination round and some of the powerhouses in the world are missing: Italy and France for instance.

Regardless of the outcome later today--this has been a great run. Winning the group over England and playing hard against every team.

For those of you who don't understand the extra motivation that Team USA has today for the game, I provide this excerpt from a New York Times article about what happened during the 2006 World Cup and last time these two teams met:

Only four years ago, these two teams met in what amounted to an elimination game at Germany ‘06, a final group-stage match both teams needed to win in order to be certain of advancement, especially the Americans, who had only 1 point going in. But they were beaten, 2-1, by a Ghana team that defied all the tired cliches about African naivete on the international stage.

The USA did not make the round of 16 as a result of that game.

So there is a measure of revenge--which hopefully will provide our team with that extra motivation to not let it happen again.

So win or lose--

U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A Soccer Rules!

Patrick and Tina Wedding Links

This is just a quick entry to help reference links to Patrick and Tina's wedding pictures:

My Picasa album: http://picasaweb.google.com/rjdoan/2010Wedding#

Theresa Choi (the photographer) blog:
http://www.theresachoi.com/blog/christina-patrick-pier-v-baltimore-wedding-2/

From the honeymoon:
The Vandenberg

Patrick's picture


Wedding Pictures

Wedding

Collection of pictures

Playing on Foreign Soil: USA Soccer vs the US Military

The DoD and the US military need to take a page out of USA Soccer's handbook about playing away games.

Wednesday saw the two entities at completely opposite ends of the spectrum--USA Soccer celebrating a never-say-never victory over a really tough opponent in a do-or-die situation and the US military with disgrace on its face and a combat commander being fired for gross insubordination of the order of Douglas MacArthur.

USA Soccer never quit as they faced a gritty Algerian team. In fact, as I have been watching the other matches in the World Cup, I have been amazed how easily some of the players are hurt and removed form the games. The US team was playing at the end of the game with two players who required stitches after the game to close wounds sustained during the game. And in a testament to the "it ain't over until it's over" spirit which resides in all Americans--they won the match during stoppage time when hope seemed lost.

I celebrated wildly--maybe a too bit wildly, at work.

Conversely, the US military was portraying everything that is wrong with the current crop of combat leadership--unbridled contempt for our civilian leadership. The actions of GEN McChrystal and his staff are a blot on the heroism and honor of those of us who have served in the US military. He should be fired, as he was, and sent home in disgrace. And his staff--all of it, should be replaced because they are part of a culture of contempt that cannot be allowed to exist in the military.

I am reminded of a scene from my favorite movie "Patton" where the new commanding general , Patton, of the US II Corps in Africa arrives at his command post shortly after the disaster at Kasserine Pass. In the movie, one sees a command staff that is disorganized and without basic adherence to fundamental appearance and discipline. Patton goes on a tear and reestablishes discipline almost instantly. And that is what the US Forces in Afghanistan need--a thorough housecleaning and adherence to good conduct and discipline.


So, USA Soccer--winning in South Africa against the odds when the game seemed hopeless and after being denied a good goal or the US military in Afghanistan--disgraced by their senior leader and his staff and complaining they cannot win the war in Afghanistan which, by the way, officially became the longest running war in the history of the United States.

U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A Soccer Rules!

Racquetball Blues--Going Through Life with Cement Overshoes

I've been playing some really mediocre racquetball lately. That is different than just losing--because even when I win games, I know that I'm usually not playing solid racquetball and instead I am relying on my experience and craftiness to overcome large deficits.

Sometimes it works--but more often, it falls short.

I accept losing when I know I've played hard and good--in fact those are some of the best matches when both players have their A games.

Lately, all I'm bringing is my C minus game. And yeah--I lost a match the other night I wanted to win but definitely got outplayed in.

It is like I'm moving in slow motion through not only the game--but sometimes through life.

Perhaps it is loss of focus, but I just don't feel that emotional charge to control either the racquetball game or some of the events in life--I'm just reacting and then often slowly.


I know I'm just in one of those phases--and hopefully I'll snap out of it soon.

I know some beach time is coming in a couple of weeks and that always recharges my batteries.

I'd like to leave the cement overshoes at the beach--or better, leave them offshore to become part of an artificial reef.

Today--I'll slog it out in the trenches. Taking on each action or task as it comes counting the days until the scenery changes to sand and palm trees. That would be 21 days--but then who is counting.

I guess I am.

Of Generals and Loose Lips

The current situation with Gen McCrystal and he and his staff's unprofessional remarks about the President, the Vice President and a host of others in the senior leadership of our government is reminiscent of the situation between President Truman and Gen McArthur.

The story this morning from CNN puts it this way:

Washington (CNN) -- America's top military commander in Afghanistan is unlikely to survive the fallout from remarks he made about colleagues in a magazine profile to be published Friday, according to a Pentagon source who has ongoing contacts with the general.

That is putting it very mildly.

He should be forced to retire after losing a star form his shoulder. That's my opinion.

It is OK to have private thoughts about those you work with--but to allow yourself to make statements like this in public and also to allow, even encourage your staff to make such remarks is not only unprofessional, but is truly is conduct unbecoming an officer and also a violation of Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ):

ART. 88. CONTEMPT TOWARD OFFICIALS

Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

I have read the Rolling Stone article--and in my mind, Gen McChrystal definitely violated this article and should be court-martialed.

Oh, and by the way, there is also a violation of Article 134:

ART. 134. GENERAL ARTICLE

Though not specifically mentioned in this chapter, all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces, all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces, and crimes and offenses not capital, of which persons subject to this chapter may be guilty, shall be taken cognizance of by a general, special or summary court-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offense, and shall be punished at the discretion of that court.

He should consider himself very lucky if he is allowed to resign and retire.

The difference between being a military officer--especially a commanding general, and a civilian is very great. Officers are held to a much higher standard and, yes, often the basic rights that Americans are used to are not entitled to a military person and especially an officer. Officers especially serve at the pleasure of the President--we do not ever want a situation where a military officer sees them self above or better than the President and our leadership--that is how coups happen in Third World countries.

During WWII they had a saying that "Loose Lips Sink Ships." I guess they sink generals, too.

Tina and Patrick Partying on Duval St

Well the honeymooning couple provided an update on how much fun they have been having.

Swimming with the fishes already.

BTW, this is from the USNS Vandenberg, six miles off Key West.