Matel-in-Iraq's take on the financial meltdown scare-mongering.

John Matel at Matel-in-Iraq gives us his two cent's worth in reference to the Chicken Little predictions from the media back here in the States. It is a very interesting read, and pretty much sums up my thinking on the current "mess."

John is a FSO who just returned from Iraq after serving on one of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT). Welcome back, and job well done.

Hat tip to Consul-At-Arms.

Bulldogs are 1-0 in the SoCon, Next Week: Appalachian

We ate Western Carolina's lunch this past Saturday. We had well over 500 yards of total offense, and the Catamounts did not break 200 yards until late in the 4th quarter. This sets up an interesting matchup between The Citadel and Appalachian State this coming weekend. I don't think we are necessarily better than the Mountaineers, but considering how they have been playing the last two weeks, they are ripe for an upset.

The game this past Saturday was our Military Appreciation Day. There was a flyover by some Super Hornets after the National Anthem, and the Golden Knights parachuted into the stadium with the game ball (they all nailed their landings right on the block "C"). The coin toss was done via video feed from the USS Iwo Jima, which is currently on station in the Persian Gulf. One of the Marine pilots on board is an El Cid grad and threw the coin. It was kind of neat, but I understand that it was ceremonial only, since the NCAA requires that the actual toss should occur on the field.

Warpiper and Tater enjoy a cool bevvy before kickoff.

A note on the new title picture

I remembered taking the new picture in the title window but had to dig through old CD ROMs from my Iraq days to find it. I took it in August 2004 during R&R from Baghdad. I traveled to Scotland to attend the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow. After the Worlds, I traveled around Scotland with my friend Bill and his wife Jessica. This particular picture was taken near Stonehaven, south of Aberdeen. We were at Dunatter Castle (A well preserved ruin where the Mel Gibson version of "Hamlet" was filmed) which is perched on a cliff overlooking the sea. Bill stood at the top of one of the cliffs, and I took the picture from about 300 feet below him. A seagull flew into the frame as I was taking the picture.

The actual day was memorable in that we had decided to drive out to the castle and set off from Stonehaven. As we got close to the site a thick fog rolled in. We found the parking lot off the road, and got out of the car to walk to the castle. The visibility was less than 100 feet, and the walk to the cliffs where the castle was perched was about 1/4 mile. Having never been there before, we did not know how far it was. Once we got near the castle (according to the signs) we still were socked in and could see nothing. According to the signs, the castle and the cliffs leading down to the sea were right in front of us. We could see nothing. It was rather ominous knowing that there was supposed to be an imposing structure in front of us, but all we could see was the gray mist. Within a few minutes, the fog bank began to pass, and very slowly a dark shape began to appear in front of us. It slowly materialized into the outline of a castle. I began snapping pictures. The sequence of pictures that I captured as the cliffs and the castle slowly came into view were probably the most breathtaking photos I have ever taken. It was amazing to me how we went from pea soup to brilliant sun in just about ten minutes.

The full quote by Albert Einstein:

"Let us not forget that knowledge and skills alone cannot lead humanity to a happy and dignified life. ... I claim credit for nothing. Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insects as well as for the stars, Human beings, vegetables or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper."

FS Blogs

Over the last several months I have tried to absorb every smidgeon of information I could get my hands on about the US Foreign Service. Somehow, the State Department's website just doesn't get into enough detail for me, particularly when it comes to the FS lifestyle. My sidebar has some favorite blogs by Foreign Service Officers. I will likely add some others as time goes by.

Adventures in Good Countries is a particularly well written blog by a young woman who spent her first junior officer tour in Japan. She is a very gifted writer, and her journey from the time she was hired, through orientation in DC and her tour in Japan are well documented. She really should write a book; I find her style to be rather prosaic and hard to "put down."

The Not-So-Holy City

Apparently somebody realized that we were lagging behind in our average murder rate in Charleston, so we had two in the last few days. Here's one that occurred in my area, and here's the other one.

Princeton, Charleston Games, etc.

Well, just a few points separated the Grade III band competition at Boone Hall this Saturday. The final order of finish was:

1. St. Andrews
2. Atlanta
3. Charleston Police
4. NC State

We actually had two firsts and one third in piping, and then thirds in drumming and ensemble. Piping is weighted more heavily than the others, but in the event of ties, the ensemble score is given preference. We'll polish a little more and have at 'em at Stone Mountain in October.

While we were doing the pipe band thing, The Citadel was playing Princeton here in Charleston. We listened on the radio while the Bulldogs came out flat in the first half. At the end of the first two quarters, we found ourselves down 17-7. I think coach Higgins appealed to the team's manhood in the locker room (I can just hear it now.... "Are you going to let these 1500 SAT trust fund babies come in here and BEAT you??")

The 'Dogs responded admirably and outscored the Tigers 30-7 in the second half. Final score, 37-24.

In related news, the Princeton band came to town and caused some trouble on our campus prior to the game. Apparently they had to be escorted by senior cadets for the rest of their visit so that the rest of the Corps didn't 'disappear' them. Here's the Ken Burger article on the band from today's Charleston P&C. Later at the game, one of the band members had a bullhorn and was leading chants like "We study abroad, you chase broads," and "We are here by choice, you are here by force," and other similar taunts relating to the difference in average SATs. All good fun, but by that time the Corps was in no mood to take anything from the Princeton band. All in all it was a pretty good peep into the attitudes of the Princeton band.

When our band goes up there next year maybe they can play "Dixie" all day long. I wonder if the Princeton crowd will be offended, or if we will be able to plead the "all in good fun" case as well?

There's a possum in my house, and other assorted absurdities.

Someday, maybe this year, maybe sometime years from now, I will no longer be a cop. There are many things I will miss about police work when it is over, to be sure. Sometimes you actually get to do some good. Today, however, I had a day chock full of things that I will not miss. These things generally happen with semiregular frequency. Some of these things might seem a little strange or unbelievable to you, casual reader, but cops don't even bother telling these stories to each other, because they are old hat, boring, and not really novel after you have been on the job for a few years.

Some Personal Favorites

"There's a possum in my attic!" I have this fantasy where I roll up, get out and walk in the complainant's house, pull out my pistol and shoot the [insert wildlife name here], walk out, get back in my car, and drive away without saying a word.

"Hey officer, can you give me a ride?" This is usually asked by a guy with his girlfriend in tow downtown at around 2 a.m. after barhopping on foot all night. They have usually walked so far that they don't want to walk back to their car. OR, some drunk's ride has left him and rather than saving that last 10 bucks for a cab, he decides to drink it up and then flag down a cop. I usually point to the sticker on the side of my car and ask him if he sees the word "TAXI" in there anywhere. This usually leads to him saying......

"I pay your salary!" Yeah? Well you pay astronaut's salaries too, buddy, but they aren't going to let you bogart a ride to the ISS on the shuttle. One time, I told a drunk at a party, "So YOU'RE the guy! I can't wait to tell the rest of the cops, you've got one heck of a beating coming if we don't get a raise like next week!"

"If you didn't have that badge on, I would kick your a**!" I just love this one. It is usually a little bitty skinny guy with a mullet and zits on his face who says it.

"I stepped in a manhole." I actually got this one today. This lady was walking along Calhoun Street, and apparently stepped on an unseated manhole cover. It wobbled on her, but did not fall over and she was unhurt. She continued on about her business, went shopping, and then returned home about four hours later. THEN she called the police. She wanted to tell us that we were not doing a very good job keeping the city safe (I guess by not checking manhole covers) and that she wanted to let us know that we needed to go check the cover now, because somebody could get hurt. I wanted to tell her I would check it in about four hours.

"My daughter/son is refusing to go to school." This is usually an eight year old we are talking about here, folks. I doubt Mom would have ever called the police for this one, just a hunch. An ambulance, maybe, but not the cops.

"You're just trying to make your quota." Yep. Five more like you and I get the toaster oven.