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A 1st Lt as the company's executive officer? Is that possible? I would have thought a captain would be leading the company.

I heard one some years back. An aging British Airways pilot, forgetting momentarily his true destination, requested landing permission from air-traffic control in Berlin.

A voice replied in heavily German-accented English: "This is Dresden, don't you even know where is Dresden?"

The reply by the Brit, a former RAF pilot: "Oh bloody sorry. Dresden, yes, I know Dresden. I was by here once before, in 1945, but I didn't land then..."

Silence from the tower as the traffic controller realized this is when the US and Britain firebombed the city.

Likewise, I've lived overseas for 6 years and only once has anyone ever acted poorly toward me because of my nationality - some French jerk, long before 9/11, even. Most people in most places are smart enough not to dislike an individual even if they dislike the leadership of that person's country. And you're right, there are few things lamer than telling people you're Canadian (except maybe being Canadian and wearing a maple leaf flag on your backpack so everyone knows that you're not from the US).

This item says Wednesday will be the first total solar eclipse in years and according to this NASA-supplied document below, that's correct. All the others since 2003 have been partial or annular-total eclipses, which are very different things. Much less dramatic.

2003 November 23-24 - total solar eclipse (see map)
2004 April 19 - partial solar eclipse (see map)
2004 October 14 - partial solar eclipse (see map)
2005 April 8 - annular-total solar eclipse (see map)
2005 October 3 - annular solar eclipse (see map)
2006 March 29 - total solar eclipse (see map)

i'm an american living in an african muslim country where virtually everyone is from group one. the folks here really are kind people. there's little crime, sincere religious tolerance, devotion to democratic principles, etc. it's a nice place. but here's the thing: muslims here just don't accept that obl and his ilk actually share their faith. they just disavow them completely, saying the koran states very clearly that you can't attack people who haven't attacked you first (ie, new yorkers and pentagon workers on sept. 11, truck drivers in iraq). so when you point out that something is really rotten in islam, that people are slaughtering civilians in their name, they say that it's terrible but has nothing to do with them. sadly, i see little likelihood that the vast majority of muslims who are average, moderate people will rise up and rid themselves (all of us) of this radical scourge anytime soon. it's a pity.

This "news" item is from April 14, 2003, well over a year old.

newbie, for sure. i don't know what a troll is, though.
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I agree. This newbie is a troll.

hah! a very good point! what i guess i mean is that i'm not seeing anyone asking anyone else to sacrifice anything. just a lot of inflexible bickering about whether things are getting better or worse in iraq, etc. i'm worried that we're losing track of what's important. but maybe i'm just naive, since i haven't lived in the states for some time now. i can tell you, however, that our country is in almost every definable way a better place to live than about any other place. and americans on the political left and right have far, far more in common than they do differences.

hi, that's a very useful metaphor, with the rpms and all. thanks; i'll hold onto that. i'll be the first to admit i'm no expert in economics.

anyway, i'm not associated in any way with the u.s. military, although my work frequently brings me in contact with them as well as soldiers from other countries. i'm a private american citizen who has worked overseas for years, now watching with concern at what my family stateside says are tough times. a little national unity and shared sacrifice for the sake of our soldiers is all i'm advocating. and that's regardless of whether you supported the iraq invasion or not. the situation now is that our family and friends are fighting and dying in our name and we had damn well better appreciate it.

i don't know what DU is, i'm afraid. enlighten me.

that shit sandwich is slung out of your own kitchen, pardner, because you don't read words as they're written.

i'm passing along the idea relayed to me by u.s. servicepeople who have served in iraq that while they are being asked to die in our name - and that's fine, thank god we have people brave enough to do it -- we average citizens in the homeland sacrifice little. what have you done personally to support the war effort? you can decide for yourself what's patriotic.


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...but what gets a lot of guys and gals down is that while they are killed and maimed and frightened, the american people don't have to make any sacrifices whatsoever.
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So tax-cuts are not patriotic? The government debt has the 'gals and gals' down?

You're slinging a shit sandwich at me junior.

wrong. the point of the military is not to defend us from onerous taxation. that's a political question. the purpose of the military is to protect our borders and our families. and that costs money. deficits in wartime are okay, but tax cuts, too? and whatever happened to old-time conservative fiscal responsibility? what would reagan do?

tax cuts are great, everyone loves them, including me. thing is, i don't feel that we as americans believe any longer in the idea of common cause or shared burden. if my measly couple of hundred of bucks of tax cut money can be used better to help out our people in iraq, then take them back. i don't need another dvd player.

it's patently immoral to spend $87 billion (to begin with), send thousands of kids to get killed or maimed and sink the country into debt while LOWERING the immediate financial burden on those us benefiting from their sacrifice. we must be called on to sacrifice, too. i'd be happy to sew uniforms, mend socks and help out in the war effort, like during ww2. but nobody's asking.

you're exactly right! unfortunately, i've seen war and it's horror up close and trust me, it's just as terrible as you imagine. not like what's shown on television. some u.s. special forces guys i've spoken to say morale is fairly high in iraq, but what gets a lot of guys and gals down is that while they are killed and maimed and frightened, the american people don't have to make any sacrifices whatsoever. instead, we get tax cuts as the government sinks deeper into debt during wartime. a draft doesn't seem warranted yet, though. that's what the military leaders say, anyway

sheesh, what pathetic losers! do politics now gain sway over every single decision we make in life? it's pathological.

hey, here's your answer: moore wasn't filming in all of those places. other people unconnected with what would become his film were filming in those places at those times. after grimace decided to make a movie, he went and searched out that footage.

"main circulator of the casualty lists"? huh? are you saying we should just ignore the deaths of our brothers, sisters, neighbors, colleagues and friends in iraq? should we have no word of them, those who fight and die in our name? you should print out their pictures and hang them in a place of honor, rather than wish you'd never heard of them. personally, i'm glad to have word from the battlefront. the least we can do for our servicemembers who blood soaks the iraqi sands is to hear of their sacrifice.

which headline would cause you to stop and purchase a newspaper?: "u.s. soldier digs a well in iraq" or "al-qaida linked terrorist beheads americans in iraq; baghdad car bomb kills 52." one sells papers, one doesn't. american culture prizes titillation over substance, so we get what we deserve.

hey, get with the program. no one, not even lefties, has embraced communism for 14 years. it's a utopian failure, like you say. but didn't you get the memo? nowadays, lefties should be compared to terrorists. terrorism is the new communism.