Long Time No See

Wow, after beinneglected for 7 years, I guess I should add to this again.  And it has been an interesting 7 years.

I joined the Army, reconciled with my wife, spent a year in the Middle East, got out of the Army, and am now back in California (A state I swore I would never live in again).  And at the age of 47 going to school.

Iraq

OK, I am going to make this fairly simple.

In reguards to Iraq, I could not care less about "Weapons Of Mass Destruction". I could care less if he supported Al-Queda or not. I do care that he tried to have a former President of the US assasinated, but that is not the major reason why I am glad we moved in and he is gone.

There is only one thing I really care about.

Genocide.

There are hundreds of mass graves throughout Iraq. The conservative estimates place the number of dead in them at over 1 million.

1-3 million people. Dead. Murdered by a despotic ruler.

That is almost double the population if the entire state of Idaho (1.2 million). People who were mostly killed because they were Kruds, Kuwaitis, Iranians, or Druse, or people who Saddam felt were "un-trustworthy" or "inhuman".

Saddam deserves to be removed and killed for no other reason. To me, all politics take a back-seat when the topic of Genocide appears. And anybody that wants to try and justify the prevention of intervention when it comes to removing a genocidal maniac should be shot.

Camping... Part 2

OK, with the first trip done, now I needed to work a few bugs out of my system.

For one, I knew I needed a larger pack. Back to the surplus store I went, and got a deal on a Large ALICE pack, without a frame. Because it uses the same frame as the medium pack, this let me save money.

The large pack has roughly 75% more internal capacity, and has 2 larger pockets on the outside, and one huge pocket. It also has 3 smaller pockets, which are the perfect size for eating utensils, toothbrush, and other things. Thus prepared, I moved the pack frame and straps to the new pack, filled it, and set it on the bike.

Another change I made was to put a towel under the pack. During the first trip, the frame rubbed off some of the finish from the plastic behind the seat. With the blanket, it prevents this, and gives me a towel I can use for other things if needed.

Another item I had added in the 2 weeks was a radio. After looking for weeks, I discovered that J.C. Whitney had a tank bag that carried a standard car radio, antenna, and 2 6" speakers. I added an AM/FM/Cassette unit I had inherited from a buddy, and a set of speakers I got from Wall-Mart for $30. It had 3 buckles to attach it, and a quick connect for the power. For less then $110, I now had a radio that I could hear at 70 mph, and could attach or detach it in under 2 minutes! This has been a lifesaver, because it helps to fight the "road fatigue" that can happen after riding for 2+ hours without a break.

This time, I had no set destination. I simply got on the highway, and drove North. My only destination was Columbus Georgia, where the nearest Georgia Visitor Center was located. I already had maps and guides for Florida and Alabama, having them for Georgia would give me more possible destinations for future trips.

Once I got there, I sat on a bench and looked to see where my final destination would be. After 5 minutes, I realized that I was very close to Andersonville!

Now being a history buff, I had done a lot of reading and research. One of the saddest parts of the Civil War was the POW camps. Turner Network Television (TNT) had done a TV movie about Andersonville that I had seen, and had even bought the movie on DVD just a few months before. They crammed roughly 30,000 people into an area little larger then 3 football fields. No buildings, just men living in an open field without shelter. The only water came from a brackish and poluted stream that ran through the middle of the camp.

The camp was surrounded by a 25' wood wall, with a wood rail 6' inside of the wall. This line was the "Dead Line", and any prisoner that crossed it was shot without warning. Having seen the movie and read other accounts, I knew that this had to be my destination.

So off I set, just a destination in mind. I was still 25 miles from the site when it started to get dark, so I started to look for a place to camp. Just as it got dusk, I spotted a small trail leading into a break in the trees. I pulled the bike in, and knew I had found the perfect spot. It was not visible from the road, sheltered by trees, and quiet. 20 minutes later, I had my campsite set up.

One of the best things about camping this way, is that it is free!

If you camp this way, there are some things you should remember however. For one, do not set up a campfire! For one, there is always a danger it may get out of control. For two, you are camping on land that belongs to somebody else. While most rural farmers do not mind campers as long as they are careful, having a fire increases the chances you will be caught, and increases the chances that future campers will not be welcome. ALso, make sure that you do not leave a mess. Pack all of your trash out with you in the morning, and leave it as close to the way you found it as possible.

After a quick breakfast, I was on my way again. I arrived at Andersonville Prison at about 9am, and was awestruck.

I had seen the movie, and if anything it did not do the location justice. Instead of the flat land I saw in the movie, the prison was actually a small valley. There was higher ground on both sides, and the stream ran through the middle in a depression. The stream was brackish and slow moving, and it still stank.


The white posts show where the stockade wall used to stand. The ones to the right were where the wall was. The one to the left was the location of the "Dead Line". The swampy area in the middle was the stream. This was the only source of "fresh" water for 30,000 men. The small building is the location of a spring that opened up when the camp was in operation. Even though it was inside the "Dead Line", the commandant allowed the prisoners to build a wood trough to bring the water to the prisoners.

There are 2 recreations of the original wood stockade on the grounds. Here is one of them, as viewed from inside. In the foreground, you can see a replica of the "Dead Line".

One of the most awe-inspiring sites is the cemetery. Now I have been to veterans cemetaries before. I have seen the rows of tombstones. But this one left me speachless.

The stones in this cemetery are only about 1/4 the size of those in normal cemetaries. And instead of the 2-4 feet between them, these were literally one on top of the other. There are over 12,000 burried there, 460 of them are marked "Unknown".

This should give an idea how closely packed the bodies are. They were simply dumped into trenches and covered. Bodies were literally packed in shoulder to shoulder.

Anybody who knows the story of Andersonville knows the stories of the "Raiders". These were prisoners who preyed upon other prisoners, murdering and stealing. A possee was formed by other prisoners, and they stopped them. The Commandant allowed them to hold a trial, with recent prisoners as jurors. 6 of the Raiders were found guilty of murder, and hanged. These 6 graves are those of the Raiders. At the request of the surviving prisoners, they were burried seperate from the other prisoners.

After a very sobering 3 hours (including a 1 hour guided tour, free of charge by the park service ranger), I bid farewell to Andersonville and headed home.

To anybody that visits Georgia, I strongly recommend a visit to Andersonville. It is a sight that I know I will never forget. I also recommend the movie. It is frequently available from Wall-Mart or K-Mart, normally for $5-10. This is a part of the war that is almost never talked about.

Now that the worst of the summer is past, I am starting to make plans for more trips. My plan for visiting New Orleans this summer is obviously on hold for the unforseen future. My next trip will probably be to a nearby fossil bed I recently discovered. I will provide some pictures of the site, and what I find after I make the trip (hopefully next weekend).

Camping...

One thing I love to do is to go camping.

Since I am a bike lover and rider, I do this on a motorcycle. And believe me, camping on a motorcycle is the hardest thing you can plan for, next to backpack camping.

The most important thing when planning for motorcycle camping is how to carry your gear. Since I drive a sports bike (1982 Honda CB900F Super Sport), I have nowhere near the carrying capacity that I would on a Goldwing. And because of the age of this bike, there are no saddle bags or other luggage available from aftermarket sources.

My solution was to go back to what I know best. I went to a local surplus store, and bought a used ALICE pack.

Now the ALICE system has been used by the military since the 1960's. ALICE means "All-purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment. It is modular, light weight, and can be used in many ways. This ability makes it perfect for backpacking or cycle-packing.

I spent 10 years in the Marine Corps, an Infantry Rifleman by trade. Because of this, I am intimately familiar with what can be done with this equipment. I used it all over the US, and overseas. It is light, has a lot of carrying capacity, and has easy to access straps to hang accessories onto.

My first trip was in March 2005. I bought a Medium ALICE pack and frame, and a foam "E-Mat" from a surplus store. I already had a sleeping bag, which I bought years earlier for use in my move to Alabama. This was the equipment I took in my trial run to Mobile, so I could see an exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

One of the things that took longest to prepare for this trip was the tent.

Now one drawback of camping like this is that you have a limited amount of room to pack your equipment. Over the years, dome tents have passed the old "A Frame" tents, and that was a problem to me. With only about 3-4' of depth, I could not use a conventional dome tent becaue the poles were normally 5-6' long. I either had to use a much more expensive (and harder to find) backpackers model, or an A-frame tent. And a-frames are much harder to find.

To the rescue was the surplus store I went to for the pack. Just the week before, they had recieved a shipment of camouflage 2 man a-frame tents! They were cheap (about $25), small, and light weight. I also got an electric flashlight-lantern-radio from Wall-Mart for about $25. This let me combine several needed items into one small package.

Now came the drawback, the size of a medium ALICE. This is the pack that most military people are familiar with. With 3 large external pockets, it has a decent carrying capacity. A lot of other equipment that you would use in the field though is carried on the cartridge belt though. Because I was not going to be wearing something like that, everything I needed had to go in the pack.

It fit, but once I added a change of clothes and food, my capacity was pretty much maxed out. Thus prepared, I set out on my trip to Mobile.

Once I got there, I ran into some unexpected problems. The first being that the State Park I planned on camping on no longer allowed camping. I got there at 8pm, and the gates were locked! This made me scramble through my map and tourist information, and located a private campground about 5 miles away. After consulting the map, I was away again.

Now I hit the next problem. Unknown to me, more and more campgrounds were now "RV Parks" or "RV Resorts". In short, this means "NO TENTS"! I was informed when I got there, that tent campers were not welcome, especially not motorcycle campers. They also could not (or would not) give me the location of any campgrounds that would take me in.

So I consulted the guidebooks again (provided at the Alabama state line by the visitors station) and found another campground.

Now real quick, I am going to make a pitch for the place I ended up for the night, the "I-65 Campground".

http://www.i65rvcampground.com/

I arrived there at around 10pm, and even though they were not sure, they let me in and made me feel welcome. When I told them why I had come to Mobile, they told me that they had been full almost all spring, from other people comming to see the exhibit. The tent area was empty other then me, and the park was nice and quiet.

After a quiet night, I packed up, then took a walk around the park. It was clean, with a lot of trees and a small pond. The shower / rest room was clean and well maintained. From walking, it was obvious that a lot of the people there actually lived there. Some of the RVs look like they had not been moved in years! DirecTV dishes were burried in the ground, and some even had wood fences up to keep in/out dogs and other pets.

I saw both the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the USS Alabama. After a nice day, I was back on the road and drove back home. Overall, a wonderfull trip, and a good first run.

The pics are from this trip. Here is one from the campground, after I loaded everything up for the return trip.

This is the bike, with the Medium ALICE on a frame. The light green bag is my sleeping bag. The rolled up item on the end is the sleeping mat. Made of 1" thick dense foam, it makes sleeping more comfortable, and prevents heat loss from sleeping on the ground. The tan item is a 2 quart military canteen. It is collapsable, and with a shoulder strap, I can remove it and take it with me very easily. Not visible on the other side is an entrenching tool (shovel) and 1 quart canteen. There is a "Canteen Cup" with the 1 quart, which doubles as a pot, cup, and shaving sink. The pockets carry things like my digital camera, food, batteries, and anything else I may need to access quickly. Strapped on with bungee cords, it can be secured in less then 5 minutes.

Classic Movie Pick for the week

This is something I am going to try and do every week. I will pick an old movie, and make a recomendation.

This week, the movie is The Third Man.

If anybody has not seen this, rush out and either get it, rent it, or beg the cable movie stations to carry it (AMC, FMC, etc).

This is a movie that will leave you on the edge of your seat, even if you are not a fan of film noir. It keeps you guessing until the end, and being filmed in black and white makes it even more powerful.

If you can, get the Criterion version. It gives the original British version, without the editing and changes that the American studio did for it's AMerican release.

Deafening Silence

Over and over, I notice how President is getting most of the blame for the mess in New Orleans.

Yet, where are the screams for his head in Mississippi and Alabama?

Buloxi was almost wiped from the face of the earth. Yet, most of the people there evacuated and loss of life was low. Mobile was also devistated, and once again the loss of life is low. Both areas praise FEMA, National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, and other national organizations.

I notice that the only screams we hear are from New Orleans and Louisiana, or people who use them as an example of what went wrong.

So what went right in Mississippi? Why are they equally devistated in reguards to property, yet had far less people killed and injured?

Looks to me that Louisiana has more to explain then President Bush does.

More of the same

This weekend has beet yet more of the same.

Since last week, I have been trying to find someplace to move to, but with no luck at all. It seems that all of the local rentals have been taken by refugees from the Hurricane. This makes it impossible for me to find someplace myself.

What I can't figure out is that these people are moving in, and they only intend on living here until they can go back home. If you want to just live in a place for a few months, then why move here? All it is doing is killing the local housing market, and driving up the cost of what is available.

Now I wish I had never made the mistake of moving in with a girlfriend. Next time, I will do what I did in the past, let them move in with me. At least I do not make the unreasonable demand of "you have to be out in 3 weeks". Plus I do not make up weird stories as to why they have to leave. I simply understand things are not working out, and it has to end. I do not make up stories, trying to show how they are bad people, and why they have to go.

Well, back to looking for a place again.

Facts, or Fancy?

One thing people often notice about my posts, is that I often speak knowledgeably. I tend to assemble facts, and give them with references. To me, this is simply the way things should be.

If you are going to be an effective debater, you need to speak of things factually, not emotionally. Emotions are all well and good, but they do not mean a lot. I approach a debate very logically. This is probably because of my background in computers.

Computers are very logical beasts. They do not care about emotions. They do not care if you are tired. They do not decide to do something on a whim. They simply do whatever it is they are told to do. Because of this, you have to think logically when you try to fix them. I take a very scientific approach to my work, and to a great many things in life.

Now this does not mean I am a robot. I can be a very emotional person in real life. But when I am in a debate, that means nothing. You don't win an arguement simply by the force of your conviction (at least not with me). If you have an opinion, you had better be able to back it up with some facts.

One good example that I have been debating lately is the claim that some make that Haliburton is making tons of money from the high price of oil. This is making Dick Cheny filthy rich, so he wants to keep the price as high as he can, to make more money. The people who claim this may be very passionate, but they are also very wrong.

I have pointed out to them over and over again that Haliburton does not produce oil. Haliburton is not an oil company! Haliburton is a Construction company, that specializes in oil equipment. They make oil rigs, pipelines, refineries, tools, and things like that. Oil can be selling for $10 a barrel or $100 a barrel, it makes no difference to them.

Those claims make about as much sense as blaming Ford for wantinf the price of oil to go up, because they make cars that use gasoline. And when Haliburton gets a contract to rebuilt the equipment damaged by Katrina, it is only logical. After all, they are the world's leader in that kind of work. When Saudi Arabia needs pipelines, Haliburton is the first company they turn to.

Getting upset at Haliburton getting this contract is about as logical as getting upset at General Motors because they won the contract to make the "Hummer". Well, who else would you expect the Military to turn to in order to make the new military vehicle, some unknown company that works from a garage in Kentucky? Of course they are going to turn to one of the "Big 3" auto companies. I would be shocked if the next military vehicle is not made by Ford, GM, or Chrysler.

But once again, this makes no difference to the idealists. To them, facts mean nothing (unless it supports their belief). I have often noticed that I can use a source like Fox News, and they dismiss it because they claim it is biased. But they seem to have no problem in taking a single quote from Fox News, and screaming it to the world if it supports their side.

So I will just have to try and continue my debates, hoping that at least somebody cares more for facts and reality then ideology and fantasy.

Katrina

Well, I am gonna start this off by talking about Katrina.

I have been active in a web forum for close to 2 years now. I got into it because it had a lot of people talking about past decades (most notably the 1980's). I liked it, but I quickly found myself sucked into the political debates.

One of the first things I noticed is how one-sided most of the posts were. They were almost universally Liberal, and anti-Bush. And most strikingly, there was very little in "reality" to the debates.

Now I have always loved a good debate. To me, it is not about "winning" or "losing". It is all about making clear articulate points. I often enjoy debating with my friends, and things almost never get out of hand. I have no problem accepting another point of view, but it is often nice if it has a reason, other then blind ideology.

Myself, there is little that scares me more then somebody who blindly follows a system of beliefs. To me, these are the kinds of people who would follow another Hitler or Stalin (as long as he is of the right political party).

We all know these kinds of people. They immediately take a stance, reguardless of the facts or reality. A good example of this is the current situation in New Orleans, and other areas devistated by Hurricane Katrina.

These are the people who started making posts less then 5 hours later, blaming all of the death and destruction on President Bush. Now that is blind ideology! And now a week later, they still care about nothing but their hatred of President Bush.

A great example is when I tried to make a point that this was a huge act of nature, which devistated over 90,000 square miles. I said it was rather stupid to blame a person, when it was nature that did all this.

To my amazement, one of the posters was proud to point out that she did not blame nature, but President Bush, because it was all his fault! Never mind that the devistated area is larger then England, it is President Bush's fault. And nothing will ever convince her otherwise.

This is blind ideology at it's most frightening.

The beginning

Well, after resisting for ages, I decided I finally need to just go ahead and start a blog og my own.

I guess I am tired of a lot of things I see and hear in the world, and want a place to I can say what I think. I tend to talk about all kinds of things. Movies, books, history, politics, economics, and of course computers.

I will fill this out more, once I get the hang of things. So please be patient as I learn.